The minutes of the meeting held
on 5 February 2026 were approved as a correct record.
5.
CABINET MEMBER INTERVIEW - CABINET MEMBER FOR CLIMATE EMERGENCY, JOBS AND BUSINESS
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To receive a report from Councillor John
Batteson on a holistic overview of key strategies and projects
under the Cabinet member portfolio for Climate Emergency, Jobs
& Business.
Including but not limited to:
·Targets for repairs in
commercial units
·Council's policy for
compensating businesses that lose trade & income due to damage
affecting their ability to operate. e.g. leaks from above - often
residential properties
The Chair invited Councillor
John Batteson, Cabinet Member for Climate Emergency, Jobs and
Transport (change in portfolio title as of 25 February 2026 Council
Assembly, prior to agenda summons publication); supported by Danny
Edwards (Assistant Director of Economy) and Mark Grant (Assistant
Director of Property) to give an overview of the portfolio across
the year.
On local economy and routes
into employment, the Cabinet Member noted that:
the Council Delivery
Plan is committed to supporting 2,500 residents from priority
cohorts into work, 2,900 had gained work, primarily through
Southwark Works
residents in these
priority cohorts faced the highest barriers and achieving progress
in this area was therefore extremely important for raising
prosperity and addressing inequalities
Southwark Works had
been active for 21 years, supporting, on average, 400 people into
work with a second hub opening 3-4 weeks ago, in
Peckham
the new hub was made
possible through central government funding and was directed at
supporting residents with complex health barriers and disabilities
via individual, tailored job support
the Youth
Trailblazer’s support for care leavers trialled new practices
to increase employment outcomes for care leavers – initially
funded for one year, that had been extended
the progress made on
Youth Trailblazers had been shared with the Corporate Parenting
Committee given their keen interest in care leavers’
employment
a new Skills Delivery
Plan was being adopted with aims adjusted to reflect where more
work was needed and where success had already been made
by Q3, the number of
new apprenticeships supported was greater than the full year
target
the nature of
apprenticeships had shifted – there were more higher-level
apprenticeships then lower level – and in the future it would
help to report more closely on the latter so that routes into
employment were not cut off for those without higher level
qualifications or training
regarding paid
internships for young people from disadvantaged backgrounds,
targets here had also been exceeded
On business development and the
Town Centre Action Plans, he noted:
the aims of the
Southwark Pioneers Fund had been met – supporting
underrepresented groups to start and develop businesses – and
new funding was being sought as previously this had come from the
UK Shared Prosperity Fund and no more funding would be
provided
that funding was not
the only issue, however, with local businesses also asking for
skills opportunities, something that the Supplier Readiness
Programme had helped with, in particular
regarding developing their preparedness to bid for contracts
in the Council and elsewhere
a focus on
procurement could also help by redesigning larger contracts, where
appropriate, so that smaller businesses could participate in
bidding for parts of them
the Town Centre
Action Plans had been well received as a way of keeping local
businesses and residents informed of immediate and longer-term
actions in their area
On the Living Wage, he noted
that:
the Council’s
ambition to double the number of accredited Living Wage employers
from 298 in 2022 had been challenging although over 450 employers
had now been accredited
The Chair introduced the item
by taking the Draft Scrutiny Recommendations report as read and
inviting feedback and additional comments.
The Commission drafted and
agreed additional recommendations (to be fine-tuned after the
meeting). The final report would therefore include recommendations
from the draft report and the following recommendations, summarised
as follows, that Cabinet:
review whether the
London Living Wage is being paid to contracted employees delivering
contracts for the Council
promote the
activities of Southwark Works and Connect to Work more
widely
promote the pilot hub
for working space in Peckham as well as similar spaces across the
borough
report on numbers of
apprenticeships by level
define milestones for
organisations supporting work experience so that their objectives
align and, more particularly, to encourage businesses’
developing employment opportunities for younger people with
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7.
WORK PROGRAMME 2025-26
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To consider the work programme
for the 2025-26 year.
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