Councillor Shaw, Chief Whip, was also present.

In accordance with paragraph 2.6(a) of the Constitution, Councillor Malcolm addressed the Cabinet with regard to the following items: 

Item 8 -  Greenford Park Cemetery Extension (Councillor Malcolm)

Cllr J Anand sent apologies for absence.

This meeting was held in a hybrid format with members and officers able to join the meeting remotely.

However, regulations did not allow for members attending virtually to be counted as present in the attendance section of the minutes, and their attendance would not count as attendance in relation to section 85(1) of the Local Government Act 1972.

Members attending virtually would be able to speak but would not be able to vote.

Councillors joining remotely:
Cllr Malcolm

There were none.

There were none.

There were none.

Resolved:
That the minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 9 February 2022 be agreed and signed as a true and correct record.

There were none.

Resolved
That Cabinet: 
i) approves the statutory proposals to close Berrymede Junior School and extend the age range of Berrymede Infant School to enable the formation of an all through primary school to take effect for the start of the 2022/23 academic year.
ii) delegates to the Executive Director Children, Adults and Public Health, following consultation with the Portfolio Holder and Director of Legal Services, authority to make all necessary decisions to amalgamate the schools.

Reason for Decision and Options Considered
The decision was required to enable the local authority (LA) to progress with the statutory processes for the creation of an all through infant and junior education provision. This involved the closure of Berrymede Junior School and extension of the age range at Berrymede Infant School.

The Governing Bodies of both schools wished to meet the challenges for education in the future and to enable children to continue experiencing excellent teaching and learning. Almost all pupils progressed from Berrymede Infant School to Berrymede Junior School. The schools had been collaborating increasingly closely in recent years, including now sharing an Executive Headteacher following the retirement of the Infant School Headteacher last year. 

Amalgamating the schools to form a primary school therefore reflected the pupil journey. In addition, Ealing Council and the two Governing Bodies believed that a single primary school was educationally and financially more sustainable than separate infant and junior schools.

The Legal Framework within which Cabinet must consider the proposals was set out in section 5 of the report.

The relevant background report on publishing the statutory proposals was last presented to Cabinet on the 8th of December.

Resolved
That Cabinet:
(Decisions)
i) approves the extension of the Greenford Park Cemetery into part of Windmill Lane Allotments.
ii) approves a new capital budget of £2.825m (phased £2.350m in 2022/23 and £0.475m in 2023/24) to be incepted into the capital programme for the delivery of an extension of Greenford Park Cemetery into part of Windmill Lane Allotments and the relocation of the allotments.
iii) approves the funding of the capital expenditure of £2.825m to be financed by mainstream borrowing over 12 years with associated revenue financing cost in 2022/23 of £0.246m to be absorbed by the Treasury Management budget, noting that the budget currently does not exist.
iv) approves for the full year revenue budget requirement of £0.301m on Treasury management budgets to have first call against agreed 2023/24 growth allocation with £0.200m to be partly off-set by a recurring revenue saving for the Cemetery Service in 2023/24 incepted within the MTFS as part of the 2023/24 budget process.
v) authorises the Executive Director of Place to invite and evaluate tenders for a contract for the construction of the Greenford Park Cemetery extension into part of Windmill Lane Allotments where shown on the plan in Appendix 1 of the report.
vi) directs the Executive Director of Place to start engagement with allotment tenants with regard to any impact upon Windmill Lane Allotments, and to develop proposals to support and mitigate any impact.
vii) delegates authority to the Executive Director of Place to award the contract following the evaluation of tenders on the basis that it is the most economically advantageous tender for the project to build the extension of Greenford Park Cemetery into part of Windmill Lane Allotments.
viii) authorises the Executive Director of Place to take the necessary steps to secure closure of the southern half of Windmill Lane Allotments (as shown on the plan in Appendix 1 of the report) including obtaining Secretary of State’s consent and with tenants being relocated to new allotments to be provided at Costons Playing Fields, Greenford and an extension of Dormers Wells Allotments into Dormer’s Wells Moated Manor. 
ix) delegates authority to the Executive Director of Place to take any necessary steps to provide new allotment space at Costons Playing Fields including the appropriation of land for allotment purposes subject to consideration of any representations received pursuant to notice under s122 of the Local Government Act 1972 and any other necessary consents being obtained.

That Cabinet notes:
x) a further expansion of Greenford Park Cemetery into the remaining Windmill Lane Allotments would achieve a further 1560 burial plots, however an existing entrance from Windmill Lane created a sensible divide to allow those on the northern half of the allotment to continue to cultivate. A future recommendation for further expansion may be sought at such time unless alternative locations are identified.
xi) works required for the extension, were largely civil including a one-way single road network, earthworks, and site furniture/infrastructure.
xii) the tender for the works to create the re-provision of allotment space at Costons Playing Fields, Dormers Wells Allotments and Brent Meadow Allotments would be carried out in parallel as the Greenford Cemetery Extension tenders, however as a separate procurement under officer delegations as those works and scope were more likely to be of interest to small and medium sized companies.
xiii) that officers would progress a Cemetery Strategy for adoption at a future date. This strategy would be developed with the Portfolio Holder, external parties (e.g. faith groups, conservation groups, etc.) to identify options to provide burial space for borough residents for the next 25 years.
 
Reason for Decision and Options Considered
Ealing was a burial authority and as such, the Council was legally required to ensure the burial or cremation of the deceased either inside or, if land was not available, outside the borough. 

Burial space in the borough was running out quickly and the Bereavement Service estimated that within the next three to four years it would be unable to deal with any future burials within Ealing, and for Muslim burials this would be sooner. 

Whilst options for burial site expansion had been explored, the pressures on the system following the Covid pandemic meant that an expedient proposal to meet the need for future demands in the expansion of Greenford Cemetery was required.  

An options appraisal was carried out in 2020/21 to identify suitable locations for more burial space. As noted above, not providing burial space would have reputational risk to Ealing Council so this option was not considered. Many areas considered for burial use were either unsuitable in location or involved legal restrictions into legal agreements that would not facilitate a prompt option for the Council. 

Subsequently, a feasibility study was conducted in 2021 to review the use of Windmill Lane Allotments, as logistically and geographically this option provided continuity from the existing Greenford Park Cemetery

Risks pertaining to an extension into Windmill Lane Allotments were deemed manageable. Impact on the allotment tenants affected by the extension could be mitigated appropriately by the creation of additional space locally and the feasibility study concluded this option as viable. 

Should the Council not be able to extend the burial land at Greenford, then the Council would have to agree a sharing of facilities with other burial authorities to provide graves which could double the cost of providing burials to residents of Ealing, increasing financial hardship for those impacted.  Furthermore, an inability to provide burial space for Ealing residents would pose a risk to the Council's reputation.

Provision of additional space would be undertaken on the basis that the Bereavement Service continued to generate a level of income that covered the cost of running the service.  It was considered that this next expansion at Greenford Park Cemetery would provide space for up to 7-8 years of future burials.

It was of importance to the Council that we had meaningful engagement and worked together on mitigation and communication.  It was important to recognise that there were a number of key decisions that brought together the overall delivery of a project of this nature and throughout this period we would actively engage with faith leaders, allotment tenants and local residents

Resolved 
That Cabinet notes that the next meeting of Cabinet would be held on 6 April 2022 at 7pm.


Councillor Peter Mason, Chair

Date

The duration of this meeting was 7pm to 7:10pm

 

The minutes should be read in conjunction with the agenda for the meeting. They are subject to approval and signature at the next meeting of this Committee.