Agenda and minutes

To agree the procedures for the operation of remote meetings.

RESOLVED –

THAT the hybrid meeting procedure set out in the agenda be agreed.

No apologies were received.

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair to announce the following: ‘In addition to the rights by law that the public and press have to record this meeting, I would like to remind everyone that this meeting is being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and can be viewed on our website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts are archived and can be made available upon request.

If you are seated in the Chamber, you are deemed to be consenting to having your contributions recorded and broadcast, including video when switched on, and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.’

Any other announcements

Broadcast of the meeting

The Chair announced that the meeting was being broadcast live by the Council to the Internet and could be viewed on the website for twelve months after the meeting. After that time, webcasts were archived and could be made available upon request. Those who had asked to address the meeting were deemed to be consenting to having their contributions recorded and broadcast and to the use of those sound recordings and images for webcasting and/or training purposes.

No declarations were made.

There was no such business.

The Chair announced that he had accepted a deputation request that had been received from Alice Brown on behalf of Climate Emergency Camden. The written deputation had been circulated to Members ahead of the meeting (appendix 1).

The Chair then asked Alice Brown to present their deputation.

Members noted that the Constitution did not allow them to set up new scrutiny Committees but agreed that the it was important to scrutinise issues that impacted the environmental emergency that fell across the remits of more than one scrutiny committee.

Members asked that all future reports brought to the Committee, including non-cabinet reports, contain a section on Environmental Implications.

Action by: Policy Officer

The Committee agreed that any commitment made by the committee to further scrutinise issues that had impacted the environmental emergency, needed to be started quickly.

It was recognised that the Committee had an active scrutiny panel, any additional scrutiny panel on environmental issues would need to happen when this had concluded.

Members wanted to continue the discussion of having a panel on a topic with an impact on the environment emergency after the meeting. It would be important for the Committee to refine what area they would like to scrutinise and whether the Resources and Corporate Performance Scrutiny Committee would be the correct committee to lead this work.

The Committee agreed with the principle of further scrutiny of issues that impacted the environment, they agreed to write a report on this suggestion and bring to the next meeting.

Action by: the Chair of the Resources and Corporate Performance Scrutiny Committee

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services.

This report provides a further update on the Town Hall refurbishment following the decision to proceed with the main contract works which are currently underway.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Director Corporate Services. The report was introduced by the Project Director.

Members asked questions on the projected rental income and changes to the original budget of the project. In response, the Project Director said that Camden were confident they would receive projected rental income, the Kings Cross area was still a sought after location for office space. Negotiations on renting the spaces were ongoing and so the amount of information he could provide was limited.

The Project Director explained that changes to the budget had been agreed by the Cabinet and were in response to developments with the project and changes to the financial landscape. He said that whilst there had been an increase in costs, there had also been an increase in what was being gained for the money being spent.

Housing had been explored as an option for the building, but it was decided that adapting the upper floors to office rental space, whilst retaining the Town Hall as a community asset, was the best approach to take.  In response to Member questions as to whether the project could have avoided incurring an increase in costs from the outset, the Project Director said that projects were constantly changing and evolving, the budget was updated to reflect this.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation.

This report outlines the purpose, process of creation, recommendations, and commitments of Camden Council’s Data Charter. The Charter contains principles written by a Residents’ Panel with public commitments from Camden in response. These commitments are designed to change the culture and attitude towards data ethics across the council and will be carried out in a transparent manner.

The report is coming to the Cabinet so that Camden Council’s Data Charter can be considered as a policy going forward.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation.

The Cabinet Member and Cabinet Adviser for a Citizens Data Charter gave an introduction of the report before hearing from participants in the residents panels.

The Committee thanked those involved and commented that it was great to hear directly from residents. They thought that the engagement model used for the Data Charter should be replicated on future policy development projects.

Members wanted to make sure behaviour was embedded across the Council and it was important the work was not lost. Members asked that there be a standing item for the Annual Charter Review to come to the Committee.

Action by: Senior Policy and Projects Officer.

Members were concerned that residents who were digitally excluded would not necessarily be represented in the engagement. They asked for a commitment from the Council to seek to engage these residents more.

The Committee asked if the Council could hold resident data in greater granularity than ward level and that Camden share data with certain community organisations. Members used experiences of resident casework as to why it would be beneficial to hold and share data in this way.

RESOLVED –

That the report be noted; and

THAT the following recommendations be submitted to Cabinet:

-       That with future Data Charter Residents’ Panels, there is a focus on engaging with residents who are digitally excluded and those which the Council holds a large amount of data, respectively. This will work towards having greater representation of residents on the Panels.

-       That a report is brought to the Resources and Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee annually, including feedback from residents involved in the Residents’ Panels. This will continue scrutiny and accountability for the Data Charter as an evolving document.

-       That the Council considers how data is grouped, which is currently at a Ward level. Members thought that having greater granularity of data sets would enable greater understanding of issues and better outcomes.

-       That data sharing is reviewed to allow the sharing of data with voluntary sector organisations. This would help the efficiency and speed of service mobilisation with voluntary sector partners as well as making processes more simple for residents.

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services.

This paper provides a proposed outline of the 2021/22 work programme.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Director Corporate Services.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

There was no such business.