Themes for interview:
Cabinet performance
Communications
Jobs and growth
Bakerloo Line extension
Housing strategy and 11,000 homes pledge
Strategic partnerships and relationships with government and the Mayor of London
Legal services
Electoral registration
The workforce strategy
Corporate Procurement
School places
Free Swim and Gym
Minutes:
5.1 Councillor Peter John, Leader of the Council, stated that the council’s priorities were contained within the Fairer Future promises and reflected the issues that were identified in the period going into the election. The priorities included the building of 11,000 new council homes, additional school places, the Bakerloo Line extension and other transport infrastructure issues, the cycling strategy, free swimming and gym use and the work of the childcare commission. Continuing cuts to the budget remained a backdrop with £30 million savings required in the year ahead. Councillor John emphasised that he was optimistic about the future of local government, particularly in terms of its increased role in the context of devolution and the localisation agenda.
5.2 Councillor Adele Morris highlighted press stories that day about Aylesbury leaseholders being unhappy with what they were getting from the council. She appreciated that legislation limited what the council could pay in terms of compulsory purchase but leaseholders were very unhappy. Councillor John responded that he was disappointed with the media coverage. The shared equity offer meant that leaseholders did not have to pay rent on the additional cost of a property and also retained the value of their share in the property which hopefully would increase over time. In addition, twelve properties were being set aside for leaseholders on the Elmington estate. People did not have to move out of the area. Councillor John stressed that the council’s offer was as good as any being made by any other London council. He recognised that there would always be an element of disappointment for leaseholders about the value of their properties but the council was only able to pay the advised market value. Councillor Anood Al-Samerai asked that that the shared equity offer be clearly communicated to leaseholders.
5.3 Councillor Al-Samerai referred to a recent council question about whether the East Dulwich Hospital site could be designated for health and education use and not residential. This would decrease the value of the land and give an indication of the council’s hopes for the site. Councillor John responded that he had raised this with planning officers and would look into it again. The priority was to move forward with a planning application for a secondary school on the site.
5.4 Councillor Claire Maugham asked how the council intended to meet further cuts in the financial settlement. In Councillor John’s view, there were still areas where savings could be found while ensuring that priorities could still be delivered. As an example, the council was committed to creating five thousand new jobs and apprenticeships. If the council was able to help find training or work for eighteen year olds with learning difficulties this would meet a priority and also free up resources currently needed for social care. Delivery of jobs and employment was a vital part of what the council did and also impacted on other areas. Councillor John also stressed that the council remained in a good capital position and continued to look at how this could be used to free up revenue. It was looking across all departments to make savings and to make sure that services provided best value.
5.5 The chair, Councillor Gavin Edwards, explained to Councillor John that the committee intended to look into the council’s procurement of large service contracts and asked whether he was aware of areas where services could be improved and money saved, perhaps by bringing services in-house. Councillor John suggested that the home care contract might be worth looking at. At the same time he believed that contracting out of pubic services was a cyclical approach. The chair asked whether senior officers were taking a step back when major contracts were coming up and asking whether these could be carried out in-house. In his view, any assumption that contracts should automatically be out-sourced needed to be challenged. Councillor John indicated that the question of performance and value for money should be upmost. Where services had been under-performing, such as Council Tax, Revenues and Benefits and the Call Centre, it had been an obvious question to ask as to whether these should be brought in-house. Perhaps this question could be built into the procurement process generally. The chair emphasised that risks needed to be properly considered, including the risk of having to contract manage rather than have direct control of a service. Councillor John agreed that this was a good challenge but stressed the importance of building up the council’s own capacity. For instance, it had not been possible to give more of the housing repairs contract to SBDS, the council’s own direct labour organisation.
5.6 Councillor Tom Flynn asked the Leader for his thoughts on the viability and funding of the Bakerloo Line extension, both to Camberwell and along the Old Kent Road. Councillor John reported that TfL was going to start public consultation on the extension. He hoped that TfL would look seriously at the extension to Camberwell and Peckham as this would be of real value. The council was also lobbying TfL on re-opening of Camberwell railway station. Councillor John’s preferred option was for two spurs, particularly taking account of the clear planning gain from a route down the Old Kent Road, but the key would be identifying how funding could be generated.
5.7 Councillor Rosie Shimell, the vice-chair, wondered if there was any clarity as to the proposed offer of free swimming and gyms in the borough, noting that a scoping report was due out and a pilot had been running since July. Officers clarified that there was no pilot but that testing had been carried out. Councillor John explained that the initial starting point was comprehensive cover but that costs needed to be estimated. Other options included the entitlement of a certain number of hours per week or month. Consideration was being given to piloting free Fridays in order to establish possible take-up and as historically leisure centres were not over-used on this day. Councillor Shimell pointed out that some leisure centres were already used more than others and asked whether renovation works would be necessary in order to increase capacity. Councillor John commented that Peckham, Dulwich and Camberwell were all in good shape and Castle was due to open in the Spring of next year. He acknowledged that Seven Islands was in need of investment but hoped that there would be a good offer across the borough as a whole.
5.8 Councillor Rebecca Lury asked for Councillor John’s views on the challenges facing the borough in terms of health. Councillor John replied that these included obesity, diabetes, sexual health, the prevalence of HIV and general health inequalities between the richest and poorest in the borough. The council’s policies such as free swimming and gyms and the provision of free healthy school meals improved public health generally. Councillor Al-Samerai asked how Councillor John viewed the investment of pension funds into tobacco. Duncan Whitfield, the Strategic Director of Finance and Corporate Services, reported that an imminent meeting of the pensions advisory panel would be considering a survey of current and retired members of the scheme on investment strategy, including this particular issue. Councillor John added that he was sympathetic to the case made on tobacco but that a decision was needed on where to draw the line, for instance in terms of alcohol and arms.
5.9 Councillor Catherine Dale asked the Leader if he had any thoughts on what the council, councillors and scrutiny committees could learn from the situation in Rotherham. Councillor John did not believe that Southwark had a political culture that would have allowed a similar situation, the opposition had always asked tough questions of the ruling administration. However it was important not to become complacent. Scrutiny committees and councillors at every level needed to continue to ask the tough questions. Councillor Al-Samerai agreed that there was no room for complacency, referring to a report by GLA member Caroline Pidgeon into Southwark looked-after children going missing.
5.11 Councillor Johnson Situ asked the Leader for his views on the council’s relationship with the government and the GLA and any challenges the council faced in this area. Councillor John felt that the relationship with the Mayor and the GLA was pretty good, particularly in the area of aspirations for London and its infrastructure. The council continued to talk to the government but the implementation of the recommendations of the Financial Commission would be of benefit.