Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 5 Harrow Civic Centre

Contact: Alison Atherton, Senior Professional Democratic Services  Tel: 020 8424 1266 E-mail:  alison.atherton@harrow.gov.uk

Items
Note No. Item

53.

Appointment of Chairman and Members

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

(1)               To note the appointment of Councillors Anthony Seymour and Chris Mote as Members of the Sub-Committee in place of Councillors Osborn and Ferrari and Councillors Teli, Moshenson and Chauhan as Reserves in place of Councillors Wright, Chris Mote and Chana and in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 1.5, following notification from the Conservative Group;

 

(2)               that Councillor Chris Mote be appointed as Chair for the meeting.

54.

Attendance by Reserve Members

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.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no Reserve Members in attendance.

55.

Declarations of Interest

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 Sub-Committee;

(b)               all other Members present.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  To note that the following interests were declared:

 

Agenda Item 6 – Call In of the decision of the Portfolio Holder for Property and Major Contracts – Flash Musicals (Granting of Lease)

Councillor Margaret Davine, who was not a member of the Sub-Committee, declared a non pecuniary interest in that she was the Edgware ward councillor and had done some work with Flash Musicals.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

 

Councillor Kairul Kareema Marikar, who was not a member of the Sub?Committee, declared a non pecuniary interest in that she had attended film events at Flash Musicals.  She would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

 

Councillor Chris Mote declared a non pecuniary interest in that he had previous involvement with Flash Musicals whilst he was Leader of the Council in 2006.  He would remain in the room whilst the matter was considered and voted upon.

56.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 89 KB

That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 August 2013 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

Minutes:

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 August 2013, be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

Enc.

57.

Protocol for the Operation of the Call-In Sub-Committee pdf icon PDF 45 KB

Minutes:

The Chair drew attention to the document ‘Protocol for the Operation of the Call-In Sub-Committee’ and drew attention to paragraphs 5 and 8.  He outlined the procedure to be followed at the meeting and indicated that, with the Sub?Committee’s agreement, he would permit any members of the public who wished to speak on the issue, although there was no specific provision, to do so, as part of the signatories to the call in time allocation.

 

In accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 46.5, a notice seeking to invoke the call-in procedure must state at least one of the following grounds in support of the request for a call-in of the decision:-

 

(a)               inadequate consultation with stakeholders prior to the decision;

 

(b)               the absence of adequate evidence on which to base a decision;

 

(c)               the decision is contrary to the policy framework, or contrary to, or not wholly in accordance with the budget framework;

 

(d)               the action is not proportionate to the desired outcome;

 

(e)               a potential human rights challenge;

 

(f)                 insufficient consideration of legal and financial advice.

 

He informed the Sub-Committee that the grounds (a) - (f) had been cited on the Call In notice and had been deemed to be valid for the purposes of Call-In.

 

RESOLVED:  That the Call-In would be determined on the basis of the following grounds:

 

(a)               inadequate consultation with stakeholders prior to the decision;

 

(b)               the absence of adequate evidence on which to base a decision;

 

(c)               the decision was contrary to the policy framework, or contrary to, or not wholly in accordance with the budget framework;

 

(d)               the action was not proportionate to the desired outcome;

 

(e)               a potential human rights challenge;

 

(f)                 insufficient consideration of legal and financial advice.

RESOLVED ITEMS

58.

Call In of the Decision of the Portfolio Holder for Property and Major Contracts - Flash Musicals (Granting of Lease) pdf icon PDF 68 KB

The following documents are attached:

 

a)     Notice invoking the Call-in

 

b)     Decision Notice dated 16 September 2013

 

c)      Report submitted to the Portfolio Holder

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received the papers in respect of the call-in notice submitted by 6 Members of Council in relation to the decision made by the former Portfolio Holder for Property and Major Contracts on Flash Musicals (Granting of Lease).

 

The Chair advised the Sub-Committee that the former Portfolio Holder for Property and Major Contracts had indicated that he would not be in attendance at the meeting but that he had submitted a written statement which was available to those present at the meeting and attached at Appendix A to these minutes.  The Chair indicated that he would break for five minutes during the meeting to allow reading time.

 

The Chair invited the representative of the signatories, Councillor Bill Phillips, to present the reasons for the call in of the decision to the Sub-Committee.

 

Councillor Phillips circulated a written statement to members of the Sub?Committee which he read out and which is attached as appendix B to these minutes.  He stated the call in was focused on the process and the importance of treating all organisations equally.  It was recognised that there would always be winners and losers in any process but the former Portfolio Holder’s decision committed the Council to a 5 year contract and other groups had not been afforded the same opportunity.

 

Gerry Davine, Chair of Harrow Community Transport, stated that he was in attendance as the representative of an organisation that dealt with the Council in terms of community premises.  He expressed his concern about the allocations used to set grants.  He explained that his organisation had struggled in terms of community premises since the demise Harrow Association of Voluntary Service (HAVS) and stated that, in his view, there had not been an even handed approach in terms of assistance given by the Council.  He understood that Flash Musicals was an excellent and valued organisation but the process in this instance was of concern as it appeared that the amount being written off was close to the sum removed from the grants budget.  As a result of the Council’s budget savings several organisations had ceased to exist in Harrow and he stated that one organisation should not be permitted to have an increase in finances as a result.  The process for allocating funding should be fair and transparent and had an impact on the morale and effectiveness of the voluntary sector.

 

After allowing five minutes to allow Members and those present to read and consider the former Portfolio Holder’s tabled written statement, the Chair invited Councillor Phillips, as representative of the signatories, to make comments.

 

Councillor Phillips expressed the view that it would be unfair to comment on the statement in the absence of the former Portfolio Holder but it appeared that there had been a great deal of informality in relation to the arrangements in place.  He did accept that the decision appeared to be about tidying up history but stated that he would have liked to have had the opportunity to question the former  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Minutes Appendix A - Former PH Statement pdf icon PDF 100 KB

Minutes Appendix B - Reasons for Call-In Statement pdf icon PDF 93 KB