Cabinet - Wednesday 17 December 2025, 5:30pm - Tower Hamlets Council webcasts

Cabinet
Wednesday, 17th December 2025 at 5:30pm 

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  1. Webcast Finished

Thank you.
Good evening, ladies and gentlemen.

1 APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Greetings of peace to each and every one of you.
Welcome to our cabinet meeting.
Before we proceed to the order of business, I just want to make sure the formalities are
The usual drills regarding fire alarms and filming in the meeting applies.
There's no public questions.
Thank you.
Any apologies from Steve, Steve knows the chief executive at another meeting.
Georgia, you are here for a showman.
Oh, sorry.
Sorry.
You're here for Georgia.
Sorry.
Thank you for telling me.
I'm daydreaming.
And, Dal.
Mr. Babu, you are here for Simon Baxter, which we will make a comment on that in a minute, other than that
members and other directors, corporate directors are here. Thank you.
Good. Any declarations of interest in members?
No, no. You now had a free meal, anyway.
Bodrul, Sabina, you're not been walking around with food in your hand, anyway, no?
Okay, you're okay good
Okay, that's fine
Minutes of the 26th November. Are we okay? Nothing burning that much. It's a rising note. Okay, great
Okay in Steve's place
Steve ready. I can ask you to make the announcement some I've got something to say afterwards. Thank you. Thank you. Mr
Mayor just a quick announcements
JP Morgan has decided to build its headquarters in Tower Hamlets.
Welcome News ensures confidence in the private sector in our borough.
Subject to planning approval, the development could bring 7 ,500 construction jobs and a further 12 ,000 jobs.
We're the only borough in London to also benefit from the government's Young Futures hubs.
The funding will build on the 19 Young Tower Hamlets sites opened already over the last two years,
which has seen over 100 ,000 attendees from young people in our borough.
We also published the results of the LGA corporate peer challenge revisit which described the borough as having high quality services, strong financial management and commitment to continuous improvement.
The Council has progressed 17 of the 18 recommendations from the initial review two years ago.
The one area outstanding is our workforce strategy which will be taken forward by our new Permanent Director of HR, Ellen Clark, who started with us this week.
Although many council services do close between Christmas and New Year, many vital services will continue from today.
Details of those services are on our website and will be promoted through our weekly newsletter tomorrow.
And finally Mr Mayor, if I could just mention our colleague Simon Baxter who unfortunately has been taken ill.
Our thoughts and prayers are very much with Simon and his family at this time. Thank you.
Thank you, Steve.
I and all of us want to express our sympathy and support and best wishes for Simon, he's
a dear colleague of ours and I've known him for many years, a dedicated man to the people
of this borough and to the corporate management team and dedicated to his staff.
So to him, all the best to make a speedy recovery and all the best to his family and his extended
family members.
Okay, thank you.
And second, Steve, J .P. Morgan, absolutely.
It's fantastic news for our borough, for London, and for this country.
And obviously, it's subject to a plan in permission, David, we understand, as to go for the usual
process.
But the fact that, you know, you, us, Stephen Orsiglia, and our team had a role in trying
to invite them and to keep them in the borough.
And obviously the government and the mayor of London
also had a role in that.
So we're very grateful.
So they are in time, that's why we really want
to make sure when the planning commission comes through,
we'll work with the applicants that it truly benefits
the people of this borough.
More importantly, it's very good news.
as a vacant site, sitting there for a long time, we want the development to go ahead
once planning has been sorted.
I say, OK, David, and no doubt you and your team and Steve will keep an eye on that, yeah?
So thank you, and lead member, you need to be with us on this one.
Thank you.
I want to make a statement, please, if that's OK, because there's a lot of misinformation
untruth, a lot of political peddling that's going on out there.
I know we're slowly coming into a season where people feel they've got the licence to say
what they like about this council, about us, etc.
But I want to set some records straight about the external audit report.
On 3rd of December, ladies and gentlemen, the Council published an external audit report from Ernest and Young
that confirmed the free existing statutory recommendations for the Council while suggesting a potential fault.
The Council welcomes the report, I welcome the report, and the Council is acting on all of its recommendations as part of our ongoing improvement plan.
The Council has also noted that this report covers a historic period and therefore does not reflect the Council's current position as significant improvements have been made since then.
Many of these are historic issues, dating back as far as 2016, stroke 2017, which we
and our Council inherited, our administration inherited in May 2022.
We are proud to report that since coming to power, we have cleared the backlog of unsigned
accounts.
We have also closed six fiscal years of unsigned accounts left by the previous Labour administration.
2016 -2017, 2017 -2018, 2018 -2019, 2019 -2020, 2020 -2021, 2021 -2022.
six years of unsigned accounts that we inherited, that we had to set aside money and our officers,
and we had to sort out. That's the weaknesses that we inherited in May 2022. People need to
remind you of that. And of course, accounts from every fiscal year since 2022, I understand,
have been signed.
Please correct me if I'm wrong.
They have been signed.
And since we've been here, not only we sorted out what we inherited, but we have also kept
up to date with our accounts and they've been signed and delivered.
Thank you.
In addition to the unsigned accounts, the Council faced long -standing challenges in
many other areas.
For example, with regards to internal controls and risk management in this Council, the audit
The external auditors identified weaknesses that date back to 2018.
2018 they date back to before our time.
Since we came to power, significant progress has been made, included a refreshed corporate
risk strategy that is embedded with quarterly reviews and training, with performance improving
significantly and our council awarded the 2025 Public Sector Risk Management Award.
We are investing heavily in our transformation programme to ensure that risks are captured
at the earliest opportunity and mitigations are in place to address them.
For example, you may well know, especially those who are in the Audit Committee, there
is a case currently under legal investigation that nevertheless I wish to briefly reference
here. I know it's sub -duty so I'm not going into details of the case but public information,
what's out there in public, I just need to reinforce. The Labour leader and the opposition
talks about alleged money laundering in an attempt to attach this to the current period,
which is wrong and which is untrue.
In reality, this alleged money laundering case took place,
money laundering took place in 2018,
well before our time as an administration,
under the previous Labour administration,
and they failed to identify, address this critical risk.
Only now, under this administration,
this Council has this potential criminal offence
been addressed, and reported upon it being brought
to our attention by the police.
With regards to procurement and contract governance,
the auditors identified governance gaps
persisting since 2017.
Since we've strengthened procurement and contract
management through a comprehensive improvement
programme, including new wafer monitoring, Power BI dashboards and training for over
500 staff to ensure compliance with the procurement act 2023.
You have seen the statement that the council published regarding a particular care contract.
Thank you to the council and to our monitor officer for that work.
This again stemmed from the previous administration's poor oversight of contract management, which
saw the contract balloon from an initial £5 million to £62 million, a shocking increase
of some £57 million to one supplier.
And they dared, the opposition dared to attack this council, which is willing to learn and
improve for their shoddy previous leadership.
We've also strengthened our investigative processes
by appointing a new team leader for internal investigations
to drive necessary changes.
These issues that we inherited could
have been devastating for this council were we not
to begin to address them when we came into power.
In 2022, 2023, we discovered that this council had not
published an annual government statement in five years.
It's never heard of, shocking.
This was another example of a mess that
was inherited from the previous Labour administration
and that we had to clear up.
These issues have real impact on our residents,
especially on the council's ability
to deliver and its reputation.
The opposition have also tried to politicise
the self -referral and subsequent rating given by the social housing regulator to the council on our housing stock.
For the record, what they have not told residents is that the majority of the social housing issues documented in the regulators report
date back to the previous Labour administration and were uncovered when we decided to bring timeless homes in -house
and we brought it in -house in November 2023.
This is why we pledged to hold a referendum
to bring timeless homes back in -house,
a decision that was backed by over 80 % of our residents.
Since bringing timeless homes in -house,
we have committed to invest 140 million pound
to upgrade existing properties,
and we commissioned an independent review
leading to the self -referral to the regulator
for social housing in October 2024.
We did this to enhance independent oversight
and transparency as we worked to improve the housing services.
We had, ladies and gentlemen, less than one year
to turn around seven years of labour failures in housing management and the running of timeless
homes. Our Your Voice, Our Action improvement plan, developed with the regulator of social
housing, is delivering better governance and tenant safety and monthly engagement with
the regulator and by monthly cabinet oversight to ensure transparency and progress. We are
in right these historical issues in the council.
The voters of Tower Hamlets, tired of years of outsourcing
and failures in management, gave us a historic mandate
to transform the council and to centre housing in our policies,
both building more homes
and delivering a well -run housing service.
That is why we in -source the management
of our housing stock.
As we looked under the surface, we found years of neglect that needed to be addressed to
deliver on our promises.
I am therefore disappointed that some individuals have sought to misrepresent the report, ignoring
the historic nature of many of these inherited issues, as well as ignoring the improvements
that has been made by the Council in an attempt to score political points rather than work
constructively in the interests of our residents.
The Council has invested heavily in identifying and tackling
longstanding weaknesses, and this progress has been
recognised by the local government association,
Corporate Peer Review, whose new positive report is the most
up -to -date assessment of the Council.
The LGA Corporate Peer Challenge Review published a praised
and praised timeless council for high quality services in virtual commerce, a commitment
to continuous improvement and strong financial management.
We promise to be a council with accountability at its heart and we are accelerating improvements
and embedding cultural changes across the council.
Our external auditors play a vital role in our ongoing improvement journey and we continue
to work constructively with them as well as the Government Envoys and Local Government
Association. I hope that all councillors will work constructively and collaboratively for
the benefit of our residents and we implement the report's recommendation and continue to
drive forward improvements. The results from our annual residents survey shows that residents
are feeling the impact of our improvement to the council. 83 % of our residents say they
are satisfied with Tamliss as a place to live.
Much higher than the local government average of 74 %
would trust and satisfaction in Tamliss Council,
also higher than the national average.
And that's a big thank you to our officers.
91 % of our residents from different backgrounds
report that they get on well with one another.
And I'm incredibly proud that as one of the most diverse boroughs
in the country.
We are also one of the most coercive at a time when some are trying to serve division
and prejudice.
I just want to put this storey right and say we are an improving council, ladies and gentlemen.
Thank you.
We move to the order of business, please.
I have the chair of over and scrutiny.
Welcome.
Please, over to you, sir.
Thank you, Mr Mayor, cabinet.

5 a) Chair's Advice of Key Issues or Questions

On Monday 15th of December, overview and scrutiny met.
This is a report back to cabinet from the chair.
LGA peer review.
Firstly I want to thank Jonathan Lloyd, strategic director for change and improvement for providing
ONS with a verbal summary of the LGA peer challenge progress review and responding to
committee questions.
Some of the points that were raised.
On workforce strategy, the committee raised concern about the slow progress and the lack
of clarity on retention and churn and recommended the following.
Incorporating exit interviews into retention strategy, ensuring workforce reflects community diversity without counsellors crossing into hiring responsibilities.
On the Women's Commission, the committee emphasised the need to create a clear mechanism for the Commission to influence policies.
On the continuous improvement plan CIP and the report to MHCLG, again I want to thank
Jonathan Lloyd for introducing the report and responding to members questions. Some of the
points that were raised included the following. Members highlighted the plan for plan culture
and asked how measurable milestones would be embedded.
On resident engagement, members felt that residents would struggle to see how they can
influence decisions, recommended a clearer communication channel.
On measurables, the committee recommended sharing with them the detailed project plans
and the KPIs behind the CIP activities, e .g. data modernization, transformation funding.
Members queried about the ownership of the continuous improvement plan and wondered how
and when it will be signed off.
Strategic delivery performance Q2 2025 -26 and the budget scrutiny Q2 2025 -26.
I want to thank Councillor Said, cabinet member for resource and cost of living and the corporate directors and officers for providing a summary of the strategic delivery performance
Q2 2025 -26 and the budget scrutiny Q2 2025 -26.
I want to inform the mayor the following, which was considered the following items.
Asked about consumption of governance of spending review panels and whether findings can be
reported to ONS.
On saving delivery, queried 6 million phase saving and confidence in achieving them.
On the adult social care, owners considered demand and assumption and contingency plan, agency spending and package reviews.
On housing KPIs, the committee carried the level of decline in the tenant's satisfactory and safety precautions
and considered how reasons were identified and communicated.
On the holiday activity fund, HUF, where the KPIs stand red due to four providers
withdrawing, members requested reasons and onboarding improvement.
On waste and recycling, the committee considered validity of missed collections and data and
suggested external validation or replacement.
On the capital programme, members asked about top reaping risk and mitigation steps, planning
objectives, procurement, delay and in supply chain issues.
Thank you very much and I have submitted some pre -decision scrutiny questions which I've
tabled.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you, chair.
Thank you for those comments which we very much ask the executive and the corporate directors
we take very seriously. Thank you for the once again the role that Elwin
Scrutiny played in order to work with us and to make sure we are improving
Council, improved Council, but generally we very much welcome the scrutiny and
the challenge and as a critical friend from members of the ONS. Thank you very
much. On the questions, the questions, does any member want to comment at all or
Should we just do a return response?
I know it's two on services and one on resources.
Can you make sure corporate practise please go off as soon as possible?
Thank you.
Okay, grateful to you.
Okay, good.
No calling from Owen and Squidney.

5 b) Any Unrestricted Decisions "Called in" by the Overview & Scrutiny Committee

6 a) Strategic Delivery and Performance Report Year 4 Quarter 2

Let's proceed to the papers.
The first paper is the strategic delivery and performance report, year 4, quarter 2.
Please, Said, and we will ask.
Welcome, John.
Welcome.
Thank you, Mr Mayor.
At the quarter 2 report of the four -year plan, the overall picture remains positive, which
which is a good sign and we continue to deliver on our plans,
but we face unique, we face challenging, unique challenges.
Some of them not just unique to Tower Hamlets, but across London.
So after 43 targeted strategic measures, where we have measures against that of 60,
because there are some which are data only and which are measured annually,
So we have 43 we can report on and out of the 43, 32 are green, which is a decrease of four since quarter one.
Good news is one previous red measure has improved to amber, which is the level of household recycling.
And two previous amber have improved to green, which is enterprises supported through Council's business programme.
and KPI 52 which is Council tax collection rate which has improved and in green now.
We have challenges, Mr Mayor, and there are 16 red measures which is around the KPI 5
number of addendances to half programme.
We have KPI 10, let's overcrowded household, KPI 11 number of privately rented properties
visited.
KPI 21 is the percentage of EHC assessments completed within 20 weeks.
KPI 25, rate of first -time entrance to the youth justice system.
KPI 43, victims of violence against women and girls who feel safer after engagement
with commissioned provider.
KPI 55, percentage of tenants satisfied that their home is safe.
These are very, very important measures which have come under red.
There are mitigations in place for each one of them.
Seven reds.
Seven reds, yes.
Seven reds and we...
I thought you said 16, I've got the one.
There's seven reds.
There are mitigations in place for each one of them.
But nonetheless, it's come under red, which needs to be looked at.
And there are a number of AMBA measures, four AMBA measures at this quarter.
KPI 28, percentage of care leavers aged between 17 to 21 who are in education or training
employment, KPI 32 number of new jobs, training and apprenticeship opportunities available
for local people, KPI 46 level of household recycling and KPI 54 percentage of tenants
satisfied with overall services.
We continue working hard to get those measures in place, but thanks to the team for bringing
the report forward today, Mr Mayor.
Thank you.
Okay, thank you and grateful. I mean I'm gonna ask the request the corporate directors
To come in and obviously will be helped by John, but you will do want to comment on first John
Then I'm gonna make some general comment then bring the corporate directors and lead members in afterwards. Okay, please
Thank you, mr. Mayor
echo the
Councillors introduction they do many of the Reds do represent some of the most challenging areas in local government. That's not that's not
That's not to kind of dilute the importance and ambition around them. There's just two areas
I would flag that we may want to think about in the future and that is two of the measures are perception measures
So they're experienced based measures
They're incredibly important to understand how people are feeling and how people have experienced the service whether it's how safe they feel
after being a victim of domestic violence or abuse or indeed how they're feeling in their home.
There's really important insightful measures but they are also influenced by lots of different external factors.
Whether that's what's happening within their community, whether that's happening within their country
or what's happened at earlier points in their life.
Still incredibly important but we may want to think about them in the future as being more about
insight and learning rather than performance measures because they're so unique and rooted
in what's happening around that individual's life.
So just a bit of a strategic commentary on reflection on those for the future, but obviously
I'll hand back for the corporate directors and other colleagues to come in.
Thanks John.
Can I just make some general comments?
It's not about criticising the individuals, but I know we've got 60 performance measures,
a lot of which, four are amber and seven are red, but the reds do worry me, because at
the end of the day, our performance means good service being received by residents.
That means for me, as an elected member, it means that our residents are not receiving
the best of service from us.
And that's worrying.
That's worrying.
And I'm a bit disappointed that some of the greens, one or two of the greens have become
or red, or ambers have become red, and one or two of the ambers, or greens have become
ambers. We've got to keep an eye on the ambers, absolutely it's important. But the reds do
cause, give cause for concern, given the investment that we have put in as an administration,
as a council in the people of the borough. If the people don't receive the best of service,
Either because customer care isn't the best or the delivery mechanism somehow is not keeping
up with our expectation, what the people of the borough expect from us. I know there are,
I've said it in my opening statement, our resident survey is good. There are one or
two areas that we need to improve on. However, these reds do give me calls of concerns and
some of them mirror what we pick up in our surgeries, what we pick up in our door knocking.
So I do want to see an improvement plan, please, not only what's in the mitigation, a real
improvement plan of a timeline, and Steve knows this, Steve Horsley, the Chief Executive,
and the corporate directors, who made it very clear, as soon as possible, John.
So if you can keep an eye on that, we want that, you know, when we return in the new
year, please, we want to see an improvement plan.
We can't continue with this.
And I'll give you an example, you know, and I'll go through all of them.
You know, KP1, KPI001, number of private or rental properties inspected.
And I am, it's below by 200 properties.
That is worrying for me.
And David knows this, the lead member knows this.
Because of the number of people we get in our searches or we come across in other forums
who are living in properties, I'm so to say not fit for human habitation.
I've told this to David.
And we are further failing those people.
There are some properties who are seriously mould and condensation infected.
The new law that's coming to force will be up and running soon.
But more importantly, given sadly Al's law,
you know, where that child passed away because of poor housing condition,
we should not be exposing any of our residents to that kind of housing condition, living condition.
I wouldn't want to live in that, you wouldn't want to live in that.
Now none of the officers, David, want to live in that condition.
How can we expect our homeless families to live in that condition?
They come to us as a last resort where they've got no hours to go,
but we can't house them in so -called homes.
They're not even homes.
They're not even homes, some of them.
It's shocking.
So there must be a mechanism in place where our officers
have inspected the properties before just handing them over
to our homeless families or temporary families.
That's wrong.
And for this measure to go down, to go to red,
it further compounds our worries.
So, David, we need to see an improvement plan, COVID, as soon as possible.
We cannot be playing Russian roulette, forgive me, with our kids' and families' lives.
And we have a fatality, you know, God forbid, it's going to be on my neck, David, your neck,
and Chief Exeuter's neck.
And we don't want to take that risk.
One loss of life is too many.
So this needs to be sorted out as soon as possible.
We've invested a lot of money into the homelessness services,
into the housing services.
There's no excuse. There aren't enough money, enough resources.
Okay, please, that's my request to you.
I need to see a plan in the new year.
The other one, and Steve knows this, when it comes to children who need support,
the ECH plan.
We did well, you know, we did well as a council.
We picked up, we were green, we've gone back into red again,
despite us investing so much money, Mr. de Beutemeyer, okay?
We're failing the vast majority of our families and our kids,
but we're not even meeting the target that we set ourselves.
That's not on.
Those kids need an ECH plan for the kids,
for families to know what help they need.
If they don't get the plan, they can't seek the help that
is tailored to their needs.
And I'm a bit saddened that we are in that condition.
So Steve, my request to you, you did well and lead member.
We need to sort this area out.
Please, yeah?
I'm sure the other one that very much worries me,
the violence against women and girls.
who feel safe in our borough.
You know, it's gone down 95 to 84 percent.
That is, that is very worrying.
Very worrying.
So that's something else.
You know, our women, our girls, you know,
I have a daughter, you know, who goes out,
who's out there, if they don't feel safe
in our borough, despite the investment that we put in,
Mr Daul Babu, in community safety,
in the control room, in the police force,
if they don't feel safe in this day and age,
in tower hamlets, that's worrying.
Yeah, that's worrying.
And 84 percent is a good number.
However, it shouldn't be that way.
It should be up, given the investment,
given our commitment to safety for all but in particular, you know, for women and girls.
So that's another one that needs to be looked at, please.
And I'm not going to go through all of them. You know what the situation is, please, yeah?
We're doing well. I'm going to be honest. Our officers work very hard.
We are doing very well, but there are some areas when
they are red that gives us cause for concern.
Please, yes, I could have picked up.
We need an inclusive report coming into the New Year,
please, yes.
If I could ask David to come in, please, if the
lead members want to chip in, feel free.
Please, David.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
I just wanted to echo what you said, that, you know,
we all take these extremely seriously and obviously we want to absolutely
minimise the number of red indicators that we have and I think just to address
your specific concern around the number of private rented set of properties
inspected so these are the properties in the private sector which are subject to
our licencing scheme where we do visits to shed at landlords are complying with
their requirements under the legislation.
We have increased that target this year because we wanted to stretch ourselves from last year
and this has coincided with a reduction in staffing which we are addressing and we've
done some recruitment to actively address in this period and we are confident that by
the end of the year we will have met the target that we have to visit I think 2200 properties
as part of that licencing scheme and make sure that we are being really
active in terms of the new legislation that's been brought into effect through
the private sector reform bill and so I am confident that we will catch up with
our position on this and that we're resourcing it appropriately. I think
your concern that you've raised around the temporary accommodation and the
private sector accommodation that we secure for families and temporary
accommodation we have put in place some additional cheques we've had some
additional independent cheques by a third party to go out and visit and look at
the quality of our accommodation and feedback some conclusions about how we
can more actively monitor that moving forward so I think that is something
I'm happy to bring your report on and talk to you about how we make sure that
we really improve the quality so we don't see the kinds of outcomes that
described because as you say we don't want any family to experience that.
I think in terms of some of the things that John said I mean in terms of the number of
tenants who feel safe in their home it has slightly improved between quarter two and
quarter three it's slightly below target.
What we are doing though is we are going and talking to every household who said that they
don't feel safe in their home to find out why and we're finding I think it is
as John has said we're finding that there's a full range of issues for why
people say that sometimes it can be external factors and how they feel in
their environment how they feel outside of their home community safety issues
policing those kind of things can all impact and that is coming through some
of it is to do with our housing stock we've had a particular concern around
a contractor around door entry systems so we're taking action on that contractor who's
been performing poorly because clearly that's an issue that can make people feel unsafe
if their door entry system is not working properly.
So that's been a theme and then there's also been a theme around the housing compliance
work that we have around things like fire risk assessments and actions and as you know
we've been substantially improving that month on month since our regulatory referral but
It's understandable that when we've communicated to residents that we've got work to do in
that area that some would be concerned about it.
So we have found there's a full range of issues but I do want to reassure you and everyone
that we're speaking to everyone who has expressed that they don't feel safe in their home to
find out why and we're putting in place action plans around all of that.
So I think those are the key ones that you raised for me, but just to sort of reiterate,
I think one of the other main ones which has been an issue in the previous quarter is around
the percentage of homes led to overcrowded households.
Now that I think plays into the sort of commentary that John gave earlier.
We've had a couple of quarters of very low supply, not just from our own homes and our
own stock but also from registered providers. I am confident that that is
going to improve in coming months because we you know we've all been
visiting a number of housing schemes that are nearing completion and we
expect to see homes coming into the system but also we have bearing in mind
the pressures we have financially in common with all councils around high
temporary accommodation costs mean that we have had to do some less to
households and temporary accommodation and I think that has been for good
reason given the extreme pressure we face there but it does mean that there
are then less homes available for over credit households but it remains an
absolute top priority and we are letting plans we'll be looking at how we can
absolutely maximise that in coming months
thanks David okay cool video let's keep eye on it will ask for a timeline when
the reports will come to us mr. Azar you don't have anything as such okay thank
Thank you.
Amy, you want to talk about, then I will bring Steve in.
Please, yeah.
Thanks.
I just want to talk about KPI 005.
So the reduction in numbers for this KPI was largely due to four clubs that pulled out
in the summer, which is where we have the biggest provision.
There was an issue with the process that time that meant we had limited lead -in time, which
led to the shortfall and the impact on numbers which pushed into the red.
There is recognition that a lot needs to be done to improve the process and we
have got a plan in place to ensure that we have far more provision going forward
and that we don't have the same issue with the short timelines. So we've done
some investigation into the barriers to clubs applying and that kind of came
back with the application process because of the guidance that actually
comes from the DFE who obviously provide the funding. It's quite a difficult
application process and while we do provide some support for clubs to
understand that and be able to complete it we're going to do much more, including
better comms, better guidance from us and also an engagement event where we
invite clubs in, potential providers in, to talk them through the application process
and have an opportunity for face -to -face kind of support to complete the application forms
and also looking to do, rather than do this every term, that we would do it every year
so that smaller clubs would benefit from only having to do it once a year rather than three
times a year. And they would also have more security and be able to plan better, be able
to recruit advertise better and hopefully that will help and we also want
to review the funding model to ensure it's appropriate for the provision.
There's just one thing and I received an email during this meeting that we that
the funding from the government will reduce slightly and it also had reduced
slightly with the past year. So we do need to revisit the KPI to reflect the change so
that it matches the money that's actually coming in to deliver this.
Thank you, I'm grateful. Please, Steve.
Thank you Mr Mayor. Just regarding Education, Health and Care plan performance and SEND
more generally, as you said there's been significant investment in the SEND area and we saw the
to that in this year's local area send inspection that we reported relatively
recently which is really positive and hard work on members offices and our
partners on the specific measure we have seen a dip in performance in the quarter
it does include the summer holiday period when schools and a lot of services
are closed what I'm really pleased to report is having been quite low during
that period it's recovered to well above target so the target is 50 % and we're up
66 % in September 65 in October and December is already looking at around
66%. If I could address there was a pre decision question asking about
educational psychologists. The educational psychology does contribute
to that performance and they have to provide a lot of input to the plans.
The reference in the report to education psychologists was about the fact that we're quite well covered
in terms of permanent members of staff but we do have to use locum education psychologists
and we're trying to reduce our need to use locums because we found in terms of timeliness
and quality having our own employed educational psychologist is better but it's one of those
areas where it's quite difficult to recruit and retain.
So we are looking at our strategy around that.
But I'm really confident that, again,
based on the investment and everyone's hard work,
we should be well above target for quarter three.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Mr. Bubble, just want to comment on
victims of violence.
Yes, Mr. Mayor, as you've indicated,
The target is 95, we're at 84 at the moment.
The two key areas that women have complained about is around access to suitable housing and access to counselling.
We're working with Solace who are provided to see how we can try and improve that.
As you've indicated Mr. Mayor, it's 84%, it's a high figure but we want to ensure that that figure remains high.
So we will be working with other agencies to see how we are able to support that.
The numbers were very low in that particular report where we got those figures and we have
worked with Solace to try and improve the number of people that respond to the survey.
So we do expect that figure to improve when we report to you again.
Thank you.
Greatful.
Mr. Bernagir, is there anything you have to comment on?
Thank you for the corporate directors and officers.
Lead members, any comment generally on yours or others?
Reflect on yourself first.
Deputy Mayor, look at yourself in your mirror first.
Okay, good man.
I'd just like to add to what Dale said.
It's one of the systemic issues that I think women have complained about after engaging with the domestic abuse service that we have.
So we'll be working with housing colleagues and health colleagues to address those issues.
But also to note, if you look at the report, over the past three years, I know it only
shows one year, we've never not been meeting target.
We've always been above target.
So this is the first quarter, it's not acceptable, but it's the first quarter that we've actually
just dipped.
So I'm hoping it is a genuine dip and then we start improving.
But over the last three and a half years, we've not, you know, not achieved this target.
.
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.
.
.
.
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which is very good.
And also in terms of benchmarking,
we are the highest when it comes to our local authorities.
We set ourselves a very, very high standard.
But if you also see the amount of attendances we had,
it's more than our next in line, which is new,
so we beat everyone else.
Thank you.
Can you say something, Bodur?
OK.
Thank you, Mr Mayor.
Regarding HAF, the organisation that's running HAF in our borough,
Are they all based in Tarahumlut?
Because we had that discussion last time. Thank you.
We're looking into that.
They're not all based in Tarahumlut, but we're looking into moving forward.
We're going to revisit that.
Okay? Thank you.
Okay, yeah, Steve, please.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just to add,
there's specific criteria for the holiday activity and food,
but outside of that, particularly during the summer,
significant investment by the council in family hopes and youth services again
provided lots of activity and and fed lots of children families since last two
years KPI well since the beginning KPIs year 0 4 6 has been 0 4 6 has been on
the red you know pleased with the investment with the good work from
We wish him well
and we want to make sure
that all the works and the investment
that you have made
to ensure that waste in this borough
is taken seriously
and recycling was one of our top priorities.
We have moved from red to amber
and I think it is commendable
for everybody
and hopefully it continues to go in the right direction
going forward.
Thank you.
Thank you for those comments and thank you to all the corporate directors and officers.
John, can we just have another session in another forum just to pick up some of the suggestions and just to see how we move forward.
If I can have a note from you on that, me and Steve, Mr Horsley, see how we move forward.
I see the improvement journey, I can see it.
We are on an upward trajectory in many of those indicators and we are doing well.
Thank you for coming.
We note the recommendations.
Thank you.
Can we move on to agenda item now?
6 .2, please.
OK.
Strategic vision, RTAMLTS 2035.
Mr John Lloyd. Please. It was me, wasn't it? I thought it was you for some reason.
Okay, you're here today, John.
Thank you, Mr Mayor.
So, what you have is the Vision 2035, which is a long -term shared ambition for a thriving more equal borough.
And it's a borough plan. It's a plan that sits long -term and it's shared by our partners and our residents that have fed into it.
It really is that kind of shared strategic framework for partnership.
So when it works well, recognising it's broad and it's long term,
our partnerships and our partners are responding with accountability
and tenacity to the aspirations and ambitions within it.
So not just a council document, a borough wide vision,
going over a long period of time.
And it's been co -produced with thousands of voices.
That's conversations with people sat round tables,
having deeper conversations about their hopes and fears and experiences.
within the borough, as well as conversations with partners,
people in idea stores, people sharing online forms,
and of course, like bringing together some of the insights
that we've discussed in the performance framework,
for example.
A kind of core element of the vision is,
is it within its statement, and I think it speaks to
many of the conversations and statements that have
been heard just in this meeting,
and that's working together with kindness, creativity,
and determination to breaking the cycle of poverty and inequality so that every
one of us can live a good life and reach our full potential and it outlines five
ambitions within it. The first ambition is interesting because it's not
necessarily about what might be created or experienced within the borough but
it's actually how how we work so when we're working with partners for example
as a council it's less you will do this to us and you will do that to them it's
more how can we do this together. So people work working side by side to
improve Tower Hamlets for everybody whether that's colleagues in Canary Wharf
or it's colleagues within the voluntary sector or indeed residents who have you
know know what's happening within their communities better than
almost anyone. And then we have aspirations and ambitions around all
children young people getting the best start and the language does echo
existing strategies and existing ambitions. Every adult has a chance to
build a good life and older people live well and enjoy life and Tower Hamlets is a place
we're proud to call home. These ambitions are broad, of course they need to be, it's
a 10 year strategy and we of course we don't know what the 10 years might throw at us.
The last 10 years have been rocky from pandemics to cost of living crisis to accelerating housing
crisis. Let's hope the next 10 years is easier, it might not be, but we'll underpin that by
having some metrics and measures that will work together and work with particularly yourselves
and you Mr. Mayor on really understanding what the experience and outcomes are, what
the impact is over the next 10 years so we can respond to that.
Many of those outcomes will be shared, they won't necessarily be on the council.
There will be outcomes perhaps the police or health partners are more accountable for
but they really do represent the impacts that we'll need for those kind of really broad ambitions,

6 b) Strategic Vision – Our Tower Hamlets 2035

but we'll share and develop those with our partners and of course most importantly with
you as political leaders of the administration. Finally we've also put an element of refresh within
it, recognising that point of under your steer Mr Mayor and thinking about what the next 10 years
might throw at us we need to recognise it crosses political administrations and
also it needs to respond to uncertainty and complexity of what might happen.
The final things I would say is it really I think it represents you know
through co -production and working with our partners but also through really
important input from the council it represents many of the values that the
council has been working on over over the last few years of fairness inclusion
and opportunity for all and I hope you can see that language and that sentiment and the
importance of overcoming injustice and unlocking potential within it.
And really tells that growth and inclusive growth potential of Tower Hamlets as well.
So it has, I've talked a little bit about the engagement and the participation in it,
so a lot of people have put their hearts and energy and passion into it, whether it's
that have contributed at PEG or whether it's residents that have come to sessions.
So lots of people will be keen to be part of it and to watch
our partners and our councils response to it.
Give you a sense of what's next.
Hopefully after approval today, we have a smaller scale launch in January 2026.
But of course, we're going to it's a broad vision over a long period of time.
So a delivery plan that would be shared with partners.
It would be developed over a reasonable length of time up until June 2026.
We'll have a shared delivery plan and of course the council will respond in itself.
And then a larger public launch in the summer 2026 is proposed of which will by then will
have developed those measures of impact.
We will really kind of chart how we're doing over the 10 year period and planning annual
reporting against that, supported and overseen by the Partnership Executive Group.
So thank you.
Thanks, John.
Thank you very much.
And absolutely, it's about core production.
It's about working together with all our partners.
And it's about our, as you say, our vision and ambition for the next 10 years.
And something that also the LJPL review recommended.
But we're already thinking about the future going forward and obviously the best value
inspection and the recommendations also.
Part of our contingency improvement plan has asked us to embed this going forward.
So thank you for the work that's been done by everyone together.
Let me see if anyone wants to come in.
Tala, please.
Thank you, Mayor, and thank you, officers, for the good work that's gone in here.
and obviously partnerships of effort
in developing this strategy.
Just two quick points.
I think the statement, I really like the vision statement.
I think it talks about kindness and it
talks about determination to break the cycle of inequality.
I think growing up in this borough,
and even now people often comment
about inequality in the borough.
You've got the city of Fringe and Canadian Wharf,
but then you've got one of the highest
level of childhood poverty in the borough too.
And I've always said the opportunity is in this borough.
there's so much opportunity, it's just about connecting the dots, it's about
realising those opportunities, it's about matching potential with opportunity and
I think the vision statement sort of captures that and also welcome 3 .31 the
introduction of measurement indices. I think having a strategy or a
document that just sits on the shelf is pointless for everyone but I think the
fact that it's going to be measured and it's going to come to ONS and cabinet
every year to talk about their performance I think is really important
and the fact that it's going to be on the website and we're going to publicly
be talking about how we're measuring against a strategy is really important
so when we do actually report on it I think comms colleagues and I'm sure they
would anyway we do need to sort of talk about this quite clearly openly
expansively and I look forward to realising some of this ambition.
Thank you John. Anyone else? Please Sabina and Campbell afterwards.
Thank you. So I really, really enjoyed reading the report. It kind of, as I said before,
kind of sets our ambitions, ambitions of the borough and the co -productions where everyone's
views and shared experiences and what people expect of this borough to be within the next
ten years has been actually implemented. Just in terms of community engagement, I really
hope that mechanisms have been put in place so that residents can ensure that they can
continue to shape the priorities over the next decade and not just the initial consultations
that we've had here. Also in terms of tackling inequalities as a lead member for health,
addressing health inequalities and the poverty among the very vulnerable and elderly groups
that we have in the borough, so perhaps if you can say a few words on that.
Thank you Councillor. I think the strategies hopefully speak to health inequalities within
it but I think it will be really important, will be some of the measures that we choose
around that as well, especially the experiences of older people within the borough. So we'll
ensure and obviously work with you on identifying those and ensuring it represents the ambitions
and intent of that.
I think, yeah, I also completely agree
that the aspiration of co -production and partnership
and participation does definitely not end
with the development of the vision,
but actually in priority one, for example, says,
and it obviously ties into the ambitions
of the administration to listen and to work with people
and to understand people's experiences
in a much deeper way to kind of shape delivery
and our services and perhaps even in terms of some of the refresh work that we might
be doing down the line. So participation and listening and co -production being really a
core part of how we work going forward as well.
Camberg please.
Thank you John. I welcome this report. I see this more than a vision. It's a commitment
and to fairness, opportunity and shared prosperity.
We know the challenges our communities face
from housing pressure to inequality
and these plans set out clear priorities
to tackle them head on.
By working together, residents, partners and the council
will deliver real change, better homes, stronger local jobs
and support for every stage of life.
This is about building a borough
where no one is left behind.
And every voice matters.
Accountability will be central with transparent progress
reporting so residents can see the difference.
And together, we will make Tower Hamblers a place
of pride and possibility.
Thank you.
General comments.
Anyone else?
If no, that's fine.
Can I request, John, I think we discussed this in other forums,
So the KPIs and the delivery plan needs to come back to us to make sure it's robust,
et cetera.
So we're looking at it in March, April.
So if you can work on it, let us know.
But it's very good, produced, and vibrant, and forward -looking document strategy.
Thank you to your colleagues for this piece.
Thank you.
Is that okay?
Okay.
Let's agree the recommendations, yeah?
Okay.
Thank you very much.
Okay.
Let's have another important document.
Hello, Matthew. Hello there. Thank you for coming.
It's 6 .3, the Draught Seal, partial review, draught charging schedule consultation document.
Kabir and David, please. Thank you.
Thank you, Mayor. This report seeks approval to consult on a
partial review of the Community Infrastructure Levy Charging Schedule, also known as CIL.
The proposal introduces a new rate of £117 per square metre for research and development
use, reflecting on the borough's growing life science and innovation sector.
Currently there is no policy in place which allocates a charging policy for life sciences
developments.

6 c) The (draft) CIL Partial Review Draft Charging Schedule - Consultation

And we know two have recently gone through the Bartson -Quinry Life Sciences application
and there was another one on Cabell Street.
So this will enable us as a council to put a seal charge on which will equate to £117
pounds per square metre. This charge is supported by a viability study and aims
to ensure fair contributions towards infrastructure while maintaining
development viability. Cabinet is asked to approve the draught schedule for public
consultation and note the supporting evidence base. Key points Mr. Mayor are the
development use. The borough is seeking increased research and development, especially for life
sciences. Viability study confirms R &D can support a charge without harming development.
Proposed new rate of £117 per square metre, which aligns with the local plan and economic
growth priorities.
The recommendation, Mr Mayor, is to approve draught charging schedule for a six -week public
consultation and authorise minor modifications post -consultation and submission for examination.
We have Sri here, we have Matthew and we have Shobia who have been working on this paper
and of course David is the corporate director.
Please, David.
Just to add a few words, we talk often about the fact that Tower Hamlets is unashamedly
pro -growth borough, we want to see development take place, but we also want a level playing
field for all forms of developments.
I think it's right that through this consultation we will test the principle of whether these
uses, these life sciences uses can contribute investment in community infrastructure and
And it's a critical kind of principle of development in Tower Hamlets.
We want development to happen but we also want development and developers to contribute
to the priorities that our community have here.
So we want a level playing field so that all forms of development are contributing to infrastructure
and I think this will allow us to see what the market response is and then make a final
decision.
But it's backed by viability evidence as the lead member has said.
So we're confident that this is a good proposal and we'll see what happens in the consultation.
Thank you. Anyone want to say anything? Sri? Anybody?
I think it's all covered now, so no further comments.
Anyone? Anyone want to make any comment?
Yep. Anyone? Yep. You're okay with it?
Okay. I want to make one or two comments please.
Thank you for this. It's a good thing, I was a bit sceptical, but my scepticism is this.
Whilst we support development and regeneration in the boroughs, David,
we want to guide and promote development and regeneration in the borough.
We can't have unstructured development, development that's not, we don't have a steer from the
centre is very important.
Emerging local plan I think is excellent.
It does do site allocations, identifies areas where we want to see a particular kind of
development.
I'm not a ardent fan of life sciences in Tambliss.
I want to see business districts in Tambliss.
I don't want to see life sciences become a life sciences
Borough across the borough. I don't see that. I want to see affordable homes. I want to see homes
I want to see a community deal up in the borough. I have a roof over the head. Yes
We're going to see business districts
But we know where the business districts going to be rather than business districts just popping up where they like
so but yes, let's
Let's go out to consultation but can you make sure the consultations are promoted and
Andreas and the team promoted that people genuinely engage in this.
It's not a few people talking for the many.
A genuine consultation, please, we want to see.
And can we have this back to the Messer Advisory Board, please,
that we decide and we go forward.
Is that okay?
With those comments, can we agree consultation paper, yeah?
Yep, thank you.
David Timme, you're very eager to go home today.

6 d) Partial Update to the Planning Obligations Supplementary Planning Document

Are Liverpool not playing, are they?
Are they lost recently?
Not yet?
Okay.
Good. Can we go? Thank you.
6 .4 please.
Partial update to the planning obligations supplementary planning document.
We've got more colleagues who have joined us.
Okay.
Please, Kobiir.
Thank you once again, Mayor.
This item concerns a partial update to the planning obligation SPD, which sets up how
Section 106 arrangements are applied to mitigate development impacts.
The update focuses on revising monitoring and development coordination fees and the
Mansard roof contribution.
This ensures that these contributions maintain their value against inflation while remaining
proportionate and viable.
Once adopted, it will replace the 2021 version, ensuring our approach remains transparent,
proportionate and aligned with current policy and practise.
The key points here, Mr. Mayor, are the SBD guides how Section 106 obligations mitigate
development impacts.
The update focuses on monitoring and development coordination fees
Mansard roof contributions ensures transparency proportionality and
alignment with current policy
the recommendation mr. Mayor is
to approve the partial update
To the SPD we have Sarah
Matthew Sri and David again, and are you part of this? Sorry? No, I'm Melissa
Melissa are you part of this one or the next one? Melissa as well.
Be part, enjoy yourself, it's Christmas.
You've done? David please.
Just quickly, I think these are a series of important updates particularly around allowing us to, as the lead member has said, ensure that we receive adequate fees that keep up with inflation.
but on one of them I think the Mansard roof proposal is worth saying that we have a very
enabling approach to Mansard roofs but it's right that we apply this charge.
We want people to be able to extend their family home and remain in the borough that's
why we take this approach but actually this is a we consider this to be a reasonable charge
in order that they can do so and it would still be far cheaper than moving and having
to pay stamp duty and all the other costs, so we think this is good value for people
that want to do those kind of extensions, but it also makes sure that we are getting
the adequate planning obligation fee that is necessary.
Okay. Thank you. Anyone? Please, in the comments.
No further comments, Mayor. It's just kind of updating the document to be more relevant
for the things that are said.
It's homes comes first.
I want both, but not one at the expense of the other.
Please, I just want to make that very clear.
If it comes through negotiation, obviously, we don't...
Exceptional we may want to, but generally, we cannot compromise and concede or lower
in any way, expectation of the affordable housing element of any Section 106 or NCL
discussion.
Is that okay?
So with that comment, can we agree the recommendation, please?
Is that okay?
Thank you.
Okay.
That's done.

6 e) Amendments to Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy Approach

Can we move on to now 6 .5?
5.
Yeah, that's the, yeah, yeah, again, yeah, neighbourhood sill one.
Yeah, go on.
This report proposes amendments to the neighbourhood sill approach.
These changes aim to strengthen new local communities' benefit from sill funding, ensuring
allocations are fair, transparent and responsive to neighbourhood priorities.
The cabinet is asked to consider and approve the amendments so that we can continue to
deliver infrastructure that reflects local needs.
The key points in this area is to strengthen local community benefits from seal funding,
ensuring allocations are fair and support delivery of infrastructure that local residents
need.
The recommendation is to approve the amendments to the neighbourhood steel approach.
I don't have a lot to add other than to say that neighbourhood still is a really important
source of funding and I think it provides that direct link that I was talking about
earlier between development and the impact and local communities really feeling that
they can see the benefit in their own neighbourhood.
So it feels like a very, very important set of amendments to ensure that that's absolutely
up to date and benefiting communities in the way that I know that everyone here would want.
In one, want to add anything at all?
Please, yeah.
Again, it's a very good document.
It gives us much more flexibility going forward as a borough.
Just leave it at that.
In one, any comments?
No?
Okay.
Sayid, do you know what this document is?
We welcome this, because going forward it's going to help us, we want to invest and make
sure that ENSIL, which is used for our community infrastructure, is what we can invest.
It says in the name, Mr Mayor, I welcome this.
Thank you, yes, thank you very much.
You are with me, I thought you were with someone else.
Okay, thank you.
Okay, can we agree the recommendations?
Okay, thank you.
Thank you.

6 f) Planning for School Places 2025/26 Review and Recommendations

Thank you very much.
Grateful, grateful to you.
Okay, the next one is 6 .6, planning for school places 2526 review and recommendations, school
places 2526 review and recommendations.
Please, Mayim.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
This is an annual review of people place planning 2526, fulfilling our strategic duty to seek
for sufficient school places.
The report highlights key demographic shifts,
declining birth rates, migration outflows
and reduced housing with clear impacts
across nursery, primary, secondary,
post -16 and send provision.
It sets out strategic actions needed to manage surplus
capacity respond to rising send demand
and ensure provision remains sustainable
and inclusive and fair for every child in Tower Hamlets.
Steve, you're gonna go through the report, thank you.
Okay, thank you.
Thank you, Deputy Mayor.
Yeah, just to flag a couple of issues
that are affecting the school place planning
in terms of our trends,
as we've noted significant decline in birth
and fertility rates seen across London boroughs,
and that will impact on the nursery and primary phase
by around about 17 % surplus capacity by 2930.
Our secondary phase has peaked around about the year 23 -24
and we're starting to see surplus capacity as well
and also in post -16.
The area where we know, we've already mentioned SEND
this evening, there is a significant increase in demand
in all phases and we anticipate that as the government
reforms around SEND come in, there will be a large demand to increase focus on early
years and primary as preventative measures around SEND.
So those, in terms of our early education child care sector, we do have sufficient places
there.
Mr Mayor, I could refer to again another pre -decision scrutiny question that was asked around the
surplus, 17%.
The question was whether we could commit to a date for publishing consultation on school amalgamations
to prevent schools balances reducing.
What we can say on that is we do have a framework for managing surplus places.
We have reductions in pupil admission numbers, we have federations across schools and where necessary amalgamations will happen.
and so you'll recall we had consultation and amalgamation of Rachel Keeling and Globe Primary successfully this year.
But obviously amalgamations decisions are not taken lightly, there has to be robust evidence, statutory consultation,
full compliance with the Department for Education guidance to ensure transparency, fairness and adherence to our legal duties under the Education Act.
Thank you.
Thank you.
Councillor Mustak, you have not said anything tonight.
Are you okay?
Is there anything you want to comment on?
You okay?
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
I have nothing to say today.
Thank you.
Councillor Sabinak, do you have any constructive criticisms of Deputy Mayor?
If so, ne 'er is the time to hear it.
Thank you, Mr. Mayor.
Yeah, like last time I did raise one or two questions about decreasing pupil numbers and
how we will be adapting to school closures and mergers of schools and we kind of asked
what we could see in the next two years.
So in terms of managing surplus capacity, what options are we going to be considering
to kind of repurpose some of the sites for community benefit perhaps if there is a surplus?
And also in terms of how the changes in school will affect the provision for SEND and disability residents as well.
So how will that be taken? I know you've touched on it as well.
So special education needs children.
Thank you, Councillor. A really important question.
I'm surprised you haven't named names.
That doesn't matter.
As I noted earlier, we do have to go through a clear process for any sort of amalgamation.
And as you highlighted, there's a potential for amalgamations to release sites.
As with all sites in our borough, we have to think carefully and consult with the mayor and cabinet about the best use of sites.
What I've seen in some other boroughs, other London boroughs, are of close significant primary schools for instance.
Some of those have been redeveloped as SEND provision.
I've also seen one or two used as temporary accommodation.
So I guess all those types of options might be considered.
I think it's fair to say it's early days with the government SEND reforms,
but we have been given a clear indication that existing commitment to capital development
and even new SEND provision, new schools are being reconsidered because there's the potential
for using that capital development monies in our existing schools because I think the
drive will be to have more children with SEND supported in mainstream education and existing
special schools rather than opening additional special schools.
So it's early days in terms of the discussion around the government -centred forms.
Thank you.
Thanks for that question.
Thank you, Steve.
Kobe, please.
Thank you, Mayor.
Just a quick question.
We know if you go to page 408 of the report, it shows you a heat map of the density levels,
and we can see that on the Isle of Dogs there is at the top end of the Isle of Dogs and
going into Blackwool and Leam of this quite a high level of density comparatively speaking
to other areas of the borough.
So my question is two folds.
First there is only two secondary schools on the Isle of Dogs which is Canary Wharf
College and George Green. Thank you, Deputy Mayor. So the issue around capacity and the
second question is if we've got declining numbers overall in terms of the borough, is
it possible to open up the catchment areas so that we can capture more students from
those areas and make sure that the schools operate? Now I know we've got a combination
between academies as well as council -run schools. We've got a high volume of schools on the west of
the borough and middle of the borough and I think the catchment areas also make it quite difficult
for aspiring students from the Isle of Dogs to get into those schools and those options are very
limited. As a parent of a child is due to go to year seven next year our choices
are very very limited in terms of what schools you know that my son can go to
so using that as an example not the example but you know it would open up
opportunities for students on the island to go to other schools around
Thank you.
Thank you, Clancy.
Really good point.
I guess one of the first reflections is where the report is talking about housing developments.
One of the interesting analyses both here and other London boroughs is the number of homes actually resulting in families with children.
So we have to take account of what the forecast is around there.
But I'll take your point that if you're seeing such significant development, there could be a case there for additional provision.
And on the point of catchment, as you say, in terms of admissions authorities and academies and others have their own admissions approaches,
it's certainly something we can look at. As a council, as a borough, we do quite well in terms of parents getting one of their first choices.
in terms of percentage of parents, it's usually 95%, which compares well.
But in terms of looking at the catchment areas in the future
and how these trends are playing out,
I think it's a really good suggestion to review that again.
So thank you.
Thank you. Please, Councillor Cusick.
Just a quick one.
I was just going to say something similar to Councillor Kobiame.
But in the island, so the question to Deputy Mayor, that I know you said previously this might be a proposal of a new school, I can't remember if it's a primary or secondary school.
So in terms of obviously other areas it's showing a decline in people's number.
In terms of kind of future planning over the next decade, how do we kind of avoid over, under kind of provision in the next decade,
especially in the island, because there are a lot more developments there.
There seems to be a need for school placements there.
It's a really good point and I guess it highlights the complexity of it because in some areas significant development might result in lots of children and families and then there's need for school places and some areas it's not.
we're not seeing that but I guess it also points to the population trends.
It's suggested they will recover after that sort of 29 -30 period so that's why
we need to be careful in terms of any decisions and giving up any provision
when we might start to see the number of children families come back into an area
we need to take real care with that and you know our team work really closely
with David's team and planning around that.
Thank you.
Great.
Thank you very much.
Anyone else?
Anyone else?
Nope.
Okay.
Great.
Thank you for the paper, Steve and Mayum.
Can we agree the recommendations?
Okay.
Thank you.

6 g) Community Safety Partnership Plan

Now can we move on to 6 .7, please, the draught community safety partnership strategy.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Thank you.
Thank you.
the community partnership board and it's coming here for approval mr. bubble in
the comments sir there's four aspects to it just very quickly just building on
what the lead member who says we've changed the the plans to take into
account that 42 % of our residents raised issues around ASP and crime after
consultation with the lead member so it's tackling an acoustic crime in ASB
tackling violence tackling drug supply and substance misuse and as you'll be
aware the the authorities invested in a drug squad the first drug squad anywhere
in the country where we are focusing on top 50 and tackling hate crime and
improving community cohesion thank you Mr. Mayor.
Thank you and this strategy is comprehensive thank you it's a very good piece of
document and it does align with our pledge and the manifesto and our strategic plan.
And you're right, those offences that we want to capture is what the people of the borough
are telling us.
So thank you for that.
Any comments from anyone, please?
Anyone at all?
You okay?
Yeah, okay.
You happy?
Let's go out.
Okay, thank you very much.
Let's note the recommendations.
Very good.
Good.
Thank you.

6 h) Budget Monitoring 2025/26 – Quarter 2

Now, very important, equally important is the budget monitoring 2526, quarter 2 forecast
out -turn.
Saeed, please.
Thank you, Mr Mayor.
The forecast position as it stands for the general fund is an overspend of £18 .9 million,
which is a slight increase from our Q1 position which was at 14 .7 million pounds.
And the increase is mainly because of the demand -led services across adults and children's social care.
The position is after obviously we've done some agreed management works in order to substitute funding what is available.
Within the DSG we have a £9 .4 million overspend, which was £5 .8 million in Quarter 1.
And housing revenue account, we have a £3 .2 million overspend.
Now what's very important to remember is that we have for the General Fund monitoring position,
There are a number of items which are supporting the position because we have an underspend
in different areas.
And that also includes India mitigations.
That was achieved through management actions and through the planned use of funding substitution,
which helped offset the wider pressure the council was facing.
And these include 7 .3 million pounds from public realm, which is to do with the release
of parking reserves.
and also £3 .9 million from management actions
through expenditure controls panels, which we introduced,
and also to control panels around recruitment.
And we have a £5 million from corporate revenue contingency
which we introduced to support any sort of pressures
we face in our forecast.
These actions actually demonstrate the grip already
and consistently being applied to manage the Council's finances in -year.
Some of the management actions taken to address these pressures carry some risks,
however these will be monitored regularly to ensure deliverability,
with any changes addressed promptly through alternative mitigations.
The budget position is being affected by nationally recognised demand -driven pressures,
particularly across London, which is mostly material and forecast overspend in homelessness,
adult social care and SEND.
To strengthen control and drive down these costs, three dedicated spending control panels
have been established covering temporary accommodation, adult social care and SEND,
ensuring closer scrutiny and tighter oversight of expenditure in these high pressure areas.
Corporate directors have implemented in -year mitigations, actions, through the spending review panels,
including vacancy management, reducing and slowing of non -essential spend, and tighter controls on agency usage.
Corporate directors are accountable for delivery of the agreed mitigations and management actions,
and progress will be reviewed and will be corporately managed through our spending review panels, which we have introduced.
Moving on to housing revenue.
Housing revenue is a full cost overspend of £3 .2 million.
These movement largely relate to income forecasts as a result of the re -profiling of new builds
and newly acquired properties being handed over to HRE.
Other budget pressures include costs related to building safety to ensure compliance with
legislative requirements, disrepair claims, capitalisation charges and uninsured losses
relating to the Bentworth core fire.
And these overspends will be monitored through the Housing Performance and Improvement Board.
Moving on to savings, 33 .5 million pounds in -year savings target, of which 27 .3 million
pounds, which is 81 .5%, are either achieved or on track to be achieved.
6 .1 million pounds, which is around 18 .2%, have been phased out but still considered
deliverable during in -year and a very small percent, 0 .3%, which is 100 ,000 pounds, of
the target has been assessed as undeliverable.
Savings are continuously monitored and new approaches are being developed where there
is rephasing of the savings in order to maximise our potential target and make sure it is all
deliverable.
Quickly touching on capital, capital forecast for the General Fund is £62 .5 million, which
represents 47 % of the revised budget and moving on to HRA capital forecast for the year is
170 .3 million pound which is a 52 % of the revised budget.
I will end here, Mr Mayor.
I have got Abdulaziz.
Thank you, Councillor Said.
Mr Mayor, Councillor Said recapped the position.
The only thing I was going to add is this is we really strengthen our governance and
this is a moving face.
So as we go through every month, we are monitoring our mitigations, trying to find additional
substitutions and all corporate directors have been really working collaboratively with
this service to enable us to get to a good place.
At the moment we're forecasting a net overspend of 18 .9, which will be covered within our
risk reserve of 23 .2.
But the plan is not to end up there, the plan is to reduce that overspend going forward.
Thank you.
Thank you very much.
Anyone? Any comments? A very comprehensive report.
And it's necessary every quarter we do get an update of our finances.
I know the team are doing extremely good work and Steve Horsley is very much,
and the corporate actors are very much part and parcel of this.
Kobi?
Thank you, Mayor. I think it's really important to acknowledge that the formatting and the spending review panels
and the responsibility and ownership taken on both by lead members as well as corporate directors and directors
in order to really look and deep dive into their departments and see what value for money and best value looks like.
And it's important that this journey that we've gone over the last year with corporate directors and directors
in ensuring that we squeeze money out of areas without limiting service delivery,
in looking at how efficiencies can be made without impacting on the frontline services
and how this is embedded within the council and not just one -off salami slicing
which then has a retrospective impact later on and then we have to pump money back in again.
So this systemed approach should be commended
and I thank officers over the year that we've worked on in tightening the Council's belt.
Thank you.
Please, Steve.
Thank you, Mr Mayor.
I guess just to reflect on some of the reports today in the local government press about
up to 100 councils seeking emergency financial support and comparing our position and the
strength of our financial management to some other areas.
I think supports your earlier statements about the local government association peer review that recognised our strong financial management
Thank you
Absolutely, and thanks for those comments. Tala, please.
I think just echoing previous comments. It's not necessarily a pat on the back
Although that's deserved for people that have been involved but speaking to other lead members in other authorities
I think the level of involvement from members in this council is very different to other councils
And I just wanted to put that on record. So I'm not saying it so people can you know, but it's our job
it's our job to make sure that the local authority finances are managed effectively and properly and you know
We achieve best value from every single penny and pound that's spent here. But like I said speaking to other
members, the level of involvement, it's literally day and night
in terms of the difference. And I just wanted to put on record
of course yourself, the lead member, of course you're putting in a significant amount of time, but I think
collectively, I think the members are putting in a significant amount of time in their spending
reviews and so many other committees that we've seen. And that collective effort
between members and the corporate leadership team, I think
should be, not celebrated, but as in
and I think I thought I would make that point.
No, I agree. We have a very strong corporate management team and there are teams below
that, the EMT and below that. And if it wasn't from the collective buy -in, this wouldn't
have been possible. Yes, we have serious financial pressures, especially in temporary accommodation,
adult social care, in SEND and SEND transport. And despite that, the fact that we are going
through a budget process where a vigorous process has gone through and we basically
need to balance the books this year and look at the next three years too.
But I mean, I'm really grateful for your buy -in for the whole council to making this happen.
And Mr Rajak and Said for excellent work and Steve have put into this.
Thank you.
Please, David.
Just to add to some of the comments, as one of the panel chairs of the corporate spending
control panel where we look at all proposed expenditure above £10 ,000 which supplements
our departmental panels that look at all the expenditure below £10 ,000, I know that we
have been really rigorous in looking at every item of spend and really questioning does
that spend need to be happening now given the financial position and the
need to improve it and we are we are regularly making decisions to either
defer or actually stop spend in order to improve our position. I would like to
sort of add to Councillor Chaudhuri's comment that I think the kind of level of partnership
working between members and officers in those meetings has been really really
helpful in providing the scrutiny of every proposal that comes before us and I think
it is on a different level to anywhere else I've experienced and it's proven to be very
positive.
Thank you and the culture that we have embedded and we need to embed so that we cannot live
beyond your means.
You know you can't live on credit cards, you can't live on just handouts, you've got to
live on what income you have and the grants you have, we can't live on beyond that.
So that culture is very important and a culture that you can't just transfer, underspend,
to placate overspends.
Now that's not it.
There needs to be a rigorous process.
We need to keep an eye on things and every single item obviously needs to be sanctioned,
needs to be looked into and needs to be approved.
It's very important.
That culture needs to be embedded and I think it is being embedded in this council.
Hence we're not in that fortunate position although we have huge financial pressures but we're not in any way in a position that we have to go to government for extra support.
Although we need every single penny that we can lever in to support our cause and our delivery.
It's important.
Okay, those comments can we agree with the recommendations please?
Noting and agreeing, yeah?
Is that okay?
Thank you.
OK, the last paper.

6 i) Youth Justice Strategic Plan 2025-2028

OK, the Justice Strategic Plan, 2528.
Thank you, Mr Mayor.
Before I introduce the strategy, I just want to thank our committee officers.
since the last failed inspection we have made significant improvements within
within the Youth Justice including your investment Mr. Mayor so I would like to
officially you know thank our officers for their dedication and and I think we
have gone through a long journey in terms of implementing the recommendation
and making improvement within the youth justice.
And this strategy, the Plan 2528, which was co -produced
with our children, families, staff and partners.
This plan is ambitious, rooted in evidence,
and already delivering results.
Fewer first -time entrants reduce reoffending and custody
at minimal levels.
It sets out four clear priorities.
Consistently good practise, child first,
strength in partnership and culture, identity and community
and it's the testament to the dedication of our practitioners
and strength of our partnerships.
So I would like to pass on to Steve to go through the report.
Thank you Deputy Mayor.
I won't add a great deal to that, I'm just really grateful for your comments about how hard the team and our partnership are working.
I think just one thing to flag, there's an increased focus on how we support victims in this sort of area because analysis has shown that sometimes victims of youth crime then can become offenders.
So that is a very clear focus on the inspection regime, we're due an inspection soon, we'll be asking questions about how we do that.
I've been really grateful for support from our youth services, which has obviously had significant investment,
and also our community safety colleagues around how we support and prevent our young people involved in youth justice,
and divert them away from crime as soon as possible.
So, yeah, I think at a subsequent meeting we'll share our self -assessment as we prepare for inspection,
but as Deputy Mayor has said, we're in a much stronger place now. Thank you.
Thank you. Any comments generally? It's a good report, good strategy.
Anyone? Are you okay with it? Content with it? Let it go forward?
Thank you. Can we agree to recommendations?

7 ANY OTHER UNRESTRICTED BUSINESS CONSIDERED TO BE URGENT

Great. We've got another business. Can we call it a day?
Thank you to the officers and lead members. Close the meeting.