Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive declarations by Members and Officers of the existence and nature of any pecuniary interests or any other significant interest in matters on this agenda.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on Monday, 27 March 2023.

RESOLVED: Councillor Adam Hug, with the consent of the Members present, agreed that the minutes of the meeting held on 27th March were a true and correct record of the proceedings.

Report of the Shareholder Committee

Cabinet approved the following recommendations:

Recommendations

That Cabinet approve that Westminster Procurement Services Limited be dissolved with any share capital remaining after legal and professional fees being returned to the Council.

That Cabinet recommend to  Council, as sole shareholder, to pass a resolution to formally close down Westminster Procurement Services Limited by way of an application to strike off the company from the Companies Register.

Reasons for Decision

To be able to dissolve the Company, approval is needed from the company’s shareholder, Westminster Council.

You can view the full Shareholder Committee Report here.

Dissolution of Westminster Procurement Service

Councillor Hug introduced the report explaining that the Westminster Procurement Service had not traded since 2018 and that the Shareholder Committee recommends to Cabinet that the company is wound up.

RESOLVED: Cabinet approved the following recommendations set out on page 7 of the Cabinet report pack:

·                 That Westminster Procurement Services Limited be dissolved with any share capital remaining after legal and professional fees being returned to the Council.

·                 That the Council, as sole shareholder, passes a resolution to formally close down Westminster Procurement Services Limited by way of an application to strike off the company from the Companies Register

You can view the full Shareholder Committee Report here.

Report of the Shareholder Committee

Cabinet approved the following recommendation(s):

Recommendation(s)

That Cabinet approves the incorporation of new company within Westminster Builds structure which will apply to become a Registered Provider and, subject to approval of the Regulator of Social Housing, hold Westminster Builds’ affordable housing.

Reasons for Decision

The Council has secured grant from the Greater London Assembly’s (GLA) Affordable Homes programme across several development projects. This grant supports the funding required for the construction of social and intermediate rent homes.

The grant is conditional on funded homes being held by a Registered Provider which the Council qualifies as but Westminster Builds does not. As the Council’s current approach is for social homes to be retained within the HRA and intermediate homes to be transferred to Westminster Builds, the Council cannot currently comply with the GLA’s funding requirements and fully access the GLA grant.

While this has not prevented drawing down grant on homes under construction by the Council, a solution will need to be in place prior to the disposal and purchase of completed intermediate homes to Westminster Builds.

You can view the report to Shareholder Committee here

Westminster Registered Provider Status

Councillor Hug invited Councillor Matt Noble, Cabinet Member for Climate Action, Regeneration and Renters to comment on the proposed incorporation of a new company into Westminster Builds to act as Registered Provider.

Councillor Noble commented that it seems prudent to take this action to maximise the amount of intermediate housing the council can provide.  The benefit of the decision being that it enables the council to capture GLA grant to deliver affordable housing.

RESOLVED: Cabinet approved the following recommendation set out on page 9 of the Cabinet report pack:

•                  The incorporation of new company within Westminster Builds structure which will apply to become a Registered Provider and, subject to approval of the Regulator of Social Housing, hold Westminster Builds’ affordable housing.

You can view the report to Shareholder Committee here

Cabinet approved the recommendations below.

Recommendation(s)

Cabinet is asked to approve the proposed responses to the Commission’s Housing Review headline recommendations (Appendix 1) and instruct officers to integrate the resulting actions within the Housing Service and other relevant services’ work programmes.

Reasons for the Decision

The Council commissioned a review of Housing Management, Housing Supply and Housing Homelessness & Need through the Future of Westminster Commission. Upon review of the Commission’s report, each of the headline recommendations have been considered individually (as outlined in Appendix 1), with a view to accepting, rejecting, modifying or otherwise considering each. The proposed responses are put forward on the basis that they align with the strategic ambitions of the Council.

To dispose of any other business as necessary