The Leader of the Council opened the meeting and thanked those in attendance.

The Leader spoke to thank Louise Round, Managing Director South London Legal Partnership at her last meeting of Cabinet for her work and Cabinet Members spoke to express their thanks to Louise.

No apologies were received from members.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 June 2023 are agreed as an accurate record.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the ongoing Review of the Building Control Service to make it fit for purpose.

B. That Cabinet approved an increase to Building Control Fees as set out in the report and detailed in the Appendix.

C. That Cabinet noted the current position with regard to legislative changes affecting the Building Control Service, following the outcome of the investigation into Grenfell and Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety.

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Sustainable Development presented the report noting that fees had not been increased for the service for four years and it was necessary to increase them to ensure they covered the costs of the service and became in line with other London Boroughs. The fees would be reviewed annually in April.

A review of the service had been undertaken with a draft structure devised which would include two trainees for three years at no cost to the Council.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the ongoing Review of the Building Control Service to make it fit for purpose.

B. That Cabinet approved an increase to Building Control Fees as set out in the report and detailed in the Appendix.

C. That Cabinet noted the current position with regard to legislative changes affecting the Building Control Service, following the outcome of the investigation into Grenfell and Dame Judith Hackitt’s Independent Review of Building Regulations and Fire Safety.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet

1. Approved the proposed approach to launching and administering Merton’s new Community Climate Action Fund alongside Merton’s Civic Pride Fund – Investing in Neighbourhoods.

2. Approved the amended assessment criterion B set out at para 2.13 for Merton Civic Pride Fund – Investing in Neighbourhoods so that it refers to the Council Plan – “Building a Better Merton Together” which confirms the context for the council’s strategic objectives.

3. Approved the proposed criteria for Merton’s new Community Climate Action Fund. 4. Noted the new prioritisation guidance for both funds, as well as the additional information requirements for projects which have already received council funding.

5. Approved the proposed timetable set out in Section 5 of the report.

The Cabinet Member for Local Environment, Greenspaces and Climate presented the report and provided an overview of the recommendations.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet

1. Approved the proposed approach to launching and administering Merton’s new Community Climate Action Fund alongside Merton’s Civic Pride Fund – Investing in Neighbourhoods.

2. Approved the amended assessment criterion B set out at para 2.13 for Merton Civic Pride Fund – Investing in Neighbourhoods so that it refers to the Council Plan – “Building a Better Merton Together” which confirms the context for the council’s strategic objectives.

3. Approved the proposed criteria for Merton’s new Community Climate Action Fund. 4. Noted the new prioritisation guidance for both funds, as well as the additional information requirements for projects which have already received council funding.

5. Approved the proposed timetable set out in Section 5 of the report.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the progress made with establishing Merton’s libraries as community hubs.

B. That Cabinet agreed the direction of travel for Merton’s libraries as community hubs and the kinds of services and partnerships that will be provided through them.

The Cabinet Member for Sport and Heritage presented the report, noting that there were seven libraries in the Borough which attracted up to 1.1 million visits per year and the intention to increase their offer and improve the current network.

The Cabinet Member gave an overview of the recommendations and thanked officers for their work. 

The Leader of the Council thanked the libraries team and the 750 volunteers who work across Merton’s libraries for their work.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the progress made with establishing Merton’s libraries as community hubs.

B. That Cabinet agreed the direction of travel for Merton’s libraries as community hubs and the kinds of services and partnerships that will be provided through them.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet approved the adoption and publication of the Housing Assistance Policy

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Sustainable Development presented the report on the adoption and publication of the policy noting there was a statutory responsibility to award DFGs and to provide a service in this regard to enable persons with disabilities to have adaptations installed within their homes. The Cabinet Member provided an overview of the support included.

The Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care spoke to welcome the report and stated that keeping people in their homes was a key objective.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet approved the adoption and publication of the Housing Assistance Policy

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet agreed the proposals for a more resident-facing approach to community engagement, through a new model for community forums as well as additional support for resident associations

B. That Cabinet agreed to the proposals to supplement the biennial residents survey with a new digital engagement platform that includes a citizens panel

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Civic Pride presented the report thanking officers for their work. The Cabinet Member gave an overview of the key recommendations including reforming face to face engagement, the proposed changes to Community Fora and improving work with residents associations.

In response to questions, the Cabinet Member advised that the proposals had been taken to all Community Forum meetings and some were keen to continue in their own way and they would be supported with this.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet agreed the proposals for a more resident-facing approach to community engagement, through a new model for community forums as well as additional support for resident associations

B. That Cabinet agreed to the proposals to supplement the biennial residents survey with a new digital engagement platform that includes a citizens panel

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet agreed to go out to public consultation on the draft Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy prior to a final version being presented to Council for adoption in November 2023.

B. That Cabinet delegated the authority to agree the final version of the Strategy, for submitting to Council, to the Cabinet Member for Civic Pride in order to enable a longer consultation timescale.

C. That Cabinet noted that in addition to the nine Protected Characteristics defined by the Equality Act the scope of the strategy has been extended to include care experienced young people, armed forces veterans, single parent households and socio-economic status.

D. That Cabinet noted the proposed consultation timeline.

E. That Cabinet noted the proposed duration of the Strategy is intended to align both with the end date of the new Council Plan and to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s requirement that Councils publish updated equalities objectives every four years.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Civic Pride presented the report noting that the consultation was starting on the draft strategy and set out how the Council would fulfil a wide range of objectives. The Cabinet Member noted that the consultation would be open until October 2023.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet agreed to go out to public consultation on the draft Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Strategy prior to a final version being presented to Council for adoption in November 2023.

B. That Cabinet delegated the authority to agree the final version of the Strategy, for submitting to Council, to the Cabinet Member for Civic Pride in order to enable a longer consultation timescale.

C. That Cabinet noted that in addition to the nine Protected Characteristics defined by the Equality Act the scope of the strategy has been extended to include care experienced young people, armed forces veterans, single parent households and socio-economic status.

D. That Cabinet noted the proposed consultation timeline.

E. That Cabinet noted the proposed duration of the Strategy is intended to align both with the end date of the new Council Plan and to the Equality and Human Rights Commission’s requirement that Councils publish updated equalities objectives every four years.

RESOLVED:

1 That Cabinet approved the award of the contract for Educational Occupational Health Services, (Ed OT), for the initial contract term of four (4) years, with the option to extend for up to two (2) years for Merton children and young people with Education, Health and Care plans, (EHCP). The identities of the preferred and unsuccessful bidders are set out in Appendix A

2 That Cabinet noted the spend for the Educational Occupational Therapy services for an initial term of four (4) years, with the option to extend for two (2) years, with a total contract value as shown in Appendix A for the full six years.

3 That Cabinet delegated the authority to approve the two (2) extension to the Executive Director of CLLF Department.

The Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning presented the report, thanking officers for their work. The Cabinet Member gave an overview of the report and the Executive Director for Children, Lifelong Learning and Families advised that the report recommendations were within part of the plan to have more children educated in provision in Merton and expanding therapy provision to meet the needs of those children.

RESOLVED:

1 That Cabinet approved the award of the contract for Educational Occupational Health Services, (Ed OT), for the initial contract term of four (4) years, with the option to extend for up to two (2) years for Merton children and young people with Education, Health and Care plans, (EHCP). The identities of the preferred and unsuccessful bidders are set out in Appendix A

2 That Cabinet noted the spend for the Educational Occupational Therapy services for an initial term of four (4) years, with the option to extend for two (2) years, with a total contract value as shown in Appendix A for the full six years.

3 That Cabinet delegated the authority to approve the two (2) extension to the Executive Director of CLLF Department.

RESOLVED:

A.    That Cabinet noted the financial reporting data for quarter 1, June 2023, relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net adverse variance at 30th June on service expenditure of £8.186m when corporate and funding items are included.

B.    That Cabinet noted the contents of Section 5 and Appendix 5b of the report and approved the adjustments to the Capital Programme in the Table below:

(a)            Requires Council Approval

C. That Cabinet recommended to Council to approve Ricards Lodge Sixth Form Expansion scheme of £3,600,000 noting the information contained in 5.2b(ii)

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services presented the report, thanking officers for their work including reformatting the reports to separate figures into the six new directorates. It was noted that the Council was currently projecting a net unfavourable variance of just over £8m, and members were working closely with officers to ensure the budget was monitored to work towards a more balanced net position by the end of the financial year. It was noted a number of changes to the capital programme were also included.

RESOLVED:

A.    That Cabinet noted the financial reporting data for quarter 1, June 2023, relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net adverse variance at 30th June on service expenditure of £8.186m when corporate and funding items are included.

B.    That Cabinet noted the contents of Section 5 and Appendix 5b of the report and approved the adjustments to the Capital Programme in the Table below:

To RESOLVE that the public are excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following report(s) on the grounds that it is (they are) exempt from disclosure for the reasons stated in the report(s).

The meeting proceeded entirely in public and therefore this item was not required.