Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 19^th July 2018 be agreed as a correct record.

Apologies were received from Councillor Anthony Finn, substituted at this meeting by Councillor Gabriel Rozenberg.

Apologies were received from Councillor Sachin Rajput.

None.

Details of the questions asked and the published answers were provided with the agenda papers for the meeting. Verbal responses were given to supplementary questions at the meeting.

Public comments were made by the following:

·         Mr Nick Dixon – Item 9, 2018/19 Strategic Performance Report

·         Mr Derek Dishman – Item 14, Saracens Loan Agreement

·         Ms Theresa Musgrove – Item 14, Saracens Loan Agreement

·         Ms Barbara Johnson - Item 14, Saracens Loan Agreement

None.

The Director of Finance presented the Saracens Loan Agreement report to the Committee. The report sought authorisation to make a loan of £22.9 million plus fees (estimated at less than 1% of the loan value) to Saracens at a commercial rate for a period of 30 years to enable the construction of a new West Stand as part of the Allianz Park Stadium at Copthall. The report summarised the outcome of the due diligence and assurances work conducted.

Upon being put to the vote, recommendation 1 was unanimously agreed by the Committee.

Upon being put to the vote the remaining recommendations (2-4) as set out in the public report were agreed. The vote was recorded as follows:

*Councillor Dean Cohen was absent from the vote and disclosed a personal interest in this item at the start of the meeting.

The Chairman used his casting vote to approve the recommendations.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1.    Notes the outcome of the due diligence undertaken since July 2018, and the further assurances offered by Saracens, summarised in this report and detailed in the accompanying exempt report.

2.    Authorises the Deputy Chief Executive to take all reasonable steps to prepare to enter into a loan agreement with Saracens Copthall LLP for the provision of a new West Stand as part of the Allianz Park stadium at Copthall.

3.    Subject to:

-       The satisfactory completion of audits referred to in paragraph 2.20,

-       Council agreeing the relevant amendments to the Treasury Management Strategy (TMSS), and

-       Inclusion within the legal documentation of the assurances set out in the exempt report.

Authorises the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, to enter into a loan agreement with Saracens Copthall LLP for £22.9m plus and amount for fees estimated to be less than 1% of the loan value, repayable over 30 years at an interest of 6%, for the purpose of constructing a replacement west stand as part of their Allianz Park stadium at Copthall.

4.    Notes that these monies are anticipated to be borrowed by the Council from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) and that the estimated PWLB loan rate as of 12 October 2018 was 2.93%.

RESOLVED that under Section 10A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragrpahs 2 and 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act (as amended).

RESOLVED – that the information contained in the exempt report be noted.

Re-admission of the public was allowed at this point, for all the remaining public items.

The Committee considered the report which sought authority to amend the capital programme in relation to capital additions, deletions, slippage and accelerated spend. The report also sought approval from the committee for allocations from contingency over £250,000 in line with the Council’s financial regulations.

Upon being put to the vote the Committee unanimously agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1.    Approves the Capital additions, deletions, slippage & accelerated spend contained within Appendix A.

2.    Approves the allocations from contingency contained within section 1.2.19 of this report.

3.    Approves the write offs in excess of £5k contained within section 1.2.5 of this report.

4.    Notes the updated Capital Programme contained within Appendix B.

5.    Notes the update on the capital receipts position outlined in section 1.4.13.

The Head of the Treasury introduced the report which outlined the TMSS Out-turn report 2017-18 and the TMMS Mid-year report for 2018-19. The report also sought authorisation to recommend to Council the amended appendix 5.3 Credit and Counterparty Risk Management to the 2018-19 TMSS as highlighted in appendix 3.

The Head of Treasury updated the Committee that the main change was that the capital expenditure was lower than the original projection which was due to projects being deferred to future years.

Upon being put to the vote recommendations 1 and 2 were unanimously agreed.

Upon being put to the vote recommendation 3 was agreed. The vote was recorded as follows:

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1.    Noted the TMSS Out-turn report for 2017-18 (appendix 1)

2.    Noted the TMSS Mid-year report for 2018-19 (appendix 2)

3.    Recommend to Council the amended appendix 5.3 Credit and Counterparty Risk Management to the 2018-19 TMSS as highlighted in appendix 3.

The Director of Finance introduced the report on the Strategic Overview of the performance for Quarter 1 2018/19 focusing on financial and staffing information, as well as performance and risk information related to the corporate priorities in the Corporate Plan 2018/19 Addendum.

Upon being put to the vote, the Committee unanimously agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1. The Committee is asked to note the Period 5 (August 2018) revenue and capital forecasts.

2. The Committee is asked to note the savings delivered in Period 5 (August 2018).

3. The Committee is asked to scrutinise the performance and risk information related to the corporate priorities in the Corporate Plan 2018/19 Addendum, including the strategic and high-level service/joint risks that form the corporate risk register at Appendix A.

The Committee considered the reported which provided them with an update on the Statement of Community Involvement to reflect further reforms to the planning system including the introduction of Permission to Principle and clarity on how the community can get involved.

Upon being put to the vote the Committee unanimously agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED that the committee:

1.    Considered the consultation response to the draft Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and agrees the changes to the SCI outlined in the Responses to Representations Report at Appendix B.

2.    Agreed the adoption of the Statement of Community Involvement (Appendix A) and delegates authority to the Deputy Chief Executive to make any necessary changes of a minor nature to the final wording of the SCI in consultation with the Leader before the final version of the SCI is published.

The Committee considered the report on the draft Station Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) which set out the approach for delivering a new station which will be equipped to serve the increased growth and development in the area.

The Committee asked if Barnet Homes could be involved in bidding for the 50% affordable housing across the SPD site area. Officers said it was unlikely that Barnet Homes would be able to operate to such a scale, but they would bring this up during future discussions with TFL.

Upon being put to the vote the Committee unanimously agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1. That the Committee considers the contents of the draft Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) attached at Appendix A.

2. That the Committee having considered the contents approves the draft SPD as the basis for public consultation. The SPD will then return to the Committee

with the consultation responses.

3. That the Committee delegates authority to the Deputy Chief Executive to make any necessary changes of a minor nature to the draft SPD in consultation with the Leader prior to public consultation.

The Committee considered the report which provided them with an update on the re-tendering of care and support services at Wood Court.

Following discussion of the report, the Committee unanimously noted the progress.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

Noted the progress on the re-procurement of care and support services for the extra care service at Wood Court.

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The Committee considered the report which provided them with an update on the Universal credit roll out in Barnet and Hendon Jobcentres.

The Committee noted that the 10% of Barnet Claimants who do not have their Universal Credit in payment within 9 weeks is a serious issue as this can lead to great financial difficult.

Following discussion of the item the Committee unanimously agreed to note the update.

RESOLVED that:

The Committee noted the update on the Universal Credit roll out.

The Strategic Director for Environment introduced the report to the Committee. The report sought approval of the draft Local Implementation Plan (LIP) together with the LIP Annual Spending Submission for 2019/20. The Committee were asked to agree that, following consultation, the Environment Committee make the decision to agree the final draft version of the LIP, to allow compliance with the timetable for the LIP submission.

Upon being put to the vote the Committee unanimously agreed the recommendations as set out in the report.

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1.    Approve the draft Local Implementation Plan for public consultation including with Transport for London.

2.    To approve the schemes identified in the Local Implementation Plan Annual Spending Submissions for 2019/20.

3.    That the Policy and Resources Committee agree that, following consultation and receipt of TFL recommendations, the Environment Committee make the decision to agree the final draft version of the LIP for submission to the Mayor of London for approval.

This item was withdrawn from the agenda before publication.

The Committee noted the Forward Work Programme.

None.

None.

The meeting finished at 21.21