Agenda and minutes

1.            Minutes of the meeting held on 1 July 2015

1.1      Declarations of interest: Councillor Upex requested that his interest as a Member of Green Cooperative Development be changed in to Member of Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency.

1.2      RESOLVED: that the minutes of the meeting held on 25 June 2015 be agreed subject to this amendment.

Councillor Elliott – non-prejudicial – Council Appointee to the Lewisham Disability Coalition.

Councillor Upex – non-prejudicial – Member of Voluntary Services Lewisham and Member of the Greenwich Cooperative Development Agency

Councillor Raven – non-prejudicial – Trustee of the Lewisham Disability Coalition.

Councillor Morrison – non-prejudicial – Director and Chair of the Ackroyd Community Association and Chair of the Crofton Park Community Library Management Board.

3.            Mayoral Response – VAWG awareness raising and prevention review

3.1      Geeta Subramaniam (Head of Crime Reduction and Supporting People) answered questions from the Committee. The following key points were noted:

·           That the additional resources allocated to proactive enforcement against gangs nominal from September 2015 onwards, are funded from external funds the Council has bid for, so there are no direct financial implications to the Council.

·           The rolling audit mentioned in the report is a part of the work done by the Local Children’s Safeguarding Board, which also provides training in this area.

·           The Council provides up-to-date circulars for the safeguarding lead employees in each of the Council’s schools, as well as being in contact with the Head Teachers.

3.2      RESOLVED: to note the Mayoral response.  

4.            Lewisham Future Programme: 2016/17 DRAFT Revenue Budget Savings Proposals for Scrutiny

4.1      David Austin (Head of Corporate Resources) introduced the main savings report; the following key points were noted:

·           This report should be seen in the context of the Medium Term Financial Strategy that was presented at Mayor and Cabinet meeting in July, which presents the Council’s financial strategy up 2019/20. The Council is working towards the savings targets set for the Lewisham Future Programme, as public austerity is expected to continue.

·           The Comprehensive Spending Review will be announced on 25 November, with the Local Government Financial Settlement (LGFS) expected to be announced in early December. It isn’t until the LGFS that Council will know what budget it can set in February.

·           It was agreed by Councillors last year that £45m of savings needed to be identified in setting the budget for 2016/17. The proposals presented amount to savings of between £25m and £26m, which leaves a gap of about £20m to fill. Further savings are still being developed, and will be presented to the Committee when they’re available.

·           The specific proposals for this committee to examine in detail amount to roughly £6m over two years, of which roughly £1m is for proposals for the 2015/16 budget and £5.3m are proposals for the 2017/18 budget.

·           The proposal B2 Supporting People had already been discussed at Healthier Communities Select Committee and they rejected the proposal.

·           Appendix 18 contains a summary of the equalities impact of the savings proposals, which the Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee has specific remit to look at.

4.2      Geeta Subramaniam (Head of Crime Reduction and Supporting People) and James Lee (Head of Service Cultural and Community Development (job share) and Service Manager Prevention and Inclusion) responded to questions from the Committee on savings proposals B2: Supporting People. The following key points were noted:

·           Supporting People provides both accommodation-based and floating support services. Any savings made from the current budget would have an impact of service users, as not all current service users would be able to access the service in the future.

·           There is a risk that costs will increase for other services, such as homelessness, housing, adult social care, crisis management, rough sleeping, and anti-social behaviour services .

·           Officers are working to identify ways to minimise the impact of these proposals on vulnerable residents. Officers are investigating whether housing benefit payments could be used to pay for the accommodation provided as part of the current service. Officers are also working to identify any alternative support networks in the community that could replace services currently provided by the Council.

·           The savings agreed for the 2015/16 budget are currently being implemented. As this is a saving proposed for the budget of 2107/18, the proposal is still being developed.

·           The Committee expressed concern that as the proposal doesn’t any detailed information about the proposal, the Committee wouldn’t be able to assess the likely consequences of the savings.

·           The service provides  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.      Main Grants Programme 2015-18 – Equalities Update

5.1    James Lee introduced the report. The following key points were noted:

·    Voluntary Action Lewisham (VAL) was awarded funding under the Main Grants Programme to coordinate borough-wide work on equalities.

·    VAL has established an Equalities Working Group whose members are the Main Grants funded Equalities organisations. It is currently working up a detailed action plan.

·    EqualiTeam’s draft business plan includes 5 strategic aims for the organisations. They are in the process of developing a set of actions to achieve those aims. At their board meeting in early October, officers will be able to review these plans and subsequently report back to the Committee.

5.2     James Lee and Aileen Buckton responded to questions from the Committee. The following key points were noted:

·      The organisation has not received any funding from the Council since the last Main Grants Programme.

·      The organisation has had substantial internal changes, with new Board Members and new Trustees.

5.3     RESOLVED: to register the Committee’s discomfort at how the entire situation around the working of EqualiTeam and to receive a further update on this item at the Committee’s October meeting.

6.      Safer Lewisham Plan 2015-16 – 6 month update

6.1    Geeta Subramaniam responded to questions from the Committee on the report. The following key points were noted:

·      The Mayor’s Office for Police and Crime (MOPAC) has identified seven priority crimes. In Lewisham in the last 12 months, the figures for three of these crimes have gone up. There has been an increase in the theft of mopeds, an increase in the number of rapes and incidents of sexual violence and an increase in criminal damage offences.

·      Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG) is captured under the reporting of seven separate areas of crime such as Female Genital Mutilation and forced marriages. The Council does work in awareness raising for these issues, especially in school around the summer holidays, and also work with health visiting midwives.

·      Incidents of knife crime and Grievous Bodily Harm have increased in the borough, especially amongst young people. A large piece of work is underway between Council officers, focus groups, community groups and people who work with young people to improve the situation.

6.2    RESOLVED: to note the report.

7.      Select Committee Work Programme

7.1    Simone van Elk (scrutiny manager) introduced the report.

7.2    The Committee discussed report. The following key points were noted:

·      The Committee agreed the timetable for the poverty review

·      The Committee agreed to add an item to their October meeting to update them on Equalities Grant Aid Funding

·      The Committee agreed to invite the local police and fire brigade to one of their next meetings to update the committee on their work as well discuss their approach to potential reductions in their budgets.

·      The Committee requested that the item on the development of the Comprehensive Equalities Scheme would include suggested actions and/or action plans to combat inequalities.

7.3    RESOLVED: to the work programme with the amendments discusses.

8.      Items to be referred to Mayor and Cabinet

8.1    RESOLVED: to refer the Committee’s views on savings proposals B2, L6, L7 and O5 to the Public Accounts Select Committee