Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Aden (with Councillor Molloy attending as substitute) and Councillor Ahmadi Moghaddam (with Councillor Fraser attending as substitute).

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.

Councillor S.Butt and Akram both declared a personal interest in respect of Agenda Item 6 – Regeneration in Brent as members of the Planning Committee.

No other declarations of interests were made at the meeting.

The Chair agreed to vary the order of business on the agenda to enable the Scrutiny Progress Update – Recommendation Tracker (Agenda Item 8) to be considered as the first main item of business on the agenda. The minutes therefore reflect the order in which the items were dealt with at the meeting.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 27 February 2024 as a correct record.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meetings held on 27 February 2024 be approved as a correct record.

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

None.

To hear any deputations received from members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67.

There were no deputations considered at the meeting.

This report presents the Scrutiny Recommendations Tracker to the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Conneely (as Chair) introduced the report presenting an updated version of the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee recommendations Tracker.

Members were invited to comment on the updates provided, with the following issues raised:

(a)    Shared Service Performance & Cyber Security

Having noted the additional response provided on 12 April 2024 regarding the progress in completion of the Data Protection Security Assessment by third party suppliers concern was expressed regarding the slippage in timescales, which the Committee AGREED should continue to be keep under review as part of the scrutiny work programme moving forward.

(b)    Development of Brent Climate Action Data Dashboard

Having noted the response received on 10 April 2024 to the recommendations made by the Committee in February 2024 regarding clarification on the inclusion of additional monitoring information to provide wider comparisons to Inner and Outer London, Councillor Mitchell (in response to a request by the Chair) advised she would provide further detail on the additional measures being sought.

(c)    Establishment of devolved Climate Advisory Forum

Having noted the response received on 10 April 2024 in relation to the proposed establishment of a devolved Climate Advisory Forum to monitor and provide feedback on delivery of the Climate& Ecological Emergency Strategy recommended by the Committee in February 2024, the Chair advised that whilst recognising the capacity and resources issues identified the Committee remained keen to advocate for more proactive involvement and engagement with residents around delivery of the strategy.  On this basis, she advised the Committee would continue to monitor progress on the development of a more formal mechanism for resident engagement in the process.

(d)    Contribution of Controlled Parking Zones towards Council’s climate commitments

Having noted the response received on 5 April 2024 to the recommendations made in relation to the role of CPZs in contributing towards the Council’s climate commitments, the Chair advised that the committee had felt further detail was required on the proposals raised and way in which it was felt CPZs could specifically contribute towards climate related objectives.  As such it was AGREED that a further update be sought in relation to the originally issues raised by the Committee.

As no further issues were raised it was AGREED to note the updates provided within the Scrutiny Recommendation Tracker, subject to the actions detailed above.

This report provides an update on the challenges that have arisen in the delivery of existing regeneration schemes, and how the Council have learned lessons to apply to the future. It looks at the framework of the Council’s eight growth areas and schemes within it and considers the principal challenges faced in scheme delivery over recent years.

Councillor Tatler (as Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning & Growth) was invited to introduce a report providing an outline and update on delivery of the Regeneration programme across Brent, including the challenges that had arisen over recent years in terms of the delivery of existing schemes and lessons learnt, focussed around the framework of the Council’s eight growth areas and schemes within them.  In presenting the report, Councillor Tatler highlighted the wide scope of regeneration activity across Brent and Council’s role in setting the overall policy framework, context, capital programme and direction for growth, as part of the Local Plan with delivery subject to the necessary site assembly and construction procurement arrangements.  The report had been focussed on a high-level approach towards delivery of the programme, with members advised that the Local Plan was supplemented by additional guidance in relation to issues such as affordable workspace, s106 obligations, sustainability and amenity space as well as related housing targets for each growth area supplemented by securing the necessary range of supporting grant funding.

In highlighting the overview of existing regeneration schemes across each growth area, including delivery against local plan targets for new homes, the Committee’s attention was also drawn to the challenging financial and economic circumstances impacting on the ongoing viability of the programme, which members were advised also provided important context to the update and included issues relating to build cost inflation, interest rates, labour and construction skills costs and shortages, affordable housing grant rates, the overall funding landscape and constraints alongside the need for policy consistency from government.  The position had been further impacted by additional requirements in relation to planning and building legislation and safety requirements and despite Brent being recognised as one of the largest areas for delivery of housing provision across London and seeking to learn and innovate in terms of its approach towards regeneration, these challenges had meant some schemes would not be able to proceed until financial viability improved.

Following on from presentation of the report, the Chair then invited Pete Firmin (representing local residents within the South Kilburn area) to address the Committee on progress with delivery of the estate regeneration programme in that area.  Having thanked the Chair for the opportunity to speak, Mr Firmin advised that the update provided for the Committee was not felt to have addressed the current issues facing delivery of the programme within South Kilburn.  Citing the original Masterplan adopted in 2017 for redevelopment of the South Kilburn Growth Area he raised concerns that the current development was providing less than 50% social housing, which was outside of the original target set and which it was noted had the potential, given concerns around viability, to be reduced further to 20%-30% social housing provision, which it was felt would make meeting the commitment to existing residents more difficult to achieve.  In addition, concerns were also highlighted in relation to build quality given problems reported with cladding, mould and heating with specific reference made to Swift Court and the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

This report provides an update on the first year (2023/24) of the Redefining Local Services (RLS) programme service contracts.

Councillor Krupa Sheth (Cabinet Member for Environment, Infrastructure & Climate Action) was invited to present a report that updated the Committee on the first year (2023/24) performance of the Redefining Local Services (RLS) programme service contracts relating to Highways services, Parking enforcement, Integrated waste and recycling, street cleansing, grounds maintenance, winter gritting, and Grounds maintenance.  In introducing the report, Councillor Krupa Sheth advised that the report included contextual background information on the RLS programme alongside details on the implementation and performance of each contract over their first year of operation.

Following the initial overview of the report, contributions, comments and questions were sought from the Committee, with the subsequent discussion summarised below:

·             Having reviewed the performance data provided, details were sought on whether there were plans for this to be provided and made more accessible for the public in an open data format, which Councillor Krupa Sheth advised she would be willing to take away as a proposal for further consideration.

·             Referring to section 5.1 of the report provided for the Committee, further details were sought on the original vision which had emerged alongside the RLS commissioning process to achieve greater integration of back-office functions in order to support the creation of a digitally and data-led, streamlined and customer focussed system involving more integrated working across services and how far this had been implemented across departments and systems.  In response, the Committee was advised of the establishment of a new dedicated back-office support function across Public Realm designed to support the Grounds Maintenance and Street Cleansing contracts using data supplied through the Fix my Street App as a means of assisting to shape delivery of the service.  It was confirmed that the system was also able to share data with other divisions and contractors.

·             In highlighting the key priorities initially identified when establishing the RLS programme (as set out in section 3.1 of the report provided for the Committee) including the creation of a clean, green environment and to fully engage with local communities to understand their needs, members were keen to explore if it was felt the new contracts had been successful in achieving the stated objectives.  Whilst recognising that the new contracts had required time to bed in, it was felt the time taken for this process had been effective with positive results now starting to be identified for example in relation to clean and green environmental and social value benefits including the planting of trees, sustainability projects, enhanced community engagement and greening of the Council’s fleet vehicles.  Councillor Krupa Sheth also highlighted work being undertaken to review the provision of enforcement activity and campaigns.

·             The Committee then moved on to focus on waste collection and recycling as part of the Integrated street cleansing, waste collection and winter maintenance contract and action being taken to address the high level of complaints regarding the poor quality of the blue sacks provided for paper and cardboard as part of the twin stream fibre recycling process along with operation of the service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

To provide an update on any changes to the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee’s work programme.

As this was the final meeting of the current Municipal Year members noted that Committee Work Programme without comment.

Notice of items to be raised under this heading must be given in writing to the Deputy Director of Democratic Services or their representative before the meeting in accordance with Standing Order 60.

No items of urgent business were identified.  Prior to closing the meeting the Chair took the opportunity to thank all members of the Committee for their efforts and support over the previous year noting that the date of the next meeting would be Wednesday 17 July 2024.