Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no apologies for absence.

Members are invited to declare at this stage of the meeting, the nature and existence of any relevant disclosable pecuniary or personal interests in the items on this agenda and to specify the item(s) to which they relate.

There were no declarations of interest made.

There were no declarations of interest made.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Monday 17 June 2019 as a correct record.

RESOLVED:-

that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 June 2019 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

RESOLVED:-

that the minutes of the previous meeting held on 17 June 2019 be approved as an accurate record of the meeting.

To consider any matters arising from the minutes of the previous meeting.

None.

None.

To discuss any petitions from members of the public, in accordance with Standing Order 66.

None.

None.

To consider any reference reports from any of the Council’s three Scrutiny Committees.

None.

None.

This report details proposal to support a resident ballot in relation to regeneration of the South Kilburn area, in line with GLA guidelines.

RESOLVED:

       i.          That Cabinet agreed that a ballot in South Kilburn take place.

      ii.          That Cabinet agreed that the voters in the South Kilburn ballot are the circa 1,000 residents from the remaining 17 blocks due for demolition, that also meet the eligibility criteria set by the GLA.

    iii.          That Cabinet agreed the following ballot question, subject to written approval from the Independent Body, Electoral Reform Services;

Are you in favour of the proposal to continue with the regeneration of South Kilburn?  - YES / NO

    iv.          That Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Lead Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning and the Lead Member for Housing and Welfare Reform to agree and finalise the question if not approved in writing as set out in paragraph (iii) by the Independent Body, Electoral Reform Services.

     v.          That Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Lead Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning and the Lead Member for Housing and Welfare Reform to finalise, circulate and publish to eligible resident voters the Landlord Offer document which will be the subject of the South Kilburn ballot.

    vi.          That Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Lead Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning and the Lead Member for Housing and Welfare Reform to agree the dates of the ballot. The intention was for the ballot to take place 3 months following the effective date of Cabinet approval.

vii       That Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Lead Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning and the Lead Member for Housing and Welfare Reform to agree the voting methods for the ballot.

Councillor Shama Tatler, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning, introduced the report stating that, in line with the GLA guidelines, Brent Council supports resident ballots in areas of regeneration, in this case South Kilburn.

Councillor Tatler stated that the development in South Kilburn has been ongoing since 2004, and has several more years remaining on the programme.

Councillor Tatler stated that 17 remaining blocks due to be demolished are included within the ballot. It was noted that there are circa 1,000 eligible voters within these blocks.

Members of Cabinet noted that the ballot must take place within six months of the Landlord Offer being published.

Councillor Tatler stated that, in accordance with the GLA’s Affordable Housing Capital Funding Guide, local authorities must ask all residents whose homes will be demolished for their approval to re-develop an area of council housing. This will take place in the form of a resident ballot of South Kilburn, where residents will be directly asked whether they want to continue the regeneration of the area.

Councillor Tatler stated that officers have worked with the GLA, who support Brent Council’s plans for the ballot.

It was noted that in order to ensure the ballot is conducted in a fair and democratic way, the Council has engaged the Electoral Reform Services (ERS) to oversee the process. They have provided expert guidance and examples of best practice to ensure this ballot is carried out in the correct manner and the ERS has been consulted throughout.

Councillor Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader of the Council, expressed her support for the ballot process and the continuation of the regeneration programme. She informed members that she had attended the opening of the South Kilburn Hub that weekend and had received positive feedback from residents about the regeneration programme and the ballot process.

Councillor Ellie Southwood, Cabinet Member for Housing and Welfare Reform, echoed the comments in support of the ballot process.

Members of Cabinet noted an email from David Walton, Vice Chair South Kilburn New Deal for Communities, sent to Carolyn Downs, Brent Council’s Chief Executive, regarding ‘the unilateral landlord proposed partial 1/6^th re-ballot of the South Kilburn Estate in 2019’.

RESOLVED:

      i.        That Cabinet agreed that a ballot in South Kilburn take place.

    ii.        That Cabinet agreed that the voters in the South Kilburn ballot are the circa 1,000 residents from the remaining 17 blocks due for demolition, that also meet the eligibility criteria set by the GLA.

   iii.        That Cabinet agreed the following ballot question, subject to written approval from the Independent Body, Electoral Reform Services;

Are you in favour of the proposal to continue with the regeneration of South Kilburn?  - YES / NO

   iv.        That Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Chief Executive in consultation with the Lead Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning and the Lead Member for Housing and Welfare Reform to agree and finalise the question if not approved in writing as set out in paragraph (iii) by the Independent Body,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

This report seeks permission to enter into a contract in respect of the acquisition of new Council homes consisting of two freehold housing blocks known as Gloucester & Durham within the South Kilburn regeneration master plan area.

RESOLVED:

       i.          That Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Regeneration & Environment in consultation with the Lead Member for Regeneration, Highways, Planning to negotiate and agree the terms and thereafter enter into a contract in respect of the purchase of the leasehold interest in two housing blocks known as Gloucester & Durham from Telford Homes and NHG as set out in Appendix 1.

      ii.          That Cabinet agreed to terminate the existing long leases in respect of the housing blocks known as Gloucester & Durham granted to Telford Homes and NHG upon acquisition and merge the leasehold title into the freehold interest to be retained by the Landlord.

    iii.          That Cabinet approved the acceptance of grant from the Greater London Authority (GLA) as set out in Appendix 1 and delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Community Wellbeing in consultation with the Lead Member for Housing & Welfare Reform to agree the terms on which the GLA will contribute to the purchase of the housing blocks known as Gloucester & Durham.

Councillor Shama Tatler, Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Property and Planning, introduced the report seeking Cabinet’s permission to enter into a contract in respect of the acquisition of new Council homes consisting of two freehold housing blocks known as Gloucester & Durham from Telford Homes PLC (Telford Homes) and Notting Hill Genesis (NHG) totalling 235 units in the South Kilburn regeneration master plan area.

Councillor Muhammed Butt, Leader of the Council, stated that this proposal supports the Council’s priority to provide additional Council housing in the borough.

RESOLVED:

      i.        That Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Regeneration & Environment in consultation with the Lead Member for Regeneration, Highways, Planning to negotiate and agree the terms and thereafter enter into a contract in respect of the purchase of the leasehold interest in two housing blocks known as Gloucester & Durham from Telford Homes and NHG as set out in Appendix 1.

    ii.        That Cabinet agreed to terminate the existing long leases in respect of the housing blocks known as Gloucester & Durham granted to Telford Homes and NHG upon acquisition and merge the leasehold title into the freehold interest to be retained by the Landlord.

   iii.        That Cabinet approved the acceptance of grant from the Greater London Authority (GLA) as set out in Appendix 1 and delegate authority to the Strategic Director of Community Wellbeing in consultation with the Lead Member for Housing & Welfare Reform to agree the terms on which the GLA will contribute to the purchase of the housing blocks known as Gloucester & Durham.

This report considers how the Council can help facilitate the enhancement of post 16 educational provision and development in Brent by the provision of a loan of up to £50m to United Colleges Group (“United Colleges”) given their wish to develop modern newly constructed facilities in Wembley Park.  This loan is required as “bridging” finance with the report detailing the risks alongside the social and economic benefits that facilitating the development would be expected to bring.

RESOLVED:

       i.          That Cabinet agreed to provide a loan facility of up to £50m to United Colleges on the general terms set out throughout the report.

      ii.          That Cabinet agreed that the loan shall only be provided subject to the conditions set out in the report being discharged.

    iii.          That Cabinet delegated authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, to determine whether the conditions set out in the report have been discharged.

    iv.          That Cabinet delegated authority to the Director of Finance, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, to set the interest rate and other terms of the loan.

     v.          That Cabinet delegated authority to the Director of Finance, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, to conclude and execute the loan transaction or transactions referred to above, whether acting independently or with other lenders, including to make such minor adjustments to the precise terms as prove necessary.

    vi.          That Cabinet noted and carefully considered the potential benefits of the scheme alongside the inherent risks and how these risks are proposed to be mitigated.

Councillor Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader of the Council, introduced the report asking Members to consider how the Council can help facilitate the enhancement of post 16 educational provision and development in Brent by the provision of a loan of up to £50m to United Colleges Group (“United Colleges”) given their wish to develop modern newly constructed facilities in Wembley Park. 

Councillor McLennan stated that this loan is required as “bridging” finance to enable the project to proceed. The expectation would be that all of the Council’s principal loan plus interest would be recovered. As with any project, there are also risks which should be considered, and it might be possible to share these risks by attracting finance from other parties such as Homes England.

Councillor McLennan asked Members to consider the remaining risk to the Council alongside the significant social and economic benefits that facilitating the development would be expected to bring.

Councillor Krupesh Hirani, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Culture and Leisure, expressed his support for the proposal stating that a new state of the art college facility in Brent is an opportunity to raise the aspirations for young people and adults alike in Brent, by creating an inspiring learning environment.

RESOLVED:

      i.        That Cabinet agreed to provide a loan facility of up to £50m to United Colleges on the general terms set out throughout the report.

    ii.        That Cabinet agreed that the loan shall only be provided subject to the conditions set out in the report being discharged.

   iii.        That Cabinet delegated authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, to determine whether the conditions set out in the report have been discharged.

   iv.        That Cabinet delegated authority to the Director of Finance, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, to set the interest rate and other terms of the loan.

    v.        That Cabinet delegated authority to the Director of Finance, in consultation with the Deputy Leader, to conclude and execute the loan transaction or transactions referred to above, whether acting independently or with other lenders, including to make such minor adjustments to the precise terms as prove necessary.

   vi.        That Cabinet noted and carefully considered the potential benefits of the scheme alongside the inherent risks and how these risks are proposed to be mitigated.

This report seeks agreement for the approach to the Voluntary Sector Initiative Fund – Local Grants funding stream 2019-2020.

RESOLVED:

       i.          That Cabinet agreed to the continuation of the Voluntary Sector Initiative Fund – Local Grants funding for 2019 – 2020.

      ii.          That Cabinet agreed the approach set out in the Local Grants Programme which consists of:

a) aligning the priorities of the Local Grants Programme to the priorities of the Borough Plan for 2019-2023.

b) retaining the current geographical priority areas.

c) agreeing that the term of grant funding will be one year.

d) maintaining the maximum grant available at £25k per year, per project.

e) maintaining the grant condition that all staff funded through the Local Grants Programme are paid the London Living Wage.

Councillor Tom Miller, Cabinet Member for Community Safety and Engagement, introduced the report thanking Councillor Krupesh Hirani, who had previously held responsibility for this area, for his hard work in developing the approach to the Voluntary Sector Initiative Fund.

Councillor Miller stated that the Voluntary Sector Initiative Fund (VSIF) – Local Grants Programme was created in 2012 from the previous Main Programme Grant and Advice budgets and was the result of extensive public consultation with voluntary sector organisations.

The budget for 2019/20 is £232k as presented at the 15 April 2019 Cabinet. It is proposed that the term of grant funding is 1 year a maximum grant available of £25k per project. It is recommended that this maximum amount is maintained. If this amount is increased the number of organisations who are able to access the funding will be decreased. If the amount is reduced the ability of organisations to deliver meaningful projects will be decreased. The average grant given out to date for this fund was £21,525 per funded group.

RESOLVED:

      i.        That Cabinet agreed to the continuation of the Voluntary Sector Initiative Fund – Local Grants funding for 2019 – 2020.

    ii.        That Cabinet agreed the approach set out in the Local Grants Programme which consists of:

a) aligning the priorities of the Local Grants Programme to the priorities of the Borough Plan for 2019-2023.

b) retaining the current geographical priority areas.

c) agreeing that the term of grant funding will be one year.

d) maintaining the maximum grant available at £25k per year, per project.

e) maintaining the grant condition that all staff funded through the Local Grants Programme are paid the London Living Wage.

This report sets out the overall financial position facing the Council and highlights the significant issues, risks and uncertainties.  It also sets out the proposed budget setting strategy for 2020/21 and beyond in order to maximise the period of consultation with residents, businesses and other key stakeholders.

RESOLVED:

       i.          That Cabinet agreed the budget setting process for 2020/21, including the approach to consultation and scrutiny, as set out in section seven of this report.

      ii.          That Cabinet confirmed their intention, as previously announced and subject to consultation and any other material changes to circumstances, to increase council tax by 3.99% in 2020/21, on the basis that this means that no new savings proposals need to be developed.

    iii.          That Cabinet noted the Capital budgets and agree the proposed 2018/19 capital budget carry forwards and capital virements set out in section six of the report.

    iv.          That Cabinet noted that on current funding assumptions savings of at least £20m will be required in order to agree balanced budgets for 2021/22 and 2022/23.

Councillor Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader of the Council, introduced the report setting out the overall financial position facing the Council and highlights the significant risks, issues and uncertainties. 

Councillor McLennan stated that it also sets out the proposed budget setting strategy for 2020/21 and beyond in order to maximise the period of consultation with residents, businesses and other key stakeholders.

RESOLVED:

      i.        That Cabinet agreed the budget setting process for 2020/21, including the approach to consultation and scrutiny, as set out in section seven of this report.

    ii.        That Cabinet confirmed their intention, as previously announced and subject to consultation and any other material changes to circumstances, to increase council tax by 3.99% in 2020/21, on the basis that this means that no new savings proposals need to be developed.

   iii.        That Cabinet noted the Capital budgets and agree the proposed 2018/19 capital budget carry forwards and capital virements set out in section six of the report.

   iv.        That Cabinet noted that on current funding assumptions savings of at least £20m will be required in order to agree balanced budgets for 2021/22 and 2022/23.

This report sets out the 2018/19 outturn position against the revenue budget.

RESOLVED:

       i.          That Cabinet noted the overall financial outturn as set out in the report.

Councillor Margaret McLennan, Deputy Leader of the Council, introduced the report setting out the 2018/19 outturn position against the revenue budget.

Councillor McLennan stated that, overall, the Council underspent against the main general fund revenue budget by £2.0m. She stated that there is an overspend of £1.7m in Children & Young People (CYP), however this will be met by contingency funds within CYP reserves.

Councillor McLennan stated that there is also a small overspend of £0.2m within Community Wellbeing. Offsetting these are an underspend of £3.8m in Regeneration and Environment, of which £2.7m is proposed to be set aside the 2019/20 projects.

Councillor McLennan stated that, overall, the Council underspend against the main general fund revenue budget by £2.0m. There is an overspend of £1.7m in Children & Young People (CYP), however this will be met by contingency funds within the CYP reserves.

RESOLVED:

      i.        That Cabinet noted the overall financial outturn as set out in the report.

This report sets out the current forecasts of income and expenditure against the budget for 2019/20 and other key financial data.

RESOLVED:

       i.          That Cabinet noted the overall financial position and the actions being taken to manage the issue arising as set out in the report.

RESOLVED:

       i.          That Cabinet noted the overall financial position and the actions being taken to manage the issue arising as set out in the report.

This report sets out the process for administering the London Borough of Culture (LBOC 2020) Culture Fund in support of community organisations being able to bid for grants to run their own projects as part of the Brent LBOC 2020 programme.  The report provides details on the bids which have been identified through the first funding round and recommended for approval.

RESOLVED:

       i.          That Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Strategic Director Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Lead Member for Public Health, Culture & Leisure, to award grants up to a maximum value of £10,000 to organisations and £3,000 to individuals, to deliver approved projects as part of the Brent London Borough of Culture 2020 programme, using funds from the LBOC 2020 Culture Fund to make such grants.

Councillor Krupesh Hirani, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Culture and Leisure, introduced the report reaffirming the importance of Brent’s London Borough of Culture (LBOC 2020) Culture Fund in giving the Community an opportunity to run their own projects in 2020 as part of the LBOC 2020 programme.

Councillor Hirani stated that the focus of the report is the plan for administering the LBOC 2020 Culture Fund.  It sets out the process by which successful applicants to the LBOC 2020 Culture Fund are awarded grants of up to £10,000 to deliver projects as part of the Brent LBOC 2020 programme and the selection process undertaken in line with established criteria to deliver projects as part of the Brent LBOC 2020 programme. 

RESOLVED:

      i.        That Cabinet agreed to delegate authority to the Strategic Director Community Wellbeing, in consultation with the Lead Member for Public Health, Culture & Leisure, to award grants up to a maximum value of £10,000 to organisations and £3,000 to individuals, to deliver approved projects as part of the Brent London Borough of Culture 2020 programme, using funds from the LBOC 2020 Culture Fund to make such grants.

The following items are not for publication as they relate to the following category of exempt information as specified under paragraph 3, Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, namely: “Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)"

Item 8:       Acquisition of Gloucester & Durham Blocks, South Kilburn: Appendix 1 – Investment Appraisal

The press and public were not excluded from the meeting.

There were no exclusions of press and public.

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 60.

There was no urgent business.

None.