Agenda item

To receive reports from the Chairs of the Council’s Scrutiny Committees in accordance with Standing Order 36. The reports have been attached as follows:

12.1    Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee

12.2    Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee

Members are asked to note that this session will include an opportunity (within the time available) for Non-Cabinet Members to ask questions of relevant Scrutiny Chair’s in relation to the remit of their Committees.

The Mayor then moved on to deal with the updates from each Scrutiny Committee Chair, reminding members that the time set aside for this item was 12 minutes, with each Chair having up to three minutes in which to highlight any significant issues arising from the work of their Committees.  Once these updates had been provided, he advised the remaining time available would then be opened up for any other non-Cabinet members to question (without the need for advance notice) the Scrutiny Committee Chairs on matters relating to the work of their Committee.

Councillor Conneely was then invited to introduce the update report on the work being undertaken by the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee, with the following issues highlighted:

·            The wide-ranging nature of scrutiny activity undertaken by the Committee since the last update, as set out within the update report circulated with the agenda which had included a focus on housing, recycling and the provision of affordable housing.

·            In response to concerns identified in relation to underperformance around complaints relating to housing repairs the Committee had sought to challenge officers and the contractor on performance, recognising the impact on tenants.  As a result of their review the Committee had welcomed the changes outlined in terms of enhanced contract accountability, introduction of transparent resident led performance monitoring (including establishment of the Housing Board) along with the strengthening of financial protection when services broke down as part of the approach in developing a clear plan for improvement for tenants on which the Committee would continue to closely monitor progress.

·            As part of their focus on recycling, the Committee continued to monitor performance in relation to the improvements being sought in recycling rates, again welcoming the shift towards the development of improved infrastructure for food waste and communal recycling along with the enhanced tracking of households missing out and efforts being made to address corporate waste, including lobbing for limits on single use plastic bags by independent retailers on the high street.  The Committee had also identified the need to ensure a cohesive plan was developed for any investment being made available through the Extended Producer Responsibility Scheme.

·            The Committee had also considered arrangements for the provision of affordable social housing as part of the upcoming Local Plan review.  Whilst recognising the need to provide alternative options for delivery, the Committee had questioned the inclusion of Shared Ownership and Student Accommodation as genuine affordable housing products and also identified, as part of the review of the Local Plan, a need for land value mapping, the provision of more sustainable options for affordable housing along with enhanced incentives for social housing partners supported by the need to secure essential supporting infrastructure as part of future developments and the need for greater challenge in terms of viability assessments.  The establishment of the Local Plan Member Working Group had also been welcomed in this respect.

·            The ongoing monitoring of Brent’s overall financial position based on detailed updates regarding the financial outturn position for 2025-26, current financial forecast and the medium-term financial outlook with the Council continuing to operate in a challenging financial environment with an uncertain funding outlook and the potential for significant ongoing spending pressures in demand-led services.  These would again be issues focussed on by the Budget Scrutiny Task Group, with members keen to ensure the focus on any savings identified avoided impacting on social care and youth services and with support expressed for the continuation of lobbying efforts seeking urgent reform of local government finance in order to provide local authorities with greater options for how they raised and spent resources, including the use of the community infrastructure levy (CIL) and use of Council assets to meet social need.

·            The ongoing focus and work of the Committee in seeking to encourage, where identified as required, change and improvements in the way services were being delivered for local communities across the borough and thanks expressed to members and other key stakeholders for their engagement in the work of the Committee to date.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Conneely for her update and then invited Councillor Ketan Sheth as chair of the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee to introduce the update report on the work being undertaken by that Committee, with the following issues highlighted:

·            Since the previous update, the Committee had finalised its work programme for 2025-26 with its first meeting being held in July which had considered two key safeguarding reports.  The first of these had been the Brent Safeguarding Adults Board (SAB) Annual Report 2024–25, which had been presented by their Independent Chair Nicola Brownjohn who had outlined the progress being made in terms of development of the new SAB Strategic Plan 2024–26.  The Committee had noted and welcomed the significant reduction in the backlog of safeguarding reviews from the period related to the pandemic along with the update on strengthened governance, improved performance, audit standards, and enhanced collaboration between statutory partners as well as the success of a Community Engagement Project, supported by Healthwatch, which had improved resident engagement and community connections. Progress on transitional safeguarding was also highlighted and welcomed by the Committee.

The second update had been on the Brent Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report 2024–25, presented by Independent Scrutineer Keith Makin who had outlined the Partnership’s role and achievements in ensuring strategic alignment between Health, Police, and the Council.  Plans to strengthen youth engagement were welcomed, particularly the introduction of young scrutineers and collaboration with Brent Youth Parliament, with members also informed of continued joint working with the Safer Brent Partnership and the SAB on transitional safeguarding.  Updates were also provided in relation to the introduction of Lead Safeguarding Partners and preparations for the Children’s Wellbeing and Education Bill with the Committee having welcomed the priorities identified for the coming year including online safety, enhanced data analysis, and a focus on neurodiversity.

·            The significant work scheduled on the Committee work programme for the remainder of 2025-26, with the next meeting in September due to focus on Children’s Oral Health, Period Dignity and the Impact of Youth Service Delivery in Brent.

·            In recognising the flexible and broad ranging nature of the Committee work programme, the opportunity was taken to specifically acknowledge and welcome the continued contribution and engagement of Brent Youth Parliament to ensure the views of young people across the borough were included as well as engagement with a range of other key stakeholders including local health providers, housing, social care and the local community.

·            The ongoing and active engagement of the Committee in the work of the North West London Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee Brent, which Councillor Ketan Sheth continued to Chair.  This had included a review of proposals relating to maternity provision across North West London including outcomes and equity across the region, Adult Mental Health and the impact arising from reconfiguration of the ICB. The next meeting was scheduled for November with the Committee due to review Special School Nursing, the future of Place Based Partnerships, Dentist Commissioning and Children's Dental Health.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Ketan Sheth for the updated provided and it was RESOLVED that the contents of both reports be noted.

Following the updates provided, the Mayor advised that the remainder of time available would be open for questions from non-cabinet members to the Scrutiny Chairs. The Mayor reminded members of the need to ensure that questions raised were focused on the updates provided or the work being undertaken by the relevant Committee.  Questions relating to the following issues were raised and responses provided, as set out below:

(i)         Following on from the question he had raised earlier in the meeting, Councillor Kennelly asked Councillor Ketan Sheth if he could confirm that the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee would be seeking to review the decision taken by the Northwest University Healthcare NHS Trust to close the hydrotherapy pool at Northwick Park Hospital and when that was likely to be scheduled.

In response, Councillor Ketan Sheth (as Chair of the Community & Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee) thanked Councillor Kennelly for the suggestion and advised it was a matter about which he and the Committee were aware and would be looking to review at the earliest possible opportunity.  Once this had been scheduled, he advised members would be informed of the relevant details.

(ii)        As an initial comment in relation to the response on the previous question, Councillor Lorber felt there would be a need for the Committee to carefully consider the arrangements when undertaking the review, given the need to ensure independence following an article by the Chair as part of his regular column in the local press on the closure, which he felt appeared to repeat the response provided by the NHS Trust.

Moving on, in welcoming the focus provided by the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee on what he felt should be regarded as the failure to provide an adequate housing service for tenants, Councillor Lorber, referring to similar issues and the response of the leadership within another London Borough, questioned whether it would be reasonable to seek a similar level of executive accountability from the leadership at Brent.

In response, Councillor Conneely (as Chair of the Resources & Public Realm Scrutiny Committee) advised that the consensus of the Committee when reviewing housing performance had been that they were satisfied, at this stage, with the improvement plan in place particularly in view of the additional protection and engagement with tenants and independence and role of the Housing Board in the process.  It was pointed out, however, that the Committee intended to keep progress under review including the response provided in relation to the Council’s self-referral to the Social Housing Regulator.

With no further questions raised, the Mayor advised that he would move to the next item and thanked all members for their contribution.