Agenda item

To receive reports in accordance with Standing Order 41.

Council received the following reports from Chairs of Scrutiny Committees, as detailed in the Supplementary Agenda to this meeting:

(i)        Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Kelcher, Chair to the Committee, referred to his report which, in accordance with Standing Order 14, provided a summary of the activities that had been carried out by the Council’s Resources and Public Realm Scrutiny Committee.  The report covered the period from 18 May 2016 to the present day and gave details of the Committee’s planned training, programme of work and items discussed during the committee meetings.

Councillor Kelcher stated that, at the last meeting, he had set out that the main reforms the Committee would focus on since he became Chair of the Committee and that these had been set out in detail in its Annual Report.

Councillor Kelcher said that the Committee was improving the way it requested reports in order that Members, and officers, were clear on what the Committee was receiving and then setting the agenda with the involvement of the whole Committee.  He said that, since then, he believed that the Committee had taken these reforms further by conducting some reality checking visits, for example, the Committee had visited the CCTV Control Room before meeting to discuss the issue.  He added that the Committee was working on a system whereby verbal recommendations were followed-up on as much as written recommendations and he had started to meet with Heads of Departments to make sure the Committee was aware of ongoing developments.

Councillor Kelcher said that, with regard to task groups that had been set up, the Committee had received a report from Councillor Farah (Cabinet Member for Housing) on S106 matters and that the Committee, in endorsing all other recommendations in the report had amended two and rejected one of the recommendations in the report, which was now the matter for consideration by the Cabinet.

Councillor Kelcher went on to say that the Committee had received further updates from two task groups, which had been set up previously.  These, he said, referred to CCTV and illegal dumping of rubbish and, in both cases, the Committee had made further recommendations, which it believed built on the spirit of those reports and hoped would help to expand them.

Councillor Kelcher said that the Committee had also set up further task groups.  The first of these, he said, was to look at business rates and that this task group would be chaired by Councillor Davidson.  He said that the task group would look at the system of devolving business rates for local authorities, which was happening in this Parliament, how these would affect Brent, how Brent could take advantage of it and how exactly it would work and what the rules would be.

Councillor Kelcher said that the second task group to be established, after Christmas, was one which would consider child sexual exploitation and would be chaired by Councillor Tatler.  In between these, he said, there would be a Budget task group set up, which would comprise six Members (three form each of the Council’s two scrutiny committees), would be chaired by himself and would get underway in October.

In addition to task groups, Councillor Kelcher said that the Committee had considered a number of reports since the last meeting of the Council.  The first of these, he said, had been to receive an overview of the Council’s financial position because, as a committee, it needed to bear this in mind when considering its business.  He went on to say that the Committee had also focussed on planning matters and, in particular, had considered the Council’s development management policies and its overall planning strategy. 

Councillor Kelcher also said that the Committee had also held a very interesting discussion in relation to the Council’s resurfacing policy and that it had made recommendations on improving the public’s understanding of the issue.

Councillor Kelcher said that the Committee had many more issues to consider but those which he was particularly looking forward to at the next meeting were income generation and how the Council could better use its assets and how the Council managed Brent’s high streets.  In conclusion, he said that the Committee had a very busy agenda ahead but that there was still provision to consider any topical or important items which came up.

(ii)       Community and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee

Councillor Sheth, Chair to the Committee, referred to his report which, in accordance with Standing Order 14, provided a summary of the activities that had been carried out by the Council’s Community and Well-being Scrutiny Committee.  The report covered the period from 18 May 2016 to the present day and gave details of the Committee’s Work Programme, visits, training and engagements undertaken and matters discussed.

Councillor Sheth stated that the care of older people was one of the greatest challenges the Council faced.  He said that Brent’s residents were living longer but the Council’s resources to support them were diminishing year by year.  Councillor Sheth went on to say that this administration had responded to the challenge by starting a new accommodation for independent living project, led by Adult Social Care.  He added that residential care was very expensive and if the project succeeded, it would provide a significant budget saving, whilst improving the quality of care for some of the Borough’s most vulnerable residents.  Councillor Sheth said he strongly believed that it was important that in order to form a view about a service, the Council needed to find out about it at first hand.  He said that, last week, he and Councillor Hector had visited extra care accommodation in Wembley, which was provided as part of the project.  He went on to say that he had spent an afternoon visiting Willow House and talking to residents and key staff there.  He said that what he had seen was high quality housing for older people, many of whom had mental health needs.  He said that, at Willow House, the residents lived independently as far as they could, which was an excellent start, but recognised that the project had lots of challenges.  Councillor Sheth acknowledged that people who lived in extra care and supported living would be exempt from a cap on local housing allowance for at least a year.  He said that his Committee would meet the following evening to explore this and other questions.

Councillor Sheth said that he had also visited parts of the Borough and had seen far less happy sites.  In August, he visited and joined officers from private housing services, who were carrying out checks on properties in Kingsbury, which were suspected of not complying with the Council’s Landlord Licensing Scheme.  Councillor Sheth said that he had been shocked by what he had seen in terms of overcrowding, people living in a garage and 12 people living in a three-bedroom house.  He said that he had gone on that visit because, in July, his Committee had reviewed the Scheme and had heard that in Harlesden, Wembley Central and Willesden Green, selective licensing had been successful.

Councillor Sheth said that his Committee had made a number of recommendations to the Cabinet but the most important one was that the Committee believed that the time had come to extend selective licensing to other parts of Brent.

Councillor Sheth then spoke on the safeguarding of the Borough’s children and that promoting their welfare was another key priority for the Administration.  He was pleased to announce the establishment of a “Signs of Safety” task group, to be chaired by Councillor Hoda-Benn, which had been set up to look into the introduction of a new model in children’s services.  He said that Signs of Safety was about improving the safety of children by working with families to build on their strengths and that this was being used by local authorities in North America, Australia and quite a number within the United Kingdom.  He went on to say that part of the work of the Task Group would be to talk to frontline social workers to get their views and experiences and to make sure that the voice of children was also heard.

Councillor Sheth said that the Health Service was going through huge changes at present and that tomorrow evening, his Committee would be reviewing communication of the STP, which Councillor Hirani had spoken about earlier.  He said that many Members were concerned about the future of Brent’s Advisory Support Service and wanted to ensure that health services in Brent were sufficiently supporting this group of people and those people who had long-term health needs.  He said that, earlier in the month, he had written to Brent Care Commissioning Group who had confirmed that they had decided to keep the pilot running but made it clear that if the pilot was not commissioned in the future then there would be a three-months’ notice period in order that alternative arrangements could be put in place.

In conclusion, Councillor Sheth said that he had started by saying that the Council was having to provide more with fewer resources and that this was also true of the health service.  He said that his Committee would ensure that as all public services in Brent addressed this challenge, the Borough’s residents’ views would be heard.