Agenda, decisions and minutes

Announcements were made in relation to the evacuation procedure in the event of fire or other emergency.

There were no apologies for absence.

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 17 January 2018, and to authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting of Cabinet held on 17^th January, 2018, were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Cabinet:

1.     Noted the forecast outturn on service directorates at period 9 and the actions being taken by SLT to manage expenditure within approved budgets set out in section 5 of the report.

2.     Approved the income generation and savings proposals as set out in Appendix A of the report.

3.     Considered the advice of the Chief Finance Officer as set out in Appendix F of the report when recommending the Council budget.

4.     Approved the following budgets for 2018/19:

• The Council’s General Fund budget as set out in Appendix D of the report.
• The Delegated Schools’ draft budget set out in section 4 of the report
• The Capital Programme as set out in section 9 and Appendix G of the report.

5.     Delegated to the Chief Financial Officer the implementation of the 2018/19 capital and revenue proposals once approved by Council unless further reports or Cabinet Member authorities are required.

6.     Agreed that the Chief Financial Officer be authorised to allocate funding from the Capital Contingency included within the draft Capital Programme.

7.     Agreed that the relevant Cabinet Member, together with the Cabinet Member for Financial Management, ICT (Client) & Transformation be delegated authority to commence tender processes and accept tenders for capital schemes included within the approved programme under the block programme allocations or delegation arrangements set out in this report.

8.     Agreed that to facilitate the usage of unringfenced resources, the Chief Financial Officer in consultation with Service Directors will review any such new funds allocated to Havering; make proposals for their use; and obtain approval by the Cabinet Member for Financial Management, ICT (Client) & Transformation.

9.     Delegated to the Chief Financial Officer in consultation with Service Directors the authority to make any necessary changes to service and the associated budgets relating to any subsequent specific grant funding announcements, where delays may otherwise adversely impact on service delivery and/or budgetary control, subject to consultation with Cabinet Members as appropriate.

10.Approved the schedule of proposed Fees and Charges set out in Appendix J of the report, with any recommended changes in year being implemented under Cabinet Member delegation.

11.Agreed that if there are any changes to the GLA precept and/or levies, the Chief Financial Officer authorised to amend the recommended resolutions accordingly and report these to the next Council meeting as required.

12.Will recommend to Council for consideration and approval:

• The General Fund budget for 2018/19
• The Council Tax for Band D properties and for other Bands of properties, all as set out in Appendix D, as revised and circulated for the Greater London Authority (GLA) Council Tax.
• The Delegated Schools’ budget for 2018/19, as set out in section 4 of the report.
• The Capital Programme for 2018/19 as set out in section 9 and supported by Annexes 1, 2 and 3 of Appendix G.
• That it passes a resolution as set out in section 11.3 of the report to enable Council Tax discounts to be given at the 2017/18 level.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Roger Ramsey, presented the report to Cabinet.

The report introduced followed on from various updating reports that came before Cabinet in October, December and January all of which advised and updated on the position regarding the budget gap in the lead up to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

Cabinet:

1.              Approved the Housing Revenue Account Budget as detailed in Appendix 1 of the report. 

2.              Agreed that the average rents chargeable for tenants in general needs Council properties owned by the London Borough of Havering be decreased by 1% from the w/c 2 April 2018 in line with the indicative figures contained in paragraph 2.1.7 of the report.

3.              Agreed that the average rents chargeable for tenants in supported housing Council properties, such as sheltered housing and hostels, owned by the London Borough of Havering, be reduced by 1% from the w/c 2 April 2018 in line with the indicative figures contained in paragraph 2.1.8 and 2.1.9 of the report.

4.              Agreed the four rent-free weeks for 2018/19 as being: w/c 20 August 2018, the two weeks commencing 17 and 24 December 2018, and the week commencing 25 March 2019.

5.              Agreed that service charges and heating and hot water charges for 2018/19 are as detailed in paragraph 2.2.2 of this report.

6.              Agreed that the service charges for homeless households accommodated in the Council’s hostels 2018/19 are as detailed in paragraph 2.2.3 of the report.

7.              Agreed that charges for garages should be increased by 7.5% in 2018/19 as detailed in paragraph 2.3.1 of the report

8.              Agreed that the service charge for the provision of security and support in sheltered housing for 2017/18 shall be as detailed in paragraph 2.4.1 of the report. 

9.              Agreed that the Careline support charge should be increased by 4% for 2018/19 as detailed in paragraph 2.5.1 of the report.

10.           Agreed that the Telecare support charges should be increased by 4% for 2018/19 as detailed in paragraph 2.5.1 of this report.

11.     Approved the HRA Major Works Capital Programme, detailed in Appendix 2a of the report and refer it to full Council for final ratification.

12.     Approved the HRA Capital expenditure and financing for the 12 Sites Joint Venture, detailed in paragraphs 3.19.1 to 3.19.8 and Appendix 2a of the report and refer it to full Council for final ratification.

13.     Approved the HRA Capital expenditure and financing to acquire up to 375 affordable dwellings from the Bridge Close JVLLP, detailed in paragraphs 3.20.1 to 3.20.5 and Appendix 2a of the report and refer it to full Council for final ratification. 

14.     Agreed to delegate to the Lead Member for Housing, after consultation with the Director of Neighbourhoods, the Monitoring Officer and the s151 Officer, authority to finalise agreement on the terms of the acquisition of affordable housing on Bridge Close referred to in recommendation 13 of the report.

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15.     Agreed to redirect both the balance in the RTB debt repayment reserve and future RTB attributable debt receipts towards the funding of the Estate Regeneration Programme and associated vacant possession costs.

16.     Agreed to release balances and redirect the proceeds from the disposal of HRA shared ownership properties and other HRA disposals towards the funding of the Estate Regeneration Programme, associated costs of vacant possession and the HRA New  ...  view the full decision text for item 40.

The Cabinet Lead Member for Housing and Deputy Leader of the Council, Councillor Damien White presented the report to Cabinet.

The report detailed the annual process required to set the HRA rents and service charges for the financial year 2018/19 and the Capital Programme. The approach adopted has been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 40.

Cabinet:

1. Approved the Treasury Management Strategy Statement (TMSS) 2018/19.
2. Approved the Treasury Management and Prudential Indicators set out in Appendix 7 of the report.
3. Approved the Annual Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) Statement for 2018/19 set out in Appendix 8 of this report.
4. Will recommend the annual TMSS and MRP statements 2018/19 to Council for approval.
5. Delegated future changes required to this Strategy to the Chief Financial Officer in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Financial Management, ICT (client) & Transformation. This will provide the additional flexibility to swiftly respond to changing financial markets. 

The report was presented to Cabinet by the Cabinet Lead Member for Financial management, Transformation and IT, Councillor Clarence Barrett.

The Council is required to formally approve the Treasury Management Strategy Statement, Prudential Indicators and the Minimum Revenue Provision Statement following the recommendation from Cabinet. A primary objective of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

Cabinet:

1.    Agreed the Financial Inclusion Strategy attached at Appendix 1 of the report.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Roger Ramsey presented the report to Cabinet.

There are many individuals and families in the Borough in Havering and Nationally, experiencing financial difficulties and pressures due to rising living costs, welfare reforms and stagnant salaries.  This impacts significantly on the general wellbeing of residents  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

Cabinet:

1)    Approved the draft Employment and Skills Plan (Appendix 1 of the report) for consultation with the local business community, Joint Venture partners and other key stakeholders.

2)    That a final version of the Employment and Skills Plan be presented to the Cabinet in April 2018 for adoption.

The Employment and Skills plan report was presented to Cabinet by the Cabinet Lead member for Environment and Community Safety, Councillor Osman Dervish.

 The local job market in havering is based predominantly on low skilled work and low wage levels.  There are pockets of long term unemployment and economic inactivity  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43.