Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Dan Kennedy and Steve Hajioff.

Councillor Eginton declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of Item 5, in that his son was a reserve officer in the RAF.

Councillor Nelson declared a non-pecuniary interest in respect of Item 5, in that her nephew was a member of the armed forces.

The Councillors remained in the room whilst the item was discussed.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 23 January 2018 be approved as a correct record.

It was confirmed that there were no Part II items, and that all business would therefore be conducted in public.

John Wheatley, Senior Policy Officer, introduced a report detailing the Council's support to Hillingdon's Armed Forces Community Covenant.

The Committee was informed that there was limited information regarding the number of active and ex-service men and women living within the Borough. The national census did not include questions relating to prior service in the Armed Forces, and while there was a reasonable understanding of the numbers employed at RAF Northolt, additional population figures were extrapolations from research conducted by groups such as the Royal British Legion and the Forces in Mind Trust.

To enable better information gathering, the Royal British Legion had cited a number of Councils that had introduced additional questioning at their main receptions and customer contact centres, as well as within their equalities monitoring forms.

Research conducted had shown that ex-service men and women were more likely to experience problems with mental and physical health, and those of working age were less likely to be employed than the general population. In recognition of those difficulties, Hillingdon Council had introduced an exception to the usual 10 year residency requirement and had provided additional priority within the Social Housing Allocation Policy.

In addition, the national School's Admission Code now included provision for allocating a school place in advance of a child moving to an area, when supporting information had been provided to evidence that a move was to take place. The Council had also set up a dedicated web page on admissions for forces families to draw attention to the 2012 Schools Admission Code, to ensure that children of UK service personnel were not disadvantaged when applying for schools as a result of being posted at various locations.

Hillingdon had a strong record of supporting the armed forces with events and services. Councillor Douglas Mills, Cabinet Member for Community, Commerce and Regeneration, was appointed as its Armed Forces Champion, supported by a senior level Partnership Board and backed by an officer who acted as the contact point for the Community Covenant.

Strong links remained with RAF Northolt, seen through Council-supported Public Open Days at the Base, which were useful when building links with schools and community groups. As part of their Centenary celebrations, RAF Northolt personnel had paraded through Uxbridge to exercise their Freedom of the Borough. A Homecoming Parade organised for 63 Squadron upon their return from an Afghanistan deployment was attended by in excess of 20,000 people.

The Council arranged annual fishing days for armed forces personnel returning from operational deployments, and all who live at the RAF Northolt base were issued with a Hillingdon First card which provided a range of discounts at Borough leisure facilities and car parks.

Additionally, links were maintained with the RAF Music Services, as Northolt is home to the Central Band of the RAF. As a key partner with the Hillingdon Music Service, the Central Band had performed concerts and workshops for music students and visited many schools to promote music within the Borough. The partnership included the use of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

The clerk tabled an updated forward plan document that contained new items to be considered at forthcoming Cabinet meetings.

RESOLVED:  That the Cabinet Forward Plan be noted.

The clerk updated the Committee on changes to the published work programme for 2017/18.

The Committee was advised that, due to pre-existing time commitments, there was insufficient time for the suggested informational item on mental health within Hillingdon to be heard at the Committee meeting in March 2018. It was suggested that the topic of mental health in Hillingdon be retained for consideration as a potential review within the next municipal year.

Similarly, the update to the Stroke Prevention review, previously scheduled for the Committee's meeting in March 2018, would be moved to a provisional item within the work programme for 2018/19.

RESOLVED:  That the Work Programme 2017/18 be noted.