Transcript

Thank you. Good evening again. I would like to welcome you all to this special council meeting, which has been called to consider budget items. As per normal, you are reminded that this meeting is being filmed and recorded for webcasting. Please remember to use your microphone if you speak and turn if off when you are finished. In the event of any disturbance or disruption during the meeting this evening, I reserve the right to adjourn the meeting and clear the chamber, and I will do so without notice. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. And thank you. Apologies for absence from the councillors Naz Asger, Joshua Ayodeli, Lade Olukbemi, Sarah Mural, Maisie Ritchett-Scottel, Jadier Spencer, and Lateness O'Brien Mulligan councillor. Any other apologies please. Yes please. Thank you Mr Mayor. Apologies from councillor Clare Burt MacDonald. Thank you. Thank you Mr Mayor. Can I give apologies for both myself and councillor Dingsdale for leaving early? Not it. Thank you Mr Mayor. Apologies from councillor Olukbemi for absence. Thank you. Yeah, may I ask for permission to leave early as well. Thank you. Thank you. As I have all been noted. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now item 2, Mayor's announcements. I am very pleased to announce that our contract centre team has earned silver UK contract centre forum accreditation. It is a national recognition of dedication to the top tier community service or customer service. The national accreditation recognises our contract centre in criteria including offering diverse communication channels, including British sign languages and multilingual support, ensuring broad accessibility for residents. Agents were praised for their empathy and professionalism, particularly when managing sensitive issues reflecting a strong focus on customer care. The accreditation highlights strength while identifying opportunities to enhance technology planning and coaching, positioning the council for sustained improvement. I am sure members will join me in congratulating the team for their fantastic achievement. Thank you very much. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you very much. I have been informed of the death of Agnes Ford, President of Irish Community Services and Greenwich Irish pensioners, who passed away at the remarkable age of 191. A devoted advocate for the Irish community in South East London, Agnes dedicated her life to supporting older residents and foster strong community ties. After moving to Elkham in 1947 with her husband, Sean, she became a driving force behind numerous initiatives, including the Kinsley and District Overseas Associations, Greenwich Irish pensioners and vital services such as lunch clubs in Plumstead, Elkham and Greenwich through the Irish in Greenwich Project, now called Irish Community Services. Her leadership and warmth made her a beloved figure welcoming ambassadors, dignitaries and political leaders while tirelessly working to improve the lives of others. And thirdly, I have good news to announce that Councillor Rosa Testa and his wife Mary has good news to say. I would like to congratulate them for having a boy recently who is named Raven. Congratulations, Rose Regan. Okay, on the second items, regarding the date of Agnes Ford, any member wish to speak? I would like to give room, if there is any. Councillor Fraser? Yeah, thank you, Mr Mayor. Just to say, in life you get to meet really special people and as you know yourself as Mayor, I met Agnes, I had the pleasure of meeting Agnes on several occasions and inviting her to the town on numerous occasions. And you would never have believed her age. She was full of life and really the most pleasurable person you could ever meet. So I just wanted to say that. Thank you. Absolutely. Thank you. Thank you. She had a so active initiative. She sang a song last year in her birthday. In 101 birthday. John Fai. Councillor Fai, please. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Can I thank you so much for recognizing the life of Agnes who has sadly passed away, as you have said. I've known Agnes, I knew Agnes for about 50 years, and we were both involved back in the day in the Irish in Greenwich project. And she moved on to the Irish Community Centre in Bexley Heath, where it's situated now, but obviously covers three boroughs. She could sing much better than I could and was always available for a song here and there. And she came from the same county as I did, which is good news, I think, for me. But she had a wonderful life. And we all will miss her so much. So thank you so much, Mr Mayor, for recognizing her. Thank you. Thank you, Sean. Now we move to item three. Declaration of Interest. I remind members, in relation to item seven. Christine. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Should we not have a minute silence? Yeah, we can do that, if you propose. Yeah. May I request all to stand for a minute silence to remember our 101-year-old Agnes. Thank you, Christine. We move to the item three now, declaration of interest. I remind members, in relation to item seven, councillors who are council tenants will need to declare a financial interest. However, you will not need to leave the chamber for this item and you are able to vote. Do any member have any other declaration of interest or the item seven? Item number seven, Mr Mayor. Thank you. Item number seven, Mr Mayor. Also item number seven, Mr Mayor. Thank you. Item number seven, Mr Mayor. Thank you. Item number seven, Mr Mayor. Thank you. Item number seven, Mr Mayor. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Now we move to item four. Notice of members wishing to exceed five minutes rule. I have received no request to exceed the five minutes rule previously. Leader. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I would just like to make one request under, in our constitution, A1.64.n to move the suspension of A1.71, the five-minute rule for cabinet members in respect of items seven and eight. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Akaraki, for the request, which I can grant, and that will be limited to cabinet members in relation to only items seven and eight. Item five, statement of accounts 2023-24. This report was considered by the audit and risk management panel yesterday, whose comments have been published to the website. They recommended that Council agrees the decision required. Can I ask the leader of the Council, Councillor Anthony Akaraki, to move the recommendations? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I would like to move the report formally and welcome the auditor to the meeting as they speak to the report. And remind members that this is the audited statement of account, so 23-24. Thank you. Thank you, Leader. I would like to welcome Mr. Trom Grinsiel from Morbis-Mazars to the meeting now, as proposed by the Leader, and ask them to present their report. Councillor Highland. If I could introduce, that would be very helpful. Please, thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, I have pleasure, following the leader's move of this report, to introduce the statement of accounts for 2023-24, particularly so with the government deadline for completing this by the end of February. In February, Greenwich finds itself as one of the fortunate real minority of councils who will have achieved this milestone, with potentially hundreds of councils having their accounts disclaimed. The accounts were drafted and handed to our new external auditor from this year, Forvis-Mazars, in July, who have been working through the documents with our staff. A new auditor brings a new approach, and we are grateful for this objective view. I am happy to report that this first year has been positive, Tom, unless you're going to tell me something else. Yes. And we look very much forward to receiving that annual report shortly, and we are joined by Tom Greensill, audit manager at Forvis-Mazars, who will introduce the audit completion report, which accompanies the accounts. Tom, can I just say a huge thank you on behalf of the council, to you and your team, for everything that you have done to make this all go so smoothly. Thank you. Thank you, councillor. Good evening, everybody. As you've mentioned, the council and the pension fund are a fortunate minority in receiving audit reports this year. I think before the backstop deadline, there are many councils who will be getting disclaimed opinions, and we are proposing unqualified audit opinions on both the council and for the pension fund. I will take the report as read, and I will pull out some of the more interesting pieces for you. So, if you would first turn to page seven, it will give you an overview of the status of the audit. Since writing the report, we have made considerable progress from here. So, on page seven, all of these sections have now been closed, and the audit work has been completed on them. We will come on to some of the errors later, but since writing the report, there have been an additional six errors noted in the general fund property, plant and equipment valuations. Sorry, four errors in addition to the six, totalling 6.63 million. And there are also a couple of errors to note in the other income and expenditure testing, where we have noted a 13.6 million classification adjustment, moving incorrectly classified fees charges and other service income to grants and contributions in relation to the better care fund income. That doesn't affect the general fund balance and the surplus or deficit, it just affects where it sits in the accounts. If we move on to the next page on page eight, just to finish up the status of the audit section. So, we are currently wrapping up our final technical queries with the council. There are five items left which should be resolved tomorrow morning, and then we can move on to getting the opinion signed and over to you. The whole of government accounts work hasn't been completed because the National Audit Office hasn't yet issued the sampled components instructions, which would let us complete that work. And the value for money work here, we are proposing two significant weaknesses, which will be in line with those seen in the prior year. One around financial sustainability and the use of reserves and savings targets. And one is around housing and fire safety, where the regulator, there hasn't been 100% compliance yet with the regulator for social housing. But we have noted improvement. That reporting and commentary will come at the same time as the audit opinion. The next page to turn to is page 12, which is the significant findings section. The first of which is the management override of controls. In all entities, this is classed as a significant risk. And that's because management are in the unique position where they can perpetrate fraud. And that's because they can manipulate accounting records and prepare fraudulent financial statements by overriding otherwise functional looking controls. We've addressed that risk by looking at the accounting estimates and the financial statements. We've considered significant transactions which might be outside of the course of business. And we've also looked at the general entries in the general ledger. And we've tested those based on risk criteria, which we've flagged. There's no indications of fraud or management override of controls in the testing. And our work there is concluded. So there's nothing to report to the council. Overleaf on page 13 is property, plant and equipment. So the council owes over 3 billion of property, plant and equipment. And the evaluation of land and buildings is inherently complex. There's a lot of assumptions involved. And it does involve the work of experts. So there is a significant risk to the audit that the financial statements could be materially misstated. We've addressed that risk by reviewing the approach the council and their valuers have in place to come up with those estimates. And we've looked at the valuers qualifications, objectivity and independence and then reviewed the methodology. And we've also used our own internal valuations experts to guide our challenge of those estimates as well. In this report, we've noted a 429k net understatement. That is the result of six errors moving in different directions. However, we have also found another four errors with around 6 million error in the general fund. In the HRA non-dwellings, we sampled a further 19 items and found understatement of 2.1 million. There were no further findings there from the date of writing this report. And in the HRA dwellings, we found understatements of 3.4 million with errors on four items. And again, we haven't found any further errors. As noted further on, there's more detail as to those errors. And we will be providing an ACR follow-up letter with the details of the other errors that we found. They are largely down to some of the inputs to the valuations being slightly out. We don't have any concerns more widely around the process for valuing assets. And if we did have any issues around that or the financial reporting concern, we would bring it to your attention. Overleaf on page 15 is the net defined benefit valuation. So that's the pension valuation. Again, this is a very large estimate with a number of assumptions, which means there's a scope for error naturally within that estimate. They include demographic assumptions, assumptions around inflation, life expectancy, pay and others as well. So we've used an NEO commissioned report, which helps us to benchmark where those assumptions should be and whether there are any assumptions outside of those ranges, which we have nothing to report, no errors in that sense. We did find one error of 1.5 million, which was between the information sent on the employer contributions in the source payroll data to that seen on the IS 19 report when we checked that. And that has led to an error as well, which we'll come on to shortly, which has caused the liability to be misstated. If you now move on to the control recommendation section, I won't go into all of these, but I would encourage everybody to have a read of them. There are no controlled deficiencies here, which we would consider to be significant. And so there's nothing here which is super urgent for the council. However, these would strengthen the internal controls and enhance business efficiency. So in our view, the recommendations should be action by management in the near future. And they are related to some of the other errors that we've found in our work that we've just discussed. Moving on then now to the unadjusted misstatement section. I'm not going to go into all of the ones on PPE because I have mentioned these. This is on page 25. So the first one is in relation to the net fine pension liability testing. This is an error which we found and it doesn't affect the surplus or deficit. So again, there's nothing to worry about in terms of the general fund balance. Over leaf, there was an error in the creditors testing, which we noted, which is where the authority had delegated, where there was delegated authority to agree the spend of monies relating to rent of a residential care home. But the contractual obligation hadn't yet happened. And so there's a timing issue where the expenditure shouldn't yet have been recognised. The error value is 228K, but we project those errors across the rest of the population, which we haven't tested in order to see what the error is likely to be. And we think that that could be representative of 3.963. And then we'll skip over the next couple because we've already discussed those in PPE and move to the adjusted misstatements on page 28. Here, there are a couple of items. One was an erroneous adjustment that had been made and then the adjustment to put that right had been double counted. So that's why there's two errors with 4.921 million. Again, there's no impact on the surplus or deficit or the general fund balance. And then the errors on here are the other side of the unadjusted errors. So these are the factual errors for the property, plant and equipment. And again, it is just balance sheet movements. The final one is error number six on page 31, which was assets held for sale. We noted, again, a timing difference where there was a property which had been classified as an asset held for sale, which didn't meet those criteria as sale wasn't likely to occur in the next 12 months. And that was 24.8 million. And it's just moved from assets held for sale to surplus assets, both within the balance sheet. And I will wrap up my reporting there. The only other thing to say is that on the pension fund report, all of our work is completed. There are no findings to bring to your attention and no control recommendations to make either. Thank you very much. Are there any questions to the external auditor, please? We are not debating the item eight. Just the questions to the auditor at this stage, if you have any. Councillor Garner? Well, it wasn't the question, actually. It was just to give the comments from the audit committee, which I don't think have been distributed. So, first, I think the report is online, Mr Mayor, but it's not in the paper copies that we've had this evening. I've seen people be following through their paper copies, but it is very comprehensive. It is online. And I think it's quite noticeable that in this year's report with our new auditors that there's much greater granularity of the report than there has in previous audit reports from the previous auditor. And I think that is quite welcome. At the Audit and Risk Management Panel last night, we had a very forensic and good look at some of the key points that four of us Mazars have reported on. And the only comment that we were making is in relation to their value for money comment on the sustainable finances, which obviously is very central in terms of the work of the armed panel as well as the council as a whole, and is a very important comment and recommendation. Our view there, Mr Mayor, is the council actually in using the reserves last year, which was a financial year 23-24 that the auditors are reporting on in the Statement of Accounts. By eating into the reserves by some 13-14 million last year, that was always planned, and that was part of the medium-term financial strategy. But for coming years, with a medium-term financial strategy, there's no proposal to eat into those reserves any further. And having looked at this and the relevant SIPFA, which is the Chartered Institute of Public Finance Accountants guidance, and they're the authority in these matters, the 19 million unmarked reserves as opposed to earmarked reserves, we feel is a very prudent level to sustain going forward. Obviously, this is a matter that the Audit Risk Management Panel will continue to take a great interest in, particularly on the delivery of the proposed savings, particularly the investor-save funding where capital is being used to invest, to save in future, to make sure we do deliver on those savings so we can meet that target of not eating further into reserves, but we believe so far that has been prudent. So overall, we very much welcome the fact that we have another unqualified opinion from the Auditor. We welcome the fact that we will complete by the end of February, on Friday. It would have been nice had we kept the original timetable and completed in January, but nevertheless, we will do it by the statutory deadline, which has been reported as a much better position than many authorities. And finally, I'd just like to thank the work, as Councillor Hyland did, of the finance team and the auditors in bringing us this report. And I think we have got a very good account. And I think we are also quite confident that the minor matters, none of which are material which we have heard from Tom tonight, are being very much addressed by the finance team. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Governor. Any questions to Auditor, please? Any questions? Any questions? Okay. Okay, so we hang in, so now we come back to the discussion now. Yes, thank you. So, I first of all give to the Chair of Auditor and Risk Management Plan, Councillor David Gardner, again, if you want to comment any further. No, I've said that. Thank you. That's the one. Okay, that's fine. So, do remember which to speak on the report now. Now we can debate. Councillor Hadley. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. And as has been said, I and colleagues on the Auditor and Risk Management Panel had our opportunity to ask questions last night, so I didn't have questions for the auditor. So, I'll just add to the opposition groups, thanks to the finance team, to our new auditors, for all their work, especially against such a tight statutory deadline, as the Cabinet Member said. I'd also like to thank Councillor Gardner for his work chairing the ARM panel and colleagues on the panel, and strongly endorse, from the perspective of the opposition group, the comments of the wider ARM panel that we've just heard around the £19 million level of general fund reserves, and certainly endorsing the recommendation that that should not be further eroded. And as we heard from auditors, we will have a repeat of the findings from their predecessor last year of a significant weakness around financial sustainability, around the use of reserves and savings delivery. And that should only be taken by all of us as members of the Council as a stark reminder of the need to double down on the transformation agenda. And I think that's very clear from the work. So, if I can just add my thanks and look forward to the Council having a productive relationship with our new auditors in the future. Thank you. Thank you. Now, does Councillor Kerrigan, leader of the Council, wish to close the debate? Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'd like to close the debate and thank all officers and the ARM panel for their work, as well as Councillor Hynden for her work in working with our auditors to bring forward this report. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you. I now ask Council to vote on the recommendation in report. All those in favour? Against? Any abstinence? The recommendations have been approved. Now, we move to item 6, Treasury Management and Capital Strategy 2025-26. Thank you very much. This report considers the Treasury Management Strategy and the Capital Strategy for 2025-26. It was discussed at Cabinet on 17 February and they agreed the recommendations should be endorsed by full Council. It was considered by Audit and Risk Management Panel yesterday and they had no comment. Can I call on Councillor Dennis Hyland, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Social Values to move the recommendations? Thank you very much indeed, Mr Mayor. Well, in accordance with the direction made by the Secretary of State, which applies to all Councils, the report requests the use of 6.5 million of capital resources to be utilised in support of activities that will produce revenue savings to the Council going forward. And these resources are capital receipts to be realised from the Council's Strategic Asset Review, which has been approved by Cabinet. The capital programme for 2025-26 amounts to 362 million and includes 2.4 million of capital bids to support the delivery of services and savings within the medium-term financial strategy. Borrowing, which is the financing option of last resort, currently remains affordable and enables the Council to deliver on its corporate missions, although I'll return to that in a moment. I suppose the key points are there is no increase in the risk profile or the appetite of the Council and we continue to maintain a prudent investment strategy. Recent economic events are likely to pose significant challenges for the Council's borrowing strategy going forward. High borrowing rates coupled with ongoing geopolitical uncertainties. These continue to impact financial markets around the world. The Director of Resources confirms that the authority has complied with the prudential indicators in the current year and does not foresee any difficulties in recent future years. Recent future years? In the next few years. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Highland. Does any member wish to speak on the report? No? No? No? Councilor Slattery? Thank you, Mr Mayor. I only wanted to draw attention to the capital strategy bit. As Cabinet Member for Housing, I wanted to draw attention to our large capital programme that is in the report, showing that we're spending over £569 million over the next three years on improving our existing stock and also on the Greenwich Builds Program and acquiring new properties. For example, the tower block last year in Greenwich Millennium Village. And that's in addition to the £226 million that we're spending this year. I draw attention to it because it's self-evident that this money is going to make the majority of our 20,000 homes and 5,000 leasehold homes safer, warmer, more watertight, more attractive and well-insulated in the years to come. And I want to draw that achievement of my officers to the attention of you and finance support officers as well. It's a really important piece of work. Thank you. Thank you. Councilor Ligal. Mayor, this strategy, the council's capital funding is one of the areas that impacts, that comes from my portfolio, which is the transport strategy, amongst other strategies, which is aligned with the Mayor of London's transport strategy. This outlined the projects required to deliver the vision over the median and long term, centred on several themes. In terms of improving safety and accessibility of our streets and public spaces, especially people walking and cycling, we have and continue to use £2.76 million of new capital funding for our healthy school streets. This year alone, we'll be investing in creating 20 new school streets and converting our existing 11 school streets to ANPR-operated closures. In terms of making it easier for people of all ages and abilities to have a healthy lifestyle, we have invested a further £1.5 million capital funding to our program of sustainable streets. This will help us reduce car journeys, meaning cleaner and safer streets. It will encourage walking and cycling and the use of public transport, making getting around easier and healthier. From an estimated 21.6% coverage of sustainable streets in the borough in 2022, our program of work up to the end of this year could lead to a coverage of 57% if approved. Mr. Mayor, this administration has invested our money where our Greenwich plan is. Reducing car dependency in the borough, we have introduced emissions-based charging with higher tariffs for additional cars in a household. These schemes also provide a space and funding needed to invest in sustainable transport measures and improvements to local streets. These include cycle parking, cycle lanes, creating new car clubs, installing new electric vehicle charging points, improving road crossings, planting more trees, double yellow lines at all junctions, and sustainable urban drainage. This has been made possible by a £1.5 million injection of capital funding. This is helping to encourage the use of electric vehicles, e-bikes, and other smart technology. We are investing in our strategic infrastructure upgrades, having developed and delivered refurbishment of Creek Road Bridge, the refurbished Petman Crescent Flyover, and bridge redecking with structural repairs and complete structural surveys of all highway assets. Also, by the successful Bluetooth retrofit of all LED lanterns, borough-wide with NFC tags, we have been able to dim street lighting borough-wide to reduce CO2 and energy costs for the borough. This borough has contributed £500,000 to progress and outline case for the DLR and the BRT to Thamesmead. We have also executed an up to £10 million a year highway term contract over the next four years. All of these measures and more, Mr. Mayor, will reduce air quality by reducing emissions, support growth by improving access to jobs, services, and opportunities in Royal Greenwich and across London, bringing our diverse communities together and attracting more visitors into the borough. Thank you. Thank you, Deputy Leader, Councillor McLean. Thank you, Mayor. Councillor Raymond. Thank you, Mayor. As a Cabinet member for planning the estate renewal and development, I just want to highlight some of the achievements of our directorates. When we're looking at the capital strategy, I think it's important to look at some of the inward investments that we've brought in through our capital funds for development. We've managed to secure around about £97.4 million for housing development stock, £27.5 million of that, which went towards actually purchasing of apartment blocks for housing, affordable housing. And this was done at the time where a lot of the resident providers or social housing providers were not buying properties. So we were able to step into that space and acquire properties which will provide quality homes for our residents. It's also worth mentioning that as part of our estate renewal, we managed to secure funding and land decarbonisation of our estates. We secured about £13.9 million, which will go towards saving over 1,900 tonnes of CO2 emissions per year. Already we've saved about 750 tonnes through those investments. And just to kind of highlight some of the capital projects that we've managed to kind of secure and fund through our capital strategy, the new Woolwich Ledger Centre, which is due to open this year. The major repairs works on the way at Woolwich Town Hall, which we all can see just outside with the scaffolding, which will help bring up building up in terms of safety and also kind of maintenance for the future. And we've also invested in local community centres, such as the Clock House Community Centre, Shrewsbury House Community Centre. We've invested millions in those to bring them up to standards in terms of safety. So, in order to bring them up to standards in terms of safety and also preparing them for the future. And it's also just to kind of nod back to what Councillor Denise Harlan mentioned about the asset review. I think there's a lot of work going in there, which has been approved by Cabinet. We are reviewing our current assets because we do have a lot of properties on our portfolio. We are reviewing them, assessing them for viability and also requireability in terms of core services and making sure those that we can maintain, we maintain, and those that are, to an extent, surplus to our core service requirements are being put in the market for sales and for appropriate purchases. And then this will bring in savings which will go towards our capital strategy. And as well as talking about the asset review, I think it's important to highlight that we are not just considering assets for surplus without sweating our assets first. So, we're making sure we are bringing them up to the right level of rent and the modernisation of leasing schemes and which should bring in hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not hundreds of thousands, over the course of the year. Thank you. Thank you very much. Can I call on Cabinet Member for Finance, Services and Social Values, Councillor Denise Harlan, to close the debate, please. I would now like to ask the Council to vote on the recommendations on the report. Please indicate all those in favour. All against? Any abstentions? The recommendations are agreed. Now we move to item 7, housing revenue account medium-term financial strategy and 2025-26 budget and rent setting. This report was considered by overview and scrutiny on 30 January and Cabinet on 17 February. They recommend that the Council agrees the decision required. Can I ask Councillor Pax Slattery, Cabinet Member for Housing, Neighbourhoods and Homelessness, to vote the recommendations? Yes, thank you very much, Mr Mayor, and good evening to all colleagues. I'm very pleased to rise to recommend this report to members this evening and yet again express my gratitude to housing and finance officers for their dedication and hard work in producing this report, particularly, as you will read, the HRA is under some pressure at the moment and over the coming three years. For the reasons set out in the report, chief amongst them, of course, what I just said about the capital programme, which is significant and important, but which, of course, doesn't come free. And so we do have to pay for the borrowing from the housing revenue account. So we've got a challenge over the next three years to balance it, and there are proposals in the report demonstrating how we intend to do that, one of them being increasing our income, which includes a 2.7% increase in rents and service charges, which I think, I don't know if people got their water bills yet, 2.7% is to die for, really, when you consider how much water bills are going to cost us and utilities and so on. Nonetheless, there are some people so on the margins financially that it will cause them a problem. And we continue to have a hardship fund to help those people and target our money accordingly. Mr. Mayor, if you'll indulge me for a short time, people would like, perhaps, to know some of the achievements and how that money is being spent from the HRA. And I wanted to do that just for a few minutes this evening, both to emphasise the public good that the money does to the 60,000 or so residents, who are our tenants and their families, and the 15,000 or so leaseholders. And also, though, to emphasise the continuing awe-inspiring resilience of our staff and the hard work they put in, despite whatever the world throws at them. And everybody will agree it's thrown a lot at them in the last dot, dot, dot number of years. And yet, they continually surprise me about how they turn it around and come up with new ideas and all the rest of it. So, I just want to highlight a few achievements, if I may, if you'll bear with. Safety was touched on by the external auditor. And I am pleased that since that opinion, 23-24, we've made very significant progress in that area. 100% of our 67 high-rise blocks now have their fire risk assessment. And arising out of that assessment, 6,300 fire risk actions have been completed to make homes safe. And I suspect that people are safer in their homes now than they have been for really a very long time, given how much focus and money we've spent, rightly so. Members will be aware that we set up a trial dampened mould team. We've now made that permanent. And it's reduced the average wait time for a mould wash to three days, where there's a vulnerable person in the property. And seven days where there isn't. And the all-important diagnostic survey as to why have you got mould and why might you keep getting mould, that's been completed within an average now of nine days. The last bit on repairs I wanted to draw to everybody's attention is, we had difficult negotiations this year with the trade unions representing 180 of our repairs staff. We wanted to move to a fixed salary, replacing a bonus pay scheme that has been in place since 2014. We have now succeeded in doing that, and we will move towards that over the next three years. And in that time, that will save £2.5 million on the HRA, to a significant achievement for offices. Just moving on from repairs, the other thing I know that, amongst many things, members are interested in is getting people out of hotels. People who have come to us under threat of eviction, mainly from private sector landlords, under no-fought evictions, but other reasons too. We have a duty to house them. We have no affordable temporary accommodation self-contained in the borough, in neighbouring boroughs or nearby counties such as Kent. And so we have to put them in hotels. At its peak, in autumn 2023, we had 268 households. Not people, but households in hotels, in this borough and around and about. Bad both for families living in one room. Quite often, can you imagine? You want to watch the telly or chill out. Not your kid wants to do homework or play. You're all in one room, and there's no access to cooking facilities. So your ability to get nutritious food that's not highly priced is quite limited. But it's also bad for the council taxpayer. At that peak, we were paying £28,000 a night. Travel Lodge did very well out of us, and other colleagues across London. As of this week, I'm really delighted to report that that 268 figure is down to 55 households and hotels. And we have an ambition to bring that down to zero in the next year. And just to finish up on that, in 25, 26, this coming year, this success will save the General Rate Fund. That's an old-fashioned term showing my age. The General Fund, £4 million. Finishing up, Mr. Mayor, just going forward a little bit. We'll obviously continue all of that work, and members will be well aware about our very wide Repairs Transformation Programme, which is in its third year. We'll continue all this work. But we'll also introduce some new things, such as investing in AI to get smarter on identifying and collecting from those tenants in arrears, and trying to prevent them from doing that. We're going to review the role of our very hard-pressed tenancy teams. And we're going to continue the work we've been doing so successfully in bringing empty council homes, voids, back into use as quickly as possible. We've reduced those from a peak of 425 to, this week, 170. So I hope that people feel there have been significant achievements, and that's what the HRA is being spent on. It is under pressure. There are mitigations in the report. I do recommend the report to members. Thank you. Thank you. I understand. Councillor Davies would like to propose an amendment. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you to the Cabinet member for her speech just then in explaining the HRA, and to council officers for their work on this report on the HRA full stop, and also to the Director of Housing for his help with our amendment, too. And, Mr. Mayor, I wanted to start with something that I believe this borough gets right with regards to housing. Greenwich has a proud history of supporting tenants with some of the lowest rents in London, and a leading house-building programme in the form of Greenwich Builds, which has provided much-needed homes across this borough. And these are both things that we are and should be proud of. And as an opposition group, over the last few years, we've acted as a critical friend to the council on both these topics. We've raised concerns relating to rent rises and the impact they will have on our poorest and most vulnerable residents. And on Greenwich Builds, there have been schemes that we've been critical of, but on the whole, we have supported the council more often than not. And at times, such as Orange Relain in my own ward, we've encouraged the council to be bolder and to think bigger. But overall, our criticisms have related to ensuring that the community is listened to and that their views are taken into account. And that has been aided by the decision of the last council administration to extend consultation for Greenwich Builds so that it goes above and beyond statutory consultation requirements. And that's why we believe Greenwich should extend that principle beyond Greenwich Build, starting with leaseholders and tenants. For too long, Mr Mayor, in this borough, leaseholders have been treated as a cash cow, with the most recent example being the plight of leaseholders on the Middle Park Estate. For too many leaseholders, the reality of home ownership has fallen woefully short of the dream. Their lives, marked by an intermittent, if not constant struggle, with punitive and escalating ground rents, unjustified commissions and administration fees, unreasonable or extortionate charges and onerous conditions imposed with little or no consultation. This is not what home ownership should entail. And I couldn't have put it better myself, because those were the words of the housing minister, the MP for Greenwich and Woolwich. And I'd love to be a fly on the wall of his office when he saw the coverage of the approach this council took to leaseholders on the Middle Park Estate. But after picking up the plight of leaseholders on that estate, I was shocked by the number of leaseholders who contacted me from across the borough who have endured similar experiences with the council. And that's why we're calling for this review. Secondly, we need urgent action to ensure that the council is getting proper value for money before passing on costs to tenants and leaseholders. And we need to ensure that no leaseholder is receiving a quote, almost double the market rate, and that there needs to be full transparency on how these costs have been reached. And we need to extend that transparency, Mr Mayor, to all communication and consultation with leaseholders and tenants. Too often, costs and complications are shrouded in jargon that most people can't understand without research, or costs are aggregated, hiding individual costs that leaseholders may question. We believe that this is wrong and that the Royal Bar of Greenwich should strive to lead the way in their communications, ensuring costs and bills are itemised and set out in layman's terms. As a council, we need to stop the scandal that has happened to leaseholders on the Middle Park estate, and we need to stop it happening, again, to any leaseholders in this borough. And this review will go some way to addressing this, and I hope that colleagues opposite support it. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Is the amendment seconded? Seconded, Mr Mayor, and I reserve my right to speak. Do member wish to do it on the amendment? Mr Mayor, I don't accept it, if that's helpful. I don't accept it. Is this my moment to say why is that appropriate? Yeah, so thanks very much. I don't accept the amendment because I think it's unnecessary. I'll go on to explain why. I get why you're moving it. It's part of the political theatre. I don't like puncture and duty politics, but I am pleased to see that since this is the small amendment that you've got to a major HRA budget, it means you're 99.9% happy with my HRA MTFS report. So grateful for that. Regarding the amendment, I regard it as unnecessary for the following reasons. Firstly, communication with leaseholders and tenants. We're learning the lessons as we roll out the capital programme, and I said in this chamber in January, where are we now? January, that we will look at all ways at the sequencing and the timing and the language that's used. I don't like jargon either. So we don't need a review of that. With regard to the value for money point, it did make me smile because it kind of made me think, do you think we haven't thought about value for money until we saw your amendment to the budget on Tuesday? That would be a bad show, but of course it's not true. Our procurement strategy is written through with value for money, not only because it's public money, and that's an ethical reason, but also as a business, if you like, the council, for our value for money. So the interests of leaseholders and the interests are the same as the interests of the council. We don't want to pay through the nose either, and we don't. The current capital programme perhaps is a good case in point. A national competition covering off national major companies, been pre-assessed already by a consortium that we are part of, 11 national players invited to bid, nine of whom were shortlisted, and three independently evaluated were awarded the contracts on the basis of quality and price. But just awarding the contract in that way, it doesn't stop there. A number of other things continue to take place. We've awarded to three contractors and given them different geographical locations, but doing largely speaking the same jobs so that not all of our eggs are in one basket. We can compare their costs as the contracts roll out, and we can move work around if necessary. Value for money considerations last for the lifetime of the contract. A good example would be when we know the building and construction inflation figures for the year, we will negotiate those with the contractor and largely speaking press for them to absorb those inflationary costs. There's also monthly contract quality and financial monitoring that takes place, including by third-party consultants whom we employ. Finally, I would say, for your information probably, the whole capital program is going to be reviewed through a new financial management board, which has been a highly successful mechanism introduced by the leader last year, and we're going to review the whole capital program. So given all of those things and many other things I'm not going to mention here tonight, the amendment is duplication and therefore in and of itself is not value for money. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Slattery. Do members wish to debate on the amendment? Councillor Hardley? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just to follow what the Cabinet member said, she opened by saying our amendment was unnecessary and then made an entirely unnecessary comment about punch and duty politics. There was nothing punch and duty about what Councillor Davis said in presenting this amendment. As far as I can see, it's only Councillor Davis who is sticking up for leaseholders on the Middle Park estate and has been doing a fantastic job. For me, Mr. Mayor, listening to what the Cabinet member said, for me, this amendment is about humility. We could have gone further with this amendment. We've tried to give the Cabinet member, the administration, the chance to show some humility because the Council has been getting this wrong. She said, she questioned our reference to value for money and she said, you know, questioned whether we think you hadn't thought about value for money. It's not really about what we think. It's about what leaseholders think. Leaseholders don't think that the Council has sufficiently considered value for money and they don't think that, you know, in large part because the Council has completely undermined any confidence in the leaseholder recharging system through insufficient transparency. So, I'm disappointed she won't be accepting our amendment as she did last year on another topic and I'll speak and I'll speak in the main debate on some other aspects of the report, Mr Mayor. But I really think, you know, despite how the vote goes tonight, I really think humility needs to be the watchword of this administration when it comes to leaseholder charges. They've got a lot of damage repair to do with leaseholders and I know that Councillor Davies and the rest of my group will continue to have their backs in this and I hope that the administration will reconsider its approach. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Councillor Raymond. Just a quick comment, really. Thank you, thank you, Mayor. It's interesting, Councillor Harley, you mentioned about humility. I think, just going back to the point that Councillor Davies made about and he mentioned the current mist of housing and his views on leaseholder reform and I think what's important to highlight here is the previous government, the Conservative government, had 14 years to get it right and we didn't get anywhere near a better situation for leaseholders. I myself was deterred from going down that route because of what was faced a few years ago but I think what we have to kind of acknowledge and actually congratulate the current Minister of Housing is that within the year of him being in role there's the Leaseholder and Freeholder Reform Act 2024 which enables leaseholders to, it's abolished the two-year rule where they're able to become freeholder a lot easier without zero cost in ground rent and also the covering of any legal cost that is added to that so I think there's also already been huge progress being made and there's a lot more to come from him as well and also a lot more to come from the current Labour government. Thank you. Councillor Babatola. Thank you Mr Mayor. I just want to ask the Opposition Bank when would they start appreciating what the Labour Council is doing to improve the resident of this place and can I advise you please don't use the word criticism all the time please try and change and use the word constructive feedback and I think that's a good advice for you thank you very much Mr Mayor. Leader of the Council Councillor Anthony Thank you Mr Mayor and I'll just speak very briefly to the matter on the point of Punching Duty Politics and the point that Councillor Hartley raised. I mean first of all I'd note that Councillor Charlie Davis has done a fantastic social media video on his Twitter on this particular issue what's interesting is he's now found his voice now when the Tories delayed the decision on removing ground rents from leaseholders where was your voice? You don't need to be a councillor you're still a member of the Tory party right? When councillor when the Tories put off abolishing leaseholder reform where was his voice? Now Mr Mayor one thing is to say that this is a very compassionate council we continue to work with our tenants and our leaseholders supporting them through all our capital works projects and we'll continue to do that I think Councillor Slattery has outlaid the work that we are doing as well as the work we're going to be doing for our financial management board but Mr Mayor if there is punch politics being paid through this chamber tonight it's the opposition thank you thank you does Councillor Pat Slattery as the mover of the recommendations wish to close the debate on amendment only briefly chair I think because leaseholders don't like their bills doesn't mean there's lack of value for money but what I also think is and I think I said this last month everybody in this chamber is sympathetic to people getting bills through the post or however we're sending them through emails and so forth these days that are quite high they are improving their asset they will realise that improvement with a higher valued asset when they go to market whenever they choose to go to market we also have interest free loans for people who are experiencing difficulties you would not get that from a normal freeholder and the only people paying for that interest free the impact of that interest free facility is the HRA which is our tenants and so we extend that to people in difficulties but obviously we can't do it to everybody other than that I just formally close the debate Mr. Mayor thank you we have an amendment and I would like to ask the council to vote on the amendment please indicate all those in favour all against any abstentions the amendment has not been agreed does any member wish to speak on the main report Councillor Davis thank you Mr. Mayor I can't say I'm surprised but I'm disappointed that the party opposite haven't accepted our amendment there are some positives from what the cabinet member said I think it's welcome that the whole programme will be reviewed by the financial management board but I just do think that the cabinet member may think the council have got value for money here but as Councillor Hartley said leaseholders certainly don't think that the council has got value for money but focusing on the main report rather than the amendment I did just want to welcome some good news within that report which I think should get focus the figures in hotels going down to 55 households is really excellent work and I think council staff deserve a real commendment for making that happen as is the number I've made a note I'm really voids that's what it says 425 down to 170 I'm sure we would all like to see that number lower than 170 but I think that is really welcome to and from this side of the chamber we definitely support all the effort going in to getting the households within hotels down to zero and I know from speaking to the director of housing that a lot of work is going into that and we obviously saw at cabinet last month the item around saying that whilst there is a lot of good within this report without our amendment unfortunately we can't support this item but we do support some of the good work that the council is doing Thank you Leader of the opposition Councillor Matt Hamley Thank you Mr Mayor I just wanted to add to what Councillor Davies has said and a couple of other areas the cabinet member referred to the rent rise which obviously nobody wants to increase rent she said 2.7% in context is to die for I understand the point she was making I maybe would have chosen different words because she knows I know all of us are very cognizant that it's not just one rise that impacts people who are financially vulnerable it's council tax it's rent it's water as she highlighted energy and across the board so that's why it's really important that the hardship fund is continuing and I wanted to speak about the hardship fund because it was this time last year that Councillor Greenwell and I before we won all those by-elections and had more councillors coming back Councillor Greenwell and I experienced the peculiar sensation of having one of our budget amendments accepted by the Labour Administration how's that for constructive Councillor Babatola well you're not here you've got short memory because we worked together on that amendment to expand the hardship fund and I had an early Christmas present from the Deputy Chief Executive and his team some Christmas reading which was the report of the review that followed from the amendment that we worked together across party lines to vote through and that report if members haven't read it I commend that report to them it has some really terrific examples case studies of the good that the HRA Hardship Fund is doing and what really struck me about the case studies is how the impact of that Hardship Fund goes beyond the financial so people's well-being and other aspects of their lives so the Hardship Fund is doing good work I was pleased that we were able to work together on that last year I know the Hardship Fund is continuing at a slightly lower level with some tweaks I support that I think it's been very well thought through so like Councillor Davies I regret that we haven't made it two years running and we haven't found a chord on the HRA MTFS as he said we will be abstaining on this unamended motion in the absence of the review and that humility that we've tried to add into it but we do support several elements not least the Hardship Fund and I wanted to put on record our thanks to Corinne and the team and officers who have done good work to support tenants through a very difficult time thank you Mr Mayor now can I call on leader of the council councillor Anthony Thank you Mr Mayor and I just wanted to stand up to welcome the HRA budget and pay tribute to councillor Slattery and the work she did alongside our officers on the repairs restructure Mr Mayor that is a landmark level piece of work that will go into saving our residents and tenants in their homes a lot of money but more importantly unlocking more repair work for them to be done in the long term and that speaks to the work you have been doing along with others in the chamber on your repairs transformation project so I'm just really grateful for that work and welcome the points made about voids as well as the willingness to get numbers down and get families out of temporary accommodation because nobody wants to have a family in a hotel who doesn't have access to cooking facilities so just really welcome the work that our teams have done as well as welcome the work that is being done to use the HRA budget to start to think about estate regeneration we have to build new homes for the future that will be able to house those on our waiting list we're doing that by investing and building 1,750 homes as well as bringing forward an acquisitions programme and I would just like to use this opportunity to pay tribute to the Mayor of London who consistently has supplied us with adequate funding we've needed to buy more homes off the open market that is helping deliver and getting people outside of hotels we've consistently written to the Mayor of London asking for more and more funding and the Mayor so when we say vote Labour we say vote Labour for a reason Thank you Mr Mayor I just want to add my voice to the reduction of residents who were put in hotels in my ward for instance we had a lot of people who went through that including people with disability and even in one situation where a child was born only seven days and was in a hotel you know we speaking about situations where we had situations like this and I think that with the reduction it's a great work and I just want to take this opportunity to acknowledge that as well but having said that I want to believe that there's a lot of leaseholders definitely need that to be carried on not to be getting surprises of fantastic capital works that they go through each and everyone here will possibly attest that some leaseholders have gone through sex problems and I think that your continued consultation and that of making things transparent for them and communicating with them alongside whatever you want to do must be the way forward thank you very much for the opportunity can I call on cabinet member for housing neighbourhood and homelessness councillor slattery to close the debate yeah thanks mr. mayor I'll almost do it formally but two things one thank you for your graciousness in acknowledging some achievements and secondly to say that I do regret saying that 2.7 percent is an increase to kill for because I've now given Greenwich while it's headline when it writes up and I did obviously and I'm glad that you know what I meant because I think we're all getting water bills of 39 percent increases and all the rest of it but anyway apart from that Mr. Mayor I close the debate formally thank you I would now like to ask the council to vote on the recommendations on the main report recommendations please indicate all those in favor all against any abstinence recommendations are agreed before we get into the next two items as there will be a full debate on the first item the medium term financial strategy can I strongly encourage members not to raise the same matter again during the budget council tax item item 8 medium term financial strategy 2025 26 plus this report sets up the medium term financial strategy for the authority for the next four years 2025 26 to 20 20 29 the MTFS balances the financial implications of objectives and the policies against constraints in resources and provides the basis for decision making it was considered by the cabinet on 17th February who agreed the recommendations should be endorsed by full council can can I ask councillor Dennis Island cabinet member for finance resources and social values to move the recommendations thank you very much indeed mr mayor now before i do could i bring your attention to a slight change in the report which is section 1.19 and it should read note that the cabinet on the 17 February 2025 in recommending the budget to council have noted some of the recommendations and agreed others of the overview and scrutiny panel as set out in appendix e so noted some and agreed others all right thank you thank you um sorry yeah thank you mr mayor i feel honoured tonight to present this labour council's budget strategy which the leader and i with the rest of the cabinet have worked so hard to produce and which has the support of our entire group this administration through its vision of our greenwich makes clear its priorities and brings life to our motto we govern by serving putting our residents at the heart of all we do i'd like to thank the chief executive our directors and especially the director of resources and his team in fact all officers here who work tirelessly for the benefit of all and who rise to the challenges that are put before them we champion those less fortunate than ourselves we try to counter inequalities whatever they be related to such as health or education or indeed financial poverty more than one in five people in the UK 22% were in poverty in 21 22 14.4 million people and some groups of people face particularly high levels of poverty this includes larger families 43% of children in families with three or more children were in poverty at the height of the Tory government families whose childcare responsibilities limit their own ability to work nearly half of them are in poverty many many minority ethnic groups again around half of people disabled people in 21 2022 it's about 31 to 38% depending on their disability informal carers 28% of carers are in poverty due to their inability to work because they are caring informally for a close relative families not in work 56% of them are in poverty and for part-time workers and self employed the figure is 23% people living in rented accommodation in 21 22 40% families claiming income related benefits the basic universal credit rate has been below destitution thresholds and so is responsible for the high level of poverty in these families and I'm quoting 2020 21 because actually that is from the Joseph Roundtree Foundation and is their latest figures and that is why this council this labour council continues to invest with plugging a gap of 46.7 million to more or less stand still 70% of our budget is investment going into social care areas 20 million into health and adult services 12 million into children's services and our spend on children's centres remains one of the highest in London a further 1.3 million was invested in eight wellbeing hubs in 24 25 and we've gone even further this year with an additional 200,000 invested in an extra wellbeing hub making a total of nine hubs in 2025 26 this labour council is investing one million of section 106 in carbon offset funding for a community energy fund part of the co-op commission and I'm particularly proud of that because we became a labour and co-optive council during my leadership in 2014 to 2018 so I'm thrilled that Anthony and his administration has taken such a deep step forward and well done to councillor Lollivar and councillor Fai and all of those involved in that wonderful initiative we are a listening council Charlie you said are we listening we are and that's why we withdrew the plans to close the Animal Wilson the animal park Animal Wilson might be a really nice person by the way but I'm sure Marion Wilson was so the Marion Wilson Animal Park we withdrew those proposals and we've heard people's concerns about the state of the roads and so this labour council will spend 1.6 million repairing and resurfacing our streets and we've invested in our digital transformation invest to save we will save money going forward and we will improve our services and we heard the mayor this evening talk about the silver award to customer care that is one example just one example of the work that's been done through that digital transformation and unlike many councils our libraries remain open not shut and many libraries not just one my understanding it is that you only need one library to meet your statutory obligations and some councils have reduced to just one library but not us we still have libraries in our neighborhoods and I'm pleased to announce that today the leader and councillor smith and I have asked the director of resources to set aside a good wodge for the greenwich supports council tax hardship fund and I'll let councillor smith tell you exactly how much later now for the local council tax support we are covering 80% you know unlike some sorry but some Tory councils quite close by are only covering off 50% now we'd like to cover off more if we hadn't lost 53% of our funding since 2010 under a Tory government 150 million is the amount that we have not received during Tory austerity period which we needed to match demand and rising prices despite losing over half of our core government funding during those 14 years of conservative austerity we have managed to reduce the forecast cost of temporary accommodation next year by 3 million despite the long years the lack of housing was building up into a crisis and we've improved income from implementing transport strategy proposals worth 3 million however private companies continue to profit from the misery of children being taken into secure care where a cost of 23,000 pounds a week yes 23,000 pounds per week can be seen in boroughs across London and that is the equivalent in an annual cost to 1% rise in council tax as a labour council a prudent council and an ambitious council we maintain a robust position with reduced reliance upon planned use of reserves when setting the budget down consistently over the last two years to 1 million pounds set aside for 2025 26 whereas other councils are using significant levels of reserves to balance their budgets some are receiving statutory recommendations from their auditor about the use of their reserves seven councils in London will be receiving exceptional financial support next year that's almost a quarter of the councils in London compared to only two this time last year we remain committed as a Labour Council to improving our performance where we can we had a 94% council tax collection rate in 23 24 and this year month on month we've consistently outperformed last year and we continue to collect after the year end and use these sums once collected to top up our risk reserves for the business rates collection we had a 96.2% success rate and this year again month on month we've consistently outperformed last year and again we continue to collect after the year end and use these sums once collected to top up our risk reserves albeit of course that we don't keep all of our business rates Mr Mayor I reserve the right to speak further but for now I will take my seat and commend this budget to the chamber thank you thank you Councillor Highland I understand Leader of Opposition Councillor Matt Hadley wish to propose an amendment thank you Mr Mayor yes I'm speaking to put forward the opposition group's proposed amendments to this year's medium term financial strategy and there are several aspects of the cabinet's proposals both positive and negative that I will address in the main debate so I'll speak twice for now in this part of the meeting I'll speak to our amendment which focuses on what the cabinet's proposals have not included which is I'm afraid to say any real action on many of the priorities that residents said they wanted to see from this budget but I'll start as always by adding my thanks and placing on record the opposition's acknowledgement of the huge amount of work that goes into producing the medium term financial strategy as Councillor Highland said from the director of resources and his brilliant team from the chief executive offices right across the length and breadth of the council the cabinet member for finance and the wider cabinet too it is a significant undertaking and the product of a huge amount of work for which we are all grateful and on the opposition benches we are grateful as well to the director of resources the director of legal and also this year the deputy chief executive for the professional support they have provided to us as always as the opposition group as we develop our own proposals that I'm speaking to now we've brought forward this amendment tonight because politics is about listening to people and their priorities and it is clear to us that this labour administration has not listened to residents in producing their latest budget they've run a public consultation on the budget but they haven't actually listened to what residents have said and that's a theme Mr. Mayor low traffic neighbourhoods controlled parking zones the equestrian centre selling off car parks royal artillery keys cold arbor police base and now the budget added to that long list despite respectfully all of the leader of the council's talk about community engagement his labour administration just isn't listening they haven't listened and they certainly haven't acted on what residents said in their own budget consultation they haven't acted in particular on three key priorities for residents anti-social behaviour cleaner streets and help with bills and other costs so our amendment seeks to correct that and I'll take each of these three important issues in turn to explain how firstly on anti-social behaviour residents could not have been clearer in the council's own budget consultation that they want to see more action from the council on ASB tackling anti-social behaviour in my community was by far and away the most selected issue by residents from a long list of the most important issues they think the borough will face it accounted for 30% of responses and separately residents ranked tackling crime and community safety on a local level as the top issue that they felt requires more attention when deciding the budget that's what residents have said and they deserve to be listened to so tackling antisocial behaviour is of course primarily the responsibility of the police but we all know that the council is a crucial partner in that effort but there is nothing in labour's plans to improve this work and indeed the administration's proposals actually take us backwards and I'll explain why under labour's plans the number of community safety enforcement officers is highly likely to go down there are currently eight officers and three supervisors in the team these are the officers who provide a visible presence mostly in the borough's high footfall areas our high streets our town centres they work with the police they enforce against antisocial behaviour using the PSPO and other legislation they engage with the public to reduce the fear of crime and antisocial behaviour and last year the labour administration announced plans to seek alternative funding from AEG to fund two of these officers existing officers who would then be effectively abstracted and ring fenced to work around the O2 arena so if that had materialised that would have led to reduce coverage elsewhere but at least those roles would have continued the council has tried to secure this funding from AEG but that approach hasn't been successful with the service reporting just before Christmas that negotiations with AEG were not proving fruitful and there's been no movement since and as last year's MTFS papers warned and I quote if this income cannot be secured the community safety enforcement team will be reduced by two staff members that's the situation that the council is now facing so it's highly likely to go down in producing our amendment unlike the cabinet we have listened to what residents are saying they want tackling antisocial behaviour to be more of a priority for this council and so do we so our amendment includes an additional investment of £230,000 a year to fund and equip four additional community safety enforcement officers that removes any risk that those two existing roles will be deleted under Labour's plans outlined last year and it funds the recruitment of two additional officers over and above that that means greater coverage of all of our high streets and town centres and it makes a greater contribution to mission five in the leaders corporate plan which is that everyone in Greenwich is safer and feels safer and it also contributes to mission 12 on the vibrancy of our town centres as well so that's our proposal on antisocial behaviour secondly residents were clear in the council's own consultation on the budget that the cleanliness of streets and the local area should be a priority this was in fact the second ranked issue requiring more attention according to residents when deciding the budget when you consider those issues that are addressable through the general fund and we all know that fly tipping is a significant aspect of that challenge of keeping our streets clean fly tipping is in fact a problem that is deeply entrenched in our borough and it is getting worse our amendment again makes our long-standing argument that the council must do much more proactively to tackle fly tipping hotspots and that this work should be backed up by greater use of mobile CCTV which we also think should be deployed more fairly and I'm really pleased that the deputy leader of the council and officers have now started that initiative to gather intel on fly tipping hotspots from ward councillors which is something as she knows I've repeatedly requested through the scrutiny system over the last few years I've already sent her our very long list of fly tipping problem areas in Mottingham, Cold Avenue, Eltham I'm sure she has a very long list from members right across the borough the amendment we're proposing tonight will help her to tackle that problem by providing the team with the additional mobile CCTV cameras that she's going to need but which aren't currently fundable under Labour's plans and specifically our proposal funds the procurement of 15 new model mobile CCTV camera units which are fully connected and compatible with the council systems and ANPR enabled which is particularly important to tackle fly tipping. This additional investment in the latest mobile CCTV camera stock comes at a one-off cost of £150,000 in 25-26 and a full year cost of £100,000 to cover running and staffing costs to make sure those cameras are fully used to tackle the problem. The additional cameras that our amendment would fund would be available to deter both fly tipping and antisocial behaviour and enforce against those things but under our proposal the additional units would be prioritised to tackle fly tipping hotspots in 25-26 and 26-27 to finally get serious about this issue. And with the additional stock we want to see mobile CCTV deployed much more fairly across the whole of the borough with cameras not just targeted on Woolwich and Plumstead and other areas in the north and east as they have been previously. This element of our amendment Mr Mayor contributes to missions 5, 9 and 12 in the corporate plan. Residents have told us they want cleaner streets and tougher action on fly tipping and we think they should be listened to and thirdly our amendment addresses financial hardship because residents responding to the budget consultation were also clear that they want to see more help with bills and other costs. And nowhere will cost pressures be felt more keenly and more destructively to household finances in the years ahead than amongst the 12,400 low-income households that are about to be hit by labour's cut to council tax support. As I said at the last meeting, your vote to move away from this borough's successful 100% council tax support scheme that's been in place for these last five years thanks to campaigning from these opposition benches, your vote to cut that support to a maximum of 80% was a vote to increase poverty in this borough. And I'm pleased that that's been recognised by the intention in the report before us to set up a hardship fund which they've called a Greenwich Supports Council Tax Discretionary Hardship Fund. And the problem with the proposals that were submitted to the meeting is that there was no confirmed money in that fund under the Cabinet's plans. The MTFS noted that funding sources available for the hardship fund are expected to be sought through a contribution from the Household Support Fund and other sources. And elsewhere it says that discussions are ongoing. And I was interested to hear the Cabinet Member for Finance describe the funding that has now been found since the publication of our amendment as a good wedge. And I look forward to hearing just how good that wedge is. And I will say that Councillor Davies called this on Monday night when we submitted our amendment, when we shared our amendment with you, that the funding would materialise. And I'm pleased that our amendment has prompted the Council to confirm the funding to make the hardship fund more than a well-intentioned idea. And our amendment helps further. You're very welcome, Councillor Highland, Councillor Smith. Our amendment helps further because we've identified 0.9 million pound of funding over the next four years to put into that proposed hardship fund to help mitigate that cut further. And that hardship fund really is going to be needed for those 12,400 households. So I hope they will welcome the identification of further funding for the hardship fund. to cope with that change. Residents said that they wanted help with bills and other costs and that's what our amendment delivers for those low-income households who will need it the most. And in so doing, our amendment contributes to mission three in the corporate plan that those in financial need can access the right support, advice and opportunities to improve their situation. That is a mission which Labour's Council Tax Support Cut has made even more important in the years ahead. So taken together, our proposals represent a £2.3 million package of investment in residents' priorities, the priorities that residents shared in the Council's own consultation. And like every year, our budget proposals are fully costed and independently verified by Council officers as feasible. Members should be in no doubt, if they vote for this amendment tonight, these measures to tackle antisocial behaviour, reduce fly-tipping and protect people from financial hardship will come into effect. They're fully costed and they're also fully funded with no net impact on the MTFS position as we have outlined in our amendment. This £2.3 million of investment can be funded easily through a modest package of additional non-frontline efficiency savings focused yet again on reducing wasteful communications and PR spending which this leader of the Council is so attached to and cutting the cost of local politics. Mr. Mayor, making these savings at this point should frankly be uncontroversial, particularly when you weigh them against the investments we are proposing to respond to residents' priorities on antisocial behaviour, cleaner streets and help with bills. This should be an easy choice for Labour councillors to make and this vote ultimately boils down to one central question. Are Labour councillors willing to put residents' priorities above their own? If they are, they'll vote for our amendment. If they aren't, they should get to their feet and explain why. Is the amendment seconded? Formerly missed Mayor and I reserve my right to speak. Before we debate on the amendment, can I ask Councillor Denise Highland if she accepts the amendment? I hope they won't be too disappointed Mr. Mayor, but unfortunately not. Oh, it's sad but there we are. Look, we're not accepting the amendment. It's great that you've actually put some time into this. But as always, you're tinkering at the edges. is, you know, I assume that you agree with the rest of our budget given that you've only proposed three small items which account for something like 0.01 of our budget, eh? You know, and actually it's work we're already engaged in. I mean, you said yourself that the cabinet member for, well, the deputy leader had invited you to talk to her about what hotspots you've got for fly-tipping. We're already on it. You're a bit late coming to the party. And every time you do get a party up, you think it's the beginning of the Boston Tea Party. Do you know what I mean? I tell you what, you'd be better off talking to your friend Liz. You could set up a trust fund. Anyway, in all seriousness, we're already engaged in it. We've already made decisions around things like the local council tax support fund. And lastly, it's just not accurate. And I think Councillor Smith and Councillor Taggart-Ryan will, and actually Councillor LaCalle, will point out why. So, for all those reasons, Mr Mayor, no, we're not accepting the amendment. Thank you. Now, do members wish to debate the amendments? Thank you. I'm sorry, I'm very disappointed with some of those comments. I have to say this, Councillor Hightland, because we are speaking about the residents of the community here, and it might not seem very big, but some of these issues we're talking about are very, very important to local residents. And I have to say that. I'm sorry. This is what, as antisocial behaviour, was one of the things that residents, is one of the things that residents are very concerned about. And to actually brush that onto one side and say that these are not important, I'm sorry, I have to say that. I'm very annoyed, very upset. The community support enforcement officers improve community safety through engagement, reassurance, and enforcement activities. They deal with antisocial behaviour, crime prevention, and environmental enforcement on our streets. Importantly, because they can issue fixed penalties for antisocial behaviour and are a strong presence, they form a vital role. A minimum of 100 of these fixed penalty notices are issued each month borough-wide. A few weeks ago, I joined the community safety enforcement officers team, who were visiting stores on Eltham High Street that were affected by prolific offenders. The team are working with the Met and all the town centres across the borough. This is very much work in progress and they are working exceptionally hard, as I could see on the day when I was with them. The CSEOs can issue acceptable behaviour agreements. They are therefore treated with respect when seen on the streets in their red and black uniforms. All the officers are trained in dealing with domestic abuse and general support for members of the public in need of help. They carry out joint weapon sweeps with the Met. At present, they are working very hard to raise awareness of women and girls' public safety across the borough. The CSEOs attend ward panels and business partnership meetings, and I can vouch for that because they have visited all the ones in Eltham. I want to finish with a quote, which often is, I do this quite often, I suppose, that captures the essence and importance of their job. Quote, a visible presence, a trusted voice, and a dedicated commitment to community safety. I actually, they have powers. I've mentioned some of the powers before. CPW are community protection warning that they can empower, enforce. CPNs are community protection notices that they can enforce. CBOs are criminal behavior orders that they can impose. and ABAs are acceptable, as I spoke about, behavior agreements. They have the powers. Residents would really benefit from having extra CPSO officers on the street to help the police to prevent antisocial behavior and criminal activity. That's what the residents are asking for. It might be something simple, but this is what everyday community life is about, and this is what they are worried about more than anything. It's top of the list, antisocial behavior. It is in Eltham, as I know it is everywhere else. Thank you. Chair. Councillor Terrain. I would like to thank Councillor Hartley for his amendment. We certainly agree that tackling antisocial behavior remains a primary concern for this council, as it does our residents. I believe my colleague, Councillor Highland, did state the importance of tackling antisocial behavior and did not in any way seek to undermine our commitment to it or value our commitment to it, as was reported. The issue, I think, with this amendment is it doesn't actually reflect the situation on the ground in our community safety teams. It's become anachronistic. So, in total, across our funds, we employ 12 community safety enforcement officers and three supervisors. And there is no intention, nor was there an intention, to reduce the head count within that team. The intention behind this proposal was income generation. It was to bring funding from an external partner into the team, which would three up resources to further investments in the service, not to reduce the number of officers in post. This has become anachronistic to what we are now dealing with on the ground. Although this has not been achieved in the way it was first proposed, AEG has paid towards the cost of our officers when attending events at the O2. This enabled us to contribute significantly towards our income generation target. So I can assure Mr. Hartley and other councillors in this chamber that there are no plans to abolish the two posts that are referred to in this amendment. It is our ambition, and I'm sure this is shared by both parties in this chamber, to see more enforcement officers on the beat in our borough. To this end, I am pleased to say that we already have plans to bring forward costed proposals under section 106 to create additional posts for enforcement officers and expand their operational hours to support our growing evening and night-time economy. So whilst I thank the councillor for his suggestions, and I certainly agree with all of the intentions behind them, we already have costed proposals in the pipeline that will achieve this aim. regarding the use of CCTV to tackle antisocial behaviour, as I'm sure the opposition would agree, we have one of the largest and most comprehensive CCTV networks of any London borough, and we are rightly proud of this. Part of this network is the ability to use mobile cameras as part of targeted operations in areas of suspected link to violence or crime. To illustrate this, I would like to share the success of one such deployment around a problematic building in Plumstead. In September, CCTV were approached to provide a mobile camera and operators monitored daily instances of ASB and drug use and sales associated with the property and those tenants within the property that were linked to it. This information was shared with tenancy and local police teams to support a closure notice on that building itself. This would grant police powers of arrest for anyone loitering in the building and the removal of a tenant who was linked to this antisocial behaviour. Our CCTV, both static and mobile, are effective tools in our arsenal in tackling antisocial behaviour, and I do look forward to sharing more successful outcomes from our deployments over the next year, Mr. Mayor. Thank you very much. Thank you. Councillor Jackie Smith. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I rise creakily. I don't know where to start really. I never know what Tories I'm talking to. The ones that are so concerned about the lives of our residents or the one that's decimated the country over the last 14 years. whatever the opposition party in this chamber say, they are one and the same party, and they can't remove themselves from that. So, what we are suffering here, in the cuts that we have to make still, are as a result of 14 years of budgets to public services and our residents being decimated, and the cost of living crisis being inflicted on them. One year, you may agree with our budget, given that you, I can't do the decimal points like some of my finance colleagues, but it's more than 99.99% of our budget that you agree with, and yet that you'll go to the wall with not agreeing with it over the tiny decimal points. And to actually say that if we don't agree with it, we're not listening to our residents. We are listening to our residents. We're just not dealing with their concerns in the way that you wish us to, and in the things that are contained in our mainstream budget and the things that we do daily with our officers as part of our job. Don't get me on, I'll get to the council tax support eventually, but I want to kind of come in on the policing issues, which my colleague Rachel has eloquently described. This year, the government and the mayor of London are putting record amounts of investment into the metropolitan police. Never known before investment, but despite that investment, because of the chronic underfunding of the last 14 years, that this Tory government put in to policing, took out of policing is the best word to use, that will still reduce the numbers of officers on the street. Without a doubt, it will, and there will be other cuts coming, as I'm sure you've looked from MOPAC what they mean. It's devastating. It's devastating. It can't be put right overnight, but the investment that a Labour government and the Labour mayor have put in are going a good way to mitigating what would have happened if they didn't. I'm delighted to hear Councillor Greenwell's outstanding eulogy to the community safety officers. I take personal credit for having created them. I should, yes. And they are doing an outstanding job. And under Rachel's watch, you know, as Rachel has said, we are working together. I'm responsible for town centres. Rachel and I are working together to create more investment to create more officers to work later into the evening. And that will be in excess of the sums that you've spoken about. So let me get on to the Council Tax Hardship Fund. I don't really want to repeat the reason that we're here and the reason that we're having to cut 100% support down to 80%. You know that well. It's because of the state of our budget. And if we didn't, if we didn't do it, we would be more millions to find from elsewhere. It is regrettable, but it is certainly far less than, far less of an increase than neighbouring boroughs like Bromley and Bexley are delivering. And they're also delivering higher council tax. You heard my colleague, Councillor Highland, talk about the things that we were still funding, the things that we were still keeping going. You know, if I want to deliver a new strapline for this labour authority, it's we deliver more for less. That's our strapline. That's our new one. So, moving on to the Council Tax Hardship Fund. You'll be delighted to know that the Director of Finance has committed to underwriting temporarily £600,000 of the Hardship Fund to that fund. And in addition to that, we have successfully negotiated £400,000 from the GLA, which means that we start the Council Tax Hardship Fund from April 2025 to £1 million, which will help our residents in Hardship Fund. That's in addition to the rest of the things that we have got. It's a separate Hardship Fund just for Council Tax. The other Hardship Fund that are for residents that are suffering financial difficulty in other ways will still stand. That's what this Labour Council is delivering for our residents. Please don't say, ever, that we are not listening to our residents and we are not responding to their needs. Thank you, Ms. Thank you. Councillor Evry-Lucane. This is, I really despair, to be honest, to have to get up to say anything on this item. I really, really despair. Because, you know, a few weeks ago I contacted, as you rightly say, all councillors to say, you know, I am working on a strategy to approach fly-tipping in the borough. The next thing, you bring that as an amendment so that tomorrow, when we are doing the work that we've said we were doing weeks ago, you will say we stole your idea. I mean, I just don't get this. This is ridiculous. And what's your solution to fly-tipping? Cameras. Cameras alone do not resolve fly-tipping. There are many, many reasons for fly-tipping. We need to understand the reasons. We need to understand the positioning. Because there are many other ways to resolve fly-tipping. And actually, given that the fly-tipping capital of England is Croydon, I am not quite sure I'm going to be taking many lectures from you, I'll tell you the problems with just looking at cameras. Somebody can fly-tip, if you can't see their face, or they go around a corner, how are you going to identify that that person lives in such and such a place? That's number one. Number two, that area has got to be visible. And often, if it is visible, if visibility is good, most people tend to fly-tip where they won't be seen. But if visibility is good there, then what you've done is to displace that fly-tip to somewhere else. The other thing is environmental constraints. Do you have the right things to be able to put the camera up on or whatever? That's an issue in itself. You've then got resource-intensive monitoring. You know, people have to watch this. So you've costed the fly-tips, but actually the cameras... Thank you, Debbie. I'm getting tired. I really am. And at least I can stand this time. But you've not looked at the sort of resource-intenseness of... Well, I don't think your figures are correct, given what we've done. And the last thing is the legal and privacy restrictions that you would have to comply with. So it's not everywhere you can pop up a camera without the appropriate... Because of, obviously, issues of privacy and so on. So I just think that you've come up with some kind of strapline. There seem to be straplines. Interesting to get a whole person specification and job description from Pat. We're interested in the fact that we're already doing what we're doing, we say, in social care. There is none of these points, none of the areas that you've raised in this amendment, are we not already doing? So it just seems to me that if this is the only thing that gives you an excuse not to support the budget, then I don't know why, you know, what you're saying you're doing for your residents. Thank you. Can I call on Councillor John Fahey next, please? Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and can I begin by thanking Councillor Highland, Cabinet members and officers for carrying out such an enormous duty in putting forward a budget which we can all congratulate and respect. And the difference, I think, between us and the Conservatives is that we deliver and the Conservatives win you on the sidelines in many respects. Mr. Mayor, I've sat in this Council chamber for the last 35 years at the special budget meeting and on each occasion the long-paying record by the Conservatives remains the same. The benefit, of course, is that their numbers have dwindled over the years and their message is not getting through because all they talk about is how we can get a cheap headline or how can we convince people that we're absolutely right. I had the misfortune, Mr. Mayor, of waking up this morning to see Councillor Hartley in the Councillor Chamber. It was empty, thankfully. and listened to his video clip with interest. And it's kind of the same old message, really. Blaming somebody else, nothing to do with me, let's get out there, let's convince people we're right and they're wrong. The benefit is of having a Labour Council and a Labour government is that we're delivering day by day to improve the lives of our community that we serve. And it's amazingly interesting, over the last few years, that the Conservatives who bankrupted the country can sit here this evening and say, well, let's pick here and pick there, without even apologising for the damage they caused to the country and to the people they're supposed to represent. They have failed miserably. Labour, in government and locally, are picking up the pieces. And it's quite interesting that, and if I can end on this note, that Liz Truss sat in those benches for a period of years, actually never said a word during the four years she was here, and then went off to become Prime Minister. How on earth did that happen? And here we are. And I think it's important that we recognise 14 years of dishonesty and lies have led to the financial position we're now in. Residents understand, in this borough, up and down the country, that we deliver and the Tories have failed. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Councillor Davies. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. A lot to respond to so far from that debate. So, taking everyone one by one, and Councillor Highland mentioned that the council is already on-fly tipping, and we've heard that tonight. But we don't have the capacity with the existing infrastructure infrastructure to tackle quite how big an issue this has become within the borough. And that is only going to get worse as we see further changes to waste collection. And so, I think that needs to be a real focus, and it needs to be doubling down on doing more than what we're currently doing. And Councillor Taggart-Ryan mentioned Section 106 funding for additional officers, and that is welcome news. We welcome that. Our amendment will add further capacity to the excellent community safety team, and will give them more of an ability to tackle anti-social behaviour in our town centres. Councillor Smith deserves credit for the community safety officers. They are an excellent innovation that this council has done, and that's why we want more of them. And so, that is one of the reasons that we're focusing on that in this budget. And the hardship fund, if you back this amendment, it will double the money within the hardship fund, almost. Rather than just the one million you've set aside, we will double the funds that are going to some of the residents in this borough who need the support the most. The deputy leader mentioned Croydon Council and fly-tipping, but of course failed to mention that it was the Labour Party that put Croydon Council in the absolute financial mess that it found itself in. And to focus on our figures, the figures are entirely correct. We've checked them with officers. It includes everything needed. I don't want to get into the detail of figures, but that has been signed off by officers. And, you know, I think we, as an opposition, understand that cameras alone aren't the only thing that's going to tackle fly-tipping, but they're a large part of that solution, and increasing our camera capacity is going to help to do that. And ending with Councillor Farhi, he mentioned that we're always blaming somebody else. Well, I'm afraid in this council chamber, for the last 15 years, we've had the Labour Party blaming other people for their failure to take efficiency savings seriously in this council. We saw 24 million presented that the council itself said would have no impact last year on frontline services if those savings had been made in earlier years. The council wouldn't have had the issues that there are with the financial situation at this council. And so Labour needed to get serious about this council's finances earlier on. And I'm really flabbergasted by the response from councillors opposite, but I shouldn't be surprised, I guess. And just to end on one final thing for Councillor Taggart-Ryan, who talked about the community safety enforcement and the fact that we were incorrect about officers and the reduction. I hold in my hand the 2024 MTFS Preforma 39, which says, if this income cannot be secured, the community safety enforcement team will be reduced by two staff members. That is confirmed by the council. And so we've heard from councils opposite. Unfortunately, we're hearing the same thing we always do. The Labour Party in this borough will not listen to us and they will not listen to our residents. Councillor Highland. Mr Mayor, would it be possible, please, to close the amendment and take a vote on the amendment? We have your key. Councillor Grosin. Yeah, I'll speak on the main item. Can I call on the leader of the council, Councillor Anthony O'Connor, then we'll thank you. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I have to say that was a real scratching at the surface. from the deputy leader of the opposition, but hey-ho. First of all, Mr Mayor, I have to say this isn't really an alternative budget. This is a £340 million budget for the forthcoming financial year that we've set out. And the opposition have managed to bring forward some minor amendments, about £500,000 from 25 to 26. in the context of what this Labour administration is setting out. It's not very much. I wouldn't call that an alternative budget, but it is what they've managed to pull forward. That's their budget. And I hope they will be going online to tell residents that they agree with 99% of our budget, essentially, on that basis, as a percentage of it. Hopefully, they will vote for it today, and they will go on social media and additionally say that my cabinet is doing fantastic jobs in all the work that they're doing. I hope that will feature on their social media and talk about the wonderful work that they're doing. Now, Mr Mayor, we're proposing a bold and ambitious budget that reflects the desires of our residents. I think all of our Cabinet members have spoken about how our budget envelope is responding to those issues like fly-tipping, anti-social behaviour, and other things. Now, Mr Mayor, last for counsel, I exposed the opposition at trying to sneakily make 2.8 million worth of backhanded cuts to frontline services in this budget. I asked them, where would they go to find those savings? Would they cut our housing benefit function? Would they cut our entire children with disabilities teams? Or our entire street cleansing function? Now, the opposition accused us of mischaracterising his amendment as a binary choice between council tax support and council services elsewhere. He said we had, remember, no credibility. Well, Mr Mayor, guess what's missing from his amendment? Guess what's missing from his amendment? He has not managed to find the 2.8 million of savings that won't impact frontline services. He's dropped it. When we voted it down, he's not brought it forward. Now, you would think, Mr Mayor, this would be the perfect opportunity to make that amendment. So, he's dropped his own amendment. He's not managed to find the big efficiency savings that he continuously says is sitting in our council budgets. Well, Councillor Hartley, where are they? If there is anyone who doesn't have any credibility in the financial management of this council, it's the opposition. What they were proposing just less than 30 days ago, they've abandoned. Their mission to find 2.8 million in savings is almost as short-lived as the life of a lettuce, Mr Mayor. And I even think that Liz Truss letters live longer. So, they agree with 99% of our budget, and that's noted. But, Mr Mayor, I want to encourage everyone to vote this amendment down. Councillor Taggart-Ryan has spoken to what her leadership is doing to tackle community safety problems in response to what our residents have said. She's highlighted the further investment that comes from the HRA, from the Safer Estates team. Councillor Lacau has spoken about the work she's done and is doing on fly tipping. And Councillor Smith has spoken about the fantastic hardship fund, the £1 million that is going in to support our council tax support hardship scheme. Now, Mr Mayor, as leader, and I sit here and listen to your position, I sometimes think they're all show and no substance, and I find it difficult to take them seriously. But I will always listen to our residents and set out how we are leading a bold and ambitious Labour administration that is delivering our village. What Labour is doing in this chamber is securing our finances through our Labour budget that is strengthening our communities. The work we did on our village estate, working with the community group to tackle fly tipping, well, we've just been shortlisted for our LGC award on fly tipping because we worked with residents hand in hand, working in partnership to tackle fly tipping, educate people about fly tipping and how to report it. That's how you solve these kind of issues. That's as a result of Labour in here, in Greenwich, stable finances, strengthening our communities. Our work with the police on antisocial behaviour, working with our community safety officers. Thank you, Councillor Greenwell, for your comments. We welcome it. We know we're doing a good job with our officers, looking for ways to generate revenue, to add more investment to our community safety work. Surveying our residents on their community safety issues in their community. Again, Labour here in Greenwich, stable finances, strengthening our communities. Mr. Mayor, the opposition wouldn't know what credibility is, even if it was staring them in the face. But let me know, let me explain what credibility is to them. Year after year, we have balanced our books here in this chamber, despite the legacy of 14 years of continuous slashing of our funding from the last Tory government. And at a time where councils are going bust, we're balancing our books. Again, Labour here in Greenwich, stable finances, strengthening our communities. This is what our budget is about. So vote this amendment down so we can get on to what matters. Labour here in Greenwich, stable finances, strengthening our communities. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Does Councillor Highland, as the mover of the recommendation, wish to close the debate on recommendation? Mr. Mayor, I believe there are others wanting to speak on the main debate, but it was the amendment that I'd like to close and vote upon. If that's correct? Yeah. Thanks. Thank you. We have an amendment and I would like to ask the council to vote on the amendment. Please indicate all those in favour. All those against any abstentions, the amendment has not been agreed. Now, does any member wish to speak on the main report? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So, speaking in the main debate and also on some of the issues about the main proposals, the cabinet proposals that have been raised. I will start with Councillor Highland. Councillor Highland questioned in her disappointing response to our amendment. about our views on the rest of the budget. I've got plenty of views on the rest of the budget which you'll be treated to shortly, both positive and negative, just to reassure her that the majority of the budget will be receiving quite a bit of treatment from me in this speech. So, starting with Councillor Highland and just moving on to Councillor Taggart-Ryan, as Councillor Davies has amply demonstrated, Councillor Taggart-Ryan said there was no plan to reduce the team. It's been confirmed to us by officers. It's in writing, in our hands, that that was the reality. So, it is not the case that that was incorrect. Councillor Lacau challenged the figures and I really think it's quite an important principle, Mr. Mayor, when we debate the budget that we take the figures that have been independently verified by officers on both sides at face value and on trust. And actually, Councillor Lacau was completely incorrect to say those figures were wrong and I think she should withdraw that. Councillor Smith said that she should take credit for the community safety enforcement officers. She should. We acknowledge that. We've acknowledged that before. I've definitely said that before in this council chamber. Hence our proposal to strengthen that work in response to residents' concerns. I want to talk about the council tax support and hardship funding. I'm very pleased that a million pound has been found from two sources since our amendment was published. And I know that the council was working listen to me I know with respect I know that the council was working hear me out excuse me excuse me hear me out I know that the council was working to find that funding but it wasn't confirmed when you put this budget to a vote and our amendment was about finding additional funding and a key thing that has been missed is that our amendment for that funding was on the base budget on an ongoing basis not one-off funding. So as Councillor Davies said it would go a long way to help even after the funding that you have identified and I'm afraid that because of the impact of the cut so 100% council tax support down to 80% there is going to be a lot of demand she knows that on that hardship fund so I think we should get the maximum amount in that hardship fund and I'd urge the administration to go further and whether it's from our idea or elsewhere to make sure that that hardship fund is fully funded. She said she can't afford 100% council tax support I'm not going to relitigate this we've argued this so many times I'm not going to relitigate this argument but what I would say is she says now she can't afford 100% council tax support you said that for years and years and years and then you made it happen you voted against it twice when I proposed it then you made it happen you voted I was pilloried for talking about transformation savings for years and then overnight you find 26 million pounds that could be removed last year so the leader said I wouldn't know credibility if it stood in the face I can assure him it's not because you have no credibility on the council's finances whatsoever so I will not accept that argument at all Councillor Smith also said we're not dealing with residents priorities in the way that we wish you to it's not about what we wish it's about what residents wish why ask the public what they think in the budget consultation if you're not going to bring forward proposals in this budget based on the feedback that you get in the consultation Councillor Lacau said she kind of made an argument against the use of any mobile CCTV cameras at all which surprised me because it is a part that she was arguing against the principle of them as a tool we didn't say it was the only solution it's an important part of the solution and it's taken years Councillor Highland said I'm late to this I've been banging on about mobile CCTV for years check back and I'm glad that fly tipping is finally a bit higher up the council's agenda and I welcome to her initiative to gather intel but she needs the tools to do that one of those tools is mobile CCTV Councillor Fahey said well basically if I were to ask ChatGBT to summarise Councillor Fahey's speech it would probably be Labour good Conservative bad and I think it's the same speech he's been making for all those 35 years Mr Mayor I would suggest if he really thinks the Labour government is off to such a good start turn on the news turn on the news because they've got off to a disastrous start it's unravelling by the week Councillor O'Carake said this issue around credibility and you know he has rebutted this central point Councillor O'Carake has rebutted this central point he thinks he is listening to residents and it comes back to this central failing of his administration which is the one thing that he's got is community engagement and he's so bad at it I looked at the community engagement pledge this very glossy document he's very proud of it a lot of money went into it a lot of staff time went into it 43 pages about how the council intends to engage with communities it contains a community engagement framework community engagement values and principles community engagement behaviours a continuous engagement cycle a community engagement theory of change a community engagement pledge handbook to help residents understand what on earth the council is talking about it is impenetrable gibberish and it clearly is having no meaningful impact in policy terms in the way his administration behaves it is not helping him to further mission 15 of the corporate plan which is our council is better at listening to communities and communities feel their hurt so I'd say to the leader of the council wake up from that detachment from reality it's the central tragedy of his administration he's made community engagement he's raison d'etre it's his big thing and he's not doing it he's not listening and this budget just confirms it and I can't understand it I really can't understand why he's taking that approach and I'm not the only one in this council chamber who thinks that I'm not just talking about the four of us and as I said earlier when it comes to this main debate there are several aspects of the cabinet's proposals that I want to address so if councillor Highland was worried that I wasn't giving sufficient attention to other areas of the budget this is the moment to tune in tune back in councillor Highland to my speech because I want to address some of these issues I want to address some of these they think it's very funny Mr Mayor but the residents who weren't listened to in that budget consultation don't think it's funny because councillor Greenwell was absolutely right that these issues on antisocial behaviour fly tipping financial hardship are very serious issues so I would urge councillor Highland to tune in the first proposal I want to talk about is the extra well-being hub that she mentioned please the first is the proposal to invest in an additional ninth well-being hub at Lee Stationers Academy in Elton we welcome and support this proposal and I know it's something that the ward councillors have been particularly keen to see at Crown Woods as was we welcome the fact the council will be partnering with Lee Stationers Academy on this and credit where credit is due the council is not letting academy status get in the way of the partnerships that need to be made and there was a time in this council not least from Councillor Fahey and others where that was in question and I think councillors know what I'm talking about so I'm pleased that Lee Stationers Academy is now going to be having a well-being hub more broadly we're now a year on from the council's investment in those well-being hubs I know the council has come to the view that they've been successful I've seen some of the figures given the level of investment that is going into them I think it will be important to demonstrate robustly the long-term value that that is bringing to children and families and I'd like to see that really robustly demonstrated to support future business cases and I hope the cabinet member will take that constructive suggestion away secondly we have significant concerns over the council's planned review of adventure play centres as I've said to the leader before at overview and scrutiny when he kept referring to them as adventure playgrounds we keep hearing references to adventure playgrounds that is a fundamental misunderstanding understanding of the value that these centres provide they aren't playgrounds they're not just playgrounds they're play centres they provide a range of services and I've seen first hand the incredible difference that the service makes to young people on the Coldroper Estate in my ward now we heard some reassurance at overview and scrutiny that the planned review will be aimed at transformation and improving provision and Councillor Highland was clear about that in her remarks I know there's a mixture of capital investment in sites and revenue savings so that it's a mixed proposal of investment and savings but we still need clarity and pretty quickly and parents need that clarity about what this review is going to mean for specific sites and it's something I've already raised with a cabinet member some of the young people and their families who use the Cold Arbor Adventure Play Centre were here tonight this evening Mr Mayor they came to the town hall to protest the review and they've asked me to hand in their petition with 1600 signatures at the next meeting about their concerns about what it means for the Play Centre service as a whole so Cold Arbor Adventure Play Centre to take one example it plays an absolutely pivotal role on the estate it's part of the fabric of the estate and residents really do need an assurance around the future of provision at that site it's only recently had investment and they need that certainty soon so I've asked for that assurance I appreciate why it hasn't been forthcoming but I'd hope that the cabinet member might give that assurance if she speaks in this debate Councillor Bauer has agreed to meet with the residents who attended the town hall today which I'm grateful for and I hope we can arrange that as soon as possible so she can begin to address those concerns and cabinet has received a recommendation from overview and scrutiny about this and the cabinet member for finance corrected the report and said that some had been noted and some had been agreed I'm not sure it's clear anywhere which recommendations were noted and which were agreed so I welcome some clarity on that I hope that one of them that has been agreed I'm sure it will have been is the recommendation that ONS made that young people are fully involved in the future design of that service because at the moment young people nobody's actually spoken to the young people about any of this who use the play centres so it's for the cabinet member responsible to hopefully give us that assurance and I hope that that recommendation was accepted Marion Wilson Animal Park has come up in the debate it's obviously not included and Councillor Highland referred to the council's welcome U-turn on that proposal to close the park this month last month I just think it's really important to say that the work that's now underway to engage with the community on the future of Marion Wilson Animal Park I think that needs its own timetable and can I make a plea that we take that out of the medium term financial strategy process it's for you as well Councillor Highland because it's about the budget setting process I don't think it helps anybody to treat that as part of the MTFS cycle so I know that the community in Charlton and further afield are hoping for a solution well in advance of February next year so as another constructive suggestion can I suggest that that's taken out of the budget setting cycle and the leader of the council is aware of the intense frustration and anger that the original approach that his administration took to this cause not just in Charlton but further afield and you know I want to say that he will have our support in putting that right but he will also I'm sure expect that we will be holding him to account and his administration to account here in the council chamber on that in the months ahead and fourthly on the proposal on library opening hours we very much welcome the clear black and white commitment in these papers that no library will close that's something we've wanted to see in writing for a long time and it's important because we need to give residents that assurance that the current suite of library provision including all the libraries in our smaller communities in particular will be safeguarded so we really welcome that and I do understand as I said at Overview and Scrutiny that there is a trade-off to that and the trade-off in these financial circumstances is that planned review of opening hours and the greater use of technology so the review really does need to be fully based on maximising the value of each library to each community and the full range of services they provide and I just want to repeat again the point I've made so many times which is that the council needs to encourage schools to make much better use of their nearer smaller libraries not just the larger libraries like the Elton Centre there's a real opportunity there I don't think the council has ever got that right so I hope the review is an opportunity to finally make that happen Councillor Davis will pick up with our views on sustainable streets and some of the other issues in the cabinet's proposals I'll just end on a couple of final points about innovation and transformation and I want to give credit where credit is due RBG has had a real win in developing the hotel booking tool that was alluded to earlier but the specific tool that has helped bring the cost of temporary accommodation down by 75% it's a simple idea it was clearly very well executed and I would like to add our thanks specifically to the digital team and everybody involved for that outcome and I really hope it will be followed by further similar innovations in the future particularly powered by AI I think it's really really quite exciting particularly all those opportunities that AI is unlocking in the public sector more broadly and I think it would be great if RBG was at the forefront of that and you know if that's the administration's ambition too they'll have our full support in doing that not just in housing but across the board and it has made me think that the council needs to get a bit more enterprising when it comes to innovation and that led to one of the other recommendations that went to Cabinet and I really do hope this was one that was agreed and perhaps that could be confirmed so to take this hotel booking tool as an example that's an innovation that the council developed it's brought down our temporary housing costs but it's also something that clearly all local authorities can benefit from but let's be clear-eyed about it it's the Greenwich taxpayer who paid for their development of that innovation and I think it's only right that the council should seek to recover on behalf of the Greenwich taxpayer and defray some of the cost of developing that tool by selling it to other local authorities I think that's win-win I think it'll be cheaper for them it'll help recover some of our costs and maybe other local authorities when they innovate would do likewise and we get to a win-win so I really hope that the administration will take that on board I'd love for that to be suggested to your peers across London in authorities in control it's a small example but I hope that a more enterprising approach can be considered and it's something that we're going to be doing some work on and returning to as opposition councillors and you know that kind of innovation will only become more important the auditors have reminded us only this evening there remain significant weaknesses in the council's arrangements for ensuring financial sustainability and delivering those savings so the council needs to double down on transformation in the years ahead as we discussed last March we were told for years and years and years on these opposition benches that no further savings were possible that there was no more waste to cut that the council had been cut to the bone I would hear at every meeting and then they identified 26 million pound in transformation efficiencies in a single year that was a start getting that savings program back on track and going further to deliver more for less is going to be crucial and I was pleased to hear Councillor Smith create her strapline for the council for the administration very generous of her of delivering more for less and hearing my words quoted back at me because I've been talking about delivering more for less for 10 long years in this council and finally the administration from last year onwards has started to get serious about it so it's no use telling us it can't be done because it can be so finally Mr. Mayor I just want to reflect back to the leader of the council on this point about community engagement at that public meeting over Marion Wilson and Animal Park he wasn't there but if he had been there he would have heard a real breadth of anger and disappointment and it wasn't just about the Animal Park and that's what I really walked away from that meeting really cognisant of and reflecting on it was about low traffic neighbourhoods and the impact that's having it was about controlled parking zones it was about political assistance and the cost of local politics that came up from members of the public it was about Freebies Gate and the O2 which came up from members of the public there is a depth of frustration and disappointment in his administration that I don't think he is aware of I think he is a bit detached from reality and I say this with all due respect I think he needs to get out and actually engage our communities and I think that would help him see that the impact of his policies is not what he thinks it is so finally as I've said there are measures in the medium term financial strategy that we support like the additional well-being hub the guarantee that no library will close but also several issues that we are concerned about not least that play centre's review and ultimately it's still we remain of the view this doesn't go nearly far enough in responding to the priorities that residents said you haven't listened it singularly fails to do that so we will be abstaining on this main item because we support some elements of the budget and we can't support others and I'd urge the leader of the council and his cabinet regardless of the votes to look seriously at the proposals that we've made and look again at their priorities in protecting that communications and PR spend because anyone out there in the borough can see that that is the wrong priority for Greenwich thank you Mr Mayor thank you can I call on the leader of the council councillor Anthony O'Connor first of all thank you Mr Mayor and it's a privilege to stand before you tonight to speak in favour of months of work that went into developing in our 25 to 26 budget Mr Mayor this is a budget with clear purpose to deliver positive change Mr Mayor this is a budget with clear purpose to deliver positive change protect frontline services and continue building a stronger fairer and more sustainable borough for all residents now we know that these have been challenging financial times for local authorities and challenging financial times for our communities after 14 years of relentless cuts and austerity imposed by the previous conservative government London councils like Greenwich have been forced to make difficult choices and continue to do more with less year on year budget after budget I want to take the moment to thank all our council officers who go often above and beyond the work to work with my administration to deliver a practical but bold budget hard work goes into this budget process Mr Mayor figuring out how we do more with less under often difficult financial constraints including how we protect the vital services that our residents rely on so that potholes and roads can get fixed and that children have opportunities and families have a safe and secure roof over their head some of these difficult budget decisions have meant that as a council we often have to completely reform rethink or transform how our services run but Mr Mayor when we do this we do it compassionately working with our residents and our partners we did this when we made 33 million worth of savings last year safeguarding our budget and safeguarding our services we must face the reality of the context though that we're here working in and what 14 years of devastating cuts from the previous Conservative government has meant to what we as a local authority can realistically deliver for our residents since 2010 our core funding here in Greenwich has been slashed by 53% which we've heard from Councillor Highland placing immense pressure on our ability to provide those essential services that our residents rely on as a labour run council our priority is to always support our communities protect public services and create opportunities not for and create opportunities for all not just those at the top but like councils up and down the country we're facing unprecedented financial pressures thanks to the legacy of the previous government and underfunding and on top of that the ever surging costs of inflation that are impacting adult social care children's services and temporary accommodations means that we are being forced to make difficult decisions every day constantly having to find new ways of doing more with less and every year it gets harder and harder Mr. Mayor leadership is about making difficult decisions and our labour administration has made them year after year we have crafted this budget with prudence ensuring that every pound spent delivers the best value for our residents we've had to identify a range of savings including disposals and re-lettings of our assets to prevent unnecessary cuts to vital frontline services because unlike many other councils that have been forced into implementing a section 114 notice or seeking exceptional financial support we have remained financially responsible with our budgets doing the difficult work needed that has ensured we continue to deliver the high quality services our residents deserve that's what stable finances is about it enables us in this train bar to strengthen our communities this time last year there were 19 councils across the country applying for exceptional support with two of them being in London this year there are 30 with seven of them being in London that's almost one in every four councils here in London filing for exceptional financial support but not here in Greenwich Mr Mayor we haven't had to do that because we've taken a tough financial choices and that's meant Greenwich being able to avoid the devastating fate that so many local authorities are being forced into that's what being prudent with purpose is all about labour stabilising finances to strengthen our communities making the tough decisions we need to make so that those everyday vital services that our residents rely on particularly the most vulnerable in our community get them and we can't for a moment be complacent that's why this budget continues to build off last year's savings only by constantly reforming and transforming the way we deliver services have we been able to make sure that Greenwich doesn't go down the same route that other councils are being forced down that's what we're doing and it's what we're going to continue to do but we must be clear and honest with the public no smoke or mirrors like the opposition the current financial climate we're in is brutal it's a financial Mr. Mayor tsunami we're facing two major financial threats one is the historical legacy of 14 years of deeply painful conservative central government decisions decisions that have led to cuts to council budgets leaving Greenwich with a missing 150 million and two the growing demands and ever surging costs and inflation that councils are facing in adult social care in children's services and in tackling the housing crisis these problems aren't going to go away and we will continue to show leadership not by avoiding these problems but by tackling them head on it's also important to note and welcome the increased support that we got this year from the new government this has started the vital work that's needed to reverse the legacy of the previous government's austerity programs and we're going to keep lobbying the new government just like the other day Mr. Mayor when I met with the minister Jim McMahon to make sure that Greenwich gets the best deal it deserves so that councils like Greenwich get a fairer funding system that provides a long-term sustainable solution to local government finance but more importantly finance that works for everyone especially our residents that's the game changer now before I lay out the investments for our borough that are in this budget I want to take a moment to address some of the arguments we've heard come up from the opposition we've heard earlier this evening the suggestions of not listening to their amendments and our council budgets let us be clear here and speak plainly the conservative party come to this council chamber with a record and reputation of financial ruin which they have leveled in central government that's the Tory party's record 14 years of economic chaos higher costs on working people and cuts to frontline services that record speaks for itself but over here on labour benches let's make it clear this labour administration will not waver or flinch in the face of tough choices that's what responsible leadership is all about we will always put our residents first and remain absolutely resolute in our commitment to the people of Greenwich even when it means we have to make tough choices Mr Mayor budgets are about priorities for the future and this is a budget built on delivering real positive change for our residents a budget that believes in the potential of our communities and unlocking the opportunity for everyone a budget that invests in the essential frontline services our residents rely on every single day that's why we're doubling our investment on roads it's why we're investing a further 12 million to enhance support services for children and young people and it's why we're investing a further 20 million to improve our care for older adults and residents with complex needs and it's why we've heard earlier we're launching a groundbreaking new 1 million community energy fund empowering our local communities to create affordable energy in the borough for the borough Mr. Mayor this isn't just a bold new policy to help tackle the climate climate crisis it's about putting power directly back into the hands of our residents here in this community building off our labour and cooperative principles Mr. Mayor we also have to recognise that there are many people in our community that are struggling to make ends meet that's why this budget will stand up and support the most vulnerable members of our community it's why we're implementing an 80% council tax support for the poorest households a more generous council tax relief program than other councils it's why we're creating as we heard from councillor Smith a 1 million pound greenish support hardship fund scheme that will help provide direct council tax assistance to those residents that are financially struggling it's why we're continuing to protect and fully fund freedom passes for older adults in the borough ensuring they can travel freely and stay connected to their communities and their families it's why council tax here in Greenwich will still be lower here than any other place than other areas Mr. Mayor we do this we do this because protecting the most vulnerable residents in our borough are the core values it's our core values that's the difference having a labour council that puts people first makes because we believe in a society where people and our residents are not left behind this is a council that is delivering real tangible improvements to our residents in our budget you see the commitment to make our streets more sustainable 1.7 million to open six new centres for people with special education needs which I'm sure councilor will speak to and over 2 million to adapt homes for residents who are disabled Mr. Mayor even in the face of tough choices we are ensuring that this council here in this budget makes the long term investments that are needed to build a better future for Greenwich Mr. Mayor tonight I want to urge my fellow councillors to support this budget including the opposition why? because this is a budget built around the values of fairness this is a budget that balances the books and is financially responsible this is a budget that delivers positive change that our residents so need Mr. Mayor we have a choice tonight we can continue to invest in our people our communities our future with this budget making tough choices yes but also ensuring the resources that we do have go into those vital public services that residents rely on every single day or we can as the opposition would like us to stick our heads in the stands and pretend it's business as usual nothing to see here take a leaf out of the Conservatives books and make unfunded financial commitments that will lead to more cuts and a section 114 notice and the collapse of our services Mr. Mayor I promise you not on my watch Mr. Mayor I say we choose progress over decline we choose investments over cuts we choose a Greenwich that works for everyone not just those at the top tonight let's vote for a budget that puts people first a budget that puts Greenwich first let's vote for a budget that delivers real results for our residents mental health hubs that are supporting children who are struggling with their mental health let's vote for a budget a labour budget that will build a better Greenwich for everyone thank you Mr. Mayor thank you can I pass a humble and sincere request to the speakers we have got 10 more speakers on this agenda and we have already been sitting more than 3 hours so may I request the upcoming speakers to use your skill of making your speech concise and non-repeative and then if your point has already been discussed you can give up feel free ok next speaker Councillor Adilcarri thank you Mr. Mayor I've been waiting all day to speak where can I start I think I will start regarding listening to our residents that's one thing that we've been listening for many many years well before you were born young man so I can tell you one thing here I joined the council because of young people and listening to them and their views and what they wanted us to do as a council and that's what we're doing exactly here as a local authority we're spending over 12 million pound on children and young people which 1.7 is going into special needs and opening new designated special needs centres within schools and one thing that I want to really talk about is our mental health hubs when we spoke about this last year and we said we're going to be spending 1.3 million into mental health hubs and thanks to Matt Morrow and the leader in going around visiting schools and speaking to them schools really wanted this they were keen and we were visiting then and now visiting all schools regardless of what they are academies all our children end of the day it doesn't matter where they study and we don't discriminate against if they are academy or not we have to make sure of that and that's why we set up the Greenwich Learning Partnership to make sure to bring them all together and it's a cooperative movement thank you so much for everybody that was involved in helping getting that up and running from all the head teachers officers and everybody and governors as well school governors since then we looked at the eight and we realised there was a gap and for our fairer spread we had to add one more to make it nine and this is what schools were talking about they wanted this in their schools young people wanted this and every single one of them really welcomed the opportunity to welcome it within their schools we have not had a single problem from it yet every school is happy with it so one thing I want to also add here is a story of a young girl called Alice not her real name Alice is a 13 year old young girl that really struggled with attending school due to their ADHD and anxiety and you can imagine as a young girl 13 year old struggling with anxiety and realising that you don't want to get up in the morning you don't want to go to school school is the most brutal place ever as a young girl and knowing how you can be bullied be seen as a different person because of ethnicity religion colour gender but even her mum realised that her daughter was really struggling with attending school so what they've done they've reached to our mental health hubs reached out to them within the school and our practitioners started working with Alice one to one and also working with the mother working in the home not only helping some days to help Alice come to the school but also helping Alice understand her emotions and how to tackle her emotions and from there her attending school at 50% has gone up to 69% which is in eight weeks work is really important let me include the last bit Alice now has joined the gym is really working on herself her mother really seen the change and started working on herself as well and meeting her friends imagine a mother struggling isolating herself realising now that Alice is getting the support that deserves because of this council from our investment that has been shut down for many years from government and now it's been opened up and we are the pioneers at delivering this across London and other London councils are looking at us as a pioneer and it's made in Greenwich for less and we are doing things for our children across the borough thank you Mr Mayor thank you Councillor Hurley can I call on Councillor Lolliver thank you Mr Mayor I wanted to talk about help but before we start I really feel like I have to deal with this one thing I'm very confused about is Councillor Hartley's obsession with listening which we do and I'm confused as to why you don't think we are and he's saying we're not listening at the same time he continues to attack a community engagement framework which is entirely focused on listening I do not understand if you have an issue with it fine take your own view on it but the entire basis of it is on listening to residents so you cannot sit here and complain and saying we are not listening we have taken the time all of us do as cabinet members and I know this as well in my service our service is embedded and focused on listening we have people with lived experience who are employed people with mental health people with learning disabilities who shape our service from their lived experience we practice co-production constantly our A-tech our assistive technology service which is soon to be launched has been built on the basis of listening to people and listening to residents about how we should deliver our direct payment service was lauded at the recent NCAS conference based on our listening we are doing it if you don't like what you're hearing that is a different issue we are listening I just have to get that off my chest so anyway back to health what I wanted to say was adult social care is a really significant budget alongside children's services it's one of the biggest ones in the council but I just feel it's not always something that's understood so I guess I wanted to take a moment here to talk about that because when people think about their council service they think about bins being collected and streets being swept really important things that make this a really great place to live but I wanted to take a moment to highlight adult social care services and with that £20 million investment which is hugely needed to meet growing demand locally but what does it mean and who is that for ultimately it can be everything from supporting someone with physical or learning disability or mental health needs or those that are aging with all that aim to support them to live a full and happy life and I really wanted to draw upon because I think there's a lot of perception I guess in the news around the way that we talk about social care and I've been really inspired by social care futures who talk to us about a different way to speak about it so for me it's about how can we look at Gemma with learning disabilities having a safe place to call home with extra support on hand and we have that and we actually already just recently heard that Royal Hills Independent Living Service has been produced to allow people to live independently with extra support for them with their needs it's about James who is disabled but surrounded by and able to access people and the things that he loves I've seen that at Sherrard Road the day opportunities are amazing it's a brilliant space there's so much going on there full of love vibrancy and brilliant activities we've got Abdul with dementia living in a community where and again not only have I spoken consistently to amazing voluntary organisations like the Carer Centre I've spoken to unpaid carers about the pressures that they're under and we've done a huge amount of work to work with them on a carer strategy to make sure unpaid carers in this borough are supported and it's also about mental health needs as well having the right support for people the right housing the right support to get to support them to manage and to like basically experience joy you know do what matters to them and live a joyful life for me care is something that sustains everybody it's sustained everybody in this room every single one of us has been cared for at some point by a parent by a carer at birth and in old age it will be something that we will also experience again so for me I just think it is so vitally important that we are investing in services like this we are all sustained by care at every stage of our lives it's a building block for society for me and it's one that supports citizens and residents to live their lives in Greenwich today I actually had the joy of co-chairing the Learning Disability ies Partnership Board it's run with the Greenwich People's Parliament and it's made up of eight MPs Debbie Sam Mark Lorraine Robert Lana Kelly and Ben they've all been elected so they're my fellow politicians and they've been elected to represent the local residents with learning disabilities and showcase their views it is one of my favourite meetings that I take part in constant challenge good questions they really push me and they inspire me to do more and they're just some of the many people that are flourishing in our borough due to the support that we have and that we provide here and that's why I feel like this investment this additional investment is so key and I think sometimes when we talk about social care it can feel very far removed so I wanted to try and paint that picture for you because I have spent time listening to residents with learning disabilities those living in our independent living facilities I've met people recovering from drug and alcohol addiction in our services and the communities that they are building there and I've met and spoken to parents caring for children with complex needs who are trying to navigate what is such a difficult what will happen to them when they're no longer there as a parent so these are really live and difficult issues but we are investing because we know this is important and I genuinely believe this is the bedrock of the society that we live in within Greenwich this investment will also support London Living Wage for our really valuable care workers that do amazing work and we will be launching soon new technology service so that people will be able to use technology to live more independently and our specialist housing which I won't go into because I feel like I've already spoken about it and I just guess the last thing I wanted to say was I spoke into our principal social worker this week and I was speaking about the really amazing work that our social work teams do and we were speaking about how powerful that relationship is between the social worker or the family member the professional whoever it is between the care and the person that's being cared for and I think one of the things that doesn't often get talked about is love I think there's a really strong powerful connection with care that is delivered in this borough and I see that all the time when I'm out with the staff with the officers and with the individuals that I interact with I really feel care can be overlooked and it isn't always understood but what I really feel it's a transformational force and it is one that we're investing in in this borough and day in day out I see that and I am just so proud of the work that we do and I would recommend the budget to you thank you thank you we are nearly reaching half ten and can I take the opinion from the councillors from the floor whether we need to extend the meeting or we go straight to vote because we cannot defer the other item that is next to that we have important item to deal with today which cannot be deferred so what's your opinion shall we go on voting now straight to vote or extend the meeting and discuss more we have nine more speakers interested to speak on this item more thank you mayor we're going straight to the vote can we can we ask everyone to indicate straight to vote those in favor to go straight to vote please indicate those who want to discuss on this item indicate please so we go thank you can I call on councillor Dennis Highland to close the debate formally mr. mayor thank you I would now like to ask the council to vote on the recommendations on the report all those in favor all those against any abstentions thank you the recommendations are agreed now item nine budget council tax setting 2025 26 this report enables members to determine the budget for the authority for 2025 26 and in doing so consider spending requirements and how they are to be financed it was also considered by cabinet on 17 February who again recommended approval can I call again councillor Dennis Highland cabinet member for finance resources and social value to move the recommendations thank you very much indeed Mr Mayor and just thank everybody for all the contributions that you've made to the last item it's really appreciated look this report sets the council budget for 25 26 it agrees the overall council tax level it gives the relevant statutory calculations and resolutions and the schools funding formula and the use of the dedicated schools grant the report includes council tax will rise by 4.99% for 2025 26 and it's made up of a 2.99% increase in the borough element of council tax in support of service delivery pressures and an adult social care precept of 2% and lastly the report also agrees in addition to the council tax for the forthcoming year on the taxpayers in premises surrounding the garden of Gloucester Circus Greenwich SC10 thank you Mr. Mayor commend the report to you and its decisions thank you Councillor Highland does any member wish to speak on report hope not because we spoke before we still have time thank you Mr. Mayor Councillor Hartley if she speaks she speaks I just want to come back on adventure play centres I will spare you the rest of the speech that I had but I completely understand how talk of budget cuts in this area adventure play centres has made workers parents and service users alike feel concerned about this and I'm sorry for that we've listened to residents concerns that have reached us and I've personally visited half of the sites and will have visited them all by next week I've spoken to some but not all the staff and counsellors who have concerns too what this was always about was investing capital funds to make things better and more efficient but what it has done is to provoke a dialogue a positive one that is going to do much more good along with children's services colleagues and my cabinet colleague here we're taking a fresh look at adventure play centres which will involve possibly co-location of some children's and youth provision with play centres what I want you to hear and take away from this is that we recognise the good work that the APCs do but we want to future proof them this is about protecting services for young people who could be at risk from a whole range of things things that didn't even exist when we were younger shaping services to fit today's challenges and let's face it much of this has been caused by years of Tory cuts to local authority funding is absolutely key here we'll take our time to look at data best practice and obviously listen to our residents and we'll share the new proposals when they're ready thank you thank you councillor bar leader of the council thank you mr mayor and that's how our council start supporting our services thank you thank you we don't have much time either we extend or go to the votes okay 20 seconds mr mayor to end the meeting on a good note I just wanted to thank the cabinet member for responding the substance of her response responding to those concerns and again to thank her for agreeing to meet with the petitioners who turned up to the town hall today I hope that her words will be of some on particular sites including Cold Arbor so I am pleased that she responded and I wanted to acknowledge that so thank you for that and I was going to raise a point of order just very briefly Mr. Mayor this meeting has been converted into a special meeting it's the first time that's actually happened last year we had an extra meeting that was a special meeting but normally we just have full council and one of the effects of that is that we had a budget related petition that wasn't able to be handed in we had members of the public who haven't been able to ask questions I understand there's a big long list of questions for March I would just respectfully say I personally wouldn't want to see this used as a precedent in the future there are only seven opportunities in the year for I just wanted to air that concern on behalf of residents and perhaps just ask that might be looked at in the future Thank you Thank you Councillor Hartley Leader Thank you I know the point of order that Councillor Hartley has raised I think it's worth noting that it was turned into a special budget meeting noting how long these budget meetings take and that's the difficulty it would be unfair to keep residents waiting in the chamber as a result of that now I note the points you've made that doesn't preclude residents for submitting petitions or writing direct no it doesn't because they can submit it to any full council period that they want to secondly sorry can you stop interrupting please thank you they can also engage with the democratic process and make requests of the mayor but also Mr. Mayor one thing to note is that for those who have asked or wanted to come and speak tonight both myself and other members are making ourselves available to meet with them and discuss their concerns that is democracy that's enabling them to engage so I just want to pay attention last full council we saw what happened when we were in this chamber for such a long time and we kept residents waiting that's not the kind of spirit we want to do our budget in Mr. Mayor thank you thank you councillor Anthony can I call on councillor Dennis Highland to close the debate very happy to close the debate Mr. Mayor and commend the decisions to the council chamber thank you thank you as members are aware there is a legal requirement for the council to conduct a recorded vote on this item and any amendments to it can I ask chief executive to call the vote please thank you Mr. Mayor as I call your name could you indicate for against or abstention please Magella Anning for Olu Babatola for Sandra Bauer for Linda Bird for Jovanda Brook for Issy Cook for Amarie Cousins for Charlie Davis Gary Dillon for John Farhi Leo Fletcher David Gardner for Pat Greenwell for Roshan Hanan for Matt Hartley for Denise Highland for Elizabeth Ige for Adele Kyra for Avril Lakau for Sam Littlewood for Mariam Lollivar for Christine May Odette McGahee Asli Mohamed Matt Morrow for for Calimo Burmulligan for Anthony O'Kerrikay for Simon Pierce for Majid Rahman for Jit Ranabat for Pat Slattery Aidan Aidan Smith Jackie Smith for Christine St. Matthew Daniel for Rachel Taggart Ryan for Roger Tester Ivis Williams for Nick Williams for Roger Sashan for Is there anyone in the chamber whose name I haven't called Okay Thank you In favour 35 against nil abstentions 4 the decision have been agreed That brings us to the end of this special meeting of the council Can I remind members that we will meet again for an ordinary meeting on 26th March Thank you very much Have a safe journey back home