Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Mercy Umeh and Trey Campbell-Simon, and Nadia Taylor (Parent Governor Representative).

Councillor Daryl Brown attended remotely.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter.  The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the meeting on 11 November 2024 as an accurate record.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 11 November 2024 were agreed as an accurate record.

This report provides an update on the overall preparation and proposals for the 2025/26 revenue budget, risks, financial resilience, and the impact of those proposals.

This report also sets out the budget proposals for the Children and Education services under this Policy and Accountability Committee.

Councillor Rowan Ree (Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform) gave an overview of the 2025/26 Revenue Budget, including the operating environment, additional central government funding and objectives of the financial strategy. He also briefed on the budget headlines, the provisional settlement of the draft budget and departmental service allocations, the investment and savings proposals, council tax considerations and residual risks in 2025/26.  He further highlighted the earmarked reserves forecast and medium-term financial forecast showing the estimated budget gap until 2028/29 as well as the MTFS for 2026/27+. Councillor Ree said the Revenue Budget would be presented to the Cabinet and Full Council in February 2025 after briefing the Policy and Accountability Committees and Policy Oversight Board.

Jacqui McShannon (Executive Director of People) presented the budget proposals of the Children’s Services (CHS).  She outlined the People’s directorate vision and the strategy of providing the right services at the right time to meet needs locally, and highlighted the CHS achievements, in particular the Safety Valve. She also noted the challenges and mitigations as well as the CHS priorities, including the Children’s Social Care reform. Tony Burton (Head of Finance – CHS and Education) then introduced the CHS 2025/26 Controllable Budget and the summary of change on Children’s and Education Net Controllable Budget.

NOTE: Information on the presentations are attached in Appendices A and B

In response to Nandini Ganesh’s question about Upstream, Councillor Ree noted that Upstream was a local industrial strategy embarked by the Hammersmith and Fulham (H&F) Council in collaboration with the Imperial College to attract research and development in respect of life science technology into the area. The Council would continue to support the College’s research by providing space for businesses.  So far, the Upstream Strategy had generated £6bn inward investment with branded companies/organisations moving to the White City and created some 13,000 jobs.  Councillor Ree said the Council would ensure the inclusiveness of this cutting-edge research hub such that all children growing up in H&F would be benefited.

The Committee noted that an additional £1.13bn of new funding was announced for local authorities targeted at adult and children social care (with £250m of this being a new Children’s Social Care Prevention Grant, distributed using a new children’s needs-based formula).

In reply to Chair’s question about the impact of the Children’s Social Care Prevention Grant, Jacqui McShannon said the Government announced the national Children’s Social Care reforms, “Keeping children safe, helping families thrive” and the associated Prevention Grant around mid-December 2024 and the local authorities were still awaiting information on the conditions of the new grant. She agreed to brief the Committee when more information was available.

Sarah Sanderson (Interim Operational Director of Children and Young People’s Services) noted that meanwhile, the CHS would continue its work and implement family-led plans the spirit of which aligned with one of the key principles underpinning the reform agenda.  For example, the work of the Safeguarding Family Group Conference had utilised the capacity within the social work teams to ensure  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To note the date of the next meeting on 22 April 2025.

The Committee noted that the next meeting would be held on 22 April 2025.