Agenda and minutes
Venue: Conference Hall - Brent Civic Centre, Engineers Way, Wembley, HA9 0FJ. View directions
Contact: Bryony Gibbs, Democratic Services 020 8937 1355, Email: bryony.gibbs@brent.gov.uk
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Declarations of interests Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, any relevant financial or other interest in the items on this agenda. Minutes: None declared. |
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Deputations Minutes: The Chair advised that a request to speak had been received from Mr Grant with respect to the Equalities and HR Policies and Practices Review and draft Action Plan. The committee was informed that in line with advice provided by Brent’s Chief Legal Officer, it would not be appropriate to discuss an ongoing legal case. Mr Grant advised that he could not accept the restriction which the Chief Legal Officer wished to impose, and went on to explain why. He said that Councillor Pavey’s review had been set up to learn the lessons from that Employment Tribunal case, and one of the points he wished to make in his deputation was that an important lesson from it had not been learned. Reference to the case was also necessary to explain what he wished to say about the draft Action Plan, which Scrutiny Committee was being asked to give its views on. The case was relevant to the committee’s consideration of item 9 on its agenda, and could not be ignored. The Council lawyer present advised that the case was not fully concluded, so should not be referred to. Mr Grant responded that he would only be referring to findings of fact in the Tribunal’s Judgment of September 2014, which was not under appeal. Those findings were final, so he could not see how any reference to them would prejudice the position of any party to the remaining “remedy” hearing.
The committee subsequently agreed not to receive the deputation. Councillor Allie expressed the view that the deputation should be heard.
RESOLVED:
That permission to address the committee be not granted, in accordance with legal advice provided.
[This minute was amended to read as set out by the following meeting held on 16 June 2015] |
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Minutes of the previous meeting PDF 108 KB Minutes: RESOLVED:-
that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 11 March 2015 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting. |
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Matters arising Minutes: None. |
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Order of Business Minutes: RESOLVED:
That the order of business be amended as set out below. |
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Environmental Sustainability Agenda PDF 113 KB This report provides Scrutiny Members with a summary of the work undertaken across key service areas to address the issue of sustainability. Minutes: Chris Whyte (Operational Director Community services) presented a report to the committee summarising the work undertaken across key service areas to address the issue of sustainability. It was explained that sustainability was a key factor in the development and provision of all services, though there was no longer a single co-ordinating team or strategy. Five key areas were addressed in the report: transport and travel; air quality; in-house carbon management; street lighting and parking; public realm and waste; and parks and biodiversity.
David Thrale (Head of Regulatory Services) addressed the action being taken in Brent regarding air quality. Members heard that Brent had levels of air pollution that occasionally breached the National Air Quality Standards and that this was an issue of importance nationally. The council’s Air Quality Action Plan was currently being reviewed and an updated plan would be presented to Cabinet in autumn 2015. It was emphasised that scientific understanding of air quality had significantly improved since the existing action plan had been produced; the impact on health and the types of places and activities that exposed people to pollution was now better understood. The new action plan would therefore have a twin focus on reducing emissions of pollutants and helping individuals and communities better understand how the the risk of exposure could be reduced.
In the subsequent discussion, the committee queried the ways in which the council could effect behavioural change regarding waste and recycling amongst residents and businesses. The committee also questioned how retailers could be encouraged to reduce packaging and the financial benefit for the council of improved recycling rates. Members sought further details regarding relationships with partner agencies, such as TFL and Northwest London Hospitals Trust. With regard to the former, it was queried what work had been done to identify pollution hotspots in the borough, whether there was any correlation with bus routes and how active reporting could be encouraged when buses were left running whilst parked. The committee raised several queries regarding air pollutants and the use of diesel fuel, seeking information on when TFL would be introducing non-diesel buses, how the council would encourage the use of non-diesel private and commercial vehicles, how traffic flow could be improved across the borough and the number of charging points provided in Brent for electric vehicles. Further information was sought regarding the work done with property developers across the borough, in recognition of the challenges for the existing infrastructure of increased road users. Officers were also asked to comment on whether consideration had been given to seeking an extension of the Mayor of London’s bike hire scheme. Members requested details of the number of staff responsible for addressing issues of sustainability and whether these were sufficient to support progress in this area.
In response to the queries raised, Chris Whyte advised that a specific team of officers focussed on improving recycling rates and engaging with residents on a day-to-day basis. Businesses were also encouraged to operate sustainably and as of April 2014, the council ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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Future Commissioning intentions of Brent Clinical Commissioning Group PDF 93 KB This report sets out the commissioning intentions of Brent Clinical Commissioning Group with regard to local primary care and acute service for the coming period.
Members of the Scrutiny Committee are invited to comment on the CCG’s commissioning intentions for 2015/16. Minutes: Sarah Mansuralli (Chief Operating Officer, Brent Clinical Commissioning Group) introduced the report on the commissioning intentions of the Brent Clinical Commissioning Group for 2015/16, which would contribute to achieving improved patient care and patient experience of care across community, secondary and acute health care services. The committee was informed that the commissioning intentions, set out in detail in the report, encompassed four key categories; working with acute providers to ensure that national performance standards were met; investing in out-of-hospital services with a focus on integration with other services and social care; working with partners and providers to reduce hospital admissions; and, proactive work to improve mental health provision for children and adults. It was explained that the intentions had been informed by significant engagement via the health partners forum, and community and voluntary groups. The commissioning intentions had also been discussed at the Brent Health and Wellbeing Board. It was emphasised that there had been no significant change between the commissioning intentions for 2014/15 and 2015/16.
Members’ attention was drawn to section three of the report which set out the evidence base underpinning the commissioning intentions. This drew specifically on the Joint Strategic Needs Assessment and the Brent Better Care Fund Plan. Highlighting key challenges that had been identified, Sarah Mansuralli noted that whilst Brent had a relatively young population, it was expected that the population of those aged 65 and above would grow more rapidly than the rest of the population generally. In addition, the Brent CCG medium term financial modelling indicated that the Brent CCG’s allocation would not keep pace with the predicted higher demand for services and population growth. The commissioning intentions and their successful delivery was therefore instrumental in ensuring that these challenges were met.
The committee raised several queries in the subsequent discussion. Members questioned the quality of engagement with community groups, emphasised the failure to meet national performance standards in the previous year, questioned what was being done differently to address these issues and sought specific timescales for achieving improvements. It was queried what action was being taken to raise awareness of dementia amongst different communities, including the provision of materials in a variety of languages. A member sought clarity regarding Brent CCG spending for 2014/15, noting that having accounted for commissioning for acute and community care there remained approximately a further £80m unaccounted for. A further query was raised regarding the 2014/15 spending on enhanced GP services and the work undertaken to evaluate their success.
Sarah Mansuralli advised that Brent CVS had been instrumental in supporting the CCG’s engagement with different communities and had helped community groups to organise workshops around the proposals. Addressing concerns around national performance standards, Rob Larkman (Accountable Officer) explained that significant investment had been made to support the North West London Hospitals Trust in achieving these standards and there was an agreement between commissioner and provider for those standards to be delivered in the current financial year. Sarah Mansuralli clarified that though the strategic focus of the commissioning ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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Use of Pupil Premium Grant Scrutiny Task group PDF 94 KB The purpose of the Pupil Premium Scrutiny task group is to focus on analysing the current use of the Pupil Premium Grant, Understanding the attainment gaps, the outcomes which are being achieved in comparison with national performance and to promote best practice among Brent schools. Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Southwood (Task Group Chair) presented the report of the Task Group on the Use of the Pupil Premium Grant (PPG), highlighted the key findings and drew the committee’s attention to the sixteen recommendations detailed in the report. It was explained that the task group had been requested by Scrutiny Committee members in response to the borough priority to improve attainment for disadvantaged pupils. The task group had focussed on analysing the current use of the PPG, understanding attainment gaps, identifying outcomes achieved against national performance and exploring how best practice was shared amongst Brent Schools. Councillor Southwood emphasised that usage of PPG had varied from school to school and it had been recognised that there was no uniform usage that was appropriate for all schools and circumstances. In particular, the Task Group had found a number of innovative and creative usages of the PPG, some of which focussed on non-academic activities and which had instead sought to build confidence or improve social skills. The Task Group had not therefore attempted to specify how PPG should be used but instead had sought to ensure that there was robust decision making being applied and that best practice could be shared. The recommendations of the task group envisioned a key role for the council and the Brent Schools Partnership in aiding the development of a borough-wide, proactive approach to the use PPG, supported by co-ordinated efforts of Brent’s community of schools and Early Years Settings, including children’s centres. In concluding her presentation, Councillor Southwood reiterated her thanks to the organisations and individuals that had contributed to the work undertaken by the Task Group, including children and young people, schools and officers of the council.
The committee congratulated the Task Group on the work undertaken and the detailed report produced. During the discussion, further information was sought regarding the use of PPG and whether schools were using it to its best advantage. It was queried whether the scope of the task group had encompassed all of Brent’s schools, including academies and how the efforts of the task group had been received by those schools. A member asked whether the opinions of parents and foster carers had been sought. A view was expressed that Brent’s schools were failing to address the attainment gaps and the potential contribution that could be made by supplementary schools was highlighted; it was subsequently questioned whether supplementary schools received the PPG.
Councillor Southwood explained that the range of initiatives funded using the PPG had been impressive and the task group had sought to understand how schools were identifying attainment gaps and measuring outcomes and how that had fed into robust decision making. A key issue that had been highlighted by young people who had provided their views to the task group was that of career advice. Students had felt that there needed to be more career advice and guidance available and that this should include specific information on qualifications needed and employment opportunities available. All of Brent’s schools had ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
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Scrutiny Annual Report 2014/15 PDF 68 KB The Annual Scrutiny report is a summary of the work conducted by the Scrutiny function throughout the year. This includes task group work, questions and suggestions made by the committee. The 2014-15 report also provides an update on the impact made by the scrutiny task groups work in the previous and current year. Additional documents: Minutes: Cathy Tyson (Head of Policy and Scrutiny) advised that the Annual Scrutiny Report before the committee had been drafted for members’ consideration. The report provided a summary of the work conducted by the Scrutiny function throughout the year, including task group work, issues raised by the committee and the recommendations and suggestions of the committee. The 2014-15 report also included an update on the impact made by the scrutiny task groups in the previous and current year. Committee members were invited to submit feedback on the draft report which would be finalised for the end of May 2015.
RESOLVED:
that the draft Annual Scrutiny Report 2014/15 be noted. |
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Equalities and HR Policies and Practices Review and draft Action Plan PDF 77 KB The review was led by Cllr Michael Pavey, Deputy Leader of the Council and was undertaken between October 2014 and January 2015. The report is a wide ranging review of staffing matters and HR policies and practices within the Council. The methodology consisted of scrutinising documents and policies, discussions with managers and staff, and was supported by the Local Government Association and other external experts in order to ensure objectivity and fairness. The review is supported by a draft Action Plan which sets out the actions that the council will take to implement the findings.
Additional documents: Minutes: A report on the Review of Equalities and HR policies and Practices, conducted between October 2014 and January 2015 by the Deputy Leader of the Council, was introduced to the committee by Christine Gilbert (Chief Executive). The review had been wide ranging and had encompassed scrutiny of staffing matters and HR policies and practices within the council. Highlighting the key areas of learning arising from the review, Christine Gilbert advised that there needed to be greater consistency in the application of policy across the council and more BME representation in the council’s senior management. It was emphasised that both issues had previously been identified and were included within the council’s Equalities Action Plan and Corporate Plan; however, the review had provided additional focus on these issues. Members’ attention was subsequently drawn to a draft action plan detailing how the council would address and implement the findings of the review. Members’ comments on the draft action plan were invited and it was explained that once finalised, the Corporate Management Team (CMT) would oversee its implementation, with each director undertaking responsibility for a specific strand of work. It was clarified that the delivery of the action plan would be monitored by the new member committee due to be established by the Council at the annual meeting in May 2015. This committee would also be responsible for overseeing progress made towards achieving Excellence in the Equalities Standard for Local Government.
Members welcomed the review. During the subsequent discussion concerns were raised regarding the number of staff failing to receive supervisory appraisals, the implications this had for staff progression and whether managers were using the appraisals as an effective tool to support staff. It was noted that the review reported that more than half of staff members attending two focus groups had not seen a plan for their team or service area and it was queried what action would be taken to address this. The committee further noted that 94 per cent of staff were yet to complete their equalities data on the council’s Oracle system. A member emphasised that the recommendations of the action plan needed to be specific and indicate appropriate timescales and budgets to ensure effective delivery. It was queried whether staff had had the opportunity to comment on the draft action plan and whether managers and staff had expressed confidence that the issues identified would be addressed. Clarity was sought on the policy for medical appointments and assurance was requested that this was not considered a reasonable adjustment for disabled employees. The issue of unconscious bias was raised and it was strongly suggested that this form a core element of any training provided around recruitment. Further details were requested regarding the training and support provided to members appointed to the Senior Staff Appointments Sub Committee.
With regard to BME representation at senior management, a member queried how the council compared to other boroughs and whether there was an opportunity to learn from the practices of other local authorities. At the ... view the full minutes text for item 10. |
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Scrutiny Forward Plan PDF 49 KB Minutes: The committee was informed that all members would be contacted regarding the forward plan for 2015/16 and a session to prioritise items would be held following the annual council meeting scheduled for May 2015.
Councillor Daly expressed the view that the committee should meet formally to discuss the forward plan for 2015/16 and emphasised her frustration regarding the time allotted to scrutinise Health related items. |
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Any other urgent business Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Democratic Services Manager or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 64. Minutes: None. |