Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Peter Fookes (replaced by Councillor John Getgood), Kate Lymer (replaced by Councillor Douglas Auld), Tom Papworth (replaced by Councillor Reg Adams), Russell Mellor and Tony Owen.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Friday 21^st March 2014.

No questions had been received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 5^th February 2014 (excluding exempt information) be confirmed.

Report CSD14051

The Committee noted matters arising from previous meetings.

The Committee noted the latest edition of the Forward Plan of Key and Private Executive Decisions as published on 4^th March 2014.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee must be received in writing 4 working days before the date of the meeting.  Therefore please ensure questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Friday 21^st March.

(1) From Councillor Katherine Bance MBE (for written reply)

Are there any circumstances when a school operating in Bromley, whether LEA, Academy or Free, would have its deeds held by the DfE?

Reply:

The Council holds the deeds of all community schools and, where it owns the playing fields of church schools, it holds those deeds too. 

In the case of academies, if the school was not foundation before its conversion the Council continues to hold the freehold deeds and in each case the lease is handed over to the academy’s solicitors to register on completion.  If a school was already foundation then, on conversion, it will hold its own freehold deeds.  So far the Council has not completed the grant of a lease of any free schools but where the Council was a landlord of a free school the same procedure would happen as with academies.

The Council has no information as to the arrangements academies and free schools have for keeping their deeds nor of any specific requirements that may be imposed by the Secretary of State.

(2) From Glenn Paten, Christ Central Church, Penge (for oral reply – question asked by Peter Heath of Christ Central Church)

At the time of the murder in 2013 the Portfolio Holder for Public Protection and Safety made a commitment to improve community safety for local people. Local youth and family services are surely a 'Big Society' solution to changing the face of our immediate community. This is a unique opportunity to build a better Penge.

Even at this late stage, will the Committee recognise the community need in Penge for the services Christ Central Church is providing at Snowdown Close and accept our lower offer for the former CAB building in the best interests of community cohesion, community safety and the well being of disadvantaged young people?

At the Chairman’s invitation, Mr Heath explained that the Church had been operating at Snowdown Close since August 2013, with a variety of activities for the community including education, youth work, dance classes and debt advice. Recognising the need in the community, the Church was keen to scale up its activities at Snowdown Close.

Reply:

The Portfolio Holder thanked Mr Heath for his question and the documentation supplied by the Church, and commented that the Council recognised the good work that Christ Central Church was doing for the community at Snowdown Close.  The Council had looked at a variety of options for the property; in July 2013 proposals to dispose of it had been delayed to give community groups an opportunity to submit alternative proposals. He stated that he would consider all the representations that had been received, including the petition, the views of the ward members and of the Committee before making a decision.

The Chairman invited questions from other Members. Responding to questions from Councillor Getgood, who was a ward member, Mr Heath explained that the Church was engaging with up to 100 children with ages ranging from 5 to 19  ...  view the full minutes text for item 456.

Report FSD 14029

At its meeting on 12^th February the Executive had received a report summarising the current position on capital expenditure and receipts following the third quarter of 2013/14 and presenting for approval the new capital schemes supported by Directors in the annual capital review process. One new scheme was proposed for the Resources Portfolio - £1.5m for the upgrade/replacement of the Sharepoint Productivity Platform.   

RESOLVED that the recommendation to note the changes to the Resources Capital Programme be supported.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Carr, attended the meeting to update the Committee on his work and answer questions. He began by emphasising that, despite the 2014/15 budget having been agreed and the forthcoming elections, much work was currently going on to address the future shape of the authority as it moved towards a slimmer, commissioning model, including taking independent advice and consulting with other authorities on shared services. Numerous baseline reviews had now been carried out and the results would be coming to Members after the election period.  There had been recent success in investing in property, and the move to local pay and conditions for staff had been successfully managed. The Council was working closely with local housing associations on benefit reforms and Council tax collection continued to be good.  Generating additional income would be particularly important in the future, both through the new homes bonus and business rate growth. The Leader remained optimistic about the Crystal Palace development, which would bring much needed jobs, investment and business rates, although the Council was aware of the traffic/transport issues that needed to be overcome.

The Leader was asked for an update on Site G in Bromley town centre. The future of the proposed development by Muse had been complicated by Crest starting work on their scheme, but the Leader felt that there could still be a viable scheme to redevelop Site G. There would probably need to be a further tender exercise to find a new partner for the site. He confirmed that the doctor’s surgery in Ravensbourne Road was not part of the Muse scheme. 

The Leader was asked about the impact of the revised London Plan, and the difficulty of providing the infrastructure to support increased housing, especially where new health and education facilities could not be provided on-site and Section 106 contributions were collected instead. In particular, there appeared to be more emphasis on higher density housing in outer London without putting in place the transport infrastructure needed to get workers into central London. He agreed that, following the massive investment in Crossrail and the Olympic Park, south east London (not just Bromley) was due some further transport investment, and he was meeting regularly with the Mayor’s transport advisor to press this case. A Member suggested that extending the London Overground from New Cross via Grove Park to Bromley North might represent a cheaper and more realistic alternative to the £800m extension of the DLR from Lewisham – the Leader confirmed that the DLR was still the Council’s priority, but that the Overground option might be more deliverable.

Councillor Nicholas Bennett reminded the Leader about the Council question he had submitted on the financial burdens of new legislation, to which he was still awaiting a reply. Officers confirmed that a response had been drafted, and would be circulated to all Members shortly, subject to final clearance.

Asked about progress with the Crystal Palace Park development, the Leader stated that he was frustrated at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 458.

Members of the Committee are requested to bring their copy of the agenda for the Executive meeting on 2^nd April 2014.

Report CSD14052

The Committee considered the following reports on the part 1 agenda for the meeting of the Executive on 2^nd April 2014.

(5)  Budget Monitoring

Report FSD14026

The Committee considered the fifth budget monitoring report for 2013/14 based on expenditure and activity levels to January 2014. The report also highlighted significant variations and early warnings and sought a number of approvals.

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported. 

(6)  Update on New National Adult Social Care Data Funding

Report CS14034

In July 2013 the Department of Health had announced new burden funding to support the development and implementation of new adult social care and statutory financial reporting during 2014/15. The Executive had requested regular updates and, five months into the project, this was the first update. The Executive was asked to carry forward £33k of the non-ring fenced grant to 2014/15 and return the estimated underspend of £16k back to general balances. 

The report had also been considered by the Care Services PDS Committee on 11^th March 2014.

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported. 

(7)  Appointments to the Framework for Various Public Health Services – Addendum to Category K

Report CS14038

At its meeting on 12^th February 2014 the Executive had agreed a Framework of Providers for various Public Health Services categories. During the mandatory standstill period the Council had received an appeal from ToHealth Ltd whose tender submission for Category K: NHS Health Check Community Outreach Service had failed based on an evaluation of their finances. ToHealth Ltd had now provided satisfactory assurance that they had sufficient financial backing to support the service over the lifetime of any contract, and it was recommended that they be appointed to Category K.

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported. 

(8)  Drawdown of Government Funding for Delivering Special Educational Needs Statutory Reforms Arising from the Family and Children Act 2014 (Bromley SEN and Disability Services)

Report ED14043

The Executive was asked to approve the drawdown of £381,937 of funding from the central contingency fund for 2014/15 to deliver the reforms set out in the Children and Families Bill about to be finalised in April 2014 and enacted in September 2014.

The report had also been considered by the Education PDS Committee on 18^th March 2014.

RESOLVED that the recommendations be supported. 

(9)  Gateway Review of Tenancy Support Services for Young People

Report CS14024

The current contracts for Tenancy Support Services for Young People were due to end on 30^th August 2014. The report reviewed outcomes achieved by the current service and the on-going demand, and made recommendations for the future commissioning of these services. It was proposed to agree a new contract by negotiation with the current provider, One Support, for a period of three years with the potential to extend for a further two years. If this could not be secured authority was sought to extend the current contract for three months to 30^th November 2014 to enable a competitive tendering exercise to take place and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 459.

Report DRR14/035

At a meeting of the Education Budget Sub-Committee on 2^nd May 2013 Members had requested a report to this Committee giving an overview of the Council’s approach to project management for building projects.

Councillor Neil Reddin, as Chairman of the Sub-Committee, welcomed the report and drew Members’ attention to a number of schools built in recent years where although the designs had been impressive there had been crucial factors missed out. He was particularly concerned at the practice of “piggy-backing” (adding additional works to a scheme not connected with the project.) Officers confirmed that this was no longer allowed where there was any risk to the project, whether in terms of budget or programme.

The report set out a basic timeline for a project from inception onwards. It was clarified that initially there would be both an indicative budget based on standard assumptions, which could then be refined, and a basic briefing from the client. Members made the point that Head Teachers and Governors were rarely experienced in leading major building projects, and therefore needed guidance from the authority. It was confirmed that there was a briefing template to focus attention on all the factors that needed to be considered, and officers did meet with them to prepare a development brief. The Committee emphasised the importance of learning lessons from each project; officers confirmed that all projects were examined for this purpose and there was proper documentation. 

It was explained that the role of a clerk of works was different to a project manager, and involved visiting a development site on a regular basis to check on progress. The concept was now rather old-fashioned, but it was still useful in some circumstances. 

RESOLVED that the contents of the report be noted.

Report CSD14053

The Committee received updates from PDS Chairmen for the following recent meetings – Public Protection and Safety PDS on 4^th March, Care Services PDS on 11^th March, Education PDS on 18^th March and Environment PDS on 25^th March.

Report CSD14055

The Constitution required that a report was made to full Council each year summarising the work of PDS Committees. The draft report for 2013/14 had been prepared, including contributions from all PDS Committee Chairmen.

Councillor William Huntington-Thresher informed the Committee that he would revise the wording of the section of his report dealing with on-street enforcement.

RESOLVED that the annual Policy Development and Scrutiny report for 2013/14 be approved for submission to Council.

Report CSD14054

The Committee noted the latest update on its work programme and on the activities of PDS working groups.

The Committee’s Youth Employment Working Group was due to meet on 29^th or 30^th April. Councillor William Huntington-Thresher had expressed an interest in participating, but more Members were needed. A reminder would be emailed after the meeting – it was suggested that Members of the Education PDS Committee should also be invited. 

RESOLVED that the work programme be noted.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business referred to below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The following summaries

refer to matters

involving exempt information

Penge and Cator Ward

The Committee considered a report on the outcome of the recent marketing exercise for 20 Snowdown Close.

Chislehurst Ward

The Committee considered a report on options for the future of Banbury House, Bushell Way, Chislehurst.

Bromley Town Ward

The Committee considered options for the future of Egerton Lodge, 1 and 2 Park Road, Bromley.

The Committee considered proposals for a shared service arrangement with the Royal Borough of Greenwich for the provision of insurance services.

The Committee considered proposals to award a contract for the Council’s mobile and data services.