Agenda item

To receive reports from the Leader or members of the Executive in accordance with Standing Order 42.

Councillor Butt (Leader of the Council) introduced the list of Executive items circulated and called on his colleagues to present their reports.

Funding for Alperton and Copland Schools

Councillor Crane (Lead Member for Regeneration and Major Projects) reported on the welcome news received by the Council that a bid to the schools priority building programme for Alperton and Copland schools had been successful.  Details of the exact funding were awaited.  He referred to the previous government’s much larger Building Schools for the Future programme and the fact that work on both schools would have started by now if the programme had been retained.  Councillor Crane stated that it was clear that pupils performed better in improved schools.

Carers’ Hub

Councillor Hirani (Lead Member for Adults and Health) referred to the work undertaken by his predecessor, Councillor R Moher, and officers which had culminated in the Council tendering for the development of a carers’ hub to provide a single point of contact for carers through the coordination and delivery of a wide range of services including:

Information and advice

Access to health and wellbeing services

Whole family support

Money and benefits advice

Access to work and training

Caring support and training

Emergency support.

This had been the subject of consultation and receiving valuable feedback and it was hoped to have the service up and running by February 2013.

Expansion of schools – Newfield, Brentfield and Preston Manor Lower School

Councillor Arnold (Lead Member for Children and Families) reported on the official launches of three new school buildings as part of meeting the relentless demand for primary school places.  The threat of not having capacity had been turned into the opportunity to provide new modern facilities.  However there was continued demand with a need for a further sixteen reception classes.  This was greater than demand in neighbouring boroughs and continual government lobbying had successfully attracted £80M funding for new school places provision.  Councillor Arnold stated that a report on school places would be submitted to the Executive in August.

Recycling caddie liners

Councillor Powney (Lead Member for Environment and Neighbourhoods) reported that, thanks to the new system introduced by the Council, recycling rates had increased from 28% to 44%.  He now wanted to expand the scheme by tackling food waste.  Therefore liners were now being supplied for food caddies.  Waste food was a major cause of greenhouse emissions and so it was hoped this initiative would be good for the environment as well as save the Council money.

Council Tax support consultation

Councillor R Moher (Lead Member for Corporate Resources) reported on the consultation the Council was due to carry out on the proposed transfer of Council Tax support from the Government to local government.   She stated that it was not good news for Brent not least because the amount of money the Government was passing on to the Council was less than it cost to currently run the scheme.  Members had already been briefed on the issues faced by the Council but there was concern that the consultation was not reaching the people most in need of help.  She stated she would welcome any ideas from councillors on this.