Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Ann Rosenberg.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Genevieve Nwaogbe (who entered the room at 7.02pm).

The Chair thanked Emma Apthorp for her service on the committee and wished her all the best in her future endeavours.

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 previous meeting as an accurate record and to note any outstanding actions.

Matters arising

Jim Grealy asked if the deprivation maps mentioned in the last meeting could be provided to the Committee. Dr Nicola Lang (Director of Public Health) said that the map would be sent after the meeting.

ACTION: Dr Nicola Lang

Jim Grealy also asked about the progress on organising a conference between disabled residents, Councillors, and the NHS to advise health services on improving accessibility. Councillor Alex Sanderson (Deputy Leader) updated that Councillors and officers were looking at dates and it would likely be held in autumn.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 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 services covered by this Policy and Accountability Committee, and the committee is invited to comment on the budget proposals set out in detail in the appendices.

Councillor Rowan Ree (Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform) introduced the Council’s corporate budget and thanked cabinet members and officers for their work in realising a balanced budget over the past year.

Councillor Ree highlighted the following points:

• The Net General Fund Revenue Budget was £221m.
• The difficulty of operating environment included reduced revenue funding, changing demographics and a sluggish national economy.
• The key objectives of the financial plan were ensuring the safety of residents, businesses and visitors, protecting the statutory services and other Council services valued by residents, promoting prosperity, running an efficient council, ensuring strong financial governance and resilience, and preserving low council tax rates.
• The budget headlines for 2025/26 included investing £3.5m in community safety and crime prevention, relieving pressure on statutory services, investing in the Upstream Industrial Strategy, tackling climate change and investing in sports facilities.
• The council tax would increase by 88p per week, but it was estimated that four in 10 households would receive some sort of discount.

Jacqui McShannon (Executive Director – People) introduced the 2025/26 budget for Adult Social Care, emphasising that enabling and empowering residents to live independent and healthy lives remained at the core of the work of the Adult Social Care department despite some changes in the department over the last two years.

Katherine Wilmette (Director of Adult Social Care) highlighted the key achievements of the department:

·       An additional Annual Review Team helped double the reviews completed, which was critical to ensuring that residents were receiving and continued to receive the right care. They were also opportunities to make residents aware of the different services and support available to them.

·       The launch of the Transitions Team focused on working with young people transitioning from Children’s Services to Adult Services, with 80% of permanent staff working on pathways, processes and policies to help with the transition.

·       Response times for people requiring assessment had improved as the team worked in more efficient ways, such as pointing people to the right resources at first contact.

Jacqui McShannon added that the department was working on a new workforce strategy, learning from the successes of Children’s Services in retaining staff and creating career progression opportunities. There was also a revised Quality Assurance Framework for better governance.

Dr Nicola Lang (Director of Public Health) highlighted the achievements in Public Health. The Reach Out (suicide prevention) campaign was launched in 2024 in collaboration with local charities such as The Listening Place. Drug and Alcohol services were brought together following re-tender in 2022 and were now all provided as an integrated service by Turning Point. The number of persons in treatment had exceeded targets. The borough also had the highest continuity of care (continuity when people leave prison and come back home and have continuity of drug treatment) for London.

Jacqui McShannon noted the funding challenges to adult social care and welcomed the independent commission into adult social care chaired by Baroness Casey. Demographic demand growth and rising costs were also putting pressure on the service. She  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To note the date of the next meeting:

·       28 April 2025

The date of the next meeting was noted:

• 28 April 2025