Agenda and minutes

None were made.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on May 19 2021 should be

confirmed and signed as a correct record.

No matters were raised.

Councillor Bonavia introduced the report and Councillor Bell spoke in support.

Councillor Bell highlighted the experience of his own partner’s family who

were from Hong Kong. He lambasted the Communist regime in China which

had shredded written agreements and ignored the rights of citizens in Hong

Kong.

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

Cabinet Member for Democracy, Refugees and Accountability, Councillor

Kevin Bonavia, the Mayor and Cabinet:

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

The report was presented by Councillor Bell who highlighted a recent

enforcement success in the Lewisham Central Ward involving 19 people in a

single unlicensed HMO.

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

Member for Housing & Planning, Councillor Paul Bell, the Mayor and Cabinet,

for the reasons set out in the report by a vote of 6-0 of members physically

present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that:

(1) the Private Sector Housing Enforcement and Licensing Policy be adopted,

including adding a fee of £150 for the production of VAT exemption

certificates to the Borough’s register of fees and charges;

(2) the Smoke and CO Alarms Statement of Principles policy be adopted as

Lewisham Council’s Statement of Principles about the application of the

Smoke and CO Alarm (England) Regulations 2015;

(3) the proposed Civil Financial Penalties be approved;

(4) the Electrical Safety Regulations Policy be adopted as the Private Sector

Housing Agency’s policy on the Electrical Safety Standards in the Private

Rented Sector (England) Regulations 2020;

(5) the Director of Housing be given delegated authority to carry out the

functions set out in the three policies to officers within the service.

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

Member for Health and Adult Social Care, Councillor Chris Best, the Cabinet

for the reasons set out in the report by a vote of 6-0 of members physically

present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that

(1) the re-commission of 7 supported accommodation and floating support

services be aproved by way of open tender into 5 lots and 7 services by single

tender action as set out in the Table below.

(2) the contracts to be re-commissioned and proposed routes to market be

approved:

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

Member for Health and Adult Social Care, Councillor Chris Best, the Mayor

and Cabinet for the reasons set out in the report by a vote of 6-0 of members

physically present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that officers undertake an open tender exercise to procure the

Core Contract (Adults Substance Misuse Service) for a period of three years

from April 2022 with an option to extend for a further one + one years

Having considered an open and a confidential officer report, and a

presentation by the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Brenda Dacres, the Mayor and

Cabinet for the reasons set out in the report by a vote of 6-0 of members

physically present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that

(1) the commencement of an open procurement process be approved for the

provision of organic waste disposal for a period of 5 years with the option to

extend for up to 2 years at the Council’s discretion;

(2) the cost is likely to be higher if the waste is delivered to a waste transfer

site, bulked and then transferred to a disposal site owing to the increase in

vehicle usage and staff; and

(3) the break down on cost provided in a confidential appendix be received.

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

Member for Finance and Resources, Councillor Amanda De Ryk, the Mayor

and Cabinet for the reasons set out in the report by a vote of 6-0 of members

physically present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that

(1) the financial results for the year ending 31March 2021 be noted, and

recognise that the situation is complex with particular regard to the various

streams of Covid-19 government grant income to support the local authority’s

response to the coronavirus pandemic; and

(2) the basis on which the report was prepared be noted and in so doing

recognise that the progress on closing the accounts for 2020/21 is continuing

and will culminate in the draft statement of accounts being produced and

made available for the start of the public inspection period from 1^st July 2021.

Having considered both an open and a confidential officer report, and a

presentation by the Cabinet Member for Community Sector, Councillor

Jonathan Slater, the Mayor and Cabinet for the reasons set out in the report

by a vote of 6-0 of members physically present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that the procurement for Lewisham Library and Information

Service the Libraries Consortium Courier Service Framework Agreement be

approved from 1 April 2022 for an initial period of 12 months, with the option

to extend for 3 further years up to 4 years in total at a value shown in a

confidential appendix.

Councillor Bell confirmed the terms of the rebate which involved payment for

all years covered and not just the six years statutory entitlement which some

other boroughs were offering.

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

Member for Housing and Planning, Councillor Paul Bell, the Mayor and

Cabinet, for the reasons set out in the report by a vote of 6-0 of members

physically present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that proposals to make payments to current and former tenants

as set out be approved

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

Member for Community Sector, Councillor Jonathan Slater, the Mayor and

Cabinet for the reasons set out in the report by a vote of 6-0 of members

physically present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that an increase in the fees and charges for courses provided

by Adult Learning Lewisham in relation to Community Learning and Full Cost

Recovery course be made by 50p per hour; and an increase in café prices by

20%.

The report was introduced by Councillor Chris Barnham who explained a

written representation objecting to the proposals had been circulated.

Councillor Barnham stated his higher ambitions for the longer term and his

commitment to strive to eradicate the very serious problem of food poverty.

He pointed out the proposals improved on the current contract but should not

be promulgated as the last word.

The Cabinet was addressed by a member of the public, Sharon Noonan-

Gunning who highlighted perceived national failings of the Chartwells

company and called for the issue of a one year contract only to allow a full

review and a link to the national conversation on nutritional foods.

The Executive Director for Children & Young People explained the contract

related to just 25 schools in Lewisham and that it was up to individual schools

to decide whether or not to accept the Chartwells contract. He said a proper

look at school meals provision would take more than 1 year and that school

agreement was vital. The Senior Contracts Manager added that legal advice

had been taken and there was no option to row back from the proposed

contract length.

Having considered an open officer report, and presentations by the Cabinet

Member for Childrens Services and School Performance, Councillor Chris

Barnham, and from a member of the public, Sharon Noonan- Gunning, the

Mayor and Cabinet for the reasons set out in the report by a vote of 6-0 of

members physically present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that

(1) the award of a centralised school catering contract be approved for a

period of 4 years with an option to extend for up to an additional period of 2

years subject to a sufficient number of schools signing up to the contract via

Governing Body Agreements with the contract having a maximum value of

£20 Million over the 6 year period; and

(2) the approval of the final terms of the contract be delegated to the

Executive Director for Children and Young People on the advice of the

Director of Law & Corporate Governance.

The report was accepted by the Mayor as a late and urgent item. Final

changes in activities which had the potential to impact the financials for the

business case were received and confirmed by third parties late on 1^st June

2021 which meant that this report could not be finalised in time to go out with

the main agenda. The implementation of this work was expected to last 6

months and any delay would adversely impact ability to deliver the changes

articulated under Future Working. Current infrastructure is outdated and does

not support sustained remote working. The Microsoft 365 migration is

operationally critical with our mobile estate running out of support, space on

our email servers, running out and ongoing maintenance costs being incurred.

Having considered both an open officer report, and a presentation by the

Cabinet Member for Democracy, Refugees and Accountability, Councillor

Kevin Bonavia, the Mayor and Cabinet for the reasons set out in the report by

a vote of 6-0 of members physically present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that:

(1) the business case for the implementation and adoption of Microsoft 365

(M365) be approved to extend the learning from the discovery phase; and

(2) the budget and procurement approach be approved to contract for the

change and technical support required for the implementation.

Councillor De Ryk highlighted the financial risks attached to the proposals and

pointed out a large public grant was being given to an organisation with no

significant track record operating a scheme with very tight viability. She

sought assurances from officer on the governance model.

The Principal Land Development Officer acknowledged there was risk

involved and that viability was very tight. He said the greatest risk lay in the

development phase so regular reporting and monitoring had been built in to

ensure the project was being developed on time and on budget.

Having considered both an open and a confidential officer report, and a

presentation by the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning, Councillor

Paul Bell, the Mayor and Cabinet for the reasons set out in the report by a

vote of 6-0 of members physically present in the Council Chamber,

RESOLVED that

(1) the grant allocation of £1.7m be approved to J49 from Section 106

contributions received by the Council from the planning agreements set out to

provide specialist affordable housing delivery at The Shaftesbury Christian

Centre site, Frankham Street, Deptford on the terms set out; and

(2) authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Housing, Regeneration

and Public Realm in consultation with the Director of Law & Corporate

Governance to negotiate the final terms of and to enter into a grant agreement

with J49 for the funds.

It is recommended that in accordance with Regulation 4(2)(b) of the

Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Meetings and Access to

Information)(England) Regulations 2012 and under Section 100(A)(4)

of the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded

from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds

that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined

in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of the Act,  and the public

interest in maintaining the exemption outweighs the public interest in

disclosing the information.

17.Organic Waste

18.The Libraries Consortium Courier Service - permission to procure

19.School Meals Centralised Catering Contract Award

20.Shaftesbury Centre Approval of S106 funding for Housing Development

All decisions were considered in the Open part of the meeting.

All decisions were considered in the Open part of the meeting.

All decisions were considered in the Open part of the meeting.

All decisions were considered in the Open part of the meeting.

The meeting closed at 7.24pm