The Overview and Scrutiny Committee of Lewisham Council met on Wednesday 27 March 2024 to re-establish two Task and Finish Groups, appoint a Chair and Vice Chair for the committee, and assign members to various Select Committees and the newly re-established Task and Finish Groups. All recommendations put forward were resolved by the committee.

Task and Finish Groups and Appointments

The committee resolved to re-establish the Task and Finish Groups focusing on the private rented sector in Lewisham and youth provision. Councillor Rudi Schmidt was elected as the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, with Councillor Mark Jackson appointed as Vice Chair. Members were also appointed to serve on several Select Committees, including Children and Young People's, Healthier Communities, Housing, Safer Stronger Communities, Sustainable Development, and Public Accounts Select Committees. Additionally, members were appointed to the Private Rented Sector in Lewisham Task and Finish Group and the Youth Provision Task and Finish Group.

The decision to re-establish the Task and Finish Groups was made because they cannot last longer than 12 months and their evidence gathering had been delayed due to pre-election period restrictions. The appointments to the Select Committees and Task and Finish Groups were made based on a schedule of proposed membership that was available at the meeting.

The following members were appointed to the various committees and groups:

• Children and Young People's Select Committee: Luke Sorba, Coral Ann Howard, Jacq Paschoud, Yemisi Anifowose, Rev Erica Wooff (co-optee), Ayesha Lahai-Taylor, Hilary Moore, Monsignor Nicholas Rothon (co-optee), Bryan Strom (co-optee), Sabrina Dixon (co-optee), Oluwafela Ajayi (co-optee).
• Healthier Communities Select Committee: Aliya Sheikh, Peter Bernards, Sakina Sheikh, Rachel Onikosi, Carol Webley-Brown, John Muldoon, Andre Bourne.
• Housing Select Committee: Stephen Penfold, Ese Erheriene, Dawn Atkinson, Bill Brown, Suzannah Clarke, Billy Harding, Natasha Burgess.
• Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee: Liam Shrivastava, Sophie Davis, Rosie Parry, Hau-Yu Tam, Chris Best, Laura Cunningham.
• Sustainable Development Select Committee: James Royston, Tauseef Anwar, Oana Olaru, Liam Curran, Sian Eiles, Jack Lavery, Luke Warner.
• Public Accounts Select Committee: James Rathbone, Eva Kestner, Joan Millbank, Susan Wise, John Paschoud, Mark Ingleby, Aisha Malik-Smith.
• Private Rented Sector in Lewisham Task and Finish Group: Bill Brown, Jack Lavery, Stephen Penfold, Sakina Sheikh, Aisha Malik-Smith.
• Youth Provision Task and Finish Group: Yemisi Anifowose, Laura Cunningham, Oana Olaru, Hau-Yu Tam, Dawn Atkinson.

The meeting was attended by Councillors Rudi Schmidt, Joan Millbank, Stephen Penfold, James Rathbone, Luke Sorba, Liam Shrivastava, Aliya Sheikh, and Eva Stamirowski. Councillors Mark Jackson and James Royston were in attendance but noted as having apologies.

The agenda for the meeting can be found in the Agenda frontsheet 27th-Mar-2024 19.50 Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf. The minutes of the meeting are available in the Printed minutes 27th-Mar-2024 19.50 Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf. The public reports pack for the meeting can be accessed via the Public reports pack 27th-Mar-2024 19.50 Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf.