Agenda and minutes

Venue: George Meehan House, 294 High Road, Wood Green, N22 8JZ

Contact: Fiona Rae, Principal Committee Co-ordinator 

Items
No. Item

1.

FILMING AT MEETINGS

Please note this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method.  Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on.  By entering the ‘meeting room’, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

 

The Chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual, or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

Minutes:

The Chair referred Members present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein.

2.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

To receive any apologies for absence.

Minutes:

It was explained that apologies for the reconvened meeting had been received from Councillor Dawn Barnes, Councillor Patrick Berryman, and Councillor Alessandra Rossetti. Councillor Dawn Barnes joined the meeting virtually but could not be considered to be present for the purposes of the attendance record.

3.

URGENT BUSINESS

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of Urgent Business.  (Late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear.  New items will be dealt with under item 13 below).

Minutes:

This item was considered at the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

4.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

A member with a disclosable pecuniary interest or a prejudicial interest in a matter who attends a meeting of the authority at which the matter is considered:

 

(i) must disclose the interest at the start of the meeting or when the interest becomes apparent, and

(ii) may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must withdraw from the meeting room.

 

A member who discloses at a meeting a disclosable pecuniary interest which is not registered in the Register of Members’ Interests or the subject of a pending notification must notify the Monitoring Officer of the interest within 28 days of the disclosure.

 

Disclosable pecuniary interests, personal interests and prejudicial interests are defined at Paragraphs 5-7 and Appendix A of the Members’ Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

This item was considered at the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

5.

DEPUTATIONS / PETITIONS / PRESENTATIONS / QUESTIONS

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, section B, Paragraph 29 of the Council’s Constitution.

Minutes:

This item was considered at the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

6.

MINUTES

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Corporate Committee meeting held on 9 September 2021 as a correct record.

Minutes:

This item was considered at the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

7.

REVIEW OF POLLING DISTRICTS, POLLING PLACES AND DESIGNATION OF POLLING SCHEME pdf icon PDF 398 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was considered at the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

8.

EXTERNAL AUDIT PLAN 2020/21 pdf icon PDF 336 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was considered at the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

9.

AUDIT & RISK SERVICE UPDATE - QUARTER 2 (JULY - SEPTEMBER 2021) pdf icon PDF 481 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was considered at the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

10.

TREASURY MANAGEMENT UPDATE MID-YEAR REPORT 2021/22 pdf icon PDF 201 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was considered at the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

11.

BUILDING, PLACE AND STREET NAME REVIEW pdf icon PDF 363 KB

Please note: the amendment proposed at the Corporate Committee meeting on 16 November 2021 is attached for reference. (Additional information to follow.)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

This item was resumed from the first part of the meeting on 16 November 2021.

 

The Chair highlighted that a late paper had been circulated on the day of the meeting and asked whether members required some time to consider the paper. At 7.05pm, the Committee agreed to a short adjournment. The meeting resumed at 7.10pm.

 

The Assistant Director for Commissioning introduced the report which provided a response and further information in relation to the motion moved by Cllr Ejiofor at the Committee meeting on 16 November 2021. It was explained that the report proposed to take forward the process for the renaming of Black Boy Lane based on the Committee decision made on 17 March 2021 whereby there would be a further period of consultation to provide further assurances to the residents of Black Boy Lane and to elicit their support for the change of street name. It was highlighted that residents and other groups were informed about the Committee’s decision in March and would have a legitimate expectation that further consultation would be undertaken. It was proposed that the consultation would run from 1 December 2021 to 19 January 2022 and that a further paper would be reported to the Committee on 1 February 2022.

 

In response to a question about the decision in March 2021 to undertake further consultation, it was explained that there had been delays due to the pre-election period where council business was restricted, that there had been a new Cabinet, and that the council was still responding to the demands of the Covid-19 pandemic.

 

Cllr Ejiofor noted that the paper referred to the requirement for an executive decision to fund the package of support for residents in the event that the renaming of Black Boy Lane was agreed. He added that the previous decision of the Committee had noted that funding for the street renaming had been identified and enquired whether this could be used. The Assistant Director for Commissioning explained that there could be some changes based on the results of further consultation with residents in the immediate vicinity and the proposal for an executive decision would allow for any alterations in case the existing funding was insufficient.

 

Cllr Ejiofor enquired about the time period between a decision in February 2022 and any implementation, noting that the pre-election period for the council elections would start in 2022. The Deputy Monitoring Officer stated that he was not aware of a minimum time period for the implementation of street renaming but that it might be necessary to check the requirements for this process.

 

Cllr Amin enquired about the timescales for consultation and enquired whether the figures could be benchmarked against similar work that had been undertaken by other authorities. The Assistant Director for Commissioning explained that the proposed consultation period would run from 1 December 2021 to 19 January 2022; this would end before the Committee meeting in February and would provide a good time period for consultation, acknowledging the bank holidays at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

12.

DECISION MAKING FOR THE ACQUISITION OF ALEXANDRA HOUSE pdf icon PDF 13 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Under s100B(4)(b) of the Local Government Act 1972, the Chair of the meeting was of the opinion that the item should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency by reason of special circumstances. These circumstances were that there had been a need for additional consultation with Legal and Property services to enable the finalisation of these reports.

 

The Chair highlighted that some of the information relating to this item was exempt and should not be discussed during the public section of the meeting. It was noted that all questions would be directed through the Chair, would be based on the information set out in the report, and would be directed to officers. It was added that questions should relate to the remit of the Corporate Committee and not the remit of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

 

The Head of Audit and Risk Management introduced the report and noted that the Committee had received a summary of the internal audit findings in relation to the decision not to purchase Alexandra House at its meeting in March 2021. The Committee had considered the findings and had requested a follow up report on the decision making relating to the purchase of Alexandra House and whether council policy and procedure had been followed. It was highlighted that the role of the Committee was to consider the governance, internal control environment, and management of risk.

 

It was noted that the full Mazars report was now presented to the Committee. It was explained that Mazars had reviewed the process for the decision and noted that the former Interim Assistant Director of Property and Economic Development was open to the suggestion to purchase Alexandra House as it could have helped to deliver Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) savings and it could have supported the accommodation strategy. It was considered that the governance arrangements to manage an acquisition of such significance were weak, that there were a number of informal and ad hoc processes, and that there was a lack of documentary evidence regarding the people involved and the decisions made. There was also no evidence of a thorough business case which would have given decision makers an opportunity to consider all issues in full.

 

In response to the issues raised by the investigation, officers had undertaken to improve the arrangements for dealing with property acquisition, including an Acquisition and Disposals Policy that had been approved by Cabinet, a management review of governance, changes to the senior reporting arrangements covering acquisition, improved formalised communications with the Cabinet Member, formal minutes for Strategic Property Board meetings, a formal tracker in Strategic Property so that all acquisitions were noted in one location, and further reviews of the arrangements in the future.

 

Cllr Ejiofor noted that Cabinet Members at the time of the decision had been proactive and had made a number of requests, such as the confirmation of a formal acquisitions and disposals policy. It was enquired whether there was any evidence that the Chief  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

13.

NEW ITEMS OF URGENT BUSINESS

To consider any items of urgent business as identified at item 3.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

14.

DATES OF FUTURE MEETINGS

To note the dates of future meetings:

 

1 February 2022

10 March 2022

Minutes:

To note the dates of future meetings:

 

1 February 2022

10 March 2022

15.

EXCLUSION OF THE PRESS AND PUBLIC

Note from the Democratic Services and Scrutiny Manager

 

In accordance  with  Access to Information rule 11 - If the Monitoring Officer thinks fit, the Council may exclude access by the public to reports which in his or her opinion relate to items during which, in accordance with Rule 10, the meeting is likely not to be open to the public. Such reports will be marked "Not for publication" together with the category of information likely to be disclosed.

 

In accordance  with rule 10  - Item 16  contains exempt information as defined under paragraphs 1, 2, 3 and 5, Part 1, schedule 12A of the Local Government Act:

·         Information relating to an individual

·         Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual

·         Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

·         Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

 

TO RESOLVE

 

That the press and public be excluded from the remainder of the meeting as

the items, contain exempt information, as defined under paragraphs 1,2, 3

and 5, Part 1, schedule 12A of the Local Government Act:

 

·                     Information relating to an individual

·                     Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual

·                     Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information).

·                     Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

 

 

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

That the press and public be excluded from the meeting for consideration of items 16-17 as they contained exempt information as defined in Section 100a of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by Section 12A of the Local Government Act 1985); paragraphs 1, 2, 3, and 5; namely information relating to an individual, information which was likely to reveal the identity of an individual, information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information), and information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings.

 

At 8.55pm, the Committee agreed a short adjournment. The meeting resumed at 9.05pm.

16.

DECISION MAKING FOR THE ACQUISITION OF ALEXANDRA HOUSE - EXEMPT

Minutes:

The Committee considered the exempt information.

17.

NEW ITEMS OF EXEMPT URGENT BUSINESS

Minutes:

There were no new items of exempt urgent business.