Agenda and minutes

To agree the procedures for the operation of hybrid meetings.

RESOLVED

THAT the guidance on hybrid meetings be noted.

Apologies were received from Councillor Rebecca Filer.

To note the Resources and Corporate Performance Scrutiny Committee terms of reference:

TERMS OF REFERENCE

Resources and Corporate Performance Scrutiny Committee

1. To scrutinise the strategic and corporate policies and performance of the Council.

2. To assist the Cabinet in the development of the Council’s annual budget (capital and revenue) and to review and scrutinise the Council’s performance in relation to overall budgetary management.

3. To scrutinise the provision, planning, financing, management and performance of the Corporate Services Directorate (excluding parking operations), and any other Council functions not otherwise addressed by any other Scrutiny Committee.

RESOLVED

THAT the terms of reference be noted.

Following advice from the Borough Solicitor, the Chair stated that his status as a council leaseholder would not affect his ability to participate on Item 12, Procurement of Insurance Policies.

There were no other interests disclosed.

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 have asked to address the meeting, 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.

There were no deputations.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 1 March 2022 and 15 March 2022.

It was noted that actions from the previous meeting on 18 July 2022 would be reviewed at the next meeting.

RESOLVED

THAT the minutes of the meetings on 1 March and 15 March 2022 be agreed as a correct record.

Report of the Director of Customer Services.

This report sets out the background, national policy direction and key challenges associated with business rates in Camden.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Customer Services, who introduced the item, accompanied by the Head of Council Tax, Business Rates & Benefits.

It was noted that within Appendix A, Breakdown of the number of properties per Valuation Office Agency property description, the Combined Rateable Value for public toilets should be corrected to £76,000.

In response to the report, it was discussed:

·       A Member raised concerns over the incoming impact on the hospitality sector in the borough from energy costs rises, given their significance in the local economy. In response, it was confirmed that there was not yet a detailed analysis on the impacts. The Council was calling for a review on possible reliefs for business, looking to match that of the levels of relief given during the pandemic. The Director of Customer Services agreed to analyse the current financial risks to the hospitality sector in the borough.

Action By - Director of Customer Services

·       In relation to 5.1.3, Business Rates revaluation 2023 & the central lists, it was confirmed that Central Lists included unseen infrastructure such as Wi-Fi networks, where £2 million was due be centralised in that category in Camden. It was stated there had not been forecasting on the impact of different levels of relief on Camden following changes to national policy, however it was confirmed that Camden businesses would be minimally affected (due to the relief offer only applying to single businesses, or if multiple, only spanning for 12 months).

·       In relation to business tax avoidance, it was confirmed that there were many fraudulent attempts in the borough, particularly charity scams. Due to many loopholes existing and insufficient government grants to tackle the problems, the success rate on cracking down on this fraud was low. There had been a consultation which all local authorities responded to, however there was no action to close the tax loop holes to follow.

·       In relation to 4.5, National Policy Changes, a Member asked if the reduction of the frequency of revaluations from five to three years would be manageable for the Council. In response, it was stated that on the face of the change that more frequent valuations would more accurately react to rental value changes – however, the case in reality might be that the evaluation authority’s capacity could not match the demand of increased frequency. Not meeting demand would result in delays in revaluations and backlogs of appeals challenging evaluations. The additional churn of appeals would diminish the Council’s ability to predict income and create uncertainty for businesses.

·       In response to a Member querying the Councils exposure to the high inflation economy and the potential relief provided to businesses, it was confirmed that relief payments (excluding discretionary) were not funded by the Council. Forecasting the collection rate was a part of the Council’s budget setting process, which had decreased from 98% to 95%, before the pandemic and the current rate expected rate, respectively.

·       In relation to the two complaints upheld by the Ombudsman within 3.3, it  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living.

This report presents the treasury activity during 2021/22 and the first half of 2022/23, compliance with guidance and treasury indicators and an update on the economic background shaping the treasury strategy. The report also sets out how investment limits were increased to handle increased investments due to North London Waste Authority (NLWA) borrowing.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living. The report was presented by the Director of Finance and the Head of Treasury & Financial Services.

In response to the report, it was discussed:

·       In relation to the recommendation proposing to increase the limit for European Investment Bank (EIB) investments, the Chair ask why the change was so drastic, increasing from £40m to £200m. In response, it was stated that the EIB had a AAA credit rating and was a Supranational Bank backed by all the EU nations. Given the increased cash balances because of NLWA borrowing which was converted to Euros there was a need to reset this limit.

·       In December when the NLWA borrowed £280m it immediately converted this to Euros to finance the euro liability it has for the ERF kit. This balance was currently earning a negative rate of interest (interest rates were currently earning a negative rate in Europe).  Because interest rates were expected to rise across the west, projected rates in the one-year period were now positive. To offset the negative rate on the Euro cash the NLWA immediately needed, any cash balances not needed immediately could be invested in longer dated EIB investments yielding a positive rate. To further assure, it was confirmed that investment in the EIB was a similar risk as investing in the UK Government. It was confirmed that when the NWLA work was finished, the limit would be reduced.

·       In relation 3.28, the Council taking advantage of low borrowing rates by acquiring new debt now to cover some of its borrowing requirement, a Member asked if there was a point the interest rates rose by so much it would make sense to long-term borrow instead, and if so, at what point. In response, it was confirmed that the rate earned on investments was 1.8% and the cost of borrowing long term was 3.8%. If it was expected that the current inflationary economic climate would extend for a long period of time and central banks would need to increase interest rates on a short-term basis, the balance of investment and borrowing rates could then switch – when the cost of long-term borrowing was lower, that would be the point to change if this was thought to be a long-term change.

·       The Chair raised a point that during an Audit and Corporate Governance Committee, Members had raised concern over how ethical the Council’s investments in financial markets were. In the past, work had been done to improve the Council’s pension fund investments and to increase the transparency of those. The Chair recognised that the authority was working to act on those concerns and reiterated this was an ongoing interest of Members.

RESOLVED

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Cabinet Member for New Homes, Jobs, and Community Investment.

The Community Investment Programme’s original targets as established in 2010 have evolved over a series of Cabinet reports. As we have learnt and built new relationships with partners and communities, we have reflected on our capacity and ambition to tackle the housing crisis and continued to develop our approach to ensure we are delivering the best homes and places for our communities, and value for money for the Council.

New development proposals and pipeline schemes have the opportunity to deliver a large increase in the number of new homes to be built through CIP. We are proposing to increase our ambitious targets to over 4,850 homes built through the CIP, including 1,800 social rent homes, 350 at Camden Living rent homes as well as new temporary accommodation and hostel beds for people experiencing homelessness, which would bring the total investment in CIP since its inception to around £2.3bn. This will require diversifying our models of delivery – both to accelerate and broaden our impact, but also to ensure we are delivering for communities whilst managing financial risk to the Council.

This report sets out our commitments and our principles – how we will make decisions and how we will approach delivery aligned with our original CIP pledges. On this basis, the report sets out our ambitions for our future delivery of homes for our Borough – and proposes a set of delivery models for each scheme. New housebuilding projects will still come to Cabinet for a decision on a project-by-project basis – but this report outlines our commitments, our principles and how we plan to finance and deliver this complex and ambitious programme over the next five to ten years.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member for New Homes, Jobs, and Community Investment. The report was presented by the Director of Development.

In response to the report, the following was discussed:

·       A Member asked what consultation had taken place for the strategic shift to widen the diversity of delivery models. He noted that the Community Investment Programme (CIP) Scrutiny Panel (final report and recommendations agreed at Committee on 15 March 2022) recommended diversifying, but included extensive consultation – adding that a response to the report was still outstanding. He stated that residents, tenants and District Management Committees (DMCs) should be part of the strategic discussion. In response, it was discussed:

-       It was stated that if the Council was to meet the scale of need, the direct model of CIP would not alone achieve that.

-       The officer noted that they had consulted at project level. Additionally,

there were not residents living on the site, which would be providing additional homes, for the initial projects.

-       The officer noted one of the core principles was to increase the number of good homes in the borough as quickly as possible.

-       Another Member noted that on Section 4, Column 3, there had been ongoing consultation with local residents to the site. He stated that the housing need was continually discussed and the level of current need meant families were moving out of Camden.

-       The Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living stated that consultation was beyond issuing formal documentation and embodied organic continuous debate. The proposals would help communities and residents informed the discussion on how to bring forward schemes.

-       It was noted by another Member that if development opportunities and sites were not seized by the Council, private developer would use these sites leading the residents having less input to schemes.

-       It was confirmed by officers there were no plans to consult with DMCs. Officers confirmed they would review options to involve DMCs in the CIP process.

Action By – Director of Development

·       In relation to 2.2, the set of core principles for the CIP, a Member asked what the status of accomplishing the principles were. He commented that in the current form they were immeasurable. He stated that there should be objectives that guided what a trade-offs needed to be made in meeting the core principles was also recommended from the CIP Scrutiny Report, was

·       In relation to 7.18, a Member noted that any overspends would lead to reduced spending in other council services. He asked, given the increased expenditure and reliance on capital receipts, if officers were satisfied with the level of exposure. In response, it was stated that the level of risk exposure depended on the scale of ambition of the programme. To assure Members, it was stated that the Council had an established building mechanism and significant internal expertise to manage housing projects.

·       A Member asked if the potential to fit smaller and lower risk sites had been  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living.

This report relates to the collaborative procurement of the motor vehicles, commercial property, crime, engineering/inspection, and leaseholder property insurance policies with a London-wide consortium we are members of.

The current contracts are due to expire on 31 March 2023 and new contracts need to be in place to ensure the Council has adequate and continuous insurance cover in place to allow our services to operate with suitable protection.

It is brought before Cabinet as it must approve the contract award strategy for revenue contracts with an estimated value of £5,000,000 or more in accordance with Contract Standing Orders.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living. The report was presented by the Head of Treasury & Financial Services.

In response to the report, it was clarified that although Croydon Council was the lead authority in the procurement process, all insurance managers across the participating boroughs oversaw the process and were advised by AON Hewitt.

RESOLVED

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Executive Director Corporate Services.

This paper provides an outline of the 2022/23 work programme and provides an update on actions requested at previous meetings of the Committee.

Consideration was given to the report of the Executive Director Corporate Services. The report was presented by the Director of Finance.

In addition to the report, it was confirmed that at the next meeting the following items would be allocated to the work programme to be considered on a specific committee date:

·       Communicating with our diverse communities

·       Update on customer contact and customer services

·       Partnerships and partner engagement (with a focus on We Make Camden and our work with We Make Camden kit)

·       CIP Panel Report Update

·       CIP Annual Report

A Member expressed interest in establishing a scrutiny panel themed on customer contracts. It was confirmed that officers would outline the process of setting up a scrutiny panel.

Action By - Head of Corporate Strategy

In relation to performance reporting, a Member raised that the matrix of measures should be kept in review, given the significant changes in circumstance recently and in the past few years. In response, it was confirmed that the Council was monitoring the performance measures and they were a work in progress. Previously, importance was placed on specific service updates, however going forward, there was more of an emphasis on Camden Pledges. This could be discussed by Members when the next Performance Report would be considered by the Committee.

RESOLVED

THAT the report be noted.

There was no urgent business.