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EXECUTIVE A meeting of the Executive will be held in the Council Chamber at the Civic Centre on Tuesday, 1 June 2004 at 8:00 pm. The business for consideration is set out below:- MEMBERSHIP

Councillor Ellar- Chair Councillors Bartholomew, Cadbury, Chopra, Ellar, Grewal,P, Lal, Mann, Sharma and Wason

AGENDA PART I - ITEMS FOR CONSIDERATION WHILE THE PRESS AND PUBLIC ARE IN ATTENDANCE

1. Apologies for Absence 2. Declarations of Interest 3. Minutes (Pages 1 - 6)

To confirm the minutes of the meeting held on 4 May 2004 4. Performance Management and Budget Management Reports 5. Reports from Overview and Scrutiny 6. Matters dealt with under Delegated Authority (Page 7)

Report by the Chief Executive 7. Community Plan Review - Celebrating Diversity , Building Cohesion (Pages 8 - 90)

Report of Councillor Ellar 8. Feltham Area Renewal - Feltham First SRB (Pages 91 - 93)

Report of Councillor P Grewal 9. Any Other Urgent Business in Part 1 10. Exclusion of Press and Public

To resolve that the public and press be asked to leave the meeting during discussion of the remaining items of business because exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 4, 5 & 7 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 is likely to be made known. Please note that members of the public and press must leave the meeting at this point.

11. Key Sites Project Management Reports (Pages 94 - 137)

Report of Councillor Chatt 12. Allocation Plan 2003/2004, 2004/2005 and 2005/2006 (Pages 138 -

156)

Report of Councillor Chopra 13. Connexions Service: Move to Confederation Model (Pages 157 -

164)

Report of Councillor Cadbury 14. Remand Management Service: Feltham Young Offender Institution (Pages 165 -

167)

Report of Councillor Cadbury 15. E-Government and ICT Programme Development (Pages 168 -

184)

Report of Councillor Mann 16. Corporate Procurement Change Programme: Progress Report and

Supplementary (Pages 185 -

195)

Report of Councillor Sharma 17. Proposed Designation of Kew Bridge Conservation Area (Pages 196 -

232)

Report of Councillor Chatt DECLARING INTERESTS

Committee members are reminded that if they have a personal interest in any matter being discussed at the meeting they must declare the interest and if the interest is also a prejudicial interest then they may not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter. MARK GILKS, Chief Executive London Borough of Hounslow, Civic Centre, Lampton Road, Hounslow TW3 4DN 28 May 2004

LONDON BOROUGH OF HOUNSLOW

MINUTES OF A PUBLIC MEETING OF THE EXECUTIVE HELD ON TUESDAY 4 MAY AT 7.30PM AT THE CIVIC CENTRE, LAMPTON ROAD, HOUNSLOW

Present: Councillors Chatt (Leader of the Council and Chair) Cadbury Chopra Ellar Grewal, Pritam Lal Mann

Sharma Wason 1. Apologies for Absence

Councillor Darshan Grewal 2. Declarations of Interest None 3. Minutes (a) The minutes of the public meeting held on 6 April 2004 were confirmed and signed by the Chair (b) The amended minute of the public meeting held on 4 November 2003 covering the previously omitted Agenda Item 17 was confirmed and signed by the Chair 4. Performance Management and Budget Management Reports There were no reports. 5. Reports from Overview and Scrutiny There were no reports 6. Matters dealt with under Delegated Authority The report of the Chief Executive was noted.

Agenda Item 3

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7. Financial General Matters

Councillor Sharma presented the report which contained financial general matters for the consideration of the Executive including amendments to the list of authorised officers in relation to Benefit Fraud.

Resolved:-

That the Executive approves the amended list of authorised officers in relation to Benefit Fraud and the addition of Section 110A "Authorised Officer" powers for David Beattie (replacing Robert Della-Sala).

8. Supplementary Planning Guidance on Sustainable Mobile

Telecommunication Development

Councillor Cadbury presented the report informing Members of the proposed Supplementary Planning Guidance on Sustainable Mobile Telecommunication Development. The report outlined the key issues and the outcome of public consultation.

Resolved:- 1. That the Executive notes the contents of the report

2. That the Executive agrees to the amendments to the Supplementary Planning Guidance (SPG) on Sustainable Mobile Telecommunication Development

3. That the Executive approves the Supplementary Planning

Guidance (SPG) on Sustainable Mobile Telecommunication Development as recommended by the Sustainable Development Committee

9. Corporate Geographic Information System

Councillor Mann presented the report outlining a proposal for the implementation of a web based corporate geographic information system (GIS). Under the proposal all citizens, councillors and staff will be provided with immediate, user-friendly access to geographic information from their desktop computers via a web browser across the intranet and internet. The corporate GIS will provide a gateway to council services and information systems. As a key enabler of e-government it will join up data, users and services and contribute to better performance through improved accessibility and efficiency.

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Resolved:-

That the Executive approves the acquisition from the preferred supplier (as outlined in the report) of the software and hardware required to implement a corporate GIS through a web browser.

10. Customer Services Best Value Review: Interim Report Baseline

Position and Progress on Customer Service Improvement Actions

Councillor Wason presented the report reminding Members that the final scope of the Customer Service Best Value Review (CSBVR) had been agreed at the meeting on 7 October, together with the structure of the review team, a detailed work programme, the overall review timetable and reporting arrangements. The current report was the planned phase one interim report, completing the assessment of the baseline position on customer services in Hounslow, reporting on further public consultation undertaken as part of this stage of the review and making proposals for the detailed work to be undertaken in the next phase. The report also outlined the progress made on a number of customer service projects which had already been implemented. Councillor Wason reminded the Executive that the opportunity was being taken to improve numerous aspects of the Council's customer services on the basis that these were beneficial changes which would not be prejudicial to any possible outcome from the best value review process. Finally Councillor Wason reported that the CSBVR had been the subject of a staged inspection undertaken by KPMG during February 2004 and that feedback from the inspection was referred to in the report

The Executive noted that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee had not put forward any strong objections when considering this matter strong objections but had raised issues pertaining to Disability Discrimination Act (DDA) 1995 compliance and the need to develop further resources for future improvements. Councillor Wason recorded her thanks to staff, in particular to Michael Jordan, for their continued work on the project.

Resolved:-

1. That the Executive notes the findings of the baseline study

2. That the Executive approves the proposed programme of work on

the next stage of the CSBVR and the arrangements for carrying this out as set out in sections 6-8 of the report

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11. Home to School Transport (Special Educational Needs)

Councillor Ellar reported that the Best Value Review had recommended that the Home to School Transport Policy should be revised and that the Executive was now being asked to consider adopting the revised policy as appended to the report.

Members noted that ACE (Legal) had advised that the proposed policy was compliant with the Disability Discrimination Act 1995 and Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 but that officers would continue to monitor the policy in line with any future legislation. Concern was expressed about transport for children with special needs attending out of school activities at schools and youth centres, particularly since attendance at such activities was becoming increasingly common for all young people. It was agreed that this issue should be considered within current budgetary provision and fully covered in the proposed review under recommendation 4.

Resolved:-

1. That the Council adopts the revised Home to School Transport

Policy for Pupils with Special Educational Needs as set out in the report

2. That the Executive agrees that, in order to avoid disruption to

parent and pupils who have arranged childcare and work arrangements around the current transport arrangements, the Executive agrees that the new policy will apply to new pupils whose placements begin after the implementation date (anticipated for September 2004)

3. That the Executive agrees that the mechanism for dealing with

appeals will be by a Panel comprised of Members and Officers from LLL&CS

4. That the Executive agrees that the implementation of the revised

policy should be monitored and reviewed after 18 months to two years and the outcome be reported to back to the Executive


The Chair indicated that he had agreed to take the report as an urgent item under Section 100 (B) (4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

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Councillor Sharma explained that the report dealt with various financial matters including the need to approve a contingency drawing to deal with the legal appeals and planning enquiries that the Council has been involved with during the last year.

Resolved:-

1. That the Executive approves a contingency drawing of £70,428 to

meet costs arising from planning inquiries and appeals in 2003/04 as described in paragraph 2.1

2. That the Executive approves the appointment of Melvyn James

Smith as an authorised signatory of the Council with effect from the date of this meeting, and the temporary empowerment of Lorelei Watson to sign grant claims, applications and similar items until the appointment of a permanent replacement Deputy Borough Treasurer.

16. Any Other Urgent Business in Part 1

There was none. 12. Exclusion of Public and Press

Resolved:-

That the public and press be asked to leave the meeting during discussion of the remaining items of business because exempt information as defined in Paragraphs 7 and 9 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 is likely to be made known.


Councillor Sharma outlined various financial general matters for the consideration of the Executive, namely the write-off of Sundry Debtors, Housing Benefit and Council Tax Benefit Overpayment debtors, Non-Domestic Rate debtors and Former Tenant Arrears

Members expressed concern that their approval was being sought to the write-off of certain debts where monies could not be recovered due to poor documentation by some council departments. It was agreed that officers should be reminded that it was wholly unacceptable for valuable resources to be wasted due to inefficiency and that audit inspections will target any bad practice that may occur.

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Resolved:-

1. That the Executive approves the write-off of Sundry Debtors (Lifelong Learning Leisure and Cultural Services, Chief Executive's Directorate, Street Management and Public Protection Department and Housing Strategy and Services) as listed in Appendix A to the report

2. That the Executive approves the write-off of Housing Benefit and

Council Tax Benefit Overpayment debtors as listed in Appendix B to the report

3. That the Executive approves the write-off of Non-Domestic Rate

debtors as listed in Appendix C to the report

4. That the Executive approves the write-off of Former Tenant Arrears listed in Appendix D to the report

14. Access Hounslow

Councillor Wason presented the report updating the Executive on the work carried out by ‘Access Hounslow’ forming part of the customer service improvements programme being developed through the Customer Services Best Value Review. The report provided a project update against each work stream and made proposals for the detailed work to be undertaken in the next phase including the approval of the architects design fees.

Resolved:-

1. That the Executive notes the findings and progress made by the

Access Hounslow project and the allocation of £1.5m by the Borough Council on 9 March 2004 for the Access Hounslow project

2. That the Executive agrees the proposed programme of work for the

next phase of the project as detailed in Appendix 3 to the report

3. That the Executive approves the Architect's design brief as detailed in Appendix 2 to the report

4. That the Executive approves the engagement of EPR Architects as

set out in the report to help co-ordinate this project with the Multi-Purpose Hall project and agrees to waive Standing Order to allow for the selection of EPR Architects without further competition.

The meeting closed at 8.20pm

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Better Local Government

EXECUTIVE BRIEFING – 27 APRIL 2004

EXECUTIVE PUBLIC MEETING –1st June 2004 COUNCIL –15th June 2004

COMMUNITY PLAN REVIEW

Celebrating diversity – building cohesion

Report by Cllr. Colin Ellar, Leader of the Council

SUMMARY This report summarises the key issues in relation to Hounslow’s second Community Plan and recommends that the Executive commends it as the over arching document for the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP). The attached plan – ‘Celebrating diversity – building cohesion’ builds upon the success of the first plan following extensive consultation and recommendations from the CPA. The attached plan is a final working draft and some further amendments may be made to reflect continuing consultation with our key stakeholders. The plan is not a Council plan but a Community Plan and is fully endorsed by Hounslow’s Local Strategic Partnership. Partners of the LSP are committed to work with a range of organisations to improve local public services across the borough. 1. BACKGROUND Hounslow’s first Community Plan was published in July 2002. It is a statutory requirement that Local Authorities produce a plan that sets the vision for the borough, outlines the challenges for the area and identifies the targets to tackle these issues. The CPA in July 2002 recognised the Community Plan as a good plan but identified a number of areas where the plan could be strengthened. This included the inclusion of Area Profiles that reflect the very distinctive characteristics of the five Area Committees. Hounslow’s second plan illustrates the individual areas reporting on key features and identifying key priorities and clearly portrays Hounslow as a ‘community of communities’.

Agenda Item 7

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2. CONSULTATION The plan has been subject to extensive consultation, this includes:

• Face to face survey of 2000 Hounslow residents – Hounslow’s residents’ panel representative of the boroughs demographic profile.

• Interviews and discussion groups with young people • Stakeholder conference • Voluntary sector conference • Area Committee Meetings

Results from a range of consultation activities have informed the development of the review. Themes of the first plan have been reconfirmed as addressing the key concerns of our local community and have been further developed for the second plan. 3. EQUALITY IMPACT ASSESSMENT The Council has a legal duty under the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000 to demonstrate that we have made arrangements for assessing and consulting on the likely impact of our policies and proposed policies; on the promotion of race equality, and monitoring our policies for any adverse impact on the promotion of race equality. The Community Plan is a key policy having high relevance to the promotion of equal opportunities. This policy therefore has to be assessed for its impact on the communities it seeks to serve. The initial assessment showed that the Community Plan does support the needs of women’s equality, race equality, disability equality, age equality, lesbian and gay equality and equality in employment. The Plan promotes Community leadership by further developing themed chapters that illustrate achievements already made and targets to improve the well being of all our communities. The Community Plan illustrates the need for effective communications and identifies targets to actively involve communities in making services more accessible. The Plan will be made available to all communities through appropriate media. The impact assessment suggested that some further consultation could happen with certain sections of our community to ensure their needs for service delivery are more explicit in the plan. Lesbian and Gay communities will be consulted further to contribute to the plan.

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4. COMMENTS OF THE ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (FINANCE) The Assistant Chief Executive (Finance) comments that due regard should be paid to the Community Plan commitments within mainstream budgets and all actions to support the targets must be met within existing budgets. 5. COMMENTS OF THE ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (LEGAL) The Assistant Chief Executive (Legal) has been consulted in the preparation of this report and has no comments to add. Contact: FAYE MUNRO (Policy Unit) Telephone: 020 8583 2461 Background Papers: • Community Plan published July 2002

This report has been or is due to be considered by: 1. Executive 2. CMT

This report is relevant to the following wards/areas: ALL

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Celebrating diversity - building cohesion

THE COMMUNITY PLAN

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CONTENTS

PAGE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

PAGE CHAPTER 1 PLANNING OUR COMMUNITY’S FUTURE

PAGE CHAPTER 2 THE VOICE OF THE COMMUNITY

PAGE CHAPTER 3 A SAFER COMMUNITY

PAGE CHAPTER 4 A HEALTHIER COMMUNITY

PAGE CHAPTER 5 AN ACCESSIBLE COMMUNITY

PAGE CHAPTER 6 A THRIVING COMMUNITY

PAGE CHAPTER 7 A GREENER COMMUNITY

PAGE CHAPTER 8 A CREATIVE COMMUNITY

PAGE CHAPTER 9 AREA PROFILES‘a community of communities’

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This, the second Hounslow Community Plan, has beenprepared by the Local Strategic Partnership and setsthe vision for the development of Hounslow overthe long term. As a borough in the west of London,Hounslow faces a number of challenges for the futuregrowth and development of the area. Its uniquecharacteristics have a role to play in this, in continuingto reflect the changing diversity of the population,the redevelopment of three of our key town centres,helping our residents get the most from localemployment opportunities and reflecting nationaldevelopments such as will result from theChildren’s Bill.

In preparing this blue print for the future, we havelistened to feedback from a variety of consultations,including surveying residents and meeting stake-holders, young people and other groups such as thevoluntary sector. As a result, the six themes of theoriginal plan have been reconfirmed in this document.The themes are:

A SAFER COMMUNITY - This was identified as a keyissue and is being addressed through the CommunitySafety partnership and includes consideration of crimeand the fear of crime, street cleaning, public healthand a safer, greener environment

Achievements have been made in the reduction ofcrime through schemes such as the thumb printcampaign, implementation of the Community AgainstDrugs initiative, dealing with Anti Social Behaviourand increased youth work in hotspots. Work has alsobeen carried out to reduce distraction burglary,to address domestic violence and race crime andto remove flyposters and grafitti.

A HEALTHIER COMMUNITY- All aspects of lifeimpact on health, including health services, housing,income, lifestyle and individual needs. Partnershipwork is progressing to improve services, promotehealthy lifestyles and to improve air quality

Progress has been achieved in joining up a numberof teams and in reducing health inequalities.Supporting independence has improved includingthe establishment of an out of hours mental healthservice and improved services at Roshni centre andWestbrook Respite Unit. A number of projects such as‘Total Respect’ training for foster carers and supportfor adults with learning disabilities have been set up.

AN ACCESSIBLE COMMUNITY- Accessibilitycan be improved through a variety of means.Transport issues include tackling congestion andaccess to redeveloped town centres. Access to servicesthrough ensuring they take account of cultural andlinguistic differences, as well as disability. Improvingaccess to jobs and training is needed by people in lowpaid jobs and for those who are finding it difficult toenter the jobs market.

Working with partners, a number of schemes havebeen achieved to address problems such as pedestrianand cycle road safety and encouraging walking as analternative and review of bus routes. Accessibility hasbeen supported by consultation with the ResidentsPanel and improved communication through theborough magazine. Customer access to the Councilis being reviewed and a joint project has been set upwith Jobcentre Plus to support employment.

Executive Summary

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A THRIVING COMMUNITY - Major regenerationprojects are progressing including three town centresthat incorporate a careful balance of improvedenvironment, facilities, employment and housing.Affordable homes are being sought under the housingstrategy and protection of open spaces is beingpursued, including good design, improved air qualityand recycling.

Sustainable development is being supported by thebrownfield sites policy, targets for affordable homesprovision, a key worker housing policy and revisedguidelines on sustainable constructionand residential design.

A GREENER COMMUNITY - This theme aims toimprove the open spaces in the borough, recyclingand protect wildlife. The airport has a major impacton this as it brings both air and noise pollution andthe borough is working to minimise the damagethis does to the environment.

Achievements have included a campaign againstthe negative impact of the third runway, the outcomeof which, has been to influence the Government’sAviation Paper. Sustainable waste management is setout in the Waste management strategy and the LocalBiodiversity Action Plan has been launched.

A CREATIVE COMMUNITY - The creative communityencompasses the educational and leisure opportunitiesin the borough. There is continuing work to build onthe success of the nurseries and schools to ensure thatyoung people have the opportunity to participate infurther education. Cultural resources such as libraries,sports facilities, heritage and arts continue to beavailable through a variety of private, voluntary andpublic sector providers and these partners are workingtogether to deliver and integrate services.

Pupil performance has seen substantial progressand libraries upgrades are proceeding. Training anddevelopment opportunities have included increasedlearner participation in the adult education serviceand vocational training being established for Keystage 4/Post 16 students.

Each of the themes includes a new set of targets forthe duration of the plan.

In addition to the comprehensive review to thethemed content above, a new section has been addedto the plan profiling each of the five areas to reflectthe constitution of the borough as a community ofcommunities. Each area profile sets out the key issuesfor the area, including information on the population,education, crime and health as well as the AreaCommittees and residents priorities for the locality.

This plan has been developed with a range of partnersand has been endorsed by the Local StrategicPartnership.

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CHAPTER ONEPLANNING OURCOMMUNITY’S FUTURE

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The Hounslow Community Plan sets out a blueprintfor the kind of place where we all want to live andwork. It outlines the challenges we face and howwe need to work together to build a Borough thatmeets the needs of the whole community. This plan,Hounslow’s second, demonstrates how partnershave worked together to deliver services across theBorough and shows the very tangible outcomes that have been achieved.

This is a Community Plan not a Council plan andis fully endorsed by Hounslow’s Local StrategicPartnership (LSP). The LSP is made up ofrepresentatives from the public, private andvoluntary sectors and includes the Police, theFire Service, London Borough of Hounslow, RaceEquality Council, Learning and Skills Council,Voluntary Sector Forum, West London Businessand the Primary Care Trust. Partners on the LSPare committed to working with a range oforganisations and their aim is to improve localpublic services by tackling key issues across theborough which affect us all. The targets withinthe plan will deliver services that make our visionfor the Borough a reality.

Hounslow has a lot to offer. We are a communityof communities. We have worked hard to promotecohesion and to celebrate and nurture our vibrantmix of cultures. ‘Meeting the challenge - CommunityCohesion in Hounslow’ is a statement about thecurrent progress that partners have made inresponding to Community Cohesion issues ata local level. This statement is an integral partof the Community Plan and demonstrates partnerscommitment to mainstreaming CommunityCohesion across the borough.

While we celebrate and value this rich mix of diversitywe are also presented with many challenges.We need to continue to build on past successesand use our diversity to create a more inclusiveBorough that understands individual needs andprovides the services to meet them. The LondonBorough of Hounslow’s Equal Opportunities andDiversity Policy is designed not only to work atcombating social exclusion for all our disadvantagedcommunities, but also works to contribute activelytowards creating an inclusive, integrated, enriched,optimistic and secure life for all our residents withinour local communities.

Sustainable Development is key to Hounslow’s future.A widely-used definition is ‘development which meetsthe needs of the present without compromising theability of future generations to meet their own needs’.Put simply, it ensures a better quality of life foreveryone, now and for future generations.

The challenge of sustainable development is tofind new ways forward for the future. We needto find ways to achieve economic, social andenvironmental objectives at the same time, andconsider the longer-term implications of decisions.We need to improve the efficiency with which weuse resources and build thriving communities basedon strong economies, good access to services andwith attractive and safe surroundings.

The ‘Local Development Framework (LDF)’ willbe pivotal in delivering the land use objectives ofthe community plan and together with the economicdevelopment and area regeneration frameworks willfacilitate more sustainable development proposals.In the future strong links with the community planare essential to ensure that new development in theborough reflects community concerns and the futureambitions of the LSP.

Introduction

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London Today

London has created an outstanding cultural, social,economic, environmental and built heritage.Its strengths are unique. It is:

● One of the three global financial centres,Europe’s financial capital, and the world’s most economically internationalised city

● The most culturally diverse city in the world● The largest city in the European Union● The UK’s centre of government, culture and

tourism as well as business● A city with a vast heritage of historic buildings,

townscape, waterways and an environment that attracts visitors from all over the world

● A city with an unsurpassed range of arts andcultural activity

● A UK and international centre for the creative industries and the new knowledge economy

● A safe and green city● A world centre of academic excellence, providing

research and consulting services internationally● The hub of European international transport

connections

London Tomorrow

The Mayor of London has set out a vision for Londonto become: a city for people, a prosperous city, a faircity, an accessible city and a green city. In achievingthis there are numerous challenges that need to betackled. These include:

Accommodating growth - London is expectedto grow by the equivalent of the population of Leedsin the next 15 years, (currently 715,404 Census 2001)without further expansion into the existing Green Beltand without encroaching on London’s internal greenspaces. Development has to be directed towards areasof social and economic deprivation, brownfield sites,areas of historic neglect and future opportunity.Sustainable growth requires that all of London’sdiverse communities be supported, strengthenedand recreated.

Economic Growth - Soaring house prices mean manyLondon households cannot buy or rent a decent home.Our use of energy and natural resources has to bebetter controlled and our impact on the environment outside and within the city minimised. Rapid economicgrowth will, in some cases, involve upgrading and

reshaping entire industries and change the economyof local communities.

Transport - London needs a vastly improvedtransport infrastructure to function effectively andto allow Londoners - and those who work here -to travel efficiently and safely. Crossrail is a proposedhigh-capacity east-west rail link across London servingHeathrow, the West End, the City and the Docklands.Under the current ‘Crossrail Benchmark Scheme’a branch of Crossrail would extend from Paddingtonthrough Chiswick in the London Borough of Hounslow,then on to Richmond and Kingston.

Diversity - The distinctive character of diversity is notonly one of London’s greatest strengths but deeplyappreciated by its population. Tackling social exclusionhas proved to be the most difficult challenge that hasfaced past regeneration initiatives. Too many of ourpeople are marginalised or excluded by poverty,illness or prejudice from full participation in London’seconomic and social life. Tackling social and economicexclusion must be mainstreamed making all ourservices accessible to all our communities.

(source - The London Plan GLA February 2004)

Hounslow in context -The Regional Setting

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The West London Context

● West London is a key global gateway and a choice location for both businesses and individuals, an inclusive society and a vibrant mixed community.

● The Mayor’s London Plan identifies West Londonas a thriving part of the city with a diverse economywith the ability to accommodate 45,000 homes and 86,000 new jobs.

● The anticipated growth in population for West London is expected to increase faster than current plans for housing provision. There is likely to be a need of 35,000 homes just to accommodate these new households.

● Population growth in West London (0.8%)has greatly exceeded population growth forGreat Britain (0.3%).

● The continued rise in house prices beyond the reachof people on low or middle incomes threatens the ability of West London to attract and retain skilled workers.

● Long term unemployment is an issue within West London with individuals claiming benefits for more than 12 months being 18.7%. This is highest in Brent at 26.4% and lowest in Hounslow 8.2%.

● Transport provision has not improved sufficiently to accommodate the developing economy of thearea. Many employment sites are located in areaswith poor public transport and there are increasingdemands on the transport system. Trains areexpected to be just as overcrowded in 2016 asthey are today even with the extra capacity thatcrossrail could potentially provide.

● The development of the West London Economic Development strategy will serve to address some of these issues and build on the strengths of West London as an international gateway for London and the UK.

● The West London Alliance comprising the boroughs of Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith & Fulham, Harrow,Hillingdon and Hounslow are working withbusinesses community and voluntary groups and other public sector agencies on a West London Community Cohesion Pathfinder programme.The project is one of 14 national pathfinderprojects, the aim being to improve opportunities and enhance the quality of life for all of West London’s communities.

Hounslow Today

● Hounslow is a community of communities and one of the most culturally diverse areas in the U.K.212,344 people live in the borough. Over 120languages are spoken and 35% of the population are from minority ethnic groups.

● There are over 83,000 households in the borough.● There are over 800 active voluntary organisations

in the borough.● As the capital’s international gateway from

Heathrow, we are a major business location.● Average household incomes and wages are low

relative to most other London Boroughs. There are still widespread skills shortages reported by local businesses and many of Hounslow’s residents lack skills or qualifications, which will become more problematic in the future as jobs require morespecialist skills.

● Heathrow’s Terminal 5 -building the equivalent of a new Gatwick alongside what is already the world’s busiest airport will provide a significant amount of employment but will also put enormous pressures on the local environment in terms of air pollution,noise and increased traffic congestion.

● Radical changes to Health service delivery are being made with a completely modernised West Middlesex Hospital and a new Primary Care Trust seeking to tackle health inequalities.

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Hounslow Tomorrow

● The highest projected population increase occursin the 45-64 year old age group, with associated increases in demand for public services, housing and employment in and around the borough.

● The developing diversity of our populationcontinues to be a factor that partners celebrate,but it also presents challenges in terms of thecommunity cohesion agenda. We will continueto develop our community cohesion programmeby promoting the inclusion of minority ethniccommunities, promoting the inclusion of newly arrived communities and developing opportunities for disaffected white youth.

● Different areas of the borough display uniquecharacteristics. There is a continuing need to plan and cater for the different needs and demandson public services across the different areasof the borough.

● In terms of ethnicity, the projected increase inthe minority ethnic elder population will be closely monitored to reflect their needs in developing our agenda for the future of adults’ social care services in Hounslow.

● The number of children aged 5 to 14 years from minority ethnic communities is projected to increase from 11,414 in 2001 to 12,794 in 2006,an increase of 12%.

● Three of our key town centres in Hounslow,Brentford and Feltham will be transformed creating leisure, jobs and homes. Proposals are mixeduse developments, bringing additional social,community, leisure, retail and residential uses into the heart of these centres. Improving access to these centres and ensuring a high quality built environment will also be important.

● Current low unemployment figures for theborough conceal the fact that many of ourresidents work in low skilled, low paid jobs.It is important to develop the skill-set of ourresidents so that they can compete for a diverse range of local employment opportunities.This will help local business to employ localpeople and attract new investment thuscreating more jobs.

● Heathrow Airport is a major employer in the Borough and will remain so for the foreseeable future. Expansion will increase with the openingof Terminal 5 in 2008 and it is possible that a third runway will be built if stringent environmentalcriteria can be met.

● We are committed to increasing the equityof health provision across the borough.Through a Local Improvement Finance Trust wewill expand and improve health centres, such as Thelma Golding, Heston Health Centre, Bedfont Clinic and Feltham Town Centre.

● The Green Paper ‘every child matters’ andsubsequent Children’s Bill will change the waychildren’s services are delivered in the Borough.Local flexibility and strengthened partnership arrangements will ensure that services to children across the borough will be improved.

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CHAPTER TWOTHE VOICE OFTHE COMMUNITY

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Hounslow’s Community Plan is informed by a numberof activities that have occurred since the productionof the first plan that have helped to shape theproduction of the second. These include:

● Face to face survey of 2000 Hounslow residents - Hounslow’s residents’ panel is representative of the boroughs demographic profile.

● Interviews and discussion groups withyoung people

● Stakeholder conference

● Voluntary sector conference

● Area Committee Meetings

Results from a range of consultation activities haveinformed the development of the review. Themes ofthe first plan have been reconfirmed as addressingthe key concerns of our local community and havebeen further developed for our second plan.

Early in 2004, 2000 residents were asked about thearea they live in. Overall, 70% of you are satisfiedwith your neighbourhood as a place to live whilst17% are dissatisfied.

The most frequently mentioned reasons for livingin Hounslow overall are affordable decenthousing (20%); job prospects (19%); and publictransport (18%).

The most frequently identified problems are litter(38%) and broken pavements (34%) followedby anti-social behaviour and disturbance fromyouths (29%).

When asked about whether or not you feel thatyour local area is a place where people from differentbackgrounds get on well together. The majority of you(84%) believe that it is whilst just 9% think otherwise.

The types of noise most likely to be described asa problem are aircraft noise (42% describe thisas a problem) and road traffic noise (21% describethis as a problem).

When asked what would make Hounslow a greatplace to live, the highest proportion of you mentioneda reduction in crime (24%); this was followed bya cleaner environment (20%).

The priority with the highest level of agreementis a safer community (70% agree). This is thenfollowed by a greener community (61% agree).

This reflects the earlier finding that respondentsbelieve a reduction in crime and a cleanerenvironment would help Hounslow becomea great place to live.

(BMG-residents survey Jan 2004)

What you said

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Hounslow has a higher than average number of youngpeople living in the borough compared to the nationalaverage. It is important that as tomorrows’ citizens weaddress their concerns and listen to the views of ouryoung community. A number of consultation exerciseshave begun to ensure the views of young people areconsidered. Views expressed include:

Safer Community

● Fear of crime is a concern expressed by all groups of young people regardless of ethnic background

● Key concerns are around fear of physical attacks,bullying and robbery

● Fear of racial harassment are of most concern to Kosovan, Albanian and Somali youth and some young Asian young people feel vulnerable to verbalabuse

Healthier Community

● Language is a barrier to accessing appropriate health care and some felt there is a need for better translation and interpretation services

● Barriers to healthcare included difficulty in either accessing and/or getting treatment from GP’s surgeries

● Lack of services to assist with young people from post - traumatic stress and depressive illnesses

Accessible Community

● Issues preventing young people using existing services include cost, fear of crime, lack of

knowledge and information and not meetingtheir needs and interests

● Young people living on housing estates feel that access to decision making is limited

Thriving Community

● Homelessness is a major problem for young people who are experiencing family breakdown and other social problems

● Shortage of affordable housing in the boroughhas raised a number of issues for different groups,for example teenage mothers. This shortage has created competition between different groupsfor limited social housing

Greener Community

● There is a need for better access to open spaces,parks and play areas

● More opportunities for sporting activities such as tennis, roller blading and skate boarding and the facilities to engage in these activities

Creative Community

● Low aspirations and lack of confidence about the future meant that many disaffected white youth express little interest in academic learning

● Lack of interest in after schools sports programmes● Frustrations about leisure centre opening hours not

catering for needs of younger people

In November 2003, key agencies were invited todiscuss community issues across the borough basedon the themes of the community plan. A number ofissues emerged from the conference that are currentlybeing addressed. These include:

● Communication - ensuring that all the relevant partners and agencies are involved in implementingthe plan and that there are clear links between partners and the LSP.

● Partnership - consolidating and strengthening current workings, making better use of the knowledge and influence of the voluntary sector.

● Consultation - improving the connections between diverse communities, being sensitive to differing cultural and social needs and engaging with all communities. There is a particular emphasis on the need to engage better with young people.

● Community Cohesion - ensuring that cohesionis embedded into the plan and is an integral part of the work of the LSP.

Concerns from our younger community

Stakeholder Conference to reviewthe Community Plan.

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There are around 800 community and voluntarygroups within the Borough. These groups are at theheart of the community sector, often filling gaps thathave not yet come to the attention of the statutoryservices. They provide a wide range of servicesto the local population from advocacy groups toorganisations doing youth work, and include manyfaith-based groups active in wider community work.

When asked about the future structure of thecommunity plan at the voluntary sector conferenceof September 2003, 31% of organisations indicatedthat they would prefer to see more specific targetsdetailed in the plan. 22% saw the introductionof Area Profiles as a good development.

37% of organisations rated a safer community asmost relevant to their organisation, followed by ahealthier community and an accessible community.

The main areas of concern for voluntary organisationsbased on the Residents Survey 2003 were crime(22%), followed by quality of health services (20%).

Based on conference delegates, the most prominentclient group is younger people at 32%, followedby older people with 22% and disabled peoplewith 20%.

59% of voluntary groups would most like tocontribute to the work of the LSP by helping to setlocal priorities and targets for improving services.

Voluntary Sector Views

Through a variety of consultation events, older peoplehave provided us with their views and concernsabout the services that are provided in the borough.The challenges that these views represent are tackledin the different themes of the community plan.They include:

Older people have difficulty in accessing services andfeel they often have to wait too long for services to be provided. Information about services is sometimesconfusing, hard to read and language can act as abarrier to effective communication.

Reducing crime is an important issue for older people.Older people feel vulnerable to crime and theft andwant to see their neighbourhoods become safer.Many older people feel isolated and would welcomethe opportunity to attend social activities on aregular basis

Older people would like to see more partnershipworking between health and social care, as theydo not see these two organisations as different.Older people would like to see more ‘portablehealth services’.

Concerns from our older community

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CHAPTER THREEA SAFER COMMUNITY

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You told us that reducing crime is an important issuefor your area.

Crime and the fear of crime, are important factors inhow we feel about our community, whether we go outat night and how we use our parks and open spaces.Though overall crime levels have fallen, fear of crimeis high and making the borough a safe place is a toppriority for our residents.

Hounslow was one of the first councils in the countryto set up a Community Safety Partnership, which hassuccessfully brought together agencies including theLondon Probation Service, Fire Service, VoluntarySector Council, Police, Primary Care Trust, and localbusiness, to tackle crime and prevent its occurance.

The vision of Hounslow Community Safety Partnershipis to work in partnership with the community andlocal agencies to make Hounslow a safer place inwhich to live, work and visit.

Ensuring we have a safer borough is about morethan crime. We are also working to provide costeffective and wide ranging services such as streetcleaning, rubbish collection, street lighting and roadand pavement maintenance to ensure a safer,greener environment. We also have a role to promotetraffic safety schemes and regulate and controlactivities that may adversely affect the environment,public health, fair trading or residents’ quality of life.

Reducing crime in town centres is a key priority forthe Community Safety Partnership. Multi-agencyStakeholder Groups have been set up to address crimeand disorder issues in Hounslow, Chiswick andFeltham town centres.

Key achievements include:

● Launch of the “Thumb Print” campaign to deter retail crime. There has been a 50% reduction in retail credit card fraud since the operationof this scheme.

● Improving security of retail outlets aroundTurnham Green in Chiswick.

● Environmental improvements around Hounslow Bus Garage in Hounslow Town centre.

Implementation of the ‘Communities Against DrugsInitiative’ has proved successful with targetedintervention across three areas:

● Convent Way Estate

● Beavers Estate

● Heston Farm Estate

Why is it important ?

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What we have achieved

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The Partnership has paid for the NeighbourhoodWatch Association (NHW) to employ a NHW SupportWorker to enhance the network across the borough.

Tackling Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB) is a key concernfor residents, a number of initiatives have beenimplemented to tackle and reduce anti-socialbehaviour. These include:

● Appointment of an Anti-Social Behaviour/Race Crime Co-ordinator.

● Working closely with the newly establishedAnti-Social Behaviour Team in Hounslow Homesto co-ordinate action against Anti Social Behaviour

● 13 Registered Social Landlords have signed up to aPartnership Information Sharing Protocol

● Attained nine successful Anti-Social Behaviour Orders and more than 60 Acceptable Behaviour Contracts with 85% of contracts successfullycompleted

● Being the first London Borough to use the powersof dispersal under the new ASB legislation

The number of young people known to be committingoffences in the borough has remained stable between2001 and 2002. However, the number of offencescommitted by those young people has gone down, areduction of 18%.

Key achievements include:

● Funding for detached youth work in “hot spot”areas in Feltham and Brentford delivered inpartnership by the Youth Service and Activate Plus

● Development of a young people’s helpline

● Partnership development to deliver outreachwork to young people at risk of racially motivated anti-social behaviour

● Youth Shelters erected in partnership with the Youth Service and Communities Initiatives Partnership (CIP).

The Distraction Burglary Stakeholder Group has beenconcentrating on providing advice, support andequipment to the target group identified as mostlikely to become victims of distraction burglary,elderly females aged 70 and over are most likelyto be victims of bogus callers.

Key achievements include

● Crime prevention equipment has been installed in homes of the target group in Central Hounslow

● Successful joint bid to appoint co-ordinator to start up a befriending service in the borough working with Age Concern

We also have stakeholder groups for DomesticViolence and Race Crime. Their key achievementsinclude:

● Appointment of a Domestic Violence Co-ordinator

● Setting up the Domestic Violence Policy Group and reinvigorating the Domestic Violence Network

● Successful bid for a Domestic Violence Outreach worker based at Feltham Community Safety Unit

● Developing common monitoring forms for front line services involved in domestic violence.

● Developing Hounslow Safer Homes Project

● Developing third party reporting centres acrossthe Borough to increase reporting of race crime

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KEY TARGETS

Reduce rates of youth offendingof all young offenders

Reduce average number of offences committedby persistent young offenders

Reduce domestic burglary

Reduce number of youth nuisance incident reportsby extending the warden scheme

Engage with hard to reach sectors of the communityduring consultation on the Crime Audit

Reduce deaths and serious injuries on theroads in Hounslow

Improve removal rates of abandoned vehicles

Improve response rates to reported incidentsof Graffiti and fly posting

Create a detached hotspot outreach team to takeforward a multi-agency co-ordinated programmeto tackle anti-social behaviour, drugs and youthcrime in five ‘hotspot’ locations in the borough

Reduce the fears and community safety issuesthat dissuade people from using parks and open

spaces by extending the Parks Watch Schemeacross the borough

Increase the reporting of homophobiccrime incidents to the police from the

2001 Crime Audit baseline figure

To increase the number of Drugs Treatmentand Testing Orders (DTTOs) obtained

Increase the reporting of domestic violenceincidents to the police from the 2001

Crime Audit baseline.To reduce the number of repeat victims

of domestic violence as a proportionof reported total crimes

Increase the reporting of race crimeincidents to the police from the 2001

Crime Audit baseline

● Cinema campaign focusing on reporting race crime

● Providing support and equipment to vulnerable victims of race crime

Working in partnership with Communities InitiativesPartnership (CIP), Police, local schools, local residents,park users and English Heritage, a Parks Watch schemehas been established for Chiswick Park. The CommunitySafety Partnership is hoping to extend the parks watchscheme to other parks in the borough.

Graffiti and flyposting removal service has beenimproved. 100% of racist and offensive graffiti isnow removed within 3 days. 40% of abandonedvehicles are removed within 3 days

The target for attending to all broken streetlightswithin a three day time frame has been achieved.

All high-risk food premises have been inspectedin each of the last two years and food hygienecourses and other food safety education initiativeshave been continued.

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PARTNERSHIPS

London Borough of Hounsow

Hounslow Community Safety Partnership

Metropolitan Police

London Probation Service

Health Agencies

Magistrates Courts

Crown Prosecution Service

London Fire Service

Domestic Violence Network

Hounslow Racial Equality Council

Out West

Hounslow Voluntary Sector Forum

Food Standards Agency Health Authority

Office of Fair Trading

Department of Environment

Food & Rural Affairs

Department of Trade & Industry

Greater London Authority

INFORMATION

London Borough of Hounslow-Crime and Disorder Audit 2001

London Borough of Hounslow-Crime Reduction Strategy 2002 - 2005

Street Scene Best Value Review Report

Hounslow’s Waste Management Strategy

The Mayor for London’s MunicipalWaste Management Strategy

National Crime Reduction Strategy

National Drugs Strategy

London Borough of Hounslow Treatment Plan

National ASB Strategy

London Borough of Hounslow Policing Plan

Every Child Matters

London Borough of Hounslow Youth Justice Plan

London Borough of Hounslow Prevention Strategy

London Borough of Hounslow Youth Strategy

Secure Key Design - Metropolitan Police

London DV Strategy

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CHAPTER FOURA HEALTHIER COMMUNITY

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● Development of integrated front/line teamsfor adults with learning disabilities and mental health services.

● Creation of joint heads of service for adults with learning disabilities and mental health services;development of similar for children with a disability and older people.

● Establishment of a single assessment pilot in older people’s services.

● Creation of a joint equipment store set up by Health & Social Services to streamline deliveryof aids to help people live at home.

The following strategies have been developedfocusing on improving health and reducing healthinequalities. They include:

● Food

● Tobacco

● Mental Health promotion

● Obesity

● Fuel Poverty

Good health is important to us all, but it is aboutmore than good health services. Good health alsodepends on whether people have a warm, dryhome, a regular income, a good lifestyle and a safecommunity to live in. Some people have extra needsbecause they are frail, have a disability, or havemental health problems. Many people suffer fromdisadvantages, which lead to health inequalities.

The Council, the Primary Care Trust and their partnersare working together to ensure local people have theopportunity to maintain or improve their health.This involves equal access to advice and good qualityuser-centred services, planned with public involvement and delivered locally to meet the needs of Hounslow residents.

We will also continue to work hard on particularproblems such as heart disease, cancer, mental health,

diabetes, drugs, alcohol and teenage pregnancy.We will encourage people to lead healthy lifestylesthrough education, campaigns and innovativeinitiatives such as Brentford’s Football in theCommunity programme, working with youngpeople across Hounslow.

Air quality is an important issue for Hounslow.While air pollution in Hounslow is primarily causedby traffic, Heathrow Airport is also considereda significant source of pollution due to aircraftmovements and the traffic they generate. Long termexposure to nitrogen dioxide is thought to affect lungfunction and enhance the response to allergens insensitive individuals. Our challenge is working withour partners to implement actions that will improvethe quality of air in the borough.



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Helping people to be more independent and avoidingunnecessary admissions to hospital have beenimproved with a range of schemes. These include:

● The establishment of an out of hours mental health service.

● Increased availability of respite care servicesfor asian older people at the Roshni centre.

● A new fee paid carers scheme offering respitefor carers of children with a disability deliveredby Barnardos.

● The completion of a major refurbishment of Westbrook Respite Unit, offering a greater range and type of breaks for children with a disability.

● Successful expansion of the direct payments scheme, giving people more choice and control over the care services they receive.

Helping reduce health inequalities and improving thelife chances of children have been implementedthrough a number of schemes. These include:

● Quality Protects Programme, where 32 children have been matched and linked to adoptive carers.

● Development of an out of hours telephone supportfor foster carers.

● ‘Total Respect’, where children assist in thetraining of foster carers.

● ‘Care Zone’, a pilot web-based project set up to enhance communication between looked after children their families and their peers.

● Development of partnership projects foryoung people and supporting adults withlearning disabilities.

● Development of a health improvement action plan for Feltham Young Offenders Institution based on general and mental needs assessments.

KEY TARGETSImprove patient access through developingkey health centres such as Thelma Golding

and Heston Health Centre.

Develop and implement plans to influence Public Health Strategies on a wide-range

of issues, including coronary heart disease,diabetes, physical activity, obesity, mental health

promotion, and tobacco.

Reduce inequalities in health throughstrategy development and undertaking HealthEquity Audits of key health services to reduce

inequities in access and provision.

Develop a fully integrated Children’s Serviceby joined up delivery through the Childrenand Young People’s Strategic Partnership

Develop an integrated service for children with disabilities and their families.

Implement the Preventative Strategy forvulnerable children to promote positive

outcomes and protect children from becomingsocially excluded

Develop three multi-purpose older people’sresource centres providing residential care and

a range of other support services

Implement services to prevent unnecessaryhospital placements and speed up return to the

community after a period in hospital.

Improve the number of adoptions of childrenin care to permanent families

Develop an identifiable young people’ssubstance misuse service.

Develop and implement a Sports & Active Recreation Strategy which addresses the health

issues within the Borough.

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INFORMATION

Health Improvement & Modernisation Programme(PCT/LBH 2002/03)

Children’s Service Plan

Tackling Drugs to Build a Better Britain (HMGovernment 1998) + Annual Action Plan

Saving Lives: Our Healthier Nation (DoH 1999)

Reducing Health Inequalities:An Action Report (DoH 1999)

The NHS Plan (DoH 2000)

The National Strategy for Sexual Healthand HIV (DoH 2001)

Public Health Report 2000:Reducing Health Inequalities (EHH HA 2000)

Improving the Health of Hounslow’s People(EHH HA &LBH 2001)

Hounslow Teenage Pregnancy and ParenthoodStrategy (LBH 2001)

PARTNERSHIPS

London Borough of Hounslow

Hounslow Primary Care Trust

Hounslow Drug & Alcohol Action Team

Hounslow Teenage Pregnancy Partnership Board

West London Health Promotion Agency

Youth Offending Service

Ashford & St Peters Hospital

West London Mental Health Trust

West Middlesex University Hospital


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CHAPTER FIVEAN ACCESSIBLECOMMUNITY

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We have built and maintained a close workingrelationship with Transport for London to jointlyimprove transport and accessibility at key locationswithin the borough.

We have submitted the 2004/5 Borough SpendingPlan bid and achieved a record funding settlement for2004/5 that will allow the borough to implement arange of bus priority measures as well as pedestrian,cycle and road safety schemes in 2004/5. Besidesadditional funds for principal road maintenance, theBSP grant will also allow the borough to implementseveral important barrier reduction initiatives that willencourage walking as a sustainable alternative to theuse of the motor car.

We have completed several significant local areaimprovement schemes including the Chiswick Road/Acton Lane Green Areas scheme and the BrentfordExemplar scheme on Boston Manor Road.

We are working closely with Crossrail to maximisethe benefits of the proposed Crossrail scheme andmitigate against any local disbenefits.

In close cooperation with London Buses, we havereviewed several bus routes and commencednegotiations that will lead to improved servicesin a number of areas.

We have designed and commenced the implementationof a range of significant bus priority schemes that will

You told us that access to services, access to transportand access to jobs are important issues.

Improved access to transport

Tackling traffic congestion and the need for betterpublic transport were high priorities for everyone wespoke to in our consultation. Our location means thatwe bear the brunt of the Heathrow traffic with all ofthe pollution that brings, while many parts of theborough are badly served by public transport.

We will work in partnership with other West Londonboroughs, Transport for London, rail authorities andthe private sector to improve accessibility to towncentres and new developments. This will support theregeneration of the borough to give residents goodaccess to local employment, shopping, educationand leisure facilities. We will ensure that newdevelopments that need to be accessed by lots ofpeople are located in areas that are easy to reach.

Equal access to services

It is important that we improve access to publicservices for all our residents. Ensuring that theservices we provide take account of cultural andlinguistic differences in the borough and recognise the difficulties of access for people with a disabilityare a key challenge.

A further challenge is that we promote fair and equalaccess to services for all residents on the basis of

need, in particular marginalized communities,black and ethnic minorities, faith communities,white disadvantaged communities, refugees, asylum seekers, lesbian and gay, bi-sexual and transgendercommunities, single parents, carers, travellers, peoplewith disabilities, younger people and older people.

We will celebrate diversity and promote communitycohesion by improving communication and the waywe engage with communities. We will improveelectronic methods of service access to meetcustomer needs.

Improving access to jobs and training

Access to jobs is an important issue. ThoughHounslow's unemployment is low, many residentswork in low paid jobs, for example catering andcleaning at the airport. For newly arrived and refugeecommunities, the challenges to accessing jobscompounded by language barriers and lack ofunderstanding and information to engage in thelabour market. In our survey of young people, distinctareas of need emerged for young white youth andyoung refugees. The former were more interested infinding work than staying on in education andtraining and were unsure about options for accessingapprenticeships and jobs. Young people from refugeecommunities however asked for extra help withlanguage and work assistance. It is important that all our communities are empowered to overcomebarriers to access jobs and training.



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provide faster and more reliable bus journeys fromthe middle of 2004 onwards

Over the past 5 years we have received financialcontributions from private developers of £1.79 millionfor public transport improvements and £1.68 millionin traffic management improvements.

We have and will continue to work with sub-regionalpartnerships of London boroughs, the Greater LondonAuthority, Transport for London and West LondonBusiness to produce, promote and implementstrategies to improve west London’s transportinfrastructure and services.

We have commissioned a research project to identifythose policies and practices that act as a barrier tocommunication between local disabled people anda number of statutory agencies in Hounslow.

We have established a Residents Panel enablingus to consult with a representative sample of theborough on a range of community issues. The panelrepresents the views of 2000 residents acrossthe borough and is representative in terms ofthe demographic profile of the borough.

The borough has introduced a magazine that isdelivered to 95,000 households and businesses acrossthe borough. ‘hm’ is delivered fortnightly informingpeople of community news, local events, jobs,people and places. A new council website has beenintroduced to improve accessibility to services usingan A-Z directory of council activities. The Council hasalso established a new corporate identity and printingstandards to ensure that council documents andpublications are clearly recognisable.

London Borough of Hounslow have been making arange of improvements to customer access such asextending the opening hours of the cash office andstudent services desk and working to new customercare standards across all departments. We are alsocommitted to improving access for all our communitiesby ensuring that the availability of translationsand other accessible formats is publicised.The Access Hounslow project is working towardsimproving physical access to the Civic Centre.The Police and Health Services are also improvingaccess in a similar vein.

Jobcentre Plus, the Council and other agenciesare working jointly with disadvantaged groups toplace 400 people from disadvantaged groups intosustainable employment. An Employment DevelopmentOfficer has been recruited to over see the achievementof the target. A job brokerage project led by ChiswickPark Employment Trust has been set a target ofplacing 80 of the 400 people and the Trust is fundinga two year project between 2004 and 2006.

The Council has adopted an Equal Opportunitiesand Diversity Policy which has as its key objectiveimproving equality of access to service deliveryand employment and training. All departments areworking to deliver on this objective through anEquality and Community Cohesion Plan. It includesprogrammes to improve access to public buildings,customer information, complaints, employment andtraining opportunities and a review of some of ourservices to ensure that the most vulnerable haveaccess to our services.

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KEY TARGETS To oversee the design and implementation of all

transport improvement projects funded by Transportfor London from the 2004/5 Borough Spending

Plans process. This includes local street improvement schemes, bus priority, road safety

schemes, walking and cycling schemes.

To develop a Local Implementation Plan coveringthe Borough’s transport, traffic and highways

responsibilities as required by the Mayor of London.

Promote sustainable transport modesincluding public transport, cycling and walking,and provide advice to employers to help themencourage their employees to use these modes

for their journeys to work.

Achieve significant increase in bus priority,pedestrian and cycling facilities throughout

the Borough

Ensure that all new developments provideadequate access for everyone including people

who have impaired mobility.

Use the residents panel to assess thecommunications preferences and needs

of our ethnic minority communities

Evaluate the needs and the level of access tocommunications services for disabled residents.

Place 400 people from disadvantaged groupsinto sustainable employment by April 2006

Protect and improve access to public open spacessuch as parks and local nature reserve sites,including access for people with disabilities.

Encourage and create new access to theRiver Thames bank and ensure that it is accessible

to people with disabilities.

INFORMATION

Mayor’s Transport Strategy

Local Implementation Plan

Borough Spending Plan

Unitary Development Plan

Think Access

Equal Opportunities and Diversity Policy

Corporate Equality and Community Cohesion Plan2004-2007

PARTNERSHIPS

Transport for London

Glaxo SmithKline

Disability Network Hounslow

West London Business

The Arab Group in Hounslow and Suburbs

The Philippine Centre

Pakistan Welfare Association

Hounslow Asian Community Advice

Hounslow Afro-Caribbean Association

Hounslow Asian & African Youth Association

East African Youth Group

The centre for Nepalese & Gurkhas

Bangladesh Welfare Association

Women’s Counselling Service

Speak Out in Hounslow

Hounslow Pensioners Forum

Somali Consortium

Somali Association

Refugee & Employment Initiative

Refugee Welfare & Development


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CHAPTER SIXA THRIVING COMMUNITY

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Planning permissions have now been granted formixed use developments in Hounslow and FelthamTown Centres. Negotiations relating to Brentford TownCentre are progressing.

Planning policy continues to prioritise the use ofbrownfield sites and the Council has committedto use their Compulsory Purchase Order powers tofacilitate the delivery of town centre schemes inmixed ownership.

A sustainable design and construction guide offersall people involved in the building industry adviceand best practice guidance for all new buildings.

New residential design guidelines have beenproduced and design and environmental statementsare requested for all major schemes to facilitatethe delivery of schemes in mixed ownership.

Funds have been secured through new developmentsand targeted towards training initiatives, communityprogrammes, environmental and access improvements.

Regenerating the borough

Over the next ten years we will see the transformationof the borough into a thriving location, taking itsrightful place as the international gateway to thecapital. Major developments are set to regeneratethree of our key town centres - Hounslow, Felthamand Brentford. Employment areas across the Boroughare providing thousands of jobs and new housingfor sale and rent continues to be delivered. The keyto continued regeneration is sustainability. This meansgetting the balance right between economic, socialand environmental needs and impact. It has neverbeen more important to ensure the planning systemdelivers maximum benefits in terms of jobs,community and leisure facilities, open space andaffordable homes.

More affordable homes

West London is an expensive place to live andcurrently there just are not enough good quality,affordable homes in our borough. High rents anda soaring housing market can price local peopleout of the area and prevent others moving here.When that includes essential workers, such as

teachers, nurses and fire-fighters, it has an impacton everyone in the borough. We need to ensure wehave enough good quality housing,for sale or rent, to meet the needs of the wholecommunity. We need to ensure that new housingmeets the needs of people who live in the Boroughand that existing housing estates are improvedappropriately. Our comprehensive housing strategyrecognises the role of owner occupation, a wellregulated private rented sector and the need forquality social housing. We will work together toincrease the availability of affordable homes forrent and sale. We are also committed to tacklinghomelessness and supporting vulnerable peopleto live independent lives in their own homes.

Safeguarding and improving our environment

We need to make the most of our open spaces,provide an attractive environment in which to liveand work, and ensure that all new developments arewell designed and built using sustainable constructionmethods. The key challenges we face include air andnoise pollution, contaminated land, wasteful use ofresources and insufficient attention to recycling.



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We have agreed employment protocols withdevelopers to ensure local people have an opportunityto be trained for and secure jobs on all significantnew developments in Hounslow.

Working with West London Business, the BrentfordRegeneration Framework has been developed.

In partnership with local businesses and neighbouringauthorities the Heathrow City Growth Strategy hasbeen created for the area that impacts on Hestonand Cranford in particular.

572 homes were built last year and another 1290 are under construction. The percentage of affordablehomes being built has increased from 18% in 2001/2to 33% in 2002/3. The Unitary Development Planreview includes an overall target of 50% for theprovision of affordable homes, a target that isreinforced by the London Plan.

Hounslow’s Key Worker Policy has been agreedand a key worker register maintained.

Hounslow Homes successfully secured £90mfunding from the government on achieving 2 starswith promising prospects for improvement in theirInspection autumn 2002. The Locata choice basedlettings system commenced in Hounslow in June 2002and was extended to all sized units in October 2003.

KEY TARGETSProduce and deliver a Local Development

Framework for the Borough that is up to date and responsive to peoples needs whilst ensuring

that all new development is sustainable.

Progress the regeneration of the three towncentres at Hounslow, Feltham and Brentford.

Produce Supplementary Planning Documentsto ensure the proper planning of areas

experiencing development pressure and addressingissues that raise specific planning concerns.

Secure appropriate benefits to the communityand promote schemes that contribute to arearegeneration when considering major mixed

use developments across the borough.Produce an annual update from area

committees regarding community priorities.

Improve the quality of social housingavailable in the Borough.

Improve the quality and sustainabilityof private sector homes

Make improvements in services andaccommodation for homeless households

Work towards provision of needs led andquality housing related support services.

Complete an average of 600 new residentialunits per year of which 300 should be affordable.

Approximately 100 should be providedfor key workers.

Produce a study of the West Area that willprovide a baseline profile and analysis of thedemographic and socio-economic structure

of the area. Develop an action plan for the studyarea to direct the intervention required to ensure abetter quality of life for the residents of West Area.

Progress development of the Chiswick HeritageRegeneration Area.

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INFORMATION

Hounslow’s Unitary Development Plan

London Borough of Hounslow HousingInvestment Programme 2003 - 2006

PARTNERSHIPS


West London Business

West London Alliance

Business Link for Hounslow

Hounslow Chamber of Commerce

Brentford Chamber of Commerce

Glaxo SmithKline

Hounslow Homes

Job Centre Plus

44

CHAPTER SEVENA GREENER COMMUNITY

45

23

The campaign against a third runway highlighting thenegative impacts of further development at theworld’s busiest international airport contributed toseveral positive measures being outlined in theGovernment’s Aviation White Paper. These are:

● Tough environmental standards to be met beforea third runway could be considered;

● Airport operators to offer appropriate noise insula-tion for schools and hospitals in affected areas;

● Local authorities and transport bodies to work with airports to reduce road traffic emissions and encourage public transport.

West London Local Authorities are working jointlyon a number of projects to improve air quality acrossborough boundaries, for example, identifying thelocation of key congestion points and alternativefuel refilling stations.

The whole of the London area has recently beenstudied with respect to the implementation of a lowemission zone. The report is currently being evaluatedwith the aim of determining how useful this measurewould be in the borough.

We are committed to the sustainable managementof our municipal waste both now and in the future.Our waste management strategy created with ourpartners outlines our targets and the policies wecurrently have in place to achieve them.

We have introduced a Borough-wide recyclingcollection service for every household, (including high-rise properties,) increased the range of materialscollected for recycling; enhanced our garden wastecollection service, further expanded our provision ofhome composters, and substantially updated theSpace Waye Civic Amenity site to enable further re-use and recycling.

It is important that we improve the appearance of theborough. We will continue to improve open spaces sothey are interesting and safe places that cater for thedifferent needs of our diverse community.

With miles of river, canals, wildlife preserves and openspaces, Hounslow has a lot to celebrate. The boroughhas been at the forefront of a greener approach towaste disposal and our residents are some of themost active recyclers in London.

However, the borough faces some significantchallenges. Our location next to Heathrow,the world’s busiest airport, means we have majortraffic congestion problems. Air quality is some ofthe worst in London and many of our residents suffersevere noise nuisance. The development of Terminal 5at Heathrow coupled with the possibility of a thirdrunway in 2015 will place significant environmentalpressures on Hounslow. We will continue to campaignon behalf of the residents of Hounslow to reduce theenvironmental impact of Heathrow on our borough.We will continue to monitor air quality and noisein the Borough.



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The Hounslow Local Biodiversity Action Plan waslaunched in early 2003 and a number of projects have been implemented such as the re-creation ofheathland at Hounslow Heath and protection of asnail habitat in Ferry Lane.

We have successfully promoted and implemented anumber of Hounslow’s Local Agenda 21 environmentalinitiatives, including annual river clean-up days, theintroduction of a borough-wide school allotmentproject and the setting-up of a local waste actiongroup in Chiswick.

Over 3700 pollution complaints are received eachyear, 141 pollution abatement notices have beenserved, and we continue to seek improvements to thelocal environment around Mogden Sewage Works.

KEY TARGETSReduce Hounslow’s carbon dioxide emissions

from energy use by 20% by the year 2010 withthe aim of slowing down climate change.

Develop and implement an air quality actionplan to improve the air quality of the borough.

Improve community involvement in parksand open spaces by facilitating Friends Groups

and increasing volunteer programmes fortargeted parks and open spaces

Encourage residents to meet the Governmentstarget of 25% of household waste recycling

by 2005 with schemes such as providing a homecomposter to every household that requests one.

To produce supplementary planning guidanceon noise and air quality.

Implement the local agenda 21 strategyto make Hounslow more sustainable.

Promote and support Hounslow schools toenhance education for sustainable development.

Develop a parks and open space strategy

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INFORMATION

Street Scene Best Value Review Report

Hounslow’s Waste Management Strategy

The Mayor’s Municipal WasteManagement Strategy Review

A Review of Hounslow’s Environmental Challenge.A response to Local Agenda 21 (2000)

Hounslow Local Biodiversity Action Plan(2003 -2008)

Review and Assessment of Air Quality

Review and Assessment of Air Quality - Stage 4

Review and Assessment of Air Quality-Update and Screening Assessment (USA)

PARTNERSHIPS


BA plc

BAA plc

West London Waste Authority

Local Waste Action Groups

CIP Group

English Nature

English Heritage

Environment Agency

Hounslow Federation of Tenants &Residents Associations

Hounslow Friends of the Earth

London Wildlife Trust

National Trust (Osterley Park)

Syon Park plc

Groundwork Thames Valley

Thames 21

Thames Explorer Trust

Thames Landscape Strategy

Thames Water

Port of London Authority

The Green Corridor Partnership

Brentford Recyling Action Group

Chiswick Recyling Action Group


48

CHAPTER EIGHTA CREATIVE COMMUNITY

49

23

The creative community is important because itimpacts on the quality of life of residents in theborough. It impacts on the education of people of all ages, the range of facilities and choice of ways for people to spend their leisure time and theopportunities available for people in the borough to celebrate their cultural heritage.

Education for our future

Hounslow has many excellent schools and nurseries,and despite the challenges we face, we aim to buildon that success.

Hounslow is one of the UK’s most culturally diverseareas and ensuring that all of our young peoplebenefit from a good education is our top priorityTo tackle under-achievement we will work together to provide joined up services for groups such asrefugee children, disabled children and teenagersexperiencing problems.

The Early Years Development and ChildcarePartnership is expanding to support working parentsand to offer integrated childcare and educationservices to parents through Children’s Centres.

We aim to encourage more young people to leaveschool with better qualifications and go on to furtherand higher education. We aim to ensure young peoplehave the training they need to take up the goodemployment opportunities in the borough andbeyond. We will work together to raise the skillsbase of the adult population.

Promoting cultural activity and lifelong learning

The culture of the Borough - our heritage, libraries,sport, parks, play, community education and the arts -reflects the richness and diversity of Hounslow’s manycommunities. We will ensure that everyone, whatevertheir age or background, has a genuine chance tofulfil their potential in all aspects of their life.

We aim to celebrate Hounslow’s rich cultural mixand to improve opportunities for developingunderstanding and learning between our manycommunities. Reducing barriers to participation andgiving everyone in the borough basic skills to makethe most of sports, leisure, arts, adult and familyeducation opportunities is a key priority. Initiativessuch as help with fees and charges, activities inlibraries children’s centres and adaptations forpeople with disabilities will be further extended.

We will strive for a flourishing cultural sector.Initiatives such as Sure Start and other communityregeneration strategies play a significant role. We willwork with public, private and voluntary partners toensure the whole community will benefit fromimprovements to our cultural provision. We will workwith the area committees to channel investment forlearning and culture in areas of social deprivation.Residents are encouraged to take advantage of newtechnology opportunities at home and at work.Public internet access facilities will be provided inlibraries and at Learn Direct centres.

The creative community is serviced by a wide varietyof providers including public private and voluntarysector. With continuing pressures on budgets forthese kinds of services, it is increasingly importantfor partnership working to develop new ways ofmeeting the needs in this area.

In partnership with public, private and voluntarysectors, the Council set out a vision for culture in theBorough in the Cultural Strategy 2001/2005. It states,‘Everything is culture. Culture is the community inwhich we live and the way our communities live’.

There is also a strategic role in cultural provisionand support is given to a wide range of activitiesincluding heritage, tourism and the arts. Throughgrant aid, support is given to major regional facilitiessuch as Watermans Arts Centre, local communityorganisations such as Feltham Community Arts,as well as a range of black and minority ethniccommunity organisations which give expressions


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23

2003 was a year of substantial progress in Hounslow.Pupil performance improved against every nationalindicator and in almost every case improvement inHounslow was greater than that seen nationally.

Hounslow is the fourth best authority in the countryfor progress between key stages 1 and 2. Resultsin English at both Key Stage 2 and 3 improvedmarkedly (+4 and +7 respectively). At both keystages achievement in Hounslow is above the nationalaverage - previously results in Hounslow have beena little below the national average. Improvement inthe proportion of pupils achieving 5 A* to C passesat GCSE to 52% - the first time above 50% has beenachieved in Hounslow.

Plans are underway to upgrade libraries at Beavers,Chiswick and Feltham. Opening hours to main librarieshave been extended since October 2002, including

Sunday opening in Hounslow and most sites now offerfree public internet access. The quality of the librariesis reflected in user statistics which include the factthat Hounslow has the third highest number ofenquiries per 1000 population in London and hasscored highly in mystery shopping exercises. A newLibrary management system has been installed andnow allows remote access

A Lifelong Learning Partnership has been created tosupport the work of the Local Strategic Partnership.

The Skills Centre at de Brome has been openedproviding additional opportunities for vocationaleducation for Key Stage 4 and post 16 studentsin collaboration with West Thames College.

Support programmes for refugees and asylumseekers have been implemented, including theestablishment of an Initial Language Unit toprovide interim provision for new arrivals.

The adult education service has increased learnerparticipation and has won two national awards forits work. Achievement rates have increased, class sizesare smaller but the number of learners has increased.

Over the past five years we have negotiated £1.1million of financial contributions from privatedevelopers for education and £0.5 million foremployment training.

There has been investment in four of the five publicleisure centres in the borough and participation incommunity arts projects and activities is increasing.


to the cultural diversity within Hounslow. In addition,the Council provides support and advice to thevoluntary sector on raising funds from othersources such as the Lottery and other grant givingbodies through its Community DevelopmentRegeneration Services.

We aim to integrate cultural services into ourambitions for town centre redevelopment as wellas in proposals for the development of new libraries

(Beavers, Feltham, Chiswick), leisure campuses (Hestonleisure centre and park) and cinema and arts facilities(Hounslow Town Centre, Brentford Town Centre). Thishas led to the development of a thriving private leisuresector in the borough. The local authority’s planningfunction positively supports and encouragesappropriate cultural development through privatesector development.

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23

KEY TARGETSDevelop a new library on Beavers estate in 2004

Increase use of libraries by all ages particularly those aged 12-17 and those over 60

Increase the number of learners in Basic Skills

Improve educational attainment at GCSEand specifically raise achievement of black pupils

and children in public care

Establish three children’s centres offeringintegrated health education and social

services for 0 -5’s.

Create 300 new out of school childcareplaces by March 2004

Reduce unauthorised pupil absences fromprimary and secondary schools

Refurbish leisure provision in Heston bydeveloping the Heston leisure complex

Improve achievement of pupils for whomEnglish is an additional language

INFORMATION

Hounslow’s Cultural Strategy 2001 - 2005

London West Learning & Skills CouncilStrategic Plan

West London Life Long Learning Plan

Adult and Community Education Three Year Plan

Education Development Plan

Youth Service Development Plan

Conexions Business Plan

Early Years and Childcare Development Plan

Inclusion Plan

Corporate Equality & Community Cohesion Plan

PARTNERSHIPS


CIP Group

Norwood Green Junior School

The Green School

Marjory Kinnon School

West London Learning & Skills Council

West Thames College & other educationand training providers

Employers and the wider community

Early Years Development & Childcare Partnership

SureStart Hounslow Partnership

Hounslow Life Long Learning Group

Watermans Arts Centre

Commercial Leisure providers


52

CHAPTER NINEAREA PROFILES

53

WHAT ARE THEY AND WHATDO THEY DO ?Local Area Committees discuss and make decisionson matters affecting many local issues, especially onplanning matters, and are beneficial because they aremade up of councillors and co-optees with extensiveknowledge of their wards. The meetings allow forlocal consultation and discussion, which leads tobetter-informed decisions when issues are debatedat Committee of the Council.

Each of the five Area Committees holds two separatetypes of meetings - Planning and Monitoring.

The Monitoring meetings monitors and reviewsservices delivered by the Council and other agenciesin that area. Committee members at monitoringmeetings monitor the council’s activities in local areasand discuss potential improvements or changes.

The Planning meeting considers local planning andtraffic management issues and allocates local budgetsfor environmental improvements and footway andhighway repairs. The Committee also decides onplanning applications involving less than 10residential homes or less than 1,000 sq. metres ofcommercial floor-space. The Council’s SustainableDevelopment Committee determines applicationsfor larger developments.

Area Committee meetings are held at localcommunity venues and are open to the publicproviding an opportunity for members of the publicto raise issues of concern. In addition, the Committeecan co-opt up to three local people onto theCommittee (in a non-voting capacity).

The meetings scrutinise functions of council andpartner organisations. There is an allocated budgetfor area committees that enables small grants to beawarded to community groups and funding forenvironmental improvement projects. Fundingreceived from developers to improve communityfacilities can also be awarded.

There are five Area Committees in Hounslow madeup of wards as detailed below:

West Area Bedfont, Feltham North,Committee Feltham West, Hanworth and

Hanworth Park wards

Central Hounslow Hounslow Heath, Hounslow Area Committee West, Hounslow Central and

Hounslow South wards

Heston & Cranford Cranford, Heston West,Area Committee Heston Central and Heston

East wards

Isleworth & Osterley & Spring Grove,Brentford Isleworth, Brentford &Area Committee Syon wards

Chiswick Turnham Green, Chiswick Area Committee Riverside & Chiswick

Homefields wards

Area Committees‘Providing Local Government Locally’

2354

23

Introduction

West Area comprises of Bedfont, Feltham North,Feltham West, Hanworth and Hanworth Park wards.The West area is one of the largest geographically,with approximately 52,595 residents. It has thehighest proportion of residents over 60 years old,compared with other areas. Hanworth is rankedas the most deprived ward in the borough.(According to Government indices of deprivation).

West Area lies just south of Heathrow Airport,on the fringe of West London. Feltham, Hanworthand Bedfont were all once villages. Hanworth has oldroyal connections, with Tudor House once in Royalownership and Hanworth Park House, which datesback to the late 18th century. Pates Manor, oneof the oldest houses in West London, and St Mary’s,the oldest church in Hounslow, are both in Bedfont.

West Area also benefits from a range of parksincluding Bedfont Lakes Country Park, close toHeathrow Airport. This was created from a public -private partnership in the 1990s. It features a naturereserve, several lakes, wildflower meadows, fishinglake, children’s playground, dog exercise area,car park, toilets and information centre.

The economic characteristics of the area are dominatedby the presence of Heathrow and its associatedindustries. The jobs available in the locality tend tobe low skilled, and related to the Airport, which givesthe area the highest levels of people in low skilledoccupations. West area is predominantly whiteworking-class, with some 16% of the populationcoming from a non-white background.

Over the years, Feltham Town Centre has experiencedsubstantial changes. This includes new shops,restaurants, a new housing association, a new nurseryand leisure facilities at Leisure West in Browell’s Lane.Also located here is Cineworld Feltham, showing thelargest collection of Bollywood films in West London.The regeneration of Feltham will continue with thedevelopment of Feltham Town Centre. This willimprove the function of the Town Centre in termsof shopping, employment, housing and leisure.It will also promote the redevelopment of otherbuildings near the centre particularly Highfields/Homecourt Housing estates, improve accessibilityand improve the environment.

Improving access to health facilities is one of thepriorities for the West Area committee. Over the lastyear, the West Area committee has invitedrepresentatives from both Ashford and St Peter’s Trustand Hounslow PCT to meetings to address theseissues. Local residents and Councillors of West Areaare concerned about the future of local hospitalservices, and they will continue to be activelyconsulted about any considerable developments.

The planned Health Centre, which will be part ofthe new Feltham Town Centre, will provide betteraccess for local people to medical services,including General Practitioners.

West Area Profile

WEST AREACOMMITTEE PRIORITIES

●Reduction in Crime

●Better use of allotments/parks

and open spaces

●Improving facilities for Young People

●Improving access to Health facilities

e.g. GP Services

●A new Pedestrian Footbridge

on the Bedfont Road

●Better services for the Elderly

WestArea

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23

Another priority identified by the West AreaCommittee is the need for appropriate facilities foryoung people in the area. The committee is committedto funding a local Skateboard Park in BedfontRecreation Ground, which will be complete byDecember 2004.

There are currently many local initiatives which cutacross work in local schools, CIP and the Youth Service.Summer activity courses are also run for local children.

Within the local secondary schools, a new CityLearning College has been built. This is a sharedfacility for all local primary schools.

West Thames College has extended its vocationaltraining, including ICT, literacy and numeracy coursesfor local children at the De Brome Building, so thatlocal people may have a greater opportunity to accessskilled jobs in the area and beyond.

The West Area Monitoring Committee has regularreports from the Sector Inspector and the police.There is a close relationship between local councillors,which has directly influenced the reduction in crimein the West Area. Councillors, Police and local peopleare working together on issues such as drugs andanti social behaviour and CCTV initiatives.

WEST AREA PROFILEPopulation

The total population of West Area is 52,595 (based on 2001 census).

The West Area has:

● The highest proportion of resident’s aged 65and over (14%)

● The highest proportions of residents experiencing various types of crime over the past year

● The lowest proportion of Black and ethnicminority residents

● The highest proportion of both full time employed residents (50%) and retired residents (17%)

● The highest proportion of residents employedin low skilled occupations (23%)

● The highest proportion of residents who are partof a couple without children (30%)

AGE OF WEST AREA’S POPULATIONNumber of residents in 000s(Based on 2001 census data)30

25

20

15

10

5

0Age

under 16Age

16 to 59Age

over 60

12,172

8,416

32,007

Ethnic Group

Black or Black British Other Black

Mixed White and Black African

Asian or Asian British Bangladeshi

Chinese or Other EthnicGroup Chinese

Mixed White and Black Caribbean

Mixed Other

Mixed White and Asian

Black or Black British Black Caribbean

Asian or Asian British Other

Chinese or Other EthnicGroup Other Ethnic Group

Asian or Asian British Pakistani

Black or Black British Black African

White Irish

White Other

Asian or Asian British Indian

White British

% of pop

0.3%

0.3%

0.3%

0.5%

0.7%

0.6%

0.8%

1.1%

1.2%

1.6%

1.8%

1.8%

2.0%

3.2%

5.6%

78.2%

ETHNICITY IN WEST AREA

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Reports of crime fell in the West Area and in the majority of wards by between

-15% (Feltham West) and -20% (Feltham North)from April 2003 to March 2004 compared

to April 2002 to March 2003.Bedfont is the exception where the number

of crimes reported to the Police increased by16%. Monthly crime figures were fairlyconsistent in Bedfont over the last year.

COMMUNITY SAFETY

COMMUNITY ENVIRONMENT

The Community Environment team atHounslow Council has been working with

business owners in Feltham High St. to advisethem about graffiti and fly posting problems.

Funds for environmental improvements havebeen generated as a result of the FelthamTown Centre Development. The West Area

Committee also has a budget to makeenvironmental improvements and road

safety improvements for the area.

Type of Crime Apr 03- Oct 03-Sept 03 Mar04 Diff

Violence againstthe Person 770 671 -99

Sexual Offences 27 34 7

Robbery 67 62 -5

Burglary 486 417 -69

Theft and Handling 913 899 -14

Fraud or Forgery 363 375 12

Criminal damage 88 90 2

Drug Offences 68 58 -10

Other Notifiable Offences 31 26 -5

Other Accepted Crimes 341 387 46

Total Notified Offences 3598 3562 -0

Hate Crimes Apr 03- Oct 03-Sep 03 Mar 04 Difference

Domestic Violence 603 600 -3 <-1%

HomophobicIncidents 10 4 -6 -60%

Racial Incidents 122 86 -36 -30%

Total Hate Crimes 735 690 -45 -6%

Reported Crimes 2003/4

2002/ 2003/2003 2004 Difference

Ward

Bedfont 1713 1991 +278 +16%

Feltham North 1458 1168 -290 -20%

Feltham West 1766 1493 -273 -15%

Hanworth 1512 1258 -254 -17%

Hanworth Park 1522 1250 -272 -18%

Total 7971 7160 -811 -10%

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FELTHAM AIRPARCS LEISURE CENTREHaving undergone a £3.2m extensiverefurbishment, Feltham Airparcs was re-launchedin January 2002 and boasts high quality fitnessand exercise facilities for the community.

The centre has facilities for:

● Squash

● Tennis

● Snooker

● LifeCentre Gym

● An aerobics studio

● Health suite

● Activity room

● A creche

● Sun-beds

FELTHAM ARENASThis outdoor sports complex is situated in thewest of the borough within 14.88 hectaresof open space, and is unique within Hounslow’sportfolio of leisure facilities. It provides a varietyof recreational and sporting amenities necessaryfor the development of, and support to, clubs inthe community. Facilities include:

● Baseball diamond

● Grass sports pitch

● Artificial sports pitch

● Artificial surfaced arena

● Athletics arena

In the future it is hoped that Feltham Arenas canbe developed to provide a modernised facility,which will directly benefit local people.

West Area has many local facilities forresidents including the Feltham Arts Association,

a community arts group managed by localpeople. This offers a wide range of arts and

entertainment opportunities. The Assembly Hallin Feltham is becoming recognised as a newmusic venue. There are libraries in Feltham,Hanworth and Bedfont, and the CyberskillsCentre in Feltham, all offering a wide range

of recreational activities. ‘Reflections’,a project for people with physical and sensory

disabilities, is based at Hounslow UrbanFarm, a popular community facility and

noted rare breeds centre.

Social information

COMMUNITY COHESION

Population with longterm limiting illness 15.3%

Population Unemployed 3.3%

Lone Parent Households withdependent children 8.9%

Pensioners living alone 11.7%

Renting Council Tenants 21.4%

Houses withoutcentral heating 5.8%

Without access to car/van 24.5%

Overcrowding (over 1.5 people per room) 1.1%

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23

HEALTHPopulation reporting good health

Population with long-term limiting illness

Good 68.9%

Fair 22.8%

Poor 8.3%

Hanworth16%

Feltham West12.5%

Bedfont16.6%

Hanworth Park14.9%

Feltham North16.9%

*Standardised Morality Rate (SMR) is a measure of howmore or less likely a person living in that area is to diecompared to the standard population. The SMR is a ratioof the actual number of deaths in the ward to the numberexpected if the ward had the same age specific mortalityrates as England, multiplied by 100.

DEATH BY SPECIFIED CAUSE OF DEATH

SMRs

* fo

r age

und

er 7

5

Canc

er

Acc

iden

t

Suic

ide

Stro

ke

Coro

nary

Hea

rtD

isea

se

Circ

ulat

ory

Dis

ease

140120100806040200

119101 105

69

99113

Population with Total long term

WARD population limited illness

Bedfont 10,104 1,674 16.6%

Feltham North 9,570 1,620 16.9%

Feltham West 11,530 1,441 12.5%

Hanworth 10,995 1,758 16.0%

Hanworth Park 10,396 1,553 14.9%

West Area 52,595 8,046 15.9%

Hounslow 212,341 31,681 14.9%

Hounslow14.9%

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Key Stages

The tables show levels of achievement for differentkey stages for children in schools in the West Area.The National Curriculum is divided into four keystages, which depend on children’s ages.These figures are compared with attainment levelsfor Hounslow overall in the tables.

Number of registered ChildcareSettings in the West Area Key Stage 1

% Of Pupils Achieving

L2+ L2B+ L3+

Read/Comp 78% 62% 21%Hounslow 82% 67% 23%

English 74% 50% 7%Hounslow 79% 59% 9%

Maths 85% 56% 27%Hounslow 90% 70% 25%

Science 83% 21%Hounslow 87% 25%

Key Stage 2


L4+ L5+

English 67% 23%Hounslow 76% 28%

Maths 66% 20%Hounslow 73% 29%


EDUCATION Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Results in 2003for WEST AREA

Ages of Pupils at

Year Group end of year Key Stage

Reception 5 1

1 62 7

3 8 24 95 106 11

7 12 38 139 14

10 15 411 16

Day Nurseries 4

Holiday Schemes 3

Childminders 116

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FELTHAM TOWN CENTRE

The redevelopment of Feltham Town Centrein 2004 will provide the local community

with a new much larger public library,a health centre and new community facilities

in a building that is completely accessible.It will also provide a new major supermarket,shops and high quality apartments for both

private and public ownership and rental.

The focus of the development will concentrateon a number of key areas including:

●

Comprehensive redevelopmentof the town centre

●

Improved accessibility to and withinthe town centre

●

Ensure the town centre is a safe, secureand an attractive place to visit

●

Encourage the re-use or redevelopmentof other buildings in or near to

the town centre

FELTHAM AREA RENEWAL (FAR)

In partnership with BAA, the Council hasworked to develop a forward strategy

for Feltham Area Renewal, the successorbody to the Feltham First SRB programmewhich ran from 1997-2002. During 2004,

FAR will merge with Green Corridor,a community based environmental project

working to improve the quality of lifefor residents. A new regeneration co-ordinator

will be appointed to work in the West area of theborough, based in the Belvedere House Resource

Centre on the Highfields Estate.

WEST AREA REGENERATION

Residents identified the following reasons asto why they chose to live in the West Area:

- Affordable decent housing (27%)

- Job Prospects (23%)

- Public Transport (19%

Residents in the West Area identifythe highest levels of deteriorations

in the following areas:●

Affordability of housing ●

Open Spaces●

Litter/Dirt in streets ●

Traffic congestion ●

Pollution of environment ●

Aircraft and road traffic noise

West Area has the lowest proportionof residents (compared with other areas)

agreeing that the local area is a placewhere people from different backgrounds

get on well together.

The following are problem areas identifiedby residents in the area:

●Lack of safe, clean play areas

for children (52%)●

Broken Pavements (51%)●

Disturbance from Youths (48%)

Residents see the following 3 prioritiesas the most significant in helping make

the area a better place to live:●

A Safer Community (62%)●

A Greener Community (48%)●

A Healthier Community (45%)

RESIDENTS’ VIEWS

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Introduction

Heston & Cranford area comprises of Heston Central,Heston East, Heston West & Cranford wards.

Heston provides an urban centre seeking to improvefacilities in a number of ways. This includes theredevelopment of Heston Leisure Campus with state-of-the-art provision, incorporating a new Swimmingpool, Library and Village Hall, amongst other facilities.A Private Finance Initiative Project is being negotiatedto improve the facilities at Heston School. This willbring three existing schools onto one site. A potentialsite for a community facility has been identified in thearea and work is progressing on meeting this need.

Cranford ward is adjacent to Heathrow Airport; thisimpacts upon the quality of life of residents due tofactors such as noise pollution and poor air quality.The air pollution is also exacerbated by pollutionfrom the M4, which cuts through this area.Cranford Country Park is situated in Cranford,

where several important historic features have beenpreserved, including an 18th century stable blockand a walled garden. The park offers visitors anopportunity to explore attractive parkland andwoodland along the River Crane.

Sure Start is a Government funded initiative that aimsto achieve better outcomes for children, parents andcommunities and is established in the Beavers Estatearea, this is being achieved by strong partnershipworking at a local level.

Western International Market is also located in thearea. The redevelopment of this Market confirmsits position as the largest fruit and vegetable marketin Greater London.

HESTON & CRANFORD PROFILEPopulation

The total population of Heston & Cranford Area is44,047 (based on 2001 census).

Heston & Cranford has:

● The highest proportion of non-white residentscompared with any other area. 37% of thepopulation are of white origin while the remainingare of non-white origin. The area has the highestproportion of Indian residents (37%)

● The highest proportion of residents aged 18-24 (15%)

● The highest proportion of residents forming part ofa couple with children

● The highest proportion of residents in skilledoccupations (34%)

● The highest proportion of lone parents (12%)

● The highest proportion of unemployed residents (4%)

Heston & Cranford Area Profile

HESTON & CRANFORD AREA COMMITTEE PRIORITIES

●Crime (including improved street lighting & use of CCTV cameras)

●Environment (including clean streets,

maintenance of parks & improved quality of life)

●Impact of Heathrow Airport

(including traffic noise and pollution)

Heston&Cranford

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23

AGE OF HESTON & CRANFORDAREA’S POPULATIONNumber of residents in 000s(Based on 2001 census data)

25

20

15

10

5

0Age

under 16Age

16 to 59Age

over 60

10,108

6,322

27,617

Ethnic Group






Mixed Other



White Irish



White Other



White British


% of pop

0.3%

0.5%

0.5%

0.6%

0.6%

0.8%

1.2%

1.4%

2.2%

2.6%

3.7%

4.2%

4.3%

9.1%

30.5%

37.4%

ETHNICITY IN HESTON & CRANFORD

Reported crime is down in Heston & CranfordArea this year, April 2003 to March 2004

compared to the previous year, April 2002to March 2003.

Most of the wards reported reductions ofbetween –3% (Heston East) and –41%

(Heston Central) with a marginal increasein Heston West of less than 1%.

COMMUNITY SAFETY


2002/ 2003/2003 2004 Difference

Ward

Cranford 1521 1187 -334 -22%

Heston Central 1361 805 -556 -41%

Heston East 1212 1172 -40 -3%

Heston West 1852 1862 +10 +<1%

Total 5946 5026 -920 -15%

65

23


Violence againstthe Person 525 544 19

Sexual Offences 32 25 -7

Robbery 67 52 -15


Theft and Handling 697 817 120

Fraud or Forgery 121 117 -4



Other Notifiable Offences 24 26 2


Total Notified Offences 2481 2545 64

Social information

COMMUNITY COHESION










Domestic Violence 428 488 60 +14%

HomophobicIncidents 2 2 0 0%


Total Hate Crimes 500 539 +39 +8%

66

23



Good 69.6%

Fair 21.6%

Poor 8.8%

Heston East14.0%

Cranford16.7%

Heston Central16.3%

Heston West15.9%

*Standardised Mortality Rate (SMR) is a measure of howmore or less likely a person living in that area is to diecompared to the standard population. The SMR is a ratioof the actual number of deaths in the ward to the numberexpected if the ward had the same age specific mortalityrates as England, multiplied by 100.


Canc

er

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180160140120100806040200

86

110 105

7082

170



Cranford 10,936 1,826 16.7%

Heston Central 10,998 1,792 16.3%

Heston East 10,781 1,521 14.0%

Heston West 11,332 1,804 15.9

Heston &Cranford Area 44,047 6,934 15.7%

Hounslow 212,341 31,681 14.9%

SMRs

* fo

r age

und

er 7

5

Hounslow14.9%

67

23

Key Stages

The tables show levels of achievement for differentkey stages for children in schools in the Heston &Cranford Area. The National Curriculum is divided intofour key stages, which depend on children’s ages.These figures are compared with attainment levelsfor Hounslow overall in the tables.

Number of registered ChildcareSettings in The Heston & Cranford Area Key Stage 1


L2+ L2B+ L3+



Maths 89% 66% 17%Hounslow 90% 70% 25%


Key Stage 2


L4+ L5+




EDUCATION Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Results in 2003for HESTON & CRANFORD AREA

Ages of Pupils at


Reception 5 1

1 62 7

3 8 24 95 106 11

7 12 38 139 14

10 15 411 16

Day Nurseries 3

Holiday Schemes 0

Childminders 11

68

23

The highest levels of dissatisfaction with theneighbourhood as a place to live are found amongst

Heston & Cranford residents, compared with other areas.Levels of satisfaction with the neighbourhood are lowest

amongst residents who are lone parents; Heston &Cranford is one of the areas in the borough with the

highest proportions of lone parents.

In comparison with all areas in the borough, the largestdeteriorations in aspects of the local area over the past

two years are found in Heston & Cranford.

Residents in Heston & Cranford are most likely to feelunsafe during the day and night at home, and whilstwalking alone in the neighbourhood during the day,

compared with other areas of the borough.

The area has the highest proportion of residentscomplaining about noise levels, particularly

aircraft noise.

Residents identified the following as reasons whythey chose to live in the Heston & Cranford Area:

●

Support of faith group/family networks (20%)●

Mix of cultural and linguistic diversity (20%)●

Low levels of crime (19%)

Residents in the Heston & Cranford Areahave identified the highest levels of deterioration


Availability of housing●

Affordability of housing●

Litter/dirt in streets●

Traffic congestion●

Pollution of environment

The following are problem areas identified byHeston & Cranford Area residents:

●

Litter lying around (46%)●

Broken pavements (10%)

● Theft of cars / property (30%)

Residents see the following 3 prioritiesas the most significant in helping make the area

a better place to live:●



A Creative Community (55%)

RESIDENTS’ VIEWS

69

23

Introduction

Central Hounslow Area comprises of Hounslow Heath,Hounslow West, Hounslow Central and HounslowSouth wards.

The centre of the borough can be characterised inmany ways. While it is an established area resultingfrom the expansion of London during the 20thcentury, it is also an area of new, emergingcommunities. At the heart of our borough, we see a revitalised Town Centre offering a wide range ofactivities that reflect the multi-cultural nature of ourcommunity. The area currently provides safe andattractive amenities for residents, which will be

enhanced in the near future by the Blenheim Centre,which will offer a wide range of activities. This will be a first rate shopping and entertainment centre - a safe and attractive place for families and friends to meet and enjoy a broad range of activities.

One of London's largest nature reserves, HounslowHeath is the last surviving remnant of a oncehuge heath land that covered most of south-westMiddlesex. The Heath boasts a rich and colourfulhistory, which included a period as an armymustering and training ground, a haunt ofhighwaymen and the venue for one of the world'sfirst commercial airports.

Today, the Heath is managed for wildlife and supportsseveral rare or declining plant and animal species.

The Paul Robeson Theatre, situated in Hounslow'sTreaty Centre and adjacent to the library, is a purposebuilt venue at the heart of the community thatprovides high quality performance space for bothprofessional and amateur artists. Past performanceshave included the jazz talent of George Melly, thevocal sounds of The Bachelors, and the comediansBarry Cryer and Jackie Clune. The theatre also hosts a number of high quality Indian and Asian culturalevents, exhibitions, plays and presentations.

Central Hounslow area benefits from excellenttransport links via bus and tube and is easilyaccessible to Heathrow Airport and Central London.All surrounding boroughs are easily accessible dueto the excellent transport links, which the towncentre offers.

There are a number of excellent primary and secondaryschools located in the Central Hounslow area.

Central Hounslow Area Profile

CentralHounslow

CENTRAL HOUNSLOW AREA COMMITTEE PRIORITIES

●Traffic

●Tackling Crime & Fear of Crime

(introducing more CCTV Cameras,visible police presence,

tackling anti social behaviour,introducing neighbourhood watches)

●Development of the town centre

and improving the Evening Economy(Key Site One)

●Environmental Improvements

including improving open spaces,greening the area and Street Scene

(tackling litter and graffiti)●

Better Schools

70

23

AGE OF CENTRAL HOUNSLOWAREA’S POPULATION Number of residents in 000s(Based on 2001 census data)

25

20

15

10

5

0Age

under 16Age

16 to 59Age

over 60

8,3606,531

27,740

Ethnic Group








Mixed Other

Chinese or other ethnic group Chinese



Chinese or other ethnic group Other Ethnic Group


White Irish

White Other

White British

% of pop

0.3%

0.7%

0.3%

0.6%

6.7%

4.2%

1.3%

0.9%

1.2%

1.4%

2.7%

2.6%

29.8%

2.6%

5.1%

39.6%

ETHNICITY IN CENTRALHOUNSLOW AREA

CENTRAL HOUNSLOW PROFILEPopulation

The total population of Central Hounslow area is42,631 (based on 2001 census)

The Central Hounslow Area has:

● Central Hounslow has the highest proportion of full time students (11%)

● The largest Ethnic group is White British at 39.6%followed by Asian or Asian British Indian at 29.8%.

● The highest proportion residents aged 16-59

● Economic activity is measured through thepercentage of resident population aged between 16 and 74. This accounts for 75.5% of residents:of these 61.8% are employed, 2.9% unemployedand 9.3% retired. 29.9% of economically activeresidents in the Central Hounslow Area arequalified to degree level or above, comparedwith 28.4% for Hounslow and 19.8% as thenational average.

Social information

COMMUNITY COHESION

Population with longterm limited illness 14.7%








71

23


Hounslow West shopping area was identified as having many trading premises trading

the public highway, causing obstructions topedestrians and reducing the space on thehighway illegally. Community Environment

Team members from Hounslow Council visitedthese businesses and served notices on them

to stop this practice, thereby making the street safer for pedestrians.


Violence Againsta Person 717 614 -103


Robbery 98 102 4

Burglary 313 321 8



Criminal Damage 70 61 -9

Drug Offences 78 79 1




Three of the four wards comprising the Central Hounslow Area show a reduction

in reported crime between April 2003 andMarch 2004 compared to April 2002

to March 2003. Reductions vary between -21% and -4% drop in crime.

Unfortunately there was an increaseof 4% in Hounslow Heath, but overall crime

fell by-11% in this Area.

COMMUNITY SAFETY

Reported Crimes 2003/42002/ 2003/2003 2004 Difference

WardHounslow Central 3198 2563 -635 -20%Hounslow Heath 1393 1458 +65 +4%Hounslow South 690 545 -145 -21%Hounslow West 1630 1559 -71 -4%Total 6911 6125 -786 -11%


Domestic Violence 450 383 -67 -15%




72

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Good 71%

Fair 21%

Poor 8%

Hounslow South12.1%

Hounslow Central14.9%

Hounslow West17.7%

Hounslow Heath14.4%



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180160140120100806040200

84

113 109 107 109

156



Hounslow Central 10,791 1,608 14.9%

Hounslow Heath 11,115 1,602 14.4%

Hounslow South 10,369 1,259 12.1%

Hounslow West 10,356 1,830 17.7

Central HounslowArea 42,631 6,299 14.8%

Hounslow 212,341 31,681 14.9%

SMRs

* fo

r age

und

er 7

5

Hounslow14.9%

73

23

Key Stages

The tables show levels of achievement for differentkey stages for children in schools in the HounslowCentral Area. The National Curriculum is divided intofour key stages, which depend on children's ages.These figures are compared with attainment levelsfor Hounslow overall in the tables.

Number of registered ChildcareSettings in Central Hounslow Area Key Stage 1


L2+ L2B+ L3+



Maths 91% 73% 22%Hounslow 90% 70% 25%


Key Stage 2


L4+ L5+




EDUCATION Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Results in 2003 or CENTRAL HOUNSLOW AREA

Ages of Pupils at


Reception 5 1

1 62 7

3 8 24 95 106 11

7 12 38 139 14

10 15 411 16

Day Nurseries 1

Holiday Schemes 2

Childminders 58

74

23

Central Hounslow is the area whereresidents are most likely to agree thatpeople from different backgrounds get

on well together (94%).

Residents identified the following reasonsas to why they chose to live in the

Central Hounslow area:●

Job Prospects (24%)●

Access to shopping facilities (22%)●

Support of faith groups/family networks (35%)●

Public transport and ease of access to Central London (14%)

The following are problem areas identifiedby Central Hounslow Area residents:

●

Litter lying around (51%)●

Disturbance from youths (30%)●

Thefts of cars/property (42%)

Residents in the Central Hounslow Areahave identified the highest levels ofdeteriorations in the following areas:

●

Litter/dirt in streets ●







A Creative Community (55%)

RESIDENTS’ VIEWS

75

23

Introduction

Isleworth & Brentford Area comprises of Osterley andSpring Grove, Isleworth, Brentford and Syon wards.

Isleworth, an old riverside community, has retainedmany of its historic features, and much of its localcharacter. The Redlees Campus in Isleworth bringstogether a number of facilities run by public, privateand voluntary organisations - an exemplary model ofpartnerships creating a sustainable leisure experience.However, Isleworth also contains a number of areasof deprivation. Regeneration has focused on housingestates such as the Ivy Bridge Estate to improveexisting housing quality, and make improvementsto the environment.

Working with business interests, building on thesix year SRB programme, which aim to regenerateBrentford’s economy, improve its environment andrespond to community needs. There are currentlya range of key developments for housing, shoppingand hotels. Work is underway to continue theregeneration and enhancment of the area,developing key sites within Brentford, particularlyalong the Great West Road, the water frontageand south of the high street. The BrentfordRegeneration Framework serves to supportand promote development to improve thelocal economy,and achieve wider social andcommunity benefits.

These include increasing the availability of affordablehousing, environmental improvements, reducingcrime and providing a range of community andcultural facilities.

Osterley is predominately a residential area but isalso home to the largest piece of countryside in WestLondon - Osterley Park. Now owned by The NationalTrust, the entire estate is currently being restored,as closely as possible, to its 18th century form.

Syon House and gardens are also located in the area.Described by Sir John Betjeman as ‘the GrandArchitectural Walk’, Syon House and its 200-acre parkis the London home of the Duke of Northumberland,whose family have lived here for over 400 years.

As part of a private finance initiative, West MiddlesexHospital has undergone a complete transformationfrom an aged, spread-out site to a modern compacthospital with critical care at its core. As part of theredevelopment, a new £50million main buildingopened in May 2003. Clear access from TwickenhamRoad, leading to a new main entrance and reception,will make it much easier for patients and visitors tofind their way around.

Isleworth & Brentford Area Profile

ISLEWORTH & BRENTFORD AREACOMMITTEE PRIORITIES

●Traffic

●Access to health facilities

●Air quality

●Noise

● Children’s play●

Open spaces●

Access to river & canal●

Youth and Community Centresand their activities

●Community Safety

Isleworth &Brentford

76

ISLEWORTH & BRENTFORDPROFILEPopulation

The total population of Isleworth & Brentfordarea is 41, 659. (based on 2001 census)

The Isleworth & Brentford area has:

● The highest proportion of lone parents

● The highest proportion of disabled residents

● The highest proportion of 30 to 59 age group (43%)

● 32% of economically active residents qualifiedto degree level or above

23

AGE OF ISLEWORTH & BRENTFORDAREA’S POPULATIONNumber of residents in 000s(Based on 2001 census data)

25

20

15

10

5

0Age

under 16Age

16 to 59Age

over 60

AGE PROFILE

7,9876,667

27,005

RESIDENTS’ VIEWS

Isleworth & Brentford residents statethe highest levels of improvement in the

borough over the last two years.The area also has the lowest proportionof residents identifying problems such as

litter and broken pavements.

Residents in the area have expressed thelowest levels of complaints about noise(1% general noise, 39% aircraft noise)

in comparison with other areas.

The area has the lowest proportion ofresidents who have experienced various

types of crime over the past 12 months (8%)

Residents have identified the followingreasons as to why they choose to live

in the Isleworth & Brentford area:●

Job Prospects (19%)●

Public Transport (24%)●

Access to shopping facilities (22%)

Residents in the Isleworth & Brentford Areahave identified the highest levels ofdeterioration in the following areas:

●

Affordability of Housing ●

Litter/dirt in streets●



The following are problem areasidentified by residents:

● Litter lying around (15%)● Broken pavements (10%)

● Anti-social behaviour (10%)




A Greener Community (82%) ●

A Thriving Community (55%)

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23

Reported crime in the Isleworth & BrentfordArea fell from 6,517 reports in April 2002

to March 2003 to 6,057 reports madebetween April 2003 and March 2004.

Overall crime fell by -7%, while individualwards recorded reductions of between

-4% (Brentford and Osterley & Spring Grove)and -12% (Syon).

COMMUNITY SAFETY




Robbery 76 61 -15










2002/ 2003/2003 2004 Difference

Ward

Brentford 1417 1358 -59 -4%

Isleworth 1445 1331 -114 -8%

Osterley &Spring Grove 1758 1691 -67 -4%

Syon 1897 1677 -220 -12%

Total 6517 6057 -460 -7%


Domestic Violence 397 406 +9 +2%




Ethnic Group





Mixed Other








White Irish

White Other


White British

ETHNICITY IN ISLEWORTH &BRENTFORD AREA

%Pop.

0.5%

0.5%

0.8%

0.9%

1.0%

1.0%

1.1%

1.7%

1.9%

2.1%

2.4%

3.4%

4.2%

6.7%

9.3%

62.5%

78

23

The Council has sought to regeneratethe centre by promoting new developmentsas well as by the refurbishment and re-use

of building or sites, in particular those whichhave historical, architectural or townscape

interest. Outline planning consent was grantedin 2003 for the development of the land south

of Brentford High Street. The key objectiveof the Brentford area action plan is to ensure

that any future development realises itsshopping, leisure, residential and employment

opportunities whilst making Brentfordan attractive place to live and visit.

ISLEWORTH & BRENTFORDREGENERATION

There are a range of facilities in the area,which are both private and public sectorfunded. These include:

● Watermans Art Centre ● Steam Museum● Music Museum ● Gunnersbury Park● Boston Manor House ● Syon House ● Osterley House


Community Environment officers havebeen working in partnership with the

West Thames College to improve the frontarea of the college and the street scene.This has involved joint funding of seating

areas on the street, litter bins andremoving graffiti and fly posting.

ISLEWORTH RECREATION CENTREIsleworth Recreation Centre has benefitedfrom a major refurbishment programme partlyfinanced through securing partnership fundingfrom the National Lottery and the CapitalChallenge Programme. The centre, situatedto the south of Hounslow and originally builtin the 1930’s, now offers a more modern rangeof amenities and these include:

● An activities room ● A health suite ● 3 pools ● LifeCentre Gym ● A floodlit arena

BRENTFORD FOUNTAINLEISURE CENTRE

Opened in 1987, the Brentford FountainLeisure Centre is Hounslow’s largest sportscentre, offering the widest mix of sports

and recreational opportunities for communityparticipation in West London.

The centre offers a sports stadium,LifeCentre Gym, Life Studio, 3 squash courts,

the Little Tikes Play centre and a creche,as well as a leisure pool with wave machine

and slide and a fitness pool.

Social information

COMMUNITY COHESION









79

23



Good 70.8%

Fair 20.9%

Poor 8.3%

Osterley &Spring Grove

12.9%Brentford

16.2%

Syon16.4% Isleworth

16.4%

*Standardised Morality Rate (SMR) is a measure of howmore or less likely a person living in that area is to diecompared to the standard population. The SMR is a ratioof the actual number of deaths in the ward to the numberexpected if the ward had the same age specific mortalityrates as England, multiplied by 100.


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160140120100806040200

97102 107

142148

90



Brentford 10,745 1,746 16.2%

Isleworth 10,745 1,758 16.4%

Osterley &Spring Grove 10,452 1,347 12.9%

Syon 9,717 1,597 16.4%

Isleworth &Brentford Area 41,659 6,448 15.5%

Hounslow 212,341 31,681 14.9%

SMRs

* fo

r age

und

er 7

5

Hounslow14.9%

80

23

Key Stages

The tables show levels of achievement for differentkey stages for children in schools in the Isleworth &Brentford Area. The National Curriculum is dividedinto four key stages, which depend on children’s ages.These figures are compared with attainment levelsfor Hounslow overall in the tables.

Number of registered ChildcareSettings in Isleworth & Brentford Area Key Stage 1


L2+ L2B+ L3+



Maths 92% 71% 27%Hounslow 90% 70% 25%


Key Stage 2


L4+ L5+




EDUCATION Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Results in 2003for ISLEWORTH & BRENTFORD AREA

Ages of Pupils at


Reception 5 1

1 62 7

3 8 24 95 106 11

7 12 38 139 14

10 15 411 16

Day Nurseries 11

Holiday Schemes 6

Childminders 76

81

23

Introduction

Chiswick Area comprises of Turnham Green, ChiswickRiverside and Chiswick Homefields wards, and is thesmallest of the five areas of the borough. Chiswick isa vibrant cosmopolitan urban area, brimming with life,colour and activity, steeped in heritage and history.It is a well-known visitor centre and film location.

The River Thames runs along the southern edgeof this part of the borough, and there are a number

of historic houses, important landscapes, communityopen spaces, conservation areas and parks.Here we will see an emerging focus for media andcultural industries - new opportunities for creatingan extensive range of arts and leisure facilities -as well as celebrating and enjoying the successesof past generations. Together these will createa stimulating cultural environment.

The birthplace of the English Landscape Garden,Chiswick House Grounds contain areas of greathistorical interest, displaying the work of the famousgarden designers Kent, Bridgeman and SamuelLappidge. The Grounds are considered to be themost important historical landscape gardens inEngland and Wales.

CHISWICK PROFILEPopulation

The total population of Chiswick is 31, 409.(based on 2001 census)

Chiswick has:

● The highest proportion of single people without children (27%)

● The lowest number of residents with a disability (only 1%)

● The highest proportion of residents claimingto have no religious beliefs (32%)

● The lowest length of residence (13.74 years)

● The highest proportion of workers employedin professional occupations (70%). Just 7%of residents from the Chiswick area work in unskilled occupations

Chiswick Area ProfileChiswickIsleworth &

Brentford

West

HounslowCentral

Heston &Cranford

CHISWICK AREACOMMITTEE PRIORITIES

●Complete river wall and make

best use of river frontage●

Improve public transport●

Reduction in crime ●

Get value for money from LBH●

Promote Chiswick HeritageRegeneration Area

●CCTV

●The Library

●Provision for elderly residents

●Facilities for children

●Improve Streetscene

82

23

AGE OF CHISWICK'S POPULATIONNumber of residents in 000s(Based on 2001 census data)

25

20

15

10

5

0Age

under16

Age16 to

59

Ageover60

Social information for Chiswick

Ethnic Group








Mixed Other






White Irish

White Other

White British

5,105 4,878

21,426

ETHNICITY IN CHISWICK AREA

COMMUNITY COHESION

%Pop.

0.3%

0.3%

0.4%

0.6%

0.9%

1.0%

1.1%

1.1%

1.2%

1.4%

1.9%

2.0%

2.5%

4.1%

14.6%

66.4%









83

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2002/ 2003/2003 2004 Difference

Ward

Chiswick Homefields 1870 974 -896 -48%

Chiswick Riverside 1261 1108 -153 -12%

Turnham Green 1935 2563 +628 +30%

Total 5066 4645 -421 -8%

There have been substantial reductions in crimes reported to the Police between

April 2003 and March 2004, compared to April 2002 and March 2003, in the wards

of Chiswick Homefields and Chiswick Riverside. Reported crimes have increased in Turnham Green, despite recent falls in

crime levels in this ward from December 2003 onwards.




Robbery 76 50 -26




Criminal damage 297 273 -24

Drug Offences 27 31 4

Other Notifiable Offences 23 14 -9




Domestic Violence 203 188 -15 -7%




COMMUNITY SAFETY


TACKLING TRADERS WASTE

The Community Environment Officersat Hounslow Council are currently visiting

all of the trading premises on ChiswickHigh Road and Turnham Green terraceto ensure that they have the correctmethods in place to dispose of theirtrade waste. Many shops in the area

dump their bags on the street causinglittering and obstructions to pedestrians.

The Community Environment officersare encouraging local businesses to actresponsibly and inform them that they

have a Duty of Care to undertake.If the premises do not take their

responsibility seriously, enforcement will takeplace, which could lead to prosecution.

THE ANTI-GRAFFITI INITIATIVE

The first Graffiti Clean-Up-Day in Chiswickwas a massive success with a huge turnout

by local people. Inspector Ged Boyer ofthe Metropolitan Police sees initiativeslike this as a key part of local policing.

The Chiswick Area Committee part fundedthe scheme with a grant of £500.

Hounslow Council have been so encouragedby the popularity of the scheme that theyhave set up a permanent graffiti team to

service Hounslow’s wider community.

Chiswick Area Committee recentlyundertook a consultation exercise to spend

funds on environmental improvementsfor the Chiswick area.

84

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Good 76%

Fair 17%Poor 7%

13.4%Turnham Green

11.5%Chiswick Homefields

Hounslow14.9%

12.9%Chiswick Riverside



Chiswick Homefields10,290 1,180 11.5%

Chiswick Riverside 10,935 1,413 12.9%

Turnham Green 10,184 1,361 13.4%

Chiswick Area 31,409 3,954 12.6%

Hounslow 212,341 31,681 14.9%



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120100806040200

86

10595

46

112

Years

SMRs

* fo

r age

und

er 7

5

Suic

ide

104

85

23

Key Stages

The tables show levels of achievement for differentkey stages for children in schools in the ChiswickArea. The National Curriculum is divided into fourkey stages, which depend on children’s ages.These figures are compared with attainment levelsfor Hounslow overall in the tables.

Number of registered ChildcareSettings in Chiswick Area

Key Stage 1


L2+ L2B+ L3+



Maths 94% 82% 36%Hounslow 90% 70% 25%


Key Stage 2


L4+ L5+




Day Nurseries 11

Holiday Schemes 4

Childminders 25

EDUCATION Key Stage 1 and Key Stage 2 Results in 2003for CHISWICK AREA

Ages of Pupils at


Reception 5 1

1 62 7

3 8 24 95 106 11

7 12 38 139 14

10 15 411 16

86

23

CHISWICK HOUSE & GROUNDS

Hounslow Council and English Heritageare working jointly to form a Trust to

oversee the restoration of both ChiswickHouse and the Grounds, through a funding

bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund.

CHISWICK PARISH CHURCH OF ST NICHOLAS WITH

ST MARY MAGDALENE, CHISWICKCHURCHYARD & CEMETERY

Chiswick Cemetery holds some of themost important burial sites in England,

including those of William Hogarth and JamesWhistler. Many of the tombs now

require considerable restoration work.The Council are working with Churchrepresentatives to submit a bid to theHeritage Lottery Fund to restore these

important burial sites and improve accessfor the local community and visitors.

DUKES MEADOWS

The Council is working with the Friendsof Dukes Meadows to support the group’s

business plan. This will enable them tocreate a sustainable income to support

the maintenance plan, following therestoration of some of the parks features and

the creation of new play facilitieswithin the park. This work is being

carried out in partnership withrepresentatives of the Thames Landscapestrategy and number of other agencies.A bid to the Heritage Lottery Funding

will be submitted for some aspects of thework to be carried out.

THAMES LANDSCAPE STRATEGY

The Thames Strategy - Kew to Chelseais working in partnership with the

Thames Landscape Strategy to developenvironmental improvement projects

on the riverside linking Watermans Park,Kew Bridge, and Strand on the Green.

CHISWICK HERITAGEREGENERATION AREA

The highest levels of satisfaction withthe neighbourhood as a place to live areobserved amongst residents living in theChiswick Area, with 92% being satisfied.

Interestingly, satisfaction levels when analysedby family status are highest amongst single

people who do not have children, andChiswick is the Committee Area for which

this type of resident is most prolific.

When considering noise in the local area,Chiswick residents identified aircraft and road

traffic noise as being the most problematic.

The main reason why residentschoose to live in the area are:

●Access to public transport (24%)

●Access to shopping facilities (29%)

●Access to parks and open spaces (32%)

The following are problem areasidentified by Chiswick residents:

●Broken Pavements (37%)

●Litter lying around (30%)

●Lack of secure parking (22%)

Residents in the Chiswick area have identified the highest levels of deterioration


Affordable housing ●

Litter/dirt in street●



Chiswick Area residents see the following3 priorities as the most significant in helping

make the area a better place to live:

●A Creative Community (73%)

●A Safer Community (70%)

●A Greener Community (66%)

RESIDENTS’ VIEWS

87

Christine HayChairHounslow PCT

Gary DonaldBorough CommanderLondon Fire & EmergencyPlanning AuthorityHounslow

Jeff HarrisBorough CommanderMetropolitan PoliceHounslow

John JamesChief ExecutiveHounslow PCT

Paul ParkinsonMarketing ManagerWest London Business

Robert InnesPlanning & DevelopmentManagerLondon West Learning &Skills Council

2388

Rory GillertDirectorHounslow VoluntarySector Forum

Satvinder ButtarDirectorHounslow RacialEquality Council

Mark GilksChief executiveLondon Boroughof Hounslow

Howard SimmonsAssistant Chief ExecutiveCorporate Policy &RegenerationLondon Boroughof Hounslow

Cllr Colin EllarLeaderLondon Boroughof Hounslow

23

Cllr John ChattLondon Boroughof Hounslow

89

●LONDON BOROUGH

OF HOUNSLOW●

HOUNSLOWNHS●

HOUNSLOWPOLICE

●HOUNSLOW

FIRE BRIGADE●

LEARNING ANDSKILLS COUNCIL

●WEST LONDON

BUSINESS●

HOUNSLOWRACIAL EQUALITY

COUNCIL●

HOUNSLOWVOLUNTARY

SECTOR FORUM

HOUNSLOWLOCAL STRATEGIC

PARTNERSHIP

Civic CentreLampton Road

Hounslow TW3 4DN

020 8583 2000

Fax020 8583 3000

[email protected]

Webwww.hlsp.hounslow.gov.uk

lspLeadershipSuccessPassion

90

COM-FS

CMT 31 March 2003 EXECUTIVE (briefing) – 13 April 2003

Executive (Public) – 01 June 04

Feltham Area Renewal (FAR) – Feltham First SRB

Report by: Cllr Pritam Grewal

Summary

In March 2002 the London Borough of Hounslow with the approval of the London Development Agency (LDA) entered into a temporary contract with Grand Union Community Development (GUCD) to manage the Feltham First SRB successor body Feltham Area Renewal (FAR). This contract has now expired. GUCD has accepted a proposal for the merger of FAR with Green Corridor (another SRB successor body) to provide a sustainable method of delivery for regeneration activity in Feltham. As the accountable body for the Feltham First SRB programme the London Borough of Hounslow retains responsibility for the SRB endowment assets that GUCD now proposes to transfer to Green Corridor. It is requested that an Executive Member is designated to oversee the transfer of the SRB assets and represent the interests of the Council in this matter. 1. RECOMMENDATIONS 1.1 that members note the content of the report and endorse the permanent

merger of FAR with Green Corridor as a method of sustaining regeneration activity in the West Area.

1.2 that members assign delegated authority to the Executive Member for Better

Performance and Economic Development to represent the interests of the Council in the proposed merger.

Agenda Item 8

91

COM-FS

2 Background 2.1 The five-year SRB programme Feltham First came to an end on 31 March

2002. The Feltham First Executive Board agreed to establish a not for profit company limited by guarantee called Feltham Area Renewal (FAR) to take forward the regeneration of Feltham, Bedfont and Hanworth. The Council was asked by the Feltham First Executive to enter into a formal agreement with Grand Union Community Development to ensure that the SRB endowment was used for the purposes intended, including the employment and supervision of a regeneration co-ordinator to implement the proposed 2-year project. The agreement was signed in March 2002 and Grand Union Community Development (GUCD) hold legal responsibility for the property and assets of FAR.

2.2 In October 2002 the Director of GUCD resigned, this was followed in

November 2002 by the resignation of the Regeneration co-ordinator appointed to FAR. Officers from Community Regeneration and Economic development worked with GUCD on an interim basis to manage project work undertaken and support board members until a new senior staff member was recruited.

2.3 Following consultation with the Assistant Chief Executive for Corporate Policy

and Regeneration, GUCD and the FAR steering group, is was agreed that it would not be viable to continue with the original plan to incorporate FAR as an independent organisation in 2003.

3 FAR Proposal consultation 3.1 The FAR steering group received proposals for the future management of

FAR in May 2003 from GUCD and Green Corridor (formerly Green Corridor SRB). The FAR steering group recommended the proposal submitted by Green Corridor and the Board of GUCD approved the merger on 15 October 2003.

3.2 Green Corridor is a company limited by guarantee and registered charity. It

was established as the successor body to the Green Corridor Partnership, which managed a successful national pilot (£1.4m) SRB programme between 1997 and 2002. Its activities are based in west London and key target areas include the environs of Heathrow and the M4/A4 corridor into London.

3.3 The primary aim of the Green Corridor is to link “people and places” by

engaging local communities in the development and implementation of public realm projects, building the capacity of those communities for sustainable regeneration, community ownership and improved quality of life.

3.4 West Area Committee members were consulted on the merger proposal on 6

November 2003 and supported the merger and the appointment of a new Regeneration co-ordinator for the West Area. The London Development Agency (LDA) has given its consent to the merger and has welcomed the proposed forward strategy for FAR and Green Corridor.

92

COM-FS

3.5 The LBH contract with GUCD to manage FAR has now expired and GUCD is

preparing for the transfer of the FAR SRB assets and has engaged Clarke and Co. to carry out an audit and appointed a solicitor to oversee the transfer. Green Corridor has engaged Russell-Cooke Solicitors to draft a deed of transfer.

3.6 To ensure that the Councils position as the accountable body for the SRB

assets is protected the London Borough of Hounslow will need to enter into a contract with Green Corridor for the management of the assets for the lifetime of the SRB endowment.

4 Recommendation 4.1 Members are asked to endorse the merger proposal of FAR with Green

Corridor as a method of sustaining regeneration activity in the West Area and assign delegate authority to the Executive Member for Better Performance and Economic Development to authorise the transfer of the Feltham First SRB endowment from GUCD to Green Corridor on completion of an audit by Clarke & Co. with the approval of the Assistant Chief executive (Finance) Borough Treasurer and the LDA.

4.2 That the Executive Member for Better Performance and Economic

Development with delegated authority acts to ensure that the London Borough of Hounslow enters into an agreement with Green Corridor for the permanent management of the FAR SRB assets.

5. Assistant Chief Executive (Finance) Borough Treasurer 5.1 Provided that there is full transparency in the transaction and provided that

the appropriate legal processes are completed the Borough Treasurer has no objection to this proposal.

6. Assistant Chief Executive (Legal) Borough Solicitor

6.1 The Borough Solicitor has been consulted in the preparation of this report and

has no objection to the proposal.

Back page of the report to include the following at the end:- Contact: Jan Henson Telephone: Ext: 2209

Background Papers:

This report has been or is due to be considered by: CMT, Executive (briefing)

This report is relevant to the following wards/areas: West Area wards, plus Heston West and Cranford.

93

Agenda Item 11

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`

EXECUTIVE 1 JUNE 2004

ALLOCATION PLAN 2003/04, 2004/05 and 2005/06

Report by: Councillor K. Chopra

Summary To update Members on the performance of the Allocation Plan 2003/04 and the

changes to the Allocation Plan of 2004/05 and 2005/06. 1.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 1.1 To note progress on the Allocation Plan for 2003/04 (Appendix Two). 1.2 To agree the changes to the Allocation Plan for 2004/05 and 2005/06. 1.3 To note the Joint Action Plan: Voids and Lettings at Appendix One.

Agenda Item 12

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2.0 BACKGROUND 2.1 The Allocation Plan sets out the targets for the year and confirms the Council's

approach in line with agreed housing strategies and policies. The Allocation Plan for 2003/04 was as follows:

Rehousing Group

Bedsit/1 Bed 2 Beds 3 or more Beds

Applicants 181 35% 32 8% 9 5% Homeless 155 30% 257 65% 112 60% Transfers 171 35% 107 27% 66 35% TOTAL: 517 100% 396 100% 187 100%

Performance to 31 March 2004 is at Appendix Two. 2.2 The Allocation Plan is implemented through the Choice-based Lettings System which

means that vacant properties are advertised in the fortnightly edition of Locata. Households then express interest in properties that are of the correct size and the applicant with the highest priority in date order is invited to view the property.

Appendix Three is the feedback report, which appears in each magazine, from Edition 52 (16 April 2004). This highlights, by Council, the results of the allocation of properties that have been advertised, i.e. the number of bids each property received and the successful band and priority date that the home was allocated to. This ensures transparency in the allocation system and also gives all applicants an indication of the type of property becoming available for letting, its locality and the likely demand. Households can then see for themselves the likelihood of being successful in putting in bids for properties. They can make three bids for each edition.

2.3 The current Allocation Plan anticipates 1,100 units becoming available, made up of

Council and Housing Association properties. Up to 31 March, 1,006 lettings had been achieved which indicates a 92% success rate against the plan.

269 Council tenants moved to alternative accommodation. They live in properties

that they have chosen. It should be noted that the number of two-bedroom transfers effected were 81 (22%), as opposed to the Allocation Plan target of 27%, and 59 for three-bedroom tenants representing 40% which is 5% above the Allocation Plan target of 35%.

Over the last three years we have achieved the following transfer levels:

2001/02 - 341 Council tenants transferred, representing 29% of total lettings 2002/03 - 226 " " " 28% " " 2003/04 - 269 " " " 27% " "

2.4 The Executive should note that we also made special allocations to tenants arising

from development agreements on Council estate-based projects. These lettings were

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to a mix of new Registered Social Landlord properties and Council vacancies arising from tenants moving to the new developments.

New

Development Tenants Eligible

to Bid Total No. ofUnits

No. of 2-bed Units

No. of 3-bed Units

No. of 4-bed Units

No. of 5-bed Units

Green Lawn Lane

Cherry Garth Apple Garth Carville Crescent Chestnut Avenue Clayponds Gardens Crowther Avenue Plum Garth

19 15 3 1 0

St. Thomas' Road

Montgomery Court Fauconberg Court

14 4 8 0 2

2.5 Properties are targeted in Locata Home for:

homeseekers (H) tenants (T) homeseekers/tenants (H/T)

by bedroom size and client group, in order to achieve the Allocation Plan (at Appendix Two). Houses are distributed between homeseekers and tenants to ensure that both groups have equal access to this type of accommodation.

2.6 The Choice-based Lettings System is a partnership between five West London Authorities: Ealing, Hillingdon, Brent, Harrow and Hounslow, and three Housing Associations: PCHA, Paradigm and EFHA. All the Boroughs participating in the partnership advertise their units through the fortnightly edition of Locata Home. It should be noted that 10% of vacancies are randomly advertised across the partnership, i.e. every tenth property that is advertised is randomly selected for allocation across the partnership. This ensures a degree of mobility and facilitates households wish to move across borough boundaries to be near family or work. Cross-borough moves are monitored closely to ensure that each partner does not gain or lose out on lettings.

2.7 The Choice-based Lettings System has had teething problems as there had been a

major change in the approach to allocation of social housing in the Borough. The Council is now participating in a fully-implemented Choice-based Lettings System working across borough boundaries which meets the Government's targets for households having more choice in where they live and having greater mobility.

2.8 Locata Home magazine not only allows households to see what the Council has

available but where they are likely to be successful in making a bid. For the first time prospective tenants can see the type of property that becomes available, where it is located and the likely demand. This creates a transparent allocation system which did not exist before, and highlights the realistic situation regarding the demand for social housing in West London.

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Choice-based lettings has not increased the number of properties becoming available but it has brought transparency to the allocation system and brought some consumer choice in the allocation of social housing.

3.0 PROPOSED ALLOCATION PLAN for 2004/05 and 2005/06 3.1 Under the Allocation Plan for 2003/04, 55% of lets went to the homeless. Under the

proposed Allocation Plan for 2004/05 and 2005/06, 60% will go to the homeless.

The changes to the Allocation Plan bring Hounslow in line with other West London Councils.

Council Allocation to the Homeless

Brent 62.3% Harrow 70% Hillingdon 60% Ealing 60% Hammersmith & Fulham 70%

3.2 Allocation Plan 2004/05 and 2005/06:

Bedsit/1 Bed 2 Beds 3 or more Beds Applicants 20% 8% 9% Homeless 55% 65% 65% Transfers 25% 27% 30%

The major change to the Allocation Plan for 2004/05 and 2005/06 compared to 2003/04 is concentrated on lets of bedsits and one-bed accommodation to the homeless. This will increase from 30% to 55%. The percentage of two-beds allocated to homeless and tenants will remain the same. For three-bed cases, there is a slight increase from 60% to 65%. Hounslow Homes has commented on these proposals (see paragraph 5.0).

3.3 The need for temporary accommodation continues to increase: Year Total in temporary

accommodation

1999-2000 March 2000 657 2000-2001 March 2001 790 2001-2002 March 2002 992 2002-2003 March 2003 1,166 2003-2004 March 2004 1,130 2004-2005p March 2005 1,450p *p = projected and revised (excluding amnesty cases) 3.4 The changes to the Allocation Plan will:

1. Improve void turnaround.

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2. Lessen the length of stay in temporary accommodation which is lengthy already. Some households have to wait more than three years before they are rehoused permanently.

3. Decrease the expected increase in the number of vulnerable households in temporary accommodation.

4. Produce savings of about £150,000 to the General Fund (as required in the 2004/05 Budget Plan).

5. Help in achieving the target set by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister of

zero families with children in Bed & Breakfast hotels for longer than six weeks.

4.0 INITIATIVES TO IMPROVE THE PERFORMANCE OF LOCATA IN

HOUNSLOW 4.1 Hounslow Homes and Housing Strategy & Services have jointly produced a plan to

reduce void turnaround time and improve services. Most of the action points have been agreed. Some are still under discussion and are identified with an *. The plan is attached at Appendix One.

4.2 Performance on void turnaround has improved substantially over the course of

2003/04, and a target of 35 days (excluding sheltered) has been agreed for 2004/05. 4.3 Letting of sheltered housing remains a significant issue. The Executive have already

agreed to consult on the closure of Moss Gardens, Feltham. The performance on voids suggests that we need to further reduce this type of stock in the next 12 months.

5.0 COMMENTS OF HOUNSLOW HOMES 5.1 Hounslow Homes fully appreciates the pressure on the London Borough of

Hounslow to reduce the use and cost of temporary accommodation. However, the proposals will reduce an already small number of transfer opportunities for tenants needing three-bed accommodation from 66 a year to 55 a year. Many tenants needing a transfer are in Band C; so far this year only 11 Band C cases have achieved a transfer. Band C cases include families with mixed-sex children sharing bedrooms, and other severely overcrowded families. These proposals will increase the pressure. Authorities who already give the majority of new lettings to the homeless are now experiencing enormous pressure from tenants needing transfers.

The proposals for increasing the letting of one-bed accommodation to homeless

families will mean more couples and single parents expecting a baby, and with a baby under the age of 6 months, being allocated a one-bed property. As the vast majority of two-bed accommodation already goes to the homeless, they have very little prospect of a move in the foreseeable future. This will have a detriment effect on family life but will also create further pressure on Hounslow Homes and the Council in the years to come.

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Apart from day-to-day repairs, transfer issues generate the highest number of complaints to Hounslow Homes about operational issues. This is reflected at all stages of the complaints process. Transfer issues also represent l5% of Ombudsman cases.

6.0 COMMENTS OF BOROUGH TREASURER 6.1 Changes in the proportion of accommodation allocated to homeless applicants has a

direct impact on the Genera Fund budget and the report makes reference to a saving of £150,000. This is not an additional reduction, and the 2004/05 budget takes full account of this saving.

Achieving reductions in void turnaround as a result of improvements to the operation

of the Choice-Based Lettings System will produce savings for the Housing Revenue Account (HRA). However, in producing the HRA budget, the assumption was made that the improvement targets would be met.

7.0 EQUALITY IMPACT ANALYSIS 7.1 Equalities monitoring of all allocations will be undertaken to determine the impact on

ethnic groups. This will be done through the collection of statistical information, and ongoing consultation with the community and equality groups.

Any trends identified can then be addressed through revised working practices or

changes in policy for consideration by Members. The Allocation Plan is achieved by targeting the main priority groups for rehousing,

i.e. homeless, applicants from the private sector, and existing Council tenants, through the Choice-based Lettings Scheme. Guidance on the scheme is revised periodically to reflect changes in policy and also any comments from the voluntary agencies, so as to ensure choice is available to all members of the community.

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Contact: P. Auchombit and S. Chalcraft

Telephone: Ext. 3703/3809 Background Papers: 1. Monthly stats. from Rehousing Unit

2. Joint Action Plan - Voids and

Lettings

This report has been or is due to be considered by:


144

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8.

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6

APP

END

IX O

NE

HO

UN

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W H

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used

•

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unic

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to

Are

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day

•

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at p

re v

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•

Inve

stig

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of p

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ntiv

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oval

of

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146

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154

1

Agenda Item No.13 Reference No.

Better Local Government LLL 58

EXECUTIVE PUBLIC – 1ST JUNE 2004

CONNEXIONS SERVICE – MOVE TO CONFEDERATION MODEL

Report by: Councillor Cadbury

Summary Connexions is a multi-agency partnership providing information advice and guidance to all 13 – 19 year olds through a range of providers supported by direct government grant. Presently Connexions is provided by an independent company – Connexions London West – but due to the urgent need to restructure the Partnership Board has recommended that a confederation model be implemented as quickly as possible. Under this model Hounslow Council would assume financial and legal responsibility for the Connexions service in the borough. The new model will ensure a tax efficient structure and be in line with proposals for the Connexions service set out in the Children Bill. This report seeks agreement to the introduction of a confederation model of operation for the Connexions Service in Hounslow. 1. RECOMMENDATIONS 1.1 that members agree that the London Borough of Hounslow becomes

the designated body with a contractual and funding relationship with the DfES through the supporting Children and Young People Group (SCYPG) for the delivery of Connexions in Hounslow.

1.2 that members delegate to the Corporate Director of Lifelong Learning, Leisure and Cultural Services and the Assistant Chief Executive (Finance) the detailed negotiations and arrangements for the transfer.

1.3 that members note the transfer is likely to start in June/July but will be completed through a staged process over the next 9 months.

Agenda Item 13

157

2

2. Background

2.1 As part of the wider public sector efficiency review, the Connexions service nationally has been asked to identify £40m annual savings over the next 2 years. The Supporting Children and Young People Group (SCYPG) within DfES (which holds national policy responsibility for Connexions) has chosen to make £25m of these savings by reducing a VAT subsidy “cushion” to Connexions partnerships in 2004/05 and 2005/06. In summary, Customs and Excise has changed the tax status of the Connexions services, and as such, any VAT incurred by a Connexions partnership on its expenditure cannot be reclaimed from Customs and Excise. In making the funding announcement, SCYPG encouraged partnerships to move to more tax efficient structures that would mitigate this VAT problem. This irrecoverable VAT amounts to approximately £1.6m per annum across the six boroughs (Brent, Ealing, Hammersmith and Fulham, Harrow, Hillingdon and Hounslow) in the London West area.

2.2 Simultaneous to this announcement, the Government published “Every child matters: next steps” and the contents of the Children Bill This announcement has set out clearly that local authorities will have a much more integral role in planning and managing the procurement and delivery of Connexions services in the future.

2.3 Having considered these two major developments, the Partnership Board of Connexions London West of which Hounslow Council is a member, has approved a move to a confederation model of planning and managing services in the West London area.

3. Confederation Model – Outline 3.1 In summary, the Confederation Model will consist of:

- An integrated vision, strategy and Business Plan for Connexions in the

London West area, building on progress to date - New arrangements which will accelerate the joining-up of services to

young people at a borough level in response to the recent Children Bill - Each local authority becoming the “lead body” in its own borough with a

contractual and funding relationship with SCYPG - Local authorities holding contracts with guidance companies and

community/voluntary organisations to deliver services in their boroughs (in addition to some local authority direct delivery). In due course these will be subjected to Best Value and value-for-money considerations in line with both national Connexions and local authority policies

- A central co-ordinating and quality assurance function continuing to exist, but its role becoming increasingly a central services role supporting individual borough plans, rather than a leading role in directing the service across the West London area

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3

3.2 Because this Model tackles both tax efficiency (utilising local authorities’ special VAT status in line with section 33 of the VAT Act 1994), and points the way to how services to young people could evolve across the country in the future, it has received an initial positive response from SCYPG.

4. Implications for Local Authorities The main implications for the local authority in moving to this Model are:

- It will become the recipient of the Connexions grant from SCYPG and therefore assumes greater accountability than at present for the delivery of the Connexions service (see below). At present, the Connexions grant for the 6 London West boroughs totals £12.7m. Initial work to disaggregate Connexions London West’s budget indicates the grant for Hounslow is likely to be in the region of £2.1 million - £2.2. million per annum. It will assume responsibility for the contract with CfBT for the delivery of Connexions services such as careers guidance/support in schools, the running of Connexions centres etc. This contract accounts for approximately two-thirds of all Connexions funding and resources in the area. In addition, the local authority is likely to take on responsibility for Connexions services contracted to community/voluntary sector organisations (for example, specialised services for specific disadvantaged groups)

- Connexions services currently delivered by local authorities (for example, Personal Advisers located in youth services and employed by the local authority) would cease to be contracted by the CXLW partnership

- Where needed, it will become a procurer of additional services to support the management, quality assurance and delivery of Connexions services in the area

5. Benefits to Local Authorities 5.1 Whilst there will be a continued need to align to national policies and

the West London strategy for Connexions, the move to the Confederation Model provides a significant opportunity to plan Connexions services and integrate these more effectively with other local authority services at a borough level. This will include a greater influence on how Connexions funding and resources are deployed in the borough to support local priorities.

5.2 In addition, in taking contractual responsibility for the main guidance

company Connexions contract (see below) and assuming greater local ownership and resources for activities hitherto carried out at the Connexions London West centre, opportunities may exist to strengthen the efficiency and effectiveness of services and optimise the level of resources available for front-line service delivery.

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4

5.3 It is proposed to locate the service in the Lifelong Learning, Leisure and Cultural Services Department, given its key focus on providing support to young people in respect of the education, training and employment needs. The service has become a valued integral part of support services to schools. There will be a need to enhance the role of the present Local Connexions Manager and create a small team with those staff transferred from Connexions London West in due course. The local service is seen as highly successful (receiving positive comment in the recent 14 – 19 inspection) and the confederation model will afford further opportunities to develop the service in the light of local priorities.

5.4 The Local Management Committee, which is a multi-agency group including representatives from Lifelong Learning, Leisure and Cultural Services, Social Services, Public Health, Schools, College, Youth Offending Service, Feltham Young Offenders, Voluntary Sector and CfBT, will be reviewed. The LMC will contribute to the Business Plan, the principles for resource allocation and contracting and ensure that service delivery is joined up and coherent. New terms of reference will be developed to reflect its new responsibilities.

6. Risks and Liabilities 6.1 National Policy and Contractual Documents

In taking funding and contractual responsibility for the Connexions service, the local authority will need to comply with two key documents:

(a) The Financial Memorandum. This is the primary funding and contractual document. It will be signed by the local authority and Government Office for London (which acts as the contracting body on behalf of SCYPG). The Financial Memorandum specifies the conditions of the grant funding and the framework for control and governance of the funds. It shares many of the characteristics of other government grants, for example, that funds will be used for Connexions purposes only, the nature of accounting information to be received, that the funding can be audited by government auditors etc. Please insert the feedback that you have had from the H&F legal dept. (b) The Requirements and Guidance for the Connexions Service published by SCYPG. This is, in effect, the Connexions service specification document, which describes what a Connexions service should deliver, how it should deliver it and how the performance of the service is measured. Much of this is encapsulated by the Connexions Business Plan for an area. Given that the Confederation Model entails the production of a Business Plan for the London West area, and that the Financial Memorandum and Requirements and Guidance are linked documents (each cross refers to the other), it will be important that borough plans and the pan West London Connexions strategy are aligned.

160

5

However, experience to date of local Connexions plans and the pan West London Business Plan suggest this will not be a major issue.

6.2 The Local Authority as Contractor and Contract Manager 6.2.1 Other than some relatively small scale contracts with community and

voluntary groups (typically less than £30k per annum), the key contract which the local authority will become a contractor for will be the main Connexions contract with the guidance company CfBT. This contract has evolved from the pre-Connexions careers service contract to take in a broader Connexions remit, but still covers many of the service areas (careers support in schools, operation of Connexions (ex-careers) centres, job vacancy handling etc) that existed pre-Connexions. This contract has not undergone a robust Best Value Review since the start-up of Connexions.

6.2.2 The contract does not have an output-related payment element and

most of its terms and conditions mirror elements of the Financial Memorandum and Requirements and Guidance for the Connexions Service (i.e. risk elements imposed by SCYPG are passed onto the contractor). As such, in many respects, the level of risk within the contract is relatively low in comparison to other public services contracts.

6.2.3 It is anticipated that this contract will be novated or transferred (where

an existing contract covers more than one borough a straightforward novation may not be possible, and a two-stage process of disaggregation and novation may be needed) from CXLW to the local authority in due course, but that contracting/procurement specialists from the local authority will be involved in the transfer/novation process.

7. Other Implications

In moving to the Confederation Model, the following implications should be noted:

- there will be a staged process of transferring budgets and resources from the CXLW partnership to local authorities over the next 9 months. This is likely to involve the deployment of up to 3 additional staff within the local authority as a result of TUPE transfer. The employer obligations in this matter will need to be addressed, including pension arrangements.

- there will be a carefully managed change management project plan and process to ensure continuity of services and support to young people, schools and other local stakeholders during the transition stage. To that end, it is intended not to make any major changes to activities or services contained within the 2004/05 Connexions London West Business Plan

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6

- plans and structures will need to be put in place to ensure that the views and voices of young people are factored into the shape and quality of the Connexions service as it develops. This is a key national policy pre-requisite for managing the delivery of Connexions services

8. Options and Alternatives In recommending this proposal to the Executive, it should be noted that

a number of alternative options (for example, a single local authority lead body for all six London West boroughs or a joint venture/”loose partnership” arrangement) have been considered. None of these have the combination of achieving the benefits outlined in Section 4 whilst reducing the risks and liabilities outlined in Section 5. Critically, doing nothing at this stage will result in a reduction of available annual funding of £1.6m (cushioned by SCYPG to £1.1m in 2004/05) to support young people across the West London area and will result in both service cuts and job losses to practitioners working with a wide cross-section of young people, including many vulnerable groups.

9. Comments of the Assistant Chief Executive (Finance) 9.1 This report tackles the problems which the Council faces from

Government transfer of functions from local authorities to an alternative service provider and the transfer made without adequate consideration of all the issues. The problem which the Council now faces is the possible collapse of the careers service unless local authorities can resolve the problems. In total funding terms, provided the SCYPG continue to provide adequate grant to the Council, the service can be maintained without extra cost falling on the Council. If there is not full funding of the Council’s costs a rescue plan cannot be agreed or there will have to be compensating cuts in the education service or Council tax will have to increase.

9.2 The more complex issue is around VAT and the Excise ruling. Some

consideration has been given to this matter but I consider it necessary for the Council to challenge the robustness of argument developed to date especially since the VAT acumen of Government Department concerning VAT implications for local authorities often leaves a lot to be desired. In the first instance we have to be sure that the proposed course of action is not going to be seen, at some time in the future, simply as a (illegal) tax evasion device. Secondly, the local provision of careers advice is provided by a combination of public sector organisation and also, private sector providers. In these circumstances (as with adult education) the careers service has to be seen as a business activity with the VAT having to be counted by the Council against its 5% of exempt limit.

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7

As Members will know, if this limit is exceeded there is a cost to the Council of the loss of this benefit, for us a cost of £1.6m falling on the Council Tax (but only at this level because of the ALMO). The Excise police this limit strongly since tripping over it is a great income earner for them! We cannot afford this sort of cost so need to be clear on the VAT position. A solution may be that the private sector providers have to be closed down? Another alternative could be to make careers a Section 33 Body – but there may be the problem of EC state subsidies here.

9.3 The second complex issue is around pension provision. Staff may be TUPE transferred back to the Council. Adequate pension provision has to be concluded. The current Connexions Service operates a defined contribution scheme, not final salary. This has to be unravelled and the Council’s Actuary is addressing the issue. There may though be cost and this will have to be reimbursed to the Council.

9.4 In conclusion then, there has to be full and careful calculation of the

cost transferring to the Council so that all costs are reimbursed and the Council does not face unfunded expenditure. VAT issues have to be resolved to the Council’s legal and financial satisfaction and pensions issues have to be resolved.

10. Comments of the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal) 10.1 The Assistant Chief Executive (Legal) comments that he sees no difficulty with the principle of what is proposed or with the legal powers which underpin it. Clearly however there are a number of practical issues which will only be resolved if the constituent Boroughs are in agreement. Not least of these is the disaggregation of existing assets and liabilities, including provision for future liabilities not yet identified. Although it appears that assumptions are being made about the TUPE rights of transferring staff, and the possible need to make equivalent pension arrangements, the Council will need to be clear about the obligations it is acquirng across the board in respect of those who transfer ( as well, possibly, as in respect of those who think they have a right to transfer ). 10.2 Further, the Council will need to establish the extent of the contracts which it will inherit and the financial and other risks that attach to those contracts. This will be somewhat problematic, without agreement, particularly if existing contracts need to be split on a geographic or other basis. 10.3 With regard to future funding arrangements, by reason of experience elsewhere, there will need to be auditable arrangements to track and monitor the services which are purchased and for monitoring outcomes. It is understood that further advice is being made available by the lead Borough; and other external advice may be necessary on taxation issues which arise."

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8

Back page of the report to include the following at the end:- Contact: Jane Clarke Telephone: 020 583 2906

Background Papers:

This report has been or is due to be considered by: All wards

This report is relevant to the following wards/areas:

164

COM-FS

Agenda Item No. 14

One Hounslow, Striving for Excellence


Remand Management Service – Feltham Young Offender Institution

Report by: Cllr Ruth Cadbury, Lead Member for Children and Lifelong

Learning

Summary This Report provides information about a new service which the London Borough of Hounslow Youth Offending Service is providing in Feltham Young Offender Institute. 1. RECOMMENDATIONS That the content of this report is noted. 2. BACKGROUND

2.1 The junior section of Feltham Young Offender Institute can accommodate 296

young males between the ages of 15 and 18. Of these young people about 180 at any one time are on remand and the majority of those are not convicted. Young people from all over the south east of England are sent to Feltham; few of them will be from Hounslow, usually not more than five at any one time.

2.2 The London Borough of Hounslow Youth Offending Service has been asked by the Youth Justice Board for England and Wales to provide a remand management service in Feltham Young Offender Institute to help reduce the number of young people who remain remanded in custody. The number of young people who are remanded in to custody by the courts is very high. On a number of occasions this may be because the court which ordered the remand in to custody did not have a proposal as to how a remand on bail could be organised and supervised. Remand management staff will therefore interview all remanded young people within a day of their arrival at Feltham. They will make contact with their families and home youth offending services to ensure that wherever possible proposals for bail are put to the relevant court, so that the court has the opportunity to grant bail. (The staff of the service do not themselves make decisions about bail. These are made by the courts. It is the responsibility of the service to ensure that all known relevant information is placed before the court.) Alongside this, the remand service staff will

Agenda Item 14

165

COM-FS

arrange remand planning meetings to ensure that the risks and needs of the young person are addressed during their time in Feltham YOI, and for those young people where bail is not possible, the remand management service will ensure that appropriate plans are made for that young person to prepare them for discharge in to the community or a custodial sentence.

2.3 A management decision has been made to provide this service and this

development is also supported by the Lead Member for Community Cohesion and Community Safety.

2.4 This Service will be fully funded by the Youth Justice Board and the annual contract

value is £250,000 in the first instance. An annual uplift will be paid to meet rising costs. The Board has confirmed that there is no expectation for the London Borough of Hounslow to provide any funding to support this service. The arrangement will be for three years in the first instance and reviewed on an annual basis. Appropriate service level agreements will be put in place.

2.5 A team of 6 staff will be recruited to provide this service. Office space will be

provided within Feltham YOI. The team will work within a framework of risk assessment to inform the information which will be placed before the courts which make the bail decisions.

2.6 The development of this service continues a trend of community based services

being involved with the Young Offender Institute. These presently include health services, Connexions arrangements and are soon to involve the Learning and Skills Council.

2.7 This Service is expected to have a positive impact on promoting equality of

opportunity in service delivery. Young people from black and ethnic minority background are over represented in custodial settings, and the remand service will work to address the factors which have prevented them from being granted bail.

3. COMMENTS OF THE ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECTIVE (FINANCE) 3.1 The staffing cost of this proposal is £223,000 with overhead costs such as

accommodation, utilities and office supplies being met by the YOI. Cost is therefore within the £250,000 contract offered by the YOI, the balance of £27,000 will cover other Council administration costs. However, there is no on-going base budget provision so the arrangements will have to be reviewed on an annual basis.

3.2 The Borough Solicitor’s comments on risk are important. The issue of an LGA SIG has previously been raised and this proposal becomes even more relevant and should again be pursued.

166

COM-FS

4. COMMENTS OF THE ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (LEGAL) 4.1 The Assistant Chief Executive (Legal) has reviewed this report and comments as

follows:

It is to be expected that a number of young men accommodated at Feltham will be “children” for whom Social Services will have some responsibility. These may be children on Care Orders, Interim Orders, or Children Act 1989 S20 accommodation agreements. In some cases the local authority will be sharing parental responsibility with the young person’s parents. Where these children are not to be remanded in custody, but released on bail, it will be necessary for the Remand Management Service to ensure that Social Services are made aware of arrangements for these young people. This applies equally to young people on remand who are looked after by Hounslow as to those looked after by other boroughs. Without in any way detracting from the need of and support for this service, Members and appropriate Officers must recognise that there are attendant risks-- arising both from the duty of care to the young people involved, and from the environment in which staff are working. In most cases those risks are shared risks with other agencies, and are reasonably identifiable and understood by those working in any social welfare or similar organisation. These risks are capable of being managed by ensuring that they are properly assessed, that staff are appropriately qualified trained and supervised, and that effective procedures are in place to identify and communicate information that is relevant to the welfare of the young person.

Contact: Christine Pangbourne Head of Youth Crime Reduction

Telephone: 8583 6363

Background Papers: 1998 Crime and Disorder Act


This report is relevant to the following wards/areas: All

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EXECUTIVE (PUBLIC) - 1 June 2004

E-GOVERNMENT AND ICT PROGRAMME DEVELOPMENT

Report by: Councillor Amrit Mann

1.0 SUMMARY 1.1 This report seeks to update the Executive on progress in respect of E-Government and

Corporate ICT Developments. 1.2 The Chief Executive commissioned a review of the Council’s investment in IT during the

summer 2003 by NCC Group. The was followed in the autumn by a KPMG review of Departmental ICT arrangements This report includes the key findings from these reviews and sets out a consolidated action plan, which is being implemented.

1.3 Initial steps have included the formation of an E-Government Corporate Improvement

Team and consultation on a proposed restructuring of the ICT Department. 2.0 RECOMMENDATIONS 2.1 The Executive note the terms of reference of the E-Government ICT Board

(Corporate Investment Team). 2.2 The Executive agrees to the restructuring of the Council’s ICT Department to deliver

a more pro-active and planned service and, subject to cost being contained within existing budgets, delegates to the Lead Executive Member decisions on the detail of that re-organisation in consultation with the Chief Executive and the Chair of the E-Government Board. If additional costs are incurred a report for decision will be required to the Executive.

2.3 The Executive notes the findings of the Investment Review, and the KPMG report

and approves the Consolidated Action Plan. Expenditure proposal will require consideration by the Executive and be subject to funding being identified before expenditure is incurred.

EXECUTIVE

Agenda Item 15

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2.4 The Executive agrees to receive quarterly updates in respect of the work of the E-Government CIT at the Executive Performance Monitoring meeting and provides feedback and direction where appropriate.

3.0 BACKGROUND 3.1 The Council has an overreaching priority to improve the services provided to it’s

customers. There is a clear recognition that technology, if implemented and managed effectively, can provide a key support tool to assist the delivery of this priority.

3.2 Due to concerns which had been raised about the quality of the existing ICT service,

the Chief Executive commissioned the NCC Group (independent consultants) to review the level of investment that LBH are allocating to the ICT development plan. The NCC group undertook consultation across the Council and also considered comparative information from other similar London Boroughs. The comparative information was further confirmed by the ICT Unit’s own analysis using the “Socitm” database.

3.3 The key findings from the report were –

There is significant under-investment in ICT, estimated at £2m per annum

Current investments decisions have been made well, using available

resources.

Money alone will not resolve the issues.

Additional finance must be matched by improved project management; service level management; and change management processes across the Council.

Staffing levels within the ICT Department are low

Gap could be as great as 40%.

Staff are ‘fire-fighting’ rather than planning and implementing.

Little time/opportunity to manage and there are gaps in management skills.

ICT Planning is not a priority for the Council

Poor business case analysis and poor project management has lead to

overspend and timescale overrun.

ICT service is not performance led.

Little evidence of ownership for business change within departments.

There are serious communication problems

169


Little ICT co-ordination within or between departments who continue to operate as silos.

Corporate ICT initiatives are not well communicated.

Duplication of effort across the Council.

4.0 RECOMMENDATIONS ARISING FROM THE REVIEW 4.1 As part of the NCC Group report, an eight point high level action plan was developed

which directs the Council to:

Review investment levels and make greater provision but manage new investments within the framework of business planning and project management.

Establish formal strategic and operational forums.

Include IT planning as part of annual business plan.

Review IT Department structure and re-align skills.

Introduce formal business case analysis.

Introduce formal project management methodology.

Undertake risk assessment and develop business continuity plans.

Review user and manager training needs. 4.2 The key findings of the review were presented to the Corporate Management team in

October and at the Leaders Meeting in November. It was agreed to respond immediately by establishing a new Corporate Improvement Team, the E-Government Board, starting to work-up proposals for restructuring the IT Unit and putting forward bids to the Executive Budget Panel for additional resources in 2004/05.

5.0 KPMG REVIEW OF DEPARTMENTAL ICT 5.1 This review was conducted following consultation with KPMG about the Council’s

best value work and ongoing programme of service improvements linked to the CPA Action Plan.

5.2 It was agreed that the KPMG Review would complement the work of the NCC review.

The focus of the review was on the level of departmental ICT activity:

• Roles and Responsibilities • Communications • Departmental Systems and Procedures • Postponed Departmental Projects • Project Management • Risk Management Processes

5.3 The key findings from the report mirror the NCC review:

170


Departmental ICT strategies need to be better integrated in the Council’s business

planning framework to help corporate ICT prioritise the provision of support to departments and better manage the use of its resources.

There are no departmental procedures in relation to ICT. Project Management, ICT Security and business continuality procedures are developed and issued corporately. The Management and control of these procedures needs to be improved.

Communication between corporate ICT and service users needs to be improved.

Within departments there is concerns about the level of costs recharged by ICT.

There needs to be a centralised focus and control over ICT projects including well

refined Project Management Procedures.

There should be a formal risk assessment done for every ICT or ICT-related project.

There is a lack of standards and performance indicators in relation to ICT

services.

5.4 The recommendations from the NCC and KPMG reviews have been pulled together into a consolidated action plan (appendix 1).

6.0 PROGRESS TO-DATE Establishment of E-Government/IT Corporate Improvement Team. 6.1 We have established the E-Government/IT CIT as the strategic forum to drive

through the significant levels of change necessary to deliver the E-Government vision and targets and to improve ICT delivery to the Council. This CIT is comprised of representatives from all other Corporate Improvement Teams, which ensures that we retain a corporate view of work currently being undertaken. We have retained the Lead NCC consultant as an adviser to the group. KPMG, our auditors, will also be an interim member of the group acting as a ‘critical friend’.

6.2 Terms of reference have been drawn up and agreed for this Corporate Improvement

Team (attached as Appendix 2) and it is currently drawing together its workplan/schedule. An away day is being arranged to provide clear focus for the group and to establish a number of measurable objectives.

6.3 Through this CIT, work has already begun on the development of an ICT Strategy

and E-Government Strategy; a business case assessment tool; and further development of the ICT Unit.

6.4 The E-Government Board has received a presentation on the NCC Group report in

order to establish an understanding of the current position.

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6.5 The structure chart aims to capture the complexity of the current arrangements. The aim of the E-Government Board is to focus on three levels of activity:

Confirming the E-Government vision based upon priorities set out in the Executive

Business Plan and tied to the IEG Statement and BVPI 157. Establishing the Programme Assessment and Management Group, which will

assess the value of business cases and actively track the implementation of agreed projects. This will include the review of timescales, resources and budgets and the group will have the ability to request detailed analysis of projects which are not meeting any of the agreed criteria. The group may, following consultation, cancel or reconstitute a project following discussions with the Chief Executive.

Establishing a performance framework based on quantifiable measures and

monitoring of milestones. This will include a regular report to the Executive Committee and Executive Lead Member.

6.6 All of this work will be managed through a published work programme. The overall

aim is to deliver visible evidence of ever increasing integration of systems (architecture) and processes across the Council to meet the Business Objectives of the Council.

7.0 RE-ORGANISATION OF THE ICT UNIT 7.1 The Acting Head of ICT has started the process of reviewing the staffing

arrangements in the ICT Unit. The priority over the next six months will be the development of a new IT strategy for the Council and the establishment of Business Analysis/ Project management capacity in the team.

8.0 COMMENTS OF ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE FINANCE 8.1 This report raises serious resource issues, which have to be resolved by the

Council if it’s IT services are to be adequate for day-to-day operation and also for meeting the IEG statement requirements.

8.2 Costs are not quantified in this report and further detailed reports will be required

particularly since the Council’s budget contains no specific provision for the range of work, which has to be carried out. However, in setting its budget for 2004/05 the Council recognised that the Government required the public sector modernisation programme to continue and the Council therefore continued provision of its modernisation budget. However, this budget is subject to many competing claims, including IT matters and the Council will have to decide the priority of these many demands for limited funds.

9.3 As Members will know, there are no capital resources for IT provision over the next

3 years other than specific funding provided by Government by way of IE general funding of £350,000 in 2004/05.

9.4 For these reasons the recommendation of this report can only be agreed subject to

funding being identified and approved before costs are incurred.

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10.0 COMMENTS OF ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE LEGAL 10.1 There are no comments from the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal).

Back page of the report to include the following at the end:- Contact: Bernadette O’Shea Telephone: 0208-583-3707

Background Papers:



174

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e ju

stifi

ed, i

mpl

emen

ted

succ

essf

ully

to

cost

& t

ime

and

can

evid

ence

ben

efits

ei

ther

fin

anci

ally

or

effic

ienc

y.

The

Coun

cil s

houl

d se

ek to

est

ablis

h an

d do

cum

ent p

roje

ct

man

agem

ent p

roce

dure

s in

rel

atio

n to

ICT

pro

ject

s, in

clud

ing

mod

ified

pro

cedu

res

for

smal

ler

proj

ects

, and

mak

e th

ese

read

ily

avai

labl

e.

The

Coun

cil s

houl

d ex

amin

e th

e es

tabl

ishm

ent o

f a ‘p

rogr

amm

e of

fice’

to p

rovi

de a

cen

tral

ised

focu

s an

d co

ntro

l ove

r IC

T pr

ojec

ts,

offe

ring

supp

ort a

nd a

dvic

e th

roug

h a

cons

iste

nt m

etho

dolo

gy a

nd

tool

set.

Thi

s w

ould

com

pris

e a

prac

tical

and

rob

ust p

roje

ct

man

agem

ent m

etho

dolo

gy, c

ompl

ete

with

han

dboo

k, te

mpl

ates

and

gu

idel

ines

.

The

Coun

cil s

houl

d de

velo

p an

d im

plem

ent a

sco

ring

syst

em fo

r pr

iorit

isin

g pr

ojec

ts. S

uch

a sy

stem

for

prio

ritis

ing

proj

ects

wou

ld

prov

ide

a tr

ansp

aren

t dec

isio

n to

ol to

bal

ance

the

prov

isio

n of

re

sour

ces

to n

eed,

and

furt

her

ensu

re a

lignm

ent o

f pro

ject

s to

the

Coun

cil’s

prio

ritie

s.

Hig

h H

ead

of

ICT

The

need

for

‘tra

ined

’ pro

ject

man

ager

s an

d th

e ad

optio

n of

for

mal

met

hodo

logi

es h

as b

een

agre

ed. P

roje

ct

man

ager

s sh

ould

als

o be

tra

ined

with

in c

lient

de

part

men

ts t

o av

oid

the

perc

eptio

n th

at a

ll pr

ojec

ts a

re

IT le

d.

The

e-G

over

nmen

t CI

T is

cur

rent

ly c

onsi

derin

g in

itial

pr

ojec

t m

anag

emen

t gu

idel

ines

.

Som

e ar

eas

of t

he C

ounc

il ha

ve a

lread

y tr

aine

d st

aff

in

Pric

e II

met

hodo

logy

The

e-G

over

nmen

t CI

T is

cur

rent

ly c

onsi

derin

g bu

sine

ss

case

tem

plat

es..

Nov

04

177

II TT II

nnvv ee

ss ttmm

ee nntt

RRee vv

ii eeww

- 4

-

Act

ion

P

rior

ity

Ow

ner

P

rogr

ess

Targ

et

date

Cond

uct

a ris

k as

sess

men

t to

det

erm

ine

wha

t w

ould

ha

ppen

sho

uld

a m

ajor

inci

dent

occ

ur, a

nd t

hen

deve

lop

an a

ppro

pria

te d

isas

ter

reco

very

pla

n.

As p

art o

f the

impl

emen

tatio

n of

its

corp

orat

e ris

k m

anag

emen

t fr

amew

ork,

the

Coun

cil s

houl

d in

trod

uce

a fo

rmal

ris

k m

anag

emen

t pr

oced

ure

in r

elat

ion

to I

CT o

r IC

T re

late

d pr

ojec

ts. –

See

als

o ris

k as

sess

men

t bel

ow

Corp

orat

e IC

T sh

ould

rev

iew

the

scop

e fo

r im

prov

ing

cont

rol,

part

icul

arly

rec

ordi

ng, s

tora

ge, r

etrie

val a

nd te

stin

g, in

rel

atio

n to

sy

stem

bac

kup

and

com

mun

icat

e th

ese

arra

ngem

ents

to u

sers

.

Hig

h Ph

il Br

own

And

Hea

d of

ICT

The

clie

nt c

omm

unity

will

nee

d to

con

side

r an

d co

mm

unic

ate

thei

r re

quire

men

ts, a

sses

sing

leve

ls o

f cr

itica

lity.

The

SLA

will

, in

part

, ass

ist

this

pro

cess

.

The

ICT

Uni

t w

ill id

entif

y co

sted

, rec

over

y re

quire

men

ts

to m

eet

the

need

s of

the

clie

nt c

omm

unity

.

Dec

04

Dev

elop

for

mal

ser

vice

leve

l agr

eem

ents

for

IT

serv

ice

deliv

ery,

allo

win

g se

rvic

e de

part

men

ts t

o sp

ecify

the

ir ne

eds

and

the

IT s

ervi

ce t

o be

ade

quat

ely

fund

ed t

o m

eet

thes

e ne

eds.

Hig

h H

ead

of

ICT

Wor

k ha

s co

mm

ence

d on

cre

atin

g a

stan

dard

‘bas

e’ S

LA

with

rec

ogni

tion

that

eac

h de

part

men

t m

ay h

ave

vary

ing

requ

irem

ents

whi

ch n

eed

to b

e ac

com

mod

ated

.

Part

of

the

SLAs

will

incl

ude

a m

ore

form

al p

erfo

rman

ce

man

agem

ent

regi

me.

Oct

04

Revi

ew t

he r

easo

ns f

or t

he m

otiv

atio

n an

d tr

aini

ng

prob

lem

s am

ongs

t IT

pro

fess

iona

ls a

nd t

ake

rem

edia

l ac

tion.

Hig

h H

ead

of

ICT

This

is b

eing

con

side

red

as p

art

of t

he I

CT r

estr

uctu

re

and

stra

tegy

. Fe

edba

ck w

ill b

e ac

ted

upon

. N

ov 0

4

178

II TT II

nnvv ee

ss ttmm

ee nntt

RRee vv

ii eeww

- 5

-

Act

ion

P

rior

ity

Ow

ner

P

rogr

ess

Targ

et

date

Rev

iew

the

nec

essa

ry s

kills

req

uire

d to

mig

rate

the

se

rvic

e fr

om r

eact

ive

to p

roac

tive.

Im

plem

ent

the

nece

ssar

y m

anag

emen

t su

ppor

t st

ruct

ure

to d

eliv

er t

his

chan

ge

Corp

orat

e IC

T sh

ould

iden

tify

trai

ning

nee

ds a

nd e

xam

ine

the

scop

e fo

r pr

ovid

ing

cust

omer

car

e tr

aini

ng to

its

staf

f as

appr

opria

te.

Hig

h H

ead

of

ICT

An o

vera

ll tr

aini

ng n

eeds

ana

lysi

s w

ill b

e un

dert

aken

on

ce a

new

IT

Str

ateg

y ha

s be

en d

evel

oped

and

agr

eed

and

the

Coun

cil h

as a

bet

ter

view

of

the

inte

rnal

ski

lls

requ

ired.

Nov

04

Enco

urag

e de

part

men

tal c

omm

unic

atio

n vi

a th

e fo

rmat

ion

of a

ppro

pria

te b

usin

ess

and

tech

nica

l for

ums

The

Coun

cil s

houl

d co

nsid

er e

stab

lishi

ng a

n in

terd

epar

tmen

tal u

ser

foru

m th

at r

epor

ts to

the

E-go

vern

men

t boa

rd a

ccor

ding

to a

n ag

reed

sch

edul

e.

Corp

orat

e IC

T sh

ould

see

k to

doc

umen

t the

mon

itorin

g pr

oces

s in

re

latio

n to

‘ina

ppro

pria

te’ u

se o

f sys

tem

s. I

n pa

rtic

ular

, it s

houl

d es

tabl

ish

the

role

of I

CT a

nd d

epar

tmen

ts in

the

mon

itorin

g pr

oces

s an

d co

mm

unic

ate

this

to d

epar

tmen

ts.

Hig

h/

Med

ium

Chai

r of

E-G

ov

CIT

The

e-G

over

nmen

t CI

T w

ill f

acili

tate

the

firs

t lin

e of

‘b

usin

ess’

com

mun

icat

ion.

The

ICT

rest

ruct

ure

will

pro

vide

a c

lient

-bas

ed c

onta

ct

with

in c

entr

al I

T

The

e-G

over

nmen

t CI

T ha

s fu

rthe

r ag

reed

to

the

form

atio

n of

an

oper

atio

nal f

orum

whi

ch w

ill b

e at

tend

ed

by t

hese

clie

nt c

onta

cts.

Thi

s op

erat

iona

l for

um w

ill a

lso

be t

he r

oute

to

esta

blis

h ‘a

ppro

pria

te’ p

olic

ies

and

proc

edur

es, p

rior

to f

orm

al a

dopt

ion

by t

he e

-G

over

nmen

t CI

T.

ongo

ing

Rev

iew

the

res

ourc

e le

vels

dev

oted

to

such

act

iviti

es a

s an

ti-vi

rus

orch

estr

atio

n.

Med

ium

H

ead

of

ICT

This

is b

eing

con

side

red

as p

art

of t

he I

CT S

trat

egy

Oct

04

Revi

ew d

ata

in t

he a

sset

man

agem

ent

syst

em a

nd t

ake

appr

opria

te a

ctio

n to

impr

ove

data

qua

lity.

M

ediu

m

Hea

d of

IC

T Th

e si

te v

isit

to a

Roy

al B

lue

Syst

em w

ill d

emon

stra

te

how

the

Roy

al B

lue

syst

em c

an b

e us

ed t

o pr

oact

ivel

y m

anag

e IT

ass

ets.

Mar

ch

o5

179

II TT II

nnvv ee

ss ttmm

ee nntt

RRee vv

ii eeww

- 6

-

Act

ion

P

rior

ity

Ow

ner

P

rogr

ess

Targ

et

date

Impl

emen

t th

e in

vest

men

t m

ade

in r

emot

e su

ppor

t to

ols

(Int

el L

AN D

esk)

. M

ediu

m

Hea

d of

Ic

t Ad

ditio

nal t

echn

ical

pos

ts a

re b

eing

con

side

red

as p

art

of

the

IT D

epar

tmen

t re

stru

ctur

e to

pro

vide

enh

ance

d sk

ills

to e

xplo

it th

ese

proa

ctiv

e to

ols.

Sept

04

Cont

inue

to

cons

olid

ate

serv

ers

and

stor

age,

fur

ther

ev

alua

ting

the

pote

ntia

l of

a SA

N f

or U

nix

stor

age.

M

ediu

m

Hea

d of

IC

T O

n-go

ing

with

in I

T D

epar

tmen

t Se

pt 0

4

Cont

inue

to

plan

to

incr

ease

cor

e ne

twor

k re

silie

nce

whi

lst

deve

lopi

ng a

bus

ines

s ca

se f

or a

VoI

P so

lutio

n.

Med

ium

H

ead

of

ICT

On-

goin

g w

ithin

IT

Dep

artm

ent

Sept

04

Impl

emen

t de

skto

p st

anda

rds

and

lock

dow

n w

here

ne

cess

ary.

M

ediu

m

Hea

d of

IC

T St

anda

rds

need

to

be a

gree

d an

d th

is w

ill b

e on

e of

the

ke

y ite

ms

that

the

ope

ratio

nal f

orum

will

dis

cuss

. N

ov 0

4

Impl

emen

t ca

paci

ty p

lann

ing

whe

n co

nsol

idat

ing

serv

ers

and

stor

age.

M

ediu

m

Hea

d of

IC

T O

n-go

ing

with

in I

T D

epar

tmen

t Se

pt 0

4

Dev

elop

the

add

ition

al f

unct

iona

lity

of t

he R

oyal

Blu

e sy

stem

to

redu

ce d

uplic

atio

n of

eff

ort

The

Coun

cil’s

Int

rane

t site

sho

uld

incl

ude

page

(s)

sett

ing

out

freq

uent

ly a

sked

que

stio

ns a

nd s

ugge

sted

act

ion

that

can

be

take

n by

use

rs in

the

first

inst

ance

prio

r to

rep

ortin

g pr

oble

ms

to c

orpo

rate

IC

T.

Corp

orat

e IC

T sh

ould

put

in p

lace

arr

ange

men

ts fo

r pe

riodi

cally

as

sess

ing

user

per

cept

ions

of t

he s

ervi

ce p

rovi

ded

for

exam

ple

thro

ugh

cust

omer

sat

isfa

ctio

n su

rvey

s, I

CT u

ser

foru

m.

Med

ium

H

ead

of

ICT

Roy

al B

lue

help

des

k sy

stem

can

pro

vide

FAQ

s or

ext

ract

to

the

Int

rane

t.

Not

e –

this

will

req

uire

add

ition

al r

esou

rces

to

mai

ntai

n th

e FA

Qs

syst

em.

Oct

04

180

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ii eeww

- 7

-

Act

ion

P

rior

ity

Ow

ner

P

rogr

ess

Targ

et

date

Cont

inue

to

plan

to

impl

emen

t ne

twor

ked

lase

r pr

inte

rs.

Med

ium

H

ead

of

ICT

On-

goin

g w

ithin

IT

Dep

artm

ent

ongo

ing

Revi

ew t

he I

T tr

aini

ng n

eeds

of

the

orga

nisa

tion

and

impl

emen

t an

d ap

prop

riate

tra

inin

g pl

an.

The

Coun

cil s

houl

d co

nsid

er tr

aini

ng a

sm

all n

umbe

r of

sta

ff in

de

part

men

ts to

act

as

‘key

’ use

rs.

Med

ium

Al

l Chi

ef

Off

icer

s So

me

area

s of

the

Cou

ncil

have

alre

ady

unde

rtak

en a

de

taile

d IT

ski

lls a

naly

sis.

Thi

s w

ill c

ontin

ue a

s a

rolli

ng

prog

ram

me.

Mar

ch

05

181

EGovICTAppend20.doc

Appendix Two

THE E-GOVERNMENT AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY CORPORATE IMPROVEMENT TEAM TERMS OF

REFERENCE 1. PURPOSE OF THE TEAM The E-Government and ITCIT will provide corporate leadership on all matters

relating to E-Government and IT. The team will be responsible for ensuring that all the necessary policies, procedures and resources are in place to ensure that the Council’s business requirements, as outlined in the Executive Business Plan, are considered and delivered from an E-Government IT perspective. The CIT will ensure that citizen requirements are always at the heart of the E-Government programme.

2. THE E-GOVERNMENT and ITCIT WILL: 2.1. Ensure the Council meets the Government 2005 target for electronic service

delivery. 2.2 Ensure that E-Government is integrated into the overall political and managerial

aspirations of the Council taking full account of national, regional and local agendas.

2.3 Ensure that the E-Government project fulfils the Council’s potential enabling the

Council to achieve excellence. 2.4 Ensure that a development plan is prepared for IT and E-Government initiatives

based upon a business case assessment. 2.5 Monitor the IT and E-Government development plan to ensure it remains cost

effective and adequately resourced. 2.6 Establish a project management and performance management framework and

provide regular updates to Members and Senior Officers. 2.7 Ensure that resources are available to support the corporate objectives of the

Council. 2.8 Ensure that the Council’s IT strategy fully supports the Executive Business Plan

the E-Government Development Plan. 2.9 Ensure that there is a framework for risk assessment for all aspects of E-

Government planning. 3. MEMBERSHIP 3.1 The membership of the CIT is made up of a member from each of the other

corporate improvement teams. The intention is to also ensure this achieves a good “departmental” mix as well.

182

EGovICTAppend20.doc

3.2 The nominated representatives will have the authority to make decisions. 4. RESPONSIBILITIES The E-Board will:

Develop, manage and promote an integrated business and E-Government strategy in partnership with key contributories and stakeholders in line with the National Strategy for Local E-Government.

Establish the Governance Framework (including standards) for E-Government.

Ensure that local and corporate strategies are aligned with wider E-

Government directions and policy priorities, as well as the business objectives and financial plan for the Council.

Manage the development of the Strategic E-Government Continuous

Improvement Plan for approval by the Executive management Team.

Monitor and promote the quality, management and value of information, business systems and information and communication technology in relation to E-Government projects.

Ensure that the E-Government Strategic Plan and projects are delivered within

agreed budgets and timeframes.

Ensure that the Council adopts a structured project management methodology that is used for all E-Government and IT initiatives and projects. There should be a standard process adopted which guides Project Managers through the process of customising the methodology to suit individual projects.

Ensuring that all E-Government projects have a member of the key SMT

fulfilling the role of sponsor.

Consider new projects that emerge outside the E-Government and IT Strategic Plans and consider the impact and ripple through affect of their implementation on other projects, priorities, costs etc.

Review major Information Management and ICT polices, procedures and

standards for use by the Council and consider their impact on the E-Government plan.

Ensure, through consultation with the ICT sponsor, that the information

architecture, systems architecture and technology platforms proposed in new projects are consistent with the strategic architecture and plans of the Council.

Establish the priority of projects, and resolve competing demands for resources

and funds.

183

EGovICTAppend20.doc

Monitor the implementation of E-Government and IT projects against approved project plans, with particular emphasis on business case, quality, risk management, benefits realisation and change management.

Ensure that every project proposal and implementation plan achieves

appropriate levels of user and stakeholder consultation and satisfaction.

Assess the quality and value of business cases prepared for new E-Government and IT project proposals. Provide advice and recommendations to the CMT on the merits of new project proposals.

Review and approve the detailed E-Government and IT project implementation

plans and project management documents such as risk management, change management, benefits realisation register, benefits management plan, information security.

Provide the CMT with regular progress reports on the implementation of the E-

Government and IT Strategic Plans, initiatives and projects, as well as advising on current E-Government issues and developments.

Ensure that the cost of E-Government and IT across the Council is transparent

and under tight control with every manager playing their part.

Ensure that future developments support alternative ways of working and facilitate the reduction in costs and disturbance in office moves.

184

1

Agenda Item: 16


EXECUTIVE PUBLIC MEETING – 1 JUNE 2004

CORPORATE PROCUREMENT CHANGE PROGRAMME – PROGRESS REPORT

Report by Cllr. JAGDISH SHARMA,

Executive Member for Resources for Future Improvement SUMMARY This report sets out progress with the corporate Procurement initiative which has progressed during 2003/04 partly with the assistance of the Budget for Change. It sets out progress reports and decision items in relation to a range of procurement activity across the Council and should be seen in the context of the new Procurement Strategy which was approved at Council in February 2004.

FOR DECISION 1 RECOMMENDATIONS 1.1 To note the spend analysis and category review activity underway, and to agree the

forward plan of category reviews as set out in section 4 1.2 To agree the implementation plan for the agency staff category review as detailed in

section 5, and to agree to the drawing of £63.5k from the Modernisation Budget for this purpose

1.3 To note progress on P-Cards 1.4 To note the corporate procurement staffing issues in section 7 1.5 To agree the summary work plan for 2004/05 as set out in Appendix A. 2 INTRODUCTION 2.1 This report summarises progress to date with the corporate procurement change

programme. This programme has been in place since the completion of the Best Value review of procurement in 2002 which received a rating of one star, uncertain prospects for improvement. To manage the process since the conclusion of the review a Corporate Improvement Team (CIT) for procurement and partnerships was established, chaired by the Assistant Chief Executive (Legal) with senior representation from service departments and the Chief Executive’s Directorate.

Agenda Item 16

185

2

2.2 One of the first tasks for this group was to commission and programme manage a significant piece of external consultancy activity from Atos KPMG, a market leading procurement consultancy, funded from the 2003/04 Budget for Change1. This work commenced in autumn 2003 and the Atos work was completed in early 2004. This has resulted in the following:

1. Development and adoption of a new Procurement Strategy and Member training on

procurement 2. Spend analysis and category reviews – including a *forward plan of category reviews 3. *Agency staff review 4. Purchasing Cards implementation 5. Corporate Procurement staffing support 6. Other matters - standing orders review, contracts database (in Agresso) and

Procurement Code of Practice 7. *Way forward – action plan for the CIT for 2004.

(Items marked * are highlighted for decision by Executive on the appropriate way forward)

2.3 Members are also reminded that in the context of the work programme described above the

Government’s future policy on procurement within local authorities continues to be firmly anchored in the likely outcomes of the Gershon review, anticipated for publication in June 2004. This review, leaked to the press in February, suggests the Government’s intention to push for multi-billion pound savings in public sector procurement largely through the relocation of staff and rationalisation of ‘back office’ procedures. Clearly this would result in major change in local authority services and procurement arrangements, as well as to some functions currently under contract outside the Council. The review will undoubtedly have an impact on the proposals in this report. Officers will be closely tracking the progress of this review up to and beyond its official publication, and further reports on the likely impact will be brought to Members once the Government’s intentions are clearer.

3 PROCUREMENT STRATEGY 3.1 In February 2004 Council approved the new corporate Procurement Strategy. This set out

the principles for procurement across the Council. It also addressed the fundamental weakness of the absence of such a strategy identified in the Best Value review. Specifically the strategy seeks to achieve ten high-level objectives -

1. To provide clear policy guidance and strive for sustainable procurement 2. Establish a Corporate Procurement Function 3. To contribute to the local economy 4. To consider the full range of funding and service delivery options 5. To optimise services delivered, both internally and externally, through effective and efficient

procurement 6. To minimise procurement and contract costs and overheads 7. To be a good council for suppliers to do business with 8. To apply robust risk assessments to procurement process and contract delivery

1 Atos KPMG is entirely independent of the external auditors, KPMG LLP.

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9. To improve the procurement process through investment in IT and business process re-engineering

10. To share procurement knowledge and expertise across the Council 3.2 Much of the subsequent work detailed in this report is in support of objective 5. The

strategy also set out a detailed programme of action in support of the other objectives. Member training on procurement was provided on 28 October 2003 – this was delivered by Atos and helped to develop Member understanding of the process as well as shaping the final strategy.

4 SPEND ANALYSIS AND CATEGORY REVIEWS 4.1 One of the weaknesses identified in the Best Value review was the lack of corporate data

on procurement activity. Atos consequently undertook a comprehensive spend analysis which categorised Council spend on external goods and services for the 2002/03 financial year. The categorisation approach used high level categories (eg professional services) which were subdivided into specific categories (eg postage, agency staff etc). Over 140,000 separate invoice records were reconciled to these categories for the analysis, and this was validated by the Central Finance department.

4.2 The high level findings of this analysis demonstrated the following –

The Council spent £132m on influencable external goods and services in 2002/03. This

excludes internal spend, recharges and pay. £21.9m of this amount, or 16.5%, is categorised as non-influencable because it is

outside the Council’s control More than 7,000 suppliers were identified in the analysis, but of this number, 10

suppliers account for 20% of spend and 501 suppliers account for 80% of spend The highest spend was in the personal services category (26% or over £34m) which

includes spend on residential care, nursing home care and domiciliary care Professional services and Property and Infrastructure also represented significant levels

of spend (16.2% or almost £21.5m respectively) 4.3 Set out in the Appendix is the summary spend analysis – this has been used to identify and

determine a forward programme of ‘category reviews’, or detailed spend analyses within the categories identified, using this data as the baseline.

4.4 The category reviews prioritised from this analysis were as follows –

Spend category Rationale 1. Agency staff – (a) corporately and (b) in

Social Services Spend in excess of £9m (7.1%) identified

2. Property & Infrastructure Work to support best value review and significant spend in excess of £21m identified; of this £3.2m (2.4%) was spend on the property maintenance category

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4.5 Progress and recommendations on the agency staff review is set out below – initially these refer to the corporate side with further work recommended in Social Services. In terms of the property category review this is progressing as part of the activity on the Best Value review of Property and Land Management. Atos have been retained for this specific piece of work which will report as part of the final report from that review in July 2004. It is proposed that the priority areas for 2004/05 are as listed in 4.4 above, given the scale of these projects and the implementation issues outlined below.

4.6 In social services, work will progress in 2004/05 on the adults placement service and the

centralisation of processes for managing fee increases, both of which will assist in addressing the personal social services spend identified in the category reviews making for greater efficiency but the Department considers this will be unlikely to result in cost reductions.

5 AGENCY STAFF CATEGORY REVIEW 5.1 The use of agency staff is essential if we are to deliver services effectively and

responsively and to minimise the overall costs to the Council. Notably in Social Services many functions would collapse if agency staff were not brought in to solve recruitment and retention issues in the permanent establishment. A number of factors come in to play in decisions to use Agency staff. For example:-

The need may be short term or unpredictable e.g. to cover an unanticipated period of

sickness absence Agency staff may be used to cover peaks of activity – The Council now maintains only

a core group of staff with little if any surplus to cover additional work. They may be required in areas of high specialism where in-house skills do not exist

such as finance, design, ICT etc. Employment through an agency may be the only option (this is increasingly the case

for certain types of work) Budget pressures - it may be less costly to engage through an agency rather than

directly employing a temporary worker. In other circumstances the Council will directly employ people on short-term temporary contracts, though this is not feasible in all cases.

5.2 Atos/KPMG examined the Council’s procurement of Agency staff. They identified the following:

Agencies provide a significant number of “staff” undertaking work for the Council. The figure on the “snapshot” day in November 2003 was 299.

There is significant expenditure on agency staff – assessed as £9.4 million – but a large proportion of this is spend from existing budgets (eg budgets for vacant posts)

There are a large number of suppliers. On the snapshot day, 85 were identified. The Council could improve the coordination of the procurement of agency staff. At

present the authority to acquire agency services is delegated to budget holders who act autonomously. As a result Human Resources are not involved in the appointment of Agency Staff.

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5.3 As noted above, proposals for addressing agency staff usage will not necessarily address the financial issues around the level of spend on agency staff, given that in many cases the same revenue budget would be used whether or not an agency post was replaced with a permanent member of staff. There will in effect be a balance of benefits, some of which may be financial savings, but which will also include efficiencies and stabilisation of the workforce in certain areas.

5.4 Where possible, the Council would generally prefer to directly employ the people who

deliver our services. This enables training and key messages, such as those relating to customer care and valuing diversity, to be more effectively delivered. Agency staff can provide the benefits of flexibility around the non-core workforce, the introduction of key skills when and only when required and the maintenance of services that would otherwise be disrupted. Clearly as this is such a large area of spend, it is essential that procurement is effective and our activities are undertaken in the most effective and beneficial way, in the context of paragraph 5.3 above.

5.5 To achieve this Atos/KPMG have made the following recommendations:-

Establish project team with dedicated project manager Identify individual and overall stakeholders who will be responsible for delivery Agree approach for each area of spend Agree baseline data for selected area Create implementation plan for each Identify pilot areas (Admin and Clerical recommended as first area) Execute the plan

5.6 In the Social Services department, it is clear that not only are agency staff essential to the

running of the service but further work is required in a highly specialised and competitive market to identify the best means of ensuring a balanced use of agency personnel and to advise on recruitment strategy for some of the key worker posts in question. In terms of progressing the agency staff review project it is therefore proposed that further analysis is undertaken with recommendations brought forward by Autumn 2004 specifically in relation to the procurement of Social Services agency staff and associated recruitment strategy.

5.7 For schools, it is envisaged that if as a result of the corporate initiative a better package

could be offered to schools for the procurement of administrative/clerical and some operational roles, their buy in could increase resulting in efficiencies within delegated schools budgets. This would of course be entirely at the discretion of the school in question under current passporting arrangements (and indeed any savings would therefore not accrue to the Council) but subject to the success of the programme the CIT could be tasked with a promotion exercise to attempt to increase use of the new arrangements by the schools.

5.8 Atos have identified that savings of approximately £140,000 could be made in the

procurement of administrative and related staff and £100,000 in the procurement of operational staff. This would be largely through the analysis of roles, consultation with managers followed by market analysis and tendering to establish stronger corporate contracts for the supply of agency staff for such roles. There would of course be an ongoing role in relation to promoting and ensuring the use of such contracts across the

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Council. Atos stress that, if the Council is to achieve these savings, and improvements that we are seeking, the project must be properly resourced. Indeed the Implementation Plan assumes the allocation of resources.

5.9 The staffing resources identified by Atos/KPMG are a Project Manager with administrative

support to be funded from the savings (which have been projected to accrue once the project breaks even, after twelve months). They recommend that these resources be part of the Council’s Human Resources structure. In addition there is the further work identified to be undertaken within Social Services. The costs of these investments are set out below –

Investment Cost (including oncosts) 1. Project Manager (Agency Staff Co-

ordination) – PO2 £35k

2. Administrative support – part time at Sc4 £11k 3. Social Services agency staff review – 6

month secondment at PO2 £17.5k

TOTAL £63.5k Atos projected savings from this investment Approx £140k (administrative staff)

Approx £100k (operational staff) 5.10 If approved by Members the costs of this investment can be met from the 2004/05

Modernisation Budget and will be duly reflected in the schedule of projects to be covered by the Fund. As noted in para 5.8 and subject to successful recruitment to these roles and, the project would therefore be expected to break even by mid 2005/06 with the ongoing costs of these roles and any savings accrued consequently built into base budgets.

6 PURCHASING CARDS IMPLEMENTATION 6.1 A business case has been produced for the introduction of ‘purchasing cards’ (or P-Cards)

for use across the Council. Essentially P-Cards provide authorised budget managers in the Council with the equivalent of a credit card payment facility, thus significantly reducing transaction costs for requisitions and invoice processing. There will be a long lead-in time as the initiative will need to be piloted in selected areas first. Eventual savings will materialise in the form of efficiency savings through the reduction in process and transaction costs. The scale of these economies will be determined on completion of the pilot exercise, and of course the success of the P-Cards initiative demands rigorous use of corporate contracts. The business case was accepted in principle and the project has now moved to the implementation stage.

6.2 In order to keep the up-front costs of implementation down the project is proceeding with

the London Borough of Hillingdon who are at a similar stage to Hounslow in P.Card implementation. However each authority will have its own contracts with the card issuing bank and provider of management software. A Memorandum of Understanding between the two authorities was signed at the end of March 2004 in order to regulate this agreement. The benefits of this agreement include the joint recruitment of suppliers, the joint training of suppliers, and the joint training of users.

6.3 A tender is to be sent to the issuing banks that have signed up to the Government

Procurement Card II, (GPCII). The GPCII contract is a template contract negotiated by the

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Office of Government Commerce with the main banks for Public Sector bodies to use for P-Card schemes. This means that basically the terms and conditions offered by the banks are exactly the same, but the support with the implementation of the scheme may differ from bank to bank.

6.4 Management software to pass financial information from the bank direct into our General

Ledger has been investigated, and appears to work well. 6.5 It is envisaged that Phase 1 of the implementation will take place by September 2004 and

Phase 2 – Full implementation by December 2004. 7 CORPORATE PROCUREMENT STAFFING ISSUES 7.1 Members will be aware that following the first unsatisfactory attempt by Veredus, the

Council is now engaged in a second attempt at the recruitment process for the Head of Procurement post. Following completion of this exercise proposals will need to be brought forward to restructure the corporate procurement function in support of this post. Should the recruitment prove unsuccessful an interim manager will be sought.

7.2 The CIT group will continue to oversee the work programme with the members from each

department responsible for taking forward the work in their service area. Member level input will be sought from the Lead Executive Member and Scrutiny as appropriate during the year.

8 OTHER MATTERS 8.1 Other matters in train to support much of the ongoing work include the review of contract

standing orders being undertaken by the Legal department and the introduction of a contracts database as an additional module on the Council’s new General Ledger system, Agresso. It is also proposed to draft a Procurement Code of Practice as a managers guide to support the corporate procurement strategy. Members should also note that many of the proposals in the work programme contain IT implications and forthcoming reports from the interim Head of IT will address system requirements across the Council in more detail.

9 WAY FORWARD 9.1 In order that the future work programme is managed effectively via the CIT, and in view of

the difficulties surrounding the recruitment of the Head of Procurement, it is proposed that the items listed in Appendix A (drawn from the procurement strategy) are prioritised as the work programme for the remainder of 2004. Further reports will be brought in due course to update Members on the action plan.

10 COMMENTS OF THE ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (FINANCE) 10.1 Procurement, more commonly referred to in the past as purchasing, is a significant part of

Local Authority activity and in Hounslow, as in most Authorities, has always been recognised as such. Transparency and accountability have always been a key feature of the function recognised by strong systems of control through standing orders and financial regulations. Over the years there have been a variety of purchasing initiatives in Local Authorities eg Authorities working together to obtain the best price through joint

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purchasing eg in London via the (now defunct) GLC Central Supplies Organisation. The desire to work together in this way has varied over the years, inevitable in a political structure such as Local Government.

10.2 Procurement now finds itself again at the forefront of Government Policy and instruction

for Local Authorities especially with the Government Gershon Review. Hounslow has a positive track record in purchasing but recognises the need to examine in detail this activity area, hence the appointment of ATOS. This report describes a number of areas where efficiencies can be achieved through the introduction of alternative working practices. Some financial benefits will accrue, but given Hounslow’s strong track record, not of the major size seen in some Authorities. Both ATOS and KPMG acknowledge this to be the case. The Council’s budget will be reduced in the annual budget cycle by the savings that are achieved and identified. In addition, in the current world of inspection and improvement, it is essential that the Council exhibits best practice.

10.3 Accordingly the Borough Treasurer supports the initiatives proposed in this paper and will

be actively involved in their implementation. Some proposals eg P Cards come with some risk and there will have to be strong financial controls throughout the Council to minimise this risk.

10.4 The cost can be met from the Modernisation Budget 11 COMMENTS OF THE ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (LEGAL) 11.1 The Assistant Chief Executive (Legal) has been involved in the preparation of this report

and supports the recommendations. Contact: MICHAEL SMITH / WILLIE GRIFFIN / TOM STANNARD Telephone: 020 8583 2022 / 2288 / 2537 Background Papers: •

This report has been or is due to be considered by: 1. CMT 2. Executive


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APPENDIX A – PRIORITISED WORKPLAN FOR 2004/05 The following shows the prioritised workplan for the year ahead, to be co-ordinated by the Procurement CIT, and indicates lead responsibilities and resource implications. Theme Resourcing implications Process/structure

1. To complete the review of contract standing orders

Legal department

2. To produce a procurement code of practice and a training/staff briefings programme to support the implementation of the new strategy – draft to be appended to standing orders

Policy Unit/Central Finance

3. To establish the Corporate Procurement Unit and recruit to the head of unit position

Member appointment, with ACE (Finance) and Corporate Human Resources

Strategy implementation 4. To promote the ‘local first’ policy as

agreed in the Procurement Strategy Head of Procurement (pending appointment)

5. To develop and monitor a medium-term market testing schedule covering all Council departments

Head of Procurement (pending appointment)

6. To implement the Agency Staff category review recommendations

7. To continue the process of category reviews, completing in 2004/05 reviews of property, agency staff in social services with associated progress on implementation plans

£63.5k upfront investment, funded from Modernisation Budget, with savings of approx £240k projected subject to successful implementation

Systems and e-procurement 8. To deliver up to three online catalogues

during 2004 as part of the Procurement Strategy’s commitment to e-procurement

Head of Procurement with Central Finance (pending appointment)

9. To roll out the P-Cards initiative and work to ensure success of the pilot and the wider implementation of P-Cards

Central Finance

10. To monitor the roll-out of the contracts database in the new Agresso General Ledger system ( to commence from 2005)

Corporate Accountancy

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SUMMARY SPEND ANALYSIS (referred to in para 4.3) Note – There are 7,064 suppliers to the council, however, 10,393 suppliers have been identified in the table because some suppliers supply goods and services for more than 1 category The Personal Services categories would be better labelled Residential Homes/Day care and domiciliary care/Nursing home care.

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CP Change Programme

Agenda Item 16


EXECUTIVE PUBLIC MEETING – 1ST JUNE 2004

CORPORATE PROCUREMENT CHANGE PROGRAMME

SUPPLEMENTARY REPORT BY CLLR. JAGDISH SHARMA, EXECUTIVE MEMBER FOR RESOURCES FOR FUTURE IMPROVEMENT

1. Supplementary Recommendations 1.3 Arising from the work on Purchasing Cards, referred to in paragraph 6 of the

Main Report, Members are requested to approve the following supplementary recommendations in order that further progress can be made:-

“1.6a: To delegate to the Assistant Chief Executive (Finance) and Assistant Chief Executive (Legal) the conclusion of any necessary agreements with the Council of the London Borough of Hillingdon in respect of the pilot project for the introduction of P-Cards. 1.6b: To authorise the Assistant Chief Executive (Finance) to enter into all necessary agreements with the relevant issuing bank or banks with regard to support for the implementation of the P-Card Scheme. 1.6c: That authority be given to the Assistant Chief Executive (Finance) to invite tenders for the supply of management software in order to support the appropriate information flow between the issuing banks and the Council’s financial systems.” [Paragraph 6.2 to 6.4 of the main report refer].

M.J. Smith Assistant Chief Executive (Legal)

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Agenda Item No. 17



PROPOSED DESIGNATION OF KEW BRIDGE CONSERVATION AREA.

Report by: Councillor John Chatt

Summary 1. To present the results of the consultation exercise for the above proposed

conservation area. 2. To put forward alterations to the proposed Kew Bridge Conservation Area boundaries

following comments made by consultation respondents, the Isleworth and Brentford Area Committee and endorsed by the Sustainable Development Committee on 23rd September 2003

3. To recommend that the Executive designate the proposed area as Kew Bridge

Conservation Area 1.0 RECOMMENDATIONS

1.1 That the Committee:

a) Note the representations received and the effect on proposed boundaries during the consultation process, including the objections for a decision on designation.

b) Make comments on the responses received during the consultation

process.

c) Note the inclusion of the additional area of Green Dragon Lane, suggested and approved by the Isleworth and Brentford Area Committee and endorsed by the Sustainable Development Committee of 23rd September 2003.

1.2 That the Executive designate the proposed area as “Kew Bridge

Conservation Area.”

Agenda Item 17

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2.0 INTRODUCTION 2.1 This report presents to Members the results of the consultation

exercises carried out in relation to the proposed: Kew Bridge Conservation Area.

2.2 The report indicates properties outside proposed conservation area

boundaries that have been included following responses from The Kew Bridge Steam Museum. Further comments and recommendations made by the Isleworth and Brentford Area Committee to include the inner area of Green Dragon Lane were endorsed and supported by the Sustainable Development Committee of 23rd September 2003. As a result this area is also indicated on the plan.

3.0 BACKGROUND 3.1 On 12 September 2002 a report was considered by Isleworth and

Brentford Area Committee, which proposed the creation of a new conservation area in the area around Kew Bridge and Brentford Steam Museum. The Committee resolved that public consultation should be carried out on the proposals and that the results should be reported back to the Committee.

4.0 PUBLIC CONSULTATION ON THE PROPOSED CONSERVATION

AREA DESIGNATIONS. 4.1 From 3 December 2002 consultation documents were delivered to

each property within the proposed Conservation Area and to many properties bounding the proposed Conservation Area. The letter detailed the historical background of the neighbourhood and included the reasons for proposing the Conservation Area, a schedule of the streets to be included, effects of designation and a comments form for return. The letter is contained in Appendix 2.

5.0 THE RESULTS OF THE PUBLIC CONSULTATION EXERCISE 5.1 Respondents were asked to indicate their support for the proposals

and their comments were welcomed. 109 letters were delivered and there were 23 replies (25.7 % response rate). Table 1 indicates the results of the consultation process. A great majority of respondents are in favour of all proposals. Table 1

Agree DisagreeSpoiled form

Would Agree Total

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Householders 15 6 0 2 23 Total 15 6 2 23 Percentage 65 26 0 9 100

5.2 RESPONDENTS’ COMMENTS ON THE PROPOSALS

Individual responses can be seen in Appendix 3 but the main points are summarised below. Where specific comments are made on issues raised a response is given in the subsequent paragraph.

5.2.1 COMMENTS IN SUPPORT

English Heritage English Heritage supports the proposals. They considered that the designation would be most welcome, as the conservation area would embrace a historically important and highly sensitive area on the approach to Kew Bridge. They feel strongly that the Scottish Widows site should be included as well as the Public House fronting Kew Bridge Road, the Kew Bridge Station House, Lionel Road and the remaining older houses in Green Dragon Lane. Save Britain’s Heritage Save Britain’s Heritage strongly support the proposal, which recognises the historic importance of the route, and takes into account the legacy of the 19th Century, in the form of the 1849 station by Tite, and the steam museum. They also express support for the active role played by the Borough in seeking out new areas of historic and architectural interest and character, which deserve some form of protection. Victorian Society The Victorian Society said that the protection and conservation initiative was much needed in the Kew area and will assist in regeneration. The architectural qualities of this area were similar, if not better, than other London Boroughs such as Hammersmith. Kew Bridge Steam Museum The Museum supported the proposals; however felt that some further important buildings should be included. The areas or buildings to be included were: the whole of the Museum site, the remaining filter bed dating from 1845, the 19th century cottages along Green Dragon Lane (nos. 31-44), Wagon and Horses Public House and the Star and Garter Public House. They were also keen to assist in any conservation statements.

Response

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31-44 Green Dragon Lane comprise small 19th Century cottages forming part of the development for The Kew Steam Works. These cottages have been more altered than some of the other examples within the proposed conservation area however do form part of the original history of the industrial heritage, and it is considered they merit inclusion. The Wagon and Horses Public House is an interesting building, but not exceptional. It is rather disjointed from historic development; however, in its relationship with the historic cottages opposite it is considered that it could merit inclusion. The former Star and Garter Public is already in the Strand on the Green Conservation Area. The filtering beds were an essential part of Kew Steam Works; although with little architectural merit, historically the remaining one should be included.

95 Strand on the Green Whole heartily support the proposal for conservation status for the Kew

Bridge Area, and would like it extended up to the Chiswick Roundabout. The area around the station has an historic importance and needs to be improved, particularly as it provides a link to Kew Gardens. The designation of the Conservation Area will hopefully mean that greater care will be taken when implementing junction improvements at Kew Bridge. The railway yard and the Scottish Widows site are sensitive development sites. Conservation Area status could contribute to a better design and use of such sites.

Green Dragon Lane Housing Co-op Agree to the designation providing the properties belonging to them are

excluded. At the time of the original consultation, these comprised numbers 10 –30 (consecutive), Green Dragon Lane.

Response 11-13, 16-30 Green Dragon Lane are small 19th Century cottages

forming part of the development for The Kew Steam Works. They have architectural and historic interest forming part of the industrial heritage of the area. There is no significant reason to exclude them from the proposed conservation area. 10, 14 and 15 Green Dragon Lane are four storey blocks of flats facing onto Kew Bridge Road and form part of its built edge. Network Rail Consider that although it is acknowledged that there are some parts of the area, which have some historic or architectural merit, this does not apply to 57-60, Kew Bridge Road. Network Rail is considering the use of the listed station building (No 61) as well as redevelopment of the yard to the rear. A possible redevelopment of nos. 57-60 could create some funds to restore the listed station.

5.2.2 COMMENTS AGAINST

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St George West London The company are preparing plans for the Scottish Widows Site (SWS) and object to the proposed designation. They consider that the inclusion of this site is unjustified. It has remained derelict and vacant for some time and makes no positive contribution to the proposed conservation area, which they consider that in itself could prejudice the economics of redevelopment. Reference is made to PPG15- Historic Buildings and The Environment, and English Heritage guidance- only areas of ‘special’ architectural or historic interest should be designated. They suggested that the report to the Brentford Area Committee on the 12th September 2002 did not identify the site as having any historic significance or special features. The SWS has a disproportionate effect of the proposed conservation area (representing 22% of the land included). Although the site adjoins Kew Bridge, a grade II listed structure, the site itself has no statutory or buildings of local townscape merit. Other policies within the UDP are sufficient to control the appearance of any new development proposal.

Response The Scottish Widows site has no architectural interest, however it does form an integral part of the area to be designated. PPG 15 points out at paragraph 4.5 that “designation is not likely to be appropriate as a means of protecting landscape features, except where they form an integral part of the historic environment and that factor needs to be taken into account in considering any planning applications which would affect them. The Courts have held that it is legitimate in appropriate circumstances to include within a conservation area the setting of buildings that form the heart of that area”. With this in mind there is no doubt that any development would have an effect on the setting of the buildings particularly the 19th Century Cottages, Kew Bridge and The Steam Works. Development here would also affect views into and out of the conservation area. It is therefore considered justified to include this site. Ecoland Ltd, Angloland Ltd and The Zucconi Brothers The owners of 57-58 Kew Bridge Road, Ecoland Ltd, 59 Kew Bridge Road, Angloland and 60 Kew Bridge Road, The Zucconi Brothers all say that the station is the only building in the vicinity that has special architectural interest and is adequately protected through its being listed. Other than this, the area around the station is a complete eyesore and should not be designated as a conservation area. Many of the original features have been removed from the parade and planning permission was approved two years ago for a mansard addition. Response 57-58 Kew Bridge Road

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These locally listed three storey buildings have an impressive frontage and punctuate Kew Bridge Road as it turns away towards Chiswick High Road. The ground floor frontages of 57, 58 and 59 are behind a hoarding, but have early shopfronts. The ground floor of number 60 is Nipa Stores, with a later shopfront. The terrace is enriched with decorative stucco architraves and drops. They are of a similar architectural quality to that in the Wellesley Road Conservation Area designated in 2002. Poor maintenance is not a reason to exclude these buildings, which form an interesting group with the station and the Express Tavern. Planning Perspectives Suggest that insufficient justification has been given to the designation of the Conservation Area. There are significant sites including SWS, the traffic junction, 10, 14, and 15 Green Dragon Lane and 57-60 Kew Bridge Road that are not of sufficient quality to justify their inclusion. The designation of a Conservation Area is not necessary to protect individual listed buildings, it is of no coherence in quality and the boundary is arbitrary. Response

The report to the Isleworth and Brentford Area Committee clearly points out at 8.1 why this area merits designation: - “Kew Bridge documents a period in history when there was money to invest in industrial buildings, and therefore they are mostly pioneering design. It is a historically important junction for at least three modes of transport. The road layout is particularly important, as it is a place where many roads meet creating vistas, focal points and landmark buildings. This is an importance entrance into the Borough that the Council would seek to preserve and enhance”. The overall quality of the area is similar to Wellesley Road designated in 2002. The boundary is not considered to be arbitrary; it follows the pattern of industrial development from the 19th Century.

6.0 CONCLUSION OF THE CONSULTATION PROCESS 6.1 The results of the consultation process shows that 65% of respondents

are in favour of the principle of designation proposals and only 26% of all respondents are opposed. Four national conservation bodies support the Kew Bridge Conservation Area. The proposed conservation area boundary, following the consultations and recommendation from the Isleworth and Brentford Area Committee, is contained in Appendix 1.

6.2 The main objections were to including the commercial properties within

the proposed conservation area; and also the proposed merits of the Scottish Widows site. The merits of the proposed commercial buildings

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have already been established by addition to the local list. The local list has no statutory protection; designation will allow control over demolition. The merits of inclusion of the Scottish Widow site is discussed above and it is considered that it should be included because of the setting of the proposed conservation area.

6.3 ADDENDUM TO CONSULTATION The additional area suggested by the Isleworth and Brentford Area Committee comprises further properties owned by the Green Dragon Lane Housing Co-Operative. In two discussions since the recommendation by the Sustainable Development Committee to endorse designation, spokespersons have made clear that their Co-Operative’s objection to include their properties derives from concern over cost implications for maintenance, and restrictions over possible future alterations. The full consequences of designation have been explained: principally control over demolition and works to trees, and reduced permitted development rights (applicable only to the houses). There should be little effect beyond the usual planning consent considerations on these properties.

6.4 CONCLUSION ON MERITS OF DESIGNATION Many of those who objected to the designation made reference to

PPG15 - Historic Buildings and The Environment, and English Heritage guidance – suggesting that only areas of ‘special’ architectural or historic interest should be designated. It was therefore felt necessary to point out the special character of the area once more, although this was contained in the previous Committee report.

6.5 This is an unusual conservation area for the Borough as it contains

buildings that form part of the 19th Century industrial heritage for Brentford. The architectural interest of some of the buildings such as Kew Bridge Steam Works has already been established by Statutory listing, however, many of the related buildings such as workers cottages, the public houses and shops the workers would have used are unprotected. Many of these buildings have already been identified as having architectural or historic interest and have been included on the Borough’s local list. However it is only conservation area controls that will protect these buildings from demolition. The character of the area can therefore be considered as industrial in nature but also important for the landmark qualities of a place forming the junction of four historic roads and a river crossing. The quality of the area is similar to that of Wellesley Road designated in 2002.

7.0 ENVIRONMENTAL IMPLICATIONS

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7.1 The conservation of the Borough’s architectural heritage helps to foster local distinctiveness and makes a contribution to the aesthetic quality of our townscape.

8.0 EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES 8.1 The protection of the Borough’s architectural heritage will benefit all

sections of the community. 9.0 COMMENTS BY THE ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (FINANCE)

9.1 Staff costs in respect of the time spent evaluating the conservation

areas and writing up documentation will be covered by the Department’s contract with English Heritage for this year.

9.2 Other costs such as undertaking consultation, producing leaflets and

statements will have to be covered by existing budgets or any excess fee income.

9.3 Continuation of this work is dependent on continued support from

English Heritage. 10.0 COMMENTS BY THE ASSISTANT CHIEF EXECUTIVE (LEGAL)

Comments are incorporated in the report 11.0 CONCLUSION 11.1 That the Conservation Area be designated.

Note that the designation will require advertisement in the London Gazette and a local newspaper, and will become a land charge.

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Contact: Michael Jordan Telephone: 020 8583 5331 Background Papers:

Planning (Listed Buildings & Conservation Area) Act, 1990 DoE and DNH, 1994, Planning and the Historic Environment (PPG15), English Heritage, March 1997, Conservation Area Appraisals Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order, 1995 Circular 9/95 General Development Order Consolidation issued by DoE in 1995 London Borough of Hounslow Unitary Development Plan, 1996 Review Deposit Version Unitary Development Plan 2001 Review of conservation in the London Borough of Hounslow, M. Price, 17 May 2001 London Borough of Hounslow, Drainage Plans Department of Culture, Media and Sport, Statutory Listed Building descriptions Brentford & Chiswick Local History Society, 1978, Brentford & Chiswick As It Was, Hendon Publishing Brentford Rate books, Chiswick Library Archives; Carmichael, R (ed.), (1999), 100 years of memories – Personal recollections of life at The Express Tavern; Cherry, B and Pevsner, N (1999) The Buildings of England, London 3: North West Ellington CR (ed.), (1982), Victoria History of the County of Middlesex, Vol VII, Oxford University Press Hammond and Hammond, Brentford, The Archive Photographs Series. Kew Bridge Engines Trust, Water For Life Gallery case statement Loobey, P, (1997), Chiswick & Brentford, Sutton Publishing Turner, FW, (1922) The History and Antiquities of Brentford, St. George Press, The Butts, Brentford


Brentford

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APPENDIX 1 Plan of proposed Kew Bridge Conservation Area

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APPENDIX 2 - DOCUMENTS USED IN CONSULTATION

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APPENDIX 3 - RESPONSES TO CONSULTATION EXERCISE

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Responses to consultation exercise - see attached file

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