Council decisions

To authorise the private treaty acquisition at a purchase price of £375,000 for 6a Layfield Road, Barnet, NW4 3UG. In accordance with associated costs as mentioned in this report, and Heads of Terms to be agreed in respect of this property.

To authorise the private treaty acquisition at a purchase price of £270,000 for 102 Cromwell Road, London, N10 2PJ. In accordance with associated costs as mentioned in this report, and Heads of Terms to be agreed in respect of this property.

The Assistant Director Capital Strategy, Matthew Waters, introduced the report which requested that the Committee agree changes to Area Committees in respect of:

·         Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) budget allocations; and

·         CIL funding eligibility guidelines, funding priorities and application guidelines (subject to public consultation being undertaken and considered by Area Committees prior to adoption / inclusion).

The report also requested that the Committee review and agree, in respect of the Road Safety and Parking Fund:

·         the budget allocation for Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) for 2022-23; and

·         the revised Road Safety & Parking Funding Guidelines

During the debate, the Chair agreed with the request that the allocation of the Road Safety & Parking fund borough-wide, rather than by Area Committee area, be consulted on.

Following consideration of the item, the Chair moved to vote on the recommendations in the report. The vote was recorded as follows:

For: 11

Against: 0

Abstentions: 0

Absent: 1

Total: 12

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1.    a) Agree arrangements in respect of Area Committees allocations of Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) funding of up to £1.8m per annum; and

b) Agree provisionally the funding to be allocated based on population within each Area Committee (Appendix A), subject to consideration of an Equality Impact Assessment (‘EQIA’) and consultation being carried out by Area Committees (after their consultation in respect of recommendations 2 and 3 below) and subject to consultation with the Area Committees.

2.     Propose to the Area Committees the draft CIL funding eligibility guidelines to allow Area Committees to spend their CIL funding on a broader range of schemes addressing the demands that development places on an area (as defined under Regulation 59F(3) of the CIL Regulations 2010 (as amended) (“the Regulations”) (Appendix B), subject to public consultation being undertaken and considered by Area Committees prior to adoption.

3.     Propose in respect of the Area Committees that Sustainability, Community Engagement, Public Health & Community Safety will form part of the Area Committees priorities for 2022-23 (Appendix C), subject to public consultation being undertaken and considered by Area Committees for inclusion.

4.    Agree CIL funding for a Road Safety & Parking Fund of up to £450,000 per annum, for schemes to be authorised by the Director, Highways & Transportation (Appendix A) subject to the allocation of funding being borough-wide rather than by Area Committee area being consulted on.

5.    Agree in respect of the Area Committees the revised CIL Funding Application Guidelines and Funding Application Form (Appendix D), subject to decisions 2 and 3 above.

6.    Agree the revised Road Safety & Parking Funding Guidelines and Request Form (Appendix E).

7.    Note that a review of the Area Committee CIL funding and Road Safety & Parking CIL Fund arrangements is proposed to be undertaken annually.

8.    Agree that there would be a report back to the Committee in 18-months’ time on how the new arrangements were working.

The Assistant Director Capital Strategy, Matthew Waters, and Steet Scene Director, Craig Miller, introduced a report which proposed to consolidate Street Scene services at the Oakleigh Road Depot and sought authorisation for the first phase of works.

During debate, the Committee agreed that the delegated authority in recommendation 4. should be to the Deputy Chief Executive.

Following consideration of the item, the Chair moved to vote on the recommendations in the report. The vote was recorded as follows:

For: 11

Against: 0

Abstentions: 0

Absent: 1

Total: 12

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1.    Approve the recommended option as set out in the report for the Oakleigh Road Depot Consolidation.

2.    Note:

a. the funding strategy outlined in section 5 of the report and approve an additional £4.0m capital funding.

b. that this is in addition to an existing budget of £4.2m previously allocated to this project to deliver Phase 1 of the works.

c. That further funding will be requested once certainty on design and scope for phase 2 is understood.

3.    Approve the proposal to submit a planning application for the installation of a new welfare unit on the former Brogans site and associated Mechanical and Electrical (M&E) installations for the wider site.

4.    Authorise the Deputy Chief Executive to procure the new office and welfare unit, on completion of the design process and relevant Board endorsement of the procurement strategy.

The Director of Public Health, Tamara Djuretic, and Assistant Director for Strategy, Communications and Engagement, Liz Cowie, introduced the report which set out a proposal on the Council’s response to the increasing cost-of-living for residents, relating to targeted interventions to support debt and financial vulnerabilities.

Following consideration of the item, the Chair moved to vote on the recommendations in the report. The vote was recorded as follows:

For: 11

Against: 0

Abstentions: 0

Absent: 1

Total: 12

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1.    Note the findings of the insight and intelligence work on Debt and Financial Vulnerability workstream as set out in the report.

2.    Approve development of a package of measures to respond to the cost-of-living crisis, using the proposed three-pronged approach drawing on the findings of the Debt and Financial Vulnerability workstream. Recommendations and findings of the design phase will be presented to the Committee in approximately six months for approval.

3.    Notes the urgency of the cost-of-living challenges facing residents, and therefore authorises the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee, to implement any early proposed actions in response to the cost of living that can be delivered within existing budgets and financial authorisations.

The Director of Commercial and Customer Services, Deborah Hinde, introduced a report which provided an update on the delivery of the Council’s customer improvement programme including an overview of delivery to date and the next phase of improvements.  The report also provided an outline Digital Strategy.

During debate, the Committee agreed that references to ‘customer’ would be replaced with ‘resident’ across all the documents presented for consideration.

Following consideration of the item, the Chair moved to vote on the recommendations in the report. The vote was recorded as follows:

For: 11

Against: 0

Abstentions: 0

Absent: 1

Total: 12

RESOLVED that the Committee:

1.    Notes the actions being taken by officers to the improve resident experience and the achievements made to date.

2.    Approves implementation of the improvement plans outlined in section 1.36 and 1.41 of this report and supported by the business case in Appendix B.

3.    Agrees the Resident Experience vision and strategic aims in section 1.11.

4.    Agrees the digital vision and strategic aims in section 1.37.

5.    Notes the digital inclusion programme outlined in section 1.13 – 1.25 and the initiatives available to support our residents, businesses, and communities.

6.    Note the investment decision will be considered as part of the Business Planning report at Policy and Resources Committee on 19 July 2022.

The Director of Commercial and Customer Services, Deborah Hinde, introduced a report which provided an overview of Quarter 4 (Q4) 2021/22 performance, together with a review of annual performance for the contracted services delivered by the Customer and Support Group (Capita), Regional Enterprise (Capita), Barnet Homes (The Barnet Group) and HB Public Law.

During the debate, a Member commented that they had received correspondence from several residents relating to delays in HBPL in processing Right to Buy (RTB) Applications.  The Committee requested that the service be contacted to provide more information on the RTB process, together with details of the number of applications processed and average time taken within HBPL over the last year.

Following consideration of the item, the Chair moved to vote on the recommendations in the report. The vote was recorded as follows:

For: 11

Against: 0

Abstentions: 0

Absent: 1

Total: 12

RESOLVED that the Committee note the Quarter 4 (Q4) 2021/22 and End of Year (EOY) performance for the Customer and Support Group (CSG) (Capita); Regional Enterprise (Re) (Capita); Barnet Homes (TBG) (The Barnet Group); and HB Public Law (HBPL).

The Chief Executive, John Hooton, introduced the report which set out the priorities of the new Administration and the approach to updating the Corporate Plan to reflect these priorities.  The report also recommended that the Council re-join the Local Government Association (LGA). 

During the debate, it was agreed that a value for money review on the Council re-joining the LGA should be undertaken after one year.

Following consideration of the item, the Chair moved to vote on the recommendations in the report. The vote was recorded as follows:

For: 8

Against: 3

Abstentions: 0

Absent: 1

Total: 12

RESOLVED that:

1.    Officers work with the Chair of this committee and where appropriate, Theme Committee leads, other relevant committees and strategic partners to develop Council priorities and establish a series of work programmes which consider costs and other implications for implementation over the next four years.

2.    Officers work with the Chair of this committee to establish both the timescale and approach to delivering a new Corporate Plan – an update on which, will be given at a future Committee.

3.    The Council becomes a member of the Local Government Association.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 9 February 2022 be agreed as a correct record.