Agenda item

5.1  The Chair welcomed the Elected Mayor of Hackney, Mayor Phillip Glanville to the meeting.

 

5.2  The Cabinet Question Time with the Elected Mayor of Hackney covered the following areas:

1.  Devolution and Policy – local government requests to the newly elected government formed in December 2019.

2.  Brexit – The Council’s preparation for exit from the European Union

3.  Climate change – the Council’s response to the climate emergency and how it is being co-ordinated and monitored

4.  Organisational Development – Update on the Council’s work in response to the harassment and bully claims within the workforce.

 

 

5.3  In reference to the questions above the main points from Mayor Glanville’s opening statement were noted to be.

 

5.3.1  In relation Devolution and Policy this work covers an enhanced public affairs piece of work looking at the Queens speech and thinking about the impact the new legislative programme will have on the borough.  The council identified 11 priority bills they will focus on such as EU withdrawal, building safety, fire safety, NHS funding, NHS long term plans, and Wind rush compensation and expenditure bills.  This work is being led by the Mayor and Cabinet Office in the council conjunction with officers from across the council working in partnership with London Councils and Local Government Association.

 

5.3.2  The overarching priority is securing a funding settlements for local government.  This follows local government experiencing a loss of approximately half of the local government grant income.  Mayor Glanville highlighted this amounts to a £520 loss per Hackney resident.  This is in addition to the costs pressures across the council s(social care, homelessness and no recourse to public funds) which exacerbate these challenges.  The key priority for the Mayor is lobbying on these issues.  The Council’s aim with its lobbying on the fairer funding review is to ensure they secure the best possible deal for Hackney.

 

5.3.3  Mayor Glanville pointed out the housing crisis was absent from the Queens speech.  Local Government had hoped there might be some propose changes in relation to the type of home ownership but the housing crisis remains a key challenge for the council.

 

5.3.4  In relation to Hackney’s request to local government they are lobbying for investment in social and council housing.  It was pointed out any reversion to that funding back into home ownership products would be a backward step.  The Mayor of Hackney acknowledged the Mayor of London has secured some funding for councils and affordable housing and that the work to date was good.

 

5.3.5  Mayor Glanville highlighted specific local concerns in relation to the Government’s consultation on right to buy.  The Council is fearful of any redefinition of affordable housing and the impacts.  In regards to welfare reform there is concern about the LHA caps challenges and the private rented sector continues to pose challenges too.  Although it was acknowledged there has been progress in this area in relation to the new renters’ rights bills on affordability and sustainability, Hackney’s view is these changes do not go far enough.

 

5.3.6  In relation to the Council’s work on climate change.  They have lobbied in connection with the Environment Bill.  Mayor Glanville highlighted he had attended the Parliamentary Select Committee’s review on waste reduction and recycling.  Mayor Glanville highlighted the Environment Bill appears to dilute the approach Hackney would like to see around the response to climate emergency.  As Britain leaves the EU there will be questions about the regulatory framework.

 

5.3.7  Following confirmation that Britain has now left the EU.  The council has 3 key priorities 1) leadership in relation to citizens’ rights and the values that under pin hackney.  Mayor Glanville pointed out Hackney values its EU residents and will continue to advocate for them, their rights and immigration controls.  The Hackney Life publication also provides updates to all residents about the position for citizens and the settled status scheme.

 

5.3.8  In relation to emergency planning, gold groups and coordination groups post Brexit remain in place within the council.  The position is not as stark as previously feared.  Questions remain around workforce, food supply, procurement and emergency planning but currently stand at a reduced status of emergency.  There are still significant challenges as they approach the end of the Brexit transition period.  However if in 12 months’ time the challenges they have talked about remain unresolved then the effects of this will have an impact on Hackney.  The Council continues to monitor the situation.

 

5.3.9  In terms of direct funding from the EU for the Council and local projects, within Hackney this is quite limited.  There was social funding going to third sector organisations.  Historically funding was drawn for some of the council’s social work.  The Hackney Works predecessor previously drew heavily on this source of social funding but currently not the case. 

 

5.3.10  There is shared concern about London being able to access the new shared prosperity funding pot.  Further thought will be given to how that funding is distributed to London.

 

5.3.11  In reference to climate change there are other places that have gone for strategy first and action later.  In Hackney they have opted for the reverse.  In terms of the council response to the motion and climate emergency.  The Mayor advised the council is proposing to provide an annual update about their work on the climate change emergency declaration made in June 2019. 

 

5.3.12  A decision was taken not to proceed with this years planned citizens assembly (this was cancelled due to purdah for the general election).  The next citizens assembly will be during the sustainability weekend.  This gives the council time to review how citizen’s assemblies are working across the country and take on board best practice.

 

5.3.13  In relation to the update on organisational development with regards to the harassment and bullying claims.  Mayor Glanville pointed out the council took the allegations seriously and for individual cases have reached a conclusion.  This process has highlighted some areas of learning that will enable them to address some of the challenges they face in their workforce and organisational development plan.  Following feedback taken from a number of sources (trade unions and the staff survey, political leadership and senior officers across the organisation) the Council has made a commitment to inclusive leadership.

 

5.3.14  In reference to the housing contact centre there has been continuous engagement from the Acting Group Director and the Housing Transformation Team.  The council is moving towards permanent recruitment and addressing some of the issues raised in the review.  The Council is keeping the trade unions up to date on the work and progress. 

 

5.3.15  The Council is commitment to its workforce development programme.  Its objectives are aimed at more insourcing of services, reducing the use of temporary staff, compulsory training for management around equalities, harassment and bully and making sure they are in constant communication with the workforce about these principles.  This was a strong theme in the Chief Executive’s roadshow this year.  Every member of staff attend these sessions.  The Council is also doing some work locally aimed at recruitment which promotes an inclusive approach.  This will be rolled out.

 

5.4  Questions Answers and Discussion

 

(i)  Members referred to the update on climate change and the short term measures being put in place to respond and achieving a just transition.  Members asked how the council will link it its work with the economy and how the council can support a just transition for workforce and/or jobs that do not translate into a sustainable greener economy. 

 

(ii)  Members pointed out this work spans across more than one cabinet member.  How will the cabinet members link their cabinet portfolio areas together for this topic and create greener jobs?

 

(iii)  Members referred to the action first and strategy approach and commented the council has a climate emergency narrative and is communicating what they are doing.  Member commented the council has set a target of achieving net zero earlier than the Government’s target but this is a science based target Members pointed out benchmarking and monitoring is important too to demonstrate effectiveness of the work.  The government’s target is science based Members were interested in understanding how the council will use a science based target without a trajectory of benchmarking and monitoring.  Members enquired if the council had any support with regards to effective monitoring and benching of the council’s actions in relation to climate change?  Members also asked what support has there been from central government for this work and has there any recognition from central government about a borough’s role in meeting the net zero target? 

 

(iv)  Members referred to the Audit Committee’s work in relation to the target and identifying the key tasks to achieve carbon neutral.  Members enquired about the council’s plans to achieve its target in 2040 and if this would involve investment and culture change to achieve the long term target.

 

In response to the questions above the Mayor Glanville informed the Panel:

 

The Council’s is one of the sector leaders for local place and local government.  Hackney’s aim is to take the very best of science and innovation to deliver on achieving the target.  The Council’s work aims to go beyond the set standard, whether that relates to trees, energy switching or its ambitions related to EV. 

 

In reference to greener jobs the Council is working through the ZEN network and their sustainable transport work to embed the principles of just transition.  The council was aware of the tighter regulations being proposed for transport and pollution and started a dialogue with Hackney’s small businesses (these make up the vast majority to local businesses in the borough).  This work helped to create leadership and peer to peer networks to help businesses to transition.  Through their work in Shoreditch, Hackney has obtained access to the first roll out of zero emissions fleet for large corporate organisations to deliver to Hackney businesses.  This has provided some learning to all businesses from the pilot work.

 

The council needs to ensure its work with business and around employment takes on board these principles as they move into new areas around climate change.  There will be a challenge not to train people for jobs that will not exist in the future. 

 

The Council is exploring solutions for heating that moves us away from large scale combined heat/power system powered by gas for future home developments.  Mayor Glanville highlighted there are challenges with looking to use a system that does not have proven technology and how this can work for the council.  This requires ensuring they have the correct workforce and skills.  Their work will have to involve making sure training is available within a devolved skills system in London.  The Council is feeding in their views at both a regional and sub regional level.  They will also look at how they create a network of Hackney businesses to respond to this agenda.

 

The Council does not have a clear picture of the new jobs.  But from their experience of rolling out photovoltaic (PV) at Bannister House they propose to train local residents to be involved in the work.  In the past the council has used local social enterprises in relation to education on the use of energy.

 

This immediate work will evolve into a strategy.  The Council is aware it needs a clear baseline for measuring this area of work in terms of demonstrating impact, spend and monitoring the carbon saved.  Any strategy being developed will have the core principles around sustainability embedded alongside revisions made to local plans and policies. 

 

The council is developing an energy strategy to look at the impact of the council’s energy use across all the functions.  This is critical to driving down the council’s energy use to make it greener and more efficient.  The council will also conduct carbon budgeting by department in order to drive forward culture change to reduce energy and carbon impact.

 

Better reporting is starting but this will need some financial infrastructure and will be reliant on individual departments recognising this is the direction of travel.

 

The council is also doing some work with citizens to create opportunities for people to feel involved.  The council does not want to just pass a motion but look at how citizens can be actively and practically involved.  E.g. through activities like tree planting.

 

Mayor Glanville explained highlighted progression could be made through small work.  An example of this was the Council’s work on plastics with the half marathon and ongoing work with their markets team to reduce plastics and waste.

 

Mayor Glanville confirmed there had been very little support from Government or national leadership on the role of local government in this agenda.

 

(v)  In relation to Brexit Members referred to the Government announcing their plans to move further away from EU standards.  Members enquired how this will effect Hackney and asked how the council would remain a pro EU borough to ensure its EU residents feel welcomed and supported in obtaining permanent residency?

 

(vi)  In relation to devolution Members pointed out following the general election the government announced it was planning to reward the North for Brexit support.  The suspicion is that this funding will come from areas like London.  How can the borough protect its self from potential disadvantage?

 

(vii)  Members asked for more detail about the Council’s work on citizen’s assemblies and how they are capturing more local voices?  Members also asked what the council could do to make greening on existing council estates easier?

 

(viii)  Members enquired about the impact of Brexit on funding for Hackney Council?

 

(ix)  Members referred to antisocial behaviour and robbery across the borough and asked how the council can reassure their residents and assist with confidence building among residents?

 

In response to the questions above the Mayor Glanville informed the Panel:

 

In his view there is a mixed picture about the rewarding for support.  There is a continuation of the Osborne northern power house agenda around infrastructure and that can have an impact on London in terms of the investment into Crossrail 2 and entries into London via HS2.  In a rhetorical question he asked will London receive further funding for transport infrastructure for TfL?  He explained London does not have day to day subsidy for its public transport system.  Access to the public transport system in London - when considering frequency of access to services - compared to other parts of the UK is good.  However, there are still hot spots and poorly served areas in London that need to be advocated for like Kings Park Ward in Hackney.

 

In terms of funding and changes to the funding there are challenges.  The Council is expecting to lose out on areas like deprivation.  It is anticipated there will be movement towards rurality in the funding formula and this would have an impact on Hackney.  The LGA demonstrated some figures in relation to social care recently that showed there would be continued cuts to many of the red war towns and cities.  Therefore in relation to funding and potential cuts it was not clear where it will end up.  The Council will continue to lobby for London and Hackney Council’s settlement within the funding formula. 

 

Regulatory alignment is important but there has also been a values driven alignment around environmental and agricultural standards and things the public care about.  Mayor Glanville expressed he would be concerned if there a move towards lowering these standards and a fall away from regulatory alignment.  There does seem to be some query about this now but this is a question for the Government.  Government will need to demonstrate how serious they are about maintaining standards in relation to regulation about the environment.  In terms of practical regulatory alignment locally this would be in the area of procurement and supply chain.

 

In relation to being an open space this will be determined by the immigration system implemented by the Government and keeping up the support to help residents to get settled status.  The council aims to ensure there is no cliff edge for the most vulnerable residents.  However, there is still some risk for people who do not have a full set of documents or cannot articulate themselves through the system.

 

In terms of Brexit and funding there are small pockets of funding that are part of consortiums of VCS organisation.  There is no significant level of funding that is of immediate concern or that effects the delivery of projects from loss of funding.  Many of the projects that do get funding the government has pledge to keep the funding going.  Access to the shared prosperity fund will be key and this depends on how it is constructed and what proportion will be made available for London as well as sub regional distribution.

 

In terms of settled status Hackney has 14,000 EU nationals.  The Council gets quarterly updates.  The next set is due this month.

 

With regards to resident engagement there are a number of methodologies for citizens’ assemblies such as reporting back mechanisms, involvement in co-producing solutions and leadership.  If the Council was to conduct this work now it is likely to be some form of reporting back type process.  Ideally the Council would like to have a process that looks at the year’s work and also provides some challenge to go further and co-produce solutions. 

 

In terms of relationships Mayor Glanville explained the Council will not always agree with all campaigns and activist.  However in his view the council does have good relationships with all campaign groups and openness and transparency in the councils work.  The Council is willing to consider new ideas and challenges.  It is important to take these ideas into a citizen model.  The Mayor expressed an interest in the jury type model which is based on a representative demography of residents to look at an issue.  Mayor Glanville highlighted to get true ‘Just Transition’ you will need to involve people who are supportive as well as sceptical.

 

There is scope in scaling up VCS and volunteering to bolster the work of the council in their green infrastructure work.  This will not take away paid roles within the council but aims to train up people so there is capacity to address the challenge e.g. mentoring and peer to peer support. 

 

In terms of recycling on estates the council obtained some significant learning from their pilots on estates.  They learned that closing shoots helped.  It was pointed out shoots are difficult to maintain and allow people to forget about their deposit.  The design of estates will be a key factor and needs to take into consideration people who cannot transport their waste around, either through disability, health or age.  The council is exploring the next phase of recycling on estates and highlighted the cost for this is significant but it does deliver results.  An example of this was the rubbish reconfiguration on St Johns Estate in Hoxton West.  This work needs to continue and investment but key will be winning hearts and minds of people to achieve it.  This work led to higher rates of recycling, better estate environment and lower ongoing revenue costs.  It was pointed out the council is still committed to comprehensive waste service for their estates and properties above shops.  As the council moves to fortnightly collection it will be key to reassure residents they are aware of density and the challenges with living in density where you do not have places to store waste like street properties.

 

In relation to community safety the Council has had some intensive discussions with the Police.  There has been ongoing work around school safety in response to the awful muggings that have been taking place.  Particularly around Stoke Newington School and Clissold Park.  The Council has taken a community leadership role in ensuring parents have information on how to keep young people safe.  The Mayor emphasised that young people are more likely to be victims than perpetrators.  The community safety response is aimed at ensuring children are safe.  In relation to this the Council is looking at the safe haven model for the community businesses and public infrastructure.  This will enable a young person who feels unsafe to enter these businesses.  This is being explored with the Police.  The Police have put in place safe routes resources to ensure they are policing school drop off and pick up and the routes young people are taking to school.

 

Hackney will see an increase in police numbers over the next year.  The Borough Commander is working out where he will deploy the additional police resource paid for by the Mayor of London.  To the Mayor’s knowledge the local priorities for policing are: schools, neighbourhood policing, reducing violence and the night time economy.

 

In relation to hate crime the Borough Commander is also keen to develop a resource to tackle the rise in hate crime reported recently.  The Council is supporting this work through its Community Safety Team, the work that Young Hackney does, contextual safeguarding on trusted relationships and CCTV investment.  They continue to work in partnership.

 

(x)  Members referred to the devolution of health and the possible merger next year to a single CCG across 7 boroughs.  Members pointed out this could lead to a loss of accountability and funding.  One possibility discussed to counteract this is to have an agreement that keeps Hackney funding in Hackney.  Members enquired how likely would it be for Hackney to retain an accountable CCG and Hackney’s health money in the borough?

 

(xi)  Members referred to the work of the Audit Committee on the SEND budget and agency staff.  The Council’s targets for both areas of work were referred to and highlighted that for both areas challenges remain.  Members referred to the SEND budget and the gap the Council is facing despite an extra funding commitment from Government.  Members enquired how this will be taken forward?  In relation to agency staff Members referred to the ambitious targets for each department.  Members enquired about the targets for the reduction of agency staff?

 

(xii)  Members referred to high streets and challenges with rate increases and the impact this is having on local SMEs and the demise of Hackney Walk due the challenges retail is facing.  Member enquired about the Council’s support to SMEs and how the Council is protecting Hackney’s high streets from demise?

 

In response to the questions above Mayor Glanville informed the Panel:

 

The Health in Hackney Scrutiny Commission was scheduled to receive an update in relation to the plans for the CCG.  The Mayor of Hackney expressed concern about the NHS halting the public engagement about the long term plan and future structures of the STP regions (due to purdah) and proceeding with the sign-off deadline for the plan as originally scheduled and not restarting the consultation.  Mayor Glanville highlighted the Hackney CCG worked well and was one of the best in the country.  There are parts of London where the CCG has not worked well and the demise of those CCGs may not be missed, therefore those areas may welcome a different approach.  Hackney is pleased that it’s lobbying and the strength of Hackney’s health system has helped to keep it as a standalone system within the STP currently.  If the 3 systems are finally merged the level of governance, freedom, financial resources available at our system level will be critical.

 

The Council continues its work to embed the 4 integrated commissioning work streams. Embedding the neighbourhood model, looking at more preventive work and ensuring that they do more with the community and the third sector.  The average person does not appear to see any of the operational changes and neither does it appear to be effecting the services they receive.  The key aim is for Hackney is to get a commitment that works locally.

 

On SEND and agency staffing, he did not have that information available at the meeting however the Mayor pointed out there is a manifesto commitment to reduce the use of agency staff.  The Council anticipates having data available shortly that will give them information about the hard targets by service areas and directorate to look at the reductions of agency spend in a structured way.  The Mayor pointed out there will be areas experiencing pressure but the commitment is absolute and part of the Council’s Workface Strategy.

 

On high streets there is a growing trend that is common to retail across the country.  In his view Hackney’s high streets are more resilient than other areas.  The resilience’s that underpins the local high streets revolves around people walking, cycling or taking public transport to their local high street.  They see that services are often independent, culturally specific and highly valued.  That is different from high streets that are suffering from the increase of out of town retail and the squeeze of online shopping.  Mayor Glanville also pointed out Hackney’s markets are doing well too.  However, universal pressures on business rates still impacts the boroughs local town centres.  The introduction of exceptions, particularly for small businesses, has been welcomed.  Although it was pointed out local businesses are still dealing with the consequences from the previous business rates review and a new business rates evaluation is due shortly.  The Mayor of London and Hackney borough have expressed to Government that a full review of business rates is needed.  There is still uncertainty for the Council about the level of funding that will come from business rates for the Council’s budget.

 

If there is a move towards 100% business rates for council’s budgets and a move away from grant top ups.  The questions will not just be about how viable the high streets are but also about the viability of the council’s budget.  It was pointed out generally London does badly when it comes to receipt of funding from government funding pots.  Noting that either, London is not able to apply or they have done badly in the level of funding allocated.  This is an area London boroughs and the Mayor of London will need to continue lobbying on. 

 

In terms of the units on Morning Lane (Hackney Walk) this has its third set of owners.  The Council is engaging with the new owners and communicating their desires and the principles Hackney Council wishes to see.  One of the challenges is the original agreement in place with the Arch Company (previously network rail) such as no food and beverage companies.  The Council’s town centre team is in dialogue with them to look at the possibility of getting a different range of businesses in those spaces.  Mayor Glanville advised he has had positive conversations with the business owner and they have a commitment to investment as well as a broad portfolio.  The council has communicated their desires in terms of the planning policies and the council’s aspirations to ensure their town centres are not one dimensional.  In terms of planning policy all the Council’s high streets are protected through Article 4 which the Council implemented.