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Having considered an earlier debate at Council, and a formal presentation by

the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Alan Smith, the Cabinet agreed that:

 

(1) an independent Inquiry be established to investigate matters related to the

Council’s proposed compulsory purchase order of land at New

Bermondsey/Surrey Canal;

 

(2) the terms of reference for the Inquiry as set out in paragraph 5 be

approved;

 

(3) the Chair of the Bar Council be approached to appoint a QC who meets

the criteria set out in paragraph 6 to conduct the Inquiry and, if he is unable

to make such an appointment, to nominate an alternative intermediary with an

equal level of probity and independence;

 

(4) expenditure of up to £500,000 be approved for the conduct of this Inquiry;

 

(5) the Executive Director for Children and Young People be the Council’s

officer lead in relation to the establishment and conduct of the Inquiry;

 

(6) a cross party New Bermondsey/Surrey Canal Inquiry Committee be

established comprising four majority group members and the minority party

member to receive the report of the Inquiry, to receive periodic reports on

progress, expenditure incurred and to make recommendations to full Council

and Mayor and Cabinet for any action arising from the Inquiry; and

 

(7) if, in the course of the investigation, the person conducting the Inquiry is of

the view that there are any other matters which ought to be explored in the

context of the Inquiry, they should investigate those matters and report on

them to the Council.

The Mayor declared a prejudicial interest as a former Director of the Surrey

Canal Sports Foundation and withdrew from the meeting while the agenda

was considered.

None.

Having considered an open officer report, and a presentation from the Cabinet

Member for Resources, Councillor Kevin Bonavia, Mayor and Cabinet

(Contracts) agreed that the amendments to the Council’s terms and

conditions, the Invitation to Tender and the Council’s Sustainable

Procurement Code of Practice, as set out at paragraphs 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3, be

approved.

None.

Having considered an officer report, and a presentation by the Cabinet

Member for Resources, Councillor Kevin Bonavia, the Mayor agreed

that:

 

(1) Council be recommended to agree a Band D Council Tax for 2017/18 of

£1,157.68 for the Council’s element. This is an increase of 4.99% (including a

social care precept of 3%), based on a General Fund Budget Requirement of

£232.746m for 2017/18;

 

(2) Council be asked to note an overall increase in the total Council Tax for

2017/18 of 4.28% to include the Greater London Authority (GLA) precept

being increased by £4.02 to £280.02 (Band D equivalent), a 1.46% increase

from its 2016/17 level as proposed;

 

(3) Council be recommended to agree on 22 February 2017, the statutory

calculation of the Budget Requirement for Lewisham for 2017/18, attached at

Appendix A;

 

(4) Council be recommended to agree on 22 February 2017, the motion on

the budget, attached at Appendix B, including modifications made to the

proposals published in the 2017/18 Budget Report;

 

(5) the provisional and estimated precept and levies from the GLA and other

bodies as detailed in Appendix C be noted and authority be delegated to the

Executive Director for Resources and Regeneration to include any changes to

these in the report for Council;

 

(6) the final settlement figure for 2017/18 is yet to be announced, and is now

expected in the week commencing the 20 February;

 

(7) there were no responses from Business rate payers to the consultation on

the draft Budget which took place from 20 January 2017 to 3 February 2017;

 

(8) the Section 25 Statement from the Chief Financial Officer, attached at

Appendix D be received;

 

(9) the Q11 savings proposal in respect of Meliot Road, as attached at

Appendix E, be approved.

Having considered an officer report and a formal presentation by the Cabinet

Member for Children & Young People, Councillor Paul Maslin, the Mayor

agreed that the following person be nominated as a School Governor for the

school shown.

 

Levin Wheller           Torridon Infants School

Having considered the Select Committee’s report, the Mayor agreed that the

views of the Select Committee as set out be received and the Executive

Director for Community Services be asked to prepare a response for Mayoral

consideration.

Having considered an officer report and a presentation by the Cabinet

Member for Children & Young People, Councillor Paul Maslin, the Mayor

agreed that the response prepared by the Executive Director for Children &

Young People be approved and reported to the Children & Young People

Select Committee.

Having considered an officer report and a presentation by the Cabinet

Member for the Public Realm, Councillor Rachel Onikosi, the Mayor agreed

that the response prepared by the Executive Director for Community Services

be approved and reported to the Sustainable Development Select Committee.

Animal Welfare Charter

 

Following discussion at the Overview and Scrutiny Business Panel on

February 14, Panel Members welcomed the updated Charter, and agreed to

make the following comments to Mayor and Cabinet:

 

i. The Business Panel believe that the fact that this policy was not reviewed

for many years shows that the Council should have a policy tracking system in

place to ensure timely and regular reviews of all policies.

 

The Mayor said given recent improvements to IT he would have a valid

expectation to use technology to track policies

 

ii. Whilst welcoming the new Animal Welfare policy the Business Panel would

like officers to explore signing up Council partners, particularly Lewisham

Homes and RSL.

 

The Mayor said it made perfect sense to contact other landlords and he

thanked officers for the work done so far in promoting the Animal Welfare

Charter.

 

None.

The Mayor noted the Housing Action Zones response was now scheduled for

March.

None.

The Committee heard evidence from Dr Frances Rice, Senior Lecturer at Cardiff University and co-author of the School Transition and Adjustment Research Study (STARS).

 

She highlighted that the pastoral and academic aspects of school are linked and therefore support during the transition process is beneficial to both. The study found that how transition activities were carried out was more important than what was done.

 

A discussion followed in which the following was noted:

·         There was no clear evidence either way to suggest whether transition would be better at 11 or 13. The research was clear, however, that fewer transitions led to better academic outcomes

·         The all-through school model could potentially be beneficial to pupils

·         Pastoral needs must be met in order to achieve academic success, but the Chief Inspector of Schools had said there was too much emphasis on pastoral support at the cost of academic learning.

The Chair thanked Dr Rice for her participation.

 

The Chair invited Members that had been on the recent visits to local primary and secondary schools to present their key findings.

 

The following was noted:

·         The level of contact between primary and secondary staff was good

·         Primary school children were anxious about what secondary school children are like. One school takes Year 7 pupils to visit Year 6 children which Members felt was beneficial for the primary children to dispel the myths and for the secondary children as a skills building exercise

·         There is a huge time burden in dealing with transition, with primary schools wanting secondary schools to do more. Schools had a difficult task in balancing classroom teaching with transition. Schools were concerned about budget pressures impacting on their capacity to support transition.

·         Prompt exchange of information from primary to secondary, in a standard format and on time, was necessary but not always happening

·         Primary children were fearful of secondary children but with good support that fear quickly evaporated and rarely materialised

·         The most talented children were going out of borough for secondary school. Lewisham needed to offer a high standard of secondary education to stop this from happening.

·         The visits had revealed a lot of anxiety among both Y6 and Y7 children around the journey to and from school, which was a particular concern for children facing long journeys, often without local friends to travel with. This was particularly so for children travelling longer distance, for example to grammar school

·         Members had been impressed that children between the ages of 10 and 12 had such clear ideas about their life and career plans

·         Children considered community links an important factor in their school choice, such as being at the same school as cousins and other family members

·         Thought was to be given to whether specific responsibility for transition should fall to a nominated school governor

·         Thought was also to be given to whether Pupil Premium could be specifically allocated to transition work.

Officers informed the Committee that the back page advert of Lewisham Life would now be used to advertise Lewisham schools.

 

Jackie Jones, Service Manager – School Improvement, provided an update on the Transition Working Group (TWG) which had met earlier in the day. Key points to note were:

 

·         Officers advised that to the draft Pupil Information Form the TWG proposed to add:

o   Language spoken at home

o   Secondary school the child is going to

o   How they like to learn

o   Embolden “if possible” so as to avoid raising hopes

·         It was also planned to change the order of questions so “what are you looking forward to at secondary school?” came ahead of “what worries do you have”.

·          The TWG had ascertained that the best time for Y6 to complete the leaflet was just before the May half term once SATS were completed as this was when primary schools tended to turn their focus to transition.

·         Secondary schools would benefit from receiving the leaflets ahead of the Induction Day in July.

·         The self-evaluation document had not been tested as there was a reluctance among secondary schools to engage given the size of the task. Work would continue to get secondary schools to test the document.

·         Consideration was being given to creating an additional day, along the lines of the SEN day in March, for Children in Need (CIN) and children subject to a Care Order.

·         The purpose of the day would be to enhance information sharing.

Officers were pleased to inform the Committee that there had been an approach made by the Globe Theatre to run a free transition activity around A Midsummer Night’s Dream for one Lewisham secondary and primary school.

 

RESOLVED: that the evidence of Dr Rice and Jackie Jones and the contents of the report be noted.

 

Having considered an officer report, and a presentation by the Cabinet

Member for Resources, Councillor Kevin Bonavia, the Mayor agreed

that the Pay Policy Statement be reported to the Council.

Having considered an officer report, and presentation by the Cabinet

Member for Resources, Councillor Kevin Bonavia, and the Chair of the

Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Alan Hall, the Mayor agreed

that:

 

(1) note be taken that no comments were offered by the Public Accounts

Select Committee of 25 January 2017.

 

(2) having considered the views of those consulted on the budget, and subject

to consideration of the outcome of consultation with business ratepayers, and

subject to proper process and consultation, as required, the Mayor:

           

Capital Programme

 

(3) Council be asked to note the 2016/17 Quarter 3 Capital Programme

monitoring position and the Capital Programme potential future schemes and

resources as set out in section 5;

 

(4) Council be recommended to approve the 2017/18 to 2020/21 Capital

Programme of £336.6m, as set out in section 5 and at Appendices W1 and

W2;

 

(5) Council be recommended to write-off debt totalling £282,759.34 related to

Building Control works at the former Hatcham Temple Grove School as at

Appendix W3;

 

Housing Revenue Account

 

(6) Council be asked to note the consultation report on service charges to

tenants’ and leaseholders in the Brockley area, presented to area panel

members on 13 December 2016, as at Appendix X2;

 

(7) Council be asked to note the consultation report on service charges to

tenants’ and leaseholders and the Lewisham Homes budget strategy

presented to area panel members on 15 December 2016, as at Appendix X3;

 

(8) Council be asked to set a decrease in dwelling rents of 1.0% (an average

of £0.97 per week) – as per the requirements from government as presented

in section 6;

 

(9) Council be recommended to set a decrease in the hostels accommodation

charge by 1.0% (or £0.35 per week), in accordance with Government

requirements;

 

(10) the following average weekly increases/decreases be approved for

dwellings for:

 

service charges to non-Lewisham Homes managed dwellings (Brockley);

•           caretaking                 3.00% (£0.13)

•           grounds                     3.00% (£0.06)

•           communal lighting   3.00% (£0.02)

•           bulk waste collection3.00% (£0.04)

•           window cleaning     3.00% (£0.01)

•           tenants’ levy             no change

 

service charges to Lewisham Homes managed dwellings:

•           caretaking                 1.99% (£0.12)

•           grounds                     0.69% (£0.01)

•           window cleaning     no change

•           communal lighting   3.33% (£0.04)

•           block pest control     1.88% (£0.03)

•           waste collection       -4.17% (-£0.02)

•           heating & hot waterno change

•           tenants’ levy             no change

•           bulk waste disposal-5.00% (-£0.04)

•           sheltered housing   1.00% (£0.24)

 

(11)     the following average weekly percentage changes for hostels and

shared temporary units be approved for;

•           service charges (hostels) – caretaking etc.; 2.00% (£1.42)

•           energy cost increases for heat, light & power; 8.93% (£0.49)

•           water charges increase; 5.56% (£0.01)

 

(12) an increase in garage rents be approved by Retail Price Inflation (RPI) of

2.00% (£0.23 per week) for Brockley residents and 2.00% (£0.23 per week)

for Lewisham Homes residents;

 

(13) Council be asked to note that the budgeted expenditure for the Housing

Revenue Account (HRA) for 2017/18 is £159.8m which includes the capital

and new build programmes;

 

(14) Council be asked to endorse the HRA budget strategy savings proposals

in order to achieve a balanced budget in 2017/18, as attached at Appendix

X1;

 

Dedicated Schools Grant and Pupil Premium

 

(15) Council be asked to agree, subject to final confirmation of the allocation,

that the provisional Dedicated Schools Grant allocation of £290.7m be the

Schools’ Budget for 2017/18 and notes and asks Council to:

 

•           note the proposed fair funding formula consultation on both the schools

            block and high needs block

•           note the position on the early years block

•           note the position on the schools block

•           agree that a PFI factor should be introduced to the schools funding

            formula for Lewisham.

•           note the latest financial position in schools

•           note the likely future cost pressures on schools

•           note the estimated pupil premium of £16.0m

•           note the position on the Education Services Grant

 

General Fund Revenue Budget

 

(16) Council be asked to note the projected overall variance against the

agreed 2016/17 revenue budget of £11.6m as set out in section 8 of this

report and that any year-end overspend will have to be met from reserves;

 

(17) Council be asked to agree officers’ recommendation to opt in to the

Public Sector Audit Appointments (PSAA) process to appoint an auditor for

the 2018/19 financial year;

 

(18) Council be asked to endorse the previously approved revenue budget

savings of £16.2m for 2017/18 and budget savings proposals of £6m as per

the Mayor and Cabinet meeting of the 28 September 2016, as set out in

section 8 and summarised in Appendix Y1 and Y2;

 

(19) Council be asked to agree the transfer of £5.0m in 2017/18 from the New

Homes Bonus reserve to the General Fund for one year to meet funding

shortfalls and that the position be reviewed again for 2018/19;

 

(20) Council be asked to agree the use of £0.027m reserves to meet the

budget gap in 2017/18;

 

(21) Council be asked to agree the remaining £2.75m of unallocated

corporate risk and pressures monies in 2016/17 be transferred to Adult Social

Care budgets from 2017/18;

 

(22) Council be asked to agree to a saving of £1.0m per year for three years

from 2017/18 (£3m in total) from the reduction of the corporate risks and

pressures budget to £6.5m;

 

(23) Council be asked to note that £0.75m of the 2016/17 risk and pressures

monies allocated to Directorate budgets is no longer required and is to be

recovered corporately and re-allocated in 2017/18, in addition to the £6.5m

above;

 

(24) Council be asked to agree the allocation of £5.12m in 2017/18 to fund

quantified budget pressures from the £7.25m (£6.5m plus £0.75m) set aside

for corporate risks and pressures;

 

(25) Council be asked to agree to create a fund in respect of the identified but

as yet un-quantified revenue budget risks in the sum of £2.13m in 2017/18

(the balance of budget for corporate risks and pressures), allowing the

Executive Director for Resources & Regeneration to hold these resources

corporately in case these pressures emerge during the year, and authorises

the Executive Director for Resources and Regeneration to allocate these

funds to meet such pressures when satisfied that those pressures cannot be

contained within the Directorates’ cash limit;

 

(26) Council be recommended to agree that a General Fund Budget

Requirement of £232.746m for 2017/18 be approved, based on a 4.99%

increase in Lewisham’s Council Tax element. This will result in a Band D

equivalent Council Tax level of £1,157.68 for Lewisham’s services and

£1,437.70 overall. This represents an overall increase in Council Tax for

2017/18 of 4.28% and is subject to the GLA precept for 2017/18 being

increased by £4.02 (i.e. 1.5%) from £276.00 to £280.02, in line with the GLA’s

draft proposal;

 

(27) Council be asked to note the Council Tax Ready Reckoner which for

illustrative purposes sets out the Band D equivalent Council Tax at various

levels of increase, as explained in section 8 and set out in more detail in

Appendix Y3;

 

(28) the Executive Director for Resources & Regeneration be asked to issue

cash limits to all Directorates once the 2017/18 Revenue Budget is agreed;

 

(29) the Chief Financial Officer’s Section 25 Statement be presented in the

Budget Update Report on the 15 February 2017 for approval;

 

(30) Council be asked to agree the draft statutory calculations for 2017/18 as

set out at Appendix Y5;

 

(31) Council be asked to note the prospects for the revenue budget for

2018/19 and future years as set out in section 9;

 

(32)3 officers continue to develop firm proposals and bring them forward as

soon as possible as part of the Lewisham Future Programme to help meet the

future forecast budget shortfalls;

 

(33) Council be asked to agree the use of up to £10.6m of once off corporate

resources for transformation projects as set out in the report and at Appendix

Y7 (£2.2m in 2016/17 and £8.4m in 2017/18 and future years).

 

            Other Grants (within the General Fund)

 

(34) Council be asked to note the adjustments to and impact of various

specific grants for 2017/18 on the General Fund as set out in section 8;

 

            Treasury Management Strategy

 

(35) Council be recommended to approve the prudential indicators and

treasury limits, as set out in section 10 of this report;

 

(36) Council be recommended to approves the 2017/18 treasury strategy,

including the authority to undertake debt restructuring and to invest for longer

than one year in non-specified property investments (namely, pooled property

funds and AAA Residential Mortgage Backed Securities), along with the

investment strategy and the credit worthiness policy as set out at Appendix

Z3;

 

(37) Council be recommended to approve the revised Minimum Revenue

Provision (MRP) policy which confirms the asset life approach adopted in

2016/17 and adds an option to waive the MRP charge on borrowing where

sufficient collateral and security is held against the relevant borrowing, as set

out in section 10;

 

(38) Council be recommended to agree to delegate to the Executive Director

for Resources & Regeneration authority during 2017/18 to make amendments

to borrowing and investment limits provided they are consistent with the

strategy and there is no change to the Council’s authorised limit for borrowing;

 

(39) Council be recommended to approve the credit and counterparty risk

management criteria, as set out at Appendix Z3, the proposed countries for

investment at Appendix Z4, and that it formally delegates responsibility for

managing transactions with those institutions which meet the criteria to the

Executive Director for Resources & Regeneration; and

 

(40) Council be recommended to approve a minimum sovereign rating of AA-.

Having considered an officer report, and a presentation by the Cabinet

Member for Resources, Councillor Kevin Bonavia, the Mayor agreed that:

 

(1)  plans for the ICT Shared Service with Brent to be extended to cover the

London Borough of Southwark be approved and a further report be brought

back to the Mayor in June 2017 for formal approval subject to the outcome of

the due diligence exercise;

 

(2) the delegation from Southwark Council to Brent (as the primary host

authority in the shared service) for the delivery of ICT service be noted and a

further report be brought to the Mayor in June 2017 to determine whether this

arrangement should be included within the Shared Service subject to the

outcome of the due diligence exercise;

 

(3) a Memorandum of Understanding be entered into with the London

Borough of Southwark and London Borough of Brent as set out;

 

(4) an interim inter-authority agreement be entered into between the 3

boroughs to cover arrangements until a formal decision is made whether to

proceed with a 3 Council Shared Service and authority be delegated to the

Executive Director for Customer Services to agree the terms of the interim

inter-authority agreement on the advice of the Head of Law;

 

(5) interim governance arrangements based on a shared joint partnership

board to include representatives of Brent, Lewisham and Southwark working

on an equal basis be approved;

 

(7) note be taken that Brent and Southwark officers are presenting reports to

their respective Cabinets in relation to this delegation and possible future

shared service.

Having considered the Select Committee’s report, the Mayor agreed that the

views of the Select Committee as set out be received and the Executive

Director for Resources and Regeneration be asked to prepare a response for

Mayoral consideration.

Having considered the Select Committee’s report, the Mayor agreed that the

views of the Select Committee as set out be received and the Executive

Director for Resources and Regeneration be asked to prepare a response for

Mayoral consideration.

Approved.

Having considered an officer report, the Mayor agreed that:

 

(1) the nursery, primary, secondary and sixth form admissions arrangements

for Lewisham’s community mainstream schools as set out be approved

 

(2) the Pan London Admissions Schemes for reception and secondary

transfer and a local scheme for in year admissions as detailed be approved;

and

 

            Having considered an officer report, the Cabinet agreed that:

 

(3) there should not be a reduction to Forster Park Primary School’s PAN but

that the school should be supported to recruit and retain more pupils.

The Mayor declared a prejudicial interest in Item 4 (1.1) as a Trustee of the

Surrey Canal Sports Foundation and he withdrew from the meeting during

consideration of that item.

 

The Mayor declared a prejudicial interest in Item 8 (3.3) as his wife is Chair of

Governors at Forster Park Primary School and and he withdrew from the

meeting during consideration of that item.

Having considered an officer report and a presentation by the Cabinet

Member for the Public Realm, Councillor Rachel Onikosi, the Mayor agreed

that:

 

(1) progress made to date be noted;

 

(2) the operational implications for the new service be noted;

 

(3) the proposed timetable for implementing the new services be approved;

and

 

(4) service policies be approved.

Having considered an officer report and a presentation by the Cabinet

Member for the Public Realm, Councillor Rachel Onikosi, the Mayor agreed

that:

 

(1) the results of the Animal Welfare Charter consultation be noted;

 

(2) the Animal Welfare Charter be approved and adopted.

Agreed.

One item had slipped since the last report.

NEW BERMONDSEY CPO

 

The points raised by the Business Panel and the responses agreed by the

Cabinet were as follows:

 

(i)            To ask officers to respond to correspondence from Eversheds and

Shoosmiths.

 

Officers have responded to these letters.

(ii)          To ask officers to ensure that all Housing Action Zone bid

documents are made available to Scrutiny members, and a

redacted copy made available to the public.

 

A redacted copy can be viewed here.

https://files.acrobat.com/a/preview/1934fab3-ee61-4701-bef6-08382209f496

 

Renewal have agreed that members may have access to an unredacted copy.

It was intended that this be available to members on a confidential basis when

it is relied on as a background document in the report concerning the

Memorandum of Understanding relating to the Housing Action Zone.

Unredacted copies are available for inspection by all members on a

confidential basis in Legal Services. Anyone wishing to view them should

contact Siobhan Da Costa in Legal Services ext 49276

(iii)         To ask officers to ensure that the Section 106 Agreement is

reviewed by members of the Strategic Planning Committee

It is officers’ understanding that this request related to amendments arising

out of the fact that the Housing Action Zone funding of £20 million is no longer

to comprise solely of loan funding.  Instead £12 million of this funding is to be

by way of grant. Officers can reassure members that any changes to the

Section 106 agreement would not be taken by officers but referred to

Strategic Planning Committee for decision.

 

(iv)         Notes that the Business Panel remains unconvinced by the

reported results of the investigation into the Lambert Smith

Hampton documents.

 

Officers note the views of the Business Panel.  All of the documents which

were supplied to the Council in relation to this matter are available for

inspection by any member on a confidential basis in Legal Services. Anyone

wishing to view them should contact Siobhan Da Costa in Legal Services

02083149276

 

In respect of the following issue raised by the Business Panel, the response

agreed by the Mayor was as follows:

 

Though not part of the matters resolved at Overview and Scrutiny Business

Panel on 31 January 2017, the draft minutes state that the Business Panel

believed that the independent inquiry and its terms of reference should be

overseen by full Council.  It is intended that a report on the establishment of

the external investigation will be submitted to the Council at its meeting on 22

February 2017.  Once the investigation is complete, the outcome will be

reported to full Council and made public.

Having considered an open officer report, and a presentation from the Cabinet

Member for the Third Sector, Councillor Joan Millbank, Mayor and Cabinet

(Contracts) agreed the response prepared by the Executive Director for

Community Services be approved and reported to the Safer Stronger

Communities Select Committee.

Approved.

None.

Approved.

None.

None to report.