This meeting of the Inclusive Economy and Culture Scrutiny Panel will include a presentation on the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust (RGHT), a discussion of the Council's proposed Anti-Poverty Strategy, and an update on how the Council is supporting young people into employment, particularly through apprenticeships.

Pre-decision scrutiny of the Anti-Poverty Strategy

The Panel will examine the draft Greenwich Supports Strategy, which sets out how the Royal Borough of Greenwich will attempt to reduce and prevent poverty in the borough.

The report submitted to the panel explains that the strategy defines poverty as:

When a person’s resources (mainly their material resources) are not sufficient to meet their minimum needs (including basic goods, services and social participation).

The Council's proposed strategy is built around three key aims: lessening the impact of poverty, preventing people from falling into poverty, and addressing the root causes of poverty.

The report also outlines the Council's Greenwich Supports principles, which it says are intended to guide the design and delivery of the strategy. The principles include taking a preventative, holistic approach; growing community power; ensuring services are joined-up and easy to navigate, and enabling people to live a good life.

Employability for Young People

The Panel will also be discussing how the Council is supporting young people into education, work, and training. The discussion will focus on apprenticeships and how the Council is working with businesses, particularly small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), to create more opportunities for young people.

The Panel will hear how the Council is using the Greenwich Access to Apprenticeships Fund (GAAF) to support SMEs in taking on apprentices. GAAF is a scheme that allows the Council to transfer unspent apprenticeship levy funds to non-levy paying employers to cover 100% of their apprentice training and assessment costs.

The meeting will also discuss how the Council is working to attract high-value businesses to the borough, and will receive an update on the proposed post-16 skills strategy, which is intended to take advantage of the unique geographic opportunities of the borough and the wider GLA area.

Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust

The Panel will also receive a presentation on the Royal Greenwich Heritage Trust (RGHT) from its CEO, Janet Denne.

The presentation will focus on the Trust's objectives for the year ahead, the relocation of, and public access to, the Borough Archives, and renovation and maintenance works at Charlton House.

The Panel will hear how the Trust is working to ensure the financial stability of the organisation, how it is engaging the public with the borough's heritage, and how it is working to protect and conserve the buildings and assets in its care.