Agenda, decisions and minutes

Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting on 20 December be agreed as an accurate record.

1.1      The Chair noted that an officer update on the complaints process had been delayed but confirmation had been received that it would be provided.

1.2      Councillor Handley advised the Committee that the Housing Select Committee was following up on the comments it had received about the homesearch system.

1.3      Resolved: that the minutes of the meeting held on 20 December be agreed as an accurate record.

2.1      Councillor Handley declared a personal interest under item four as a governor at Watergate school.

·         Income generation and commercialisation

·         Communicating the Council’s budget position

·         Adult social care

Resolved: that the responses be noted.

3.1      The Committee welcomed the Council’s decision to work with the association of public service excellence (APSE).

3.2      Members noted the appointment of Katherine Nidd to the new procurement and commercialisation role and agreed that they would invite her to a future committee meeting.

3.3      Resolved: that the responses from Mayor and Cabinet be noted.

Resolved: that the report be noted.

4.1      Sir Steve Bullock (Mayor of Lewisham) addressed the Committee. The following key points were noted:

·         The budget report contained detailed technical information and was similar in scope to previous budget reports. However, it could also be viewed as the fourth in a series of budgets in the 2014-18 administration.

·         The four year budget process had started in 2014 resulting from a large public consultation, which shared information about budget pressures and sought views about Council priorities.

·         Some savings were proposed in the budget – but not at the scale that had been put forward previously.

·         Some of the previously agreed savings were difficult to implement. Given that the savings programme had been ongoing for eight years, this was not surprising.

·         The pause in savings proposals in this year’s budget would allow the Council to focus on the delivery of those proposals that had been previously agreed.

·         The scale of the savings programme had to be kept in mind. The budget for 2018-19 was around £233m against the updated (for demand and inflation) figure for the 2009-10 budget which would have been approximately £423m.

·         Within the limits of decision making on Council tax- it had to be recognised that whilst it was a source of revenue it was also a potential burden on residents.

·         Council tax made up about half of next year’s budget, as opposed to a quarter ten years ago.

·         The overspend in the 2017-18 budget was a cause for concern but he was satisfied that the Council had a robust financial base.

·         It was recognised that the use of reserves was not sustainable, however Lewisham was in a stronger position than other authorities, which did not have underlying robust finances.

·         All local authorities in the country faced an extremely difficult financial situation due to: reduced central government finance; limits on taxation and rising demand.

·         All public services were under pressure but few were confronted with the complexity of the challenges faced by local government.

4.2      Councillor Kevin Bonavia (Cabinet Member for Resources) addressed the Committee, the following key points were noted:

·         The Council was using all of the levers at its disposal to try to balance the budget. This included making some savings as well as putting up council tax.

·         Up until three years ago the Government had offered councils a deal (which Lewisham, along with many other councils took) to provide funding in exchange for freezing council tax.

·         The Government had removed the deal to freeze council tax in favour of allowing councils to increase tax in order to provide additional funds for essential services (particularly adult social care). It was believed that this was because the Government wanted to shift the focus for funding pressures to councils rather than recognising that there was an issue with the funding of social care nationally.

·         Council tax was a significant source of revenue, in comparison with 2010 – an additional £11m of tax was being collected. This was not just because of rises but also because of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Resolved: that the agenda for the meeting on 21 March be agreed.

5.1      The Committee discussed the work programme and agreed that the following items would be considered at its meeting on 21 March 2018:

·         Income generation and commercialisation

·         Asset management

·         Management report

·         Financial forecasts

·         Audit panel update

6.1      There were none.