To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

• Councillor Rofique U Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Regeneration
• Councillor Shahed Ali, Cabinet Member for Environment
• Councillor Rania Khan, Cabinet Member for Culture

• Councillor Oliur Rahman, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services
• Ms Jackie Odunoye, Acting Director for Development & Renewal

Noted.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

• Councillor Rofique U Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Regeneration
• Councillor Shahed Ali, Cabinet Member for Environment
• Councillor Rania Khan, Cabinet Member for Culture

• Councillor Oliur Rahman, Cabinet Member for Children’s Services
• Ms Jackie Odunoye, Acting Director for Development & Renewal

Noted.

To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992.  See attached note from the Chief Executive.

No declarations of personal or prejudicial interest were made.

No declarations of personal or prejudicial interest were made pertaining to the unrestricted business to be considered in Section One of the proceedings.

The unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Cabinet held on 5^th October 2011 are attached.

Decision

That the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Cabinet held on 5^th October 2011 be approved and signed by the Mayor, as a correct record of the proceedings.

Action by:

ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE - LEGAL SERVICES (I. FREEMAN)

Executive Team Leader, Democratic Services, Chief Executive’s (A. Ingram)

The unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Cabinet held on 5^th October 2011 had been circulated for information.  (Agenda – 2^nd November Cabinet).

To receive any petitions.

Nil items.

The Clerk advised that the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services) had received no requests for petitions in respect of the business contained in the agenda.

To receive any advice of key issues or questions in relation to the unrestricted business to be considered, arising from the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 1^st November 2011.

Nil items.

Councillor Ann Jackson, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (OCS) addressed Members of the Cabinet:

·                    Reporting comments arising from OSC consideration of a presentation on Raising Attainment and expressing the Committee’s satisfaction with improved GCSE successes in the Borough as linked with the report on improving educational aspiration and attainment to be considered by Cabinet.

·                    Reporting comments arising from OSC consideration of a presentation on meeting Public Sector equality duty aimed at the discussion and resolution of complaints at a local level before they became adversarial in nature.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Jackson for presenting the contribution of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.  The Mayor then agreed the following:

Decision

That the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee in relation to Agenda Item 7.2”2011 Provisional Results: Improving Educational Aspiration and Attainment” be noted, and that these be given consideration during the Cabinet deliberation of the item of business to which the comments relate.   

(Under provisions of Article 6 Para 6.02 V of the Constitution).

Nil items.

Nil items.

The Mayor reported that Councillor Ann Jackson, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, had indicated that no unrestricted decisions had been “Called In” by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee at its meeting held on 1^st November 2011.

Noted.

Decision

1. That the Council’s continued opposition to Thames Water’s proposal to provide a connection to the proposed tunnel in the foreshore of King Edward Memorial Park, together with the Council’s support for the continued consideration of an alternative scheme be confirmed .

2. That the Corporate Director of Communities Localities and Culture be authorised to engage additional specialist advisors as appropriate to scrutinise the information provided by Thames Water as part of their stage two consultation

3. That it be noted that a report will be brought to the 8^th February 2012 Cabinet meeting presenting the results of that scrutiny so that a formal response to Thames Water consultation can be agreed

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR COMMUNITIES CULTURE AND LOCALITIES (S.HALSEY)

Interim Service Head Culture, Learning and Leisure (Heather Bonfield)

Mr Stephen Halsey, Corporate Director Communities, Localities and Culture, at the request of the Mayor, in introducing the report referred to the alternative proposals under consideration by Thames Water, who would announce details of their preferred scheme on 3^rd November 2011.  He added that a technical report comprising an independent assessment of the scheme, as prepared by Dr Nigel Legge, had been circulated to Cabinet Members as a supplemental agenda, as it had not been made available to the Council until 28^th October 2011 and had been treated as an urgent item.

Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources, at the request of the Mayor, in summarising key points of the report, commented that much work was required with the community to help prepare the Council’s case and ensure the transparency of the decision-making process with Thames Water. 

The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

Decision

1. That the Council’s continued opposition to Thames Water’s proposal to provide a connection to the proposed tunnel in the foreshore of King Edward Memorial Park, together with the Council’s support for the continued consideration of an alternative scheme be confirmed .

2. That the Corporate Director of Communities Localities and Culture be authorised to engage additional specialist advisors as appropriate to scrutinise the information provided by Thames Water as part of their stage two consultation

3. That it be noted that a report will be brought to the 8^th February 2012 Cabinet meeting presenting the results of that scrutiny so that a formal response to Thames Water consultation can be agreed

Reasons for Decisions

These are detailed in paragraph 3.1 of the report (CAB 044/112).

Alternative Options

These are detailed in paragraph 4.1 of the report (CAB 044/112).

Decision

1.         That the adoption of capital estimates be approved for the batch 4 schemes as set out in paragraph 6.1 of the report (CAB045/112) and entry be approved by the Council into Design and Build Contracts, ICT Services Contracts, Facility Management Agreements for Bow School, George Greens and Beatrice Tate School.

2.         That authority be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services) to enter into contract, along with any documents incidental to these BSF schemes, once the terms of each agreement or document has been agreed by the Corporate Director Development and Renewal in consultation with the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services), provided and conditional upon the LEP’s capital estimates for each scheme being within the Council’s affordability envelope.

3.         That officers be authorised to explore the use of the remainder of Southern Grove site and existing Beatrice Tate site for housing and report back to Cabinet with options within six months.

4.         That the Acting Director of Development & Renewal be authorised, after consultation with the Corporate Director Resources and the Cabinet Member for Resources, to resolve the financing of the funding gap with a view to maximising use of available capital resources and subject to any required confirmation in the annual budget process going forward.

5.      That officers be authorised to explore possible options for the existing Bow School site of the school onto Bow Lock, the options to be considered are for continued education use and/or housing.

Action by:

INTERIM CORPORATE DIRECTOR DEVELOPMENT AND RENEWAL (J. ODUNOYE)

Service Head, Strategic Property and Capital Delivery (Ann Sutcliffe)

Ms Isobel Cattermole, Acting Corporate Director, Children, Schools & Families, at the request of the Mayor, in introducing the report, briefly summarised the key points contained therein.

The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

Decision

1.         That the adoption of capital estimates be approved for the batch 4 schemes as set out in paragraph 6.1 of the report (CAB045/112) and entry be approved by the Council into Design and Build Contracts, ICT Services Contracts, Facility Management Agreements for Bow School, George Greens and Beatrice Tate School.

2.         That authority be delegated to the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services) to enter into contract, along with any documents incidental to these BSF schemes, once the terms of each agreement or document has been agreed by the Corporate Director Development and Renewal in consultation with the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services), provided and conditional upon the LEP’s capital estimates for each scheme being within the Council’s affordability envelope.

3.         That officers be authorised to explore the use of the remainder of Southern Grove site and existing Beatrice Tate site for housing and report back to Cabinet with options within six months.

4.         That the Acting Director of Development & Renewal be authorised, after consultation with the Corporate Director Resources and the Cabinet Member for Resources, to resolve the financing of the funding gap with a view to maximising use of available capital resources and subject to any required confirmation in the annual budget process going forward.

5.      That officers be authorised to explore possible options for the existing Bow School site of the school onto Bow Lock, the options to be considered are for continued education use and/or housing.

Reasons for decisions

These are detailed in paragraphs 3.1 to 3.5 of the report (CAB 045/112).

Alternative Options Considered

These are detailed in paragraphs 4.1 to 4.2 of the report (CAB 045/112).

Councillor Ohid Ahmed proposed an amendment which was agreed unanimously as follows:

“That in the light of your and this administration’s priorities I would like to replace the table of information contained in paragraph 6.6 of the report with two interventions as shown below.”

Decision

1.      That the provisional education results set out in the amended report (CAB 046/112) be noted.

2.      That one-off additional funding of £400,000 be vired from an education reserve, to deliver school improvement interventions across the Council’s post-16 school providers to raise attainment.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR CHILDREN SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES (I. CATTERMOLE)

Service Head Learning and Achievement (Anne Canning)

Ms Isobel Cattermole, Acting Corporate Director, Children, Schools & Families, at the request of the Mayor, in introducing the report:

• Briefly summarised the key points contained therein.
• Addressed the matters raised by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 1^st November 2011, in relation to the report as reported by the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee earlier in the proceedings.

Councillor Ohid Ahmed thanked the Mayor and his colleagues, together with staff and teachers in achieving improved GCSE results and proposed an amendment which was agreed unanimously as follows:

“That in the light of your and this administration’s priorities I would like to replace the table of information contained in paragraph 6.6 of the report with two interventions as shown below.”

The Mayor referred to comments made in connection with examination results at Tower Hamlets College and indicated that he had brought the matter to the attention of the College’s Governing Body. Improvements were required accordingly.

The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the amended report.

Decision

1.      That the provisional education results set out in the amended report (CAB 046/112) be noted.

2.      That one-off additional funding of £400,000 be vired from an education reserve, to deliver school improvement interventions across the Council’s post-16 school providers to raise attainment.

Reasons for Decisions

These are detailed in paragraphs 3.1 to 3.2 of the report (CAB 046/112).

Alternative Options Considered

These are detailed in paragraphs 4.1 to 4.2 of the report (CAB 046/112).

Decision

1.         That the Council operate the discretionary awards scheme set out in section 6 of the report (CAB 047/112) and Appendix 2 thereof.

2.         That the Council make discretionary awards only to persons who satisfy the criteria set out in Appendix 2 of the report (CAB 047/112)

3.                  That the virement of £0.374m from the Children, Schools and Families reserve (CO12) be agreed to fund the discretionary awards scheme in 2011/2012.

4.                  That the Director of Resources bring forward proposals as part of the Medium Term Financial Plan 2012-15 to fund the balance of the costs of the first two years of the scheme from other earmarked reserves.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR CHILDREN SCHOOLS AND FAMILIES (I. CATTERMOLE)

Service Head Learning and Achievement (Anne Canning) and Head of Secondary Learning and Achievement (Di Warne)

Ms Isobel Cattermole, Acting Corporate Director Children, Schools & Families, at the request of the Chair, in introducing the report:

• Apologised for the report being unavailable until the previous night as final confirmation of funding from the Young People’s Learning Agency (YPLA) for the national bursary had only recently been received.  Accordingly, the report had been treated as an urgent item. 
• Briefly summarised the key points contained therein.

The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

Decision

1.         That the Council operate the discretionary awards scheme set out in section 6 of the report (CAB 047/112) and Appendix 2 thereof.

2.         That the Council make discretionary awards only to persons who satisfy the criteria set out in Appendix 2 of the report (CAB 047/112)

3.                  That the virement of £0.374m from the Children, Schools and Families reserve (CO12) be agreed to fund the discretionary awards scheme in 2011/2012.

4.                  That the Director of Resources bring forward proposals as part of the Medium Term Financial Plan 2012-15 to fund the balance of the costs of the first two years of the scheme from other earmarked reserves.

Reasons for Decisions

These are detailed in paragraphs 3.1 to 3.2 of the report (CAB 047/112).

Alternative Options Considered

These are detailed in paragraph 4.1 of the report (CAB 047/112).

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Decision

1.      That the Promoting Independence Strategy be agreed as presented at Appendix 1 of the report (CAB 048/112).

2.      That it be noted that the recommendations within the Strategy cannot be delivered by the Adults Health and Wellbeing Directorate alone and it be also noted that further work is planned to link the strategy to key related activities and strategies across the Council and NHS over the coming 12 months.

Action by:

INTERIM CORPORATE DIRECTOR, ADULTS HEALTH AND WELLBEING (S. CODY)

Service Head Commissioning and Strategy (Deborah Cohen)

Councillor Abdul Asad, Cabinet Member for Health & Wellbeing, at the request of the Mayor, in introducing the report, summarised the key points contained therein.  He added that the proposals were aimed at helping vulnerable people access services and enable them to stay in their own homes with less formal care support arrangements and would be within existing budget provision.

The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

Decision

1.                  That the Promoting Independence Strategy be agreed as presented at Appendix 1 of the report (CAB 048/112).

2.                  That it be noted that the recommendations within the Strategy cannot be delivered by the Adults Health and Wellbeing Directorate alone and it be also noted that further work is planned to link the strategy to key related activities and strategies across the Council and NHS over the coming 12 months.

Reasons for Decisions

These are detailed in paragraphs 3.1 to 3.3 of the report (CAB 048/112).

Alternative Options Considered

These are detailed in paragraphs 4.1 to 4.3 of the report (048/112).

Decision

1.      That Cabinet note the contract forward plan summary at Appendix 1, and identify those contracts about which specific reports – relating either to contracting strategy or to contract award – should be brought before Cabinet prior to contract award by the appropriate Chief Officer for the service area;

2.      That the relevant Corporate Director who holds the budget for the service area to award the contract or contracts, following consultation with the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services), be authorised to arrange for the execution of all necessary contract documents.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR RESOURCES (C. NAYLOR)

Service Head Procurement and Corporate Programmes (Richard Parsons)

Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources, at the request of the Mayor, in introducing the report, summarised the key points contained therein.

The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

Decision

1.      That Cabinet note the contract forward plan summary at Appendix 1, and identify those contracts about which specific reports – relating either to contracting strategy or to contract award – should be brought before Cabinet prior to contract award by the appropriate Chief Officer for the service area;

2.      That the relevant Corporate Director who holds the budget for the service area to award the contract or contracts, following consultation with the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal Services), be authorised to arrange for the execution of all necessary contract documents.

Reasons for Decisions

These are detailed in paragraph 3.1 of the report (CAB 049/112).

Alternative Options Considered

These are detailed in paragraph 4.1 of the report (CAB 049/112).

To consider any other unrestricted business that the Mayor considers to be urgent.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Decision

That the exercise of Corporate Directors’ discretions as set out in Appendix 1 of the report (CAB 050/112) be noted.

Action by:

CORPORATE DIRECTOR RESOURCES (C. NAYLOR)

Chief Financial Strategy Officer (Oladapo Shonola)

 Finance Officer (Lisa Stone)

The Mayor agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

Decision

That the exercise of Corporate Directors’ discretions as set out in Appendix 1 of the report (CAB 050/112) be noted.

Reasons for Decision

These are detailed in paragraphs 3.1 to 3.2 of the report (CAB 050/112).

Alternative Options Considered

These are detailed in paragraphs 4.1 to 4.2 of the report (CAB 050/112).

In view of the contents of the remaining items on the agenda, the Committee is recommended to adopt the following motion:

“That, under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act, 1972 as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act, 1985, the Press and Public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting for the consideration of the Section Two business on the grounds that it contains information defined as Exempt in Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Local Government, Act 1972”.

EXEMPT/CONFIDENTIAL SECTION (PINK)

Nil items.

The agenda circulated contained no Section Two business (Business containing information defined as exempt or confidential in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972.  There was therefore no requirement to exclude the press and public under the provisions of Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985, to allow for consideration of such business prior to the conclusion of the meeting.

SUMMARY OF EXEMPT PROCEEDINGS

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

(Under provisions of Article 6 Para 6.02 V of the Constitution).

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

To consider any other exempt/ confidential business that the Mayor considers to be urgent.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.

Nil items.