Most Council meetings are open to the public. Going along and seeing your councillors perform is a good way to keep an eye on them and learn about what’s going on. Meetings can move or be cancelled, so check your Council website before going to a meeting listed below.

Tower Hamlets 
It’s another quiet week at Tower Hamlets – but next week will see more going on.

Monday 6th July, 6.30pm:  Health and Adults Scrutiny Sub-Committee 
This is an unusual Scrutiny Sub-Committee in that its job is to scrutinise the Council and the NHS. This is the first H&ASSC for new Chair Cllr Helal of Whitechapel.

The Government’s Best Value Report said that scrutiny – which should be Member-led – should pull its socks up. On Monday, they’re back with the traditional approach. The start-of-year business items are followed by two sessions. The Cabinet Member for Healthy Caring and Inclusive Communities and the Corporate Director of Health & Adults Social Care will set out their priorities for the year.  This is followed by “Health Partners” explaining their priorities. This is supposed to set the scene for the year ahead – as is the third session, which sets out the Sub-Committee’s programme for the year ahead.  The first two sessions are supposed to inform the third, but the Work Programme has already been written.  It sounds like Councillors are being lined up to nod all this through – rather than be part of setting priorities. The meeting is in the Council Chamber, where the dodgy acoustics make it hard for the public to hear what is going on.

Thursday, 9th July, 6.30pm: Development Committee
There’s some quality Councillors on this committee, so they should be able to get to grips with the start-of-year business items. If they can do that, they should be able to deal with a request from a restaurant in Wood Wharf to have some outdoor seating and change the location of a fence. There’s a strange request to change some highways, footways and street furniture in part of Wood Wharf in order to meet a planning condition.  This may be minor stuff – or not: it’s hard to tell from the papers. There’s also a request to refurbish a hotel in Aldgate (why? are we short of hotel space in Tower Hamlets?).

To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting:
Calendar

Newham 
It’s a quiet week in Newham too.
Monday, 6th July, 10am: Licensing
One application, from Tesco in Anthems Way.

Monday, 6th July, 4pm: Schools Forum
The Forum has representatives from the different kinds of school in the borough. Sadly, no papers have been uploaded onto the website – just a note saying that the agenda will be posted five working days before the meeting.  Never mind. They’re schools.  Just give them some coloured paper and some crayons and tell them it’s a workshop.

Monday, 6th July, 7pm: Overview and Scrutiny Committee 
There’s just one item on this agenda: looking at the Parking Review before it goes to Cabinet. Parking is controversial everywhere, but surely they could have fitted something else in too?

Wednesday, 8th July, 10am: Licensing Sub-Committee
There’s only one application to consider. It comes from 43a Water Lane.

To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting:
Calendar

Hackney
Monday, 6th June, 7pm: Living in Hackney Scrutiny Commission
This is the Committee that scrutinises the housing service (no, we wouldn’t have guessed either). This meeting is looking at last year’s complaints. The rest of the agenda is bureaucratic procedural stuff, like watching a mediaeval courtly dance. The Scrutiny Commission has sent its views on the housing strategy and the Violence against Women and Girls strategy to the Mayor, who has written back. This Commision hasn’t really got going yet.

Tuesday, 7th July, 7pm: Licensing Sub-Committee B
There is one main item to consider: an application from The Talbot in Mortimer Road.  Should be an early bath.

Wednesday, 8th July, 10am: Pensions Board 
Lots of financial papers. To be honest, they are hard for a lay person to follow.

Wednesday, 8th July, 7pm: Children & Young People Scrutiny Commission
The Commission reviewed Child Safeguarding at Mossbourne Victoria Park Academy last year: this is the review to check whether the recommendations are being implemented. There’s also some business items – but nothing substantive.

Thursday, 9th July, 7pm: Health in Hackney Scrutiny Commission
Lots of good stuff on this agenda. There’s the new contracts for Community Pharmacies; the Healthwatch Annual Report; Planning to review how to improve outcomes for Black women in mental health services. There’s also two letters sent to local health providers with the Commission’s views: that is not done in other Scrutiny commissions.

To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting:
Calendar

Barking & Dagenham 
There’s two sessions of Member Training in the public calendar – but presumably these are not open to the public.

Wednesday, 8th July, 7pm: Licensing and Regulatory Committee
The Committee will look at the draft Gambling Licensing Policy..

To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting:
Calendar

Redbridge
Monday, 6th July, 7pm: External Scrutiny Committee
This is a strange agenda. There is a “Public Question Time” – but no explanation of what that is. Can members of the public just turn up and ask questions? Unlikely. The procedure is probably elsewhere on the website, but this doesn’t help.
The Committee will then look at its agendas for the year ahead. This is a common practice but the Committees do end up being quite unresponsive. There is then an agenda item on the Metropolitan Police – but no papers.  This is not a good agenda.

Tuesday, 7th July, 7pm: Children & Education Scrutiny Committee
This agenda is a bit of a damp squib. There is a “Public Question Time” – but no explanation of what that is. The Committee will look at what topics it wants to discuss over the year and then it’s hometime. The next meeting is scheduled for 3rd November. This cannot be effective scrutiny for such a large and important portfolio.

Wednesday, 8th July, 7pm: Clean and Green Committee 
This agenda is a bit of a damp squib. The Committee will look at what topics it wants to discuss over the year and then have a verbal update on the Parking Review.

Thursday, 9th July, 10am: Redbridge Schools Forum 
This is an excellent agenda. Sadly, the “meeting attendance” page shows that only a Mr Ambrose, who is “Council staff” will be attending. Let’s hope some schools turn up unannounced. Items to be discussed include the School Organisation Strategy (planning future school places); SEND Reforms; Funding, and lots more.  

Thursday, 9th July, 7pm: Regeneration & Economic Development Committee

There’s not much going on here: a public question time (no instructions) and agreeing the agendas for the year ahead. Really Redbridge (and others): you don’t need to drag officers out and have a whole meeting to discuss the agendas for next year.

 To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting:
Calendar

Havering
Aha! A key week, out in Havering.

Wednesday, 8th July, 7pm: Cabinet!
Our hopes rose, but it turns out this is a thin Cabinet. The two items being discussed are the arrangements for the Better Care Fund (a joint project between the NHS and Council to keep ill people out of hospital, basically) and last year’s finances. Really? Is there nothing else to discuss?  There should be time for councillors to ask who authorises expenditure from the pooled budget. 
Thursday, 9th July, 7pm: Strategic Planning Committee

The first item on the agenda states that “The Chairman will make his announcements”. Ah, bless: still stuck in the 19th century, then.

There’s only one application in front of the committee: the redevelopment of a Builders Merchants to provide… a better Builders Merchants. Presumably the intention is to make it easier for all the men to get their power tools.

To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting:
Calendar

Waltham Forest
Tuesday, 7th July, 7pm: Planning Committee
There are applications relating to Orford Road Forest Road, Wood Street, Chapel End Early Years Centre, St Mary Road and East View on the agenda.

Wednesday, 8th July, 7pm: Audit & Governance Committee
Lots of technical documents on the agenda.

Thursday, 9th July, 10am: Licensing Committee
There are two application: from Endri’s in Wood Street and Mez Lounge in Lea Bridge Road. NB: the public may be excluded from the discussion.

Thursday, 9th July, 7pm: Scrutiny Co-ordinating Committee
The meeting starts with “Public Participation”, and there is a note about what to do if you want to speak on the agenda. Well done, Waltham Forest. The rest of the meeting is taken up with last year’s finances, a report on how the Council monitors what it does, the Scrutiny Annual Report and some inward-looking items on how Scrutiny is organised.

To see the agenda and papers for the meeting, go to the calendar and then click on the meeting:
Calendar