Agenda and minutes

1.1  Following the nomination of Cllr Polly Billington to the position of Chair.  Cllr Billington was duly elected Chair of the Skills, Economy and Growth Scrutiny Commission.

1.2  Following the nomination of Cllr Clare Potter to the position of Vice-Chair.  Cllr Potter is duly elected Vice-Chair to the SEG Scrutiny Commission.

2.1  Apologies for absence from Cllr Anna Lynch and Cllr Steve Race.

2.2  Apologies for lateness from Cllr Guy Nicholson and Cllr Fliss Premru.

2.3  Virtually in attendance were:

Councillors

·  Cllr Carole Williams, Cabinet Member for Employment, Human Resource and Equalities

·  Cllr Mete Coban, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport

Officers

·  Suzanne Johnson, Head of Area Regeneration

·  Robert Offord, Area Regeneration Manager

·  Celine Mionnet, Developer & Business Engagement Manager Area Regeneration

·  Andrew Munk Head of Employment, Skills and Adult Learning

·  Aled Richard, Strategic Director Sustainability and Public Realm.

3.1  A change to the order of business.  Item 6 was taken before item 5.

4.1  No declaration of interest.

Presentation to Follow

5.1  The Chair welcomed to the meeting Suzanne Johnson, Head of Area Regeneration and Robert Offord, Area Regeneration Manager from London Borough of Hackney.  Also in attendance was Stephen Haynes, Strategic Director – Economy, Regeneration and New Homes and Celine Mionnet, Developer & Business Engagement Manager - Area Regeneration from LBH.

5.2  The Chair explained this item follows on from the Commission’s discussion last municipal year.  The Commission looked at the council’s approach to consultation and engagement with the community when developing regeneration programmes. 

5.3  The Chair highlighted this item is to understand how the contract award reflects the insight drawn from the consultation programme.

5.4  The Head of Area Regeneration commenced the presentation and made the main points below.

5.4.1  The officer recapped on the questions asked by the Commission sent in advance.

Question 1: How will the contract meet and reflect the criteria and ambitions of the council for Hackney Town Centre Regeneration?

Question 2: How the consultation and engagement related to Hackney Central will be reflected in the contract - balancing the needs and interest of the council, local residents and businesses?

5.4.2  This relates to the pending cabinet procurement and insourcing committee report to appoint the lead architect for the Hackney Central and Dalston town centre site programme.

5.4.3  In September 2020, the Council’s Cabinet agreed to commission a development feasibility studies for some Council owned sites in Dalston and Hackney Central.

5.4.4  The town centre sites programme (TCS) consists of nine sites mainly in Council ownership.  Four are in Hackney Central and five are in Dalston.

5.4.5  Following Cabinet’s approval in 2020 the team commenced the process to appoint a lead architect and design team to complete the feasibility study.  This process commenced in 2021.

5.4.6  The report recommending the preferred architect and design team will be considered by CPIC in the coming weeks.

5.4.7  The programme is at a very early stage, with initial site feasibility work due to commence in summer 2022, subject to the contract award.

5.4.8  The feasibility work is looking at the individual sites and constraints in the context of opportunities and coming up with some high-level design options for the sites.

5.4.9  The feasibility studies will establish if different and/or new uses can be located on the sites (identified in the Local Plan) to support and strengthen our town centres, deliver new homes, jobs, workspace and other uses, and deliver income to the Council to support Council service delivery in the future. 

5.4.10  This will consider how they can achieve wider objectives in terms of new homes, jobs, improved town centres and look at financial opportunities for the council.

5.4.11  The key policies and plans that support the approach and foundation for this work are:

·  Hackney Community Strategy (new homes, affordable workspace, sustainable transport, inclusive economy)

·  Inclusive Economy Strategy (supporting town centres and businesses, creating workspace and jobs)

·  London Plan (this mentions Hackney Central and Dalston as areas for regeneration in London and Major Town Centres)

·  Local Plan (Borough  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1  The Chair welcomed to the meeting Cllr Guy Nicholson, Deputy Mayor for Housing Supply, Planning, Culture and Inclusive Economy, Cllr Carole Williams, Cabinet Member for Employment, Human Resource and Equalities and Cllr Mete Coban, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport.  Also in attendance was Aled Richards Strategic Director Sustainability and Public Realm and Stephen Haynes Strategic Director Economy, Regeneration and New Homes from LBH.

6.2  The Chair outlined the request from the Commission to the Cabinet Member in attendance.  In summary the Commission was asking for an overview of their high-level plans and commitments over the next administration (4 years).  In the areas of:

·  Supporting Hackney to recover

·  A green deal for Hackney

·  Thriving high streets and neighbourhoods.

6.3  The Chair recapped on the remit of the Skills, Economy and Growth Scrutiny Commission.  The Commission’s remit covers employment and skills (including adult learning), effects of macro-economic change, infrastructure developments for transport, licensing for residents and businesses, planning for businesses, large scale schemes and economic regeneration, libraries, and voluntary and community sector.

6.4  The Chair explained this discussion would provide the foundation of the scrutiny commission’s monitoring and continued dialogue with SEG in relation to moving from a manifesto pledge to service delivery.

6.5  The Chair asked the Cabinet Members to outlined what pledges were made and why.  Also, the plans for implementation for the commitments.

6.6  The first Cabinet Member was Cllr Williams Cabinet Member for Employment, Human Resource and Equalities.  Cllr Williams made the following main points:

6.6.1  The Cabinet Member explained there are several manifesto commitments in her portfolio.  The Cabinet Member explained in the last administration significant progress was made in relation to the employment and skills agenda.  The aim is to continue to deliver good opportunities for Hackney residents in relation to employment and skills.  The Cabinet Member highlighted in addition to the work they have achieved there is more work to be done and further areas of work they will need to progress.

6.6.2  In relation to the manifesto commitment related to building wealth and creating opportunities to enable residents to be the first to benefit as the economy reopens and recovers.  The Cabinet Member informed they have a good foundation to build on.  They have an Inclusive Economy Strategy and the Hackney Works Team who continue to adapt to the current working environment and challenges as a result of the pandemic.  They have extended meeting and training spaces at the 3 opportunity hubs in addition to adding new IT facilities.  There has also been a roll out of adult skills assessments at the hubs.

6.6.3  The Cabinet Member highlighted working alongside the Mayor they have met with Ukraine guests under the ‘Home for Ukraine scheme’ to speak to them and their hosts about the challenges they are facing and their support needs.  As part of the Home for Ukraine scheme officers have been doing work to consider how they can support Ukraine refugees.  Particularly in relation to acquiring English language skills.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.1  The Chair referred to draft minutes of the meeting on 9^th March 2022 on pages 13-37 and asked Members to approve the minutes.

7.2  Cllr Smyth referred to the point on page 35 of the minutes about recyclable glasses in licensing.  Cllr Smyth asked if officers could provide clarification about the re useability of glasses.

The Chair agreed to record it as an action for update to SEG.

7.3  Cllr Smyth referred to page 36 the question about anaerobic digestion in relation to food waste and for venues and licensing.  Referring to the Strategic Director for Sustainability and Public Realm response stating that the cost implications could be explored in relation to Hackney Light and Power.  Cllr Smyth asked for this to be recorded as an action and for a response to come back to the commission detailing the findings from the exploration.

The Chair agreed to record it as an action for update to SEG.

7.4  Members agreed the minutes subject to the amendments and new action above.

8.1  The Chair referred Members to the documents in the agenda particularly the remit of the commission and asked Members for their suggested priorities for the work programme in the municipal year 2022/2023.

8.2  The Chair reminded Members they were prioritising topics for a review and/or one-off discussion.

8.3  Cllr Smyth suggested the Commission explores ideas around circular economy as suggested by the Cabinet Member.

8.4  Cllr Smyth also suggested the commission reviewed the bus cuts and changes by TfL to Hackney’s bus network.

In response the Chair agreed and informed this would be a discussion with TfL not the Council.  The Chair also observed that this item is likely to be time sensitive and asked the scrutiny officer to confirm the timescales.

8.5  Cllr Turbet-Delof made the following suggestions:

·  Cycle equality.

·  Empty spaces and micro businesses.  Using it for entrepreneurial projects.  This could look at giving access to units not in use to find ways to support micro businesses with short term space.

8.6  Cllr Potter referred to the skills for retrofit skills and the market for businesses was still being explored.  Cllr Potter suggested the commission had a session on green skills to build on their previous work.

8.7  Chair expressed an interest in looking at neighbourhoods and the green economy.

8.8  Cllr Smyth referred to the Councillors taskforce looking at the future of libraries.  Cllr Smyth suggested SEG reviews the recommendations made and considers the progress by the council on the recommendations from the taskforce.

8.9  The Chair suggested progressing a point made by Cllr Premru in the earlier discussions about having access to affordable and culturally appropriate food within a 15-minute neighbourhood.  The Chair commented Hackney has markets which are a source of help to residents.  But also, an area of great deprivation caused by lack of connectivity.  The Chair suggested they could consider how they could add value to national policy.

8.10  In relation to the above point Cllr Premru suggested looking at school’s kitchens and Hackney’s enterprises.  This could require more training, upscaling or repurposing to tackle the problem. 

8.11  In the discussion Members talked about focusing their enquiry on job creation and where the council can provide a service to support local businesses to provide the service themselves to the community.

8.12  Cllr Turbet-Delof commented that access to transport is an issue and having access to bikes would help.  In the discussion it was noted that more people will be struggling due to the cost-of-living crisis so Members suggested looking at reducing the cost.  In the discussion Members talked about widening this out to a look at connectivity and how people access work etc.  Considering affordable connectivity options. 

8.13  The Chair also suggested to consider looking at digital connectivity in terms the challenges some parts of the community face with broadband.

8.14  The Overview and scrutiny officer recapped on the Commission’s request for the next meeting in July 2022.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.1  None.