Venue: Committee Rooms 2 & 3, Civic Offices, New Road, Grays, Essex, RM17 6SL. View directions
Contact: Lucy Tricker, Democratic Services Officer Email: Direct.Democracy@thurrock.gov.uk
No. | Item |
---|---|
To approve as a correct record the minutes of Cabinet held on 13 June 2018. Minutes: Councillor Watkins requested that the Minutes for 13 June 2018 meeting on Item 11: Report on Fly-Tipping in Alleyways be amended to reflect that an additional recommendation was requested for the Committee to come back to Cabinet with further suggestions, regarding the Community Engagement Development Fund. |
|
Items of Urgent Business To receive additional items that the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency, in accordance with Section 100B (4) (b) of the Local Government Act 1972. Minutes: There were no items of urgent business. |
|
Declaration of Interests Minutes: The Leader stated that although he did not have a pecuniary or disclosable interest, he did live in the vicinity of the Elm Road site that was being discussed in Item 10. |
|
Statements by the Leader Minutes: The Leader began his statement by updating Members on the Clean It, Cut It, Fill It Scheme. In doing so, Members heard how this past month 340 tonnes of waste had been removed from the borough. He continued by stating that 128 incidents of fly-tipping had been cleared, and that all abandoned vehicles that had been reported had been removed within three weeks of the report. In addition, Councillor Gledhill mentioned that 349 potholes had been filled, which was every pothole in the borough bar 2, and that 200 hectares of grass had been cut across Thurrock. The Leader then commented on the progress the Council had made on removing unauthorised encampments from the borough’s green spaces. He stated that the Council were into the second stage of an injunction to prevent these encampments, which should be completed by the end of the year. He added that this was the first issue bought forward for his Portfolio and this was just one of many ways to tackle the problem, and to protect the borough’s green spaces. Councillor Gledhill then commented on the work of the Thames Estuary Growth Commission, which was hosted since the last Cabinet meeting. He said that this was an ambitious programme to deal with issues such as congestion and the quality of education, and although different boroughs along the Thames had different issues, they were all working closely together. The Leader also discussed the fire which occurred on 20 June in a block of flats in Chadwell St Mary. He said that all families were now back in their homes, other than those which had been directly impacted by the fire or smoke, who were now out of hotels and into temporary accommodation. He also stated that those families in temporary accommodation were continuing to receive support until they could return to their homes. In addition, the Leader also discussed the new war memorial in Grays which had been unveiled on Armed Forces Day to commemorate one hundred years since the end of World War One. He congratulated everyone that worked on the project and stated that there was now more funding for the cleaning and upkeep of war memorials across the borough. Finally, Councillor Gledhill acknowledged the good work of the planning team, as they were now in the top four nationwide for their good work. He mentioned that they were in the top 3% for timeline delivery, and had helped Brentwood Borough Council planning department to achieve fifth place nationwide.
|
|
Briefings on Policy, Budget and Other Issues Minutes: Councillor Halden had a
briefing on Policy, Budget and Other Issues which he wished to
bring to the Cabinet. He began by updating Members on the status of
Orsett Hospital. He stated that this would not close until the new
medical centres had been opened and were fully operational. He also
commented that this was a decision by the NHS Clinical Managers who
were technical experts in their field, but made clear that Thurrock
healthcare services would remain in the borough and would not be
sent to Basildon or Brentwood. He stated that he felt proud of the
role Thurrock was taking with the NHS to find the best clinical way
forward for residents, and that conversations were being undertaken
to work out how people were going to access the new integrated
medical centres. |
|
Petitions submitted by Members of the Public Minutes: There were no petitions submitted by members of the public. |
|
Questions from Non-Executive Members Minutes: The Leader of the Council advised that there had been one question received, but confirmed with the Cabinet that they were happy for the question to be heard when the report was discussed. |
|
Matters Referred to the Cabinet for Consideration by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee Minutes: Councillor Gledhill advised that there were two reports which had been referred by an Overview and Scrutiny Committee, but this would be discussed during the course of the meeting. |
|
Delivering our Free School Programme - Land Disposal (Decision 110472) PDF 92 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Kent was invited to
ask his question which was: what other, potential, sites were
considered for this school before deciding to recommend selling the
six acre park, Elm Road Open Space? Councillor Halden responded
that two other sites had been considered which were Curzon Drive
and Thurrock Parkway. He stated that they were discounted because
they were too small and not appropriately located as they were in
industrial areas. He went on to add that the Education Skills
Funding Agency (ESFA) may have looked at other privately owned
sites, but that Council owned sites are faster to build schools on
and ensures the Council can enter into Heads of Terms with the
ESFA. Councillor Kent responded that all can agree new schools need
to be built, but that the Osborne Trust has been working for three
years on the proposed new school. Councillor Kent raised concerns
that members of the community would not accept the loss of the open
space, and also that streets around the proposed sites were already
clogged with traffic due to the proximity of Thameside Primary
School. He stated that the addition of a 900 place school, as well
as staff members would create extra traffic within the area. He
also raised concerns that the site was very small as government
guidelines indicated a site needed to be 2 acres, and although the
site was 6 acres when parking and access roads were included, it
would be a small space. He also stated that there was an issue in
process as the Osborne Trust had been left out of conversations
that were happening between the Council and the ESFA. |
|
Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Collins presented
the report and began by saying that data modelling was already
being used, and was already working, for Thurrock Council, as it
offered early help to identify vulnerable children and adults. He
described that Phase 1 identified children at higher risk of
statutory intervention, and engaged them with the MHCLG sponsored
Troubled Families Programme. He stated that 100% of
Thurrock’s Troubled Families attachments are found via the
data analytics programme. He went on to say that Phase 2 was
introduced in 2017 and focussed primarily on expanding the cohort
of data sources in order to deliver proactive alerting of children
at high risk of entering Safeguarding services. The next stage,
Phase 3, now needed Cabinet approval as it exceeded the spend limit
and was a key decision. Councillor Collins went on to add that the
data modelling service reduced the need for more costly
safeguarding services, as it could catch problems such as
anti-social behaviour, homelessness, and mental illness
earlier. |
|
Gas Servicing, Repair and Renewal (Decision 110474) PDF 71 KB Minutes: Councillor Johnson introduced
the report which outlined the procurement for gas servicing, as the
current contract ends on 31 March 2019, and was very important for
Council tenants. He began by saying that the report proposed to
amalgamate two contracts into one, with a single contractor
maintaining the whole of the Council’s stock. He also stated
that, as a landlord, the Council needed to ensure that each
dwelling has an annual gas safety check. He added that this was
being bought before Cabinet due to the monetary value and finance
involved in the contract. He described how this report had gone to
the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee last night, and how
they have also listened to the Tenancy Excellency Panel regarding
the struggles they faced last winter, and have decided to focus on
quality to stop problems such as call centre phones cutting
out. |
|
Tender of the Council's Insurance and Related Services (Decision 110475) PDF 67 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Hebb introduced the
report by stating that the report is in readiness for the expiry of
the current contract on 31 March 2019 and the proposed tender which
will be undertaken to procure the services. He added that the
previous contract had been awarded in 2013 with a three year
contract, and option to extend for a further two years. He said
that the next proposed contract length is three years with a
potential to extend for a further two years, and that once Cabinet
agrees the recommendations, the process finishes and the Council
will seek to award the contract. |
|
Development Plan Update (Decision 110476) PDF 207 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: Councillor Coxshall introduced
the report and began by stating that more infrastructure was needed
in the borough due to an increase in the population, as Thurrock
becomes a place people want to move too. He stated that the next
phase of the Development Plan was to get the views of Thurrock
residents, and that this was not about promoting sites or getting
developers, but was about choosing a town plan on a grand scale. He
added that the Development Plan had started in 2014, but had moved
on dramatically since then. He commented that there were now better
opportunities in South Essex and along the Thames, as Thurrock was
working in wider coordination with other authorities on the South
Essex Joint Strategic Plan. He discussed the need for cross party
representation at key stages of the Development Plan to ensure that
everyone, across all areas are engaged to make sure the Development
Plan works. Councillor Coxshall went on to mention that 32,000 new
homes need to be built in the borough, although this figure was up
for review, but that so far only 500 new homes per year had been
built. He summarised the report and said he was happy to work with
the new Task Force and look at the review from the Portfolio
Holder, to be able to bring forward new suggestions at
Council. |
|
Procurement of the Internal and External Redecoration Programme (Decision 110477) PDF 67 KB Minutes: Councillor Johnson introduced
the report and began by stating how important it was to tenants
that this report received Cabinet approval, as it sets out
proposals for the procurement of internal and external redecoration
to council residential properties. He went on to add that this
would be a three year contract, and that there would be no
disruption to service users as this was an additional service to
vulnerable people who had no family or friends to help them with
decorating. He also mentioned that more details for vulnerable
people were sent to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee
separately. |
|
End of Year Corporate Performance Report 2017/18 PDF 198 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Councillor Huelin introduced
the report and began by stating she felt pleased that the ambitious
targets set had been matched, as 66% of key performance indicators
(KPI’s) were on or above target, and 20% had just
fractionally missed targets. She stated that this meant 78% of
services passed, and that this was meeting a high standard. She
highlighted the fact that 97% primary schools were
‘good’ or better, and 20% of children were above the
national average in reading and writing. She also congratulated the
hard work of volunteers in Thurrock who had increased volunteering
hours from 15,000 to 23,000 hours thanks to the time banking
scheme. She encouraged everyone to sign up for the time banking
scheme as it allowed people to receive help for things they needed,
whilst also helping others. |