Councillor Maisha Begum

Reserve Budget Meeting, Overview & Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday, 4th February, 2025 6.30 p.m.

The Committee reviewed additional information on the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the capital programme budgets that had been approved at the Cabinet meeting on 29th January 2025. It was agreed to refer queries about repairs and maintenance, and the Council's contract for this work, to the Housing and Regeneration Scrutiny Sub-Committee. The Committee will then monitor the work of the Sub-Committee and provide feedback to the Executive. The Committee also requested further information from the Executive about the timeline for the spending of the £140 million allocated to the HRA for improvements to the existing housing stock, including new windows, bathrooms, and kitchens. Finally, the Committee requested clarity on the process of bringing temporary accommodation in-house.

Overview & Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday, 28th January, 2025 6.30 p.m.

The committee discussed the insourcing of the leisure service, agreed a new scrutiny protocol, and agreed recommendations made in a report on flood risk management. The committee also agreed to hold an additional meeting to discuss two additional budget elements, HRA and Capital, on 4 February.

Council - Wednesday, 22nd January, 2025 7.00 p.m.

The meeting started with a tribute to former Councillor Ray Gibson, who passed away at the end of 2024. The Council then received a presentation from pupils at St John's School, Bethnal Green, who sang to celebrate the Council's recent Ofsted rating for Children's Services. The Council formally noted the 'outstanding' rating, and discussed the improvements that have taken place in the service since it was rated as 'inadequate' in 2017.

Overview & Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday, 17th December, 2024 6.30 p.m.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss a range of issues, including the Best Value Inspection, flood risk management, the strategic performance and delivery report, budget monitoring and an update on the home care procurement process. The committee noted all of the updates, except the home care procurement update, where a decision was made to move into a private session to discuss the issues further.

General Purposes Committee - Monday, 2nd December, 2024 6.30 p.m.

The committee discussed the appointment of school governors, whether it should formally respond to a government consultation on remote council meetings, proposed changes to the council's constitution, and received a report on the conduct of recent elections. The committee decided to note the contents of the reports it received, to continue to discuss the location of the State of the Borough debate, and to develop a proposal for the use of AI in council reporting.