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.

The Chair indicated that, with the Committee’s agreement, he would vary the order of business as a Member had advised that she may be required to leave the meeting early.  The Chair indicated that he would therefore take agenda items 12 and 13 after item 6.

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

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee;

(b)               all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

Agenda Item 7 – School Expansion Programme, Agenda Item 8 – Academies School Conversions and Agenda Item 10 – Council Service Level Agreements

Councillor Christine Bednell, who was not a member of the Committee, declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she was a governor at Vaughan School.  She would remain in the room whilst these matters were considered and voted upon.

Councillor James Bond, who was not a member of the Committee, declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he was a governor at Longfield School.  He would remain in the room whilst these matters were considered and voted upon.

Councillor Mitzi Green, who was not a member of the Committee, declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she was a governor at Kenmore Park School.  She would remain in the room whilst these matters were considered and voted upon.

Councillor Zarina Khalid declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she was a governor at Canons High School.  She would remain in the room whilst these matters were considered and voted upon.

Councillor Paul Osborn declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he was a governor at Norbury School and Roxbourne School.  He would remain in the room whilst these matters were considered and voted upon.

Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane declared non-pecuniary interests in that his sister was a teacher at an academy in Harrow and he was employed by London Councils.  He would remain in the room whilst these matters were considered and voted upon.

Councillor Stephen Wright declared non-pecuniary interests in that he was a governor at Pinner Wood School and Canons High School, he visited Glebe School and was a member of the Planning Committee.  He would remain in the room whilst these matters were considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 9 – Youth Justice Plan and Youth Offending Improvement Plan

Councillor Sue Anderson declared a pecuniary interest in that she was employed by Central and North West London Hospital Trust.  She would leave the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Councillor Mitzi Green, who was not a member of the Committee, declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she had previously been an employee of the Crown Prosecution Service.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

Agenda Item 10 – Council Service Level Agreements

Councillor Sue Anderson declared a pecuniary interest in that she was employed by Central and North West London Hospital Trust.  She would leave the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 September be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2012 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive questions (if any) from local residents/organisations under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

The Chair indicated that he would not restrict the time limit for the asking and answering of public questions to 15 minutes.

RESOLVED:  To note that the following public questions were received at the meeting:

1.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions had been received.

(if any).

RESOLVED:  That no references were received.

Report of the Corporate Director of Children and Families

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Children and Families which contained the Youth Justice Plan and the Improvement Plan. Members agreed to consider the Inspection of Youth Offending, which had been circulated on the supplemental agenda, as a matter of urgency in order to enable scrutiny of the Improvement Plan.  The report had been included on the agenda at the request of a member of the Committee, in accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 37.4.  The Committee agreed that scrutiny policy lead for Children and Families, who was not a member of the Committee, could speak on this item.

The Corporate Director of Children and Families introduced the report stating that this was clearly an area of significant challenge and that there were some long term and ingrained issues to be addressed.  She stated that it was both her and her manager’s responsibility to turn the service around, that there had been some key staff changes and the service had also moved to a new directorate.  She regretted that she had been unable to turn the service around as quickly and effectively as she would have liked and accepted responsibility for that.  She expressed her concern that the Youth Justice Plan had not been submitted to Cabinet in the past and that this was a discrepancy. The Plan would be considered by Council on 8 November 2012.

Members expressed their significant concerns at the findings of the Inspection and, in particular, questioned the delay in the submission of the report both to Cabinet and the Committee, the decision making of officers and Members and the chronology of events.  Members robustly challenged the officers and Portfolio Holder for Children, Schools and Families on the findings of the Inspection Report and the reporting of those findings and asked questions and made comments which included the following:

·                     There had been no mention of the poor performance of this service in the Strategic Performance Reports that had been submitted to Cabinet.  The purpose of these reports was to flag up to Members key issues such as these.  It had not been apparent from the recent Cabinet report the seriousness of the problems in the YOT.  The Member expressed concern at the number of Improvement Boards and stated that it would be helpful to have a diagram/flow chart showing how issues were being addressed.  He requested that a further report with more data be submitted to a future meeting of the Committee and a separate discussion with the Corporate Director on the staffing structure.

·                     The transparency in relation to the findings of the Inspection was questioned and Members challenged the apparent decision to inform the Council’s partners but not elected Members of the findings.  An officer advised Members that an Improvement Board had been established to work on the findings.  The Portfolio Holder added that the closure of Harrow Magistrates’ Court had not helped the delivery of the service.

·                     A Member sought clarification as to those areas where the Youth Offending Team  ...  view the full minutes text for item 320.

Report of the Divisional Director of Strategic Commissioning

The Committee agreed to consider the report from the Performance and Finance Scrutiny Sub-Committee Chair as a matter of urgency for the reasons set out on the supplemental agenda.  The report provided a summary of issues that would be taken forward following their meeting on 12 September 2012.

In considering the report a Member stated that the CIPFA representative who had attended the Sub-Committee had been questioned on the resourcing of the Finance department and had expressed the view that it was over resourced.

A Member stated that it was clear from the report that there was inadequate training of staff in the use of SAP and expressed concern at the apparent constant change in staff.  This lack of training/ knowledge could result in corrupt data being provided.  This view was endorsed by another Member who added that public money needed to be properly accounted for the Corporate Director of Resources advised that there was a team which provided generic support but that part of the issue was training on the more sophisticated elements of the system.  A number of actions were being put in place in order to make better use of the system

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Divisional Director of Strategic Commissioning

The Committee received a report of the Divisional Director of Strategic Commissioning which accompanied the reports from the Scrutiny Lead Members. 

RESOLVED: That the report be noted and the actions proposed therein be agreed.

Report of the Corporate Director of Children and Families

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Children and Families which set out a summary of the school expansion programme, with particular reference to the funding of the programme and to the consultations undertaken.  The Chair welcomed the Portfolio Holder for Children, Schools and Families, the Corporate Director of Children and Families and officers from her team to the meeting and outlined the background to the programme.

The Corporate Director stated that the expansion programme was challenging and that the Council had a statutory duty to provide school places.  To date, places had been provided for all children in Harrow but she recognised that aspects of the programme may be difficult for residents.

Members of the Committee expressed concern at the apparent lack of response to some residents’ questions.  Members then asked questions and made comments as follows:

·                     A Member questioned the capacity of the programme and what would happen if a planning application submitted by a school was refused or if the Planning Committee placed a financial contingency requirement on the permission.  An officer advised that the report before Members was the first phase of the primary expansion programme and that Cabinet had recently received reports on the future phases.  Each future phase would require further expansion and the ability to accommodate bulge classes.  The Corporate Director stated that, as with any large programme, contingency was built in.  Capacity had also been built into the programme and bulge classes had been included in phase 2.

·                     A Member stated that it appeared that the consultation undertaken had been unsatisfactory and referred to the Statement of Involvement considered at a recent meeting of the Local Development Framework Panel.  It appeared that a number of residents’ questions remained unanswered although he acknowledged that residents were not going to be pleased if the Council built next door to their property.  An officer responded that planning colleagues had provided advice on resident engagement.  He added that Vaughan School was the only school that had requested an additional meeting and he apologised if there remained some unanswered questions.  Officers gave an undertaking that those answers would be provided to those residents with a copy circulated to Members of the Committee.

·                     In terms of the extra funding provided, a Member stated that there was still a gap of £3.8 million and sought clarification on the contingency available.  An officer advised that the original intention in terms of the Capital Programme had been to use section 106 receipts to provide contingency in the short to medium term.  Since the approval of the Capital Programme in February 2012 additional funding had been received and officers were discussing further funding with the Department for Education.

·                     A Member challenged officers in terms of the rebuilding of Marlborough and Vaughan Schools, the 2 schools that most needed work, using Council resources, stating that unless a guarantee was received from Department for Education (DfE) that the grant would be received all building works should be halted.  She  ...  view the full minutes text for item 323.

Report of the Corporate Directors of Children and Families and Place Shaping

The Committee received a report of the Corporate Director of Children and Families which presented a summary of the main matters arising since the conversion of 7 schools to academy status and the Council’s response.

In response to a Member’s concern that the report did not address the risks to the Council in terms of Service Level Agreements (SLAs), the Corporate Director advised that academies did not have to purchase any of the Council’s services but were currently choosing to opt in to many of the SLAs.  There was a collegiate group of primary and secondary schools working with the Council on this issue.

A Member questioned when the responsibility for carbon emissions was likely to transfer to the academies and was advised that the legislation was not yet finalised.

The Chair thanked the officers for the report and their responses.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

Oral report of the Corporate Director of Resources

The Committee received a presentation from the Corporate Director of Resources on Council Service Level Agreements (SLAs).  Following the presentation, Members made comments and asked questions as follows:

·                     Managers required training in order to perform to the best of their ability in terms of promoting a service.

·                     Members were unaware there that schools had relationship managers and requested their details.

·                     In response to a question in relation to building maintenance charges, the officer advised that the charging mechanism had been changed so that the Council receives more money up front.

·                     A Member requested a follow up report detailing which services which services were commercially viable.

·                     A Member questioned the impact of the commercialisation of services and how staff could be incentivised.  The officer advised that those staff who were experienced at promoting services were assisting those who were not.  The Corporate Director added that the commercial agenda had financial and customer service drivers and that the Council did not necessarily charge the full cost to customers.  The Council was not, for example, competitive in terms of providing a payroll service.

·                     The core charges were excessive and required consideration with a view to making savings.  The Corporate Director responded that service charges were an issue in every Council but that as part of the budget process and medium term financial strategy charges and individual budgets were being considered.

·                     A Member questioned why some services remained in house if they could be provided more cheaply externally as demonstrated by some schools.  The Corporate Director advised that all service areas were being actively considered and, more specifically, when a contract was due to expire.

The Chair thanked the Corporate Director and officer for their attendance and responses.

RESOLVED:  That the presentation be noted.

Report of the Divisional Director of Strategic Commissioning

The Committee received a report of the Divisional Director of Strategic Commissioning which set out Harrow Council’s response to the Shaping a Healthier Future consultation by NHS NW London.  The work was led by scrutiny members and scrutiny’s response had been adopted by the Executive-side and had been submitted to NHS NW London as a Harrow Council response.

A Member expressed concern at the low detection rate of diabetes in Harrow and stated that this needed to be addressed.  He also challenged the diversion of £2.1 million directed for health improvement by the Council to other activities.  The Member stated that whilst the Council was taking on health responsibilities it was not receiving the funding necessary to deal with them.

RESOLVED: That the response to NHS NW London be noted.

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

RESOLVED:  At

(1)               9.59 pm to continue until 10.30 pm;

(2)               10.29 pm to adjourn until 10.34 pm and to continue until 11.00 pm;

(3)               10.58 pm to continue to 11.30 pm.