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1.1. RESOLVED: that Cllr Rosie Parry be elected as Chair of the Task and Finish Group.

RESOLVED:

·         that the scoping report be agreed, encompassing the Group’s intended outcomes, key lines of enquiry and the timetable for completion of work, all set out in the report.

None.

Having considered an open officer report, it was MOVED by Councillor Powell, SECONDED by Councillor Dacres and RESOLVED that Mayor and Cabinet:

1. approve the allocation of £1,967,944 of Section 106 monies to fund employment and training programmes, ensuring the continuation of the Lewisham Works service; and
2.  approve acceptance of a UK Shared Prosperity Fund ‘People and Skills’ grant of £525,000 to deliver support to economically inactive residents.

It was moved by the Mayor, duly seconded an RESOLVED that 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, as amended by the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) (Amendments) (England) Regulations 2006 and the public interest in maintaining the exemption outweighed the public interest in disclosing the information:

15. Approval of Annual Besson Street Business Plan - PART 2

16. Home Park and Edward Street Developments - PART 2

Having considered an open officer report, it was MOVED by Councillor Dacres, SECONDED by Councillor Barnham and RESOLVED that Mayor and Cabinet:

1. approve the appointment of Nick Penny and Melanie Dawson as a Directors of Catford Regeneration Partnership Limited (CRPL),
2. agree that Nick Penny and Melanie Dawson are indemnified as Directors in accordance with the attached Deed of Indemnity agreed at the inception of the Company; and
3. note that a review of the company is proposed, and that the outcome together with a new business plan will be reported to Mayor and Cabinet in due course.

It was MOVED, SECONDED and RESOLVED that the Minutes of meeting of held on 18 July 2023 be agreed as an accurate record.

Having considered an open officer report, it was MOVED by the Mayor, duly SECONDED and RESOLVED that Mayor and Cabinet:

1.      approve updated Q4 2022 performance dashboard for publication on the Council’s website; and

2.    note the timetable for bringing forward the next quarterly updates for the 2023/24 financial year

Having considered an open officer report, it was MOVED by Councillor Davis, SECONDED by Councillor Bell and RESOLVED that Mayor and Cabinet:

1. Approve the interim Business Plan for the Lewisham Homes legacy company for the period 1 October 2023 – 31 March 2024;
2.  Note the development of the management agreement and associated schedules between the Council and Lewisham Homes;
3.  Note the amended Articles of Association for Lewisham Homes;
4.  Approve the appointment of the Council officers Simon Williams, Head of Housing Finance, and Fenella Beckman, Director of Strategic Housing, as directors of Lewisham Homes with effect from the company’s Annual General Meeting (AGM) on 29 September 2023;
5. Delegate any necessary finalisation of arrangements and the implementation of the interim Business Plan and the management agreement and associated schedules to the Executive Director for Housing in consultation with the Executive Director for Corporate Resources and the Director of Law and Corporate Governance

Having considered an open officer report, it was MOVED by Councillor Bell, SECONDED by Councillor Dacres and RESOLVED that:

1. officers be authorised to run a procurement for the Integrated Community Equipment Service that is due to expire on 31 March 2024 through a further competition tender via the Kent framework agreement. The new service will be for a period of three years, with an option to extend for a further two years at a total estimated cost of £10.5m over the full 5-year period of which £3.5m is LBL commissioned and £7m is ICB commissioned.
2.  the use of KCS Professional Services Abe approved – Integrated Community Care Equipment Framework Y21006 to undertake a mini competition.
3.  the award of contract to the preferred provider be approved, provided the contract value is within authorised limits.
4. Authority be delegated to the Executive Director for Community Services (in consultation with the Director of Law and Corporate Governance and Associate Director, Community Support and Care to select the preferred provider in accordance with the selection and award criteria published in the tender documentation and agree final form of contract.

Having considered an open officer report, it was MOVED by Councillor Bell, SECONDED by Councillor Krupski and RESOLVED that Mayor and Cabinet

1.    approve the removal of supported housing funding for the Phoenix Futures Bromley Road contract from April 2024. This contract has a value of £250,036 a year. The service is under contract until April 2027.

 2.  approve the uplift to Lewisham supported housing contracts by a value negotiated with each provider (as set out in table 1) to meet the specific pressures for each service. These uplifts total £481,412 a year, funded by the £250,036 from the Phoenix Futures contract, and £236,000 additional system investment of £236,000 laid out in table 3; and

3.   approve a smaller one-off payment to providers for 23/24 in recognition of the current and urgent inflationary pressures identified, laid out in table 4, totalling £250,000.

Having considered an open and closed officer report, it was MOVED by the Mayor, SECONDED by Councillor Barnham and RESOLVED that Mayor and Cabinet

1.   Note the report, in particular the macroeconomic updates, Treasury Management Outturn 2022/23, performance of investments to date, the revised forecast Capital Programme 2023-27 and borrowing forecast in line with the Chartered Institute of Public Finance and Accountancy’s (CIPFA); and

 2.. approve, and recommend that Council approves, the updated Treasury Management Strategy 2023/24.

Having considered an open and closed officer report, Cllr Dacres MOVED, Cllr Krupski SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that Mayor & Cabinet 

1. Agreed the sixth annual Besson Street Business Plan attached as Appendix A to the Part 2 report,

2. Delegated authority to the Interim Executive Director of Corporate Resources, in consultation with the Interim Executive Director of Place, to implement the Besson Street Business Plan once finalised,

3. Agreed to reduce the Council’s financial threshold of a 7% IRR so that the scheme can proceed with an IRR of 6% or above.

4. Agreed a revised finance strategy to permit the Council to input up to 50% of the debt funding required during the development phase and to delegate authority to the Interim Executive Director of Corporate Resources, in consultation with the Interim Executive Director of Place, to vary (if required) the Hold Co agreement to reflect this revised strategy,

5. Delegated authority to the Interim Executive Director of Corporate Resources, in consultation with the Interim Executive Director of Place, to approve and implement (based upon professional advice) a first buyer, second buyer structure to improve tax efficiency and to vary (if required) the legal agreements to reflect this new structure; and

6. Delegated, to the Interim Executive Director of Corporate Resources, in consultation with the Interim Executive Director of Place, the further extension/s necessary to the longstop date of the Option Agreement for Besson Street such that the longstop date for exercise of the option and subsequent land transfer is extended to align with the anticipated date for satisfaction of the Final Viability Test, currently expected to be August 2024

Councillor Bell declared a non-pecuniary interest in item 5. His employer was mentioned in the report. He confirmed that he did not take part in the decision to sign the UNISON’s Ethical Care Charter, nor work on any area connected with the report.

Councillors Bell, Campbell, De Ryk, Krupski, Powell and Walsh declared a non-pecuniary interest as members of UNISON.

Having considered open officer report, it was MOVED by Councillor Dacres, SECONDED by Councillor Barnham and RESOLVED that Mayor and Cabinet adopt the Statement of Community Involvement.

The response to the Community Food Growing Task and Finish Group was agreed.

The response to the Workspaces Task and Finish Group was agreed.

Having considered an open and closed officer report, Cllr Dacres MOVED, Cllr Barnham SECONDED and it was RESOLVED that Mayor and Cabinet noted:

1. The background to this contract with a total scheme cost of £34m to invest in modular homes on the Home Park and Edward Street sites, split £13.5m and £20.5m respectively with the delivery of the development tasked to Lewisham Homes
2. The intended outcome to bring forward 31 social homes on the Home Park site within the HRA and 34 social/temporary accommodation homes on the Edward Street site within the General Fund.
3. That the appointed contractor, very late in the offsite construction and site preparation phases, has gone into administration leaving the commissioned units incomplete and not meeting the contracted specifications.
4.  Following the company’s collapse into administration, the extensive work undertaken to explore options for continuing the schemes or mitigating the loss the Council from aborting them.

RESOLVED

That the following declarations in respect of item 3 be noted:

·         Cllr Huynh declared that he was the Council appointee to the Youth First Board and was a member of the Board of the Lewisham Youth Theatre.

·         Cllr Cunningham declared that she was a council-appointed Trustee of the Marsha Phoenix Memorial Trust and a Trustee of the Trinity Laban Conservatoire. 

RESOLVED

To:

1. agree the intended outcomes of the review proposed at part 6 of the report with the following amendments:

·         in (d), the insertion of the words ‘challenges and’ between the words ‘identify’ and ‘good practice’; and

·         in (e), the insertion of the words ‘and ensure the offer is responsive to young people’s needs’ after the word Lewisham;

2. agree the Key Lines of Enquiry recommended at part 8 of the report;
3. agree the indicative timetable for the completion of the review in Appendix B; and
4. agree its focus to be youth work as defined by the National Youth Agency.

RESOLVED

That Councillor Edison Huynh be elected Chair.

RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2023 be agreed as an accurate record.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

RESOLVED

That the reports be noted.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

RESOLVED

That the report be noted.

RESOLVED

That the following declaration be noted:

·       In relation to Item 4, Cllr Moore declared that she was a governor at Lewisham College and the Assistant Principal of The College of Haringey, Enfield and North East London, which was part of the Capital City College Group. Cllr Moore received remuneration for her role as Assistant Principal.

RESOLVED

That the budget proposals item scheduled for November 2023 be replaced with an item regarding holistic school improvement.

The Executive Director for Children and Young People agreed to:

•               Award a contract to NACRO to deliver supported accommodation and building management (leasehold) across two council owned sites. The contract will be for an initial period of 3 years, commencing on 1st February 2024 until 31st January 2027, with an option to extend for two years. The cost of the contract will be £704,527.23 per year, or £2,113,581.67 over the three year contract period or £3,522,636.15 over the possible lifetime of the contract.

•               Approve entering into Internal Repairing Lease with NACRO on the basis of the Heads of Terms and repair responsibility schedule included in the tender specification and in Appendix 3.

Not taken.

RESOLVED

To recommend to the officers in attendance:

1.    The involvement and representation of more-junior staff in strategic discussions regarding equality, diversity and inclusion, including at the Corporate Equalities Board, be increased.

2.    The next Single Equalities Framework and new Corporate Equalities Board Terms of Reference contain more-purposeful and more-measurable objectives.

3.    The duration of the Disability Policy Officer role be reconsidered before the draft Lewisham Disabled People’s Commission response is submitted to Mayor and Cabinet.

4.    That equalities be measured and considered when evaluating service performance and the distribution of Council resources in the community.  

5.    Equality, diversity and inclusion considerations be built into staff appraisal and one-to-one processes.

6.    In the next Single Equalities Framework, the equalities prisms be more clearly defined.

None.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 27 June 2023 be agreed as an accurate record.

RESOLVED:

·         that the report be noted, with the added notation that the Committee was pleased with the progress being made.

RESOLVED:

·         that the report be noted.

·         that the Committee thanked Ainsley Forbes, Margaret Dodwell and Sarah Willcox-Jones for their hard work at and dedication towards Lewisham Homes over the years.

RESOLVED:

·         that the report be noted and the requested information from officers of RB3 be provided as discussed during the meeting.

·         that officers be invited to a future Committee meeting to present a detailed report on the PFI contract expiration preparations.

RESOLVED:

·         that the report be noted.

·         that officers be invited back to present the Housing Retrofit Strategy to the Committee in 6 months’ time.

RESOLVED:

·         that the Chair of the Committee, in collaboration with the Head of Scrutiny and Policy, would formulate a plan for advancing the co-optee proposal and its implementation, to be presented at the next Committee meeting.

2.1.Councillor Cooper declared an interest as a service manager for Community Advice Works- which provides advice and advocacy for people regarding housing matters in Lewisham.

2.2.Councillor Penfold declared an interest as an employee of the Lewisham Refugee and Migrant Network- which provides advice to refugees and migrants in Lewisham.

1.1.RESOLVED: that the minutes of the last meeting be agreed as a true record.

RESOLVED:

·         that a follow-up agenda item on the co-optee proposal, stemming from the discussion at this meeting, be added to the Committee’s November 2023 meeting.

·         that an update on Lewisham Homes’ transition back in-house be scheduled for the Committee’s November 2023 meeting.

·         that the agenda for the next meeting on the 28th of November 2023 be agreed after making the suggested changes.

RESOLVED:

·         that the Committee’s dissatisfaction with the current draft of the Charter be noted and an informal follow-up meeting be arranged for the members of this Committee, relevant officers, Cabinet Member for Health and Adult Social Care and Cabinet Member for Communities, Refugees and Wellbeing to further discuss the development of this Charter.

RESOLVED:

·         that the report be noted, along with the comments made by the Committee.

RESOLVED:

·         that the addition of the Learning Disabilities Implementation Plan to the Committee’s work programme be noted.

·         that the agenda for the next Committee meeting on the 2nd of November 2023 be agreed.

RESOLVED:

·         that the report be noted, along with the comments made by the Committee.

·         that the Committee expressed its gratitude to Sarah Wainer and wished her all the best for her retirement, marking her last Committee meeting with a heartfelt note.

None.

1.1. RESOLVED: that the minutes of the last meeting be agreed as a true record.