This meeting of the Royal Borough of Greenwich’s Cabinet will include a range of items for discussion, covering the Council’s finances, several large development schemes, and safeguarding.

Development of Maryon Road & Grove Estates

The Cabinet will discuss the future of the Maryon Road & Grove site, which is part of the wider Woolwich Estates Regeneration programme. It is being proposed that the Council agree to enter into a new Deed of Variation with the developer, Lovell Partnerships Limited, in order to change the tenure mix for the new homes to be delivered on the site.

The regeneration of the Woolwich Estates is being delivered in partnership between the Council, Lovell and Paragon Asra Housing Limited.¹ This is the sixth and final phase of the regeneration programme.

Currently there is an Outline Planning Consent for 165 units on the site. This permission will expire in April 2025. In July 2022 Cabinet agreed that the Council would acquire 90 new homes on the site, which were originally planned to be sold on the open market. 79 further units on the site were to be delivered as Shared Ownership by Paragon Asra; however Paragon Asra have since decided that these units will now be let at social rent levels. This means that, under the current plans, all new homes to be delivered on the Maryon Road site would be let at social rent levels.

The report pack proposes that the tenure mix be altered in order to create a mixed tenure development, with 53 homes delivered to the Council for social rent, 79 to Paragon Asra Housing Limited for social rent, and 33 for open market sale.

In large-scale estate regeneration programmes, such as Woolwich Estates, a preferential outcome is mixed tenure developments within tenure blind typologies as this creates a greater sense of community integration and cohesion.

This change to the tenure mix is being proposed due to viability concerns for the scheme. Lovell state that the scheme would not be financially viable if all 165 units were delivered as affordable housing.

Because this change would constitute a significant departure from what was previously agreed, it is being proposed that the Council enter into a Fifth Deed of Variation to the Development Agreement which governs the regeneration programme. The report pack also proposes that, as part of the new Deed of Variation, the Council would be entitled to an ‘overage’ payment on the sale of any units on the open market.

New Special Educational Needs School at Hargood Road

The Cabinet will be asked to consider a proposal to develop a new school on the site of the demolished Kidbrooke Park Primary School.

The report pack states that a new school is required to provide places for children with Special Educational Needs and Disabilities (SEND). In particular, there is an acute need for places for children with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). It is being proposed that the school be an “all-through” school, meaning that it would provide places for primary, secondary and post-16 students.

The new school at Hargood Road would provide 80 secondary school places and 48 post-16 places. The location of the primary phase of the school has not yet been decided.

The school is scheduled to open in September 2025. The report pack indicates that this very demanding timeframe will necessitate a modular, off-site construction method. It also suggests that the nature of the site, which includes a steep slope and the remains of a basement structure, will contribute to the high cost of the project.

It is being proposed that the Cabinet agree a budget of £15m to deliver the school.

The new school SEND facility is also like to see a reduced pressure on the High Needs Block due to fewer SEND tribunals, less reliance on out-borough independent provisions and reduction in SEND transport costs.

Our Greenwich Annual Plan 2024-26

The Cabinet is being asked to agree the “Our Greenwich Annual Plan 2024-26”.

The Annual Plan summarises the key activities and initiatives which the Council is planning to deliver over the next two years. These activities and initiatives relate to the 20 missions set out in the Council's Corporate Plan, Our Greenwich.²

The Council’s original intention was for this plan to run for only one year, but its publication was delayed due to the 2024 Local Elections and General Election. In order to allow sufficient time for consultation and engagement, and to give the new plan meaning, it has been decided to extend it so that it covers the period up to May 2026.

The missions listed in the plan are divided into five themes:

• People
• Place
• Economy
• Organisation
• Communities

The report pack states that the activities and initiatives to be delivered during the lifetime of this plan were decided as a result of a great deal of consultation with local communities, businesses, Council staff, and other stakeholders, and draws particular attention to the “Our Greenwich Performance Dashboard”, an online portal where residents can keep up-to-date with the Council’s progress in delivering Our Greenwich.

The approach of producing an annual plan represents a significant change for the council and aims to ensure it more transparently presents and reports on the actions being taken to deliver on its agreed missions.

Adoption of the Statement of Community Involvement and Developers’ Engagement Charter

The Cabinet will be asked to agree the adoption of the new Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) and Developers’ Engagement Charter (DEC).

The SCI is a statutory document, required by the Planning and Compulsory Purchase Act 2004, which sets out how the Council will engage with its residents and other stakeholders during the production of planning policy documents. The DEC is a non-statutory document that provides guidance to developers on how to engage with local communities during the development of planning applications. The DEC is intended to be used alongside the Council’s non-statutory “Our Greenwich: Community Engagement Pledge”.

The Council is required to review its SCI every five years. Greenwich Council’s current SCI was adopted in 2020.

The report pack indicates that these new documents were developed as a result of consultation with local communities. A draft version of the SCI and DEC were published for public feedback via the Council's Commonplace website, as well as in the borough’s libraries and several community centres. The consultation was open for responses between March and April 2024.

The new SCI will reflect recent societal changes in terms of how people communicate and locate information as well as new ways local planning authorities can engage with a variety of stakeholders.

Lease for Royal Hill

The report pack indicates that the Cabinet will be asked to agree the terms of a lease for the property at Royal Hill.

The property was developed by the Council to provide housing for people with learning disabilities, and was completed in June 2023.

The property at Royal Hill contains flats and a shared house.

This type of specialist housing is currently being delivered by external providers at a high cost to the Council. The Council decided to develop its own specialist accommodation to both improve the quality of care delivered for these residents and to reduce the cost to the Council’s General Fund.

The report pack states that it is now being proposed that the property at Royal Hill be leased to the charity Golden Lane Housing (GLH), who specialise in providing housing for people with learning disabilities.

Royal Greenwich Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2023-24

The Cabinet is being asked to note the Royal Greenwich Safeguarding Adults Board Annual Report 2023-24.

The Safeguarding Adults Board is a statutory partnership of representatives from statutory agencies and other organisations, with responsibility for ensuring adults are safeguarded from abuse and neglect in the borough.

The Care Act 2014 requires that the board produce a new strategic plan each year, that it publish an annual report, and that it undertake Safeguarding Adults Reviews when an adult dies or is seriously injured as a result of abuse or neglect.

The Annual Report summarises the activities of the Board during 2023-24.

The report pack lists the board’s key priorities for 2024-25:

• Self-neglect and hoarding
• Support for homeless people
• Engaging with service users

2024/25 Quarter 1 Budget Monitor

The final item on the agenda is the first quarter budget monitor for 2024/25.

This report summarises the Council’s finances at the end of June 2024.

The report pack states that the Council is currently forecasting an overall overspend of £15.6m, before any use of its reserves.

The report pack explains that the two departments with the greatest financial pressures are Children’s Services and Health and Adults’ Services. The overspends in these departments are largely the result of increasing demand and costs associated with providing social care.

The Council still faces significant risks in terms of its future financial position, with issues affecting ongoing funding including:

• Local authorities have seen significant reductions in their spending power, which has coincided with increasing demand for their services and inflationary pressures exceeding those in the wider economy.
• Significant price increases…associated with:
• Social Care
• Temporary Accommodation
• Waste Services

The report pack states that the Council will be seeking to address these pressures by reducing reliance on agency staff and spot purchasing. It also explains that there are a number of savings proposals, worth £9m in total, which are currently not forecast to be achieved during 2024/25. These savings cover all departments, and include several major initiatives, such as a review of the methodology used to decide street sweeping frequency, a review of the cost of pest control services, a review of the library service, and plans to create additional residential provision for children in care.