On behalf of the Chair, there will be an announcement about the arrangements in case of fire or other events that might require the meeting room or building’s evacuation.

On behalf of the Chair, there was an announcement about the arrangements in case of fire or other events that might require the meeting room or building’s evacuation.

If any receive;-

No apologies received, full cabinet in attendance.

Members are invited to disclose any interests in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting. Members may still disclose an interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 11^th December 2024 and to authorise the Chair to sign them.

The minutes of the meetings held on 11^th December 2024, were agreed as a correct record and the Chair signed them.

The minutes of the meetings held on 11^th December 2024, were agreed as a correct record and the Chair signed them.

Cabinet:

2.1.     Agreed the draft proposals (Appendix 9 and paragraph 4 below) to implement weekly household food waste collections to all domestic properties in Havering, commencing rollout from October 2025.   

2.2.     Authorised delegation of capital spending and the commencement of a procurement process (at an estimated value of £3.2m) to the Director for Environment, to enable the purchase of vehicles, containers, and equipment.  This will adhere to the relevant procurement rules as appropriate.  

2.3.     Authorised the Director of Environment to take all necessary steps to complete the contact variation with FCC for the delivery of the food waste collection service. 

2.4.     Delegated the acceptance of any further funding whether revenue or capital from DEFRA monies to the Director of Environment, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment, Head of Finance and Director of Resources (s151). 

Report: Decision to implement domestic food waste collections, and delegate purchasing. 

Presented by: Councillor Barry Mugglestone, Cabinet Member for the Environment

Summary:

1.           The Environment Act 2021 requires all local authorities to implement weekly collections of food waste from all households by 1^st April 2026.  This decision report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

Cabinet:

Approved the Housing Services – Tenancy policy.

Report: Housing Services – Tenancy Policy

Presented by: Councillor Paul McGeary, Cabinet Member for Housing & Property

Summary:

This policy outlines our approach to providing a fair and transparent tenancy management service, reflecting our commitment to provide secure, high-quality housing and ensure that our residents have a safe and comfortable home.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

Cabinet:

Approved the Accessto Homes Policy(2025)

Report: Accessto Homespolicy (2025)

Presented by: Councillor Paul McGeary, Cabinet Member for Housing & Property

Summary:

This policy explains Havering Council’s (the Council) approach to obtaining necessaryaccess toa Councilproperty (includinggardens, externalstorage areas and other outside areas) in order to fulfil its statutory and/or regulatory  ...  view the full minutes text for item 37.

Cabinet:

4.1Approvedthe proposal to enter into an agreement for lease with National Housing Group for the sole use and occupation of Eastgate House, a 34 unit building in Basildon, under which the Council will be obliged to take a 10-year lease of Eastgate House upon completion by National Housing Group of agreed refurbishment works.

4.2Upon completion of the lease referred to above, approved that the Council may either:

4.2.1      grant a sub-underlease of Eastgate House to a wholly owned subsidiary of the Council (envisaged to be called Queens Letting and Management (“QLM”)) on a back to back basis; or

4.2.2      to manage Eastgate House directly.

4.3 Approved deficit grant funding of up to £3.9m in total to QLM to cover the lease period.

4.4 Delegated to the Director of Living Well, in consultation with the Strategic Director of Resources, to take all steps, and to enter into all documentation, necessary to deliver the scheme as approved by recommendation (a) above including the discretion to decide which of options (b)(i) and (ii) shall be progressed.

1.     Noted we have already received cabinet approval to incorporate QLM Community Interest Company (CIC) on the 12 June 2024 – Establishment of a joint venture company to manage properties leased in partnership with Chalkhill.

2.     Noted Eastgate House is a permitted development scheme where from a planning perspective has already secured prior approval for office to residential conversion.

3.     Noted the projected costs of leasing the property for the term outlined as well as the projected cost avoidance.

Report:Office to residential conversion to accommodate homeless families – Eastgate House

Presented by: Councillor Natasha Summers – Lead Portfolio Holder for Living Well Housing Demand

Summary:

1.     The Council will look to enter into a 10-year lease with the National Housing Group for the sole and exclusive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Cabinet:

1         Agreed

1.1           An increase in Early Years and Childcare Places including

1.1.1              Approval of the spend of the £566,841 childcare capital expansion funding grant as set out at para 2.4 of the Report.

1.2           An increase in Primary Places including implementation of:

1.2.1              The establishment of one-off bulge classes as an interim measure to increase primary places between 2024/25 and 2027/28.

1.2.2              The permanent 1FE expansion of a primary school in the Romford planning area.

1.3           An increase in Secondary Places including implementation of:

1.3.1              One-off bulge classes as an interim measure to increase secondary places to meet demand

1.3.2              1 FE permanent expansion at one secondary school in the Central planning area in 2026/27

1.4           To increasing SEND Places

1.4.1              Primary SEND places

·        Approved SEND Units to be implemented for primary children at the following schools:

·        To expand the existing SEND provision at RJ Mitchell Primary School from 21 to 40 places.

1.4.2              Secondary SEND places

Supported the implementation of temporary accommodation to provide SEND unit places at Royal Liberty School from January 2025 - 12 places for pupils (11-16 years) with Communication and Interaction needs.

Approved that the SEND Unit to be implemented for secondary pupils at the following school:

1.4.3              Special Schools

Agreed the funding to be transferred to Lime Trust in order to increase the capacity at Lime Academy Forest Approach so that the school can increase their pupil numbers from 120 to 150.

END Capital Grant Programme

Agreed to establish a SEND capital grants programme allowing schools and settings to apply for part of the fund that could be used to make adaptations to their building in order to promote better outcomes for children and young people with SEND.

1.4.4              School Houses

Agreed that the net-capital receipts from the sale of the school houses at Scotts Primary School and Newtons Primary School be included in the capital programme to deliver the respective school improvement projects.

1.5           Increasing Alternative Provision (AP) Places

1.5.1              Agreed to implement a primary AP provision, to operate from the site of and to be run by Olive AP Academy Havering. 

2       Delegated the power for Phase 5 of the Expansion Programme to the Cabinet Member for Children & Young People

·        To take further decisions regarding the implementation of these projects and the approval of which schools/early years/childcare settings should be expanded including any amendments to the proposals above, such as a decision not to proceed or to expand a different school/early years/childcare setting, in the light of developing circumstances or the results of consultation (subject to the appropriate statutory processes).

·        To approve the Executive decision to award the contract to construct and design the new special  ...  view the full decision text for item 39.

Report: Outline Proposals to address Early Years, Primary, Secondary and SEND rising rolls – To implement Phase 5 expansion Programme

Presented by: Councillor Oscar Ford, Cabinet Member for Children & Young People

Summary:

1.       The report seeks Cabinet’s approval of the projects and associated capital funding to implement Phase 5 of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Cabinet:

1.     Approved a contract award for the supply of temporary workers to Adecco (Company number 00593232) via the Eastern Shires Purchasing Organisation Mstar4 London Collaboration call-off for a duration of two years with the option to extend for two further periods of two years for a total duration of six years.

Report: Contract Award for the Supply of Temporary Workers

Presented by: Cllr Ray Morgon, Leader of the Council

Summary:

1.       The report seeks Cabinet’s approval of the projects and associated capital funding to implement Phase 5 of the expansion programme to manage the forecast increase in early years, primary, secondary  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

Cabinet:

Approved the commencement of a procurement process to set up a Procurement Across London (PAL) framework for Frozen Food and Grocery for a duration of three years plus 12-month extension (3+1).

The process will be via a Public Contracts Regulations 2015 compliant tender procedure as set out in this report. The indicative value of the new call-off contract across PAL members is c. £6.71m in year 1. The total framework value over the 4-year term of the contract (3 years + 1-year extension) is £28.91m across all PAL members. This includes an estimated 5% annual inflationary increase.

Havering’s estimated annual contract value in Year 1 is £2.23m (£9.63m total contract value over the lifetime of the framework duration of four years).

Report: Approval to commence procurement for Frozen Food and Grocery

Presented by: Councillor Oscar Ford, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People

Summary:

The current Frozen Food and Grocery Single-supplier framework expires on 31 August 2025.  The Council’s current call-off contract expires on the same date.

HES Catering Service has  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

Cabinet:

Agreed a taxbase of 90,151 band D equivalents for 2025/26

Noted the change in estimated collection rate set out in section 3.3 which is a prudent assumption and reflective of current collection levels.

Report: Council Tax base 2025/26

Presented by: Councillor Chris Wilkins, Cabinet Member for Finance

Summary:

This report is produced to enable the Council to fulfil its statutory role to set a council tax base for 2025/26. The Local Government Finance Act (LGFA) 1992, as amended by the LGFA 2003 & LGFA  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

Cabinet:

Agreed to extend the contract with Equans Regeneration Limited to deliver windows and doors including fire doors to HRA properties for a period of one year at a maximum value of £7 million.

Report: Approval to award 1-year extension of contract for Windows and Doors

Presented by: Councillor Paul McGeary, Lead Member for Housing & Property

Summary:

As part of the Council’s responsibility as a landlord, the Council has a duty to undertake repairs and maintenance works to its HRA housing stock. The Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.

Cabinet:

Approved the installation of 18 modular homes and related accommodation works on part of the Waterloo and Queen Street site by the Havering/Wates Joint Venture Partnership.

Approved expenditure of £6,500,000 from the allocated budget.

Delegated authority to the Strategic Director of Place to progress and complete all relevant applications, consents, legal agreements and ancillary documentation necessary to deliver the project

Report: Temporary Housing for Waterloo and Queen Street site - Meanwhile Use.

Presented by: Councillor Graham Williamson, Cabinet Member for Development & Regeneration.

Summary:

This report seeks Cabinet approval for the installation of 18 modular homes at the Waterloo and Queen Street site as a meanwhile use to address the acute  ...  view the full minutes text for item 44.

1.    Office to residential conversion to accommodate homeless families – Chesham House

2.    Citizens Advice Service and Budget Consultation

Reports attached.

Report: Comments of Overview and Scrutiny Board 

A.    Office to residential conversion to accommodate homeless families –    Chesham House

Presented by: Councillor Natasha Summers

Response:

Councillor Summers responded to each of the 12 considerations:

1.     There are concerns over the financial position of National Housing Group with a lack of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.