Agenda and minutes

1.1 Councillor Gordon was duly elected as Chair for the 2022/23 municipal year.

1.2 The position of Vice-Chair was reserved for the majority opposition party. The position had not been filled by the opposition party and therefore remained vacant.

2.1 The Chair updated those in attendance on the meeting etiquette and that the meeting was being recorded and livestreamed.

2.2 Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Billington, Councillor Potter and Councillor Joseph.

2.3 Apologies were also received from Councillor Maxwell, Mayoral Advisor for Older People.

2.4 Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Hayhurst.

2.5 Councillor Adejare was in virtual attendance.

3.1 There were no urgent items, and the order of business was as set out in the agenda.

4.1 There were no declarations of interest.

5.1 The Chair opened the item by explaining that it would look at the implementation of the Ageing Well Strategy to achieve the Council’s broader objectives and aspirations to support residents to grow old in Hackney.

5.2 Attending for this item was:

·  Councillor Chris Kennedy, Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care, Voluntary Sector and Culture

·  Sonia Khan, Head of Policy and Strategic Delivery 

5.3 The Chair invited the Head of Policy and Strategic Delivery to give a short verbal presentation to compliment the reports received and included in the agenda pack. The main points from the presentation are outlined below.

5.4 It was explained that the commitment to being an age friendly borough was made in the last administration’s manifesto, and it represented an opportunity to understand and respond to the needs and interests of older people.

5.5 The strategy aimed to ensure that council services, policies and practices were age friendly, to create a culture shift in how older people were perceived and supported and influence partners and the community and voluntary sector to support the shared vision.

5.6 In producing the strategy, the Council took stock of local data and national and international research about older people, before holding informal focus groups exploring what it meant to grow old in Hackney.

5.7 The Council recruited trained older peer facilitators through HCSV Connect Hackney to codesign the consultation and engagement with older population in Hackney. Stakeholder engagement also took place with services being asked how they felt they could adapt and change based on the findings of the consultation.

5.8 Stakeholders and the peer facilitators came together to produce the recommendations following the consultation and engagement, and the peer facilitators led on the drafting of the strategy.

5.9 A roundtable was then held with umbrella older people’s groups to discuss the draft strategy, and a formal online and offline consultation was held from September - October 2020. The strategy was adopted by Cabinet in December 2020.

5.10 There were a number of priority areas for ageing well in Hackney, and a number of conditions that needed to be put in place in order to meet those priority areas and make the strategy successful.

5.11 This included ensuring that older people were involved proactively in the delivery of the strategy, not only in terms of monitoring and oversight but also in the co-design and co-creation of programme activity, and ensuring that opportunities for better joined-up working between services were actively explored.

5.12 Some of the key achievements so far were outlined. This included Hackney joining the UK network of age-friendly communities, joining the World Health Organisation's global network of age-friendly cities and continued co-production with stakeholders and older people through working groups themed around the six priority areas.

5.13 There had been challenges in progressing officer level governance of the strategy due to the pandemic, resource constraints and the refugee crisis but it was a priority to establish and progress the strategy by the autumn.

5.14 The main focus  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.1 The Chair opened the item by explaining that it was a fixed item on the agenda which enabled Members to retain oversight of the Council’s overall budget. Two reports were provided for review:

·  Overall Financial Position July 2021

·  Capital Report July 2021

6.2 Attending for this item was:

·  Jackie Moylan, Director of Financial Management

6.3 The Chair invited the Director of Financial Management to give a short verbal presentation to compliment the reports received and included in the agenda pack. The main points from the presentation are outlined below.

6.4 The first forecast of 2022/23 would be presented on 18th July 2022 which forecasted a £7.4 million overspend.

6.5 The impact of inflation was seen particularly on services with significant energy, fuel and contract costs, for example Environment Operations, SEN transport and inflationary pressures for care providers. Further pressures were also expected in respect of pay negotiations.

6.6 Adult Social Care and Children and Young People’s directorates remained a pressure, although some reduction in high cost residential placements in Children’s and Young People’s was welcomed. Pressures were also assumed in areas such as commercial rent where wider economic conditions may impact on ability to pay.

6.7 The cyber attack remained a significant cost, although that was being offset by provisions set aside as part of the 2022/23 budget set and reverse set aside as part of the 2021/22 closing process.

6.8 Services were working with finance to offset service pressures as far as possible, and in the previous financial year the Council managed to bring overspend down from £7.3 million in August to £4.6 million.

6.9 The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was forecast to come in within budget even though operating expenditure was forecasting an overspend of £5.7 million.

6.10 This overspend was being offset by a reduction in the forecast Revenue Contribution to Capital, which was possible due to the delay in the procurement of building maintenance contracts.

6.11 The main areas of overspend were in:

·  Reactive repairs - due to the need to deal with backlogs largely driven by the pandemic & delay in procurement of building maintenance contractors.

·  An increase in utilities costs, estate cleaning and lift servicing and repairs.

·  A forecast increase in bad & doubtful debts.

·  Costs of Council Tax & business rates on void properties.

6.12 The Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP) for the General Fund indicated a budget gap of between £14 million & £29 million for next year. Assumptions behind these figures were being updated.

6.13 The HRA Business Plan expected to find savings of £1.6 million for the next four years reducing down to £1 million per year for the following three years.

6.14 At the last Scrutiny Panel meeting some of the risks associated with these figures were highlighted, for example around inflation, Fair Funding, recovery from the cyber attack and increasing demand.

6.15 Since these plans were drafted the economic position has worsened not least the increasing inflationary pressures now at 9.1% with forecasts at greater than 10% for later in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

7.1 The minutes of the previous meeting held on 7th February 2022 would follow in the next meeting agenda.

8.1 The item would cover the work programmes of the Scrutiny Panel and the individual Scrutiny Commissions for the 2022/23 municipal year.

8.2 The work programmes of the respective Scrutiny Commissions were currently in development and in the process of being agreed and finalised.

8.3 The Chair invited each Scrutiny Commission Chair to give a brief update on the development of their work programmes.

8.4 Councillor Hayhurst, Chair of the Health in Hackney Scrutiny Commission, outlined the progress of the Commission’s work programming process thus far and potential issues it was looking to explore.

8.5 The Commission would likely look at the following issues amongst others:

·  North East London’s Integrated Care System arrangements

·  The future of GP services in Hackney

·  Tackling the surge in demand for mental health services by children and young adults

·  Tackling health inequalities - Air Quality Action Plan, Deprivation of Liberty Safeguards, Marmot 10 years on

8.6 Councillor Conway, Chair of the Children and Young People Scrutiny Commission, outlined the progress of the Commission’s work programming process thus far and potential issues it was looking to explore.

8.7 The Commission would likely look at the following issues amongst others:

·  Behaviour management in schools

·  Race, racism and children's social care

·  Update of education, health and care plans and demographic analysis

·  SEND Restructure and Better Value Review

·  Children missing education following the pandemic

8.9 Councillor Adejare, Chair of the Living in Hackney Scrutiny Commission, outlined the progress of the Commission’s work programming process thus far and potential issues it was looking to explore.

8.10 The Commission would likely look at the following issues amongst others:

·  Building affordable and accessible homes in Hackney

·  Policing of drugs in Hackney

·  Neighbourhood housing office closures

·  Equality, diversity and inclusion in arts & culture sector 

8.11 The Chair and Vice-Chair of the Skills, Economy and Growth Scrutiny Commission had sent their apologies for the meeting.

8.12 Councillor Gordon, Chair of the Scrutiny Panel, outlined the items that were currently scheduled for discussion in upcoming Scrutiny Panel meetings as set out below.

October 2022

Chief Executive Question Time

Finance Update

Annual Complaints and Member Enquiries Report

February 2023

Mayor’s Cabinet Question Time

April 2023

Finance Update

8.13 The Panel would likely also consider the following cross-cutting issues for its work programme:

·  Climate Action Plan

·  Cost of living crisis

·  Anti-racism

8.14 The Chair then invited Panel Members to make any comments or suggestions for the 2022/23 Scrutiny Panel work programme.

8.15 Any suggestions from Panel Members this evening, as well as suggestions made in the public survey, by officers and by Cabinet Members would be collated into a shortlist and presented at the next meeting for agreement.

8.16 A Panel Member supported the suggestion to look at the Climate Action Plan but felt that it would need to be reviewed at the next meeting in order to add value before the consultation process began in the autumn.

8.17 A Panel Member supported the suggestion to look at the Council’s anti-racism work in a broader,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

9.1 None.