Issue - meetings

The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Resources, Councillor Paul Maslin who outlined the process leading to the formation of the budget with savings proposals of £4 million and he highlighted the national background and the constraints imposed by the Coalition Government.

The Executive Director for Resources representative then informed the Mayor of a number of changes required to the printed report. On page 56 he reported paragraph 3.7 was included in error and there was no new service charge for Lewisham Homes tenants for the use of CCTV. On page 127 he confirmed the information on equalities related to outdated  legislation and that current data had been circulated in a supplementary agenda. On page 337 paragraph 12.3 he stated in relation to Community Education Lewisham the phrase ‘nil equalities impact’ was erroneous and should be replaced with ‘low equalities impact’. He further reported consultation with the Black Staff Forum had led to a counter suggestion being offered to the saving shown on page 271 and that the Trade Unions had voiced total opposition to the saving shown on page 265.

The Mayor was addressed by Councillor Hall who spoke as both Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee and Chair of the Labour Group. He expressed sympathy for the unpalatable alternatives that faced the Mayor and he pointed out the pressures being placed on local councils by central government. He urged the Mayor to reconsider savings COM 02, COM 08b, RES02, RES04, and Appendix Y11. He queried saving CYP02 and asked for more information on the spending of the Section 17 budget. He also pointed out the pressure arising from saving COM10 which seemed to arise from NHS cuts.

The Mayor was next addressed by two local parents, Emma Timmins and Caroline Morris who spoke against the closure of Rushey Green Early Years Centre and Ladywell Early Years Centre respectively.

On behalf of the Trade Unions, John Collins of Unison addressed the Mayor. He claimed the page 346 section on the Complex Needs Review contained many misleading statements and he asked to be given details of consultation arrangements by the lead officer. He expressed reservations about the future of the three Early Years Centres and the long term employment prospects of the 78 staff who worked there. He said alternative providers were likely to be inferior and that any claims the council was merely providing a service that subsidised middle class families was wrong.

In response the Mayor began by placing on record his thanks to all the staff involved in drawing up the budget reports, particularly those from the Resources Directorate.

He continued by confirming that he required further information on the Early Years Centres proposals contained in Appendix Y11 and he asked officers to produce a bespoke report on them, containing greater detail, at an early meeting of Mayor & Cabinet.

The Mayor indicated he had carefully read the submission produced on behalf of all the Select Committees and that he had attended the debate at the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 228