Agenda, decisions and minutes

The minutes were agreed as a true record.

The minutes were agreed as a true record.

RESOLVED: To receive and note the interim response, in anticipation of a full response when the Bill becomes law.

RESOLVED: To receive and note the interim response, in anticipation of a full response when the Bill becomes law.

RESOLVED: To note the report.

The Chair declared a prejudicial interest and vacated the room. The Vice Chair took the Chair.

The Vice Chair advised the Committee that she had been advised by the Councils principal lawyer; as the Constitution provides for no discussion of information items as of right, in this case, due to the potential for litigation against the Council and the PCT, this report should be accepted as an information item only and there should be no statements or discussion allowed in connection with it.

The Vice Chair proposed that the Committee noted the report, the Committee agreed the proposal.

RESOLVED: To note the report.

RESOLVED: The Committee thanked the witnesses for their time, and noted the evidence given.

The Chair re-joined the meeting.

The Chair welcomed the expert witnesses to the Committee:

·         Annette Stead – Head of Sport and Active Recreation, LBL

·         Katrina McCormick – Joint Deputy Director of Public Health

·         Sara Nelson, South London Cardiac and Stroke Network

·         Lyn Wheeler, Patient Representative, South London Cardiac and Stroke Network

·         Jenny Budd – Lewisham Healthy Walks Co-ordinator, Lewisham Healthcare NHS Trust

·         LucretaLaPierre – Healthy Walks Leader (volunteer)

·         Sam Kirk, Strategic Waste and Environment Manager, LBL

·         Joni Blackwood - Fitness Instructor - "Get Active" and "Check and Change" Programmes

The Chair invited Annette Stead and Katrina McCormick to give a brief introduction in to the topic of Physical Activity in Lewisham, and the role it plays in preventing premature mortality. They advised:

·         Physical activity includes all activity, from everyday walking to get from A to B, work-related activity, active recreation, gardening and active sport.

·         Duration, Intensity and Frequency are all important aspects of physical activity in relation to health

·         “Start Active, Stay Active” is the Chief Medical Officer guidance on activity levels (April 2011), with guidance for all age groups, an emphasis on daily activity and a stringer recognition of the role of vigorous intensity activity

·         In Lewisham only 10% of adults achieve the Chief Medical Officer targets of 30 minutes of moderate physical activity, five times per week

·         An estimated 10,000 adults per year would need to get more active to reach the 2020 target of 70% doing 5 X 30 minutes of activity

·         It is felt that the focus should be on getting the Inactive Active – helping people move from inactivity to low or moderate activity would produce the greatest benefit

·         In Lewisham, males are more active than females, young people more active than older people, white people slightly more active than non-white people, affluent people more active than the less affluent

·         In 2010 a sports plan for the borough was produced

·         There are three levels of physical activity support on offer in Lewisham: Universal, Targeted and Specialist.

·         A large number of activities are delivered by the third sector

In response to questions, Annette Stead and Katrina McCormick advised:

·         The Lewisham plus card is a scheme to make activities available at a reduced price to people on low incomes, this scheme is currently being reviewed and some improvements to the scheme identified to increase uptake

·         Between teenage years and early twenties female physical activity tends to decrease and males also become viewers rather than participants in sporting activities

·         A years free gym membership to school leavers would have a large cost implication, swimming remains free for under 16s and over 60s

Sam Kirk was invited to tell the Committee about the Community Gardens project. The she advised the Committee that the programme started in 2009 with a target of developing 60 food growing spaces in the borough by 2012. There are currently 64 spaces in the borough. A toolkit has been developed to help [people set up a community garden, and a number are on Council  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

·         The Committee wishes to record its thanks to the anchor organisations, their staff and many volunteers for all the hard work they have put into developing, and providing, a wide range of resources and activities for local people. The Committee was impressed with the progress already made in engaging local people, delivering improvements in the buildings and in delivering a wide range of activities and support at each location.

·         The Committee notes that the library and information service is still in transition after its recent restructure, and that the community libraries are still developing. The Committee also notes that the anchor organisations consider they would benefit from further developing the supportive working relationships they are building across the three organisations.

·         The Committee urges the Mayor and Cabinet to continue to do all it can to keep all of the libraries operating fully, and to continue to support the close working relationships between the anchor organisations and the Council’s library and information service.

RESOLVED: To refer the views noted to the Mayor and Cabinet

Aileen Buckton introduced the report. The key points to note were:

·         The Community Libraries model is a key element of the future provision of library services in Lewisham.

·         The Council library services offered from community libraries are not the same as those offered from the core Council library buildings: although the Council continues to mange and maintain a reduced book stock for library users, no Council staff are based a the community library

·         Self issue terminals will enable users to access the stock on site and a catalogue of more than five million books across the London Libraries Consortium

·         Staff of the “anchor” organisation ensure that the building is open to the public at agreed times and many be able to assist with general enquiries regarding services available in the building. They also provide some of the activities that took place in the former Council libraries and actively promote reading, learning and library information to residents. The Staff also receive training to enable tem to actively support users to manage their own library accounts

·         Three buildings, Crofton Park, Grove Park and Sydenham were transferred to the social enterprise active in the area of computer recycling and training: Eco Computer Systems

·         Blackheath library closed in May and the services has been relocated in the Reminiscence Centre run by Age Exchange. This is currently being redeveloped and will become a major community resource which will house the community library. The library is currently temporarily located in the Bakehouse until the new building is completed next October.

·         The New Cross Peoples Library have been grated a tenancy at will by the Council on the premises in New Cross RD, currently until 2012. The organisation is not yet fully legally constituted and is receiving developmental support from Bold Vision, in whose name the tenancy has been issued

·         Eco Computer systems are in the final stages of negotiation regarding the lease on their three buildings

·         Age Exchange have signed a letter of acceptance of funding from the council in relation to the development of their reminiscence Centre building

·         Overall, Libraries performance has been disappointing over the last seven moths, in part due to the extent ant timings of changes to the service. Issues and visits have been adversely affected by the service wide staffing restructure that took place simultaneously with the implementation of new technologies and working practices

·         There are signs that performance is beginning to improve and staff and the anchor organisations are all fully committed to ensuring that it continues to do so.

·         There are different expectations for outcomes and outputs for the 5 community libraries and the buildings that house them, and those expectations will be developed and negotiated with the anchor organisations over time

In response to questions, Aileen Buckton, Antonio Rizzo, Sir Ian Mills, Darren Taylor, Gill Hart and Kathy Dunbar advised:

·         Four of the five community libraries will be utilising self service, Age Exchange have decided not to in Blackheath at this time as they are  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

·         COM03 - The Committee requests that officers ensure all relevant sections, of the savings proformas, are completed with sufficient key information. In this instance particularly, the Committee would have found it useful to know the total budget from which the saving is proposed to be taken, the percentage of the total budget the saving proposal represents, and the detail of any historical decisions that impact on the delivery of the savings proposal.

·         COM06 - Whilst welcoming officers’ focus on value for money when negotiating placement costs with providers, the Committee cautions that the stability of placement and level of service, for these service users with the highest levels of need, must remain an absolute priority in all contract negotiations.

·         COM07 - The Committee is concerned that a savings figure has been projected with, as of yet, no real plan in place as to how the saving will be achieved. Whilst understanding the imperative of implementing personal budgets, the Committee is concerned that an informed decision about this saving proposal cannot be made without consideration of further detail, specifically: the current service provision, the total budget from which the saving is to be made (and the percentage of the total this savings figure represents) and the potential practical impact of the resultant service reorganisation on service users.

RESOLVED: To refer the views noted to the Public Accounts Select Committee

The Chair proposed a motion to suspend standing orders to the conclusion of the agenda. The motion was carried.

Robert Mellors introduced the report and the detail of each savings proposal. The key points to note were:

·         A number of the proposals are a continuation of the implementation of savings agreed last year

In response to questions, Aileen Buckton and Robert Mellors advised:

·         Com03 is 250k of a 16 million pound budget

·         Day care provision will be subject to further consultation and discussion, but it was included at an early stage to flag up that a saving will need to be made in the future

·         Com08 is part two of the implementation of the saving agreed last year in relation to charging, it was agreed at the time that the implementation would be staggered

The Committee discussed the savings proposals and noted the following:

·         COM03 - The Committee requests that officers ensure all relevant sections, of the savings proformas, are completed with sufficient key information. In this instance particularly, the Committee would have found it useful to know the total budget from which the saving is proposed to be taken, the percentage of the total budget the saving proposal represents, and the detail of any historical decisions that impact on the delivery of the savings proposal.

·         COM06 - Whilst welcoming officers’ focus on value for money when negotiating placement costs with providers, the Committee cautions that the stability of placement and level of service, for these service users with the highest levels of need, must remain an absolute priority in all contract negotiations.

·         COM07 - The Committee is concerned that a savings figure has been projected with, as of yet, no real plan in place as to how the saving will be achieved. Whilst understanding the imperative of implementing personal budgets, the Committee is concerned that an informed decision about this saving proposal cannot be made without consideration of further detail, specifically: the current service provision, the total budget from which the saving is to be made (and the percentage of the total this savings figure represents) and the potential practical impact of the resultant service reorganisation on service users.

RESOLVED: To refer the views noted to the Public Accounts Select Committee

RESOLVED: to remove the libraries item from the next meeting as the matter had been concluded satisfactorily this evening.

The scrutiny manager introduced the report.

Councillor Maines asked if all partners would contribute to the personalisation consultation item, Aileen Buckton advised that they would.

Councillor Harris asked that, as part of the personalisation consultation item,  the report from the academic study that was considered by PAC as part of their adaptations review be appended to any report.

Councillor Maines asked if the outcome of a current judicial review will come back to the Committee. Georgina Nunney that, depending on the outcome, it could.

RESOLVED: to remove the libraries item from the next meeting as the matter had been concluded satisfactorily this evening.

There were none.

The meeting ended at 10.05pm.