Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillors Brian Bell, Clare Joseph and Steve Race.  Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Katie Hanson, Carole Williams and Clare Potter. Apologies were also received from Legal Services.

Councillor Snell declared he was a Member of the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health.

The minutes of the meeting held on 11 September 2019 had not been included in the agenda.  These would be brought to the 16 March 2020 meeting.

The minutes of the Special Corporate Committee meeting held on 2 October were agreed as a true record.

It was noted that the work plan should revert back to its position at the end of the agenda.

The HR Policy Review report was not required for March 2020 and the Statutory Review of Polling Districts and Polling Places was not required. 

As this meeting had been moved from December 2019, the March meeting was scheduled to take place very soon and the Committee agreed that the Annual Report of the Public Spaces Protection Order (PSPO) 2019/2020 and the Annual Performance of the Noise Service 2019/2020 should be taken to the meeting scheduled for June 2020.  The March meeting would discuss the work  being done on policies for consultation on tables and chairs and the terms and conditions for licence with particular regard to the enforcement responsibility of clearing obstructions from the pathways.

The Committee RESOLVED to agree the Pay Policy Statement for 2020/2021 and recommend it for approval to Full Council scheduled for 26 February 2020.

Dan Paul introduced the report and reported that there had been no substantive changes from the 2019/2020 Pay Policy Statement.  The pay ratios had minimally decreased however.

The Committee RESOLVED to agree the Pay Policy Statement for 2020/2021 and recommend it for approval to Full Council scheduled for 26 February 2020.

The Committee RESOLVED to note the level and scope of work being carried out to meet the requirements of the plan.

Gerry McCarthy introduced the report and highlighted key areas.

The Food Law Enforcement Service Plan Update  This was a statutory plan and focussed on deliverables.  As Hackney compared favourably in terms of compliant percentages with the London Boroughs which submitted a return, the Committee asked if Hackney was more proactive in this area.  Gerry McCarthy said that those premises which had an inspection overdue, were aware that an inspection would happen imminently and that tended to focus them on compliance.

Trading Standards  Gerry McCarthy said that the Council had undertaken more inspections in the second quarter. Furthermore, officers used more intelligence led projects when identifying premises for inspection.  Where possible when goods were seized, items were recycled for example removing fake logos from T-shirts and donating these to charity.

In respect of product safety, Cllr Oszen said that many shopkeepers bought electrical items from wholesalers and would not know that the items were not safe.  What, if anything, could the Council do about this?  Gerry McCarthy said he would investigate.

Councillor Williams asked what specifically was unsafe about fidget spinners?  Gerry McCarthy said that this referred to the poor quality and the fact that some could be swallowed by children.

Councillor Snell asked for clarification on animal feed checks.  Gerry McCarthy said that the 29 checks had been on businesses which were registered for animal feed such as pet shops and supermarkets.

The Committee queried what was meant by unregulated credit.  Gerry McCarthy explained that this was where shopkeepers allowed customers to buy items "on tick" and kept a book detailing transactions.  However, this sort of arrangement required a formal credit agreement to be in place.  Councillor Williams said that it was important to work across all departments on this as such an arrangement may be as a result of food poverty. 

Councillor Fajana Thomas asked for clarification on the knife checks.  Gerry McCarthy said that Hackney had received a grant from the Home Office which enabled checks of premises for selling to underage children using police cadets.  Councillor Coban asked how it was decided who to prosecute.  Gerry McCarthy said that prosecution would take place when a premises had a history of offending.  His preference would be for premises to keep knives behind the counter as with fireworks rather than on open display.

Councillor Webb asked how the Council could suggest that knives were kept behind counters as this was a sensible proposal.   Councillor Williams said she would talk to Councillor Selman about this as the lead member in this area.  Councillor Ozsen suggested a wider use of amnesty boxes for knives placed in faith centres such as churches and mosques

Gerry McCarthy said that considerable work had been carried out around advertising boards and estate agents.  Councillor Stops thanked him for this and asked if the Council could target the worst offenders in this area such as those with boards along Mare Street.  The way these boards were used breached various regulations.

Councillor Fajana-Thomas led the Committee's  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Committee RESOLVED to approve the Authority Monitoring Report FY2018 as set out in Appendix 1 to the Report.

Katie Glasgow introduced the report.

Housing  The Committee asked for clarification on the definition of hotels and hostels and queried their aggregation as hostels seemed to refer to the tourist/backpacking hostel as opposed to housing hostels but it was ambiguous.  Katie Glasgow said that this could be amended to make the differentiation clear.

Councillor Hanson asked for clarification around prioritising C3 housing in the new borough wide Local Plan.  Katie Glasgow said that the Local Plan looked at population growth and needs across the borough.  In recognition of this, applicants would need to justify how their proposals met housing need in the borough.  Councillor Hanson asked for clarification on whether affordable housing could be sought on non-conventional housing.  Katie Glasgow advised that the new London Plan policies sought affordable housing on non-conventional housing as did the new Local Plan

Councillor Williams noted that the monitoring report was retrospective and asked how projections were considered.  Katie Glasgow said that the report looked at delivery to monitor how the need for hotels was being met in the borough but the pipeline was also considered.  Applicants would be asked to justify their proposals and look at other options as the need in the borough may well have been met.

Councillor McMahon asked whether tenure was captured which showed for example, conversions of larger properties into smaller flats as he was concerned about the potential loss of larger family homes.  Katie Glasgow confirmed that tenure was captured and this could be further drawn out in future reports.

Councillor Fajana-Thomas noted with some surprise the increase in retail space given many high street businesses seemed to be closing.  She also asked if there was a list of buildings on the risk register and could the Committee have sight of this.

Councillor Stops said that within Hackney, hotel need had been met so the Council was resisting new hotels.  He then asked whether the report captured information from the LLDC regarding Hackney Wick.  He also commented that Hackney managed car free developments well but the Hackney approach was different from the LLDC but their data fed through into Hackney's which skewed Hackney's figures.  It was important to separate this in terms of reporting.

Katie Glasgow said that the LLDC information did feed into Hackney's trend data and officers would see if the data could be interrogated in further detail for next year's AMR.  Councillor Snell said that this information needed to be separated out by borough as the LLDC information was an overall target and not specific to Hackney.

Councillor Chauhan asked if there was liaison between commercial and residential needs.  Katie Glasgow said that areas were designated through policy priorities.  Employment growth across the borough was a priority and there were significant office needs going forward.  Hackney however actively promoted mixed use tenures as housing was also a pressing need in the borough.

Retail and Town Centres  Councillor Coban asked for clarification on mixed use in Hackney Central and cited Hackney Walk.  He also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Committee RESOLVED to approve Councillor Clare Potter as a Member of the Planning Sub-Committee and Councillors Ajay Chauhan and Anna Lynch as substitutes for the Planning Sub-Committee.

The Committee RESOLVED to approve Councillor Clare Potter as a Member of the Planning Sub-Committee and Councillors Ajay Chauhan and Anna Lynch as substitutes for the Planning Sub-Committee.