Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Dr William Campbell Taylor, Deputy Billy Dove, Dr Martin Dudley, Marianne Fredericks, Deputy Henry Jones, Alderman Sir Paul Judge, Emma Price, Chris Punter, Adam Richardson, Delis Regis, Elizabeth Rogula, Patrick Streeter, Mark Wheatley and Philip Woodhouse.

Mr Gareth Moore declared an interest in all housing matters as he was a tenant

on the Golden Lane Estate.

To agree the minutes of the previous Committee meeting.

A Member requested that his query regarding the list of accuracy of the Committee Members included in the Terms of Reference be added to the minutes of the previous meeting.

A Member also queried the minute regarding the Mais House Residents Consultation and agreed to discuss this with the Town Clerk following the meeting.

Resolved – that the minutes were agreed as an accurate record subject to the above amendments.

Matters Arising:

London Small Business Centre Tender Approval

Members were informed that the London Small Business Centre had been unable to raise the monies required for refurbishment and the centre was therefore being advertised as a commercial property by the City Surveyor. However, if the centre was able to raise the funds required the City would consider their application.

Sheltered Housing Review Phase 2

Officers informed Members that following the previous Committee meeting some residents of Mais House had formed an Action Group challenging the Committee’s decision; a letter submitted to Officers was circulated to Committee Members. Members noted that although the decision was being challenged the work Officers should proceed with the decanting programme to ensure the right actions were taken for the residents of Mais House.

Members received a presentation regarding the City of London Time Credits Programme and noted the following:

·        51 local groups and services using Time Credits

·        763 members across Square Mile & City of London Housing – 44% new to volunteering

·        Almost 15,000 Time Credits earned

·        Spend network of 20 partners, 30 venues plus community opportunities .

In response to a query regarding volunteers in the City’s Open Spaces, Officers informed Members that the Friends of the City Gardens formed a majority of the volunteers who took advantage of the Time Credits programme. Members agreed that the scheme should involve volunteers further afield in Burnham Beeches and Epping Forest; Officers agreed to action this point with colleagues in the Open Spaces directorate.

Members were informed that the Spice scheme was due to celebrate its 4^th anniversary and Members were invited to attend the celebrations on 23^rd February 2016.

RESOLVED – that the update be received.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Committee received regarding the Aldgate Arts Event and Play Strategy and noted that the programme was an emerging work stream of the Aldgate Gyratory highways and public realm enhancement project and had an approved budget of 95,762k.

The programme had been conceived to reduce anti-social behaviour and

improved perceptions of safety through the creation of vibrant and active spaces. It

would enhance the City’s cultural offer and provides opportunities to improve health

and well-being for residents and workers. Its aimed was to attract visitors and grow the local economy. In so doing the programme supported several of the Corporation’s policies and aims.

The programme was to be developed during 2016 and initiated fully in 2017 and if

successful will continue as a 3-5 year programme. A proposed governance structure for the programme had been drafted and endorsed by the Aldgate Gyratory project board. Under this structure, the day-to-day programme will be managed by the Environmental Enhancement Section reporting to a programme board of senior officers across the relevant departments and to an external stakeholder working party. All relevant decisions would be made by the respective Committees.

To deliver the quality of programme that can meet the Corporation’s aims,

external funding would be required. A funding model would be developed to determine the best approach however this was likely to require income generated by offering the Aldgate spaces to appropriate mainstream event organisers.

RESOLVED – That the update be received.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee received a report regarding the number of rough sleepers in the City of London. Members noted that the count for January 2016 was 35; the number counted in January 2015 was 31.

Members noted that the City outreach team continued to implement monthly counts. Members noted that the counts were just a snapshot of the number of rough sleepers on the City’s streets. They provided an opportunity to gather intelligence about who was actually sleeping out on any given night. The indicators, as with all inner London boroughs, suggested that rough sleeping was on the rise, although the national count in November was slightly lower than the previous year. There was no count in December as the outreach team were running a pop-up hub and focused on referring clients to Crisis at Christmas.

Officers informed Members that the City’s relationship with ICE was fluctuating and Members agreed that the relationship would benefit from a letter signed by the Chairman of the Committee to the relevant Minister. Officers in the Community and Children’s Services Department agreed to action this prior to the next Committee meeting.  

RESOLVED – that the update be received.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee received information provided by the City of London Corporation to

the Government setting out the value, size and turnover within the City of London

Corporation’s local authority housing stock. It will inform the Government’s

calculation of an annual payment to be made to the Government based on the total

value of high-value local authority housing likely to fall vacant during the year.

The location of the City of London Corporation’s housing stock means that a

significant amount could be defined as high value, but this will not be clear until the

definition of high value is set out in regulations published after the enactment of the

Housing and Planning Bill.

Members noted that the City Surveyor’s Department had provided the vacant property market value of the City of London Corporation general needs stock at 31 March 2015. The total value of these homes was estimated to be £672,365,500. Values of individual homes range from £150,000 for the smallest studio flats through to £1,490,000 for the largest homes at Horace Jones House. The average value was £392,500.

RESOLVED – that the update be received.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee noted that as part of the Aldgate Project aimed at enhancing the Aldgate gyratory a new public space would be created on the highway to form a new square, and a Pavilion would be provided on the new square utilising redundant pedestrian highway structures under the space. This was in accordance with the proposals approved by the Court of Common Council in 2014 as part of the Aldgate Highway Changes and Public Realm Improvement Project.

RESOLVED – That Members:

· Noted that the Stopping-Up Order in relation to the highway upon which the

Aldgate Pavilion is to be constructed is being progressed under the Town

Clerk’s delegated authority.

· Approved the appropriation of the proposed Aldgate Pavilion from the Planning

and Transportation Committee to the control of the Community and Children’s

Services Committee upon completion of its construction subject to both

stopping-up being obtained and the Terms of Reference of the Committee

being amended.

· Community and Children’s Services Committee amend their Terms of Reference by addition of the provision: “to be responsible for the management of the Aldgate Pavilion”.

· Approved the granting of delegated authority to the Director of Community and

Children’s Services in consultation with the City Surveyor and the Comptroller

and City Solicitor where necessary to undertake the letting and management

of the Aldgate Pavilion as a social enterprise following its construction.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee noted an update on the management of risks faced by the Department of Community and Children’s Services.

Members noted that risk was reviewed regularly by the Departmental Leadership Team as part of the ongoing management of the operations of the department. In addition to the opportunity for emerging risks to be raised as they were identified, a process exists for in-depth periodic review of the risk register. The Community and Children’s Services department had nine risks on the register.

The most significant current risks were:

§ CR17 – Safeguarding Risk (Current Corporate risk: Amber – no change)

§ PE 002 – Failure to deliver expansion of Sir John Cass Foundation Primary

School (Current Departmental risk: Red - no change)

§ CP 002 – City of London Community Education Centre – site redevelopment

(New Departmental risk – Red)

§ HS 002 – Failure to carry out effective fire risk assessments (New

Departmental risk – Red)

§ HS003 – Lone Working (New Departmental risk – Red)

§ PE 003 – Early Help (New Service risk - Red)

RESOLVED – that the update be received.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee received an update on the performance of primary pupils at Sir John Cass School in Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2, when compared with national pupil performance. Members noted that Early Years Foundation Stage early education had never been stronger, with Sir John Cass children performing well above the national benchmark in 2014/15.  In the phonics screening check outcomes for Year 1 children improved in 2014/15 and this compares favourably with Inner London and England.

Members noted that mathematics performance was stable. Key Stage 2 outcomes in reading, writing and mathematics combined were at 97% for Level 4 and above – an improvement compared with 2013/14, owing to better performance in mathematics. Key Stage 2 outcomes at Level 5 and above improved in all three subjects and compares favourably to Inner London and national.

Members agreed that the results were very pleasing and congratulated Officers and the Head Master of Sir John Cass Primary School. The Committee agreed that in future it would be beneficial for the report to reflect the wider picture so Members were made aware of which schools the children attended after they left the City’s primary schools.

RESOLVED – That the update be received.

There were no questions.

There was no urgent business.

MOTION - That under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED - That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972,

the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds

that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part 1

of the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee received a report of the Chamberlain.

Report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment – to follow.

The Committee received a report of the Director of Community and Children’s Services.

There were no questions.

There was no urgent business.