Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 12 May 2015 be agreed as a correct record.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Anne Hutton, who was substituted by Councillor Dr Devra Kay, and Councillor Arjun Mittra, who was substituted by Councillor Ammar Naqvi.

The following interest was declared:

There was 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.

There were none.

The Education and Skills Director, Ian Harrison, was invited by the Chairman to discuss how Barnet is performing in respect to school results. An update was provided on how Barnet is performing in respect to school results, with attention paid to Primary Schools, Key Stage 2, Secondary Schools and Key Stage 5. 

Following discussion of the issue Councillor Finn moved a motion to request that the following be added to Recommendation 1:

-       That the Committee request the Children, Education, Libraries and Safeguarding Committee to consider catchment areas in a more logical way, with a focus on how children living in roads nearby schools can be better considered within the school allocation process.

The motion was duly seconded by Councillor Zinkin. The Committee voted on the motion, with votes recorded as follows:

The motion was therefore carried.

The Assistant Director of Finance for CSG, Paul Thorogood, was invited by the Chairman to provide an overview of the Council’s budget, with attention paid to meeting service targets, service budgets and the whole Council budget. The Adults and Communities Director was then invited by the Chairman to provide an overview of how the Adults and Communities delivery unit is performing in respect to meeting budgetary targets.

Following discussion of the issue Councillor Finn moved a motion to request that the following be added to the recommendations:

-       That the Committee request that the recovery plan for the Adults and Communities delivery unit be shared at the next meeting of the Committee.

The motion was duly seconded by Councillor Zinkin. The Committee unanimously agreed the motion, therefore meaning that the motion was carried.

The Assistant Director of Finance for CSG provided an overview of the financial issues that the Family Services (which sits within Children’s Service) is facing.

The Director of Operations for Barnet Homes, Derek Rust, was invited by the Chairman to provide an overview of Housing performance. The Committee specifically considered the Empty Homes Strategy and the financial performance of Barnet Homes.

The Street Scene Director, Lynn Bishop, was invited by the Committee to provide an overview of the performance of waste and recycling services.

The Chairman then introduced the performance of Public Health. The Committee discussed the take of Health Checks in the borough.

Following discussion of the issue, Councillor Finn moved a motion to request that the following be added to Recommendation 1:

-       That the Committee request the Health and Wellbeing Board to consider how the take up of Health Checks can be improved.

The motion was duly seconded by Councillor Khatri. The Committee unanimously agreed the motion, therefore meaning that the motion was carried.

The Head of Customer Strategy and Programmes was invited by the Committee to provide an overview of customer perception performance.

The Chairman then moved to the recommendations. Votes were recorded as follows:

The following was therefore resolved:

1.     The Committee is asked to agree the following referrals to other committees:

The Chairman introduced the item, which related to Members’ Enquiries. The Customer Services Operations Director, Jim Gibbs, was invited by the Chairman to answer questions relating to the item.

Following discussion of the item, the Committee agreed to defer the item until the next meeting of the Committee due to there being insufficient time to consider the item at this meeting.

The Chairman introduced the item, which related to the forward work programme for the Committee.

Following discussion of the item, the Committee RESOLVED – to note the items included in the 2015/16 work programme.

There were none.