The Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 25 February 2025 included a report on the Council's efforts to reduce poverty in Lewisham and the appointment of members to the Housing and Healthier Communities Select Committees. It was also scheduled to receive an update on the Youth Provision Task and Finish Group's final report.

Lewisham Council’s Poverty Reduction Approach

This was scheduled to be a briefing session for the committee, led by Dr Catherine Mbema, Director of Public Health at Lewisham Council. Dr Mbema was scheduled to speak about Lewisham Council’s work in response to the cost-of-living crisis, and the development of a longer-term poverty reduction approach. The briefing was to be informed by the Lewisham Annual Public Health Report 2023-24. The committee was scheduled to hear about work that had been undertaken as a result of the recommendations of the Lewisham Poverty Commission, which reported in 2017. The Director of Public health was scheduled to tell the committee that:

In 2021/22, 32% of people in the borough lived in households with an income of less than 60% the UK average (median), after housing costs.

The meeting was also scheduled to hear about the work of the Cost-of-Living Programme, which had been operating since September 2022. This programme has delivered crisis support to residents, predominantly via cash-first approaches. As part of the programme, the council’s Jobs and Skills team have been working to help residents in in-work poverty to increase their wages. The meeting was scheduled to hear that:

The programme supported over 50 residents and participants reported increased incomes, enhanced skills, increased confidence or completion of an accredited qualification.

The meeting was also due to hear about the impact of the council’s Better Off Lewisham platform, which launched in April 2024, and which is designed to help people understand what benefits they are entitled to:

There have been 1230 new assessments which have generated £8.9m into families and our local economy.

The report pack also contains a briefing on the Cost of Living work undertaken by the council, Cost of Living briefing 250225.

Response to the Final Report of the Youth Provision Task and Finish Group

The meeting was scheduled to receive a report on the response to the final report of the Youth Provision Task and Finish Group. The report pack says that Lewisham Council was pleased to have had the opportunity to work with the group, because its work “aligned with the Council’s own review of youth provision in Lewisham”. The report pack contains details of the council’s plans for the following, in response to the group’s recommendations:

• supporting providers of activities for young people;
• ensuring that young people from Lewisham are prioritised for services commissioned by Lewisham Council;
• better data collection on the needs of young people;
• training and career development for youth workers;
• income maximisation for youth services.

Appointments to the Housing and Healthier Communities Select Committees

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to appoint councillors to the Housing Select Committee, and the Healthier Communities Select Committee. These appointments were necessary because Councillor Sakina Sheikh and Councillor Ese Erheriene had recently been appointed to the council’s executive. According to the council’s constitution, councillors cannot be members of both committees and the executive at the same time.