Cabinet - Tuesday 24 March 2026, 5:30pm - Tower Hamlets Council webcasts

Cabinet
Tuesday, 24th March 2026 at 5:30pm

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Thank you. Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you and welcome to our cabinet meeting.

We've got quite a busy schedule today. The usual drills about fire alarms and filming

Thank you very much.

I will now turn it over to the

Thank you very much.

I will now turn it over to the

Minister of Health.

I will now turn it over to the

Minister of Health.

Thank you very much.

I will now turn it over to the

Minister of Health.

table.

Mr Van Zuck is over there.

As far as I'm concerned, you're always at the top

table, Mr Van Zuck.

You did a fantastic job for us, you and your team,

over the last one year.

Thank you.

Richard, thank you for our corporate

tactical resources.

Welcome.

Okay, great.

Any declarations of interest?

Members?

No?

None?

Great.

Thank you.

Can we agree the minutes of the 18th of February?

I think they're burning.

You're okay with it?

Yeah?

Okay.

Announcement, Steve.

Over to you, sir.

Thank you, Mayor.

I just have a few updates since Cabinet last met.

Some of these issues members certainly will be aware of.

But for the purpose of the minutes, it's important that we reflect upon the fact that

you've already welcomed Richard and Gillian to the Council who are now in those interim

roles at corporate director level.

I should also report that this month we have visited MIPIN in the south of France, which

is a major international conference where we attempt to attract inward investment and

promote opportunities in Tower Hamlets.

It was a particularly successful event.

It was the second year, conceptually, that we've been, and we will report in due course

about the very positive outcomes that have come out of those discussions.

Monday, the 2nd of March was Children's National Secondary Offer Day, and I'm pleased to say

that over 96 % of pupils secured their first choice, which is an improvement on last year's

figure of 94%, and also higher than the national average, also of 94%.

Remind members that March is Women's History Month and earlier in the month was International

Women's Day and we've had events taking place to celebrate the contribution of women to

the borough and promote the work that Council does to support women.

I should also for the purpose of the minutes remind members, and we'll be discussing this

tomorrow evening at full Council as well, that the Council has received new ministerial

directions from the Secretary of State.

Cabinet members will be aware that last week the Government sent you ministerial directions

to the Council.

These followed a meeting that myself and the Mayor had with the Minister.

The Council has issued a statement in that respect and we have shared the information

with staff and relevant partners.

I know that you are committed and the Council is committed to continue to work in partnership

with the envoys to ensure we address the concerns that have been raised at pace.

I should also report that last week the Council received a good rating by the CQC for our

adult social care provision which followed extensive work that was done to ensure that

we provide the best service possible that we can.

That sits alongside, and I will repeat this a lot and others do as well, the outstanding

offset rating that we received for children's social care.

So evidence there of real high level, high quality service provision in those two spaces.

Just to remind members, I know you know, but for the purpose of the minutes, it was Eid

last week, which included the switching of the brick lane lights.

And just a reminder to everybody that we are entering the pre -election period from the

30th of March, and we're well underway with our preparations, and all staff have been

advised accordingly.

Thank you, Mayor.

Thank you, Steve.

I have a statement to make to first of all Eid Mubarak.

Greetings of Eid to each and every one of you.

Today I'm proud to speak on three announcements that represent what public service is really

about delivering for the residents of this great borough.

While others may try to stir up noise and spread misinformation through underhand and

person attacks, this administration, ladies and

gentlemen, remains focused on delivery.

Delivery for every community in Tahel Hamlets,

regardless of the background.

Delivery for some of the poorest communities in the UK.

Three Cabinet papers published, two on today's

agenda in Cabinet, and one on Friday's agenda for

Friday's Cabinet meeting, this Friday's Cabinet

meeting, show how this administration and the officers in this council are working hard

to ensure that inequality and lack of opportunities tackled head on.

Firstly, I am delighted to present our proposal to regenerate Whitechapel Sports Centre, transforming

that centre into a swimming, leisure and housing site that will tackle two of the worst inequalities

in our borough, health and inacula overcrowding.

This follows the ongoing redevelopment of the St.

George's Leisure Centre in Shadwell, stroke, Whitechapel,

a 67 million pound renovation that will also see 30

predominantly family sized council homes built on the site.

The current provision in the west of the borough has failed

to keep pace with the growing demands of expanding population.

Our new proposal in Whitechapel pending all planning and due diligence will see 2 .3 million

pounds at this moment invested to accelerate planning and design works and would see the

creation of two swimming pools. One will be a six -lane full -size adult pool and another

will be a training pool for children and beginners. This combined with our recent announcement

to expand access to free swimming sessions for all men aged 35 and over, all women aged

16 and over, and all parents and children across the borough reinforces our commitment

to tackling health inequality in Thai hamlets. Physical health, ladies and gentlemen, improves

mental health and our proposals also help to keep money in residents' pockets that can

be spent on their bills and the cost of living demands.

The redevelopment would also include a larger, more

accessible gym in Whitechapel with state of the art equipment

alongside women -only spaces.

We are incredibly proud of the work

that this administration and this council

has undertaken to improve the quality of life for women

and girls in Tower Hamlets.

From women -only swimming sessions to our dedicated sister space,

youth centre in Semple Sway and to the Nari Women's Centre in Valence Road,

our plan to include women -only spaces in the redeveloped Whitechapel

Leisure Centre will, I hope, encourage more women to get active in a safe and

protected environment. There would also be a state -of -the -art spa facility in the centre,

including on our recent opening of the People Spa in York Hall in Bethnal Green. Finally,

and most importantly, our proposals would see 48 additional affordable homes developed

on the Whitechubble site, at a time where overcrowding and homelessness continues to

real challenges to this authority.

Every home built, council home built,

represents a step in the right direction.

An additional 48 affordable and predominantly family -sized

homes on this site contributes to the ambitious

house building programme that this administration is pursuing.

Building on the 6 ,441 homes we would have delivered by the

the end of our terms. Yes, 6 ,441 homes for rent we would have delivered. This 2 .3 million

pound investment takes our total investment into sport and leisure to over 100 million

pound and I would like to thank all officers who were involved in work in tirelessly to

ensure this paper came to cabinet today. Another potentially huge piece of regeneration in

this borough is the proposed major new development at Riverside South in Kenilworth, which would

serve as J .P. Morgan's UK headquarters. Announced in November 2025 and subject to all due diligence

and planning, the £3 billion investment development is expected to accommodate up to 12 ,000 employees

and further strengthen London's and Tower Hamlet's position as a leading global financial

centre. It would see a three million square foot landmark tower built in Kenilworth following

the tradition of one Canada square and other high rises on the island. The proposal could

also see £1 .6 billion returned in business rates to our borough.

Tower Hamlets will benefit significantly, ladies and gentlemen, from this return and

we will be able to invest directly into communities where inequality and lack of opportunity is

highest.

Alongside the physical transformation of the area,

which will see amenity and community spaces, green spaces,

and business growth, the subsequent benefits to jobs,

apprenticeships, and training opportunities in

tablets will also be huge.

Thousands of jobs will be here, right here in tablets,

providing future generations with some of the best employment

opportunities in the world.

J .P. Morgan's willingness to commit to its relationship with the Council and stay in

town is a huge vote of confidence in our borough and confirms just how strategically important

we are as an attractive location to the world's biggest and best.

I would like to thank the Chief Executive, the Corporate Act for Resources, the Corporate

Agobescu, J .P. Morgan and the Canada Roof Group and certainly our council officers and

the lead members for their work in making this step possible. I look forward to discussing

this paper in cabinet on Friday and bringing a further paper to cabinet that will provide

more detail on next steps and financial implications for the council.

Finally, I am pleased to announce that our adults, like the Chief Executive, our adult

social services have been certified as good by the CQC. Well done and thank you to the

officers and the lead member, and the previous lead member for the work that you put in.

This makes us a top ten provider for adult social care services in London. I am grateful

certainly to the corporate director and everyone across the board for their excellent work.

Thank you and best wishes.

Can we now return to the order of business, please, if that's okay?

We have the chair of the Oberlin Scrutiny Committee here.

Thank you, Councillor Wahid.

Councillor Peter Gulls is also here to say a few words, so thank you to both of you.

I understand there is no calling as such.

So over to you for ten minutes.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

This is the report from the chair of overview and scrutiny to cabinet.

Mr Mayor, the overview and scrutiny committee met last night and we covered three different

topics. The first, we had a spotlight session with the CEO, Chief Executive, who gave us

an update on the new ministerial directions. There was a thorough discussion and the Chief

Executive was generous with his time and answered questions from members. Members were concerned

to hear that there has been an article in the Telegraph about the direction and the

Chief Executive explained how the Council and he dealt with that.

The overview and scrutiny noted that the Administration has done a great deal to maintain the standard

of service and delivery and have improved it.

We also noted the positive result from the two major inspection of the children's services and adult social care.

And the very good feedback from the annual residents survey.

However, we also noted that the chief executive view that we need to improve governance and related matters mentioned in the directions.

And we need to increase the speed of our improvement.

This is an area of work which the Overview and Scrutiny Committee will follow next year.

We also discussed the latest Strategic Delivery and Performance Report.

As we looked at the KPIs, the red KPIs, there were some feelings that the KPIs may not be formulated in a very helpful way.

We know that many corporate directors can use the BI tool to monitor their services and delivery in real time.

Perhaps next year the new administration can pay close attention to how the KPIs can be selected and formulated to help the corporate management and team monitor the overall performance, without getting into minor details.

Finally, we discussed the Quarter 3 budget monitoring report, which are on your agenda

today, Mr Mayor.

We noted that we are on target to overspend this year, but the overspend was dealt in

the budget that was recently agreed.

We have no pre -decision questions for you.

In the above discussions, we were assisted by the chief executive, the corporate directors

and relevant officers and lead members, member for resource and cost of living.

Thank you.

This is the report from last time.

Thank you very much.

Councillor Gold, do you want to come in now?

Mr Mayor, thank you very much.

You have two reports on this evening which I would like to speak of.

The first that is of enormous importance to me personally

and to the area I represent is the report

on the Mudchute Farm.

Congratulations on those who have been involved

of at last achieving the signatures or the proposal

that we will have a lease that will protect the farm

and give it protection for 30 years.

That is incredibly important,

but it's been an enormous amount of work to achieve that.

and it has been in occasions something difficult.

The Mudchute Farm is Europe's largest city farm.

It attracts a quarter of a million children

and young people a year to come

and see live animals. It is

a real community organisation. It is something

that this borough, the administration of this borough,

the officers and everybody

else should be incredibly proud of, but it could not have achieved it without the extraordinary

collection of trustees, two of whom are here this evening, who give their life to looking

after Mudchute Farm. It is not a question of what politicians do, it is people like

those on the ground that stand up for the Isle of Dogs, for the London Borough of Tower

It's and those a quarter of a million children so mr. Mayor thing

I think everybody should be pleased that the lease will be signed

And I bring one message from the much of farm in particular

They will wish to same and I cannot remember the exact name

But the name of an officer who has spent a great deal of time

Working with them on the lease to get what exactly what is the best for us for the council?

I've been, it's Sam Brown, well congratulations and I'm sorry to have not got it all right.

But everybody would like to thank the officer. We're going to have a 30 year lease at 15 ,000

with a 15 ,000 initial rent which will be protected under provisions of the Landlord and Tenants

Act. That will be extremely important. At the same time the farm will continue to work

with the council and work with the community. Many people have said it was a disappointment,

the 2019 lease wasn't signed, but the 2019 lease wasn't signed. What we have got is 30

years of protection. So everybody thank you, but most of all thank the people of the Isle

of Dogs and Mudchute, because you're the ones that deserve everything.

Thank you.

Thanks, Councillor Gold.

I'll bring you on later on.

Give me a second.

Thank you.

Thanks, Councillor Gold.

Just on, I know we're going to go to the Manistra paper in a minute, but can I say at this outset,

I was disappointed that full council of the misinformation and the lies that were spread

by certain politicians and certain quarters in the community were always intended to support,

protect and promote Montsute Farm.

As to how we get there, we couldn't do things for free.

Free, doing a peppercorn rent doesn't exist anymore.

That was done away with under the previous

Labour Administration.

Okay, so we have to respect policy, go with policy,

but I'm grateful to David and Sam for looking outside

of the box how we accommodated that, but kept the low,

kept the rent at an affordable level.

So I was a beneficiary and my kids were off the

much -loot farm.

I visited there a number of times.

So we always intended to protect it, keep it open,

support it.

I supported it when I was the mayor previously and

I've supported it now.

I'm the mayor.

For those who've said that we've intended to close

much -loot farm or build homes there, a lot of

misinformation went on.

And similarly, I know you mentioned the Telegraph article

is full of rubbish, full of lies and misinformation.

The headline of that paper is inflammatory,

it's offensive, it's divisive.

That's not the borough we are.

96%, 90 % plus of our residents get on with each other.

That's the resident survey.

We are a borough which is inclusive,

which we live in coexistence and we support each other.

Okay, that's what matters.

So please, my request to people who live here,

who visit here, do business here,

we get on with each other, don't listen to the lies

and the misinformation that is peddled by a small group

of people in this borough and some from outside.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Can we now move on to the Marchute paper, please?

Yeah, is that okay?

Who is going to introduce it?

Okay, please.

Thank you Mr. Mayor.

So I think we've heard just about the Machu Farm.

I think just to go into the details of it.

So this is a proposal concerning the Machu Association,

which manages the Machu Farm and Park for nearly five decades

and operates one of Europe's largest city farms.

This site comprises 32 acres of parkland, farmland and children's nursery,

animal enclosures, stables and classrooms, cafe shops, office spaces and public open space.

It is a metropolitan importance for the nature conservation.

It is designated as a metropolitan open land as well as the local nature reserve

and this council completely acknowledges that and as an administration we took that very

seriously in coming to and making sure that the stability for the much association.

and the farm itself. The March Association is a registered charity and

the current lease expired on the 13th of June 2024. The March

Association requires a long -term security of tenor to access significant

capital as well as revenue funding, many of which require at least 25 years of

lease term.

So we had to make sure it was more than 25 years.

So this paper gives it that stability.

It seeks an approval to grant 30 year lease to the Machu Association at initial rent of

£15 ,000 per year within the inside of the 1954 Act.

The lease will also include rent reviews every five years, as well as we need to also consider

whether this case couldn't be part of the community benefit rent reduction as an external

valuation was required to satisfy the best consideration obligation.

Finally, the proposal supports the key objective, the council's objective around community empowerment,

around environmental sustainability, public health and supporting our resilient voluntary

community sector.

We want to ensure our farms and open spaces are secure and this paper ensures that the farm will continue to operate.

I've got Sam and Lemio, actually thanks Sam myself as well. We've had a lot of one -to -one meetings around that as well as David and yourself Mr Mayor.

Thank you, thanks very much Sam. We don't need an officer to present a question. You've done the job.

Deputy Mayor.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

So, really proud moment for me, someone who has worked for much, for many, many years

and also been a trustee.

So thank you to you, our officers and lead member for this.

I think this is excellent news, not only for the people of Isle of Dogs, but Tower Hamlet,

especially our schools who utilise the farm a lot, free of charge.

And also I would like to thank the trustees and the communities of Machu.

Despite negative and lies and misinformation in the community,

they've remained calm and positive and also non -political.

They were very professional, so I would like to thank them for that.

This is an excellent news for the community and I think as a council,

So under the leadership of the Mayor, we will continue to look at ways how we can support

the Machu Park and Farm, how we can work with them.

That's not it, we signed the lease and that's it, you just give us the 15K.

It's more than that, it's about partnership, it's about the work you do on behalf of the

Council, behalf of this great borough.

So we will work with you, we will make sure that you're serving the residents and there's

no impact in terms of financial impact within Machu Park and Farm.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, David.

I'll bring you in last to make a few comments.

Anyone else?

Councillor Shafi, please.

Thank you, Mr Mayor, and good afternoon, good evening all.

Once again, it shows our commitment and the commitment of yourself and the leadership

of this council that we are committed to ensuring continuity of this farm, which benefits not

just the residents of this borough, but many others who come to visit this wonderful urban

and open space in such a wonderful surrounding of the skylines.

It shows that we are here to serve the people

and irrespective of whatever has been said,

we ensure that this is an environmental and educational community benefit

it provides, including free public spaces and also biodiversity protection,

childcare and education services and opportunities and recreation

and learning in a densely populated urban area.

So I welcome this new lease and I'm congratulating everyone

who will be benefiting from this farm.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

Thank you.

Council Sabina Aktar.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

Muddashute Farm is very personal to me.

Every single time my nieces or nephew come over to visit my house,

I live in Ireland, the first thing they want to do

is to visit the Muddashute Farm.

So yeah, it's very personal to me and very close to the whole of my family.

So I'm really happy for this proposal that we've come across today.

It's been a long journey.

Really happy that there's a lot of misinformation that was created in the community, but hopefully

that people in the public are aware and you all are aware with all the clarification that

we are here today.

And we said it then and we say it again, there was no plans for closure and we're absolutely

always supporting the community.

So this is not just about the lease, it's an investment in one of the borough's mostly valued community spaces.

Machu provides education, green space, well -being and opportunity for residents of all ages,

particularly in a densely built urban area where access to nature is limited.

So this long -term lease offers stability, it enables proper planning, stronger partnerships and the confidence to invest in facilities.

So I'm really happy with this.

This is about balancing security with responsibility.

And I'm really, really looking forward to all the years where we can all have very good memories that we can all create together with our families.

Thank you Mr. Mayor and thank you to the lead member, everyone, everyone part of this campaign where we got this good compromise, I believe. Thank you.

Thank you very much. Any other councillors? Anyone else?

No, David. Sorry, Kobi and Mustak. Go on, sorry. Go on, Kobi.

Yeah, just want to say as a resident of the Isle of Dogs and within a stone's throw away from my tube farm,

I think on a regular basis, my children, myself and my wife, we do go around and go for walks around there

and it's really important for local residents. We know how well used it is

and this will give a new lease of life.

And hopefully going forward, irrelevant of political colours,

we will all continue to support Mudshig Farm.

Thank you.

Councillor Moustap, please.

Thank you, Mr Mayor, just very briefly.

I welcome this report and the proposal.

This proposal strikes the right balance by protecting the site for public use

while supporting the long -term sustainability of a valued voluntary sector partner.

I am very pleased to support the recommendation.

Congratulations to all.

Thank you.

David, please.

Thanks.

I mean, I think it's possibly all been said, but just to say thank you very much to Sam

and Wayne from the team, but I think most critically the community.

I think Sue, Margaret and others have been brilliant to work with so that we get to an

arrangement that works for all parties.

you know this is people have said this balances the public benefits of the

farmers are very clear with achieving best value which is obviously a duty

that we have as a council we've on its backed by and we've undertaken

independent valuation to get to this point and and this type of lease I think

provides as people have said for that long -term stability and I think that

crucially for the ability of volunteer sector groups like the mudshoot to

fundraise which is a critical part of what they do and I think there's

learning there for how we need to look at our policy which sometimes can be

constraining when we're trying to get to these ends so we're I hope that the

the exercise we've been on will end up benefiting in other negotiations that

we do on these types of leases but you know the executive and I visited the

Tower Hamlet CVS and since then we've managed to conclude on a number of

with really valued community groups, but I think possibly none more so than the Mudshoot

City Farm.

And I doubt there is a city farm anywhere in the world with a backdrop like Mudshoot,

so it's something that we're very pleased we've been able to conclude.

Thank you, David.

Now, our farms are a jewel in our crowns.

We're very fortunate as a borough.

We have three urban farms in our borough.

much should certainly, Spitalfields and Stepney

Green Farm.

So we're very lucky.

And those, all three farms are used extensively by

the schools, by the communities, by kids, by

parents, you know, and by every ordinary folk

in the borough.

So I'm very grateful to all the volunteers.

You are the real heroes, the volunteers, for keeping

those farms running, open, accessible for the

communities, very grateful.

And as a council, as an administration,

we have always supported our farms.

We've invested in our farms.

You know, we invested in Spitting Fields,

we invested in State McGreen when I was the mayor,

previously leader of the council, and in Marchfield.

We had a long -standing relationship with you.

We always wanted to keep you open,

but you are truly inspirational.

The way you've been professional, respectful,

kept that dialogue relationship going, you know,

although, you know, under pressure.

So, I'm very grateful to you, I'm very grateful to David and Sam and the officers

for the way you've handled this to get us to a position that is acceptable to the Council

and to the trustees.

Thank you, thank you very much.

If there are no other comments, can we agree the recommendation?

Go on.

Just one point, Mr. Mayor.

I think because we have the voluntary community sector organisations, they're able to apply

for funding from the council as well and we apply a grant of 31k towards the running of

the cost.

So I think the council's always been supportive of working with this.

I just wanted to make that point that we're not just putting a rent on it but we're supporting

it going forward as well.

Thank you.

There is a grant making process in the council.

Anyone out there can apply and officers, I've delegated my power stood office on that and

they will determine the application and the outcome and you've secured 30k.

So best wishes to you.

Okay, so recommendations are accepted.

Okay, if I can, madam, just pause the meeting for just two or three minutes to just say

hello to our friends and trustees and take a quick photo.

Okay?

Okay, is that possible?

Okay, just two or three minutes, a quick one.

Yeah, thank you.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

Sorry for the slides.

Paul is grateful to you.

Much should be done.

We move on to the boundary estate.

This paper is about the boundary estate community.

It is a long -running resident created non -for -profit laundry operating since the early 1990s.

It provides affordable laundry services around 20 % below the commercial rates to residents

on and around the boundary estate.

It is located at 28 Calvert Avenue within the boundary estates in Weavers Ward in a

of high value retail properties owned by the council within our HRA portfolio.

The current situation is that the previous long -held, long -term lease at a legacy rent

of £2 ,000 per year, which is significantly below the market value in comparison to that

area, it ran out at the end of January 2024.

The lease and the laundry went through this process of coming to a negotiation with the

council.

Anyway, a temporary tenancy at will was granted to allow reopening while long -term options

were considered and an arrangement continues today within that temporary arrangement.

So this paper seeks a community premises portfolio to be added into the CPP.

That will, on a temporary basis, and that should allow the launderette to continue to

operate as a not -for -profit laundry and occupy the site.

That would then give the launderette an opportunity to apply for the community benefit rep, so

That means we can apply the, if the rent is at £14 per metre per square foot, we can

apply the discount.

What it comes to at the end of it is an estimated rent of £22 ,000 per year because that cannot

be afforded.

We will have the community benefit on top and that should allow the launderette to operate

on a long -term stability stable way.

Thank you.

Thank you, Saeed.

I will bring in COVID.

David, you should certainly be coming to add.

Well, I suppose we're incredibly proud to have the Boundary Estate in Tarahumna.

This is the oldest council estate in the country.

It's an incredibly important part of our borough.

But it is important to say that some of the internal layouts, particularly on that estate,

do not allow for all residents to have the kind of facilities that may be possible in

more generously sized homes.

It's also a community launderette which is an incredibly important community facility

but it didn't form part of our community portfolio so we've tried to take a flexible approach

that recognises the kind of special status of this facility within the boundary state

for as long as it remains a community launderette and that is what we've tried to do.

Again as Sam and his assets team have got to this point but we were very keen to get

to this place because it's an incredibly important part of the community on the boundary state.

Thank you, David.

Thank you, Mayor.

This launderette is in my ward and I know a number of issues were raised with me and

flagged up and I proactively tried to work with officers in order to have these issues

resolved.

Now, the key issue was there was a cabinet paper in March 2021 which did not designate

the launderer as a community asset and therefore fell under the commercial leasing agreements,

which then kind of expediated the levels of rent that would need to be paid.

And it was simply outpriced these community gems that we have.

So, once this issue was raised, I think Sam very proactively, along with David, worked

on how we can develop a policy that comes forward that facilitates these community service

provisions.

And this is the outcome.

And it's the first of the outcome.

There is a number of other premises along Calvert Avenue that we're working with, who

we, local businesses, we don't want to be outpriced and pushed out.

So, you know, at one of the other cabinets we passed that community -based policy,

which is a very important policy that will serve residents and local businesses in Tower Hamlets.

To cut a long storey short, in terms of the amount of money the Council spends in repairs of damp and mould,

I would say the most significant investment we make is in that laundry if you're looking at the boundary estate.

Because without that laundry, if you can imagine thousands of people drying their clothes at home,

washing their clothes at home, would create the level of water penetration and condensation.

That would put a huge bill on this council.

So by having this laundry in the boundary estate, it's saving this council millions and millions of pounds.

And if you look at cost effectiveness and value for money, this is absolute value for money.

So I totally endorse this paper.

Thank you.

If I bring Councillor Goldstein, can I just say thank you to the volunteers for your passion

and your pressure on us to make sure we keep that laundry open and keep it affordable.

It is one of a kind in the borough.

In this day and age you don't get to see many community laundries across the borough.

When I was growing up in Tambler, I remember, I grew up in a Vowbridge estate, then the

Shixson estate.

Believe me, those gems did serve a purpose, and they still serve a purpose now.

So thank you for the hard work that you have done.

Thank you to the lead member, your Councillor, you know, the pressure that he put me and

David under to come up with an outside of the box, like the multitude, where we can

Our hands were tied by policies set out by the previous administration.

However, the pressure you put us under, being your advocate for that long threat, to come up with policies that support local community initiatives.

So we're really grateful to you, grateful to you, COVID, and David and Sam for helping us to get our paper in the last cabinet to make this happen.

Okay, thank you councillor goals. I'll bring you in for bring up accounts. Thank you very much. Mr

Mayor when it when the petition came before the council I was horrified and I used the expression that the

what seemed to be happening was a sledgehammer to crack a nut and

I'm delighted to say we have no sledgehammers and we have no nuts. We have what is an extraordinary community

organisations saying for the people of Bettle Green Tower Hamlets and something we should

have civic pride in. And in one respect this is so insignificant it shouldn't be before

the cabinet but equally it is important that the people out there understand that the London

Borough of Tower Hamlets with all its history supports community groups whether it be the

mud chute or whether it be the boundary estate and I think we should have, we should demonstrate

the civic pride in that.

Thanks, Peter.

Any other councillors in the one?

In the comments?

Quite straightforward.

Is that okay?

Thank you and grateful.

We accept the recommendations.

Thank you.

Great.

Can we move on to now another community asset?

I've seen it benefit.

I am Councillor Alo Ochoa. We've seen it how it has benefited many of our youngsters in the borough.

The Highway Club Lease Renewal. Go on, Sahid.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. So this is for the Highways Clubs charity which operates the board of Street Amateur Boxing Club from 2 Lorne Street in Shadwell.

The club has served the community for over 130 years and has been in this building since the 1950s.

It provides free structured sporting and boxing activities that help young people avoid antisocial

behaviour and build confidence and life skills.

The lease was a 60 -year agreement that expired in 2017.

Since then we have had lots of negotiations and communications with council officers and

the mayor involved in this as well.

This paper seeks an approval to grant the highway club a 15 -year lease at 2 Lowell Street

within the protection of the 1954 Act.

The rent will be set out at the council's community rent level

of £78 ,000 per year with an 80 % discount of community benefit

rent reduction, resulting in a net rent of £15 ,600 per year.

This proposal aligns the community premises policy

while recognising that clubs' long history, community impact

and the need for security of tenure

is available for the organisation.

Thank you.

I see a bit of a clap from our friend over there, Kim.

Now this is a good one, it's made a difference to youngsters in this area, in Shadwell, across the borough.

Great, good. David, please, anything to talk about?

Well, I suppose it's just another really good outcome for another really valued community organisation in Tower Hamlets

and I think with all three of these reports we've seen a brilliant range of organisations making a difference in our community here.

I would like to thank once again the charity involved who run the facility, but also the

team Sam and Wayne for getting to this outcome.

And again, we have done it within our policy framework and with good valuation advice and

sharing best value for the council.

Thank you, David.

Anyone?

Please, Tala.

Very quickly, thanks officers, David, Sam and other colleagues in getting us to this

position.

I think with my community safety hat on, I did want to say the other two previous papers

obviously offer so much benefit to the community, but this area, we've got such a high level

of young people in the borough.

I know people personally that have benefited from this club and boxing and sports like

that do offer a way out of, you know, criminality or, dare I say, antisocial behaviour.

And I think preserving places like this as an offer for our young people on top of all

investment in young Tower Hamlets, all the investment that we're putting into youth services

is a testament to our commitment to young people.

And I know it's not just a place just for young people, predominantly used for young

people, but once again it shows a commitment to health, wellbeing and young people.

Thank you.

Anyone else?

No.

I mean, I want to reiterate and endorse the points you've made, Tala and Said, that it's

a very deprived area of town, it's the middle of Shadwell, the Highway Club.

And I've seen, when I was here previously as a Councillor, Leader and Mayor, and we

supported it and saw, I didn't visit them yet this time round, or they came to see us,

but when I went there previously I saw the number of kids, you know, making use of the

facility.

When I heard from them that we're going to potentially charge them commercial rent, they

would have had to close.

That would have been a shame and devastating for them who are volunteers and for the people of the borough.

So I'm very glad

once again

David and the team and the lead member that you can't you come up with community asset policies that will genuinely help

genuine

volunteer organisations who are living from a hundred miles. So well done. Can we endorse the recommendations please? Yeah, okay, great

Good, endorse. Okay, let's move on to

quite important one now.

One dear to my heart, so strategic delivery

and performance report year four quarter three.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

So I think this one, overall picture so far remains positive.

However, there are challenges that we have faced,

and these are unique challenges, while some of them were,

you know, across London and other boroughs are facing as well.

We have 39 strategic performance measures with

targets being reported this quarter.

Twenty -six of those targets are green and that's a

decrease of six since last quarter, unfortunately.

The good news is that one previous red measure has

improved into green, which is KPI 21.

That's the percentage of education, health and care

assessments completed within 20 weeks.

That was a crucial one that we've seen time and time

and struggling, that's now green.

We've also seen an amber measure being proven to green,

which is KPI 32, which is the number of new jobs,

training and apprenticeship opportunities

enabled for young people.

Challenges, these are complex areas

where we saw some red measures.

There's seven red KPIs here reported,

which is actually 16 % of all our indicators.

And those are in complex areas where there's unique

challenges facing all different service areas.

That is KPI 10, let's to overcrowded households, KPI 11, a number of privately rented properties

visited, KPI 25, rate of first -time entrance to the youth justice system, KPI 43, victims

of violence against women and girls who feel safe after engaging with the commission provider.

KPI 47, percentage of enforcement actions to fly tip incidents, KPI 54, which is percentage

of tenants satisfied with the overall services and KPI of 55, percentage of tenants satisfied

that their home is safe.

We have six AMBA measures, that's KPI 22, 28, 45, 46, 52 and 58.

Lead members and corporate directors are continuously working hard in their services to tackle these

challenges head on and make sure that Council can continue to perform at the best possible

way to ensure that our residents live in a barrel that they can be proud of.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

Great, thank you.

Can I bring in Steve, please, because this is a very strong measure of how we're doing

as a council.

Each of the corporate directorate have their performing, how we are performing as a council,

it's a reflection of a service delivery.

Some of the key indicators may not be right.

We may have to look at them.

However, while I see some of them are always red,

since I've been here, that does give me cause for

concern, and I'll talk about them in a minute.

I think we need to think outside of the box.

We need to look at, learn from other leading

authorities in the country.

there must be authorities in the country, you know,

where either it's all green or if it's red,

it's not consistently red.

Yeah?

When you see something consistently red,

each quarter, every quarter, for the last three

and a half, four years, it does cause me concern, Steve.

Yeah?

And I do want a paper and cabinet.

See how that can be addressed.

But when I see some stuff, I'm grateful to the officers

for the number of greens is commendable, but when I see some stuff which were greens become

amber, the ambers become red, that gives me cause for concern. And in certain very sensitive

areas that I have picked up from my surgery, from my walkabout, and it reflects what I

have on the ground. And despite the investment that we have put in into the services over

last three and a half years, when I see those indicators are red, I need to ask what are

we doing as a council.

You know, after all that investment, is the issue with performance management, is the

issue with somehow we don't have grip on this area, what is it?

And we do need answers, Steve.

Yeah, over to you.

Thank you, Mayor.

I will be brief, but I did want to make a very general point.

I wanted to be very clear for all those that look at what the local authority does for

residents, for community organisations, you hold me, quite rightly, and senior officers

of the council to account for this performance.

And I have no doubt, having discussed this information with corporate directors through

our governance arrangements, that every corporate director who will speak for themselves in

a moment, if that's okay, are very clear about your commitment to ensuring that where we

have red indicators, they are red for a reason.

It's not enough to sit here and talk about, well, we aspire to be the best, so we set

very stretched targets.

We want to be the best.

Those stretched targets are there for a very clear reason.

Two issues I would like to just comment on.

You've asked for regular reporting on those where we have consistently underperformed

in relation to the target that's been set, and I can confirm that's going to be taken

forward.

And following the next cabinet meeting, you'll have a more detailed response.

I also think we need to set up, and we've discussed this with you briefly, some task

and finish groups to look specifically at resource allocation, trends and projections

so that we're not having conversations at the end of a four -year period about why something

is still red.

But actually, we're much lighter on our feet in addressing challenges as they arise in

each of those spaces.

You have my commitment, we will be addressing it.

We're working very hard to try to.

We need to be much lighter on our feet in terms of the changing environment and the

particularly in some of those housing indicators, where I know the administration has allocated considerable funds,

but if it's okay with you, I'd like corporate directors to speak to each of those.

Please, the red ones, let me just touch on them, the relevant corporate director or the lead member could come in, please.

Lead members, you get a paid allowance to be lead members.

You are League members because we believe you can contribute and help us and me to run

this council.

You are equally responsible with the corporate directors to see your area is consistently

improving and it's an improved area.

You can't just wash your hands of it, just leave it to corporate directors.

So I am disappointed in some of the areas and you haven't taken responsibility.

You've got to take responsibility.

It's important.

It's collective.

Okay?

The first one is David, let's do overcrowded household.

You got four reds, David.

That's one of them.

Then you got another red, which is private rented

properties inspected.

I am a bit worried about that one.

That wasn't red.

It's become red, David.

Some of the properties that people who are homeless

or in temporary accommodation, live in, whether in borough or outside of the borough.

I'm sorry to say they're not fit for human habitation, David.

I've seen videos, I've seen photos of properties, either damp, mould, or rat -infested or bugs -infested.

I've seen two properties, seriously bugs -infested, and we just let it go, and we arranged letting.

I know we have a lot of pressure in temporary accommodation, we have a lot of pressure in

homelessness, but under no circumstances we should let those properties to anyone to live

in.

It's not on.

And with the Renters Reform Act now in law and coming to operation in May, we will have

a huge responsibility.

I don't want to incur any fines, yet, vicariously, because the problems we let are not fit for

human habitation.

I'm a bit worried that this has deteriorated, the inspection rate has gone down.

That's that, that's another one of yours.

Then you've got another one, percentage of tenants satisfied with service, again, has

become red.

That's worrying too because of the investment that we put in, we put in into these areas.

And another one David is the tenants satisfied that their home is safe.

That is very worrying.

They feel the home isn't safe and people are living in there.

And what I've witnessed one or two properties where, you've done a very good job by the

to rectify, but what I've seen where ceilings have collapsed on households, we have persistently

allowed that to continue and we haven't picked it up in time. We haven't picked up leaks

in time, David, and it's worrying. Now I had a property, so to say, in cabinet in Hamblett

Street, not going to name them or give the number, but for one week the property was

leaking and we didn't pick it up until the tenant,

resident came to me, then I had to call the director

to sort it out.

It shouldn't be taking our contractors who get paid

good money for one week to stem the leak in the

council property.

It's just not on.

And they've got young children, property has been

flooded, their goods has been damaged, and we did

It took us four or five days before we have phone call from me to the director to go and

pick it up.

What were our managers doing?

What were the officers doing?

Why didn't a performance manager immediately, David, let the flood to be flooded?

We've got to avoid.

If we get water leak, must be stemmed there and then immediately, not after four or five

days.

I'm sorry to say that, David.

I've said it in public domain because at the end of the day those residents, they come

to me, my next on the line, not officers next and certainly not lead members next.

Thank you.

Over to you.

Thank you Mr Mayor.

Just to sort of go through each of those in turn.

So first of all on the less overcrowded households, I think we have had an unusual quarter because

we have very few lets overall and when we have very few properties to let and very few

of them are larger family sized homes which is what happened in this quarter, it is difficult

to achieve our targets around letting to over credit families because obviously we can't

put over credit families into the smaller homes. I do think this was an unusual quarter

and not typical. I think the other factor that's fed into this particular one is that

We have got our financial pressures around temporary accommodation and we have been emphasising

the importance of also making lets to homeless households to deal with that issue.

So we've been balancing a number of factors and a lack of supply.

We'll really continue to bear down on this and we've just agreed the housing strategy

that has put tackling overcrowding at the very heart of it and the number one priority

within that.

So we will absolutely continue to be focused on that.

I think in terms of the second one around number of privately rented properties inspected,

you're right, in previous years we've been well on top of this issue.

We did have a recruitment challenge at the start of the year where it is a very difficult

to recruit area.

This is about environmental health officers who inspect properties in the private rent

sector in Tower Hamlets.

So this is not the properties that we place homeless households in, which are sometimes

out of the borough. We are also looking to drive standards up there with

proactive inspections so you're quite right to raise that issue but this one

is specifically looking at private rental properties in Tower Hamlets. What

I can say is the rate of inspections has improved as we go through the year and

we're confident that by the end of the year we will be close to meeting this

target which we did also increase and stretch this year so the target this

year is to visit 2 ,200 properties by the end of the year. In previous years it was

The rate that we are now visiting is broadly meeting that target but we have some catch

up to do from the start of the year when we were behind.

We recognise how important it is because so many Tower Humminess residents live in the

private rental sector and we want to raise standards in that sector as well.

Just turning to the two indicators around tenant satisfaction, the first critical thing

to say is we do follow up on every single person who tells us they're not satisfied

with the service and we follow up with in -depth interviews to understand what the issues are

and how we can resolve them.

It is typical at this time of year that we see a bit of a dip in overall tenant satisfaction

because of the winter pressures that we have.

I'm pleased that this year our tenant satisfaction is better than the same point last year, so

I do believe we're making progress but there is obviously a lot more to do and as you know

that's why we've got a regulatory plan which sets out a very clear plan about how we're

going to improve our housing services and we're making good progress against that but

clearly we're not where we want to be.

We are upper quartile for central London but we need to be better and we can't really rest

until we really start to see those tenant satisfaction scores driven up.

Specifically in relation to percentage of tenants satisfied that their home is safe,

we know that this is partly about building condition and the issues that you raised and

obviously we're making a huge investment in our stock as recently agreed by cabinet.

But the second issue is about anti -social behaviour and I think some of the key moves

we've made recently around agreeing a new policy around the 24 hour line that working

of Gillian and Ciaran and colleagues in anti -social behaviour, I'm hopeful that they will start

to make a difference. But we're also again speaking to every tenant who expresses dissatisfaction

and finding out what the issues are. So one of the issues has been around door entry systems

and we've been really bringing the contractor in and managing them a lot more tightly so

we get faster turnaround on those sorts of issues and I hope that these sorts of actions

will feed through to better scores around tenants feeling safe in their homes.

David, is there anything you want to add?

So, as you're aware Mr Mayor, there are serious challenges around TA pressures and therefore

the number of larger properties that come for social rent.

I think this particular quarter we have more than 50 % of just one bedrooms come.

And again, that creates that technical difficulty around that.

Around the resident satisfaction, I've had meetings with the new director of community

safety as well, and we're going to be working on a joint plan between our housing management

team and the community safety team so that residents are better informed about the proactive

action that we're taking as a council to address the ASB related issues and the drug related

issues that happen within estates and that's one of the key drivers towards residents feeling

safe. I just want to highlight that it's not specifically related to the buildings and

the structures not being safe. This is more sort of the social element and inquisitive

of crime that relates to residents feeling safe around that.

So the levels of investment that we've made,

we will see a greater turnaround

in terms of the satisfaction levels with that.

As the programme of delivery of the 24 hour service,

which has recently been rolled out,

gets embedded within the council estates.

Thank you.

The next one I wanna move to, Steve, Steve Reddy.

Number of first time entrants in the justice system.

That's the one, Steve, a lot of respect to your team.

I know you, the justice team and you, Lin Mu, you're doing fantastic work

and we're putting a lot of money into justice.

But I worry that quarter on quarter, year on year,

since we've been here and since also before your time,

this has consistently been read.

There must be a borough in the country or authority in the country

where it's green or at least amber.

I do want to know and I don't I don't

Subscribe to the reasons the service is given you've given that reason. Yeah quarter and quarter

I just don't accept it to Steve there must be a

Way where we can turn this into amber green and that's why I want to know please. Yep

Thank You mr. Mayor just before I cover that indicator

and Councillor Said referred to the Education, Health and Care Plan performance,

which has gone from red to green.

So I just wanted to comment on that.

That is as a result of the additional investment

and obviously the hard work of all our teams.

It's turned it green, but we want to go further

and we'll be setting a more stretched target on education and the care plans.

That's the first thing I would say.

On first -time entrants to criminal justice,

in terms of our comparative group, there's only one council.

That's got a lower rate of first -time entrance, which is Redbridge

Even with the slight increase in the last quarter

We're still in a position where they're the only council so the likes of Newham

Camden is linked on Westminster Hammersmith Fulham. They've all got a higher rate than us that doesn't mean we've complacent

We're trying to get to 40 children

we're trying to get it down to 40 children last year was 48 our

Our forecast at the start of the year was going to be 50 again this year.

The head of service has promised me the latest figure shows we're going to be 36.

So by the year end it should be 36 under the 40 target.

So we should get there with this.

The other thing just to say is you'll recall last year we were worried about our reoffending rate.

That is now dropped below target.

So that is encouraging.

I think the investment, massive investment in youth and again working with our community safety colleagues will have a positive impact on that indicator.

So Deputy Mayor you had a good holiday last three and a half, four years. It's been a good time for you. Any comments on this?

Yes, Steve's added it.

Do make him work harder if you can.

Let's move away from that cosy relationship.

Hold each other to account.

That's what the government wants us to do.

Hold the corporate to account that they hold me to account too.

Anyway, thank you Steve.

So on the Red Bridge, the ones who got an amber or green,

everyone else is where we are.

Let's keep at it, please, and see what we can do.

Okay, great, thank you.

That's done.

Okay, Gillian and Tala, victims of violence against women and girls who feel safer after engaging with a commissioned provider.

Yeah, I think first of all it's important to say that three out of the women were unhappy,

unhappy but didn't feel safe afterwards and that's because those particular people needed

alternative housing and either because the perpetrator knew where they live or could

know where they lived and it's not in the gift of the commission provider to provide

that housing. We're working very closely with housing colleagues but obviously it's quite

a difficult issue as we know across London in the housing crisis but we are working closely

with housing colleagues about how in future we could perhaps be able to place people in

alternative accommodation but that will be quite tricky. Overall as you will notice there

is a high level of satisfaction with the service but obviously we want to do as much as we

possibly can for women and girls who suffer from violence.

That's that one. Shall I go on to the enforcer?

I'll come to you in a minute.

I'll get Paulo in without him chirping.

Thank you, Gillian.

I think Gillian's covered the crux of it.

For us, obviously, every single person that feels less safe

after engaging with our provider is a cause for concern.

But to draw context, it is three out of 24 that were surveyed,

and there was only one out of the three that mentioned housing.

So the other two didn't actually give a reason.

So we are actually working with the survivors to try and understand what are the issues.

And in majority of the cases from previous quarters, it's external factors.

It's not things within our control.

However, we are committed to working out what it is to try and bring that up.

And if you look at quarter two and then quarter three, it is an improving trajectory.

So we are hoping by next quarter, and this is what I'm getting assurances from the provider

and also officers that we should be meeting target.

Thank you.

Now next one is Gillian, I know you're new here.

Thank you.

Fly tipping, but we have, just want to say,

we have, over the last two, three years,

we have consistently put in a lot of money

into cleanliness and fly tipping.

You know, what we inherited as a borough is terrible.

It was so dirty, and a grand return.

I just want to, when I see this, the flight team still continues to be a problem, you

know, it gives us cause for problem.

We are a small borough, yes, highly densely populated borough, but we are a borough, we're

proud, we've got huge business opportunities, fantastic business districts in the borough,

people are proud to live here and visit here and do business here, but when you get something

like this coming up, it's red, that gives us cause for concern.

So if you can please help us.

Yes, of course.

I think since you last mentioned it, I think broadly in this area we need to have much greater grip on the operations of the team.

So me and the director responsible met with some of the team, we met them with our waste team.

We're now meeting them on a fortnightly basis.

We're going to get performance data on a fortnightly basis as well.

They're working, the enforcement team is being much more data led and working across

with our waste teams to focus on particular hot spots as well.

So you will start to see, not for the last quarter, not from January to March, but from

now you will start to see much more activity on the streets as we get a tight grip on it.

Please, and you said the word tight grip on it.

It's like it's making sure we pick up.

We do have a collective system where we pick up flight shipping.

We get informed, we get notified, and we address it as quickly as possible.

Another issue that I wanted to flag up with you and the team here is that the cleanliness

the borough is amber now.

Yeah, there are people who are concerned

how clean the borough is.

I know during winter, dark winter months,

you know, it can become a bit dirty,

but there are other boroughs in London,

when you walk through them, you know,

you see how, you know, how nice it is,

how clean it is, and when you see bits and,

you know, bits of a borough which is not that clean,

you worry, given the investment that we put in,

additional five million pound into waste services,

sweepers, barrel pushers, new technology, new machines.

And when you still get concerns, and you see it yourself,

I don't need people to tell me where there are certain parts

of the borough which is not up to standard.

Can you also please look at that?

Because our investment has to pay dividend.

Otherwise, why would we have put investment in?

And if we're in the same position when we were,

in terms of cleanliness, what we inherited.

We're not there, we're much better, much improved than we were in 2022, but we can't take no chances.

We want to remain a clean borough, please.

OK, Councillor Shafi.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

Obviously, moving from green to amber is a concern and you've raised it.

One of the other things was about flight.

I think they work in conjunction with each other, keeping the borough clean and also keeping the streets clean.

These two work hand in hand.

So I think there's an element of two separate groups,

but we need to bring those groups together

and we need to work coordinated with flight tipping

as well as street cleaning so that both are

under one umbrella so that the concerns

that are being raised, so I think with the new direction,

hopefully this will be something that we look forward to

in the next quarter that we can manage

and ensure that the borough is cleaner

than it was previously, thank you.

Okay, thank you.

I think we've dealt with the reds.

Any members, any comments?

You have any comments?

Thank you for the corporate director, lead members,

the general members.

Any other comments?

Go on, Councillor Comrade.

Sorry, Mayor, I thought I'd take this opportunity

just to highlight.

So there was a BBC news report regarding

recycling in Tower Hamlets,

and there was old data used, around 15 .8%.

I think the more recent data,

and it was presented in one of the more recent cabinet meetings, was just short of 21%, which

actually takes us off the lower one and we're kind of in the middling range for London boroughs.

So I just wanted to highlight that and clarify some of the misinformation that's going around

the old data being used and not more recent data.

Thank you.

I mean, our recycling team and waste team generally have done very good work and our

investment is paying dividends on the whole and recycling is a good area.

What we picked up when we came in May 22 was what, about 14, 15 %?

14 .6 %

14, 15 % and to push that up to nearly 21 % is a good job.

We're not there yet, our target is 23%, so we're getting there, we need to make progress,

more progress, but it was rather disingenuous for the PPC to use old data to portray us

in a bad light, a recycling service. So thank you for correcting that information. We did

put up a collected press release at the time. Thank you very much.

Just to put some light on that as well, I spoke to our comms team, Andreas, as well

to ensure that the data that was given was a defers report back in 2022 which they used

but the current trajectory doesn't show nowhere near where we are. We've done a little press

briefing on that and we've also written to the BBC to say that some of the facts and

figures that they've presented was incorrect, whether they haven't come back to us or haven't

followed up with, but hopefully we're looking at some comms to come out on that.

I want you to notice we have one of the highest high rises

in the country.

One, two, we hardly had an infrastructure when we came

in in May 22, had to collect food based from high rises.

Hardly had infrastructure.

We're putting, we are putting that in.

We've invested money, but we are on the right trajectory.

We're just under 21 percent.

Our target is 23 percent.

We're getting there.

We're nearly there.

Okay?

Thank you for those comments.

If there are no other comments, I can ask Steve to come in.

Kindly come in, please.

Finally, Mayor, it's been a very helpful discussion and I hope you realise how committed corporate

directors particularly are and lead members to addressing these issues.

But I would like to include an additional recommendation that you and I have discussed

prior to the meeting, and that is to agree the creation of a dedicated task and finish

group to address those performance indicators that consistently fail to meet their prescribed

target and report back to a future cabinet meeting with detailed action plans.

Can we agree that additional recommendation and can we please at the next map give us

an idea about the timelines when it can be reported back to cabinet please do not wait

for the quarterly cycles.

Is that okay?

Please, Richard.

I can't catch your eye before Steve's summary.

The other thing with my lead member we have been looking at is things that are green and

gone amber.

We have one on council tax collection that have gone green, gone into amber so we get

to them before they get to the red which I think is really important for us to do as

well.

So we pick them up en route.

On that note, our council tax collection, at the end of the year, last year was 91 .53

per cent.

We think we will get to 93 per cent.

We have been doing a lot of work to get it back to that green space.

In money terms that is worth about two and a quarter million pounds to the borough.

So significant sum of money again for the politicians, for yourselves, to reinvest in

the borough that we would have lost if we had not done that work.

So the other thing we're doing is we're trying to stop them getting the red before they get there,

which I think is also an important piece of work in addition to the additional recommendation that the Chief Executive has added.

Thank you. I mean, in conclusion, we need to consistently maintain the number of greens.

If they do go to amber, we want to get it back to green, as soon as red ones get it back to amber and green, as soon as possible.

We want to be a top high performing councils.

And when it comes to council tax, it's losing money

if we can't, if our collection rate drops.

So thank you Richard for that comment and Said.

We've got to keep an eye on it please, yeah?

Thank you.

Is that okay?

So we can agree the recommendation

with the additional, additionality from Steve.

Thank you very much.

Good, let's move to the next one.

The annual equalities inclusion and diversity report 24

to 25.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

I'm pleased to put this item on the table for you.

Annual report for 2024 -2025.

This report, Mr Mayor, provides a comprehensive overview of how the Council has continued

to meet its equality objectives over the past year, in line with our corporate equality

plan and our public sector equality duty as a Council.

It highlights the major challenges our communities face, but more importantly, Mr Mayor, it showcases

the significant progress we've made in tackling inequality in Tarahumlids, strengthening inclusion

and improving outcomes for some of the most underrepresented and disadvantaged groups

in the borough.

Over the year, we have delivered a number of innovative,

evidence -led initiatives, many of which are unique

to Tower Hamlets.

This includes the establishment of Tower Hamlets

Women's Commission and the expansion of Women Only Free

Swimming, as you have mentioned earlier,

which now has over 18 ,000 participants.

We have recommissioned our community quality network

invested in employment pathways for disabled residents

and those with care experience,

and continue to fund culturally specific services

for Bangladeshis, Somalis, other black and Asian

and multi -ethnic residents in the borough.

Mr. Mayor, this report not only demonstrates

the impact of these programmes,

but also sets out where challenges remain

and how we will continue addressing them as we refresh the corporate equality plan for the year ahead.

Mr Mayor, I commend the report to the cabinet and I have two officers here, Rebecca and Hafiz Jool, who will go through the papers. Thank you.

Thank you, Hared. Remember, you don't need to go through the papers in detail.

What I would like to ask you, Officer Police, can just briefly summarise what areas that

you believe we could have done better, even more better, and what do we need to do to

get it to a stage that we are competing with the best in London. Police, yeah?

Thank you, Mr Mayor. So I think like the cabinet members outlined, there are a number of areas

We have made significant progress on and I think within the cover report in particular what we do highlight is

Some of the areas particularly this last current financial year

Where we have made significant improvement in some of the investment that has been made by the council

We are starting to see

the results of after and in particular I think

Around overcrowding housing and I think in the last performance report we talked about this

This continues to be a massive issue for our residents.

And so in terms of inequality and the impact it has

for residents, housing continues to be a major issue.

We also know, particularly through our Women's Commission,

that outcomes around women's health.

So women in two hamlets live less than men

and people's healthy life expectancy in two hamlets.

Again, is a massive issue.

The number of people who live healthy life

into hamlets compared to other places in London again is a key issue for us.

So those are areas I do think I think some of our recent investment particularly around open up free swimming for women and girls

more recently free swimming for men over 35 will see

progress over the years. I don't know if you wanted to add anything to that Becky?

Just to add that

the transgender needs assessment

recommendations been published and the development of the Women's Commission report recommendations

are underway, so the implementation of the findings from those pieces of research.

Anyone?

Lead members?

Councillor Sabrina?

Thank you.

So really proud that this administration takes our diversity as something that we're just

not acknowledging, but we take it into action and we actively support and we celebrate it.

Some of the initiatives, for example, that I mentioned already, free swimming, dedicated

youth centre for girls, Meals on Wheels kind of shows that we really want equality for

our people. The recent women's award that the mayor and myself and the lead member attended,

celebrating the contribution of the great women that we have in our borough and different

community group. So welcome to the team. And also from this report we can see the work

that we can also go further on, how we can reach out to those areas that we haven't reached

out to and also focus on the areas that we need to. I think this report kind of shows

how we can improve in the future because we still have a lot of work to do. We are doing

a lot but like this, we are still facing a lot of inequalities. Thank you.

Okay, thank you, just note that please.

Anyone else?

Please, Councillor O 'Coburn.

Just on a positive note, I mean the first two agenda items, Manchu and the Committee

Laundrie and the boundary, represents what equality is in Tower Hamlets, when communities

come together and how different sort of social strands interact together, rich, poor, you

know, different racial backgrounds, different ethnicities, and I think it's really important

to highlight the kind of melting pot that Tau Hamlets represents.

And Mr. Mayor, you mentioned at the beginning of the meeting, you know, in terms of resident

satisfaction and getting along with each other is in the 90s so I think that plays a very

important role as well.

Anyone else?

Deputy Mayor.

Thank you Mr Mayor, this is an excellent report and it's all, I mean if we go back, it's all

because of the investment that we're putting in under the Mayor Luthramu investment and

also partnership with our officers, good officers.

I mean, if you look at this report, 3 .69, I'm looking at the over 50 % of our service

users and leisure staff from our women.

This is tremendous.

This is excellent.

And also I'm looking at the next one, which is black and Asian and ethnic background employees

earning more than 60 ,000.

and this is absolutely amazing, the workforce improvement we've made.

And also the Young Calhamdas investment through that,

tackling inequality experience with our people with care experience,

especially the investment we put in KECAT Terrace,

and meeting their needs, meeting in terms of training, job opportunities and so on.

This is amazing and the investment is paying off.

I would like to thank the lead member and also our officers.

I think this reflects what time is about.

Thank you.

Please, Steve.

I just wanted to make the point, to thank the staff.

I think some of the work in here is absolutely incredible, given the challenges that we face.

Those challenges have detailed in paragraph 3 .4 of the report.

and I know and all members will know that we're refreshing this

and in 2026 there will be because we need to refresh the strategy.

What I'm interested in, Absol, is in those areas of specific weakness

where you've been involved in this intimately, as have your team,

I'm interested in where you think we could add value

by doing more in a couple of those spaces.

So, for example, it's interesting, I think we have,

in terms of crime and safety, we're in housing,

I know there are lots of other things that impact upon our performance

in those spaces, but I'm interested in your thoughts.

Thank you.

Thanks, Steve.

I think particularly on poverty and worklessness,

the investment we've made in the voluntary community sector

through the Mayors' Committee Grants Programme,

and the work we do with our local advice agencies,

we've seen real impacts over the last financial year.

Over 20 million pounds with both benefits,

unclaimed benefits, as well as debts,

have been written off.

So all the intersectors are doing a massive amount of work

across all of these themes.

I think for me the other really interesting bit of work

that we've done this year is through the Women's Commission,

which has highlighted some of the things that we can do more,

particularly on crime and safety.

So our focus of the Women's Commission was focusing on

women's safety in public space.

So what can we do around our design and planning work

to make sure around our lighting, our estates.

But generally I think the discussion we have around the cleanliness

and what the borough looks like, women have told us

that we can do more around those areas.

I think although we didn't focus on housing,

I think this was one of the real big issues,

again, residents highlighted amongst them in the commission.

I think certainly the other area is around education.

So again, through our grants programme, the work we're doing with voluntary groups,

both for the Mayor's grant programme, but also the small grants programme.

There is a lot of focus on providing after -school provision for all groups of young people.

Really helpful, I just found out, I know, having had conversations about this agenda

with the mayor and members, this is a real priority.

The work's been excellent and I just want to make sure,

and I know we will, that as we move forward

in the next iteration, we're still aspirational.

We want to be the best we can possibly be

and not, this is a huge success,

but we want to make sure we're not complacent

and I know you'll make sure that's not the case.

Thank you.

I just wanted to, the other thing I did want to add is,

one of the things we are doing

in terms of internal governance,

so Steve Reddy chairs our Corporate Equalities Board

and each of our directorates have

a Directorate Equalities Working Group

Part of their focus is looking at what is it that within Direct Trust we can do more

around improving the qualities for our residents and corporately Steve Reddy as the chair of

the corporate qualities brings all of that information.

So not just with our members but actually within internally there is a lot of work looking

at inequalities because as you highlighted we're in 3 .4 and in the report itself we highlight

the key challenges our residents face but this is something we're working right across

the organisation.

Thank you.

Thanks Steve.

Thanks Afasol.

I know the Deputy Mayor has touched on the amount of investment that we have put in since

we've been here, this council has put in.

Six years of the lifetime of our MTFS will be 250 million pound additional money in addition

to the statutory service that we deliver, the council has to deliver.

And I think for the record, once again, I do want to list some of them.

But there are people out there who spread rubbish, who spread misinformation, who spread

lies, yeah?

And to correct them, they need to know that we are a bigger council, far bigger council,

far bigger, large amounts of money has gone into delivering services where it's most needed.

Let me give you some of the examples which you have picked up, some of them in your report,

I'm grateful.

One or two others have been missed out but I can understand why.

Free school meals, the only part in the country, both primary and secondary school.

That wasn't the case under the previous Labour administration.

They cut it.

We had, when we delivered free school meals previously, in 2015 they came in, they chopped

it.

We reintroduced it after we came back in part of our manifesto

pledge on 5th of May, 2022.

Free school uniform grants for those on low income,

reception and secondary schools.

Total of 200 pound, 50 pound for reception and 150 pound for those

kids who go to secondary school.

The health cheques and public health fairs targeted and women

and pain communities in particular.

It's excellent work that you do and services does.

You know, the improvements, I do always pick up the

justice stuff, but the improvement that's happened

in the injustice team, you know, under the previous

administration, they failed the justice inspection.

We have to pick up the mess and sort of turn it around

and we are, we've made huge strides and I'm grateful

to the member and the officers for the work

they've done.

Investment in a culturally sensitive drugs recovery

service, which will come online hopefully in around

April, May.

You know, basically trying to reach hard to reach

youngsters, yeah?

They cut that services, outsource it, not outsource

it, cut it after I left in 2015.

We are bringing it back again.

the old NAFAS service, a new reset service, opening a young girls and women's centre,

the Nari Centre in Whitechapel.

They closed the Jagga Nari Centre, which was around for a good 40, 50 years, and made huge

strides, served a huge purpose to reach a section of the community for women that we

as a council can't reach otherwise, put that back in,

and to see that service open and see the number of women

who are using that service across town,

that's of all background, it's a fantastic endeavour

from this council.

We have put it back in again.

To invest in the youth service, the money,

the 20 youth centres, 75 additional youth workers,

a youth centre in every ward.

In addition, we put in an additional youth centre in my land to cover the whole borough

just for young girls and young women.

This is the sister space in Sempul's way.

Never heard of before in Tahemlabs and that centre is oversubscribed.

That's how much it has been used.

Our Refuge and Asylum Seekers Support Services, you know, to support the most vulnerable, the most disadvantaged, people who come here with nothing at all.

To give them, to welcome them, and to give them a bit of support. It's excellent what this council does and offers us to do for our community.

The Milsong World Service, you know, the most vulnerable in our community, the elderly,

the disabled, the infirmed, who have contributed so much to the well -being of our borough.

To get one hot meal a day is commendable.

We had that service going when we were here previously.

The previous administration, Labour administration, cut that service.

we have put it back in again and hopefully it will be expanded.

And it was so touching to visit that,

one of our residents in her home.

When that resident opened a hot meal and a meal

of her choosing, it was fantastic.

Not only she gets to talk to and meet another human being

who delivers the food, but also enjoy her food too.

That was wonderful.

The free swimming sessions, around 20 ,000 people have

joined up and predominantly women from the age of 16

since we've opened and delivered that facility.

Reducing it to men to 35, I believe, will make a

difference.

It's gone down very well in the communities.

The free home care service, I know it's a lot of money, but it benefits, it supports vulnerable people in our community.

I know families, I had a family in my surgery yesterday, they didn't know we provide free home care service, they didn't know.

I know we promoted service very much, some of them didn't pick it up, they have an elderly mother.

I spoke to David yesterday about this matter.

She's 93.

They're frightened to get home care for that lady,

the children, because they won't have the money to pay.

And I said, it's free.

You should go and get the support you need.

And they will get the support now.

The parks, the money that we put into play equipments

in our parks, the Victoria Park, it's

jewel in London's crown, isn't it?

You know, year on year we win the green flag award,

and you go there any day of the year,

especially in spring and summer, it's fantastically used.

I put in five million pound to refurbish it

when I was the mayor previously.

And the improvements that we made this time

is paid dividends.

The leisure services, and what I said earlier on,

St. George's, the Whitechapel Sports Centre,

Leisure Centre in due course,

that general leisure services, putting in additional

and ultimately inbound, it's about not only improving

people's lives, but also reducing inequality

and supporting people with the daily living costs.

So I'm really proud as a council the money that we put in

since we've been here into the communities

and we said we would do that.

Thank you.

If there's no one else, can we thank the officers

as a lead member, and can we please note the report?

Okay, thank you.

Thank you very much.

Thank you, thank you, madam, thank you, Avazol.

Okay, can we move on to the next paper, please?

The 6 .6, overnight and related short breaks

for children and young people with autistic spectrums,

condition, and complex health needs.

Very important paper, lead member and Steve.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. This report seeks permission from the Mayor and the Cabinet to approve their ward of two blocked contracts for the delivery of new overnight and related short break service from 1st November 2026.

The commissioning of this service enables the council to meet its strategic duty under

the children and families care act 2014.

So this is a vital provision, Mr Mayor, for the most needy families and children of the

borough, access to safe space and activities, overnight activities.

So I'll pass on to Steve.

Thank you.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor.

Just to say we had a conversation Mr. Mayor just about the procurement process and went back and just

Double cheque to make sure that process have been carried out. We also discussed

occasions of a spot purchase very very rare in this service

over the last couple years about five occasions where there's been a been a spot purchase and to give you an example on one of

those it was because a

Child required British Sign Language, so we needed a specific provider

So just to assure you that we're not going outside of the contracts, only very very infrequently.

This is quite straightforward, we need to procure the service for a very much needed group of service users.

We've gone through a process, we've got the procurement has happened.

Can we agree with the recommendation?

David, please, thank you.

Erver wants to come in.

I'll be quite brief.

This is to introduce the Tau Hamlet's Futures Places Report, which sets out a clear, compelling

vision for the future of regeneration across the borough.

This document brings us to the next paper, which is the future of regeneration across

together our growth ambitions, our recent successes, and the strong partnership we continue

to build.

It shows investors and partners the scale of opportunity here in Tower Hamlets and acts

as a springboard for shaping the next generation of regeneration projects, projects that will

support residents, improve our places, and strengthen our local economy.

I'm happy to present the report for cabinet consideration.

We have David as corporate director, we have Hannah and we have Alex to answer any further

questions around the paper.

David.

Thank you.

I suppose just to add this document led by Alex and Hannah was prepared in conjunction

with ARUP as a key partner and had input from a number of big partners in the borough like

Canary Wharf Group and other lead developers and investors.

As the Chief Executive mentioned earlier, we discussed the approach and the opportunities

at MIPM with a number of investors and developers and it was very well received because of the

diversity of opportunity that we've got into our hamlets from part of the Olympic Park

to the City Friends to South Poplar to Canary Wharf.

There is every type of opportunity in this borough for every type of growth and in particular

our priority of housing and the delivery of social rented housing.

Just to add, it is a structured market facing delivery programme which is designed to accelerate

implementation and after the successful launch in Mipin we're going to now move into an active

phase of shaping opportunities, building those partnerships and converting investment interest

into tangible regeneration outcomes for our communities.

Steve, please.

Well I really wanted to add to this, I think we're being a bit humble here.

I mean, you know, I think this is an excellent piece of work.

When we went to Mipin we were talking, we had round table discussions with major developers,

We had a Q &A session, we had a panel session,

we managed to meet formally and informally.

We had a strong presence through the mayor and the

deputy mayor and cabinet leads.

And this showcases the potential for future

investment in the environment that isn't just

about new developments.

It's about the infrastructure that will be

created that will improve social mobility, access to

housing, access to health, access to education.

And I think she's shouting about this as much as we

possibly can.

So we've done it in the south of France.

I know, David, you had a very enjoyable time there

for that week. But I think what we need to be doing is continuing to use this as a lever.

I know we're going to, I think we're going to UK Reef, but there are other places where

we should be promoting this agenda. And I really think we need to make the most of it,

because I think it's an incredible piece of work, and I know even between us we were contacted

and approached even at MIGPIN by organisations that had never taken an interest in townhandlers

in the past, because there was, I don't know, a perception, they were worried about markets,

We are worried about global financial infrastructure.

But we have a real opportunity here, particularly with the JP Morgan as a lever and an anchor

tenant, if that's the right phrase, in the borough.

So I just recommend that we make as much out of this as we possibly can.

Just to add, completely agree, so we are going to UK Reef where we will be talking about

this further and we are also planning a London focus event in early summer.

Obviously this was the soft launch in MIPIM and in late May, early June we'll be having

a London focused event to build on the traction.

But our inboxes have been inundated since coming back from MIPIM from developers and

investors really interested in obviously our own direct delivery programme but the accelerated

housing programme with the first sets of sites coming to the market in the summer.

So I think we've really been able to raise the profile in terms of our opportunity areas

my key growth sectors through this piece of work.

Thank you very much.

Can I also add to what's been said?

I was reluctant to go this time, and I went last time.

For obvious reason, I fell during Ramadan.

You hardly could find any decent food there, and you ended up having no sleep at all because

of the Ramadan fasting, et cetera.

But David in particular and Steve also helped and could be persuading me to go and I'm so glad I went

because those round table meetings and being on the panel is fantastic. It really opens our

borough up to the outside world, opens our borough and promotes our borough in a very positive way

to the business communities and develops a good friendship,

relationship and partnership, which is important

for inward investment.

You know, we would have delivered, or we will deliver,

or we have nearly delivered 6 ,441 homes.

They're not 100 percent council homes.

They've been delivered through a number of schemes.

Council homes, homes in partnership with ourselves, houses in partnership with developers.

We are very fortunate in the borough that our land prices are very significant.

We still have spaces in our borough that people can develop and deliver.

I and David were in a meeting with a developer today and through that process

we will deliver some, obviously subject to planning, some 100 or so affordable homes.

And big proportion of that is three and four bedroom homes.

So if we don't talk to people, we don't demonstrate them, we are open to business, and we are

consistent in our messaging that we don't put in unnecessary red tapes as a council.

And we are clear in our thinking, our refreshed local plan is very clear, we're going to go,

high, we want to go dense and we're open to business. It really helps us, very much

helps us. So, you know, we want to deliver going forward the Mayor's Accelerated Housing

Programme. It's going to be at least 50, 51 % homes, council homes, but we also need

partners. Inward Investment to help us deliver those big sites, to work with us, you know.

Talking to developers, talking to GLA, meeting the GLA there and the Deputy Mayor for London

was very helpful in a very informal setting rather than formal setting and getting a steer

and trying to showcase where we're going to be one of the most busy, actively, active

planning authority in the country once again, delivering many planning applications which

the mayor of London wants to see housing built in London,

we'll make huge contribution to that.

Through Section 106 and the SIL, as the Chile Exhibitor said,

we don't have infinite pot to contribute to infrastructure

development, but Section 106 and the SIL pot helps us.

The two big schools that we delivered recently, London Dock,

Marbury, Woodwolf, it was through the Sill money,

it was through the Sexual 106 money contributed

to developing and delivering those schools.

So we need development in the borough,

we need these kind of gatherings that we,

I believe, we should attend and network,

work with partners for inward investment.

So I'm so glad that David, Steve,

you've attended and encouraged us to attend, talk to the big players, keep the inflow of

money into the borough going. Okay, thank you. Any comments from anyone? Nope? Okay,

thank you. Keep up the good work, we note the report. Okay, and endorse the report.

Agree the report? Okay, thank you. Done. Okay, Tom Lissen, Close Redevelopment. Another

good paper. Okay, Kobi. Thank you, Mayor. This item seeks the approval to progress

the regeneration of Tomlinson Close, including demolition of two to twenty

Tomlinson Close associated garages and neighbouring council -owned land. Our aim

is to deliver high quality replacement homes for existing residents, while also

creating much needed new affordable homes for local families in housing need.

This scheme reflects our commitment to raising housing standards and making better use of

our land to support a cleaner, greener and more sustainable future in Weavers' Ward.

I present this report to the Cabinet for agreement.

David, please.

Yeah, Geoff is here and will want to say more but I think we often talk about these schemes

providing more homes, which they do, but also in this particular case it's about providing

better homes because some of the existing homes really are not providing good space

standards or well insulated, the high quality homes that we want our tenants to enjoy the

benefit of.

So I think this is a really important scheme where we've got a lot of support from residents

to bring it forward and it will be subject to a number of other stages as we move forward.

I will hand over to Geoff.

Just to add to what has already been said, so this report here is unusual for a report

on a relatively small scheme to come to cabinet before planning approval.

But because it involves rehousing existing residents, we need cabinet to agree that we

can suspend the right to buy for those residents for now.

And particularly suspend the right to buy on the block that needs to be demolished.

Essentially in a nutshell the project involves the demolition of a block of ten one bedroom

undersized and poor quality homes and replacement

with two blocks, one of which will be,

which will include 33 new social rent homes

and sorry, 22 of those will be family sized homes.

So it's a big win for the community.

This will be the first scheme to go to planning

of the Mayor's Accelerated Housing Programme.

To be fair, there had been some work done on this before it became part of the Mayor's

Accelerated Housing Programme.

But over the next few months, you'll see another nine planning applications come forward for

the Mayor's Accelerated Housing Programme, which will comprise 353 homes, and at the

moment 253 of those homes are planned to be social rented.

So it's an important part of the mayor's accelerated housing programme that there is a mixture of tenures.

It's how we generate income and funding to help pay for what will end up being

somewhere in the order of 1500

ish plus

social new social homes

And also how we ensure we kind of create mixed and balanced

communities and provide opportunities for people that want to buy and live in the borough that

that perhaps born in the borough to buy so those but but but I wanted to put it in the context of the mayor's accelerated housing

programme

Which is moving at pace and this would be the very first of the applications and follow very shortly by Bethnal green

PDC in a few weeks time

Thank you, thank you anyone

No, but can I thank you? Thank you Jeff. Thank you, David Jeff and the team for the excellent work

you're doing to bring forward at pace and a number of

organisations and architects you're working with those

sites in the part of the Mayor's Accelerated Housing

Programme.

Overcrowding remains a key issue in the borough.

You know, some 14 ,000 people of which 8 ,000 are living

in acute overcrowding.

So more homes we deliver, more family sized homes we

build and more homes we deliver in partnership with

other partners, it really makes a dent in that

waiting list.

It's so important.

I'm very glad, you know, we are bringing this forward.

Delivering 6 ,441 homes over the four -year term of our

tenor of our administration is a fantastic outcome,

purely due to the officer's goodwill and your hard work.

But we will keep that momentum going, going into

the future over the next four years and beyond.

So, and this is a good development opportunity,

and you pushed the timeline very grateful,

but more importantly, you pushed the family size terms.

That really helps us.

Thank you very much.

If there are no other comments, can we agree

this recommendation?

Good.

Can you make sure we get the holdings and the

boardings, boards up as soon as possible, please?

Yeah?

Is that okay?

Okay.

with the appropriate logos.

Okay? Thank you.

Okay, good.

Steve.

Yeah, I apologise, Mayor.

I wouldn't, with your agreement, I would just like to go back

to the previous report, 6 .7.

We had agreed an additional recommendation.

It was remiss of me not to refer to it earlier on.

So as we've discussed, we would

like to add an additional recommendation to that paper,

which is agree attendance at future MIPM events and prepare now.

and explore the opportunity to attend MIPIM events globally

that will deliver the greatest added value and inward investment

and to report back to a future cabinet meeting accordingly.

Thank you. You can have that recommendation please in that paper.

Thank you. It's gone back. Great for Steve.

So okay, you can give that to our colleague later on.

Okay, thank you.

Another big development we're going to visit,

the HAP development please, you want to come down.

This is 6 .9, Harriet, Apsley and Patterson

Please, David.

Go on.

So this report asks cabinet to approve the next major step in the Harrier Absalom Patterson

houses regeneration scheme.

We are seeking to conclude the two -stage procurement process and move forward with the development

agreement and main works contract.

Once delivered, the scheme will provide 407 new homes along with a new community centre,

making a significant contribution to meeting local housing need and improving neighbourhood

facilities in Stepney Green.

I'm pleased to bring this forward for cabinet approval so the construction can begin.

Thank you.

Yeah, I mean, this is currently the biggest scheme in our direct delivery programme.

We're in partnership with Istree.

I think what's really pleasing about this is it's a two -stage procurement process and

managed to get through phase one and maintain the price that's been agreed as we move into phase two

and we have started the scheme we've begun the enabling works and this will really allow us to

kick on now and start building the scheme out in our nest and I think as well as the 400

new homes we're getting a brand new Red Coat Community Centre and mosque which will be a

really wonderful facility at the heart of the scheme.

So for me this is really exciting news.

We can't wait to get going and again I would make the point I made in the previous scheme

but on an even bigger level this is not just about new homes and more homes, it's about

better homes and that will make a huge difference to the residents on that estate and beyond.

Before I bring Hannah in, can I just say for the record, I know it's a bit petty but I've

This is HAP, we call it Red Coat Estate.

It's a site that's among Dalvi, who was your predecessor,

during my previous administration, I still remember we visited that site

with a view to state regeneration.

But unfortunately I had to leave in 2015 and I couldn't start that with state regeneration.

So we did Ocean, we did Blackpool Bridge, Robin Gardens.

The next one we're going to do, especially adjacent to Ocean, was this estate.

Something to say it's not our baby, we didn't start that process again, this misinformation.

Okay? But I'm glad it was continued after we left.

It wasn't finished.

It continued after we left and I'm glad we are at a stage now where the residents and

the tenants very much look forward in the community facility and new flats, new premises

there and new community facilities.

So I'm very grateful.

Okay, Hannah, do you want to add, madam?

Yeah, just obviously approval today will enable us to enter into that development agreement

with Vistrian.

Subject to approval, we'll be looking to start on site this summer, which is a fantastic

milestone for this project.

I think the only other things to add obviously this is this regeneration is rooted in strong community met with the strong community mandate

with them 95 % of residents and

Voting in favour of comprehensive redevelopment back in 2020

we've also got the CPO in place for this scheme which gives us delivery delivery certainty and and

Not only we delivering 407 high quality new homes the community centre

but there's a lot of social value and local benefits associated with this scheme, so lots

of jobs and training and wider benefits, 20 % local labour, 29 construction apprenticeships

helping young people and 30 local school initiatives which are broad on opportunities and support

community development. So we're really keen to get going on this scheme. Vistri have cleared

the site, the enabling works have nearly concluded and we're looking for a hard start on site

this summer.

Thank you.

Anyone?

Councillor Sivina Tarr.

Yeah, extremely, extremely happy that this progress is finally happening.

Myself and my Councillor colleague actually visited Apsley House today and we spoke to

many residents and around the estate were extremely, extremely, you know, they were

to see the new homes, over 400 homes, and also people around the estate, so not just

people moving into the estate, to see the community benefits they will get, the new

pedestrian street to the park. So yes, very good news for the community and the people

of Stepney and people of the borough.

Once again, for the record, let me say, we will look at, after elections, other state

regeneration. There are some states in the borough which are crumbling, which are falling

apart, constant water leakage, David, and I think there's no other way, given the state

that those states are in, the conditions they're in, that we need to regenerate those states,

We have been very good and we should continue that trajectory.

It is about economic regeneration, state regeneration, giving people better and more homes.

So more work coming your way. Be ready.

Any other comments? Thanks, Councillor Sabina.

I won't say Khan. Okay. Anyone else? No one else? Good.

Can we agree to the report? Okay. Thank you.

Okay, the next paper is the recommendation for the Best Start Family Hubs programme.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. This is again one of your investments.

So I'm pleased to introduce the Family Hubs programme.

This is about giving every child the best start in life and supporting family through joined up services.

Family Hub brings together early years health, parenting and support in more accessible ways.

It's about early intervention and better outcomes.

So it's quite important paper, Mr Mayor.

And just to bring to your attention, as we read that map, the recommendation 3 we will add in consultation with you.

So that's okay.

Thank you, Deputy Mayor. We will make that a change to the recommendation.

I am also going to take away and review the appendices and discuss with procurement

because there is some quite detailed breakdown of different ways those services could be procured.

I would like to review that appendices with procurement so if we take that away

as well as make the adjustments and recommendations, if that's okay.

Sorry, thanks Steve. I'm going to go a bit further, Steve.

Thank you. Given the discussion we've had at other forums,

I'm going to say I'm not keen on direct awards.

You know that. I think there needs to be a...

We need to always test the market.

There may well be just one provider.

Let them come in, let them make the bid,

and they're the only provider, and their bid is good,

and the assessment comes up positive, they will win it.

So it's direct award for the back route.

But I'm not going to do direct award as such, and Andy's here.

So the recommendation is to change Steve, to say we're going

out to the market, so no direct awards, okay, no direct awards.

We're going out to the market for a competitive tender, okay,

and we see what the competitive tender delivers.

I would like to see when the recommendation comes,

I want to approve the recommendation.

It doesn't need to come to cabinet.

We can do it through that methodology.

You can come to me, Steve, me, you can do it,

delegated to you with consultation with the mayor

and the lead member.

We can do that.

And Appendix 1 needs to be dropped.

Please, yeah, that's the direct award, yeah.

Is that okay?

What else have I got?

Let me, let me, let me, that's that.

That's, is that okay?

That's everything.

So, is that okay?

The recommendation is to reflect that.

Is that okay?

Please, yeah?

Okay, thank you.

Thank you very much.

On that basis, the procurement can start, but it's not direct award.

is competitive tender.

Okay, thank you.

Any other comments from anyone?

Is that okay, Saeed?

Richard, is that okay?

Thank you.

Is that okay?

Okay, can we agree the report subject to those recommendations, amendments?

Is that okay?

Thank you.

Thank you very much.

We're done.

Then it's the last one, sorry Steve.

Thank you.

Somehow I missed this one.

It's the next one.

It's the budget monitoring 2526.

Oh, sorry.

Sorry, forgive me.

Sorry, that's the most very important one.

It's very dear to my heart, sorry.

Okay, so can we go on to now the Whitechapel Leisure Centre please?

Thank you.

You have spoken today. You want to start?

You have leisure, which is the predominantly big element,

and Corbir can come in 48 hours.

And Mayun can take it all over afterwards.

Go on.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

Thank you, Gio.

So, base Tower Hamlets, we have one of the highest levels of health inequalities in London.

A lot of our residents live in overcrowded situations.

So, outside leisure facilities is not only essential for their physical wellbeing, it's also for their mental wellbeing.

Across the country, a lot of local authorities are closing their pools.

But in Tower Hamlets, we are doing opposite.

We just now brought our leisure centre into public hand.

We are investing millions of pounds to create more facilities.

In this cabinet we have approved 67 million pounds for brand new leisure facilities in

St. Georges and this is another great addition, I think it's a great means for people of

especially at this end of Whitechapel, Weavers and Spitalfield area.

There is significantly lack of swimming spaces in Tower Handlers.

Every week 12 ,000 swimmers visit outside the borough.

So this is great news for the people of Tower Handlers.

same time a leisure centre with a wet facility also will be able to build some residential homes above the leisure centre.

This will help to minimise the overcrowding and also this swimming is very popular and is a unique exercise.

Anybody, any ability can have this exercise.

Over 20 ,000 residents have benefited from our swimming sessions across the other centres,

so I think this will create more spaces for our residents to come and enjoy this facility.

Thank you.

Camus, please, copy it.

Mayor, with such eloquence and finesse from the lead member,

I can just simply add that we're also looking, just like St. George's, a leisure facility

with housing, ideally around 40 to 50 units, family size units, and I will leave it for

Geoff and David to finish up.

Please, David.

Yeah, I mean, Geoff will come in, but this has been very much a joint endeavour with

with Gillian, Johir and the Leisure team,

you know, it's great to work for a council

that's investing in community facilities

and I think this is the next example

of where we're doing that,

is one of your priority projects.

We're keen to kind of move on to the next step

and do the next stage of work

to look at what's feasible to develop on the site

and this decision tonight will sort of

unlock the investment to allow us to do that work.

and I think as the lead member said in his introduction, it is very much backed by a

strategic need assessment around leisure that demonstrates that this facility is required

and an expanded range of facilities on the site than what there is today.

This is based on the...

This isn't a whim, this is a need based proposal.

We know that the strategic leisure needs assessment that was undertaken in 2023

identified the need for more swimming facilities in the borough generally,

but in particular in Whitechapel as an area that is quite hard,

has an under supply of those facilities.

Also some of the dry facilities as well, in particular around some of the sports hall provision.

There is a challenge in sight, but there is an opportunity definitely to provide a significant,

a state of the art leisure centre, but also a significant amount of housing.

The next stage will be to appoint a world class design team, and we need that because we've got some quite significant engineering challenges below the ground on that.

So, having had advice from Arup already,

we're confident the new facility is feasible.

So, we're looking forward to taking forward that next stage.

As we progress through the design,

we'll seek the mayor's and the appropriate sign off

at each stage that we're not pursuing any red herrings

and that the design is developed

as the administration would like it to be.

But looking forward to getting involved.

Thanks, Geoff.

Steve, please.

Thank you.

So I have a number, a couple of questions, Geoff, that I'd appreciate if you could just

focus on.

So I'm interested in Section 3 of the report that talks about the Strategic Leisure Needs

Assessment.

I assume that's an iterative process.

So this was first developed in 2023.

You talked about population growth.

I'd really like to understand whether or not that needs assessment considered public and

private provision.

I would like to understand how it links to population growth, particularly in relation

to density.

I would like to understand that by the time we, so it's a timetable issue, by the time

that we build out, because we've got a timetable here up to planning, by the time we build

out that there will still, we are absolutely confident that the needs analysis that was

undertaken, what will by then probably be about seven or eight years earlier, has been

initiative process and that the need is still justifiable and offers value for

money. I have no doubt that it does and it will but I'd really like to understand

the process you're going through to ensure that.

On that just to add that you know we had that one of the highest population

growth in a way in the country at the last census and it's projected to

increase again and most likely in another five years time will be or six years time,

four years time will be again the highest growth in the country too. Thank you.

The point I was trying to make is just to be absolutely clear, I'm no doubt there is

under provision, I've no doubt with all the initiatives that the administration has introduced

over the last four years there will be growing demand. My question is specifically in relation

to the iterative nature of making sure that we're keeping on top of that demand by annually,

I think, reviewing the needs assessment, which I know up until now hasn't been done since

2023 when it was first.

Okay, thanks, Steve.

I was looking around the room for colleagues in the leisure department who might be able

to give a little bit more detail about how their lines take that ongoing more statistical

analysis.

What I can say about the SLNA is that it did consider, as you've asked the question,

did it consider private needs as well as council needs, etc., and also the private provision

and what exists, and yes, it did take all of that into account, as well as kind of accessibility

to those private facilities.

So I don't believe there's been any subsequent update to that,

but it is a very, very thick document,

and you've seen it in the appendices, I think.

So it would be quite expensive, I think,

to do that on a regular basis.

But I think it's important as we go through the planning

process for the new scheme to be able to demonstrate that need.

It's going to be challenges along the way,

but I think it's really important that we do more work,

much more public consultation around the need what what local people want to see

and make sure that whatever we do does reflect their reflect their aspirations

and needs but yeah I'm sorry but in terms of the it's an area slightly

outside of my area of personal I think we can take it away and make sure we do

do more work before we bring back a cabinet report for the full scheme

approval because at this stage we're only we're only approving the we're only

asking to approve the design process.

So can I ask a follow up question?

Thank you, and I know that a lot of work was done

on the strategic needs assessment, I get that,

and I know we've agreed that it will be an ongoing process.

So that's good.

So when will we be able to go for a swim?

When's this thing gonna be built?

I'm just used to seeing these things,

and then by the time they're built,

I'd like to understand the time scale

for build out and delivery.

Best guess.

No, no, no, not best guess. What do you actually think the timescale will be?

So we're looking at a planning submission by March 2027.

We would normally suggest about 16 to 20 weeks for a reasonably complex planning decision.

so it could be up to six months for the planning approval to be in place.

If you look at St. George's, once the planning was, we procured the scheme whilst the planning application was running,

there were some delays in that process, but it's reasonable to assume you could procure a contractor to build the centre in parallel with the planning process.

So I think you're probably looking at summer 28

Sorry March 27 as well said dinner, so I think you're probably looking around wind the early part of 2028 before you could get on to

Sorry before again, so perhaps two and a half years as a contract we haven't got a design yet Steve

So I need to understand how the housing will interact with the leisure.

It could be two and a half to three years development period.

So that will put us early 2031.

You're too generous with the time scales.

We are so stiff.

We are going to sell.

You did a good job on St. George's.

You did really do a good job with trying to condense the timeline

to something that worked for all of us.

I think we're going to push the timeline, Jeff.

We have to, we have no choice.

We don't have luxury of time, these communities.

I know we can't have a one -year design process.

I know we're yet to appoint a designer, but you're suggesting we don't want to do direct

award.

We go for it.

I'm happy with the framework, but we need to move very quickly.

I think in that mini competition from the framework, we want to put – I want to seal

the specifications please before it goes out to the framework and one of the specifications

we're going to put in who's going to give us a condensed timeline to do the design,

get it up to planning.

Then we're going to look at planning, so we're our own planning authority.

We can't circumvent the process, but certainly we can speed up the process, put in additional

resources which we should do.

Then we look at the build time.

Again, when we appoint the contractor,

we'll develop it out.

We will look at the timelines then,

how we condense it as much as we can.

We can't, we don't have the luxury to wait to 31.

He may, I don't, not us Steve.

Not us Steve, I will not do it much other than that.

Much other than that, okay?

Please.

Okay, okay.

So, but so, so can I say,

I don't know if Steve has any other questions.

What I'm going to say, I know you've given us a timeline now.

This is indicative, but we want to look at that timeline.

I don't want to, David, I don't want to march to march one year

timeline just to get to planning.

That's not on.

We're going to condense it to as short a time as possible.

That must be part of the specification.

Hoover -Windsor is going to be a big, well -known designer.

Of course they should put in the resources.

They want the money to speed it up. Okay, we're gonna look at that. Okay, so the timeline we're not agreeing with the timeline

It's indicative, but we're gonna push the timeline as much as we can. Is that okay? Yeah. Okay. Thank you

Any comments from anyone else?

Anyone else?

Yeah, we are we extremely happy and that we are grateful to the team

I think you've done a very good work to get it get it to us here

We agreed the 2 .3 million pound. Let's get that

the designer on board. How long would it take to get a designer on board?

So if we're working through a framework, I think we could do something within about three to four weeks.

I'm not going to agree to a framework, normally I'll go to it, because this is so important and you've got a good framework.

Okay Andy? Okay, I'm conceding a bit.

I would like to see the specifications and the proposed scores and the marking sheets

for how to get the designer on board please. I would like to see who are applying please.

Obviously you are going to do the marking but I would just like to be involved in that

process so we get the best people on board at a good price.

Is that okay? Thank you. Can we agree with this report? Thank you. Greatful it's agreed.

Okay, let's move quickly now to record of proper Dictus actions, call to free.

Is there anything burning there? You need to ask questions. Andy, you can come.

I don't know, it should be okay, it should be straightforward.

You spent money without our authority, because the Constitution allows you.

But is anyone repeated offenders, you know Richard are they doing a bit naughty for the back route?

We need to understand, you know 100 ,000 job continuously. No one's doing that. No, Sayid tell us

There are some contracts that we had to continue funding

Yeah, it's fine. It's straightforward. I'm only joking. It's straightforward and it's for good purpose money's been spent

And you're okay you're content. Nothing to say here. Mr. Mayor. Yeah, okay

Good, okay, good, done, agreed, noted.

The next one is now the last one, so it's a very important one now, the budget monitoring

report.

Thank you, Mr Mayor, so I think where we are here in Q3, our forecast continues to show

that we are facing some pressures and those pressures are not just unique to Tower Hamlets,

it's across the country, especially in London.

At the same time, we have significant mitigations in place, as well as some transformation activity

to support the long -term stability of the Council.

We are reporting an £18 .6 million general fund overspend, but that is a £0 .3 million

improvement from Q2.

New pressures include increased demand in children's social care, as well as the delays

in homeless services and SEND and adult social services remained a key pressure even in quarter

three.

We have used planned mitigation, planned substitution in order to make sure that we can use whatever

funding is available, resources available to the council, wherever legally we are obliged

to do so.

At the same time, we have earmarked reserves, 18 .9 million pounds of earmarked reserves

specifically for these areas.

We also are looking at different areas when it comes to public realm.

We've got our parking reserve that we can use.

We have £4 million in year mitigations, which we have worked through our management team

as well as the corporate mitigations that we put in place.

We've got £5 million corporate revenue contingency built into the MTFS as well as substitution

from NCL, SEAL, 106 and Public Health.

Key demand areas like I've said before are mainly in homelessness, adult social care

and SEND.

But like I said before, Mr Mayor, even last night in overview and scrutiny is the work

that we have done before coming to report our quarter three budget.

We worked on our in -year spend.

We were working on at the same time we looked at the next year's budget.

We have put in many controls in place.

We have put in expenditure control panels that looks at all council spending.

It looks at all the proposals corporately as well as departmentally.

I have sat on many of those meetings and I have seen how rigorously our senior officers

challenge every spend that comes through.

We have people's resource board where every recruitment is questioned.

It has gone through a proposal, a process, and in order to make sure that we recruit

people exactly where we need and staff spend is controlled as well as agency

spend is monitored very closely. We have spending review panels with directors

where we scrutinise their finances as well as the financial sustainability

forum chaired by you Mr. Mayor where we go through wider controls and ensuring

that expenditure is in line with our MTFS. I'll quickly move on to our savings.

In terms of savings, we are on target.

We have a £30 .2 million savings target.

We are achieving 94 % of that, which is £28 .5 million.

6 % is currently forecasted as not achieved in this meantime, which is £1 .7 million.

However, we're not saying it's unachievable.

We were saying that we will rephrase this and we'll make sure that we achieve this in

a future date and continue working towards that target.

So that's in terms of savings. This is actually very good compared to local other local boroughs

We're one of the best in terms of achieving 94 % of our savings target

In terms of HRA we are would there is an overspend of 3 .1 million pound

But that 3 .1 million pound is to do with repairs and ongoing costs that we have

We are we are having to cover from our HRA

However, the 609 million pounds investment into the HRA will make sure that those repair costs going forward are mitigated

and we can continue balancing our HRA going forward.

In terms of capital, we have a £59 .2 million forecast, which represents 99 .8 % of the revised

budget.

And we have HRA capital, which has £170 .4 million, which represents 92 % of the revised

budget.

All of that is subject to revised capital budgets, which reflects our re -profiling,

which we agreed in our last full council.

We have Richard Abderrazak ask that for any questions.

Thank you.

Richard, please, Mr Ernest, and I will bring Mr Abderrazak in.

Thank you.

Just to say, that is a really comprehensive report that the Council of Said Ahmed has

The only things I would add

that we are getting ahead

of next year as well

so we are having

a look

already at the budgets

to make sure

any actions we take

and we will have to

there are pressures in adults

, temper accommodation

SEND

in particular

still

and we need to make sure

we are ahead

in our actions

to deal with those

It has been a clear

steer

both from

the government

clear understanding of the

importance of

the services

within the budget.

I think that

has been heard

loud and clear

by the work

the corporate

directors are

doing to make

sure we are

able to achieve

that.

Thank you.

You and your

team delivered

a fantastic

budget for us.

Please, if you have

any comments.

Thank you, Mr

Mayor.

I think it has all

been covered by

Councillor

Saeed and

Richard.

I think for us now, it's just like what Richard has said,

it's just to get ahead of the game, start preparing.

We did set a budget that's quite good, but I think for us

it's to make sure we deliver that within the budget envelope.

So I think our job is now to just get on with it and deliver it.

Thank you, and if I bring Steve in,

it's that lead members and corporate directors,

we've got to keep to those conditions,

keep to the prerequisites, keep to what we promised we'll deliver,

where it's savings, income targets, you name it, we've got to.

We understand the pressures, but we've got expectation

and we've set aside some money for those pressures,

we've got to keep within our means.

And the culture where, which we inherited,

and hopefully we've dealt with now,

corrected, we're spending money that we don't have,

and no one should be spending the underspend.

That's for the centre.

That's very important.

So my request to the team, we've got to keep within budget,

keep on delivering what we promised we were going

to deliver, and be and spend within our means,

and deliver the fantastic services that we're

continuing to deliver.

So thank you.

Steve.

Steve McQueen - Thank you, Mayor.

Well, I'll be very brief.

I wanted to comment on something I think Said's covered

nearly everything, but I think from my perspective,

and I know we've discussed, the beauty of this is there are no surprises.

With effective governance arrangements in place, with all of the infrastructure to control

spend, we've managed to contain rising demand, use the reserves for the reason they were

there, apply downward pressure and deliver within the budget envelope.

So I'm really chuffed with those arrangements, particularly those that are detailed in 5 .8

of the report and I would refer members to paragraph 9 .1, which makes it clear that control

hasn't somehow been dissipated, that we're not overspending in any way that wasn't otherwise

anticipated and we've made relevant provision to address where we have external factors

that impact upon our performance.

And I would finally say that the MTFS that has been established is based upon this infrastructure.

So we have to deliver in year. Corporate directors understand that.

I know we've been discussing other ways in which we can ensure that we're policing and patrolling that effectively.

And I've been discussing that with Richard. And finally, I say finally, finally again,

what I'm really pleased with is that a fresh pair of eyes, because sometimes you don't see the wood for the trees,

Richard has arrived and endorsed the credibility of our arrangements and the robustness of our MTFS.

So I think we should take a pat on the back, but not be complacent and press on with the way that you've outlined.

Is that okay? Thank you. Anyone?

Let's continue the good work. We have another business. Can we call it a day? Thank you to all.

I wouldn't be able to progress what's in there,

because until June, when the next row of this meeting

would sell a new batch.

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Cabinet - Tuesday 24 March 2026, 5:30pm - Tower Hamlets Council webcasts

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