Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any Substitute Members, in accordance with paragraph 4.12 of the Harrow Partnership Governance Handbook.

AGREED:  To (1) note the attendance of Chief Inspector Nick Davies of Safer Harrow Management Group, as substitute Member for Chief Superintendent Dal Babu;

(2)  note the apologies received.

(if any).

AGREED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests.

That the minutes of the Board Meeting held on 11 March 2010, be deferred until the next ordinary meeting of the Board.

AGREED:  That consideration of the minutes of the Board Meeting held on 11 March 2010 be deferred until the next ordinary meeting of the Board scheduled to be held on 15 June 2010.

Report of the Assistant Chief Executive, Harrow Council.

The Chairman thanked members for attending the special meeting at short notice, and mentioned that it had been convened to consider three areas where urgent decisions needed to be reached regarding the allocation of  grant funding.

The Chairman clarified that grant awards to other Groups would now be decided at the June 2010 meeting of the Board following the receipt of full business cases, as discussed and agreed at the ordinary meeting held on 11 March 2010.  He explained that the rules relating to the taking of decisions in the run up to the forthcoming local elections, known as the purdah period, had precluded the holding of a meeting in late April for the purposes of agreeing grant awards to all Groups.

The Board received a report, which set out the key elements of the Local Area Agreement (LAA) Reward Grant and the need to take urgent decisions in relation to the following:

§                     the award of a grant of £41,250 to meet salary costs relating to the work being undertaken by the Safer Harrow Management Group relating to Domestic Violence;

§                     the award of an initial payment of £40,000 to Harrow In Business to ensure its immediate future;

§                     release of the funds for partnership purposes for proposals from the Harrow Chief Executives.

Other grant awards would be paid in June following submission of full business cases.  Members of the Board were informed that templates for submission of full business cases at the 15 June 2010 meeting of the Board would be circulated to Management Group Chairs shortly.

A representative of Harrow In Business outlined why the organisation needed funding now to ensure its immediate survival.  The adverse economic climate and the demands being placed by local businesses on Harrow In Business for mentoring and general support were high.  He was of the view that Harrow was fast becoming a dormitory town, as businesses were moving out of the borough.  Inward investment was now crucial.  It was likely that, without an income stream, Harrow In Business would close in July 2010.

The Board noted that only two such enterprises existed in West London.  There was general support for the work carried out by Harrow In Business, and it was suggested a longer-term strategy was needed.  The Chairman voiced his support for the work carried out by Harrow In Business, and stated that the situation had been exacerbated due to the cancellation of the incubation programme planned for a site on Honeypot Lane which too had been hit by the recession.  A representative of the Further Education Sector offered assistance and undertook to explore with the representative of Harrow In Business on how they could work better together.

AGREED: That (1) urgent payments of £41,250 in respect of the costs of workers concerned with Domestic Violence, and £40,000 in respect of Harrow In Business be agreed;

(2)  the delegation to Harrow Chief Executives, agreed at the Partnership Board meeting on 11 March 2010, in relation to the partnership element  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

The next Board Meeting is scheduled for Tuesday 15 June 2010.

AGREED:  To note that the next meeting of the Board would be held on 15 June 2010.

AGREED:  To (1) note that the Partnership Board Development Day scheduled to be held on Thursday 25 March 2010 had been cancelled and would be held during the Summer;

(2) a meeting of the Harrow Chief Executives would now be held on 25 March 2010.