Agenda item

This report updates the Committee on the Scrutiny Recommendations Tracker.

The Committee was invited to consider the progress and updates provided in relation to the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny recommendation and information request tracker. The Chair invited Committee members to ask officers questions relating to the progress of the previous recommendations, suggestions and information requests made by the Committee as detailed in Appendix A of the report. The following queries were raised by the Committee:

6.1   Multi Agency Flood Planning – 22 February 23

In relation to the recommendations made on Multi Agency Flood Planning the Committee were advised that updated responses were available in full on the revised report link in Appendix A of the Tracker.

Officers clarified that confirmation was being sought in liaison with Thames Water to ensure that all areas of the borough that fell within Thames Water’s remit were accurately reflected in Thames Water’s flood plans. An update would be provided at a future Committee meeting.

6.2   Brent Council Grants Programme – 8 November 22

Following an update provided on the You Decide participatory budgeting scheme, the Committee sought further details on why the decision had been taken to introduce a revised model of Community Grants, given that when the Committee had reviewed the scheme in November 2022, it was felt that it had been a successful pilot.

Councillor Donnelly-Jackson, Cabinet Member for Customers, Communities & Culture, advised that following the comments made at the previous Committee it was felt that despite the successes noted from the scheme it was important to recognise and respond to the issues raised in relation to the governance of the process, with particular reference to the concerns in relation to the voting system. Following the knowledge acquired from the pilot, a revised model of Community Grant Allocations with increased robust governance arrangements was submitted and accepted by Cabinet on 17 April 2023. It was hoped that the model going forward would build on the success of the You Decide pilot in harnessing community participation whilst providing a more transparent robust system in grant allocations.

The Chair thanked Councillor Donnelly-Jackson for clarifying the rationale behind the decision to introduce an alternative community grant scheme to the You Decide programme, however added that the Committee felt strongly about being involved in the decision making process on items that had been brought to the Committee for scrutiny.  This was in view of the need to ensure that scrutiny recommendations were retained and actively considered to support and continue informing policy direction.

The Committee looked forward to receiving a further update on Brent Council’s Grants Programme at a future Committee.

6.3   Re-defining Local Services – 15 December 22

The Committee were pleased to note the feedback provided following previous recommendations and information requests made, however there were some outstanding points that the Committee felt required further exploration. The following points were discussed:

·             The Committee appreciated the feedback provided in relation to the community communications and engagement plan, however sought further detail as to how the focus groups to seek community feedback would be undertaken. Oliver Myers, Head of Environmental Strategy & Climate Change, advised that to ensure as broad a level of feedback was obtained as possible from Brent residents, a market research company would be brought in to undertake the focus groups. It was re-iterated to the Committee that officers recognised the value in community engagement as an opportunity to educate the local community as well as including the community in the development of the programme.

·             Internal engagement from members was welcomed to support slogans and branding ahead of the suggestions being put to the wider focus and engagement groups.

·             The Committee were advised that officers would liaise with private landlords to proactively work together to support the new campaign and to educate residents.

·             It was confirmed that the revised zone classifications were being finalised with the support of officers and Veolia employees working together to ensure that the zones were classified correctly using their specific local expertise.

·             It was clarified that the zone classifications were to support officers and contractors in their operational planning and would have no direct impact on the service to residents.

·             In response to a Committee query in relation to the resident reporting system for street cleaning, officers confirmed that there was no specific grading system in use and that residents should report concerns when they felt it was appropriate, officers would then use their judgement to decide what operational intervention was needed.

·             The Committee felt that the planned pilot of wheelie bins for approximately 6000 street level households in September 2024 was too far away and would be misleading for residents selected for the pilot who were already accustomed to the new sack systems by this point. The Committee acknowledged that implementing the pilot in September 2024 would support greater research and assessment of the new systems, as more data would have been collected by this point, however felt that if it was possible, the pilot scheme should be brought forward.

·             Following resident dissatisfaction with the sacks used in the pilot, the Committee were assured that the concerns raised in relation to the size and quality of the sack had been acknowledged and as a result the sack was being re-designed to respond to the issues raised.

As no further issues were raised, Councillor Conneely thanked members and officers for the responses and updates provided and it was RESOLVED to note the Recommendations Tracker Update.