Agenda and minutes

Beckenham Place Park Regeneration Update

A briefing was tabled at the meeting to update Panel Members on progress following their request for officers to review the Council’s Lettings and Disposal Procedures. The Chair said he was pleased that this work was being done as it was necessary to ensure best practice was being followed.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the open meeting held on 28 November 2017 be confirmed as a correct record.

None reported.

Report noted.

Report noted.

Lewisham Future Programme 2018/19 Revenue Budget Savings

The Head of Corporate Resources introduced the report.

The Chair said as expected there was a large overspend which if not addressed could be an issue in future. He asked if plans had been put in place to tackle this.

Panel Members were informed that there was a predicted £30m overspend this year of which £7m has not yet been achieved, with additional savings of £10m to be made each year beyond 2020. Officers were expecting the consortium for fair funding to change things next year and a response was expected from the Council before March 2018.

Business Panel was also informed that officers were currently planning to achieve £33m savings by 2020, and believed the majority of the £7m savings for this year would be achieved, and £5m of savings was targeted to be made next year although this would leave the Council with a savings gap.

The Chair said there were a number of issues that were affecting the savings plan mainly the increasing cost of social care, and projected failures of the investment markets. He asked how the Council would address this. Panel Members were told that as part of the Council’s risk register officers were aware of these issues and were looking at the impact on services and the Council’s capacity was being monitored constantly. The Head of Corporate Resources said officers were also looking at fostering provision to ensure that dependency on private provision was reduced.

Councillor Johnston-Franklin said children social care would continue to be overspent and this area would need long term management and constant monitoring. The Head of Corporate Resources said officers were looking at medium term changes that would need to be made.

Councillor Mallory asked whether the Council would need to change its savings strategy as it had been difficult to achieve its projected savings to date. The Head of Corporate Resources said £17m projected savings was the worse case scenario, but officers were constantly monitoring the situation and the way the Council delivers services was constantly being reviewed and revised to ensure that savings were being made wherever possible. He added that all local authorities were in similar position. The Head of Corporate Resources said it was also likely that the new administration would prioritise different service provision.

Councillor Mallory said at this stage it was very important to prioritise income generation, and asked for an update of what had been achieved to date and if targets had been met. The Chair asked how officers intended to deal with the additional pressures of salary increase and Brexit.

The Head of Corporate Resources said officers would need to address this additional pressure and they would obtain advise on the effect of inflation, credit ratings, interest rates, and would keep assessing the situation, as things look very challenging for the future. The Chair said Panel Members would have to decide how they could influence the budget policy of the next Administration. He thanked officers  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

The Scrutiny Manager introduced the report and informed Panel Members that most of the Select Committees in-depth reviews had been completed except that of Healthier Communities, and Housing Select Committees.

Panel Members were informed that Parliament’s Communities and Local Government Select Committee had issued its report and recommendations arising from its review of overview and scrutiny. The main message of the report was that local government scrutiny plays an important role in ensuring accountability although sometimes there were barriers stopping scrutiny from being as effective as it could be.

The report suggested that parity of esteem between the executive and scrutiny was very important, as well as proper access to information and adequate resourcing. It also suggested that the scrutiny of commercial partners needed proper attention to ensure public accountability.

The Chair suggested that a response should be drafted adding that to improve Scrutiny’s submission, local as well as national issues should be included.

Councillor Muldoon informed Panel Members that the Chair of Public Scrutiny’s report has been published. The Chair thanked Scrutiny officers for all their hard work during the past year, despite the difficult times.

Noted.

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Meeting ended 8.30pm                          Chair ……………….