This meeting was scheduled to include a review of the Southwark Community Safety Partnership, and updates to the council's Statement of Community Involvement. It also included an update on how the council's scrutiny function was being improved.

Southwark Community Safety Partnership Priorities

The Southwark Community Safety Partnership Priorities and Refreshed Plan report included for discussion provided an update on progress made by the council against the 2024/5 priorities. It also included information on the findings from the 2023/24 Strategic Assessment.

Statement of Community Involvement and Development Consultation Charter 2024

A report titled Statement of Community Involvement and Development Consultation Charter Annual Review and U included for discussion was about the adoption of a revised Statement of Community Involvement (SCI), and the associated Development Consultation Charter (DCC). The report noted that the SCI is a document that sets out how Southwark Council will involve people in planning.

The SCI is a key element within the planning process which helps the Council deliver the goals of Southwark 2030, specifically Empowering People and Reducing Inequality.

The report stated that the DCC forms part of the SCI, and explained that the DCC outlines how the council wants developers to engage with the community when preparing planning applications. The report described the changes that have been made to the documents, including how the documents had been simplified, and how new questions had been added to emphasise the importance of delivering Social Value through developments. It also stated that changes had been made to align with the council's Southwark 2030 goals, the Land Commission response, and the Equality and Needs Impact Assessment process.

The report included for discussion also included a list of schemes for which developers would have to provide an Early Engagement Strategy (EES), Engagement Summary (ES) and Equalities Impact and Needs Assessment (EINA) in future.

It included for discussion an explanation of why the three documents are required:

The EES should be submitted as a completed document when any planning application is submitted. Applicants should make the EES publicly available for residents and stakeholders to review prior to the submission of a planning application.

You should submit an Engagement Summary (ES) with your planning application. This is a validation requirement in Southwark. The ES should provide an overview of the engagement that has taken place with local stakeholders prior to submitting the application.

As set out in the SCI, the Public Sector Equalities Duty (PSED)¹ does not apply to developers. However, to be compliant with the SCI and this Charter, we require developers to support the Council in meeting and discharging this important duty. For you, this means producing a proportionate EINA of the impacts of the development.

Scrutiny Improvement Review Implementation - Update

A report included for discussion titled Scrutiny Improvement Review Implementation - Update provided an update on the implementation of recommendations made by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS) in their October 2023 scrutiny improvement review. The report explained that a Cabinet Scrutiny Protocol had been developed to:

enable Cabinet members (and senior officers) and the Scrutiny function to have a clear understanding of the expectations and behaviours of members, officers, organisations, and individuals engaging in the various aspects of the scrutiny process and to foster good working relations.

The report explained how the protocol proposes that cabinet and scrutiny work together. It explained how the protocol proposes the overview and scrutiny committee work programme should be developed, that cabinet members should keep scrutiny informed of significant issues and how scrutiny should keep cabinet informed of scrutiny activity.

The report explained that the council is also discussing with community engagement team, ways in which they may be able to support the scrutiny function with engaging with the community, including the creation of a new scrutiny page on the council's engagement website, engage.southwark.gov.uk.

The report included for discussion explained that the council had created a Scrutiny Recommendations Action Tracker to:

enhance the formal system for tracking recommendations over time - identify the impact and learning from specific recommendations as well as factors that produce effective recommendations.

Work Programme

The Work programme covering report included for discussion provided an update to the committee on the work that is scheduled to take place during future meetings of the committee. The report included for discussion explained the committee's terms of reference, and included a list of items scheduled to be discussed in future meetings, including:

• An update on the delivery of the Council’s Climate Change Strategy and Action Plan for 2023/24
• The decision to self-refer to the Regulator of Social Housing regarding the status of the council's domestic electrical inspection condition reports.
• The proposed Overview and Scrutiny Committee and Commission work programmes for 2024/25
• A Scrutiny Call-in of the Gateway 1 Housing – Procurement Support and Supply Chain Management System
• Charges to Leaseholders for Major Works at the Consort Estate SE15
• The council's Financial Position
• Customer Services, Digital Systems and workflows, digital inclusion and exclusion, and the CRM System
• Implementing mechanisms to enhance community participation in the scrutiny process
• An overview of the Procurement Act 2023
• The Policy and Resources Strategy 2025/26
• An update on Charges to Leaseholders for Major Works at the Consort Estate
• A review of Major Works at the Canada Estate /Devon Mansions
• The judgement made by the Regulator of Social Housing on Southwark's role as a social landlord.
• An interview with Councillor Sarah King, Cabinet Member for Council Homes
• The annual budget scrutiny
• The formulation of Overview and Scrutiny Committee recommendations to the cabinet on the budget.
• An update on the Scrutiny Improvement Review.
• Major Works at the Canada Estate/Devon Mansions.
• Electrical Testing in Council Homes
• Governance and Oversight of Housing Services.
• The Cabinet/Senior Management Strategic Responsibility
• The Annual Workforce Strategy
• The Council Homes Investment Strategy
• Climate Change Performance
• A refresh of Southwark Stands Together and the Southwark Equality Framework
• The Local Community Infrastructure Levy Framework
• The Council Homes Disposal Policy.
• The Southwark New Homes Programme.
• Housing Associations
• The delivery of Southwark 2030.
• A refresh of the Procurement Framework to support Southwark 2030
• Cabinet Member interviews.

Please note: This is a summary of what was scheduled to be discussed during the meeting. It does not tell us anything about what was actually discussed or decided.