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;

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

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 4 – Core Strategy – Adoption

Councillor Sue Anderson declared, during the course of the meeting, a personal interest in that she was employed by NHS Harrow.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 5 – Question and Answer Session with the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive which will concentrate on the Council’s Corporate Plan and Revenue Budget 2012-13

Councillor Ann Gate declared a personal interest in that she was married to the Portfolio Holder for Schools and Colleges.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane declared personal interests in that his sister was a teacher in a Harrow school and he was employed by London Councils.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Paul Osborn declared personal interests in that he had received hospitality from Capita that was in excess of £25.00 in value and he was Portfolio Holder that had introduced Innov8.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

To receive deputations (if any) under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 16 (Part 4B) of the Constitution.

RESOLVED:  To note that no deputations were received at the meeting under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 16.

Report of the Corporate Director of Place Shaping

Members received a report of the Corporate Director of Place Shaping which set out the findings and outcome of the Harrow Core Strategy Examination in Public and informed the Committee of the recommendation to Cabinet and Full Council that the Core Strategy be adopted as part of the development plan for the Borough.

An officer outlined the main issues and Planning Inspector’s modifications following the Examination in Public hearing sessions. Officers welcomed the Inspector’s findings.

Members congratulated officers on the production of the Core Strategy. Members of the Committee made comments and asked questions as follows:

·                    In terms of whether there was an increased possibility of tall buildings in Harrow, the Divisional Director of Planning advised that at the Examination in Public, the Secretary of State had made it clear that the Council could not take the position of having no tall buildings in Harrow but had agreed that the matter was best addressed through the Area Action Plan and informed by a detailed urban design analysis and a views assessment.  The result of such work would then be reflected in the spatial vision and use policy of the Area Action Plan to control impact.

·                    A Member expressed the view that access to both Canons Park and Kenton stations required improvement.

·                    A Member questioned the down grading of affordable housing targets and how it could be ensured that affordable housing was not seen as less important.  The Divisional Director advised that the target had not been downgraded and that the Inspector had found the target to be sound and had agreed that it was sustainable to aspire to a target of 40%.  In terms of the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL), there would be further discussions and it was still a priority of the plan to deliver affordable options.  He added that consultants were to be commissioned to consider the viability of different levels of CIL charge and an options paper would be submitted to Members for consideration in the summer.

·                    Larger houses were required by some sections of the community.  The officer advised that the Core Strategy required a mix of housing and that priority was afforded to larger affordable housing.

·                    The stopping of Garden Land Development within the Strategy was welcomed although it was considered that this was at the expense of allowing more intensive development in certain wards which was not welcomed by residents in these wards.

·                    The facts and figures within the Strategy required context to ‘future proof’ it.  The officer advised that the timescales for production meant that the figures contained within the Strategy were the current position but that more up to date figures were captured in the monitoring report.

·                    A Member questioned the inclusion of a new polyclinic given that one of the Council’s partners had recently closed one.  The officer advised that the reference to polyclinics was not important, rather work was being undertaken with the service provider to ensure adequate primary healthcare facilities were delivered and that it was important to secure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 226.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive and Interim Corporate Director of Finance

The Chair welcomed the Leader of the Council, the Chief Executive and Interim Director of Finance to the meeting and outlined the process to be followed for the asking of questions.

The Leader of the Council gave an introduction outlining the Council’s difficult financial situation, advising that each year would be more challenging than the last.  He advised that there had been consultation on the budget and that one of the themes for 2012 would be modernisation.  He referred to page 151 of the Cabinet budget papers and stated that further cuts could be expected in 2014/15 and 2015/16.

The Chief Executive stated that Harrow was not unique in the problems it was facing as a local authority and that it had been a difficult year.  Many of the easy savings options had been made and further savings needed to be identified.  In terms of the economy, impacts on the Council included the increase in the demand for certain services eg the number of residents seeking housing benefit had increased by some 20% whilst income levels had fallen for other services adding to the financial pressures.  In addition, the population was ageing which also increased pressure on the Council’s services.  The Chief Executive reported that a commissioning approach had been introduced but that going forward he remained concerned at the capacity of the organisation to deal with the challenges it faced.

Members asked a series of questions which were duly responded to as follows:

·                    To what extent have you considered alternative models for the provision of services in order to deliver savings, for example, cross borough partnerships?

The Chief Executive responded that the Council had taken a mixed economy approach and the aim was to provide services in a way that were in the best interests of residents.  IT had been outsourced and work was being done with partners, the private sector, social enterprise and other local authorities as appropriate.

The Member challenged that work appeared to be done on an ad hoc basis and that there were possible governance issues.  He questioned whether any consideration had been given to a tri borough approach.  The Leader responded that the West London Alliance was a good example of the work being done and the Chief Executive added that, whilst the Alliance had initially not progressed as much as he had hoped, it was starting to develop some momentum and the governance of it was now being considered.

·                    With the need to protect the long term budgets and the ability to provide good services to residents in the future in mind, what consideration was given to raising council tax in this budget round?  How soon do you think it would be appropriate to raise the issue of a possible increase with residents?

The Leader responded that residents’ expectation was that there would be a 0% rise this year but if the Government gave a similar settlement next year it would not be an option to not raise council tax.  The only alternative  ...  view the full minutes text for item 227.

In accordance with the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 14 (Part 4B of the Constitution) it was

RESOLVED:  At 10.00 pm to continue until 10.05 pm.