This meeting included reports from two task and finish groups, the adoption of two new policies, the approval of budgets, and updates on projects.

Improving Scrutiny in Lewisham

The Improving Scrutiny Task and Finish Group has finished its work and submitted its report to the Mayor and Cabinet. The report includes twelve recommendations intended to support the delivery of the Council's Corporate Strategy and enhance the effectiveness of scrutiny in Lewisham.

The selection of a clear and unambiguous focus for scrutiny is a critical part of improving its impact. The resource, and organisational commitment, simply no longer exist for us to talk about scrutiny as a function which “holds the executive to account” in the broadest sense of the term, without a sense of a need to prioritise its work.

The report sets out that the group followed a framework for improving scrutiny, developed by The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny (CfGS), which is an independent organisation that promotes good practice in local government. The report included a summary of the evidence gathered to inform the recommendations. This included internal and external surveys, a review of scrutiny policies and minutes from 2022 onwards, and discussions with members, officers, and representatives from other scrutiny authorities.

The Group also recommended that there be an annual 'scrutiny summit' at the beginning of each municipal year to review the previous year’s work, provide member training sessions, and discuss proposals for new task and finish groups.

Youth Provision in Lewisham

The Youth Provision Task and Finish Group has concluded its review of youth services in Lewisham and submitted its final report. The Group made fifteen recommendations, several relating to the provision of youth centres. It recommended that the Council should ensure there is at least one youth centre in each of the four delivery areas used by Children and Young People’s Services:

recognising children’s right to play, rest and leisure contained in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, the Council should ensure there is at least one youth centre, from which a range of providers can deliver a variety of youth services, in each of the borough’s four children’s service delivery areas

It also recommended that youth centres should be used primarily for youth services and not become multi-functional service delivery hubs and that youth centres should open for longer and non-sessional timetables should be considered at individual-centre level.

The report is heavily informed by a corporate review of youth provision conducted by Children and Young People’s Services, drawing on evidence collected from parents/carers, young people, and youth service providers.

The report includes a review of youth service provision in Lewisham, and nationally, and summarises evidence from several sources including visits to local and national youth providers, including Legacy Youth Zone Croydon.

The report also includes a summary of the relevant legislation and statutory guidance for youth service provision.

Trauma-Informed Service Delivery

Officers responded to recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider adopting a trauma-informed approach across the organisation. This followed a presentation at the committee by the Head of the Youth Justice Service, Keith Cohen, about the impact of trauma, particularly for ethnic groups, within the Youth Justice system.

The report sets out the work to embed trauma-informed practices across the organisation and proposes to deliver a programme of mandatory training for all staff.

Trauma-informed practice acknowledges the need to see beyond an individual’s presenting behaviours and to ask, ‘What does this person need?’ rather than ‘What is wrong with this person?

The report includes a working definition of trauma-informed practice and an overview of the six key principles of the approach. It also summarises the various policies, projects and training programmes that have been implemented to date, including the Signs of Safety practice framework, which is already being used by the Children’s Social Care Division, and the Borough of Sanctuary Programme.

Treasury Management Update

The meeting included an update on the Council's Treasury Management position. The report reviewed the Treasury position as at 31 March 2024, updated the Treasury Management Strategy for 2024/25, included an economic update for 2024/25, provided an update on the Council’s Capital Programme and prudential indicators, and reviewed the Council’s investment portfolio, borrowing strategy, and compliance with treasury and prudential limits for 2024/25.

The report set out that:

Inflation has been falling for several months especially as energy and food prices begin to stabiles. The Bank of England made it first cut in the Base Rate since March 2020 cutting it by 0.25% in August and it may make another cut before the end of the year.

Sustainable Streets Programme

The meeting included a report on the Sustainable Streets programme, specifically concerning parking controls. The report included an overview of the programme and the aims and objectives of the proposals.

The report also set out the results of consultations about existing Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs) in Lewisham Central, Blackheath, Rushey Green, Deptford Central, Deptford South, Elverson Road and Ladywell and sought approval for the recommendations in the report.

The report recommended that the operating hours of the Blackheath, Rushey Green, Deptford Central, Deptford South, Elverson and Ladywell CPZs remain unchanged. It also recommended that the operating hours of the Lewisham Central CPZ be extended from Monday to Saturday 9am to 7pm, and that it be split with the southern section operating from 9am to 1:30pm on Sundays. The report also recommended that footway parking be removed across all CPZs and more street trees, electric vehicle charging points (EVCP) and cycle hangars be implemented across all CPZs.

The report included a summary of the consultations carried out, setting out the following:

The aim of the consultations was to undertake a review of the existing parking controls to see how residents and businesses feel about the times of operation and if anything can be improved. There was also the opportunity for respondents to give their feedback on measures they would like to see as a part of promoting a transition towards more sustainable modes of travel. Some of the measures the Council was seeking feedback on included: • Electric vehicle charging points • Secure cycle storage • Street tree planting • Improved crossings, including double yellow line markings around all junctions • Car club bays

Lewisham and Lee Green Low Traffic Neighbourhood

The meeting included an update on the Lewisham and Lee Green Low Traffic Neighbourhood. The report provides a summary of a programme of monitoring and engagement to assess the impact and effectiveness of the scheme. The report recommended that the findings of the monitoring be noted and that this is the final monitoring assessment of the scheme.

The report includes an overview of the scheme, a summary of the relevant legislation and statutory guidance, a summary of the monitoring process, the findings of the monitoring, the relevant data, and an overview of other active travel projects that have been implemented in the area.

The report includes a recommendation that:

Officers using their existing delegated powers to implement the above recommendations and deliver the package of complementary measures.

Riverdale Sculpture Park

A report was submitted for approval to enter into a grant agreement with the Greater London Authority's Civic Partnership Programme for the redevelopment of the Riverdale Sculpture Park.

The report sought approval for match funding from a variety of sources, including £166,327.83 of s106 funding from Lewisham Gateway, £200k from the Environment Agency's Water Environment Improvement Fund (WEIF), and £352,107.69 from the sale of Biodiversity Net-Gain (BNG) credits for river restoration works.

The report recommended that the Council delegate responsibility for appointing a consultant and contractor for the project to the Executive Director for Place.

Agree to use the GLA’s Architecture and Urbanism (A+U) framework and delegate appointment of a lead consultant to the Executive Director of Place. The recommended Framework Lot is Lot 4: Landscape, Green Infrastructure & Public Realm. The Supplier will act as the Design and Community Co-Design Lead to deliver the capital works project by March 2027, together with subconsultants with relevant technical expertise.

The report also included an overview of the Civic Partnership Programme, the selection process for the park, a summary of the engagement carried out, and a summary of relevant policies and plans, including the Draft Lewisham Local Plan 2025-2040, Lewisham’s Corporate Strategy (2022-2026) and the Mayor of London’s Environment Strategy 2018.

The report included a strategy report and an order of costs document.

Sexual Health E-Service

The meeting included a report seeking approval to extend the Council's use of online sexual health services provided by Sexual Health London. The service, commissioned by the City of London, is available to Lewisham residents through an Inter Authority Agreement (IAA).

The report recommended that:

Mayor & Cabinet give approval to extend the Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA) with the City of London to access online sexual health ‘e-service’ provided by Sexual Health London for a maximum of 1 years from 1st April 2025 to 31 March 2026, up to a maximum contract value of £1,200,000 for Lewisham’s contribution.

The report included an overview of the service, a summary of its value, and the context of its use. The report set out that:

The extension of access to the E-Service will ensure continuity to a wide range of interventions online, providing choice to people about how they access services, and to manage demand in clinics to ensure there is capacity to meet more complex clinical needs.

The report also included information on the Lambeth, Southwark and Lewisham (LSL) Sexual and Reproductive Health Strategy for 2019-2024, and the London Sexual Health Transformation Programme.

Healthwatch Lewisham and Independent Health Complaints Advocacy Services

The meeting included a report seeking permission to reprocure the Healthwatch Lewisham and Independent Health Complaints Advocacy services.

The core purpose of Healthwatch is to ensure that the views of the public shape the health and care services they need

The report recommended that the Council approve the reprocurement and delegate responsibility for selecting the preferred provider to the Executive Director for Adult Social Care and Health. It also included an overview of Healthwatch and the Independent Health Complaints Advocacy service, the challenges of coproducing the last procurement, and details of the proposed procurement process.

Asset Management Strategy

The meeting included a summary of the new Asset Management Strategy. The Strategy will guide the management of the Council's assets over the next ten years. The report recommended that:

Mayor & Cabinet is recommended to:

1. Adopt the Asset Management Strategy 2024-2034

The report included information on the Council's non-housing assets, and the challenges of managing a large estate. The report also included a summary of previous scrutiny of the strategy. The report recommended that the strategy be adopted.

The Council’s non-HRA asset base supports a wide range of functions and services. This includes office accommodation, community facilities, adult learning, libraries, bereavement services, education and children services, housing, parks, leisure, social care and health provision. The estate also provides important Council income via commercial lettings which strengthen the local economy and support job creation. In addition non-HRA housing provides specialist housing such as Temporary Accommodation, supported living and hostels. As such, the Council’s assets directly contributed to the delivery of the Corporate Strategy (2022-2026) and its seven corporate priorities:

Community Asset Policy

The meeting included a summary of a new policy for managing community assets. The report recommended that:

Mayor & Cabinet is recommended to:

1. Adopt the Community Asset Policy.

The report set out the Council's aspiration to transition its community assets to a leasehold model:

The Council will transition away from direct and indirect management of its community assets. Leases will therefore replace all other forms of agreement where it is appropriate to do so (e.g. Tenancies at Will, Premises Management Agreements etc).

The report included a summary of the Policy and the Council's rationale for proposing it. The report also included details of seven proposed leases, and three proposed Expressions of Interest processes to identify suitable management organisations for community assets.

School Premises Officer Houses

The meeting included a review of School Premises Officer Houses (SPOH) across 31 schools. The report included recommendations about their future use and sought approval to delegate responsibility for making decisions on five SPOHs to the Executive Director for Place. It also sought approval to transfer nine SPOHs to the relevant school and for the Executive Director for Place to make decisions about the future use of two SPOHs.

The report set out that five SPOH are being used as temporary accommodation, that three will be converted to children’s residential homes, and that two will be sold.

Building for Lewisham: Achilles Street

The meeting included an update on the Achilles Street redevelopment scheme. The report recommended that:

Mayor and Cabinet are asked to approve: A. The revised redline for the Achilles Estate regeneration project. B. The submission of planning application for the scheme; noting that the scheme delivers the Landlord Offer and the positive feedback from estate residents.

The report included an overview of the development, the resident ballot held in 2019, the selection process for the architects for the scheme, and the design process. It also included details of the commitments made in the Landlord Offer that was issued to residents prior to the ballot.

Housing Acquisitions Programme

The meeting included an update on the Housing Acquisitions Programme.

This report sets out the outcome of the 50-unit review for the Housing Acquisition Programme and seeks approve to continue the acquisition of up to 300 units for temporary accommodation.

The report set out that the programme has acquired 50 homes for temporary accommodation and asked for approval to extend the programme and increase its budget. The report also sought approval to delegate responsibility for reviewing the next 250 units to the Executive Directors for Place, Corporate Resources, and Housing, and the Cabinet Member for Regeneration and Place. The report also included information on the GLA Council Housing Acquisition Programme (CHAP) and funding from the MHCLG for temporary accommodation.

Lewisham Market Canopy

The meeting included an update on the Lewisham Market canopy project. The report recommended that:

It is recommended that Mayor & Cabinet:

1. Approve Officers to undertake a procurement exercise to find a suitable Contractor to manufacture and install the new canopy to the value with an estimated value outlined in part 2 of this report by inviting a minimum of 5 contractors to bid.

The report outlined the work to date on the project, including the planning process, engagement with stakeholders, and the appointment of the design team. The report also included a summary of the procurement process and the proposed timetable for the works.

The works will be procured externally because the Council has neither the skills nor capacity to deliver such construction works. Setting up the required infrastructure to enable this function does not represent good commercial or practical sense, given the very specialist nature, complexity, and scale of the works.

70 Algernon Road

The meeting included a report on a development at 70 Algernon Road, which has halted due to contractor insolvency. The report recommended that the Council approve the allocation of s106 funding, originally intended for the Home Park development, to complete the project.

Due to contractor insolvency, the development of the four social rented houses on the LB Lewisham site at 70 Algernon Road has halted since October 2022.

The report set out that the work would be carried out through the Council's existing measured term contract for property refurbishment.