Agenda item

RESOLVED: That the Committee would refer to Public Accounts Select Committee the Budget Savings proposals N1 and N2:

a)     The consultation on N1 should be considered by all Local Assemblies, to increase public engagement.

b)     The results of the consultation on N1, plus any proposals derived from the consultation, must be presented to the Select Committee for consideration and scrutiny.

c)      There should be no closure of any of the borough’s parks.

4.1      Rob Holmans (Director of Regeneration and Asset Management) introduced the report for proposal ‘E1: Structural re-organisation of the Regeneration & Asset Management division’ to the Committee. The key points to note were:

§  Staff consultation on the proposals commenced on 18 December 2014 and was due to end 12th January but a short extension was agreed till 14th January. The feedback and management response will be incorporated into a report to Mayor and Cabinet for approval.

§  The proposed structure for the Regeneration and Asset Management Division would consist of four core strands or groups. These new groupings will enable staff to focus on providing a service which will deliver the right outcomes for residents and users of the borough’s built environment including the highways network & public realm.

§  The four core strands or groups would be:

o    Asset Strategy & Technical Support: this group will lead on Asset strategy/planning and liaison across the authority to align the use of and where appropriate drive value from assets. It will also act as the technical expert for the division. 

o   Commercial & Investment Delivery (incl. a Programme Office function (PMO)): this group will provide strategic and professional leadership on commercial management and investment strategies for the division. Working with colleagues in corporate finance they will drive financial and operational performance transparency into the division.

o   Capital Programme Delivery: this team will lead on the approach and delivery of capital projects for the division as a whole and, as appropriate, for other areas within the authority

o   Operational Asset Management (day to day delivery): this group will have responsibility for day to day operations across the highway and property asset base.

.

4.2      In response to questions from the Committee, the following was noted:

§  The Central Asset Register went to Mayor and Cabinet in July 2014, and is now available on SharePoint. A demonstration of the SharePoint portal will be arranged for a future Committee meeting.

§  The Council is working with the voluntary and community sector, to ensure that they are charged ‘social rental charges’, but also want the process to be transparent.

§  Officers would look at new ways to publicise how members of the public can report potential licence transgressions by utility companies in respect of road works.

§  The Asset Management Plan is due to be publicised in March 2015.

§  The Council’s Asset Rationalisation Plan aims to generate revenue, where possible, from its portfolio of property and land assets. This includes working with Goldsmiths to rationalising properties on that site.

§  There should be no significant loss in enforcement capacity with the new organisational changes.

§  The Council is looking to rationalise business rates to ensure there is an accurate level of rates in the borough; it is also looking at tax breaks where possible.

4.3      Geeta Subramaniam-Mooney (Head of Crime Reduction and Supporting People) introduced the report for proposal ‘H1: Restructuring of enforcement & regulatory services’ to the Committee. The key points to note were:

§  The noise service as it exists currently is only available until Midnight Mon- Thurs and until 3am Friday – Sundays therefore the service is not able to tackle issues that arise outside of these hours.  It has never been a 24-hour service.

§  The Council is exploring how Registered Social Landlords (RSLs) and Lewisham homes can continue to support the services in all aspects of Anti-Social Behaviour (ASB)/ noise and housing.

§  In respect of business waste, officers in these service areas work closely with officers in other service areas where appropriate to jointly tackle issues and concerns related to trade waste/ non-compliance.

§  Option 3 is the preferred structure of the service, which will cluster specialist Environmental Protection provision and multi skilled public realm enforcement.

§  Staff consultation began on the 18 November 2014 with written responses being completed by the 9 January 2015.

§  There were many issues raised in the staff consultation, including: concerns over delivering what is being expected within the new roles and structure, concerns about the wide breadth of knowledge required; and concerns about the grading of posts and the process for application / eligibility for new posts under the management of change policy.

§  There would be continued engagement with staff and the Union representatives over the coming weeks.

4.4      In response to questions from the Committee, the following was noted:

§  In the proposed structure, enforcement in some areas of streets management, environmental services, planning and housing will remain outside its remit.

§  There are plans to organise service delivery by the four geographical clusters, but retaining flexibility to deploy staff wherever required.

§  High-risk and recurring noise nuisance complaints will be prioritised and investigated.

§  There will be a detailed communications strategy to inform the public of the changes in the relevant services, including information provided borough-wide in Lewisham Life.

§  Exploring options around outsourcing/buying in aspects of the provisions/ joint delivery with other Boroughs is in its early stages, looking at areas such as environmental protection and enforcement compliance.

4.5      Nigel Tyrell (Head of Environment) introduced the report for proposals ‘N1: Reorganise environmental services, close and cease to maintain a number of small parks and N2: Street sweeping’ to the Committee. The key points to note were:

§  Officers met with members of the Lewisham Parks Forum (LPF) on the 17th January to discuss the establishment of working groups to investigate the opportunities for increasing community involvement to help reduce costs.

§  Three working groups were established arising from the meeting to look at the following:

o   The current contract arrangements

o   external funding (both capital and revenue) to support volunteering activities as well as improvement projects

o   alternative management options for open spaces for example trusts and social enterprises

§  There will be a reduction in management support costs, following on from budget savings made in 2012.

§  In respect of street cleaning, it is difficult to mitigate the concerns the Committee have expressed previously about the reductions in service. The budget is now £6m in total, and therefore some scaling back of street cleaning in some aspects of street cleansing frequency.

4.6      In response to questions from the Committee, the following was noted:

§  One of the working groups would be looking at the maintenance of the borough’s parks to investigate ways to ensure they are properly maintained.

§  The risks associated with alternative management options should be considered as part of the consultation.

§  The Council achieved one its highest totals in respect of environmental waste enforcement using fixed penalty notices in December 2014. Also the management teams for the Markets and Waste Management have been reorganised, which should aid continued improvement in enforcement.

§  The Committee expressed a view that the consultation should be communicated more widely across the borough. Furthermore, there needs to be broader public engagement, beyond the proposed user groups.

§  The results of the consultation would be presented to the Committee for further scrutiny.

4.7      RESOLVED: That the Committee would refer to Public Accounts Select Committee the Budget Savings proposals N1 and N2:

a)     The consultation on N1 should be considered by all Local Assemblies, to increase public engagement.

b)     The results of the consultation on N1, plus any proposals derived from the consultation, must be presented to the Select Committee for consideration and scrutiny.

c)      There should be no closure of any of the borough’s parks.

d)     Local Assemblies should take the lead in coordinating action in these areas.