Agenda item
Reports from the Leader and Cabinet
To receive reports from the Leader and Cabinet in accordance with Standing Order 38.
Minutes:
In accordance with Standing Order 38, the Council received reports from the Leader of the Council and Cabinet Members, as follows:
(i) Councillor Butt (Leader of the Council)
(a) Syrian Refugees
Councillor Butt spoke on the recent plight of Syrian refugees and how Brent was working with partners to ensure their safe transition to Brent. He added that other London Councils and the LGA had visited Calais to see at first hand, the extent of the situation and that they had returned with renewed vigour to help individuals affected. He went on to say that, in Brent, the Council had been working with UK London Citizens, the Inter Faiths’ Centre and Crest Academy in an attempt to set up a network of support to any Syrian refugees moving to Brent.
(b) Streets and Heritage
Councillor Butt said that the Council had recently been contacted by the National Lottery Heritage Fund asking how it could work with the Council in providing allocated funding to improve streets and areas of heritage within the Borough.
(c) Bobby Thomas
Councillor Butt extended his thanks to Bobby Thomas who had organised the recent Harlesden Festival, which made sure that the Council had resilient communities that it was supporting and working with.
(ii) Councillor Pavey (Cabinet Member for Stronger Communities)
“Time to Talk” Event
Councillor Pavey took the opportunity to invite all Members and residents to attend the latest of the Council’s “Time to Talk” events, which was scheduled to be held on the evening of 3 October 2016. Councillor Pavey said that Time to Talk was all about engaging with the community to try and find grass root solutions to the really difficult problems faced and that, following the success of the Council’s most recent event on hate crime, the next event would focus on extremism.
Councillor Pavey went on to say that this was an important issue and one the Council wanted to address openly, sensibly and constructively. In conclusion, Councillor Pavey encouraged everyone with an interest in this area to come along and get involved.
(iii) Councillor Southwood (Cabinet Member for Environment)
(a) Illegal Dumping and Antisocial Behaviour
Councillor Southwood said that Members and residents shared her frustration at the number of hotspots the Council had across the Borough where not only was illegal dumping very common but where there was a link to antisocial behaviour.
Councillor Southwood sought to advise Members that the Council was taking a much more joined-up approach to some of these areas and that this was beginning to yield results. She added that, more importantly, the Council had to work more closely with the community and similar with the model pioneered by the Keep Wembley Tidy Group and she thanked the Group for helping the Council to get better at working in partnership.
(b) Brent Transport Service
Councillor Southwood said that many Members and residents may not have been familiar with the Brent Transport Service, which transported the Borough’s young people who attended special schools across Brent, as well as some of the Borough’s adults who required its support to attend services they used.
Councillor Southwood went on to say that the Council’s fleet was old and that the service was becoming unsustainable. She added that the Council was now working in partnership with Harrow and had launched a transport help which she felt was really exciting and had many opportunities for the future. In conclusion, Councillor Southwood said that this could not only sustain the service but improve it.
(iv) Councillor Mashari (Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Growth, Employment and Skills
(a) Head of Planning, Transport and Licensing
Councillor Mashari informed Members of the appointment of Alice Lester, the Council’s new Head of Planning, Transport and Licensing, with effect from 17 October 2016. She said that Ms Lester, a resident of Brent, brought with her, experience of working with three London Boroughs and the Planning Advisory Service, which was a national organisation that provided help with a range of experience and skills needed for this very important position.
(b) West London Economic Prosperity Board
Councillor Mashari advised Council that the Board was scheduled to meet on Wednesday 21 September 2016 and that she would be working with her counterparts across West London to help provide support and confidence to businesses that faced the uncertainty that had been created by Brexit and also to the large number of European Union citizens who were valued employees and residents across Brent and other West London Boroughs.
(c) Ashford Place
Councillor Mashari extended her congratulations to Ashford Place, which had become the Council’s latest living wage accredited employer in Brent and which took the total number of accredited employers to over 30 within the Borough.
(v) Councillor McLennan (Deputy Leader of the Council)
(a) Draft Budget
Councillor McLennan advised Council that the Administration was due to publish its draft Budget and that it would be seeking authority from Cabinet on 24 October 2016, to undertake consultation on it. She said that once Cabinet’s authority to consult had been approved, all Members would have an opportunity to review the proposals and to allow the Opposition to formulate an alternative budget should it wish to do so.
(b) Revenue Support Grant (RSG)
Councillor McLennan said that she wanted the Council to fix the RSG for four years as it gave a level of certainty and clarity that was required.
(vi) Councillor W Mitchell Murray (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People)
Councillor Mitchell Murray echoed the Mayor’s congratulations to all of Brent’s students, for doing as well as they had, and to the teaching and support staff and parents who had helped their children achieve the grades that they had.
Councillor Mitchell Murray was pleased to advise Council that this year’s results for Brent’s children had showed that the Borough was delivering higher than the national average results for Brent’s pupils across all key stages. Additionally, Councillor Mitchell Murray highlighted the following points:
(i) Brent had achieved a significant closing of the gap in the Early Years Foundations Stage and that, for the first time here in Brent, the Borough had no primary schools below the Government’s targets;
(ii) In contrast with other areas in the Country who had seen a decline in their GCSE results, Brent’s continued to improve with the proportion of the Borough’s students achieving five GCSEs Grades A to C (including English and Maths) this year, had increased by three percentage points to 63%.
(iii) The Council had already learnt from its schools’ feedback this summer that more of the Borough’s A-level students had been successful in gaining entry into the Russell Brookes Society. The Council had seen an increase too in the numbers of A-level examinations in Brent, with an increased pass rate of 99% as opposed to 97% last year. Councillor Murray said she would not be satisfied until the Council got nearer to a 100% pass rate.
(iv) Congratulations also to all of the Borough’s Looked after Children, who also attended their exams.
(vii) Councillor Hirani (Cabinet Member for Community Wellbeing)
(a) Health Visiting a School Nursing Service
Councillor Hirani said that work was underway to develop the “Health Visiting a School Nursing Service” in order that the Council had a 0-19 offer. Councillor Hirani said that this was a new way of looking to deliver services so that more parents could access that support as new families and also that the Council had a service, which stretched onto other areas, and that people who did have a visit from a NHS professional took that opportunity to look at other issues such as housing so that such an opportunity was not missed.
(b) My Heart Beats with Brent
Councillor Hirani was delighted to announce the launch of “My Heart Beats with Brent”, in conjunction with Tottenham Hotspur FC, which encouraged Brent residents to take part in 30 minutes of physical activity or exercise every day, and he encouraged Members to take part in the scheme.
(c) Sustainable Transformation Plans (STP)
Councillor Hirani said that NHS England had developed national footprints across the Country where they were expecting local areas to deliver plans and services to their local population. In Brent, he said he wanted to turn this process around in order that the Council looked at what the needs of the Borough were and that these were presented to the STP to reflect the ways in which residents would like to see the Council’s services run. Councillor Hirani added that, in order to do this, a public event was being hosted by Brent at 6.30pm on Monday 26 September 2016, to which he encouraged Members, and their residents to come along to, to ensure a representative view from residents across the Borough. He added that he was working with the Council’s Communications Team to take STP out onto the streets of Brent speaking to people and the residents of Brent, on the STP.
(viii) Councillor Farah (Cabinet Member for Housing)
Councillor Farah gave a quick update on Brent’s Benefit Cuts Toolkit, which was being launched shortly. He said that, following the lowering of benefits cuts scheduled for this year, which would affect approximately 1,800 Brent residents who were in receipt of welfare benefit, 200 of these would experience a reduction in their housing benefits for the first time, with 600 experiencing a rise in their current housing benefits.
Councillor Aslam Choudry left the meeting at 7.25pm.