Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Margaret Greer, Cllr Susan Erbil, Cllr Elif Erbil.  They were represented by Cllr Hass Yusuf and Cllr Doug Taylor.

Cllr Mahmut Aksanoglu put himself forward to Chair the meeting and this was seconded by Cllr Birsen Demirel.

Cllr Mahmut Aksanoglu welcomed everyone to the meeting and asked everyone to introduce themselves.

Members of the Council are invited to identify any disclosable pecuniary, other pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests relevant to the items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest registered in respect of any items on the agenda.

To review the Cabinet decision taken on 7 July 2021 as a result of the matter having been Called-in.

(This item contains exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 (information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person – including the authority holding that information) of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, as amended).

Cllr Edward Smith was welcomed as the Call-In lead and presented reasons for issuing the Call-in.

The Call-in reasons and responses are detailed in the report where that:

·         There had been a lack of consultations with the residents.  It was viewed that if the concerns of the residents had been considered at the design stage, then the project would have progressed at the initial stages.  The two main concerns identified by the residents were noise and parking issues.

·         Since initial stages of discussions in 2016/17 and the demolition of Reardon Court in 2020, little has progressed with this project.

·         Since the termination of the procurement and the withdrawal of the planning permission, the project is now at a standstill.

·         The alternative approach - to bring in a partner, such as a Housing Association with specialised skills in this field should have been considered, they would have secured a grant and the Council would have been the client.

·         In respect of the lets - the law required Housing Associations if in partnership with the Council to provide nominations to 100% of first lets and 75% of second lets.

·         The question must be asked how we can deliver value for money whilst maintaining good standards.

The Chair thanked Cllr Smith and asked the Cabinet Member for Social Housing (Cllr Gina Needs) and officers to respond.

·         Cllr Needs advised that Enfield have a duty to provide suitable, affordable care for our vulnerable elderly residents.

·         The questions posed are understandable due to the time taken to progress the scheme.

·         Residents’ concerns in respect of parking and noise have been registered.

·         Cllr Needs concluded that she supports this scheme and hopes other members do too.

·         Joanne Drew (Director of Housing & Regeneration) advised that this scheme was initially led by the Adult Social Care team supported by Corporate property and funded by the general fund.  Since 2020 and in compliance with GLA grant requirements the Housing Service is delivering the project as part of its 3500 council homes programme which is fully funded by the Housing Revenue account.  It is important to note that the £30m allocation is capital and not available for use for day to day services. 

·         Bindi Nagra (Director of Health & Adult Social Care) advised that extensive consultations have taken place and formed part of the original planning application, during which time the aspect of parking did not come up.

·         In terms of procurement, progress was limited as the Covid period only produced three bidders and only one was acceptable, although exclusions meant that a high degree of risk would be placed on the Councils side which was unacceptable to the Council at which point the procurement was abandoned.

·         Amena Matin (Housing Development and Estate Regeneration Programme Manager) advised that the Council have a specialist project management team, who understand what homes are needed and where. At the demolition stage of Reardon Court, residents raised concerns about parking and noise and the Council listened and subsequently revised the scale of the scheme.

·         New  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

The next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee is scheduled for Wednesday 8 September 2021.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as the 8^th September 2021.