Cabinet members may wish to take this opportunity to raise any issues which may be of interest to Cabinet colleagues.
Minutes:
163.1 HR Recruitment Team
Councillor Zinkin reported that the Human Resources Recruitment Team had been recognized by recruitment website Monster.com for their outstanding progress in reducing the time to recruit to vacancies.
163.2 Alcohol Control Team
Councillor Zinkin highlighted a recent article in the Gaurdian Newspaper regarding the Council’s alcohol harm reduction strategy and the progress that had been made by the Alcohol Harm Reduction Board consisting of Council officers and other partners.
163.3 Council Website
Councillor Zinkin reported that the Council’s website had recently been improved with a number of new functions, an improved search facility and spoken pages.
163.4 Education Funding
Councillor Vince confirmed that the Council had recently been successful in a bid to the London Development Agency (LDA) for funding for childcare for children aged 0-5 years with disabilities and SEN. Enfield’s bid (worth at least £489,000) will work with children with disabilities, parents and childcare providers to increase the capacity and inclusive practice of provision that currently exists, and create opportunities for parents to engage in work or training.
163.5 Cuckoo Hall Primary School
Councillor Vince the recent release of Department for Education and Skills (DfES) achievement and attainment Tables for Enfield schools. The results highlighted Cuckoo Hall Primary School, Edmonton as the 25th highest school in the KS1-2 Value Added tables with 103.6 pts. She congratulated the school on this incredible achievement.
163.6 Millfield Theatre Pantomime
Councillor Vince recommended the Snow White production to other Members, she felt that this was the best pantomime that had be put on at Millfield for a number of years.
163.7 Winchmore Hill Controlled Parking Zone
Councillor Neveille reported that he had asked officers to only consider amendments primarily within the boundary of the zone where some 'fine tuning' is required to improve the operation of the parking controls. No significant extensions would be considered until the completion of the Parking Policy review. Therefore, no consideration would be given to extending the CPZ to the following roads, as this would constitute a substantial extension to the zone:
- The Alders and Gatward Close
- Hurst Road, Arlow Road and the northern part of Haselmere Road.
- Roads within the area bounded by Green Dragon Lane, Hoodcote Gardens, the northern Boundary of the CPZ and Green Lanes.
163.8 Concessionary Bus Travel
Councillor Neville advised that the proposals in the Concessionary Bus Travel Bill would have a financial impact on London Boroughs as the government had set aside only £250m to implement the scheme. Any additional costs for providing travel to eligible residents outside London would fall equally on all boroughs. The views of the Mayor for London on these proposals were being sought.
163.9 Weekly Paid Staff
Councillor Nevillle raised concerns over the fact that staff, were still being paid on a weekly basis and this would lead to uneccssary additional expenditure.
The Chief executive advised that payroll cost savings could not be achieved without a rationalisation of terms and conditions for a large number of staff. This process was linked to the single status negotiations but progress was still a long way off. Other measures such as HR self service were being considered and a report would be presented to a future Budget Group meeting and this would be shared with members of the Pension Board.
163.10 Translation and Interpreting Costs
Councillor Neville highlighted recent press coverage on the £100m national cost for translation and interpreting. He felt that a review of the service and costs in Enfield would be useful, to investigate the scope for reducing the service and making appropriate savings on the grounds that by doing so we would encourage better integration.
163.11 Arnos Swimming Pool
Councillor McCannah confirmed that the Arnos Swimming pool refurbishment had been completed, bringing the facility up to modern standards. The pool was scheduled to reopen in the New Year.
163.12 LAA and GOL Feedback
Councillor Jackson confirmed that he had met with officers involved with the Local Area Agreement and they had been complementary about Enfield and it’s staff. Positive feedback had also been given, by the Government Office for London about the Council’s robust self assessment and that there was good evidence of partnership working. The six month report and work on the One Large Intervention had been acknowledged as good with an amber rating for performance and a good direction of travel. He thanked everyone who had been involved in this fine work.
163.13 Assistant Director Technical Services
Councillor Laban confirmed that Mr B Wells would be taking up the post of Assistant Director for Technical Services on 2 January 2007.
163.14 ALMO Shadow Board
Councilor Laban reported that he and Councillor Rye had met with the shadow board on 5 December and had discussed the senior appointments to the ALMO following the opposition criticism at the last Council meeting. He confirmed that he had no issues to report from the meeting.
163.15 Adult Social Services CSCI
Councillor Barker advised on the outcome of the CSCI inspection for Adult Social Services, which found the authority had achieved 2 stars and was serving most people well with capacity to improve services.
163.16 Customer Services Centre
Councillor Barker informed the Cabinet off his recent visit to the Customer Services Centre with Roy Morgan and he felt that more Members should visit the centre.
163.17 Housing Benefit Administration
Councillor Lavender reported that following the benefits administration inspection, the service had received a scoring of 4 out of 4
163.18 Meeting with the Transport Commissioner
Councillor Rye reported on the successful meeting he had had with Councillor Neville and the Transport Commissioner. A number of matters had been raised and these were acknowledged by the Commissioner.
163.19 Appointment of Deputy Lieutenant for Enfield
Councillor Rye reported that Graham Eustance DL OBE had recently been appointed to the position of Deputy Lieutenant for Enfield.