Agenda item

Resolved: that the Committee refer its views to Mayor and Cabinet.

4.1    David Austin (Head of Corporate Resources) introduced the Lewisham Future Programme report. The following key points were noted:

·         The Council had made £138m of savings to its budget from 2010/11, which meant the whole savings programme was projected to save £200m to 2019/20.

·         Members had already agreed £17m of savings to be implemented in 2016/17.

·         A further £45m of savings would be needed in the three years to 2019/20, equivalent to £15m per year.

·         The Lewisham Future report brought forward £7m of specific savings proposals for 2017/18. A further £14m of proposals should be anticipated.

·         This still left a gap of £21m of savings to 2019/20.

·         The report also included an efficiency plan for the coming four years based on the Lewisham 2020 priorities.

·         It was as yet unclear what the change of government might mean for the local government finance settlement, due in November.

·         Social care was still the largest areas of spend, followed by leisure and environment. It was these areas that could produce the largest level of savings.

4.2       In the discussion that followed, the following key points were noted:

·         The Lewisham Future Programme board would be holding challenge sessions to look at the Council significant areas of spend.

·         Work was taking place to improve income generation and make services self-sustaining.

·         Work was also taking place to determine how the Council might make additional funds from the use of assets.

·         Work was also taking place to release funds from the leisure centre contract. The intention would be to make the contract self-financing.

·         The Council might need to develop its capacity and skills in certain areas in order to make the most of its assets.

·         In existing schemes, the Council has sometimes opted to buy-in expertise.

·         The planning services required an update to its technology in order to produce revenue. At present, it was hampered by outdated systems and lack of access to industry standard software.

·         Some parts of the changes to the enforcement service were not being implemented, other parts were taking time to come in to effect.

·         The next stage of the decision making process was for the Mayor to make a decision about the £7m of savings being proposed for the 2017/18 and to implement the £17m of savings already agreed for next year.

4.3      The Committee resolved to advise the Public Accounts Select Committee of the following:

·         The Committee recommends that action be taken to improve the IT used by the borough’s planning teams. Members recognise that planning officers could provide substantially improved services and make more efficient use of resources if the IT offer was brought up to industry standards.

·         The Committee recommends that the proposal to cut or reduce the assemblies fund be rejected.

·         The Committee would welcome further proposals about the potential to generate revenue from the use of the Council’s assets.

·         The Committee is concerned about the lack of information provided about the equalities dimension of a number of the savings proposals. It asks that officers pay close attention to areas in which there may be a cumulative negative impact on protected groups.