Agenda and minutes

None declared.

None.

To follow.

The minutes were tabled.

RESOLVED:-

that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 5 April 2016 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

None.

The decisions of Cabinet to approve a proposal to enter into a pilot contract with Kingdom Security Limited for the delivery of a payment-by results, cost-neutral uniformed service for the enforcement of street scene and environmental offences in the borough for a period of 12 months have been called in for scrutiny.

The committee considered the circulated briefing paper which addressed each of the points raised by the members who had called in the decisions of the Cabinet. Councillor Southwood (Lead Member for Environment), Lorraine Langham (Strategic Director, Regeneration and Environment), Chris Whyte (Operational Director, Environmental and Employment Services) and Rob Anderton (Head of Service, Public Realm) were present for the discussion.

The Chair invited Councillor Stopp to explain why the decisions of Cabinet had been called in.  Councillor Stopp stated that the work of the task group on fly tipping had been referenced in the report to Cabinet but the members of the task group had not been consulted on the proposal and so had some concerns on what had emerged.  In response, Councillor Southwood stated that the work of the task group had been used to develop the proposals but she agreed that an important point had been raised concerning how members involved in scrutiny work could remain involved when taking forward policy development.

At the invitation of the Chair, Councillor Duffy spoke against the proposal and argued in favour of the service being provided by an in-house team, thereby ensuring that the staff received fair conditions of service and that any profit from the scheme was retained by the Council.  He questioned the value for money aspect of the scheme.  In response, Councillor Southwood stated that Kingdom Security Limited paid its staff above the London Living Wage level and that it was taking on the financial risk thereby ensuring it would be cost neutral for the Council.  She maintained that a quick and effective scheme was required to ensure cleaner streets and stood by the decisions taken by Cabinet.

Following consideration of the report, the further information supplied and contributions from the Lead Member, Councillor Southwood and lead officers, the committee decided not to submit any recommendations to Cabinet. Councillor Stopp sought assurance that the proposal would not set a precedent for permanently outsourcing the work.  Councillor Southwood provided that re-assurance and offered to meet with Councillor Stopp to discuss with him the actions being taken on dealing with illegal dumping. 

Members of the committee asked questions concerning the need for a thorough risk assessment to be carried out before the scheme was introduced and how the pilot with Kingdom would meet its financial targets.     

In response to a question, it was explained that it was anticipated that Kingdom would provide four uniformed personnel patrolling the streets, one senior officer, one area supervisor and a dedicated administrative post based in the Civic Centre.  It was submitted that better co-ordination between landlord licensing and enforcement of street scene and environmental offences.

The committee accepted the rationale behind the decisions taken by Cabinet but wanted the following views reported back:

•           That it was recognised that the issue of littering and illegal rubbish dumping was a hugely important one for local residents.  The idea of using foot patrols to issue fixed penalty notices to offenders was an interesting one and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The purpose of this report is to provide information to the Council’s Scrutiny Committee, as requested, about the proposals for adoption reform contained within the government’s Education and Adoption Bill 2015 and how the local authority is responding to these proposals.

Councillor Moher (Lead Member for Children and Young People) was present for this item.  Nigel Chapman (Head of Placements) introduced the report which contained information on the proposals for adoption contained in the Education and Adoption Bill.  He stated that the Bill had received Royal Assent since drafting the report.  Discussions were underway on creating regional adoption agencies but it was unclear on what basis the regions might be established.  The London boroughs were working in a spirit of co-operation in order to take the initiative.  Some concern was expressed over the size of any region created and the need to retain some local responsibility for the children.  Members were re-assured that local data would continue to be kept on Brent children and this would be reported to the Corporate Parenting Committee.

In response to questions regarding the number of children adopted, their age and how long they spent waiting for adoption, Gail Tolley (Strategic Director, Children and Young People) explained that the Corporate Parenting Committee was provided with this information.  This was also the case for long term fostered children.

Addressing equalities issues, it was explained that there was a lack of adopters to reflect the full range of communities within Brent.  In terms of taking account of the views of the child/family it was explained that a number of well established charities existed to represent the child/family’s view.

RESOLVED:

(i)         that the current progress on reforming adoption services be noted;

(ii)        that consideration be given to the need to align the scrutiny function of Corporate Parenting Committee with the work of the relevant new scrutiny committee.

Requests for information:

·         copy of the February 2016 Corporate Parenting Committee agenda  to be sent to all members of the Scrutiny Committee

The purpose of this paper is to provide the Brent Scrutiny Committee with an update on the progress to date made by the Brent and Harrow Systems Resilience Group (SRG) with regard to managing winter pressures in 2015/16 and the impact that this has had on performance. 

Councillor Hirani (Lead Member, Adults, Health and Wellbeing), Phil Porter (Strategic Director, Adults and Community Wellbeing), Sarah Mansuralli (Chief Operating Officer, NHS Brent Clinical Commissioning Group) and James Walford (LNWHT) were present for this item.  The report was introduced by reference to the complexity in the system operated by different authorities with different processes.  This was where the Systems Resilience Group (SRG) made a positive impact.  James Walford explained the approach taken by the London Ambulance Service in getting patients to where there was capacity which meant that people may be transported to hospitals further afield and this needed co-ordinating.

In response to the comment that the report was about processes not about the vulnerable people dealt with, it was explained that the work was designed to assist people out of hospital as quickly as possible aided by social workers. 

Although the committee was informed of how the SRG was an example of how changes in processes could be achieved, there was concern expressed that hospitals did not have the capacity to manage the number of incoming patients.  A good care level within hospitals was needed in order to set up a patient to be discharged.  It was explained that the new A&E facility at Northwick Park hospital had improved things although meeting waiting times targets remained a challenge.  The committee was informed that data on performance at other hospitals where Brent residents might end up was collected and monitored. 

Councillor Hirani stated that the system was under a lot of pressure and that this was not unique to Brent.  He felt that somewhere along the line the national approach would need to change.

RESOLVED:

(i)         that the progress made on managing winter demand be noted;

(ii)        that the factors needing to be addressed to improve DTOC (Delayed Transfers of Care) performance be noted;

(iii)       that the plans being developed for 2016/17, building on successful initiatives in 2015/16 be noted.

Request for information:

·         Provision of figures on meeting targets for referral to treatment (medicine and surgery), cancer targets, and numbers and breakdown of DTOC cases.

This is a requested update on the paper brought to Scrutiny in June 2015. It considers the challenge of providing access to affordable, quality childcare in Brent.

Gail Tolley (Strategic Director, Children and Young People) introduced the report and Sue Gates (Head of Early Years and Family Support) summarised the content of the report and concluded that there was no shortfall of childcare provision within the borough but there was concern regarding the cost of provision and what plans the government had which meant there were significant challenges that lay ahead.  In answer to questions from members of the committee it was explained that there was a vibrant and broad provision in the borough with quality increasing and that the number of places had increased over the last three years at a greater rate than the London average.

An undertaking was given to provide members of the committee with information on the amount of grant top sliced to provide for administration costs.  It was also agreed to provide members with information on the number of approaches made to the Council for an assessment of SEN in the 0-5 year old group.

Concerning the government proposal to extend free entitlement for 3 and 4 year olds to 30 hours per week, it was noted that wide consultation was being carried out with a mixed response being received from providers but it was too early to draw any conclusions.

RESOLVED:

that the submitted report be noted.

Requests for information:

·         the amount of grant top sliced for administration.

·         information on the number of approaches made for an assessment of SEN for 0-5 year olds

A review of HR Policies & Equalities was carried out in October 2014 by Councillor Michael Pavey and this report provides an update on the action plan.

Information supporting the report to follow.

Councillor Pavey (Deputy Leader and Lead Member for Equalities), introduced the report that covered a number of HR and equality strands and showed significant improvements had been achieved. However, he was concerned that the tone of the report indicated a level of complacency over the work that still needed to be done to make Brent a beacon authority around the issue of equality. 

Members of the committee expressed concern that there was not more attention paid to front line staff and the impact on residents of staff being ‘burnt out’. With regard to the staff equality networks it was questioned whether staff would feel able to express themselves in front of the Strategic Directors chairing them.  In response, Councillor Pavey explained that it was felt necessary to get a view from the top of the organisation but recognised that a bottom up approach was also needed.  He accepted there was an issue to be addressed in capturing the voice of staff generally.  He accepted that there was an element of staff being ‘burnt out’ but felt on the whole staff were doing a good job. 

The issue of mental health was raised and it was felt more work may be needed on this.  Consideration could be given to analysing the redundancy figures to identify those affected and ensure there was no unconscious bias towards those in more stressful jobs.  The question was asked how incidents leading to formal action being taken against staff were monitored so as to be sure action was taken to avoid cases going to Industrial Tribunal.  It was also suggested that consideration should be given to establishing an accessibility officer post so in house advice could be given on development proposals. 

Given the criticism of the report by Councillor Pavey, the process for submitting reports to committee was questioned.  The Chair asked that the committee’s concern that the report had not been signed off by the Lead Member before submission to committee be recorded.

RESOLVED:

(i)         that progress on the HR and Equalities review action plan and the council’s assessment for ‘Excellence’ in the Equality Framework for Local Government, be noted;

(ii)        that Councillor Pavey be requested to take back for consideration the points raised during discussion of the item as recorded above.

The Chair explained that he had proposed forward plans for each of the new committees to take forward post May.

NOTED

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Head of Executive and Member Services or his representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 64.

None.