Agenda item

RESOLVED: That the updates be noted.

4.1       The Chair invited the Chairs of Select Committees to give a brief oral update on the work of their committees. The Select Committee Chairs advised that:

Children and Young People Select Committee

·      Scrutinising the Children’s Social Care Improvement Plan was a key piece of work for the Committee and Members were keen to ensure that the necessary resources were available to enable the department to meet the standards set by Ofsted and deserved by the borough’s children and young people.

·      Other key areas of work included (a) monitoring the reform of early help services in order to strengthen these services; (b) examining the three year programme to raise the educational attainment levels of pupils of Afro-Caribbean heritage; (c) elective home education which had increased since the pandemic began; and (d) the effects on kids of school closure and reopening.

·      Sir Norman Lamb, Chair of the South London and Maudsley NHS Trust, had been invited to the next meeting to discuss CAMHS (Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services) waiting times.

·      The Chair, as part of his Business Panel role, had also been involved in scrutinising education related contracts including catering in schools.

Safer, Stronger Communities Select Committee

At the next meeting of the Committee on 1 December, Members Plan to consider the following matters:

·      Hearing from the Borough Commander; discussing the IOPC (Independent Office for Police Conduct) recommendations on stop and search; and asking questions about the implementation of recommendations arising from the Committee’s review of stop and search.

·      Receiving the mayoral response to the recommendations of the Committee’s review into equalities.

At its January meeting, the Committee plan to look at the Youth Offending Service and Members of the Children and Young People Select Committee would be invited to attend.

Healthier Communities Select Committee

At its next meeting the Committee plan to look at three key topics:

·       Budget cuts

·       Pathology arrangements (including the viability of the new provider)

·       The Birmingham and Lewisham BAME Health Inequalities Review (so the Committee could be involved at the scoping stage).

Public Accounts Select Committee

It had been a difficult year in terms of council finances as a result of the cost of responding to the Covid pandemic and other pressures, on the back of ten years of central government austerity measures. The Committee had:

·       Encouraged the adoption of a more commercial approach across the Council and produced a comprehensive report with recommendations.

·       Agreed to focus its next meeting on the budget, with the Chair of each Select Committee invited to attend to present their committee’s views on the budget proposals falling within their remit. Assessing the impact of each proposal on service users would be important.

Housing Select Committee

The Committee would be focusing on budget proposals relating to housing at its next meeting. Changes to the Council’s housing allocation policies were also a key area of work for the committee.

Sustainable Development Select Committee

The proposed Railway Children Urban National Park was an important area of work for the Committee because Members felt it was a great opportunity to support a number of council priorities including those around climate change, flood prevention, housing and clean air. The Committee was concerned that several parts of the proposed park were being threatened by developers and had urged the Council to take all necessary legal action to prevent this.

Cllr Hall asked the Chair of the Sustainable Development Select Committee

If ward Members could be provided with the relevant documentation in relation to the visioning report on Bell Green being considered by his Committee and the Chair agreed to remind officers that ward members would need this in relation to the scheduled briefing.

4.2       RESOLVED: That the updates be noted.