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Overview & Scrutiny Committee - Tuesday, 25th March, 2025 5.30 p.m.

March 25, 2025 View on council website Watch video of meeting
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Summary

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss the scrutiny improvement plan, a continuous improvement plan, the strategic performance and delivery report, and the budget monitoring report. The committee discussed the accuracy and measurement of the scrutiny improvement plan, and the need for more detail in the continuous improvement plan. They also raised concerns about homelessness, adult social care, and special educational needs and disability (SEND) funding pressures.

Scrutiny Improvement Plan

The committee discussed the six-monthly update on the scrutiny improvement plan1, which resulted from the Local Government Association (LGA) peer review and best value findings and recommendations.

Councillor Amy Lee questioned how the completion percentages of activities were being measured, and who was making those assessments. She gave the example of developing a seating plan to ensure members don't sit in their party groups, which was marked as 100% complete, but she felt that this activity alone did not address the overarching priority of members working effectively cross-party and ensuring their independence.

Daniel Kerr, a council officer, explained that the plan had different criteria for success, and that a key would be included in the spreadsheet to clarify this. He added that an annual review would engage members to determine what they considered successful.

Councillor Abdi Mohamed raised concerns about the communication plan (1.2), training (2.1) and community engagement (6.1), stating that his experience as a scrutiny lead did not align with the improvement plan. He said that he had not been engaged or supported around a community plan, had received no training, and that a suggestion to undertake a review of hate crime in the borough had been rejected due to a lack of capacity.

The committee acknowledged that resources were a key issue that needed to be addressed in the plan.

Continuous Improvement Plan

Stephen Halsey, Chief Executive, introduced the continuous improvement plan, explaining that it was at a very high level due to the timescales and ongoing discussions with the envoys2. He said that detailed key performance indicators were not yet developed, but that there was a framework, themes and aspirations. He offered another development session for members before the report was finalised, and a consultation process with the community as the plan develops.

Halsey also updated the committee on the Transformation Assurance Board (TAB), which has not yet had a formal meeting, but had a first development day. He said that the Continuous Improvement Plan would go to the TAB on 14 April, but would evolve from there. The council has advertised the role of Strategic Director to provide additional capacity to deliver the Improvement Plan.

Councillor Asma Islam noted that the reporting structure on page 5 of the draft plan did not include the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (ONS). Halsey agreed to amend the chart to ensure that overview and scrutiny were engaged, with a formal role in reviewing adherence to targets.

Councillor Nathalie Bienfait raised concerns that the plan did not address the lack of challenge to the political leadership of the council from officers, as identified in the best value report. Halsey said that this would be picked up under aim 3, to improve governance, led by envoy Shokat Lau and Carolyn Downs as the transformation assurance board lead.

Councillor Abdi Mohamed discussed the sustainability of the plan and how to prevent the council from needing government intervention in the future. Halsey responded that the envoys would be present as long as necessary to ensure that all of the issues raised in the best value report were addressed. He added that some systems and processes would be redefined, and that the culture change piece was significant but difficult to measure.

Councillor Amy Lee asked about aim 4, building trust and respect and cultural change. Halsey said that the council was re-baselining where it was, and considering a staff survey to understand where staff were on that journey. He added that the definition of culture was interesting, and that the council was trying to create an environment where people were comfortable making mistakes.

Strategic Performance and Delivery Report & Budget Monitoring Report

The committee considered the strategic performance and delivery report for quarter three of year three, and the budget monitoring report for quarter three 2024/25, together.

Councillor Sayid Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Resources, introduced the strategic delivery and performance report, stating that the overall picture was positive, with the council continuing to deliver on the strategic plan despite facing unique challenges. Of the 56 strategic performance measures, 29 were green at the end of quarter three. Two previously amber measures had improved to green: KPI 13, the percentage of primary school pupils receiving public funded preschool meal, and KPI 43, victims of violence against women and girls who feel safer after engaging with commission provider. There were seven amber targets and four red targets.

Ahmed highlighted key pressures on the quarter three report, including homelessness, adult social care, and SEND, resulting in an overspend of £20 million. These pressures were offset by underspends in commissioning and youth services, as well as additional recurring savings of £10 million related to planned reviews of key capital financing policies. He said that the pressures were being closely monitored and that mitigating actions were being identified and implemented.

Within the dedicated schools grant (DSG), there was a £3.1 million underspend at quarter three. The housing revenue account (HRA) had an overspend of £4.6 million, which would need to be funded from the HRA general reserves. The council had a £37.4 million savings target, of which 87% (£32.6 million) was reported to have been achieved. 7% of the savings (£2.5 million) were slipping but achievable, and 6% (£2.3 million) were reported undeliverable or unachievable. The general fund capital forecast outturn for the year was £58 million, representing 88% of the revised capital budget of £66.2 million. The HRA capital forecast outturn for quarter three was £73 million, representing 85% of the revised budget of £86.3 million.

Homelessness

Councillor Asma Islam raised concerns about the plans to secure an additional 100 units of private rented sector (PRS) accommodation in quarter four, and 500 units over the year, given the competition from other local authorities. She also asked if there was an assessment done on whether it was worth acquiring short-term contracts, given that when they run out, the residents are back in the queue.

David Joyce, Corporate Director, Housing and Regeneration, responded that the aim was to move away from nightly paid accommodation and get longer-term lets. He said that the council had capacity to make 200 buybacks of council homes, and was talking to registered providers about buying stock back. The 500 units target was separate to the 200 units for buybacks. He acknowledged that it was not always possible to avoid short-term contracts, but that the aim was to shift the balance away from bed and breakfast accommodation.

Education Budget

Councillor Ahmodur Khan asked about the £2.6 million overspend in the education budget due to internal transport recharge changes. He asked what the changes were, and how the decision was made.

Stephen Halsey responded that an external review had been carried out by consultants, who had identified a number of ways the council differed to other areas, and opportunities to make significant savings. He said that the consultants had laid out a journey over the next two to three years where the council could deliver those savings.

Khan also asked about the factors contributing to the drop in meal income under contract services. Halsey said that there had been some fluctuation in the take-up of meals, but it was still within target. He added that consultants had done a piece of research talking to children about what they thought of the meals.

Care Technology Transformation

Councillor Amy Lee asked for more detail on the care technology transformation, and what was going on with legal services.

A council officer responded that the plan for 2024/25 was to identify a partner who could drive innovative thinking about how to use technology to support care packages, improve quality and develop efficiencies. However, the current director was reviewing that plan, as she wanted someone who was really innovative and going to drive things.

In terms of legal services, Jill, a council officer, responded that there had been a growth bid approved in the budget. She said that over the years, a number of posts had been taken out and filled by agency staff, which carried a premium. The growth bid was intended to attract permanent staff, but it had been difficult to get people to join a service where there weren't permanent staff in place.

SEND Services

Councillor Alim Islam asked about KPI 021, which was still red, and what specific barriers within the revised structure added to the decline in timeliness. He also asked how recruitment challenges and higher than average assessment requests were impacting the overall operational costs.

A council officer responded that there had been a modest improvement between quarter two and quarter three, from 24% to 34%, but that it was still well short of the target. They said that the level of requests had previously been significant, and that the recruitment of additional officers to the team, plus in-house plan writers, was starting to have an impact.

Council Homes

Councillor Ahmodur Khan asked how many council homes the council planned to buy back, and how many it had already achieved.

A council officer responded that the council had capacity in the HRA business plan to acquire 200 properties. They had progressed around 30 to 40, some of which had completed and some of which were going through the conveyancing stage. There were inquiries from another 150 potential vendors.

Fly Tipping

Councillor Abdi Mohamed noted that KPI 47, fly tipping, had gone from green to amber, and asked about the plans to ensure it goes back to green. He also asked about early redundancy and how the council was quality assuring that this wasn't a trend that would be seen as more ERVIs hold out.

Simon Baxter, Corporate Director Communities, responded that the Community Safety Directorate was being reorganised, and that more FEOs were coming online. He said that a lot of the fly tipping happened on private land, so that would be included in the plan.

Homelessness Support

Councillor Suluk Ahmed asked how the council was planning to tackle homelessness, and to accommodate those with special needs.

David Joyce responded that the reason people were being placed out of borough was not financial, but about supply of accommodation. He said that the council was a net importer of homelessness, and that they worked closely with families to try and source permanent council or registered social landlord homes.

Council Reserves

Councillor James King asked what thinking there was to claw back and top up some of the reserves next year, and whether there could be a commitment that frontline services would be protected as part of this.

Councillor Sayid Ahmed responded that frontline services had always been protected, and that the pressures and slippages were of a pretty small amount compared to the amount of reserves and the mitigation that had been put in place. He said that the council had started doing its MTFS work already, to make sure that they had a plan in place.

Waste Services

Councillor James King noted that there was an overspend forecast of £6.7 million in waste services, and asked whether that overspend was accounted for in the increase in the new budget for this year. He also asked about the lift program and why there was a 69% forecast versus revised budget, and about the savings risk in the electric vehicle charging program.

A council officer responded that the 69% referred to how much was expected to be spent of the budget, and that 30% was expected to slip into future years. In terms of the electric vehicle charging program, there had been a slight stall in procurement, but contracts had now been awarded.

Overcrowding

Councillor Chadri asked what was in the pipeline to eradicate overcrowding in the borough.

David Joyce responded that the council had a big focus on tackling overcrowding, and that it was a big priority around all of the work that they were doing. He said that there was a particular focus on the new council house building program, negotiation of planning applications, and the provision of new family accommodation.

Housing List

A councillor noted that there was a seven-month wait for applications to the housing list, and asked if there were plans to target this and try to get those numbers down.

David Joyce responded that there was a backlog, and that the extra investment that had gone into the service in the most recent MTFS discussions had been to address that. He said that there would also be a service transformation around making those processes work a lot more efficiently.

Departmental Budgets

Stephen Halsey suggested that the committee consider having more deep dives into detail departmental budgets from a scrutiny perspective, twice a year for each corporate director. The committee agreed to consider this in their forward plan.


  1. The scrutiny improvement plan was designed to address recommendations made by the LGA. 

  2. The government envoys are part of a three-year programme of intervention in the council. 

Attendees

Profile image for Councillor Asma Islam
Councillor Asma Islam  Chair of Overview and Scrutiny •  Labour Party •  Weavers
Profile image for Councillor Bodrul Choudhury
Councillor Bodrul Choudhury  Scrutiny Lead for Housing and Regeneration •  Aspire •  Bromley South
Profile image for Councillor Suluk Ahmed
Councillor Suluk Ahmed  Aspire •  Spitalfields & Banglatown
Profile image for Councillor Ahmodur Khan
Councillor Ahmodur Khan  Scrutiny Lead for Resources •  Aspire •  Blackwall & Cubitt Town
Profile image for Councillor Abdul Mannan
Councillor Abdul Mannan  Scrutiny Lead for Children and Education •  Aspire •  Bromley North
Profile image for Councillor Bellal Uddin
Councillor Bellal Uddin  Scrutiny Lead for Adults and Health Services •  Aspire •  Blackwall & Cubitt Town
Profile image for Councillor Amy Lee
Councillor Amy Lee  Labour Party •  St Katharine's & Wapping
Profile image for Councillor James King
Councillor James King  Labour Party •  Limehouse
Profile image for Councillor Abdi Mohamed
Councillor Abdi Mohamed  Scrutiny Lead for Community Safety •  Labour Party •  Bow East
Profile image for Councillor Nathalie Bienfait
Councillor Nathalie Bienfait  Scrutiny Lead for Environment and the Climate Emergency •  Green Party •  Bow West
Jahid Ahmed  (Co-optee)
Halima Islam  Scrutiny Co-Optee
Afazul Hoque
Daniel Kerr
Filuck Miah