Meeting documents

In accordance with paragraph 2.6(a) of the Constitution, Councillor Malcolm addressed the Cabinet with regard to the following items:

Item 7 - Broadway Living Registered Provider (BLRP) Business Plan (Councillor Malcolm)

Item 8 - Budget Strategy and MTFS 2022/23 to 2024/25 (Councillor Malcolm)

Councillors L Wall and Manro sent apologies for this meeting.

Cabinet recognised the England football team's achievement in reaching the final of the European Football Championships (Euro 2020) and asked for a Freedom of the Borough meeting to be convened to consider nominating footballer Bukayo Saka, who was an inspiration to school children across the borough and country, for this award.

Items 7, 9 and 13 contained confidential appendices but were not taken in private as it was not necessary to discuss the confidential information provided.

• Item 10 - COVID-19 Local Support Grant

Reasons for Urgency

1. Rule 15 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (General Exception to Forward Plan requirements).

2. Rule 16 of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules (exemption from call-in): the chair of OSC and the Leader of the Opposition agreed that the decision proposed was reasonable in all the circumstances and to it being treated as a matter of urgency. The decision must then be reported to the next available meeting of full council, together with the reasons for urgency.

The reasons for urgency were: - The grant was particularly targeted to provide support for vulnerable families during the school holidays. This meant that potential beneficiaries would be most easily contacted during the school term, which ended very shortly.

The reason for lateness was because the grant had only just been confirmed.

• Item 13 -Fielding Primary School ARP Award of contract

Reasons for Urgency

1. Rule 15 of the Access to Information Procedure Rules (General Exception to Forward Plan requirements).

2. Rule 16 of the Scrutiny Procedure Rules (exemption from call-in): the chair of OSC and the Leader of the Opposition agree that the decision proposed was reasonable in all the circumstances and to it being treated as a matter of urgency. The decision must then be reported to the next available meeting of full council, together with the reasons for urgency.

 The reasons for urgency were:

• Significant and disruptive building works must be carried out during the long summer holidays, to avoid health and safety risks to pupils and staff - who would be less likely to be on site during that period

• The availability of the specialist places at the Fielding ARP from Sept 2022 was necessary to assist meeting the rapidly increasing demand for places in the Primary School phase in the borough. There was already strong demand for this ARP for 2022 with high parent expectations for children who had been placed in mainstream provision awaiting a specialist place to become available. Any delay to opening would cause substantial issues and the potential for challenge.

• The contract works were essential to providing these specialist places

The reason for lateness was because the original tenderer had only just withdrawn. A very similar report was approved by cabinet in May 2021 but the approved tenderer has withdrawn at the last minute due to Covid-related cost issues. The next tenderer in line, who was very close on the original tender evaluation scoring, had indicated they were able to hold their tender open for an additional 6 weeks at their submitted price if we were able to progress with them to that timetable. That was very tight and would require a decision around the time of 14 July Cabinet, with no time for call in.

There were none.

Resolved:

 That the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 16 June 2021 be agreed and signed as a true and correct record.

There were none.

Resolved

That Cabinet:

i) notes the progress in the delivery of the agreed BLRP Business Plan as approved by Cabinet in November 2020 summarised in section 3.5 of the report.

ii) notes and approves the revised financial plan (at Confidential Appendix A of the report) for the first tranche of schemes (listed in Appendix A of the report) to come forward under the Business Plan, to be considered for approval by the BLRP Board on 8 July 2021 as summarised in section 4 of the report.

Package 1 sites consisting of:

i. Arden Road Car Park

ii. Dean Gardens Car Park

iii. Wood End Library site

iv. Norwood Road Car Park (No. 2)

v. Former MILAP Centre Shackleton Road

vi. Land at Evesham and Chesterton Close

Southall Market Car Park

Garage site at Buckingham Avenue

Copley phase 6 (part)

Westgate House

Broadway Living Properties (Eastcote Lane and Ruislip Road)

iii) notes the existing funding allocation within the Council's General Fund capital programme of 400 million for the Broadway Living RP Capital Loans programme. This includes an overall funding allocation of 103.587 million for the first tranche of schemes.

iv) notes and approves the revised 100.923 million loan funding requirements of the first tranche financial plan, split 88.596 million for development/investment loans relating to rent and shared ownership developments and 12.327 million for market/commercial loans ( 2.984 million development working capital loan and 9.343 million development loan) relating to market sale developments

v) notes and approves the individual scheme funding allocations variations together with an additional 2.664 million to provide capacity to respond to any scheme variations during the development phase (noting that the total will remain within the existing overall funding allocation of 103.587 million) as set out in Confidential Appendix A of the report.

vi) delegates authority to the Chief Finance Officer (following consultation with the Portfolio Holders for Genuinely Affordable Homes and Inclusive Economy and the Executive Director of Place) to agree such further scheme variations to those set out in the financial appendix as may be appropriate provided that taken together the schemes remain within the overall funding allocation of 103.587 million for the first tranche of schemes.

vii) delegates authority to the Chief Finance Officer (following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Inclusive Growth, the Executive Director of Place and the Director of Legal and Democratic Services) to negotiate and enter into any necessary scheme specific funding arrangements with BLRP for the schemes listed in resolution ii) above, consistent with the overarching Funding Facility Agreement and budget allocation to enable Broadway Living RP to acquire the sites.

viii) notes the existing 36.675 million budget allocation (of which 17.459m relates to the first tranche schemes) within the Council's General Fund capital programme, to cover the pre-transfer costs of sites in the BLRP Business Plan from the Council to BLRP and the re-provision of existing Council services.

ix) notes the progress made to date on the construction of Copley Phase 6 in Section 3.6 of the report, and its inclusion in the approved BLRP Business Plan providing for the acquisition of 35 Discount Market Rent (DMR) homes.

x) agrees in principle to dispose of the 35 DMR homes at Copley Phase 6 to BLRP consistent with the attached Heads of Terms at Confidential Appendix C of the report and approved BLRP Business Plan and allocated funding as approved by Cabinet on 10 November 2020.

xi) delegates authority to the Executive Director of Place (following consultation with the Portfolio Holder for Genuinely Affordable Homes the Chief Finance Officer and Director of Legal & Democratic Services) to finalise the detailed terms of disposal of 35 DMR homes to BLRP at Copley Phase 6 on the basis of the draft Heads of Terms summarised in Confidential Appendix C of the report, subject to obtaining the consent of the Secretary of State as necessary and to apply Right to Buy Receipts to enable delivery of 35 additional affordable units which would otherwise have been private sale units.

 Reasons for Decision and Options Considered

The Council approved setting up of a wholly owned subsidiary in October 2013 and incorporated a company, Broadway Living (BL), in March 2014 in order to progress the delivery of council housing and affordable housing in particular. This approval was considered in the light of a business case and options appraisal that were put together within the constraints of the then funding environment to tackle homelessness and housing pressures caused by the lack of good quality affordable rented homes to meet the needs of Ealing's residents.

The Council delegated authority to the Executive Director of Place in October 2018 to set up and register a new housing company Broadway Living Registered Provider (BLRP) to complement and supplement delivery of homes through the Council's housing company Broadway Living (BL).

The Council (as shareholder, landowner and funder) had commissioned BL Ltd and BLRP to deliver a programme of housing as set out in the agreed BLRP Business Plan, which included the transfer of Council owned land to BLRP at 'best consideration' and Council funding alongside GLA grant needed for the development of new homes.

As a 'non-profit' Registered Provider, surpluses from market sale and shared ownership were reinvested in expanding the programme to deliver more affordable homes. Over the longer term BLRP would create a substantial asset base that would be able to support borrowing from other sources and therefore reduce the need for lending from the Council.

A substantial increase in the Council's house building development programme through BLRP provides social benefits of high quality, cheap to heat, secure homes at affordable rents and financial benefits to the Council in reducing the need for Temporary Accommodation, reducing demand on social care and other support services. This also contributed to delivery of the Council and manifesto target of 2,500 genuinely affordable homes.

Resolved

That Cabinet:

i) notes the lack of clarity regarding the timing of the Governments Comprehensive Spending Review (CSR) and the lack of any indication as to the value of financial settlement to Local Authorities makes budget planning, particularly in the current environment unnecessarily complex and challenging.

ii) agrees that officers prepare detailed plans and budget proposals in accordance with the Administration's priorities and financial strategy objectives (paragraph 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 of the report), taking into account emerging expenditure and funding information (paragraph 3.1 and 3.2 of the report) and the proposed approach to savings identification (paragraph 4.5 of the report).

iii) sets a requirement to identify savings proposals that will close the revised forecast budget gap for 2022/23 of 23.793m by the end of the budget process.

iv) notes the forecast budget gap of 52.004m over the three-year Medium-Term Financial Strategy period and sets a requirement to also bring forward proposals to close the forecast gap in 2022/23 onwards recognising that the Comprehensive Spending Review settlement could have a material impact on this value.

v) agrees that any service growth proposals will require equivalent savings to be identified (paragraph 5.9.2 of the report).

vi) notes the capital investment process as set out in the report (section 6 of the report).

vii) notes Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget Strategy (section 7 of the report).

viii) notes the budget preparation timetable as set out in the report (section 8 of the report).

Reason for Decision and Options Considered

The Council made significant investment in service areas as part of the 2021/22 budget process but continued to face significant budget pressures in future years and uncertainty, including the continuing uncertainty of the level of support from Central Government over the medium term and an increased demand for services alongside the potential impact of COVID-19 into future years.

This report was part of the Council's budget setting and business planning process. The Medium-Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) was recommended by Cabinet in February 2021 and approved by Council on 2 March 2021. This report sought approval of the updated MTFS assumptions for 2022/23 to 2024/25 so that officers could prepare detailed budget proposals for Member consideration as part of the annual budget-setting cycle in line with the timetable in section 8 of the report.

The overarching objective was to set a priority-led budget over the medium term that was balanced and realistic; and supported by achievable savings plans. However, it must be recognised that significant budget gaps such as that set out in this report could severely curtail the ability of the Council to deliver comparable service levels and some service areas compared to the current state.

Resolved

That Cabinet:

i) awards a direct call off contract to Phoenix Software Limited (a Microsoft Licence Solution Provider (LSP)) from the KCS Software Products & Associated Services 2 Y20011 Framework Agreement, the 'Framework Agreement', for the provision of Microsoft licences through the Enterprise Subscription Agreement for three years, which includes the purchase of O365 suite of licences with a value of 1.410m per annum ( 4.230m the three-year cost of the contract).

ii) as part of the contract award, appoints Phoenix Software Limited as the Council's Microsoft Licence Solution Provider and enters into an Enterprise Subscription Agreement with them for Microsoft licences for O365 tenancy.

iii) notes that a full specification of the required licences are referenced in confidential Appendix A of the report.

Reason for Decision and Options Considered

At its meeting in March 2016 Cabinet resolved, as part of a wider decision on Information and Communications Technology Managed Services, to authorise the Director of Business Services, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder, to either invite and evaluate tenders under a procurement procedure or make call offs from framework agreements or Dynamic Purchasing Systems and award contracts for voice services provision (mobile and fixed telephony) for 5 years, with an option to extend for 1 or 2 years, with the new contract commencing in Spring 2016.

The solution was Microsoft Skype Licences. To be compliant with Microsoft licences, the Council was required to appoint a Licence Solution Provider.  The Skype Licences, together with a call bundle, were purchased from the Council's License Solution Provider at the time.

At its meeting in March 2017, Cabinet resolved to authorise the Director of Business Services Group to make a direct call off from the Cabinet Office Public Services Agreement framework for a new Microsoft Enterprise Agreement for a period of 3 years at an annual cost of 556,000 per annum.

In September 2018, the Portfolio holder for Finance and Leisure awarded a call off contract to Phoenix Software Limited for the provision of Microsoft licences through the Enterprise Subscription Agreement for 3 years until September 2021.

As part of the contract award Phoenix Software Limited were appointed as the Council's Microsoft Licence Solution Provider and the Council entered into an Enterprise Subscription Agreement with them for Microsoft licences for O365 tenancy.

To be compliant with Microsoft licences, the Council was only allowed to have one Licence Solution Provider.  The Portfolio Holder therefore agreed to the transfer of Skype for Business and the call bundle to Phoenix Software Limited in accordance with Microsoft licensing requirements.  

Since the current Enterprise Subscription Agreement started in 2018, Microsoft stopped supporting the Skype platform and this product has since been retired.  Microsoft has moved the Council's telephony solution onto its Teams platform.  Teams was part of the O365 Enterprise suite but still required a call bundle.

The decision to award a call off contract for the provision of Microsoft licences through the Enterprise Subscription Agreement for three years, brought together both the Council's requirement to purchase O365 suite of licences and the Council's requirement for a telephony solution.

To be compliant with Microsoft licences, the Council was still required to appoint a Microsoft approved Licence Solution Provider and may only appoint one.  By awarding this call off contract, the Council would appoint Phoenix Software Limited as the Licence Solution Provider.

The London Borough of Ealing used a number of Microsoft software which were critical to the operation of the organisation (used by all staff for their Surface Pro devices) and supporting server infrastructure.  These licences included Microsoft O365, Sharepoint, Teams, including Telephony, Project, Visio, SQL and Azure. The current Microsoft Enterprise Licence Agreement was due to end 31 September 2021. As the licensing was subscription based, it was imperative to secure a new contract from 1 October 2021 to ensure continued access to the products and negate any loss of data. Without the Microsoft subscription Ealing would lose its rights to operate Microsoft software within its ICT estate. A contract would need to be awarded before 1 September to ensure business continuity.

By awarding a call off contract through the Framework Agreement, the Council would access the discount arrangements available through the Digital Transformation Agreement 2021 (DTA 21) Memorandum of Understanding between the approved Licence Solution Provider and Microsoft.

After consultation with Procurement, a direct award from the KCS Software Products & Associated Services 2 Y20011 Framework Agreement was identified as the most appropriate procurement route:

• All public bodies had access to this Framework Agreement with the agreement of the Contracting Authority;
• KCS Professional Services was one of the largest trading organisations of its kind in Europe;
• KCS Professional Services was also a member of the Public Sector Buying Organisation (PSBO) Central Buying Consortium (CBC), a group of County, Borough and City Councils, including Kent County Council, the purpose of which was to improve the effectiveness, by co-ordination, of local authority purchasing with the object of effecting savings in public expenditure;
• Using the Framework Agreement avoided the need for consultancy services to oversee and project manage an in-house tender process, thus saving time and money;
• the Framework Agreement was national, fully OJEU compliant and adhered to the latest Public Contracts Regulations (2015).
• The Framework Agreement had been established with a maximum percentage on cost price for each organisation, ensuring value for money was obtained.
• The Framework Agreement provided quality assurance through having already assessed suppliers based upon their price modelling, quality of service offer, and other key contractual criteria.
• Framework Agreement provided access to the discount available through the Digital Transformation Agreement 2021 Memorandum of Understanding provided by Microsoft.

In accordance with Regulation 33(8)(a) of the Public Contracts Regulations 2015 (PCR 2015) Direct Award Orders may be placed under this Framework Agreement provided the Customer could meet any one of the following objective conditions:

• Customer was satisfied that, following their own due diligence, they could identify the Supplier that offered best value for their requirement;
• The Supplier was able to supply the required Goods/Services within the Customers timescales;
• The Supplier scored the highest mark for Price/Quality in the Framework Agreement evaluation;
• Goods/Services required were unique/exclusive to one Vendor/Supplier;
• Continuity of existing Goods/Services from an awarded Supplier.

The onus was on the Customer to carry out their own due diligence before selecting whether they conducted a Further Competition or chose to Direct Award with any of the awarded Suppliers.  The result of the Council's due diligence evaluation was shown in confidential appendix B of the report.

Resolved

That Cabinet:

i) approves the proposed distribution of the Covid19 Local Support scheme to residents who qualify for grant payments under conditions laid down by central government and local scheme guidance.

ii) authorises the Chief Finance Officer, following consultation with the Cabinet Member for Decent Living Incomes and the cabinet member for Inclusive Economy and the Director of Legal and Democratic Services, to determine and amend the award criteria as may be appropriate in response to circumstances and further guidance from central government.

iii) approves additional expenditure associated with Covid19 Local Support Grant required to support families with children eligible for free school meals where eligibility was based on low income.

iv) notes that decision to appoint a contractor to distribute Covid19 Local Support scheme through vouchers would be made by the Chief Finance Officer under his delegated powers.

Reason for Decision and Options Considered

The coronavirus (COVID-19) continued to have a significant impact on individual households and their budgets especially on lowest paid families, many being affected by unemployment or reduced income due to the pandemic. School holidays could be a particularly challenging times for these families.

The objective of the Covid19 Local Support Grant Scheme was to provide support to vulnerable households and families with children particularly affected by the pandemic where alternative sources of assistance may be unavailable.

The funding provided support with the cost of food, energy and water bills and other essential items.

Scheme was originally set up by the Government in November 2020 as a one-off support to help vulnerable households during winter months to elevate impact of the pandemic. Funding of 170 million was made available to Local Authorities under the COVID Winter Grant Scheme.

The duration of the scheme was initially set for 4 months which covered a period from 1 December 2020 to 31 March 2021. Following the initial period, there were two further extensions of the scheme, one for period covering 1 April 2021 to 16 April 2021 and for additional period between 17 April and 20 June 2021.

From April, the scheme had been renamed as Covid19 Local Support Grant and there had been no changes to eligibility criteria.

On Tuesday, 21 June, DWP announced a further extension of the scheme to run between 21 June and 30 September 2021 with additional funding being made available to all local authorities. 

Additional allocation for Ealing under the extension of the scheme for period from 21 June to 30 September 2021 is 1,006,100.79.

This funding was not sufficient to issue support in line with previous awards made under the scheme up to June 2021.

Under previous allocations the Council was able to provide support to children eligible for free school meals at the rate of 15 per child per week. In addition, one off awards were also provided to families with children under the age of 5 in receipt of housing benefit or council tax reduction and other vulnerable households.

The current funding allocation did not fully cover expenditure in respect of providing support to all groups identified at the onset of the scheme as in need of additional assistance and just providing support at the rate of 15 per child per week during the summer exceeded grant allocation in its entirety.

Under the Covid19 Winter Support Grant and Covid19 Local Support grant, Ealing was previously awarded one off funding for each of the periods detailed in the report.

There was no separate grant towards administration costs and some of the grant could be used towards administering the scheme as long as the cost is 'reasonable'. 

Any unspent funds would have to be paid back to DWP.

The following guidelines had been issued by DWP on how the funding should be used:

• At least 80% of the total funding would be ring-fenced to support households with children, with up to 20% of the total funding to other households experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, poverty during the pandemic. This may include households not currently in receipt of DWP welfare benefits.
• At least 80% of the total funding would be ring-fenced to provide support with food, energy and water bills for household purposes (including drinking, washing, cooking, central heating, and sanitary purposes) and sewerage, or other essentials. Within this condition there was flexibility about the proportion of support allocated to food and to bills.
• Up to 20% of the total funding could be used to provide support with other essentials clearly linked to the scheme conditions (including sanitary products, warm clothing, soap, blankets; boiler service/repair; purchase of equipment including fridges, freezers, ovens, etc.), in recognition that a range of costs may arise which directly affected a household's ability to afford or access food, energy and water.

When administering this scheme, DWP had encouraged LAs to adopt the following principles:

• use discretion on how to identify and support those most in need
• use the funding within the time allocated to meet immediate needs and help those who were struggling to afford food and utility bills (heating, cooking, lighting) and water for household purposes (including drinking, washing, cooking, central heating, sewerage and sanitary purposes), or other related essentials.

Authorities had flexibility to deliver the support in a variety of different ways, including direct cash payments, vouchers, giving meals to those in need or boosting funding for organisations already doing so.

Authorities had the flexibility to identify which vulnerable households were in most need of support and apply their own discretion when identifying eligibility.

Authorities must have a clear rationale or documented policy/framework outlining their approach including how they were defining eligibility and how households accessed the scheme.

DWP advised that it was possible for authorities to identify vulnerable households and make payments without going through a formal application process as long as fraud aspect was addressed.

Resolved

  That Cabinet:

i) authorises the Director of WLA, to extend the WLA Work and Health Programme contract with The Shaw Trust Limited dated 13 November 2017 ('Work & Health Contract') for a further period of 2 years in accordance clause F.11.1 for a cost of 6m in total.

ii) authorises the Director of WLA, following consultation with the Director of Legal and Democratic Services and the Chief Finance Officer to vary the Work & Health Contract for 1m to increase volumes of places made available on Work and Health Programme from September 2021.

iii) authorises the Director of WLA to extend the WLA Job Entry Targetted Support contract with The Shaw Trust Limited dated 2 November 2020 ('JETS Contract') for a further period of 1 year in accordance with clause Clause F.11.1 for a cost in the region of 11.7m.

iv) authorises the Director of WLA following consultation with the Director of Legal and Democratic Services and the Chief Finance Officer, to increase the contract value of the IPS Service for Users of West London Drug and Alcohol Services with Westminster Drug Project Limited dated 20 December 2018 ('Westminster Contract') by up to 400,000 in total.

Reason for Decision and Options Considered

As a result of the Coronavirus pandemic, the furlough rate in West London was higher than any other part of the country.  As a result DWP were bidding to Treasury for additional funding to extend the Work and Health Programme, and the Job Entry Targetted Support Programmes, as many of the people who were on furlough, met the criteria for participating in the Work and Health Programme and the JETS Programme. 

The initial contract for the Work and Health Programme, started taking referrals in Feb 2018, with the programme stopping taking referrals in October 2022.  The contract extended beyond the period for referrals, as the last person referred continued to receive services for up to 21 month after referral.

In 2020, as a result of the Coronavirus pandemic DWP devolved  additional funding for a Covid 19 unemployment support programmes which became known as Job Entry Targetted Support.  The initial contract for the Job Entry Targetted Support, started taking referrals in October 2020, with the programme stopping taking referrals in October 2021.  The contract extended beyond the period for referrals, as the last person referred continued to receive services for up to 6 month after referral.

They were seeking to extend the existing Work and Health Programme funding beyond its current term, for a duration of up to 2 years of additional referrals from October 2022, as allowed for in the contract.  DWP have not confirmed the exact length of the extension.

They were seeking to extend the existing Job Entry Targetted Support Programme contract beyond its current term, for a duration of up to1 year from October 2021, as allowed for in the contract.  DWP had not confirmed the exact length of the extension.

As the Job Entry Targetted Support Contract (Referral Window) ended in October 2021, this Cabinet paper was presented on the assumption that the funding would be agreed by Treasury.  This was because delaying the Cabinet report until there was final confirmation of funding would result in the contract variation not being able to be put in place in time, resulting in a service interruption of West London Residents.  In the event of DWP not providing funding for the extension, the contract would not be extended.

In addition GLA, European Programme Management Team had indicated that ESF matched funding could now be defrayed until September 2023, as opposed to March 2023 when we originally bid for ESF.  The original DWP grant extended beyond the period for ESF claims, so this change allowed for more of the DWP grant to be treated as matched funding,  We were bidding for an additional 0.8M.  As with the other grants, if the application was not successful, the contract would not be extended.

Separately we had put in an expression of interest with Public Health England, to add additional capacity to the contract we had with Westminster Drug Project, that was delivering IPS employment support to service users of 9 West London borough.

Resolved

  That Cabinet:

i) notes the outcome of the review and impact of the12 School Street Schemes listed in Appendix 1 of the report, and associated consultations summarised at paragraphs 2.19 and 2.26 and in Appendix 3 and 4 of the report.

ii) agrees in principle to making 10 of the School Streets Schemes permanent subject to the changes to the Schemes summarised in recommendation 1.4 of the report namely: 

-The LIP funded scheme at Perivale and

-9 Tranche One LSP School Streets schemes. (Appendix 1 of the report)

- The redesign of two further LSP School Streets Schemes (Appendix 1 of the report) with a view to reconsulting at a later date.

iii) agrees to the installation of ANPR cameras to replace barrier enforcement at the 9 LSP schemes, which brings all schemes under one enforcement regime.

iv) agrees to amend the School Streets Schemes to remove the exemption for school staff and to make amendments with regard to the exemption relating to blue badge holders as summarised in paragraph 3.13 of the report.

v) delegates authority to the Director of Place Delivery to take the necessary steps to implement the 10 School Streets Schemes permanently (subject to the outcome of statutory consultation)

Reason for Decision and Options Considered

Full Council passed a motion, on 2nd April 2019, that resolved:  To implement pilot School Streets with a view to implementing School Streets or No-Idling Zones around every suitable primary school in the borough by 2022.

The London Mayor has made it an over-reaching policy that all local Councils must help children and parents to use cars less and to walk, cycle and use public transport more. This requires that a healthier and safer environment is established at school entrances. 

To support the Mayor's Transport Strategy, Transport for London (TfL) have adopted the 'Healthy Streets' Approach, to create streets that are pleasant, safe and attractive. This would help to improve air quality, reduce congestion and help make London's diverse communities greener, healthier and more attractive places to live, work, play and do business.

The School Streets Schemes helped to meet the three core objectives of the Council's Transport Strategy:

•           Mode shift - increasing active travel

•           Reducing the environmental footprint of transport and improve air quality

•           Improving road safety - reduce road safety incidents 

Monitoring and Evaluating the Schemes

On average, 84% of Ealing's primary pupils lived less than 1 mile from school (max 30 minute walk or 12 minute cycle). This included 62% living within half mile (15 minute walk). The proportion of car journeys, totalling 23%, was higher than the number of pupils living over 1 mile from school, suggesting that a number of these car journeys are short and therefore walkable or cyclable.

Monitoring the LIP funded Perivale Scheme

At Perivale Primary 69% lived within 1/5 mile and 25% between 1/5 and 1 mile. At St John Fisher Catholic this was 55% and 25% respectively.

Residents were offered a number of opportunities to be involved in development of the Perivale scheme. 

• 11/11/2019 - A survey was hand delivered to all residents in the school streets zone on.
• 25/11/2019 - A drop-in session was organised at Perivale Primary School and residents were invited to attend.
• 16/1/2020 - A co-design workshop was organised at St Nicholas Church.Leaflets were hand delivered to every household in the zone and posters were displayed on lampposts through the area.
• August 2020 - Information, in the form of a letter and printed FAQs, was sent to all residents within the School Street closure area, and businesses in Wadsworth Road, with details of how to apply for permits.
• May 2021 - A letter was posted to all residents and businesses within and around the school street area, inviting them to participate in the consultation survey.

Both schools were engaged in development of the scheme through a number of activities, including surveys and workshops.  Resources were provided to support them in raising awareness of the scheme throughout development and implementation.

The scheme had been regularly monitored since implementation. An independent review had been undertaken and an overview of the level of support for each scheme was included as Appendix 2 of the report.

Active travel had increased at both schools. Traffic volumes had decreased in the area. A correlation was evident between a reduction in cars seen and increases in those cycling or walking to school. However, consultees gave a mixed response regarding road safety, with a similar proportion agreeing it had improved to those who disagreed. Officers would work with the schools to ensure road safety education continued to be incorporated into the curriculum.

The number of Penalty Charges Notices issued had decreased over time, indicating the scheme was moving towards compliance. Officers were aware that residents raised concerns regarding parents blocking driveways. However, a review of parking in the area confirmed that the use of unrestricted parking in the area was above capacity generally and this issue was also seen outside of term time, indicating that it wasn't only due to the School Street Scheme. Officers would consider how to address these concerns.

The full evaluation report, which included details of the consultation responses received, was included as Appendix 3 of the report.

Monitoring the London Streetspace Schemes

13 schools, with an existing level of engagement in promotion of active travel (STARS accreditation), were selected in June 2020 because they had the most potential to participate and deliver a successful School Street, in a very short timeframe.  Schools with high number of pupils on roll were then invited to participate, to assist in delivering a scheme that would support them with additional social distancing measures. The Headteacher and Chair of Governors of each school signed an MOU to demonstrate their commitment to delivery of the scheme and continued promotion of active travel and road safety. As mentioned in 2.12, of the report, 2 schemes did not progress.

All schools were engaged in development of their scheme. Resources were provided to support them in raising awareness of the scheme to their school community throughout development and implementation.

In August 2020 a letter with information about the scheme was posted to every property within the school street closure. All residents were issued with a hard copy permit and invited to apply for additional permits if they were required

Members were advised of the schemes in their Ward and copies of the letters provided for their information.

The schemes had been regularly monitored since implementation. An independent review had been undertaken and an overview of the level of support for each scheme, with information on the reasons given for not supporting specific schemes, is included as Appendix 2 of the report.

Overall active travel to school had increased on each of the schemes, with more pupils and staff walking and cycling since the schemes were implemented. Parents/carers tended to agree that road safety in surrounding relevant areas had improved. All stakeholders agreed there were issues relating to parking and congestion prior to implementation of each scheme. Some residents were now concerned about displaced parking and some schemes required additional measures to address the issues.

Schools and other stakeholders were concerned about the use of barriers, managed by volunteers, as a means of enforcement. They felt this was inappropriate and highlighted the inconsistent approach, due to lack of support on some occasions, and timing of the placement of barriers for some schemes as issues that needed to be resolved. These issues could be addressed by the use of ANPR enforcement and this was recommended .

The full evaluation report is included as Appendix 4 of the report.

Resolved

  That Cabinet:

i) awards a contract in the sum of 1,382,371.08 to H Carolan Construction Limited for the Fielding Primary School ARP works to be funded from the existing approved Schools SEN Expansion Programme budget as set out in the Capital Programme 2021/22 to 2025/26.

Reason for Decision and Options Considered

The Council had a statutory duty to secure sufficient school places and to promote high educational standards, ensure fair access to educational opportunity and promote the fulfilment of every child's educational potential. The Council must also promote choice and diversity.

Cabinet authorised the Executive Director for Children, Adults and Public Health, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder, to invite and evaluate tenders for the main works contracts, and any enabling works contracts, required for the provision of the ARP at Fielding Primary School at an estimated value of 1.500m, on 19 January 2021.

Cabinet approved the award of contract for this work previously in May 2021 but the successful tenderer subsequently withdrew their tender prior to entering into contract. It was now recommended to award the contract to H Carolan Construction Ltd's whose tender was the most economically advantageous tender to the Council.

Awarding the building contract for the Fielding Primary School ARP works would create facilities for an additional 24 pupils with an Education, Health and Care Plan and support their needs within a mainstream school environment.

The relevant background report, Determination of Statutory Proposals for Fielding Primary School ARP and Children's Services Capital Approvals, was presented to Cabinet on the 19 January 2021.

Resolved

That Cabinet notes that the next meeting of Cabinet would be held on 22 September 2021 at 7:00pm.

Councillor Peter Mason, Chair

Date

The duration of this meeting was 7pm to 7:40pm

The minutes should be read in conjunction with the agenda for the meeting. They are subject to approval and signature at the next meeting of this Committee.