Agenda item

Ralph Wilkinson took the attendees through the big budget challenge presentation. And explained that the challenge was to cut £1 in every £3. with the total of £85 million to be saved over all, £40 million of which will be in the first year. Many savings have already been made but there are many more to come.

He emphasised that this was the start of a conversation, not a formal consultation – that will come later based on the outcome of these investigations. It is for you to let us know where you think the council can make some savings.

Details of the figures and numbers involved are on the presentation delivered by Ralph. Ralph took the attendees through the big budget simulator on the Lewisham Council website. You can see the savings you can make and the consequences of those savings.

Finally the decision making process was detailed for the attendees including an overview of the scrutiny and select committees that will challenge officers on their recommendations for savings – what the consequences are and how these will be mitigate. Then a formal periods of consultation. The Council will set its budget on the 25^th of February 2015.

Ralph advised that that attendees take full advantage of the exercise to let the council know their thoughts and what matters to the community.

Q. What percentage of Council Tax is actually collected – do the council collect what has been budgeted for?

A.  96%of Council Tax is collected. Can’t collect 100%, most councils set an in year target. We achieve ours

Q. Can we increase Council Tax

A. to do that we would need to hold a referendum, which is expensive, cost can out-way the benefit. The Mayor has given a guarantee not to raise the tax for 2 years as he feels people are pushed enough without having to deal with a tax rise.

Q. How satisfied is the Council that it is doing enough to prevent fraud – reducing this can bring in revenue without making a ct

A. The Council have an anti fraud team. However you can never be 100% sure as you don’t necessarily know fraud exists until you find it

Q. Why are the council paying for things such as crime reduction, shouldn’t that be the police

A. The council pays for such items as CCTV, signage etc

Q. All the building in the area – more people coming into the area using resources, cant the council control the number of new homes being built

A. There is a housing crisis, the number of residents is rising. The only way out of that crisis is to build more

Q. was surprised to see that Sir Steve Bullock earns more than the PM. The Amount spent on consultancy fees – what is the benefit of that

How many empty properties does Lewisham have and have the council considered solar panels on roofs of council buildings

A. The Council uses consultants for short term work, saves a lot more than recruiting a full time person. Suggested that charging more council tax on empty properties

Q. The salaries for upper officers such as the chief executive. To save money the cuts need to start at home . the council should cut itself and not put the job onto the people, it is the Councils responsibility to do it

A. To make £85 millions in savings – we don’t think that anyone would want us to do that without proper conversations and consultations with the public on in private

Q. Are we being clever enough in ensuring we are getting the maximum amount of grants from the government

A. Yes we are exploring every possible £ we can get out of the government

Q. Why wont council tax be increased,. Surely it can be raised for those who can afford it

A. As before the councillors voted on it they felt people were having a hard enough time, people haven’t had pay rises in years the effect of a tax rise could disproportionally hurt the less well off

The Attendees were invited to discuss the potential areas of savings and that things that were important to them around their tables were collected on the cards provided