Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillor Watts opened the meeting by noting that it was Councillor Caluori’s last meeting as a Member of the Executive.  Councillor Watts thanked Councillor Caluori for all the amazing work he has done as the Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families.

Councillor Watts expressed sadness at the untimely death of Nedim Bilgin last week and sent condolences to his family.

There were no apologies for absence.

None.

Noted.

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the meeting on 17 January 2019 be agreed as a correct record and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

RESOLVED:

The General Fund Budget 2019-20 and MTFS (Section 3)

2.1         That the 2019-20 net Council cash limits as set out in Table 1 (Paragraph 3.7) of the report and the MTFS at Appendix A of the report, which include the 2019-22 revenue savings at Appendix B of the report, and the 2019-20 revenue growth proposal at paragraph 3.6 of the report be agreed.

2.2         That the Council should strongly oppose Government proposals in the ‘Review of Local Authorities’ Relative Needs and Resources Consultation’ to remove deprivation indicators from the baseline grant formula, which would significantly disadvantage high-need boroughs such as Islington, and the other key elements of the Council’s response as set out in paragraphs 3.9-3.10 of the report, be agreed.

2.3         That the fees and charges policy be noted and the 2019-20 fees and charges, paragraphs 3.12-3.13 and Appendices C1-C3 of the report, be agreed.

2.4         That the estimated use of the Council’s earmarked budget reserves (including the creation of a new Transformation Reserve), the Council’s policy on the level of General Fund balances, with an increase in General Fund balances of £2m in 2019-20, and an increase in the ongoing contingency budget of £3m in 2019-20, paragraphs 3.14-3.17 and Table 2 of the report, be agreed.

The HRA Budget and MTFS (Section 4)

2.5         That the balanced HRA 2019-20 budget, including savings and growth proposals, within the HRA MTFS at Tables 4-5 and Appendix D1 of the report be agreed.

2.6         That the 2019-20 HRA rents, fees and charges, agreed by Executive on 17 January 2019, tables 6-9 and Appendix D2, of the report, be noted.

The Capital Programme 2019-22 (Section 5)

2.7         That the 2019-20 capital programme and note the provisional programme for 2020-22, paragraph 5.1, Table 10 and Appendix E1 of the report, be agreed.

2.8         That the Capital Strategy 2019-22, which includes affordability prudential indicators and the minimum revenue provision (MRP) policy, paragraph 5.2 and Appendix E1 of the report, be agreed.

2.9         That the Treasury Management and Investment Strategy 2019-20 (including external debt and treasury management Prudential Indicators), as considered by Audit Committee on 31 January 2019, paragraph 5.2 and Appendix E2 of the report, be agreed.

2.10      That the Strategy for Other Investments (including Commercial Investments) 2019-20, paragraph 5.3 and Appendix E3 of the report, be agreed.

Council Tax and Retained Business Rates (Section 6)

2.11      That the calculations required for the determination of the 2019-20 council tax requirement and the level of council tax as detailed in Section 6 of the report and summarised below, be agreed.

1)     The 2019-20 council tax requirement of £92,993,961.91, paragraph 6.2 of the report.

2)     The relevant basic amount of Islington Band D council tax of £1,169.38, a 2.99% increase compared to 2018-19, and to determine that this is not ‘excessive’, paragraphs 6.3 and 6.4 of the report.

3)     The basic amount of Islington Band D council tax for dwellings to which no special item relates (i.e. outside of the Lloyd Square Garden Committee area)  ...  view the full minutes text for item 584.

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

RESOLVED:

That the following comments of the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Committee be noted:

• Noted that Central Government has reduced its core funding to the Council by 70% since 2010
• The combination of Government funding cuts and rising demand for services means that the Council has to close a revenue gap of £50m over the next 3 years, and that the Council has already had to make savings of £225m since 2010
• Members noted that the Council has undertaken an extensive organisation wide exercise to re-examine every budget line and to prioritise spend
• The Committee were pleased to note that the Council had managed to set a 3 year budget, which gave certainty to residents on services that would continue to be provided and to staff
• Welcomed the investment in new build Council housing and the provision for tackling homelessness
• Members welcomed the additional £13.5m allocated to purchase properties to provide temporary accommodation and the £0.5k for targeted support for youth provision
• Noted that the Council Tax increase would be 2.99%, which would leave LBI Council Tax still below the London average
• Noted that the Government had now agreed to fund applications for EU settled status, and that this would require a budget amendment, as the Council had set aside provision for this payment
• Reference was made to the fact that provision needed to be made for possible Partners property repairs when these transfer back to the Council
• Precise details were not at present known as a result of the Government’s Fair Funding Review
• With regard to possible staff losses (likely to be around 180 posts over a 3 year Budget period), these could be achieved largely through the deletion of vacant posts and voluntary redundancies. Discussion was taking place with Trade Unions on the proposals. These posts were a mixture of more senior and lower paid grades and spread across departments
• Noted that the Council are not offering enhanced voluntary redundancy arrangements
• Discussion took place as to the Business Rate Retention scheme and that this was  administered by the Corporation of London and the Council had a representative on the decision making bodies.

Reason for decision – to allow consideration of the comments of the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Committee.

Other options considered – none other than as specified in the report.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none.

Link to report

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

Councillor Hull introduced the report.  Councillor Webbe advised that Street Environment Services won the ‘Outstanding Service Delivery Award for Service Transformation & Remodelling’ at the Keep Britain Tidy Awards.  Councillor Watts congratulated the service and Councillor Webbe.

RESOLVED:

2.1         That the forecast revenue outturn for the General Fund (Table 1 of the report) of a gross underspend of £0.5m (Paragraph 3.1 of the report), be noted. 

2.2         That the breakdown of the forecast General Fund outturn by individual variance at Appendix 1 of the report and by service area at Appendix 2 of the report, be noted.

2.3         That the HRA forecast is a net break-even position (Section 5, Table 1 of the report) be noted.

2.4         That the latest capital position with forecast capital expenditure of £107.9m in 2018-19 (Section 6, Table 2, and Appendix 3 of the report) be noted.

Reason for decision – to allow members to monitor the budget.

Other options considered – none other than as specified in the report.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

RESOLVED:

That construction contract be awarded to Glenman Corporation Ltd. for the sum of £6,727,325.32 be agreed.

Reason for decision – to award the contract to build 27 new homes at Beaumont Rise to the successful tenderer.

Other options considered – none other than as specified in the report.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

RESOLVED:

2.1     That the Corporate Director for Resources, be authorised, in consultation with theExecutive member for Housing and Development  and the Service Director for Housing Needs and Strategy, to take all necessary steps, includingthe making of a Compulsory Purchase Order (CPO) under section 226(1)(a) of the Town andCountry Planning Act 1990 to ensure that the leasehold interests in the Land as described in the table below as well as any third party rights over the Land where attempts to negotiatea voluntary acquisition of the leasehold interest or third party rights in accordance with the development timetablehave failed, be agreed.

Table 2.1

2.2     That, where the Corporate Director of  Resources approves the making of a CPO, the Director of Law and Governance be authorised to take all necessary steps to secure the making, confirmation and implementation of the CPO including the approval of agreements with the owners and any objectors for the withdrawal of objections to the CPO, the acquisition of interests by use of General Vesting Declarations or notices to treat, the settling of compensation and the acquisition of all interests in the properties on terms recommended by the Corporate Director of Resources be agreed.

2.3     That the Corporate Director of Resources be authorised to acquire any interests in land within the area of the Land by agreement and the making of payments equivalent to statutory compensation (or payments as are deemed reasonable in the circumstances) and the provision of property or services in lieu of compensation, in contemplation of the Order being made, be agreed.

2.4     That, if the CPO is confirmed, the Corporate Director of Resources be authorised to negotiate and agree the compensation amounts payable in compulsorily acquiring the interests, be agreed.

Reason for decision – to allow the development of new homes on the Triangle Estate.

Other options considered – none other than as specified in the report.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none.

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

RESOLVED:

2.1     Subject to consent from the Secretary of State under section 19 of the Housing Act 1985 being obtained, that the Corporate Director of Resources be authorised to appropriate the land edged red shown on the plan in Appendix 1 from housing to planning purposes in accordance with section 122 Local Government Act 1972 and subsequent use of the Council’s powers under s203-s206 of the Housing & Planning Act 2016 to override rights to light of neighbouring properties infringed by this development, be agreed;

2.2     That the making of an application by the Director of Law and Governance to the Secretary of State under Section 19 of the Housing Act 1985 for consent to the appropriation under paragraph 2.1 above be agreed.

2.3     That the Corporate Director of Resources be authorised, in consultation with the Corporate Director of Housing and Adult Social Services to agree the settlement of rights of light claims with owners and occupiers of 6 affected properties and ancillary affected leases, together with any associated fees and thereafter, be agreed;

2.4     That the cost of the proposed settlement of rights of light compensation payments and associated fees for leaseholders affected by this scheme will be from the capital budget for the Charles Simmons House scheme, be noted.

Reason for decision – to enable redevelopment.

Other options considered – none other than as specified in the report.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

RESOLVED:

2.1     That:

(a) the Council award Retail Relief equivalent to one third of their daily charge to qualifying businesses in occupation of retail premises which have a rateable value of less than £51,000 towards their rates bills in respect of the financial years 2019/20 and 2020/21 be agreed.

(b) this Retail Relief is applied in accordance with the Islington Retail Relief Scheme which is contained in Appendix A of this report be agreed.

2.2     (a) the Council goes further than the government’s Retail Relief upper limit of £51,000 and uses its allocation of Revaluation Relief funding to support businesses with rateable values from £51,000 to £60,000 in respect of the financial years 2019/20 and 2020/21 be agreed

          (b) this Revaluation Relief is applied in accordance with the Revaluation Relief Scheme which is contained in Appendix B of this report be agreed

 
Reason for decision – to provide rates relief to qualifying businesses.

Other options considered – none other than as specified in the report.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

Councillor Caluori introduced the report.  Councillor Watts clarified that the Executive resolved to select option B in the report.

RESOLVED:

2.1     That the procurement strategy for the operation, delivery and facilities management of Islington’s 12 adventure playgrounds for up to 15 years as outlined in this report (an initial 3-year contract followed by 4 opportunities to extend by 3 years at a time (15 = 3+3+3+3+3)) be agreed. That the recommended contract length will maximise opportunities for levering in additional revenue and capital funds over the 15-year period, providing much needed additional resource to support facilities management and capital improvement across the adventure playground estate, be agreed.

2.2     That authority to award the contract be delegated to the Corporate Director of Children, Employment and Skills in consultation with the Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families, be agreed.

Reason for decision – to ensure service continuity.

Other options considered – none other than as specified in the report.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none.

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

RESOLVED:

2.1         That the co-ordinated schemes and timetables for admission to Islington primary and secondary schools and academies in 2020/21, and in-year admission protocols for 2020/21, as set out in Appendices 1, 4 and 7 of the report, be agreed.

2.2         That the policy and oversubscription criteria for admission to community primary and secondary schools and Islington Sixth Form Consortium for admission in 2020/21, as set out in Appendices 2, 5, 8 and 9 of the report, be agreed.

2.3           That the proposed admission numbers for Islington community primary and secondary schools, and for external applicants to the Islington Sixth Form Consortium in 2020/21, as set out in Appendices 3, 6 and 10 of the report, be agreed.

Reason for decision – To agree the school admission arrangements.

Other options considered – none other than as specified in the report.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

AGREED RECOMMENDATIONS

Reason for decision – as specified in the report.

Other options considered - none.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Link to report

RESOLVED:

2.1     That the Business case for the North London Regional Adoption Agency be agreed.

2.2     That the proposals for the hosting of the service on behalf of the London Boroughs of Barnet, Camden, Enfield, Hackney and Haringey, be agreed.

2.3     That the proposed financial model and the service delivery model outlined in the business case be agreed. 

Reason for decision – to meet the statutory requirement to develop a Regional Adoption Agency.

Other options considered – none other than as specified in the report.

Conflicts of interest/dispensations granted – none

Noted.

That the information in the exempt appendix to agenda item C7 be noted (see Minute 587 for details).

Noted.

That the information in the exempt appendix to agenda item C9 be noted (see Minute 589 for details).