Issue - meetings

Resolved:

The Committee agreed to refer the following to Mayor & Cabinet:

·         The Committee endorsed the referrals made by Select Committees to the Committee and asked that the Mayor takes these referrals into account alongside officer reports when taking a decision on the Lewisham Future Programme – 2015/16 Revenue Budget Savings Report.

·         The Committee noted the lack of proposals including shared services and asked that shared services options are explored fully in the next round of savings.

G1: Increasing income from schools SLA, debt collection, investment strategy and blue badges

·         The Committee agreed with the concerns raised by the Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee and also highlighted the reputational risk to the Council that could occur through the introduction of charges for issuing blue badges.

I1: Reduction in corporate management and professional support services

·         The Committee recommended that further savings in Corporate Communications should be explored.

Cllr Alan Hall (Chair of Overview & Scrutiny) spoke to the Committee, highlighting the following key points:

·         The scale of the savings presented is unprecedented and it is important for there to be thorough pre-decision scrutiny and consideration of the proposals.

·         A lot of effort has been put in by officers to produce these proposals and members thank them for their efforts.

·         There will be further in-depth scrutiny of the Public Health and Youth Service proposals carried out by dedicated working groups.

Sir Steve Bullock (Mayor of Lewisham) then addressed the Committee, highlighting the following key points:

·         Four years ago the savings put forward were ones that could be easily achieved. This is not the case now and few of the proposals put forward here are as easily achievable.

·         Scrutiny’s role in the process is important as it can help identify the impacts that proposals will have, such as a short term saving that could have a longer term knock on effect, possibly in a different area of activity.

·         The Mayor is looking for surety that decisions are not being taken that then have to be revised or are undeliverable.

Cllr Bonavia (Cabinet Member for Resources) addressed the Committee and highlighted that the proposals here do not reach the halfway point of the amount of savings that are required over the next few years. The approach taken has been to look at everything the Council does.

David Austin (Head of Corporate Resources) introduced the report, highlighting the following key points:

·         The Council faces an £85m budget gap over the three years to 2017/18 with an estimated £39m gap for 2015/16.

·         This report presents £39.9m of new proposals, of these proposals £28.7m are for 2015/16, with the balance of£11.2m contributing to future year targets.

·          

·         There have been revisions made to the A2 and A9 proposals with further details included as requested by the Healthier Communities Select Committee. Proposal A8 has also been corrected.

Referral from Housing Select Committee

Cllr Carl Handley (Chair of Housing Select Committee) introduced the referral, highlighting that the cut proposed in B1 (Reduction and remodelling of Supporting People housing and floating support services) will have a major impact on the vulnerable and that a focus on prevention and early intervention would be beneficial.

Resolved:

The Committee resolved to refer the comments of the Housing Select Committee to Mayor & Cabinet

Referral from Children & Young People Select Committee

Cllr John Paschoud (Chair of Children & Young People Select Committee) introduced the referral, highlighting the following key points:

·         The potential cumulative negative impact on service providers of proposal K2 (YOS reorganisation, changes in interventions & reduction in contracts) could mean that services may no longer be viable in the future.

·         The proposal in Q2 (Reduction in Youth Service provision) to create an employee led mutual for youth services is a challenge but is possible although it will require resources and support to make it happen and is highly dependent on the involvement of the voluntary and community sector.

In response to questions from  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5