Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance at this meeting of the following duly appointed Reserve Members:-

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee, Sub Committee, Panel or Forum;

(b)               all other Members present in any part of the room or chamber.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

To consider whether any of the items listed on the agenda should be considered with the press and public excluded on the grounds that it is thought likely, in view of the nature of the business to be transacted, that there would be disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence or of exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1972 (as amended).

RESOLVED:  That (1) in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, the following item be admitted late to the agenda by virtue of the special circumstances and grounds for urgency detailed below:-

(2)  that all items be considered with the press and public present.

That the minutes of the meetings held on 18 July 2006 and 10 October 2006, be deferred to the next ordinary meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meetings held on 18 July 2006 and 10 October 2006 be deferred to the next ordinary meeting of the Committee.

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at the meeting under the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 10.

The question and answer session will focus on the following areas:

Delivering the Corporate Strategy

Budget/Financial Issues

Access Harrow

Acting Chief Executive’s priorities.

The following reports of the Director of Financial and Business Strategy are attached herewith:

The Chairman welcomed the Leader and the Deputy Leader of the Council and the Acting Chief Executive to the meeting.  She stated that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was an independent Committee and that it was intended to have full and frank discussions.  She indicated that a total of five minutes for each question would be allowed.

The Chairman invited Members to put their questions to the Leader, the Deputy Leader and the Acting Chief Executive. Members also asked supplemental questions, which were duly answered.   

Delivering the Corporate Strategy

Question 1:  With the culture of serious cuts in corporate budgets and cuts in front line services, how do you propose to salvage the Corporate Plan?

The Leader responded that a large proportion of the foreseeable savings were contained in the February 2006 budget.  The savings plan in August 2006 had been risk assessed for its impact on Council performance.  Decisions were made in the light of value for money of services and through benchmarking Harrow’s services with other boroughs.  The delivery of the Corporate Plan was monitored through the Strategic Performance Report, which would be reviewed at the Cabinet in December 2006.  Overall, Harrow’s services continued to improve in line with the plan but there were areas of concern. In the planning service, there were challenges in turning around planning applications and it was harder to make the workforce more representative in the context of low levels of recruitment. 

The Leader responded to a supplemental question as follows:-

·                     given the Council’s financial situation, a value judgement would be made about the savings proposed;

·                     a detailed reply on the level of savings proposed, its impact on the voluntary sector and the Council’s ability to achieve its vision in the light of these savings would be given in December 2006;

·                     responses would be given at the Open Budget Panel public meeting on 21 December 2006.

The Acting Chief Executive stated that an Extraordinary meeting of the Council in December would debate the draft budget in detail and that the savings plan had been considered/measured against the Council’s corporate priorities, its impact on services and the Joint Area Review (JAR).  She added that when developing budgets, high-level service plans would be considered together with their impact on the Council’s corporate priorities.

The Chairman stated that the question would be addressed in December 2006 by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its Scrutiny Budget Challenge Panel on 18 December 2006.

Budget and Financial Issues

Question 2:  The public had been told that Harrow Council was on the verge of bankruptcy after the May 2006 elections and that there was a lack of financial competence which drastic measures had to address.  How do you reconcile that position with the 2005 Local Government Chronicle Awards in which Harrow’s strong financial performance was commended and the 2004 Audit letter which stated that the financial management arrangements were improving and the CPA assessment in which Harrow achieved 4 out of 4 for its use of resources? 

The Deputy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.