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 Member:-

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

(1)          the Declarations of Interests published in advance of the meeting on the Council’s website were taken as read and it be also noted that Councillor Jean Lammiman declared a non-pecuniary interest in relation to agenda item 7 in that she was Chair of Shaftesbury High School;

(2)          Members of the Committee and Co-opted Members who had declared interests remained in the virtual meeting whilst the matters were considered and voted upon.

In considering the minutes of the meeting held on 1 September 2020, a Member indicated that there appeared to be a suggestion that the Committee would be in favour of  the purchase of affordable homes and that this was not the view that was expressed.  Members agreed and acknowledged this clarification.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 2 June 2020 and the Special meetings held on 7 July 2020 and 1 September 2020 be taken as read and signed as correct records, subject to the following amendment:

2 June 2020 – Minute 108 – Declarations of Interest

Councillor Jeff Anderson received services from the Government, not the Council.

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 in which they were received.  There will be a time limit of 15 minutes for the asking and answering of public questions.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, 15 October 2020.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

None received.

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).

None.

The Chair welcomed the Leader of the Councillor and Portfolio Holder for Finance and Resources to the meeting.  The Chief Executive had submitted his apologies but had offered to meet with both the Chair and Vice-Chair if there were any issues that they wished to discuss.

Members received a presentation, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, from the Director of Strategy and Partnerships on the Council’s ongoing response to the COVID 19 pandemic  The Director outlined the content of the presentation, with particular focus on slide 5, and advised that Harrow had moved into Tier 2 of the Local Covid Alert Levels and that the situation was getting more challenging. In terms of the strategic response (slide 10), the expectation currently was that the situation would continue for a minimum of six months. He emphasised the issues of capacity and resilience of staff and flagged up that difficult decisions would need to be made in relation to the Council’s priorities. An update report would be given at Cabinet in November and officers were happy to report again to the Committee.

The Leader of the Council updated Members on the latest figures in terms of case numbers.  Whilst the Council was in a good position in terms of dealing with the second wave, it should be acknowledged that staff had not had a break from dealing with the ongoing pressures of the pandemic.  If infection rates across London did not reduce it was likely that Harrow, along with the other boroughs, would move into Tier 3.

In response to a Member’s question about moving between tiers of restrictions, the Leader advised that it had been agreed, across London, that it would be easier to proceed as one city to ensure commonality of communications and therefore Harrow would not seek a differentiated approach.  He acknowledged that financial support in Tier 2 would be an issue. Currently, the Council was seeking to guide residents and businesses and was making preparations in terms of Adult Social Care and the community food offer but the detailed work on which services to either prioritise or close had not been completed.  The Director added that services would need to be delivered within both financial and staff resources whilst at the same time continuing to keep staff motivated.  Innovation in the way services were delivered may be required.

Concern was expressed in relation to the resilience and wellbeing of staff and clarification sought on the measures that had been put in place to address this.  The Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development (HROD) explained that, in addition to the individual risk assessments and constant reviews, the staff Pulse survey would gauge the progress that had been made now that the level of support had improved by way of IT and the successful rollout of MS Teams.  There was now a focus on wellbeing and mental health with a series of webinars due to be launched.  It was recognised that staff maybe experiencing increased levels  ...  view the full minutes text for item 133.

Presentation from the Director of Strategy and Partnerships.

Members received a presentation on the Borough Plan Update from the Director of Strategy and Partnerships, which set out the next steps and proposed changes to the Plan.

The Director reported that the significant change to the plan was a new cross cutting priority on racial disproportionality and this change to the plan would be a recommendation to Cabinet in November. The non-Executive member of Cabinet and political lead for the Plan explained how it reinforced the need for prioritisation. Delays to the original timelines were due to the pandemic and there would be an update to the delivery plan submitted to Cabinet in due course.

Members were advised that, as an organisation, the Council would need to prioritise what needed to be delivered as a result of COVID 19 whilst at the same time maintaining other services.  Value had been added to each of the Council’s eight priorities despite the pandemic, for example, health integration had accelerated.

RESOLVED:  That the presentation be noted.

Presentation from the Director of Strategy and Partnerships.

Members received a presentation on the Equalities, Diversity and Inclusion Strategic Framework and the response to Black Lives Matter.

The Director of Strategy and Partnerships reported that there was a fundamental change in approach in how equalities, diversity and inclusion would be dealt with and he provided an update on the response to the three stranded approach to Black Lives Matters; address inequality in life outcomes, review of services and action as an employer.  Patrick Vernon OBE had been appointed to assist in this work.

The Portfolio Holder, Environment, in her role as Chair of the cross party Member Group, reported that work on the third strand, action as an employer, had commenced.  She explained that 1-1s had been carried out to ensure that views were captured.  She emphasised that the Black Lives Matter Staff Group was open to all staff and she would welcome input, ideas and discussion points.  The Director of HROD added that the Black Lives Matter Staff Group had received a positive response and that there was considerable participation by non BAME staff.

A Member questioned whether the historic lack of BAME senior staff had been considered and was advised that it would take time to address this.  The Director of HROD advised that Harrow’s underlying position was progressive if the management grades were considered more generally.  Black staff were, however, disproportionally represented in more junior grades of the organisation.

In response to a Member’s question about the Equalities Impact section in Committee reports, the Director of HROD advised that the need for meaningful Equalities Impact Assessments (EqIAs)  had been identified as a subject for consideration by the Equalities sub-group. The Director of Strategy and Partnerships added that the framework of EqIAs had been refined over time and that there needed to be a culture rather than process shift.

In summary, following the discussion both on the strategic framework and Borough Plan, the Committee broadly felt that the Council was on the right track, particularly in relation to equality and looked forward to seeing the Plan progress to Cabinet and Council and to reviewing it over the next 10 years.

RESOLVED:  That the presentation be noted.

Report of the Director of Strategy and Partnerships.

Members received a report which provided the refreshed Scrutiny Work Programme for 2020/21 to 2021/22, as developed by the Scrutiny Leadership Group which comprised the chairs and vice-chairs of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and its sub-committees, and also the Scrutiny Lead members.

The Chair indicated that Members should advise either him or the Vice-Chair if there were topics/areas of work that should be included in the work programme.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)            the refreshed Scrutiny Work Programme to guide Harrow scrutiny’s work for 2020/21 to 2021/22 be approved;

(2)            the Council be requested to endorse the Scrutiny Work Programme 2020/21 to 2021/22 to Full Council for endorsement.

Report of the Director of Strategy and Partnerships.

Members received the Scrutiny Annual Report for 2019-20, as developed by the Scrutiny Leadership Group which comprised the chairs and vice-chairs of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and its sub-committees, and also the Scrutiny Lead members.

All Members agreed that the new style and format of the report was an improvement and they acknowledged the work of officers in making the changes. The report demonstrated the value of scrutiny.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)            the Scrutiny Annual Report 2019-20 be agreed;

(2)            Council be requested to endorse the Scrutiny Annual Report 2019-20.