Agenda item

Having considered an officer report and additional tabled legal implications,

and presentations by the Cabinet Member for Resources, Councillor Kevin

Bonavia, the Chair of Overview & Scrutiny and by the UNITE rep at Lewisham

CAMHS, the Mayor agreed that:

 

(i) the areas of anticipated savings for the period 2017/18 to 2019/20 as set

out be noted;

 

(ii) the comments of the Public Accounts Select Committee on the 22

September 2016, which incorporates the views of the respective Select

Committees be received and responded to as shown below;

 

(iii) the actions listed below for each saving totalling £5.99m in 2017-18 be

agreed for the detailed proposals in Appendices i to vi

 

A18a               Consultation and Monitoring required and report to Healthier

                        Communities SC prior to returning to Mayor & Cabinet.

A18b               Consultation not required.

A19;                Delegated to Officers but Monitoring required.

A20;                Consultation not required.

A21 a & b       Consultation not required.

B3                   Consultation not required.

E6;                  Consultation not required.

E7                   Consultation not required.

I11 a & b        Consultation not required.

L8;                   Comments from Select Committee accepted with new contracts

                        to reflect Council values and the London Living wage.

L9;                   Saving not taken and Officers asked to review outputs and what

value has been produced by each Assembly.

L10                 Consultation not required.

M3                   Consultation not required.

M4;                  Consultation not required.

M5;                  Consultation not required.

M6;                  Housing Select Committee to see full report prior to Mayor &

                        Cabinet consideration

M7 a & b        Consultation not required.

Q6 a to f;        CYP Select Committee to receive monitoring information after

                        implementation

Q7 a & b;        Monitoring by Select Committee to take place and no further

                        savings to be required from this area in the next two

Q8;                  Consultation not required.

Q9;                  Consultation not required.

Q10;                CYP Select Committee to receive monitoring information after

                        implementation

Q11 a             CYP Select Committee to see full report prior to Mayor &

                        Cabinet consideration

Q11 b             CYP Select Committee to see full report prior to Mayor &

                        Cabinet consideration

 

(iv) officers be authorised to carry out consultation where public/stakeholder

consultation is necessary in relation to the proposal and that officers bring a

full report to Mayor & Cabinet at the earliest opportunity;

 

(v) officers be authorised to carry out consultation where staff consultation is

necessary in relation to the proposal and delegate the decision to the

relevant Executive Director for the service concerned;

 

(vi) where no consultation is required, the saving proposal be approved, or the

decision be delegated to the relevant Executive Director for the service

concerned;

 

(vii) officers be requested to complete further work to clarify the proposal and re submit the saving proposal at the earliest opportunity;

 

(viii) the work in hand for savings B3 (see 9.13) and M3 (see 9.44) totalling

£0.6m be noted and the work of officers to deliver these savings be endorsed;

 

(ix) the decisions at Mayor and Cabinet meetings on the 12 November 2014

and 30 September 2015 be noted and the previously agreed savings of

£17.4m for 2017/18 be approved;

 

(x) the update on progress in relation to Public Health savings be noted;

 

(xi) the draft efficiency plan be approved to enable the Council to accept the

four year settlement offer in respect of Revenue Support Grant for the

years 2016/17 to 2019/20; and

 

(xii) the following additional responses be made to the Sustainable

Development Select Committee;

 

(a) Officers asked to review IT used by Planning and report back to the Select

Committee;

(b) Officers be asked to continue work seeking to generate income from

Council assets;

(c) Officers be asked to report back immediately if examples of cumulative

negative impact resulting from savings proposals are discovered.

The report was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Resources, Councillor

Kevin Bonavia who noted additional legal implications on the savings

proposals had been tabled at the meeting. Councillor Bonavia stated the

current government was intent on making incessant budget reductions until at

least 2020 and he thought it likely that all the services the Council offered

would see an impact. He pointed out the legal duty to agree a balanced

budget had been reinforced by the Labour Party Annual Conference which

had voted to make it mandatory for all Labour Party Councillors to adhere to

the requirement to set balanced budgets.

 

The Executive Director for Resources and Regeneration’s representative

reported on the scrutiny which had been undertaken in respect of the savings

proposals and observed that even if all the proposals currently before the

Mayor were agreed there would still be a significant shortfall that would have

to be bridged in order to set another balanced budget.

 

Councillor Alan Hall, Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, reported

the savings proposals had been closely examined by each of the Select

Committtees. He referred the Mayor to the compilation referral prepared by

the Public Accounts Select Committee on behalf of all the Select Committees

and he noted that there were a number of requests for either further

consideration or ongoing monitoring on various of the proposals.

 

The Mayor considered each of the savings individually and reached the

decisions shown below having regard to the written views of the Public

Accounts Select Committee. In regard to savings Q7a & Q7b the Mayor was

addressed by Maggie Palmer, the Lewisham CAMHS UNITE representative.

She outlined the role, responsibilities and heavy caseload of CAMHS, a

service which had been praised by the Department of Health. She urged the

Mayor to use what she perceived to be the Council’s enormous reserves to

prevent any cuts in the service she represented. The Executive Director for

Resources and Regeneration’s representative pointed out the Council only

held £13M in unallocated reserves and that it would be prudent to maintain

these in case of unexpected catastrophes.

 

The Mayor stated he had no doubts about the value of mental health services

and he sought further clarification on the impact of the proposed reduction

from the Executive Director for Children and Young People’s representative

who reported the rigourous application of eligibility criteria would ensure

children with complex needs received attention while those who were not

eligible for the service would no longer access this service.

 

The Mayor stressed his high regard for the quality and significance of the

CAMHS service set in the context of the Council’s overall budgetary position.

In taking the saving he accepted the Select Committee’s request for regular

monitoring and indicated that he would not expect CAMHS to be revisited for

savings contributions in the next two annual budget rounds.

 

The Mayor also addressed additional recommendations offered by the

Sustainable Development Select Committee. He firstly accepted the

suggestion that the Borough’s Planning teams should use improved IT.

Secondly he agreed efforts should continue to explore the potential to

generate revenue from the use of the Council’s assets. Finally the Mayor

noted the Select Committee’s concerns on the equalities dimension of a

number of the savings proposals and he asked officers to pay close attention

to areas in which there could be a cumulative negative impact on protected

groups.

 

The Mayor concluded by formally endorsing the draft efficiency plan to enable

the Council to accept the four year settlement offer in respect of Revenue

Support Grant for the years 2016/17 to 2019/20.

 

Having considered an officer report and additional tabled legal implications,

and presentations by the Cabinet Member for Resources, Councillor Kevin

Bonavia, the Chair of Overview & Scrutiny, Councillor Alan Hall and by the

UNITE rep at Lewisham CAMHS, Maggie Palmer, the Mayor, for the reasons

set out in the report:

 

RESOLVED that:

 

(i) the areas of anticipated savings for the period 2017/18 to 2019/20 as set

out be noted;

 

(ii) the comments of the Public Accounts Select Committee on the 22

September 2016, which incorporates the views of the respective Select

Committees be received and responded to as shown below;

 

(iii) the actions listed below for each saving totalling £5.99m in 2017-18 be

agreed for the detailed proposals in Appendices i to vi

 

A18a               Consultation and Monitoring required and report to Healthier

                        Communities SC prior to returning to Mayor & Cabinet.

A18b               Consultation not required.

A19;                Delegated to Officers but Monitoring required.

A20;                Consultation not required.

A21 a & b       Consultation not required.

B3                   Consultation not required.

E6;                  Consultation not required.

E7                   Consultation not required.

I11 a & b        Consultation not required.

L8;                   Comments from Select Committee accepted with new contracts

                        to reflect Council values and the London Living wage.

L9;                   Saving not taken and Officers asked to review outputs and what

value has been produced by each Assembly.

L10                 Consultation not required.

M3                   Consultation not required.

M4;                  Consultation not required.

M5;                  Consultation not required.

M6;                  Housing Select Committee to see full report prior to Mayor &

                        Cabinet consideration

M7 a & b        Consultation not required.

Q6 a to f;        CYP Select Committee to receive monitoring information after

                        implementation

Q7 a & b;        Monitoring by Select Committee to take place and no further

                        savings to be required from this area in the next two years

Q8;                  Consultation not required.

Q9;                  Consultation not required.

Q10;                CYP Select Committee to receive monitoring information after

                        implementation

Q11 a             CYP Select Committee to see full report prior to Mayor &

                        Cabinet consideration

Q11 b             CYP Select Committee to see full report prior to Mayor &

                        Cabinet consideration

 

(iv) officers be authorised to carry out consultation where public/stakeholder

consultation is necessary in relation to the proposal and that officers bring a

full report to Mayor & Cabinet at the earliest opportunity;

 

(v) officers be authorised to carry out consultation where staff consultation is

necessary in relation to the proposal and delegate the decision to the

relevant Executive Director for the service concerned;

 

(vi) where no consultation is required, the saving proposal be approved, or the

decision be delegated to the relevant Executive Director for the service

concerned;

 

(vii) officers be requested to complete further work to clarify the proposal and

re submit the saving proposal at the earliest opportunity;

 

(viii) the work in hand for savings B3 (see 9.13) and M3 (see 9.44) totalling

£0.6m be noted and the work of officers to deliver these savings be endorsed;

 

(ix) the decisions at Mayor and Cabinet meetings on the 12 November 2014

and 30 September 2015 be noted and the previously agreed savings of

£17.4m for 2017/18 be approved;

 

(x) the update on progress in relation to Public Health savings be noted;

 

(xi) the draft efficiency plan be approved to enable the Council to accept the

four year settlement offer in respect of Revenue Support Grant for the

years 2016/17 to 2019/20; and

 

(xii) the following additional responses be made to the Sustainable

Development Select Committee;

 

(a) Officers asked to review IT used by Planning and report back to the Select

Committee;

(b) Officers be asked to continue work seeking to generate income from

Council assets;

(c) Officers be asked to report back immediately if examples of cumulative

negative impact resulting from savings proposals are discovered.