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Items
No. Item

83.

Apologies for Absence

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Apologies were received from Councillors Ozdemir, Chowdhury, Graham, Pandor, and Nathan.

 

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Staff, Weekes and Ibrahim.

84.

Declaration of Substitute Members

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Wayne substituted for Councillor Pandor.

85.

Declarations of Interest

If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business:

§  if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent;

§  you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. 

In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.

 

If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.

 

*(a) Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation
  carried on for profit or gain.

(b)   Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union.

(c)   Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council.

(d)  Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area.

(e)  Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or  
 longer.

(f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest.

 (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital. 

 

This applies to all members present at the meeting.

 

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

86.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 233 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the previous meeting be agreed as a correct record and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

87.

Chair's Report

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

88.

External Attendees

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

89.

Public Questions

For members of the public to ask questions relating to any subject on the meeting agenda under Procedure Rule 70.5. Alternatively, the Chair may opt to accept questions from the public during the discussion on each agenda item.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

None.

90.

Annual Presentation of the Executive Member for Community Safety pdf icon PDF 8 MB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Woolf, Executive Member for Community Safety, presented to the committee on matters relating to his portfolio.

 

The following main points were raised in the discussion:

 

·       The Baroness Casey Report into the conduct of the Metropolitan Police had recently been published. The Executive Member noted the abhorrent findings of the report. The Executive Member had been invited to review the Metropolitan Police’s turnaround plan, and emphasised that roof and branch reform and urgent action was required to improve policing standards.

·       The Executive Member was pleased to report that Islington now had its own Superintendent. The Executive Member had requested the creation of a ten-point action plan for Islington developed with the community setting out clear tangible actions for the borough. The Executive Member had also requested a public charter from the Police setting out their priorities and promises to the community and clarity over their use of policing powers. A memorandum of understanding between the Council and the Police was being developed to ensure clarity on roles, responsibilities and communications. The Executive Member was also keen to see the adoption of a joint Anti-Racist Policy between the Police and the Council.

·       The Executive Member would be meeting regularly with the Superintendent and Borough Commander to hold them to account. While it was right to be critical of policing standards, the Executive Member also noted that the Metropolitan Police was a key partner organisation and strong working relationships must be maintained to ensure the delivery of local priorities.

·       The Executive Member supported a public health approach to addressing crime and community safety matters. He favoured a data-led approach, working with the local community, considering short-, medium- and long-term solutions. This approach was set out in the Council’s violence reduction strategy that had been developed following engagement with the local community. Performance indicators and other measures of success were currently being developed.

·       The Executive Member highlighted the Anti-Social Behaviour transformation programme, which sought to improve the council’s response to ASB issues. This involved reviewing internal processes and structures. It was essential that safety was not seen in a silo, but was embedded in all local services. The council sought to foster a culture of care between the council, partner organisations, the voluntary sector, and local businesses.

·       The Executive Member commented on the importance of a data-led approach to community safety. To improve trust and confidence, it was essential that reporting of ASB was as easy as possible and that actions were clearly communicated. It was important to consider both qualitative and quantitative data, as perceptions of crime and safety was as important as the statistical number of incidents.

·       A member asked about the deployment of CCTV cameras to address crime and anti-social behaviour in hotspot areas and the use of technology in reporting anti-social behaviour. In response, it was noted that the council had invested £3.5million in upgrading the CCTV network, and had agreed an information sharing agreement with LB Hackney to effectively tackle issues around Finsbury Park. Although CCTV could be  ...  view the full minutes text for item 90.

91.

Cost of Living Crisis Scrutiny Review - Draft Recommendations

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair provided a progress update on the development of the recommendations and a discussion was had on possible areas for recommendations.

 

The recommendations would be submitted to the next meeting for approval.

92.

Budget Monitoring Report pdf icon PDF 191 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Ward, Executive Member for Finance, Planning and Performance, and Paul Clarke, Director of Finance, introduced the report.

 

The following main points were noted in the discussion:

 

·        A member asked a question about the installation of individual end point heat meters in council homes and the risks associated with that. Although heat meters allowed greater control over heating usage for residents, and could have a positive environmental impact through reduced energy usage, it was acknowledged that the current pooled system meant that all residents would have their homes heated. There was a concern that low income households moving to individual heat meters may turn off their heating and live in cold properties. In response, it was advised that the financial implications and impacts on households were complex. It was suggested that this may be an area for the Housing Scrutiny Committee or Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee to review.

·        A member asked about the overspend in the Chief Executive’s Department relating to communications. In response, it was advised that this related to a one-off project to make the council’s website meet statutory accessibility standards.

·        It was noted that the North Central London Integrated Care Board had made a one-off contribution of £5million towards the council’s Adult Social Care budgets.

·        A member asked how the council supports local schools in managing their budgets. In response, it was advised that the council offered advice and guidance on being financially resilient, however falling roll numbers would have a detrimental financial impact on schools.

·        A member asked about the financial investment in the Resident Experience Programme and why this included spend on interim staffing resource. In response, it was advised that this spend was for specialised services that the council did not have the resources or expertise to deliver in-house. This was reviewing telephony services needed for the contact centre, IT infrastructure, and process mapping. The Executive Member noted that the Executive would be considering further investment in the Resident Experience Programme at its next meeting.

 

The Committee noted the budget monitoring report.

93.

Monitoring Item pdf icon PDF 516 KB

·        Council forward plan

·        Scrutiny review tracker

·        Outstanding responses from previous meetings

·        Updates from committee chairs

·        Work programme

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Scrutiny Response Tracker

 

In relation to point 40, on the occupancy of cycle storage, a member welcomed that a digital platform was being developed to simply the management of bike hangars, and appreciated that it was not sensible to implement a performance measure prior to the implementation of the digital platform, however requested a further update on occupancy three months after the new platform was in place. It was noted that this may be a matter for the Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee.

 

In relation to point 4, on Islington Lettings being discontinued, it was requested that some learning from the programme be submitted to the Housing Scrutiny Committee.

 

In relation to point 30, on Complaints Handling, it was requested that the Executive Member for Finance, Planning and Performance and the Chief Executive be invited to the next meeting to provide an update.

 

In relation to point 34 on Fairer Together Hubs, following the confirmation that the Policy and Performance Scrutiny Committee was the relevant committee for this work, it was agreed to write to officers and the Leader and request an update on this work.

 

In relation to point 41, on establishing Challenging Inequality Performance Indicators, a further update was requested.

 

 

Work Plan

 

It was noted that a Budget Monitoring Report was not produced for Month 11 and would not be submitted to the next meeting.

 

The progress updates on previous scrutiny reviews would be deferred until the next municipal year to allow more time for the recommendations to be implemented following approval by the Executive in March 2023.

 

It was requested that the Metropolitan Police be invited to attend to provide an update on their response to the Casey Review.

 

 

ACTIONS:

 

The scheduling of the items requested above to be discussed with Members and Officers