Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 17 November 2015 and the special meeting on 26 January 2016 be taken as read and signed as correct records.

RESOLVED:  That

(i)            the minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2015 be taken as read and signed as a correct record subject to the following amendment:

Page 103, 2 bullet point the word ‘organisation’ be amended to read ‘muslim organisation’.

(ii)               The minutes of the special meeting held on 26 January 2016 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

Questions will be asked in the order notice of them was received and there be a time limit of 15 minutes.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, Thursday 11 February 2016.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were put or petitions received

at this meeting.

There were none.

Report of the Corporate Director – Community.

The Chair introduced the report and explained that the draft Event Policy had been considered by the Committee at its meeting on 17 November 2015.  The Committee had asked for it to be re-presented at this meeting following the conclusion of the public consultation on the policy so that the final version to be presented to Cabinet could be considered.

The Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety presented the report and made the following points:

·                     prior to the development of this Policy, the way that organisations could apply to the Council to run an event in the borough was co-ordinated in a haphazard manner;

·                     the way in which events were applied for were dependent on which officer within the Council dealt with the matter and there was no policy and no guidance;

·                     Parks and Open spaces were valuable assets for the Council and it was important that these were maintained appropriately;

·                     as a result the Council has now drafted a Policy with clear guidance and which set out the Council’s aims and objectives;

·                     the purpose of the Policy was to empower local communities and organisations to manage events, ensure that they were aware of their responsibilities and encouraged others to run similar events in the borough;

·                     the draft Policy went out for public consultation in November 2015 and various changes were made to the policy as a result of the responses received to the public consultation.

The Environmental Services Manager – Community Engagement then addressed the Committee and set out various issues in relation to the consultation responses including:

·                     there had been approximately 180 to 190 responses to the public consultation;

·                     16% of the respondents had been from park user groups and 11% from other organisations.  52% of the total respondents agreed that the Policy was required and necessary;

·                     the timescale for applications to be made under the Policy had been reduced as a result of the consultation responses;

·                     in relation to application fees, 69% of respondents felt that there should be no fee for park friends groups and £20 was an appropriate fee for small charity events;

·                     the feedback had been considered and as a result it had been proposed that the application fee be changed to £50 and a concession of 80% be applied for events held by community organisations, schools, places of worship and registered charities;

·                     as part of the feedback the Council had also proposed that hire charges for small events should be £400, for medium size events £700 and for large size events £1,700;

·                     the forms to be used under the Policy had been simplified to make them more user friendly as a result of the feedback received;

·                     as a result of the consultation and as a result of the Council’s commitment to local groups there was no charge for specific civic events including Remembrance Sunday and religious events;

·                     it was important to note that the Council as a result of the Social Value Policy, a community fund had been established  ...  view the full minutes text for item 138.

Report of the Corporate Director – Resources and Commerical.

This Committee considered a report which set out the Corporate Plan for 2016 to 2019. The Corporate Plan was scheduled to be considered by Cabinet at its meeting on 18 February 2016.

The Portfolio Holder for Performance, Corporate Resources and Policy Development addressed the Committee and made the following points.

·                     the Corporate Plan set out the Council’s Strategy to deliver its vision of ‘Working Together to make a difference for Harrow’.  This would be achieved by building a better Harrow, being more business-like and business friendly and protecting the most vulnerable and supporting families;

·                     there would be approximately £1.75 billion coming into Harrow.  The focus was not just about regeneration but also to build capacity in the community by equipping them with skills, jobs etc;

·                     Local Government had changed and was changing.  In order for the Council to generate income and reduce its cost it had to become more commercial and share services with other authorities;

·                     a new set of values for staff had been proposed.  These included being courageous, doing things together and making things happen;

The following questions were made by Members and responded to accordingly:

·                     How would residents be involved in the regeneration projects across Harrow?

There was a Harrow Residents Panel which involved local residents and this ensured a continued dialogue between them and the Council in relation to various issues.  This Panel met bi-monthly and it had been integral in helping the Council make decisions on its Regeneration plans;

·                     The Corporate Plan proposed was completely different to the version agreed last year which had purported to cover the period 2015 to 2019.  There were significant differences and why was this?  Why did the Council not simply adopt a Corporate Plan year on year?

The Council’s overall priorities had not changed.  However Local Government and various circumstances had changed and it was important for the Corporate Plan to take account of this.  The Council had proposed a 3 year budget and it was important that the Corporate Plan aligned with this.  The Corporate Plan for this year focused on how the Council would deliver its priorities.

·                     How was the Council making best use of digital technology for residents to access services?  How would the Council ensure that those who required face to face interaction were still provided with this?

The Council was working hard to increase the number of services who could access services online.  The MyHarrow initiative had 90,000 users registered which provided a portal for residents to access services online.  The reality was that if residents made greater use of access to services online, this reduced costs for the Council.  The Council was trying to get residents who did have use of the internet to go online for services as this would then free up staff to focus on assisting those residents who required greater assistance and / or did not have access to the internet.

·                     There had been an instance where a Council email account in relation to Council Tax had been closed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 139.