Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of 28 October 2014 and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28 October 2014 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Committee is to receive a presentation.

At the request of the Committee, the Head of Economic Development, Culture & Community gave a presentation on the London Enterprise Panel (LEP).

Members were informed that as part of the LEP Growth Deal, an initiative “London New Homes Bonus” (NHB) was top sliced to the LEP to fund the Growth Deal. This amounted to 80% (£56m) to provide a Programme of activity to support economic growth priorities.

·         GLA/London Councils invited bids from Boroughs along LEP themes.

·         Bid submitted in August 2014 for £1.6m

·         Final settlement agreed in January 2015 as £1.369m

The presentation detailed the following programme that the service identified would provide maximum growth as part of the Growth Deal Project

·         Romford Town Centre

·         Supporting retail businesses

·         Havering business incubator hub

·         Care Havering

·         Build Havering

·         Renewable energy investment

The Committee was informed that the Romford Town Centre Project had six project areas that included making improvements to Romford Market. Officers had identified that the market needed to attract new traders and footfall.

Another part of the Town Centre Management initiative was to recruit a Town Centre Manager to lead on the various programmes and projects. This included reviewing how Romford was marketed and its branding. It was also stated that was a need to develop a business plan with the Town Centre partnership in mind.

Members gathered that part of the Romford Town Centre project was to deliver projects to diversify the Town Centre’s High Streets. Officer were also considering an engagement programme with High Street landlords which would develop an incentive programme in making the Town Centre more attractive for retailers.

Officer explained that the LEP funding would also enable the service to acquire an interest in empty/low value units on South Street.

The presentation outlined that Havering’s retail sector held the second largest number of SME’s in the borough and the largest number of employees.  However, numbers of jobs and SME’s were in decline [Size of firms in London: ONS, 2012].

The service recognised that the High Streets and Town Centres provided employment, activity and local distinctiveness as well as potential for business growth. Within Havering, vacancy rates were low in most centres but Collier Row and Rainham were above average.

In Supporting the High Streets Projects, the following programmes had been identified:

•      To developing a town team in Hornchurch

•      To provide borough-wide retail-focussed business support

Member were informed that part of the Havering Business Incubator hub project was to set up an incubator hub for around 20 start-up businesses in Romford. The business incubator would deliver a programme of events and workshops and provide a business advice service for new and existing Havering businesses

Under the Care Havering Initiative, the Committee was informed that the Care Act would lead to a fundamental change in the way social care was delivered with the focus on prevention rather than response. 

Havering had the highest proportion of adult social care users aged 65+ compared to other London Boroughs. The Care Havering Projects was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

The Committee is to receive an update presentation to the Cabinet Report.

In accordance with the Council’s Continuous Improvement Model, the Committee received a presentation update on the Culture Strategy from the Policy, Marketing and Administration Manager.

The Committee was taken through the following:

•      The Culture Strategy 2012-2014

•      Progress against the Action Plan

•      The Culture Strategy 2015-2017

The Committee was informed that the Culture Strategy was driven by a very simple ambition: “To transform lives through participation in, and enjoyment of, culture”

The Strategy was based on the following objectives:

•      Objective 1:  Health and Wellbeing - Support a high standard of mental, physical and emotional health for all by increasing the number of people taking part in sport and Physical Activity and accessing the natural environment

•      Objective 2:  Learning and Development  - Support learning opportunities for all, by enabling people to take part in new activities, ensuring development pathways are in place and providing access to coaching, officiating, leadership and club development training

•      Objective 3:  Towns and Communities - Enriching our towns and communities, through investment and engagement in culture, and delivering a high quality, safe, pleasant, visually interesting landscape and townscape for our residents.

The Committee was taken through some slides that outlined progress against the Action Plan from each of the objectives.

In summary:

•      31 actions had been achieved (65%)

•      13 actions partially achieved (27%)

•      4 actions not achieved (8%), but 1 of these was because the action was no longer required.

The Committee was informed that the Culture Strategy for 2015-2017 was scheduled for drafting by February 2015 and would be circulated in March 2015. It was envisaged to be approved by May/June 2015.

The Committee noted the presentation.