Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2017 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 December 2017 be taken as read and signed as a correct record, subject to the following amendments:

Delete the following sentence in paragraph 7, page 12

‘Statistics showed that the level of adverse health indicators in Pinner South Ward was high.’

Amend the resolution on page 13 to read:

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          a reference be sent to Cabinet requesting that Green Gyms be installed in deprived areas such as Wealdstone and Queensbury -  specifically in the Whitefriars Open Space, Weald Village and the open space by Artisan Place area, and these be funded from the 15% CIL (Community Infrastructure Levy) which would be received from new developments;

(2)          the report be noted.

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,

Wednesday 14 March 2018.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED: To note that none were received.

RESOLVED: To note that none were received.

Report of the Director of Finance.

The Sub-Committee received the Revenue and Capital monitoring report of the Director of Finance, which had been considered at the 15^th of February 2018 Cabinet meeting.

Members asked the following questions and officers provided the following responses:

·                     Page 23 Paragraph 2.5 of the agenda -  What actions were the dedicated HR resource team taking and could these be applied to other areas of the Council such as the Resources Directorate?

Officers in the Community Directorate, specifically in Waste Services were working closely with HR colleagues to review all long-term sickness cases to ensure that all cases were dealt with in accordance with the Council’s protocols and procedures relating to sickness absence.  A  recent case of long-term illness in the Resources Directorate was skewing the statistics for that Directorate.  The dedicated HR staff member would be working closely with managers in Waste Services to review the incidences of long-term sickness absence, providing additional training for assistant managers regarding the Council’s sickness absence policy and implementing monthly monitoring reports and sickness logs in the Community Directorate to help monitor the situation.  The person was also reviewing and amending processes and forms relating to sickness absence, to make them more user-friendly.

·                     Were these incidences of long-term sickness absence in the Community Directorate work-related ie due to lifting heavy equipment or other physical activity?  If so, what was being done to address this?

The Director of Finance undertook to circulate more detailed information regarding the matter to Members after the meeting.

·                     Page 35 Para 3.12 -  which Green Grid projects would not go ahead and how much had been saved on the current year’s projects?

The Director of Finance advised that the proposed projects at Rayners Mead, Roxbourne and a number of others sites had been reprogrammed and would be progressed in 2018/19.  The savings made amounted to approximately £38k.

·                     Page 47 Savings Tracker PA_10A - Why had these savings not been achieved ?

These savings were linked to the Pilot Community Tender Model in Adult services where, as part of its community engagement strategy,  the Council sought to commission third sector groups to run the Council’s Neighbourhood Resource Centres such as Milmans and Kenmore and had anticipated achieving  significant savings from this venture.  However, the project had been beset by number of challenges relating to transportation costs.  These items would be removed from the 2018/19 budget with a view to re-instating them into the budget at a later date.

·                     Page 59 CP Summary -  What projects had been dropped or delayed due to reduction in Transport capital spending?

The outcome of the Council’s bids for TfL LIP funding was usually announced after the Council’s annual budget setting process.  The amount allocated by TfL in 2018/19 had been less than the amount projected in the budget, and officers had therefore been obliged to adjust the budget accordingly.  The Director of Finance undertook to circulate information to Members detailing those projects which had been dropped or delayed as a consequence.

·                     Was there a time  ...  view the full minutes text for item 114.

Report of the Divisional Director – Housing Services.

The Sub-Committee received a report of the Divisional Director Housing Services which provided an update on the recommendations of the Homelessness Scrutiny Review Challenge Panel which was presented to Cabinet on 8 December 2016.

Members asked the following questions and officers provided the following responses:

·                     What would be the next phase following the Homelessness Reduction Act?  What information had been presented to Cabinet regarding this?

An officer advised that the 5-year Homelessness Strategy would have input from the Corporate Strategy Board and the Housing Service would be focussed on formulating prevention strategies.  Officers anticipated increased rates of referral to the Service.

·                     With regard to the completion of the Skills Escalator Programme - were these fixed term projects with grant funding?

An officer responded that bids for new projects were in the pipeline and the Housing team was working closely with the Xcite Employment Programme to support the homeless back into work.

·                     What did the phrase ‘supported back into work’ mean and how was its effectiveness  measured?

An officer stated that many homeless individuals had either not worked for some time or had never worked before.  These individuals were offered a programme of skills, language and other types of training to get them into work.  The officer undertook to circulate some case studies to Members after the meeting.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

To resolve that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business, on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence, or of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972:

RESOLVED:  That the press & public be excluded during consideration of Appendix 5 of the report ‘Revenue and Capital Monitoring 2017/18 – Quarter 3 as at 31 December 2017’.