Agenda and minutes

Councillor Conneely (as Chair) welcomed members of the Scrutiny Committee to the meeting.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Georgiou (with Councillor Lorber attending as a substitute) and from Councillor Shah.

The Chair also confirmed that Councillor Muhammed Butt was attending (as Leader of the Council & Cabinet Member for Housing) to represent Councillors Krupa Sheth (Cabinet Member for Environment & Enforcement) and Councillor Tatler (Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning & Growth).

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 declared a personal interest in respect of Agenda Item 9: Delivery of Affordable Housing by i4B Holdings Ltd and First Wave Housing Ltd as one of the Council appointed Directors on the Board of both companies.  Given the nature of the review due to be undertaken he advised that he would withdraw from the meeting for the consideration of that item.

No other declarations of interests were made at the meeting.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on Wednesday 17 July 2024 as a correct record.

It was RESOLVED that the minutes of the previous meetings held on Wednesday 17 July 2024 be approved as a correct record.

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

No matters arising were raised at the meeting.

To hear any deputations requested by members of the public in accordance with Standing Order 67.

The Chair advised that she had agreed to accept requests for two deputations at the meeting, both in relation to Agenda Item 8: Review of Year 1 Grounds Maintenance Contract.  The first of these was from Dollis Hill Copse Group and Friends of Gladstone Park and the second from Brents Parks Forum & Friends of Park Groups.

To agree the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee work programme for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

The Committee received a report from the Deputy Director Democratic Services, which presented the 2024-25 work programme for the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee.

In considering the report, members were advised that the work programme had been developed to reflect relevant strategic priorities within the Borough Plan, feedback received from residents, and issues raised by members of the Committee and other councillors.  Development of the work programme had also involved engagement with key stakeholders in Borough as well as the Audit and Standards Advisory Committee to ensure alignment with their work programme.

Members noted that the work programme had also been developed as a flexible living document that could be adapted as required to include emerging issues.

Having reviewed the proposed work programmed it was RESOLVED to agree the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee work programme for the 2024-25 Municipal Year.

To establish a Task Group to review the Council’s budget proposals for 2025/2026.

The Committee received a report from the Deputy Director Democratic Services seeking approval to establish a Task Group to consider the Council’s budget proposals for 2025-26.

In considering the report, the Committee noted the proposed remit and role of the Task Group in seeking to review the budget proposals and priorities identified as part of the Council’s budget consultation and setting process for 2025-26, with final recommendations arising from the review to be presented to Cabinet in February 2025 alongside the final budget proposals.

As a result, it was RESOLVED:

(1)       That a Budget Scrutiny Task Group be established with members to be confirmed at the Committee meeting on 5 November 2024.

(2)       To note the Terms of Reference for the Task Group as detailed within section 2.2 of the report.

This report provides a review of the first year of the Grounds Maintenance Contract with Continental Landscapes and covers information relating to the overall performance of the contract across Parks, BHM land and highway verges, and clarifies performance issues that have arisen and also those mitigations introduced to prevent re-occurrence.  The report also details challenges faced in the first year of the contract and the lessons learnt from the  first year of operation to allow improvements to be delivered moving forward.

Councillor Muhammed Butt (as Leader of the Council attending on behalf of Councillor Krupa Sheth - Cabinet Member for Environment & Enforcement) was invited to introduce a report providing a review of the first year of the Grounds Maintenance Contact with Continental Landscapes.  In presenting the report, members were advised that the information provided included details on overall performance of the contract across parks, Brent Housing Management land as well as highways. The report also provided information relating to the challenges faced in the first year of the contract as well as lessons learned to allow improvements to be delivered moving forward with the contract, overall, felt to be making positive progress.

Following on from the Leaders introduction, Chris Whyte (Director of Public Realm) then continued by outlining the three primary challenges experienced during the first year of operation for the new contract, as identified in the report, including the need to embed and develop local working relationships with the new contractor after the previous arrangements, dealing with adverse weather conditions that had disrupted performance and grass-cutting, and integrating new machinery and electrical equipment. The Committee heard that the Council had been able to maintain an open and honest relationship with the new contractor in seeking to address these initial challenges, who had also acknowledged and reflected on the issues identified. Whilst it was acknowledged challenges remained around grounds maintenance performance on housing estates, larger parks were generally felt to have been maintained to a high standard, however issues with litter and fly-tipping during the summer season were also noted. Looking ahead, there would be ongoing evaluation of current practices to drive further improvements for the coming year. As part of the contract performance arrangements, Continental Landscapes would be conducting a comprehensive review of the summer season with insights and lessons learned to be shared with the Cabinet Member which members were advised could also be shared with the Scrutiny Committee.

Following on from presentation of the report, the Chair then invited David McClement (representing Dollis Hill Copse and Friends of Gladstone Park) to present his deputation outlining his experience of the new Grounds Maintenance Contract.  Having thanked the Chair for the opportunity to speak, Mr McClement advised of the work undertaken by the Groups he was involved in supporting in seeking to maintain a small wooded copse area within Gladstone Park.  Whilst thanking Continental Landscapes for their ongoing support, the opportunity was taken to highlight challenges which had been experienced following introduction of the new contract.  These included the arrangements and delay in provision of a significant amount of woodchip to finalise works to footpaths and a lack of effective communication and flexibility between different teams and management in collaborating with one another. Clarifying questions were raised about practical measures that could enhance communication between different teams with David McClement’s view that communication could be improved through knowledge of locality and improving clarity in communication between different teams and management. In recognising and valuing the important role played by Friends  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

This report provides an update on i4B Holdings Ltd (i4B) and First Wave Housing Ltd.'s (FWH) operational, financial, and strategic performance, including delivery of the policy objectives relating to the provision of good quality affordable housing and reducing the use of temporary accommodation.

The report has been prepared to assist the Committee in seeking to understand and assess the effectiveness of investment decisions for the Council in seeking to achieve key strategic priorities.

Peter Gadsdon (attending the meeting as a Council appointed Director on i4B/First Wave Housing Boards) was invited by Councillor Muhammed Butt (as Leader of the Council and attending to represent Councillor Tatler as Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Planning & Growth) to introduce the report providing an update on the financial and strategic performance of i4B Holdings Ltd (i4B) and First Wave Housing Ltd (FWH) as wholly owned local authority companies.  In noting the role and remit of both companies the Committee were advised that i4B had been set up in 2016 with the purpose of acquiring, letting and managing a portfolio of affordable, good quality private rented sector (PRS) properties in order to support efforts to alleviate homelessness and supporting a reduction in the use of temporary accommodation. The company acquired properties on the open market, including individual units and occasionally larger blocks of housing. It was noted that a Business Plan and financial model had been established and was closely monitored by the Board with the Committee keen to review impact of the investment decision made by the Council to support the company in seeking to achieve key strategic priorities.  It was also noted that i4B was restricted in the types of housing it could purchase, as it needed to fall within the affordable band. At present, i4B held 446 properties, with 61 x1 bedrooms, 191 x2 bedrooms, 141 x3 bedrooms and 53 x4 bedroom units. These included a number of properties located within the Home Counties, which whilst managed through Mears as an external agent, had become increasing difficult to let as households became more reluctant to relocate away from family or support networks leading to the Board, as opportunities became available, seeking to dispose of these units and reinvest in properties closer to Brent. For the properties located in Brent, the company operated a Service Level Agreement (SLA) with Brent’s Housing Management service to provide housing management, corporate and financial, property purchasing and refurbishment services.. This enable the company to operate with minimal staff and to benefit from economies of scale in terms of operating costs with a comprehensive monitoring framework in place to ensure operational performance met targets within the SLA.. Investment decisions were highlighted as having provided benefits to the Council with attention drawn to table 4.4 within the report, which illustrated that i4B had housed and discharged the Council’s housing duty to 473 families, the majority of whom were previously housed in stage one Temporary Accommodation (TA). The number of families housed was higher than i4B’s PRS portfolio due to a number of families moving on to other accommodation, with new families moving in. Table 4.7 within the report, highlighted that this was estimated to have provided a net cost avoidance of £88k each week achieved by moving 355 households from TA into i4B units.

In terms of First Wave Housing (FWH) members were advised this was a company limited by guarantee established as a registered provider of social housing to manage the property portfolio  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

This report presents the Scrutiny Recommendations Tracker for review by the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee.

The Committee noted the Scrutiny Recommendations Tracker report and update on key actions and information requests identified.

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

No items of urgent business were identified.