Agenda item

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

The Head of Barbican Estates and the Chairman were heard in respect of items 10 and 11 on the agenda, which were taken together, to help Members consult with their house groups and prepare for their AGM at the end of January 2018.  Members noted that some recommendations from the Working Parties had been included in the Update Report at agenda item 14.

During the discussion, the following points were raised/noted:

Working parties were very intensive in terms of officer time and resources and Members were asked to consider whether some could be combined under common themes; i.e. property, corporate assets and service charges.  This could be facilitated by using standard templates.

Some working parties were time limited but could continue under a different theme or merged with another current working party.  For example, the Roof Working Party had moved on from apportionment to warranties but could be incorporated into the Asset Maintenance Working Party along with the Underfloor Heating Working Party. 

There was some concern expressed as to whether such mergers might be cumbersome and make the working parties very large but it was also accepted that it might allow smaller task groups to form within the working parties, allowing for specialism on technical aspects.

In respect of other matters, which are generally reported at the AGM, Members noted that, due to resourcing issues at the Estate Office and large projects this year; i.e. stores and car park charges, fire safety and lease enforcement, there had not been a resident survey this year but officers hoped to run a survey in 2018.