Agenda and minutes

Councillors Susan Wise and James Rathbone declared personal non

pecuniary interests in Item 7 as Directors of Lewisham Homes.

Councillor Silvana Kelleher declared a personal non

pecuniary interest in Item 7 as a tenant of Lewisham Homes.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on January 19 2022 be

confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Councillor Joan Millbank presented a petition bearing 371 names calling for

improved street lighting in the Lower Kitto Road/Hathway Place area, the

main walkway through to Telegraph Hill from Nunhead Station.

Ukraine

The Mayor reported on efforts being made locally to collect humanitarian aid

for delivery to the Ukraine. The Polish centre in Forest Hill was a collection

point and already more than four tonnes of supplies had been received.

Obituary

Councillor Joan Millbank reported the death of community activist Paul Moore.

He had a long record of dedication to the Trade Union movement and to the

Labour Party.

All present observed a minute of silence in memory of Paul Moore.

International Women’s Day

Councillor Brenda Dacres reported on the theme for International Women’s

Day which was due to take place on March 8.

Ellie Scotney

The Speaker recorded the congratulations of the Council to local boxer Ellie

Scotney.

Mayor’s Recognition Award

The Mayor presented the second ever Recognition Award to Lesley Allen to

mark the significant contributions she had made with ‘Bring me Sunshine’ and

the Diamond Club.

Lesley Allen, in accepting the award, detailed her 36 years of working with

older people and pledged to keep working to ensure older people remained

high on the policy agenda.

Borough of Culture Poetry Creative Challenge

Councillor Brenda Dacres introduced Ryan Robertson, an apprentice based at

the Wearside Depot who read out the poem For Wearside, by Jacob Sam La

Rose.

61 questions were received from members of the public which were

answered by the Cabinet Member indicated. Thirty minutes were made

available at the meeting for questioners to raise supplementary questions.

A copy of the questions and answers was circulated separately and can be

viewed on the Council website with the meeting papers.

26 questions were received from Councillors which were answered by the

Cabinet Members and Chair of the Pensions Investment Committee, as

indicated. A copy of the questions and answers was circulated separately and

can be viewed on the Council’s website with the meeting papers.

The Budget proposals were introduced by the Mayor who pointed out that in

the four years of his administration and in the eight years prior to that, cuts

budgets had been presented. During those twelve years the Council’s budget

had been slashed from £400m to now £248m and staff numbers had shrunk

from 4,000 to 2,500. Year on year financial settlements from the Government

hampered effective long term planning

He paid particular thanks to Councillor De Ryk and to the Executive Director

for Corporate Resources and her senior staff for their help throughout the

budget setting process. He also noted this would be the last budget meeting

attended by a number of very experienced Councillors who would be taking

decades of experience with them.

The Mayor confirmed that he was proposing a Council Tax rise of 2.99% and

that a balanced budget would be achieved without calling upon reserves.

The Mayor further confirmed that he did not intend to vary the budget

proposals he had already fully set out at Mayor and Cabinet on February 2

and 9 and which did not require further amendment.

A motion that the proposals be accepted was moved by the Cabinet

Member for Finance and Resources, Councillor Amanda De Ryk and

seconded by the Chair of the Public Accounts Select Committee, Councillor

Mark Ingleby. During the debate on the budget the 5 minute limit on speeches

for the Mayor and Councillors De Ryk, Ingleby and Mallory was suspended.

Under the provisions of the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England)

(Amendment) Regulations 2014, a recorded vote was conducted on this item

with the following result:

In favour 40

Damien Egan (Mayor), Obajimi Adefiranye, Tauseef Anwar (Speaker),

Chris Barnham, Paul Bell, Peter Bernards, Chris Best, Kevin Bonavia,

Bill Brown, Juliet Campbell, Suzannah Clarke, Patrick Codd, Liam Curran,

Brenda Dacres, Sophie Davis, Amanda De Ryk, Aisling Gallagher,

Leo Gibbons, Coral Howard, Mark Ingleby, Liz Johnston-Franklin,

Caroline Kalu, Louise Krupski, Samantha Latouche, Jim Mallory, Paul Maslin,

Joan Millbank, Hilary Moore, John Muldoon, Jacq Paschoud, John Paschoud,

Stephen Penfold, Kim Powell, James Rathbone, Sakina Sheikh, Luke Sorba,

Eva Stamirowski, James-J Walsh and Susan Wise.

Against nil

Abstention nil

RESOLVED that the Council approves the recommendations shown below in respect

of the 2022/23 Budget having considered the views of those consulted on the

budget, and subject to proper process, as required, Council agrees to:

General Fund Revenue Budget

(1) note the projected overall variance of £2.9m (or 1.2%) against the agreed

2021/22 revenue budget of £243.100m as set out in section 6 and that any

yearend overspend will be met from corporate provisions and reserves;

(2) endorse the budget reduction measures of £11.835m as per the Mayor

and Cabinet meeting of the 2 February 2022, as set out in section 6 and

summarised in Appendix Y1 and Y2;

(3) agree the allocation of £6.500m in 2022/23 be set aside for corporate risks

and pressures;

(4) agree the allocation of £21.329m of resources from the corporate risks  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62.

Councillor Susan Wise, moved that the recommendations be approved and

this was seconded by Councillor Kevin Bonavia and it was:

RESOLVED that

(1) the Scrutiny-Executive Protocol be appended to the Constitution, and

(2) the actions taken by the Council’s Monitoring Officer to give the

Constitution legal effect be noted.

Councillor Susan Wise, moved that the recommendations be approved and

this was seconded by Councillor Kevin Bonavia. Following a contribution from

Councillor Brenda Dacres, it was:

RESOLVED that

(1) The Protocol shown at Appendix 1 be adopted;

(2) The Constitution be amended to include the revision shown at Appendix 2;

and

(3) Existing statutory powers to confer the titles of Alderman and Alderwoman

be noted and the addition of a title of Alder be made in accordance with

existing equality commitments.

Motion 1 Food Poverty

The first motion was moved by Councillor John Muldoon and seconded

by Councillor Coral Howard. The motion was then put to the vote and

declared to be unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

Lewisham Council congratulates the 2021 Labour Party Conference for

unanimously calling for right to food to be enshrined in UK law and that the

Labour Party embeds a right to food policy in its next General Election

Manifesto. We also note the Mayor of London (in his London Food Plan 2018)

requests boroughs to consider ‘the collective right to a fair and sustainable

food system’.

Given that the recommendations for the National Food Strategy omits the

right to food, and the White Paper is imminent, we request that officers

prepare a report for a future meeting of the Mayor & Cabinet to consider that

addresses the possibility of Lewisham Council to:

1. Become a ‘Right to Food borough’

2. Join the Right to Food campaign

3. Call on local MPs and Mayor Damien Egan, to write to the relevant Minister

to call for the right to food to be incorporated into the National Food Strategy

White Paper.

4. Develop the new Local Food Poverty Action Plan using a rights-based

approach (right to food strategy).

5. Appoints a Cabinet Member to oversee the right to food strategy.

Motion 2 Homelessness Motion

The second motion was moved by Councillor Peter Bernards and seconded

by Councillor Paul Bell. The motion was then put to the vote and declared to

be unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

Lewisham Council notes that thousands of families are facing evictions and

repossessions as measures to protect families put in place during COVID

have ended. Not only that as Universal Credit is reduced; the furlough

scheme ends; and electricity and gas prices rise the poorer and vulnerable

members of our community face a real reduction in their incomes.

The Council welcomes The Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill being

brought through parliament by the Big Issue’s founder Lord John Bird. The

draft legislation currently lays out plans for a public consultation to set national

wellbeing goals – measures of how the country is faring in terms of

environmental, social, economic and cultural wellbeing. Public bodies,

including government departments, will then be held accountable on how they

hit those goals. If the Bill became legislation, it would require public bodies to

consider how decisions made now affect future needs, and tackle persistent

problems such as poverty, homelessness, health inequalities and climate

change.

The Council resolves to:

1. Write to the relevant Secretaries of State asking them to keep people in

their homes and in sustainable jobs by using the following measures:

(a) HM Government to pay off £360m in rent arrears

(b) Suspend no-fault evictions until a Renters’ Reform Act is passed

(c) Permanently reinstate the £20 increase to Universal Credit and extend the increase to all appropriate “legacy” benefits

(d) Improve access to Discretionary Housing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.