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 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 5 – Question and Answer Session with the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive

Councillor Ann Gate declared a pecuniary interest in that her employer was the Chair of the Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG).  If questions related to the CCG she would leave in the room whilst the matter was considered.

Councillor Tony Ferrari declared a non-pecuniary interest, during the course of the question and answers, in that he was a member of the Pension Fund Committee.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered.

Councillor Graham Henson declared a non-pecuniary interest in that the Hive was due to be considered at the Planning Committee, of which he was a Reserve Member.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered.

Councillor Stephen Wright declared a non-pecuniary interest in that the Hive was due to be considered at the Planning Committee, of which he was a Member.  He would leave the room whilst the matter was considered.

The Committee are requested to appoint a Member and reserve Member to the North West London Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee

RESOLVED: That Councillor Mrs Vina Mithani be appointed as Harrow’s Member and Councillor Victoria Silver be appointed as Reserve Member on the North West London Joint Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee are requested to note the following changes that have been notified by the Labour Group

Health & Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee:

Councillor Ben Wealthy replace Councillor Margaret Davine as a Member

Councillor Mrinal Choudhury be appointed as second reserve

The Labour Group has also indicated that the following Members are their nominated Members on various Sub-Committees:

Councillor Sue Anderson – Performance and Finance Scrutiny Sub-Committee

Councillor Victoria Silver – Health and Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee

Councillor Jerry Miles - Call-in Sub-Committee

Councillor Sue Anderson – Call-In Sub-Committee (Education)

RESOLVED: That following be noted:

(1)               on the Health & Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee, Councillor Ben Wealthy replace Councillor Margaret Davine as a Member and Councillor Mrinal Choudhury be appointed as second reserve;

(2)               the Labour Group has also indicated that the following Members are their nominated Members on various Sub-Committees:

Councillor Sue Anderson – Performance and Finance Scrutiny Sub-Committee

Councillor Victoria Silver – Health and Social Care Scrutiny Sub-Committee

Councillor Jerry Miles - Call-in Sub-Committee

Councillor Sue Anderson – Call-In Sub-Committee (Education).

The Chair welcomed the Leader of the Council and Chief Executive to the meeting and outlined the procedure for the asking and answering of questions. Members then put their questions and received responses as follows:

1.                  What is the overall strategy for the remainder of the year and the Leader’s priorities up until the election?

The Leader advised that following the recent political changes he had stated that he would continue with the priorities set out in the Corporate Plan agreed by Council.  He referred to the flagship action of building new housing stock, the possibilities around e-books in libraries, consideration of ways to assist the 3^rd sector, consolidation of Council staff and services into one building and the launch of the Harrow Help Scheme.

The Chief Executive reported that there was a need to achieve £24 million savings over the next 2 years and that there was a programme to do this including special needs transport, residential care, procurement and the use of agency staff etc.

A Member questioned why it was considered that the pension fund would achieve a better return by building housing in Harrow.  Another Member indicated that he would wish to see more details on the risks and sought clarification on the proportion of the pension fund that it was proposed to be spent on housing.  Other comments included that a people versus place budget had been set and that a small number of projects such as PRISM and staff car parking had been paused.

The Leader advised that it was necessary to consider the construction industry and that the Government only permitted 18% to be borrowed from the pension fund.  There was also the option of borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB).  The Chief Executive added that any potential use of the pension fund would need to be subject to discussions with the trustees.

2.                  How will the budget be put together, how will we scrutinise it, how will officers support different budgets and how is the Council doing in terms of last year’s budget?

The Leader advised that the budget had been subject to the commissioning panel process and that almost £1 million had been put into the Council’s reserves.  The advice from the Section 151 Officer was that reserves of £10 million were required. In terms of scrutiny, he wanted to be as open and transparent as possible but there was always a question as to how much information should be provided to the opposition.  The Chief Executive added that it was important that there was a clear process that applied whatever the administration in relation to commissioning panel papers and that all Groups had access to that information as early as possible.  This was particularly important for groups to have the opportunity to set their budget proposals for next year (2014/15).  Time and support would be available to all Groups.

In terms of last year’s budget, the Leader advised that the Harrow Card had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 414.

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

RESOLVED:  At 9.57 pm to continue until 10.10 pm.