Minutes of the meeting of the Executive
Monday 23 June 2008
Cllr Merrick Cockell was in the chair
Present
Member
Cllr Merrick Cockell
Cllr Stephen Carr
Mayor Sir Steve Bullock
Cllr Sean Brennan
Cllr Chris Roberts.
Cllr Daniel Moylan
Cllr James Kempton
Cllr Jamie Carswell
Cllr Michael White
Position
Chairman
Deputy Chair
Vice Chair
Vice Chair
Portfolio
Local Government Finance
Health and Adult Services
Transport and Environment
Children and Young People
Housing
Improvement
London Councils officers were in attendance.
1. Declarations of interest
No interests were declared.
2. Apologies for absence
Apologies for absence were received from Mr Stuart Fraser
3. Minutes of the meeting of 28 April 2008
In relation to the Draft Corporate Plan, item 7 in the minutes, Cllr Sean Brennan referred
to the proposal that his party had put forward that London Councils should mount one or
two campaigns each year and the Chief Executive pointed out that it came through the
Executive awayday which was reported on at item 5.
The Executive agreed the minutes of the meeting of 28 April 2008.
4. Social Housing Mobility in London
The Director of Policy and Public Affairs introduced the report saying that a bid for
funding to the Department for Communities and Local Government had been successful
but, in February 2008, London Councils Leaders’ Committee had agreed to postpone
decisions on Capital Moves procurement until after the Mayoral election. The period
since February had been used to review progress, seek feedback from partners and to
identify future project opportunities and challenges. He went on to say that decisions
needed to be made regarding the future approach to social housing mobility in London
and a number of options were outlined which would go on for consideration and decision
at Leaders’ Committee on 8 July.
Cllr Jamie Carswell commented that he could see how the results of discussion amongst
officers had emerged as a pragmatic way forward. It was difficult to see how any homes
would be built in London over the next few years and the question was how to get the
balance right on the issue of strategic sites. He agreed that the number of people who
wanted to move across borough boundaries was marginal but there was a symbolic
significance of the inclusion of schemes on the list. He went on to say that a number of
schemes had been taken off the list because of the London Councils’ Housing Strategy
and he thought it should not go to Leaders’ Committee until agreement had been
reached amongst the parties.
Cllr Daniel Moylan argued for the scheme to be split; the already existing system of
mutual exchange could be made more effective and a second scheme to deal only with
major sites, i.e. those that received funding through the Homes and Communities
Agency.
Cllr Sean Brennan felt that there were only a few minor details to be resolved and hoped
that Leaders’ Committee would be able to arrive at an agreement on the scheme.
The Chairman responded to contributions by saying that the ambition to get all boroughs
into any scheme was no longer feasible but the aim was to get the number of boroughs
involved in the mid twenties, certainly a majority. He went on to say that ultimately the
‘detail’ that remained unresolved was the question of which schemes were to be
included on the list.
The Executive agreed to note the report.
5. Corporate Strategy: Next Steps after the Executive Awayday
The Chief Executive introduced the report saying it reviewed the discussion on London
Councils’ strategy over the period up to and beyond the elections of 2010 that had
emerged from the Executive Awayday on 2nd June 2008. It also reflected the
Memorandum of Understanding with the Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, agreed by the
urgency procedure.
The Executive agreed to note the report and the intention to use the Executive Awayday
discussion as the basis for identifying potential strategic themes and projects for
consideration by the Executive in September.
6. Member Roles, Structures and Ways of Working
The Chief Executive introduced the report saying it outlined a range of potential steps
and changes which flow from previous reports, discussions and analysis of the
responses to the Member Roles, Structures and Ways of Working consultation issued
after the Leaders’ Committee of 1 April. He went on to say that there was a gathering
consensus around a set of agreed proposals to go to London Councils AGM in July. In
discussion the following points were made:

Executive members without specific portfolios would be able to offer some
wider reach and capacity to take forward specific, time-limited projects in
association with other members

there should be a standard requirement on any portfolio-holder to engage in
regular consultation with office-holders of their forum, even if arrangements
for engagement with wider forum members were to be more flexible

some of the most productive forum meetings were those with outside
organisations.
The Executive agreed to note the report.
7. London Councils annual performance monitoring report 2007/08
The Chief Executive introduced the report saying it provided the Executive with an
overview of London Councils’ performance, examining performance indicators as well as
reporting on progress against the four priorities of the Corporate Plan.
He went on to say that a highlight report was attached examining year on year
performance as well as identifying key achievements for the period April 2007 to March
2008 but that the format would change in the future.
The Executive agreed to note the report.
8. Leaders’ Committee and AGM agenda for 8 July meeting
The Executive agreed to note the agendas.
9. London Councils – Consolidated Pre-Audited Final Accounts 2007/2008
Director of Corporate Resources introduced the report saying it summarised the
provisional pre- audited consolidated final accounts for London Councils for the 2007/08
financial year.
The Executive agreed:

to approve the provisional consolidated final accounts for 2007/08 as detailed
in an appendix to the report

to also approve the provisional final accounts for 2007/08 for
o
The Grants Committee as detailed in an appendix to the report
o
The Transport and Environment Committee as detailed in an
appendix to the report
o
The London Housing Unit Committee as detailed in an appendix to
the report

to note the updated financial position of the London Councils and

to receive a further report on the finalised accounts in October/November
2008 after the completion of the external audit by PricewaterhouseCoopers
(PwC). PwC would formally present the Annual Audit Letter to the meeting of
the Audit Committee on 26 September 2008.
10. Committee Attendance
The Chairman introduced the report saying it presented an analysis of member
attendance at committees and forums during 2007/08, along with comparisons with
attendance during 2006/07.
The Executive agreed to:

circulate a summary of the findings to borough leaders in an easily accessible
form

see whether it was possible to determine whether there was any crossreference with officer bodies.
11. Nominations to outside bodies
The Executive, in their capacity as the Appointments Panel, agreed to note the report
and the agreement by the Mayor of London to appointments made by the Chief
Executive to the London Fire and Emergency Planning Authority (LFEPA).
Conservative
Cllr. Bertha Joseph (Brent)
Cllr. Rebekah Gilbert (Bromley)
Cllr. Maurice Heaster (Wandsworth)
Labour
Cllr Betty Evans-Jacas (Lambeth)
Cllr Colin Aherne (Hammersmith and Fulham)
Cllr Liaquat Ali (Waltham Forest)
Liberal Democrat
Cllr Ed Butcher (Haringey)
12. Ministerial, etc meetings
The Executive agreed to note the note of the meetings with

Rt Hon Andy Burnham MP – Chief Secretary to the Treasury, 16 January 2008

Rt Hon Ed Balls MP – Secretary of State for Children, Schools and Families, 26
February 2008

Liam Byrne MP – Minister for Borders and Immigration, Kevin Brennan MP –
Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Children, Young People and
Families, 22 April 2008.
13. Report of decisions taken under urgency procedure
The Executive agreed to note the decision taken under the urgency procedure:

London Waste & Recycling Board Non-Borough Appointments

London City Charter – Memorandum of Understanding.
Action Points
Item
1
Corporate Strategy: Next Steps after the
Executive Awayday (item 5)

use the Executive Awayday discussion as
the basis for identifying potential strategic
themes and projects for consideration by the
Executive in September.
Action
Progress
PPA
Now going to the
October meeting
2
Committee Attendance (item 10)
 circulate a summary of the findings to
borough leaders in an easily accessible form
 see whether it was possible to determine
whether there was any cross-reference with
officer bodies
CG/CPA
Done