Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Khondoker and Champion ( Executive Member )

There were no declarations of substitute members.

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.

None

That, subject to the deletion of the name ‘Ozedmir’ and the insertion of the name ‘Ozdemir’ in the list of Members present, the minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 29 September 2020 be confirmed, and the Chair be authorised to sign them

Matters arising – the Chair emphasised the importance of the committee’s work pointing out that the minutes of the committee were a public record on Angel Energy

The Chair reported on the following –

Scrutiny Review – Draft Behavioural Change

The Chair stated that the above review report had been amended following Members comments, the final report would now go to the Executive. The Chair stated that the Committee, in addition to the normal 12 month review for an update on the progress of recommendations, would receive an interim update six months after the report was considered by the Executive.

RESOLVED:

That the Scrutiny Review on Behavioural Change be forwarded to the Executive for consideration

Dixon Clark Court

The Chair raised the issue about the removal of trees at Dixon Clark Court which is still ongoing however recognises the increasing demand for social housing in the Borough.

Special meeting of the Committee

The Chair reminded Members that as had been previously agreed a special meeting of the Committee would be held in February/March 2021 along the lines of the one held in March 2020. The meeting will involve the public and stakeholders, and that arrangements were being made in this regard, and asked for members to contact him or the committee clerk with feedback on the previous meeting to improve the 2021 meeting.

Finally, the Chair notified the meeting that Councillor Champion was unable to make the meeting due to a family bereavement and that Members of the Committee would want to send her their condolences.

The order of business would be as per the agenda.

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.

The Chair outlined the procedure for Public questions

Sally Oldfield, Nature and Conservation Manager, and Barry Emerson, Parks and Open Spaces Manager, Environment and Regeneration Department were present and made a presentation to the Committee (copy interleaved)

During the presentation the following main points were made –

·         A Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP) is an internationally recognised template for protecting and restoring the natural environment. There is a UK BAP and a London BAP and each London Borough aims to have its own BAP. The new Islington BAP is the third for Islington, and covers the period 2020-25.

·         Diversity is important for health and wellbeing, for young people, eco-system services, biodiversity and economics, and climate change

·         Key priorities in Islington’s BAP – to conserve existing habitats, biodiversity features and species, improve/enhance the condition of existing areas of habitat, create new habitats or increase the extent of existing habitats, engage the whole community in reducing environmental inequality by increasing access to green spaces

·         Four action plans – the built environment, Parks and Urban green spaces, designated sites and access to nature

·         Built Environment Action Plan – includes maintain and enhance street trees, maximise biodiversity gains from new developments, requiring installation of green roofs on new developments and Council buildings, encourage sustainable urban drainage systems, identify opportunities to green streets through development of pocket parks and other improvements

·         Parks and Open spaces Action Plan – Islington has the smallest amount of greenspace per head of population of any London Borough. However, it has the second highest number of parks. The plan includes – protect and enhance new wildlife habitats in parks and open green spaces e.g. housing estates, protect and enhance trees in parks and open spaces, ensure wildlife habitats are managed effectively, collate species data, and protect and enhance features for London BAP priority species

·         Designated Sites Action Plan – Review Sites of Nature Conservation Importance (SINC) data to ensure accurate and up to date, strengthen network through the adoption of new and upgraded SINC’s, liaise with Network Rail on the protection of rail side SINC’s, action to reduce areas of deficiency in access to nature

·         Access to Nature Action Plan – raise awareness of biodiversity through public events, enable people from under - represented groups to take part in biodiversity activities, encourage and support community action for wildlife, provide volunteering activities, aim to provide every child in Islington with the opportunity to experience high quality outdoor environmental education, encourage biodiversity on housing estates, provide residents with guidance on wildlife gardening, enable people to derive the health and wellbeing benefits of contact with nature

·         Online consultation – consultation has taken place and there was strong support for BAP and this was adopted by Executive in September 2020 and is available on Council website

·         Examples of new projects – Octopus Community network to develop a gardening and food growing programme, new funding bid to develop a partnership with Camden that will deliver green space benefits, with voluntary sector and an ambitious new bulb planting project on housing estates across the borough.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 403.

This item was dealt with in conjunction with minute 405 below

Councillor Asima Shaikh, Executive Member Inclusive Jobs and Economy was present, together with Andrea Stark, Director of Employment, Skills and Culture and Caroline Wilson, Head of Inclusive Economic Development for discussion of this item and made a presentation to the Committee, copy interleaved

During discussion of the presentation the following main points were made –

·         Current context – prior to the pandemic Islington residents in a vulnerable financial position, working in low paid, insecure jobs. Lack of middle-tiered skilled secure jobs, and many residents running small and micro businesses and these businesses disproportionally owned by women and people from BAME communities. Post COVID to end May 2020 17847 Islington households claiming Universal Credit. Islington unemployment rate risen from 3% of workforce to 7.2% in August and the number of workers on furlough increased by 36% between June and August

·         Emerging Community and Wellbeing strategic framework – this is designed to reduce inequality and poverty – focusing on Local Economies and supply chains, employment support, business support

·         Headline achievements – delivered emergency support to thousands of Islington businesses, tailored advice, brokerage and support for local businesses, opened affordable workspaces in Fonthill Road for Tech and Fashion and secured flagship Ray Building in Clerkenwell which will deliver over £2.5m of social value

·         Adult Employment support – 1318 residents supported into local employment, community and outreach engagement, new support for deaf jobseekers, Islington working partnership, Islington working e bulletin, developed the Islington Directory

·         Youth Employment, Progression and Skills 2019/20 – 307 young people supported into employment, launch event of World of Work, Progression of Council apprentices 83% into further employment on completion of apprenticeship, Post 16 participation – an improvement of NEET or unknown for 16 and 17 year olds and better than London and England

·         Adult and Community Learning – successful OFSTED, increased learner enrolments, supporting learners through COVID, fundraising through bid for a re-skilling programme

·         Libraries and Heritage 2019/20– renovation of Central Library, tribute to Andrea Levy, over a million visits to Libraries, 904 children completed Summer reading programme, and facilitating more online library transactions due to COVID

·         Community Wealth Building actions 2019/20 – delivering employment targets and outcomes, support to small and micro businesses, delivering good growth funds, support to Town Centres, high streets and street markets, delivering local social value, and keeping learning alive during pandemic

·         Community Wealth Building next 12 months – supporting good work on employment, ensuring local people have the right skills, supporting local economies, fostering responsible business and a progressive procurement approach, supporting local businesses and affordable workspaces, improving economic well-being for local people

·         Employment next 12 months- develop an ambitious COVID employment support response, increase social value requirements from contractors, expand iWork service and partnership reach, engage and support parents, refreshed approach to extend engagement with BAME communities, strengthen data collection, analysis and reporting

·         Employment Engagement and sector focus – Health and Social Care Academy working with commissioners and GP Practices offering dedicated local recruitment programme, construction team working with Housing New Build Team  ...  view the full minutes text for item 405.

Keith Townsend, Director of Environment and Regeneration was present for discussion of this item, and made a presentation to the Committee, during which the following main points were made –

·         Climate change is clear the level of global warming related to the amount of Carbon Dioxide that human activities add to the atmosphere

·         The Climate Change Act 2008 has set the UK to achieve net zero carbon borough by 2030

·         Islington declared a Climate Emergency in June 2019 net zero carbon borough by 2030, and a draft strategy published February 2020. Special meeting held of E&R in February 2020. Consultation process from April to end July 2020 and Executive report in November 2020

·         What does this mean for Islington – developing a net Zero Carbon strategy for Islington, 4% of Islington’s carbon emissions are from our operations and buildings and 9% of gas boilers in council-owned homes are included. There are 679,600 tonnes of emissions in the borough

·         The strategy at a glance – residential buildings, Commercial and industrial buildings and infrastructure – improve the energy efficiency and reduce the level of carbon emissions of all buildings and infrastructure. Transport – reduce emissions in the borough for transport. Sustainable and affordable energy generation and supply – increase local generation of renewable heat and electricity, increase the update of affordable and renewable energy tariffs and mitigate fuel poverty. The Green Economy and Planning – deliver on net zero carbon target whilst assuring the economic success and vitality of the borough by working closely with the 18800 businesses in the borough, most of them small or micro sized. The natural environment and waste reduction and recycling – integrate ongoing activities in recycling and reducing waste and managing our natural environment

·         Our approach – identified short, medium and long term commitments and actions, and there is a need to work with partners, consult and engage extensively, have cross- Council working to support the commitments and action plan, significant development of a programme with workstreams and detailed workplans, how to engage with residents, businesses and organisations

·         Governance model in place

·         How progress can be measured – Pilot of ClimateView software – used by both Newcastle and Nottingham City Councils, visualise challenges and targets, setting targets link related ongoing or planned actions, access and adapt – for each transition target the listed actions are sufficient, insufficient or unrealistic

·         In response to a question as to whether electric boilers would be installed at the Holloway Prison development with Peabody Trust it was stated that if the member of the public wished to write to the Executive Member Housing, Councillor Ward he would respond thereon

·         In response to a question as to supplementary planning guidance changes in relation to the Net Zero Carbon strategy, it was stated that this was under consideration and being developed

·         It was stated that in relation to the ClimateView proposal that work progress would be reported back to the Committee in approximately 6 months. However, behavioural change would be needed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 406.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be noted, subject to the addition of London Power as an item on the agenda for the meeting on 17 December 2020.