Agenda, decisions and minutes

Timothy Andrew (Scrutiny Manager) asked the Committee to confirm the outcome of the AGM on 27 March.

Resolved: that the outcome of the AGM on 27 March be agreed and that Councillor Maja Hilton be confirmed as the Chair of the Select Committee and that Councillor Chris Barnham be confirmed as Vice-Chair of the Committee.

1.1      Timothy Andrew (Scrutiny Manager) asked the Committee to confirm the outcome of the AGM on 27 March.

Resolved: that the outcome of the AGM on 27 March be agreed and that Councillor Maja Hilton be confirmed as the Chair of the Select Committee and that Councillor Chris Barnham be confirmed as Vice-Chair of the Committee.

Resolved: that the agreement of the minutes be postponed until sufficient members were present to confirm their accuracy.

1.1      There were not enough Members present at the meeting who were also in attendance at the meeting in March to confirm the minutes as an accurate record.

Resolved: that the agreement of the minutes be postponed until sufficient members are present to confirm their accuracy.

There were none.

There were none.

There were none.

Resolved: to note the report.

5.1      Barrie Neal (Head of Corporate Policy and Governance) introduced the report. The following key points were noted:

·         The management report had been considered by the Committee for a number of years on a quarterly basis, most often as an information item.

·         The purpose of the report was to serve as a management tool for the Council’s executive management team to keep a track of the performance in key areas.

·         The report was presented in four sections: performance, projects, risk and finance.

·         Over time, the number of performance indicators in the report had been streamlined down to 23.

·         At the front of the report the indicators were summarised, further detailed information about the indicators was included in the rest of the report.

·         The report used a red, amber, green (RAG) system of indicators - to highlight performance against targets. There was also a system of arrows and symbols that indicated the direction of travel of the different indicators.

·         There were currently (February 2017) five red rated areas for management attention.

·         There were two areas for management attention relating to performance in timely completion of education, health and care plans (EHCPs) for children and young people. Officers from the Children and Young People’s directorate were in attendance to provide further context about performance in this area.

5.2    Ann Wallace (Service Manager, Children with Complex Needs) and Louise Comely (Principal Educational Psychologist) addressed the Committee in relation to the Council’s performance in producing EHCPs:

·         There had been a significant change in the legislation relating to EHCPs, as well as issues with computer systems and levels of staffing in the team responsible for completing the plans. This had led to delays in completing the plans and a significant backlog of cases had also developed.

·         The most significant issue in relation to performance of EHCPs was the change in legislation (from September 2014), which had led to a substantial (30% on average) increase in the level of requests for plans each month.

·         EHCP statements were previously required for children who were referred from ages five to 18. The change in legislation meant that they were now required for children and young people referred to the Council from birth to age 25. This had markedly increased the workload of the service.

·         There had also been a significant lack of capacity in the workforce. Staffing levels had been increased but there was still a significant backlog of work and the team were dependant on agency staff to fill gaps in capacity. However, in September there would be new educational psychologists joining the team.

·         There had also been serious problems with the availability of key IT systems and access to Lewisham Council and Lewisham NHS networks. The new IT system was a real improvement.

·         There was a statutory deadline for the completion of EHCPs. However, the completion of each ECHP might require input from a broad range of health and social care professionals so meeting the legislative deadline (which had changed from 26 to 20 weeks) was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Resolved: to incorporate the changes requested by the Committee into the 2017-18 work programme; to consider alternative dates for the meetings scheduled to be held in June and July in order to take account of pre-election period restrictions; the scrutiny of the Lewisham future programme savings proposals and the intention to jointly scrutinise an item on school budgets with the children and young people’s select committee. It was also agreed that: a scoping report would be received, setting out possible key lines of enquiry for a ‘household budgets review’. Finally, the Committee agreed to move the usual start time of the meeting to 7:30pm.

6.1      The Committee discussed the work programme for 2017-18, the following key points were noted:

·         Officers would consider alternative dates for the Committee's next meeting in order to avoid the pre-election period and school holidays.

·         Meetings in the pre-election period tended to focus on the essential business of the Council.

·         The Committee's usual start time would be moved to 19:30 but this might be varied by the Chair on occasion in order to accommodate agendas that were very full.

·         The Lewisham future programme savings proposals would be considered at the Committee's meeting in July alongside the medium term financial strategy.

·         Items would need to be moved to accommodate the proper scrutiny of savings proposals.

·         The intention would be to consider the item on school budgets alongside the CYP select committee.

·         An update on income generation would be considered at the Committee's next meeting.

·         An item on PFIs would be considered as soon as possible.

·         The consultation on business rates and fair funding was not likely to be available until July.

6.2    The Committee also discussed the potential scope for its in-depth review:

·         There were proposals for reviews on private finance initiatives, income generating arms-length companies/investment vehicles, and the cost of living.

·         It was agreed that a scoping report would be produced for a review of household budgets in Lewisham. It was proposed that the scope included potential lines of enquiry about the following:

o   Pressures on households in Lewisham, including increases in the costs of transport; caring and essential items.

o   The impact of inflation and pay restraint on Lewisham households.

o   The varied impact of financial pressure on different demographics/households in Lewisham.

o   The impact of Council policy on different households.

·         It was proposed that the Committee would look at changes over a ten year period and, if possible, produce projections for the coming years, in order to inform Council policy.

·         It was noted that one of the difficulties was about the availability of Lewisham specific data at a micro level. It was highlighted that focusing issues at a micro level might produce lots of anomalies.

·         The Committee was mindful of the amount of time it had available to carry out the review.

·         It was noted that the Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee would consider a presentation from the Chief Executive on the impact of demographic changes in the borough.

Resolved: to incorporate the changes requested by the Committee into the 2017-18 work programme; to consider alternative dates for the meetings scheduled to be held in June and July in order to take account of pre-election period restrictions; the scrutiny of the Lewisham future programme savings proposals and the intention to jointly scrutinise an item on school budgets with the children and young people’s select committee. It was also agreed that: a scoping report would be received, setting out possible key lines of enquiry for a ‘household budgets review’. Finally, the Committee agreed to move the usual start time of the meeting to 7:30pm.

There were none.