Transcript

Good afternoon, everyone. First of all, welcome to the Cabinet Meeting of Wednesday, the 4th of December 2024. Please be advised, this meeting will be recorded and posted on the Council's YouTube channel. Can all those speaking ensure you switch off your microphone before addressing the meeting and remember to switch it off when you have finished speaking? When voting, can members please raise their hand? Item 1, apologies for absence. Chair, Councillor Slattery and Taggart-Ryan. Item 2, any urgent business? There is none. Item 3, any declarations of interest? I've got to request, Chair, if you don't mind, to move item number 10 to first item, please. Okay, thank you very much. No declarations. I've had a request to move item 10 to the beginning of the agenda, and I will grant that request. We'll now move on to item 10. This is changes to delivery of children's centres to agree the proposals following the statutory consultation. I believe we have a briefing from officers, so we'll start there with the briefings, but before we hand over to that, we'll open with the Cabinet Member. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Chair. As you're all aware, our children's centres are much loved across the borough, and they play a major role for children and young people and their parents. Over the years, you can tell, you know, children's centres have been a lifeline for many, and we, as a local authority, have got pressures as well to deal with, making sure that we balance our books, but also ensuring that we are delivering first-class services for our children and young people, so we set out to do a consultation on a new, brand new model of how we run our children's centres, and also make sure that we take families, young people, and staff from these central centres on the journey with us. So we are planning to do children's centres, so making sure that it goes out within communities as well, delivering service closer to residents, and also using some of our existing locations for special needs, nursery spaces, and much more activities for families. I will bring in one of David of Florence to give us a brief overview of what's been done so far. Thank you very much, Councillor Kyra. I'll now bring in our Director of Children's Services, Florence Corral. Thank you, Chair. Essentially, what we really strive to achieve with this consultation and the process is a flexible approach to children's centres, that we deliver in many different areas, not just those children's centres that are registered, and that we work very closely with our health colleagues, our maternity services, our antenatal services, as well as our delivery services of the children's centres to make sure that we have a comprehensive offer for early years. The consultation has been an extensive period. We have had a total of 306 direct respondents to the consultation, and in addition, we've engaged with a total of 4,303 unique visitors to the consultation portal. Many people have signed up to receive updates on the consultation. People are unhappy about the changes and are concerned about the changes. Once we have made the decision, we will work more closely with our children's centres colleagues to look at exactly what that looks like in the future. What's challenging about that element is that we want to make sure that there's a flexible offer, so determining exactly what the offer will look like is difficult to do. But we are committed to stay-and-play provision, and we're very committed to early years provision. So I will stop there for now, and I'm sure there's questions to ask that either myself or Dave can answer. Thank you very much, Florence. We'll now go to questions. I just wanted to ask very briefly before I open up towards the Cabinet. Do children's centres still need to be registered within properties and buildings that they are, or is there flexibility on that? Children's centres do need to be registered still. However, they're no longer inspected, and it's no longer a requirement for provision to be delivered from a children's centre. So early years provision can be delivered from a community centre or a school or a church without being registered. But if you call it a children's centre, it still has to be registered. But the legislation that introduced that, that included a very onerous sort of inspection period, went many, many, many years ago. So some of our children's centres, it sounds like a whole centre, but it's in fact one room in a school. Some are used very well, some are not used so well. So in the consultation, we've done a diagnostic to really understand which areas are being used the best. We also have four family hubs that are very well used, and those family hubs will remain, and they offer outreach work to communities as well. So in the context of that flexibility that you just mentioned, in the context of this decision report today, what would that mean for the service moving forward in the way it can be flexible for residents or families? So one of the things that we identified was that actually there was a gap in provision in, I can't remember which area, but on the peninsula. And we're actually going to create more provision in that area and open up a new provision there. It means that our workers might have a more flexible offer, that they won't be delivering just in their centre. They might be delivering in other areas as well, or in family homes if they need to. And just another question. The report talks about parks, potential option for parks and going into people's homes. Can you just outline what that would look like for us? Yeah, sure. So essentially what it allows for is the greater flexibility in terms of actually if residents are saying, you know what, the current children's centre is this far away from me and I need to get a bus or I need to get 50 minutes, and there's a park around the corner that that might be a kind of different space that we can deliver in. At the moment we are restricted because we are restricted to those fixed sites, so it kind of gives a little bit more freedom and flexibility to deliver from what we're kind of calling satellite sites, but from other sites across the borough. So it kind of gives the ability to deliver from, for example, a park or a community centre or a church hall or a mosque or wherever. Thank you very much. Other questions from members? Councillor Lacau. Thank you very much. And, you know, I think this has been a really good piece of consultation. There are two questions I want to ask. One, could you describe a little bit more about what the outreach work would look like? And secondly, whilst the consultation has been quite extensive, have you been able to engage with staff? Because I think very often when we're consulting on these matters, staff are very jittery in terms of how that's going to impact on them. So have they been able to input in some of the work? Thank you. So I suppose in terms of the engagement with staff in particular, one, the primary way we've done it is through our providers. So they have been engaging, they've been updating, discussing with staff. And assuming it goes through today, then there'll be further engagement and consultation with staff. And so that's a continuous process throughout this. Because I think, to be honest, no matter what the change is, I think that it can be kind of upsetting for staff, whether positive or not. So that communication is really important. And that's something that has been a kind of ongoing discussion. So we've mainly been having it fed back through the online consultation as well. That was open. So we've had partners and staff feedback through that, but also through the providers themselves as a kind of conduit. In terms of the outreach side, I suppose there's two aspects. One is the kind of provision within community spaces to delivery, let's say, of a stay and play in a building. So if, for example, we have residents coming and saying, actually, can you deliver some stay and play in Armada Community Hall, let's say, in Greenwich West, then actually that's something that the provider can then go and look at and potentially, you know, deliver some sessions there. The other part which links to, I suppose, the home visiting is that, and this is part of the offer now, but it's maybe not as visible. And I think that's really important. But it works with families often who have multiple different needs. So it could be they've got challenges with housing. It could be that there might be domestic violence. It could be that there might be kind of financial or combination of all. And the children-centered providers go out into the home and support families where they are. You won't see that on a timetable, really, but that is a really important part of the delivery that we are keeping as part of this. And I think that's important to stress that that is a key part of this provision. Thank you very much. Councillor Lacalle, follow-up. Yes. Thank you. One of the things that we heard before about the family hubs was their ability to bring different disciplines to support the family. So in this kind of instance that you were talking about where a family has multiple problems, such as housing and so on and so forth, would you be using that same model of the family hub where you're bringing expertise from various departments rather than using the staff? I'll start, Aninde. Okay. Absolutely. We're really committed to ensuring that we have multidisciplinary work that takes place in our family support and our family hubs and our early years offer. We also, working much more closely with our health visitors, it's a much more robust service now, health visitors and our antenatal and maternity services. But there's also a really lovely initiative in our family hubs of parents getting involved in peer-to-peer and parent-to-parent support and a training programme for parents to give support to other parents. And that initiative has been very successful and we'd like to see more of that as well. Thank you very much, Councillor Highland. And then Councillor Smith. Thank you, Chair. I was just wondering if I was a parent moving into the borough, how would I find out what services are available to me and my small family? Obviously, I could speak to health visitors and community centres and so on, but is there a sort of one-stop shop leaflet or website that I could see everything that's available to me, not only in the area where I live, but in other little districts, other neighbourhoods? Thanks. Thank you, Councillor Highland. Yeah, so the Greenwich Community Directory would be the place that it would really point people to, which has a directory of all the different services. So if you're particularly interested in the disability side, you've got the local offer part of that, or just the general family side, the family services directory. As part of that, though, there's also our family information service where you can call them up. So I guess it's not just a kind of online, so obviously some people might not want to go online. You can call up our family information service and ask them, direct or email them if you want. We are also thinking about how we maybe work with our maternity services to have a leaflet or a pack or something at the point of birth that gives all the information in one place. So we're also exploring that as part of the next steps. Thank you. Councillor Smith. Yeah, sorry, my throat's a bit itchy and scratchy. I suppose two questions, really. It says in most of the columns, children's centre activities at nearby community centres. I suppose I'm asking how nearby and do the community centres know that that's being required of them and engaged in it? And the other question I've got is coming on from something that David said was about the services going out to families and dealing with issues like housing and financial issues. And I was just wondering how much close working there is with the welfare rights team and the advice hubs, because I'm not aware of any. Thank you. So in terms of the locations, so within, I think it's Appendix B, we had a number, I think about 56 different suggestions from residents on different sites that potentially we could be delivering from. That's with our children's centre providers who are essentially going through that and exploring all of those different locations as potential future delivery sites. Doesn't stop there, obviously, if new sites come up. Some of them they've already kind of made agreements with, some of them they're just starting that process, so it's kind of a mixed bag. But in terms of the where, I think that that kind of 56 sites is a good place probably to start from in terms of what they're looking for. In terms of the close working with the welfare rights team, so Corinne's team work very closely with us. We have weekly meetings looking at particular cases as well to try and support and signpost families for additional support. Our children's centre providers as well have connections, so actually they know to pick up the phone and talk through if they've got any queries or if a family is struggling around benefits to try and be able to navigate that. I think it's always an area, though, that there's probably more that we can do on top of that, so I'm happy to kind of review potential opportunities so we can strengthen beyond it. Have you factored in, I know that we've kind of put how much we're going to save, but in that figure, have we factored in the potential hiring costs for the space at alternative venues because it won't come for free, it will be at a cost? Yeah, so essentially when we were working with providers to pull together the proposals, they were balancing out some of the kind of significant investment costs that you have in terms of a fixed building, in terms of insurances, obviously various different things, and even with some potential additional hiring costs, it's still working out as better financially. Councillor Oliver. Thank you very much and thank you for the report. I just wanted to ask, in the report you mentioned the nine centres that you're going to be using to expand childcare provision, and you in particular kind of pointed out that additional support for families with SEND needs, so just kind of keen to hear a little bit more about what that would look like, because I just know that's something that so many local parents will really value, so anything you can speak to that would be great. Two main uses of the buildings. One is for early years provision, to expand the provision for working parents. The other SEND will be linked to a school for a designated specialist provision, so the increase of children with SEND needs is important for us to ensure that we've got enough places for those children. So DSP allows the child to stay at the mainstream school, but have provision that gives them some quiet time and some specialist resource and support in the school, and that's the plan for the DSP provision. Thank you very much. I don't see any other questions. And colleagues, when I reflect on this decision, and Councillor Smith always talked to me about the level of investment this councillor has placed in children's centres over the years, and the decision before us today is to make savings in this area. You know, noting the fact that last year we made circa 35 million of savings and every single department was touched with an increased population, more demand for our services for vulnerable people, and 14 years of cuts made from the former government, in which we lost 150 million. And we find ourselves constantly, every year, trying to balance our books while making sure we can give service, deliver excellent services for residents. And that's the toughness of this role that we take on as councillors in terms of leading this council. And no department, sadly, is untouched in that, and I guess that's why we're here today, to look, to review this service and subsequently make changes, but make sure that it's still a flexible service that can be used for residents. I think we want the best from our children's centres. And, you know, we still significantly invest the most in London when it comes to our children's centres. But that's neither here nor there, really, because actually it's an investment in anti-poverty, it's an investment in supporting families, and it's an investment in outcomes. So a much difficult and tough decision, but I think on balance, in terms of the mitigations that have been put, in terms of the consultation, in terms of working with providers, I think we find ourselves on balance with a report that I think is acceptable. So I just wanted to ask, before I go to the vote on this, if there's anything Councillor Cairo would like to say to close this session before we look at the report and go to a vote on it. Thank you so much, Chair. I think you summed it up perfectly. I would like to just thank all the parents that have feeded into the consultation, all of the staff that have feeded in and helped to carry out all the consultation sessions. They've really played a really big key part of this. Also, the Florence and her team have done, went beyond, to make sure that staff, parents are listened to, and whatever they need will be incorporated, be put into the future plan, what we need to deliver. But on that note, Chair, I would be happy if we can accept her report. Thank you. And I thank you for your work on this, because I know, recognising you came into this brief, and this is one of the first tasks that you had to take on, so well done. Can I just make one request to you and our directors, that in shaping the new service moving forward, that you continue to treat residents with the same level of care and flexibility that you have done through the consultation, because implementing the service also requires constant feedback from that, and I think that you will do that. We talked about flexibility. We need to shape it to make sure it suits that, and you work with our providers to do that. Thank you so much. Are members happy to agree the decisions as certain under section 1.1 to 1.4? If you are, please raise your hand. Thank you very much. We'll now move on to item 4, Greenwich Safeguarding Children Partnership Annual Report. I note that everyone would have had the opportunity to read the report, so I won't take a member's briefing. What I will allow is for the Cabinet members to come in and open and just set the context, or say a few words. If not, happy to move on to any real questions. Thank you, Chair. I think the report in front of us highlights the importance of teamwork, and it really shows that we work as a team with the police, with the NHS, with partners, the voluntary sector, to make sure that our children and young people are safe at all times. I always said in all my career that safeguarding is everybody's responsibility, and we all have been demonstrating that. And I would like to thank everybody that feed it into this report and have been leading on it, and I think it's a great piece of work, and we can only go up, Chair, and keep improving on it going forward. Thank you. Brilliant. Thank you very much. Do anyone have any questions, any pending questions, comments? Councillor Smith. Thank you. I think it's a really good report, and I think it kind of reflects the work that we've done, not only during that year, but in all the years leading up to it, and obviously impacts our Ofsted rating as being outstanding, which is most welcome. I was lead member for children for 10 years, and I worked closely with colleagues across London on developing things, and when colleagues had had horrendous safeguarding incidents that led to them resigning, their directors resigning, and all sorts of other things. I was just immensely grateful that I represented a borough where things were safe, and I do believe that our safeguarding has always been outstanding, even though it's only just been recognised as such. So I welcome the report, and I'm confident that children are safe in our hands. Thank you, Councillor Smith, and I appreciate those comments, and I think you speak for all of us when you mention the history and the fact that children are safe in our hands, and the work and credit to our officers for the love, care, and attention that they put into the service, because it isn't just a service, it's a service of love and great care, and sometimes weighs heavily on our emotions when we see incidents of trauma, which is always very difficult to do, especially when we have that safeguarding responsibility. I would also like to thank our young scrutineers, who have been really helpful in this process as well, and come in there for their work on this. Are members happy to agree to the decisions outlined in section 1.1 of the report? If you just reach out, thank you very much. We'll now move on to item 5. This is the outcome of extra care charging consultation, and I'll hand over to Councillor Lollivar, Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care, and Borough of Sanctuary, to give us a brief overview of it. Thank you very much. So the decision that you have before you today is regarding some changes to the charging for our extra care provision in the borough. The service has conducted a really in-depth consultation, two consultations that ultimately have spoken both to the residents who are already in that extra care unit now, and those that are on the waiting list. But I think the key point that I wanted to kind of put out here is, it's about ensuring that our charging for the service covers the realities of the cost of that service, and I think that's really important. And also that we ensure that there's equity in our charging across all three of the services in the borough. So I think it's a really important piece of work that I think builds strength in that offer. And I think just to add that extra care, I think, is a really valuable housing offer. It's providing a home for someone who, as they get older, may want to live independently, but we're providing that support and that care so that they can do so. So, for example, without this, there might be some people moving into a residential setting that don't necessarily want to. So I think it's really important that we have a housing offer like this in our borough. So providing these homes, I think, is really key. And this charging decision, I believe, is about ensuring we're building on really firm foundations, and I hope to provide more in this area. So, yes, I would recommend the report to Cabinet. Thank you very much, and that's really helpful. We'll just go to questions now, and I will bring officers in on questions. Do the other Cabinet members have any? I'm going to make a comment. Oh, yep. I'll bring in Councillor Kaur on comments. I thank the team and Councillor Lolliver for this work. I think it's important to note that Greenwich has always been extremely generous in terms of its provision in adult social care. And it's been a long road to getting to where we could almost even be in the middle of the road with other councils. So it's still extremely reasonable to age in this borough. And in spite of the pressures that adult social care faces, I still think that the offer that we provide is a very good one. And I just wanted to add that. Thanks. Thank you. And I just wanted to, my question was on the cost of the care and what implications that has for people who are in extra care in terms of how they pay for that. Are you able to shed some light on that for the panel? So what this decision does is deal with the inequitable position at the moment where people who are living in their own homes might pay a differential rate than people who are living in extra care. So there will be, the impact on residents will be different according to their individual circumstances. Some will pay less, some will pay more. And how they will meet those charges will be through the normal routes that we have really in terms of those financial assessments and looking at where we need to provide additional support if there are particular issues really in terms of people being able to afford it. But it does come down to that financial assessment and that equity across. And I presume that's based on entitlement on care packages and other things like that. Yes, so the entitlement is the needs assessment that we do that our social workers will carry out. And then the, what, what, so what, what the contribution that somebody then makes to their care is worked out on the basis of that financial assessment and the rules that are set out in our charging policy. So those two things are separate. They will only pay as much as can be afforded. Thank you. And just one last question from me on extra care. I mean, do we think it's having an impact for our residents and for this council in terms of its use in caring for our residents? Yeah, I think as Councillor Oliver has referred to, you know, it's a really good offer for people. It does help people to be able to live independently for longer. It makes them less likely to need to live in a care home as their needs change and age. It's a really popular service and we have waiting lists for each of these schemes. And we're really keen to expand and build further schemes that will offer that support to people so that they don't need to have institutional care unless they absolutely need it. Thank you very much. Councillor Oliver, would you like to close the section or mention anything else? No, but I would just thank you for giving us the opportunity to kind of speak through the report and would recommend it. Thank you very much. Are members happy to agree to decisions outlined in section 1.1 to 1.3 of the report? Thank you very much. We'll now move on to item 6, the GS Plus and GSS annual report and interim report. I will go over to our cabinet member for financial resources and social value to just present a report to us. And I believe everyone's had the opportunity to read it and go through it and then we'll go straight to the decisions. Councillor Hyland. Well, a very brief introduction and the director might like to come in too, Chair, to say that both companies are doing really well and that we are proud to have a workforce in both GS Plus and GS Plus and have made great improvements under MERSAD's management of both companies. I'd like to publicly here at the cabinet and thank him for all the work that he's done over the last few years to make that situation to be as true as it is today. And to thank all the staff in both companies for producing this annual report, including Mandy, you know, as the C Company Operating Manager. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. So you're essentially your business planning on 5.1 should pick all of those kind of issues up. Are members happy to agree decisions as outlined in section 1.1 to 1.3 of the report? Thank you very much. We'll now move on to item 7. Our revenue budget monitor quarter 2. And we'll hand over to the cabinet member for finance resources and social value to open the report. Council of Ireland. Thank you, Chair. Well, as you know, the budget for 2024-25 was set at Council last March. This report provides summary information on the forecasted revenue out-term position for the financial year. And I don't really intend to kind of get into detail unless anyone has any questions, Chair. Thank you very much. Thank you very much. I mean, just in terms of the slippages, I just wanted the director to explain, overarchingly, the two main areas where we're seeing pressure from by virtue of slippages and those overspends. Yeah, Damon. Yeah, sure. I mean, if we go back to the overspend, let's do the overspend pressures first. So, we've obviously got pressures emerging in social care. And one of those in particular is in children's services and that's around the costs of placements. So, for example, the costs to local authorities generally for some of the placements, in particular things like secure placements, have seen some quite significant increases in their price to the point where it's possible to actually have potentially one secure placement costing around £20,000 a week, which obviously is a million pounds a year. If under placement for that period. The market, in respect of sort of placements, is somewhat broken. And one of the ways that certainly this council is trying to respond to it at the moment is certainly supporting other London councils in joining together to try and develop a sort of pan-London approach. And see if we can actually produce some accommodation that, you know, the whole of London that can basically share in. Other pressures in other social care areas in terms of adults are coming through as well. And we see this across a number of areas within adult social care, whether that's sort of older persons, physical disability, etc. And a lot of this, again, is about price inflation. So, a lot of the market forces out there are working against this on a price basis. So, in terms of the savings, and these are sort of scheduled out in Appendix A, overall, the, you know, there's an overall sort of savings target of £33.7 million through the £118 proposals that were sort of agreed back at the start of the budget year. Now, within that, the vast majority of those are on target to deliver. But there are a number which are either, you know, or basically sort of slipping in terms of their delivery. These can be found within that appendix. So, for example, in Appendix A2, we see a number of areas, you know, where that delivery is slipping. And certainly for a significant number of these, these are timing issues. So, whilst they may not be capable of delivering in this financial year, they are certainly forecast to deliver into the next financial year. And that is where we're turning our attention to, at the moment, is what are the impacts for next year, given where we are within the financial calendar for this year. So, overall, whilst we may not achieve everything this year, there will be a significant degree of catch-up into next year. Thank you very much. Really, thank you for that briefing, because it really provides, shines a light on the issue. And I know in the report, it talks about having a placement of £25,000 a week. But that placement has come to, has seized now, with the average placement coming to 30, circa £13,000. I guess it just goes to show the importance of that pan-London approach that you speak about, in terms of thinking about how we place young people who need to be placed in their placement. OK. I think, you know, we get a full picture of the budget monitor. I'll now go to Cabinet. Are members happy to agree decisions at land in Section 1.1? Agreed. Thank you very much. We'll now move on to Item 8, Treasury Management and Capital Strategy. And this is to note the Treasury Management mid-year report. And I'll hand over to Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Social Value to open. Thank you, Chair. Well, I suppose the key points would be that there's no increase in the risk profile or the appetite of the Council. And we continue to maintain a prudent investment strategy. All Councils, as we know, are facing challenging and volatile economic conditions, with high borrowing rates and geographical events still impacting on the global financial markets. External borrowing has gone up by $135 million in the last six months, which covers the funding needed for projects in the capital program, as outlined in Table 4 of the report. In terms of key points for capital, all projects remain within the approved multi-year budget envelope. And the leasehold disposal of the property at Oakmere Road, although on a 125-year peppercorn rent, helps us to achieve the savings that we set out in the medium-term financial strategy report in March 2024, but more importantly enables us to meet our statutory requirements to provide sufficient special educational needs, placements, helping many young people in the years to come. Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Chair. Thank you very much, Councillor Hyland. We'll now go to questions. Any questions? I believe I have one, which kind of touched on a bit of our borrowing strategy and direction of travel and our borrowing strategy. I just wanted to ask, in terms of where the borough is financially, would our Section 105 officer advise us of the risk of borrowing and the implications of additional borrowing on the authority? And what's the risk that brings to the borough? Well, what I would say is that any borrowing we do undertake is done under the auspices of the capital frameworks that are set out to ensure that it's affordable, it's sustainable, and that it's prudent. So, you know, we are required to ensure that we fulfil meeting those criteria when undertaking any such borrowing. And as part of doing that, there are a number of indicators which are sort of published, and those are brought before Cabinet and full council and basically agreed before the start of the financial year. So, there's an opportunity for everybody to see those. Ultimately, you know, any borrowing that is undertaken needs to be repaid. And, you know, there are sort of revenue consequences, you know, in undertaking that borrowing because you have to repay the principal and the interest. But, you know, the more borrowing that is undertaken, then the higher the revenue impact will be going forward. And obviously conscious that, you know, we're in the process of sort of developing our sort of budget for the new year at the moment. And so we need to be mindful of the impact of any of that borrowing on any potential gap that we're trying to bridge at the moment. Thank you very much. I guess what you're suggesting there is that the more borrowing we do, the more repayments we have to make, which adds to the pressure of our overall budget base. That's really helpful to understand. Any other questions? I see none. So, are members happy to agree to decisions as outlined in section 1.1 to 1.3 of the report? Thank you very much. Thank you very much. We'll now move on to item nine. And I will bring in our director, Pippa Hat, to present the report on infrastructure funding statement. Just a short overview before we move on to the next item. Okay. Thank you, Chair. This report is requesting the Cabinet to agree to publish the infrastructure funding statement, which is a requirement to publish by the 31st of December of this calendar year. And it relates to the SIL in section 106 monies that we've secured and spent in relation to SIL in section 106, including neighbourhood SIL. Point 4.6 of the report sets out that we've collected 7.5 million of SIL, 1.1 million of neighbourhood SIL, as well as 5.9 million secured of section 106. And then the appendix identifies how we've expended any money during the financial year. And I'm happy to take any questions. Thank you. Are there any questions? I'm going to have to thank the team for the work. And it's a really lovely report, one that is really easily digestible, and some really good examples of how we spend section 106 and SIL in the report. And I always think to myself, it's one of these mind maps, if that's the right frame to use in terms of trying to understand. Because when we grant planning permissions, the one thing no one can ever understand is how you spend section 106 or SIL, and even explaining that to residents is always difficult. But, you know, the examples in here of the 54,000 that went into women's safety initiatives really gives a clear direction of how we're investing back into the borough. But more importantly, how our communities benefit from planning and development, and all those investors that seek to build in the borough. Integrating enforcement and policing, we can see there how 257,000 is used to support that initiative. The level of work that's going on in the Greenwich local labour, and business GLAB, and the money to support business employment and skills. So you can really see that level of investment. But more importantly, the work that goes into education, school place planning, early years investment, and the primary schools that have been invested over the years. So I'm grateful for this report, because I think it begins to help articulate picturally how we're investing in our section 106 and SIL. Do members have any questions or comments? I see none. No? Are members happy to agree to decisions as outlined in section 1.1 to 1.2 of the report? Thank you very much. We'll now move on to item 11, Greenwich Bills Phase 1 update. And for this item, we'll be going into a closed session. And if there are any public presence, they will have to be excused from the meeting. So I will... Be careful what they do for the pink papers. Mm-hmm. So just before we close, thank you for that robust discussion on our Greenwich Bills Phase 1 update. I would just add, obviously, confidential material in our paper. So if you could, please return them just to officers would be helpful. Obviously, there are commercial sensitivities in there. And just before we leave, can I put on a record of thanks to Jeremy for his work and service to the borough in the areas of regeneration? And Sarah, for your work, because you will both be departing at the borough. Long years spent here. And just your commitment to residents and working with members with all of our ambitions and all of the pushing that we do. But we're really grateful to what we've achieved in this borough. And both of you should feel very, very proud of your record of service and what you've delivered. But also the passion, love, and care that you bring to the authorities. So thank you. Right. Thank you. That concludes the end of the meeting. And I look forward to seeing you all again in full council. Thank you. Thank you.