Agenda and draft minutes

Items
No. Item

64.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

65.

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:

There were no declarations of interest.

66.

Salix Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Funding for Schools pdf icon PDF 303 KB

Please be advised that the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny has further agreed that the call-in procedure shall not apply to this urgent decision. This is because the decision is urgent and any delay in implementation caused by the call-in procedure would seriously prejudice the Council's or the public's interests due to the fact that the council will lose the opportunity to access funding  to support  schools in their existing endeavours in reducing carbon emissions. Also accessing this funding will support the council budget and enable further schools to take forward required condition works within the Children’s Capital Programme. Accordingly, the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee has agreed that the decision is both reasonable in all circumstances, and that it should be treated as a matter of urgency. This is in accordance with Part 4, Section H, and Paragraph 18 (a) and (b) of the Council Constitution.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Leader of the Council considered the report which sought approval for the acceptance of the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Grant funding from the Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy Department (BEIS) for which Haringey had been offered £2.452m across 8 primary school condition projects. Whilst the grant was from BEIS, it was administered by Salix.

 

The grant covered some works within these projects which lowered carbon emissions in line with the grant criteria. The Council was required to respond via letter to Salix to confirm acceptance of the funding by no later than 20 February 2021. The acceptance of the grant was an urgent Key Decision.

 

As the scheme had been significantly oversubscribed (£2.3 billion of applications for £1 billion of funding), the Council would need to meet these dates set out by Salix and the government in order to ensure the funding was secured and not passed to another project on the contingency list.

 

The Leader of the Council RESOLVED

 

1.    To agree to accept the Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme Grant funding of £2.452 million.

 

2.    To delegate authority to the Director of Finance to sign the Grant Offer letter to accept the grant funding.

 

3.    To delegate authority to the Director of Finance to agree the final terms of the grant funding agreement which includes the Memorandum of Understanding, the draft of which is attached as Appendix 1 to the report.

 

Reasons for decision

 

A decision to accept the funding enables schools to benefit in operating with lower carbon emissions including more efficient building services and reduced heat loss through building fabric (windows, roof), which assists in meeting the Council’s targets on carbon emissions.

 

The schemes that are eligible for the grant funding are schemes that are already in the approved capital programme for delivery in FY 21/22 based on their priority condition need following surveys across the whole education and schools estate. The decision to accept the grant will assist in funding the approved capital programme.

 

Alternative options considered

 

The alternative option is for the Council not to accept the funding. This would mean that the Council would bear the cost of these works as they are necessary to address the condition of the buildings.

 

Not accepting the funding could also have a potential impact on any future applications to Salix.

 

 

The Chair of Overview and Scrutiny has agreed that the call-in procedure shall not apply to this urgent decision. This is because the decision is urgent and any delay in implementation caused by the call-in procedure would seriously prejudice the Council's or the public's interests due to the fact that the council will lose the opportunity to access funding to support schools in their existing endeavours in reducing carbon emissions. Also accessing this funding will support the council budget and enable further schools to take forward required condition works within the Children’s Capital Programme. Accordingly, the Chair of Overview and Scrutiny Committee has agreed that the decision is both reasonable in all circumstances and that it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.