The meeting agreed to adopt a new policy to restrict adverts for food and drink that are high in fat, salt and sugar (HFSS), extended the contract to provide community police officers, decided to move the library at Cranford to the Meadowbank Adult Education Centre, and noted the Council’s financial position at the end of Quarter 2 2024/25.

Brentford Police Station and Albany Riverside

Cabinet noted an update on the proposed redevelopment of the Brentford Police Station and Albany Riverside sites. It was noted that the withdrawal of a housing association from the project in 2023, as described in the report to the July 2023 Cabinet meeting, had led to delays. The report sets out a preferred option for a phased approach with Site 1, the Police Station being released first and sites 2 & 3, Albany Riverside being released for development once Site 1 had been successfully released. This approach aims to secure a new partner for the development of site 1 and the delivery of affordable housing and a new arts centre to replace the Watermans Art Centre.

It was noted that the Building Safety Act 2022 had come into force since the planning consent was granted in 2021 and would require amendments to the designs for all three sites. An additional budget of £1.45m was approved to fund the necessary design changes and prepare the site for disposal. Cabinet noted that a report describing the collaboration agreement with the landowners Topland Group and London Green would be brought to Cabinet later, as well as details of the disposal strategy for Albany Riverside.

Cranford Meadowbank Community Hub

Cabinet approved a proposal to move the library at Cranford to the Meadowbank Adult Education Centre. The proposal is part of the Localities programme to bring council services closer to residents by co-locating them in community hubs.

The proposal will see the creation of a new, modern library on the ground floor of the existing building, with a dedicated children’s library on a new mezzanine floor. It was noted that feedback from the public consultation on the project was positive and that this feedback would shape the range of services offered in the hub.

Cabinet approved an additional budget of £460,000 for the project and agreed that the existing library building would be subject to a full options appraisal to determine the future use of the site.

Delivery Plan Monitoring

Cabinet noted an update on the Council’s Delivery Plan. It was noted that all of the programmes within the ‘People’ portfolio are progressing well with no programmes assessed as ‘Red’, and the ‘Place’ portfolio is also progressing well with five projects currently assessed as Red:

• Hanworth Park House (New Build): It was noted that the project is currently at the business case development stage and faces significant challenges in developing a business case because of the historic Grade II listed building.
• Convent Way: It was noted that the Council has had to review its delivery approach to the project because of significant inflation in the construction industry and that soft market testing has been undertaken to identify the best approach to regeneration.
• Waterman's Centre (former Police Station): It was noted that further work was required to assess the financial viability of the project.
• Land adjacent to Bellevue Court, 141-149 Staines Road, Hounslow: The report noted that works on site have resumed but that there are outstanding issues to resolve and progress is slow.
• Charlton House and Albany House Regeneration: This project has seen the completion of a significant number of new homes but the project is assessed as Red because of a section of high-pressure water pipes that requires diverting and delays in approvals associated with the new Building Safety Act.

Financial Monitoring Update – Q2 2024-25

Cabinet noted that the financial monitoring update for Quarter 2 2024/25 is projecting a gross overspend of £28.1m against the General Fund revenue budget for the year. This includes a directorate variance of £36.0m, offset by a favourable variance of £7.9m on corporate budgets, with a further offset of £10m from risk reserves. A net overspend of £18.1m is therefore forecast.

The report identified a number of key risks to the Council’s finances:

• Adult Social Care: An overspend of £4.7m is projected, mainly due to increased demand. The cost of home care and nursing home places have been identified as particularly acute.
• Children with Disabilities: An overspend of £2.0m is projected. The report highlighted an increase in demand for direct payments and domiciliary care, with increases in the cost of residential placements being mitigated by a panel review process.
• Temporary Accommodation: It was noted that whilst numbers of households in Temporary accommodation have reduced, an overspend of £2.0m is forecast due to the rising cost of placements. It was noted that accommodation costs have increased by over 30% in the past 12 months, in part because of the loss of the subsidy on the cost of self-contained accommodation.
• Waste and Recycling: The report noted that an overspend of £2.4m is forecast, largely driven by higher inflation costs and additional costs arising from increasing volumes of waste. It was noted that income projections from recyclates are lower than the target, and that income from Space Waye is lower than the target because of intermittent closures due to flooding.
• Hounslow Companies: The report summarised the financial position of the Lampton Group of companies. An overall loss of £4.5m is forecast. It was noted that a detailed report on the Hounslow companies will be presented to the Shareholder Committee in December.

The report outlined a number of actions to mitigate the risks and to achieve planned savings:

• An increase to the monthly charge for the Lampton Leisure Swim School of £5.00 per month from 1 January 2025.
• A review of the rents being charged for HRA hostels and other HRA accommodation that is being used for Temporary Accommodation. It was proposed that rents and service charges for such accommodation should be charged at the current Temporary Accommodation subsidy limit (currently 90% of the 2011 Local Housing Allowance). This was approved by Cabinet and is expected to generate an additional £200k of income per year.
• A review of the Waste and Recycling Service delivery model, to identify opportunities for savings and ensure that the service is compliant with the Government’s simpler recycling reforms.
• A review of reserves, to ensure that there are sufficient funds to manage the risks identified in the report. This will be presented as part of the One Hounslow Financial Strategy 2025-26 report.

Cabinet also approved the migration of the Council’s finance system to a cloud-based solution. It was noted that the current provider, Unit4 Business Software, will be ceasing support for the current on-premise solution from 1 January 2025. The alternative to this, to procure a new system, was considered to be a lengthy and expensive project. The migration will cost £72,000 in 2024/25 and £235,000 per year thereafter.

Cabinet also approved the adoption of an updated Scheme for Financing Schools. This sets out the financial relationship between the Council and its maintained schools. The scheme was updated in response to new statutory guidance issued by the Department for Education and had been approved by the maintained school members of the Schools Forum.

Treasury Management Mid Year Report

Cabinet noted an update on the Council’s treasury activities. The report confirmed that the Council remains within the Treasury and Prudential Indicators set out in the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy. The report confirmed that the Council has invested £30m with West Midlands Combined Authority for 11 months at 5%. It was also noted that an investment of £20m with Fidelity International’s Multi Asset Income Fund had been terminated, with £16,117,000 being repaid to the Council. This was because of poor performance and is expected to result in a loss of £3.9m which needs to be recognised in the Council’s accounts.

The report also included an update on plans to launch a Community Municipal Investment (CMI), which would allow residents to directly invest in local, green infrastructure projects. This is in line with the Council’s Green agenda. It was noted that work is underway to finalise the CMI scheme, with the intention to launch in June 2025.

Hounslow Healthier Food Advertising Policy

Cabinet approved a proposal to restrict the advertising of high fat, salt and sugar (HFSS) products on Council advertising sites. The proposal aims to reduce exposure to advertisements for unhealthy foods and drinks and is a key element of the Whole Systems Approach to a Healthy Weight.

The restrictions will apply to all food and drink products classified as HFSS under the UK Nutrient Profiling Model, as well as advertisements for baby food that do not meet the standards of the World Health Organisation’s NPPM (Nutrient and Promotion Profile Model). It was noted that whilst the policy may result in a reduction in advertising income received by the Council, this has not been experienced by other London boroughs that have implemented similar policies.

Cabinet noted that whilst the implementation of the policy would be phased, with a grace period of three months to allow advertisers to make changes, the policy would apply to all new contracts from 21 November 2024.