The Public Cabinet meeting of Bexley Council was scheduled to discuss the council's financial position, strategic plans for the borough's future, and operational performance. Key topics included the budget monitoring report for 2024/25, the Bexley Status Report for the third quarter, the 2050 Vision for Bexley, and the Medium Term Business Plan for 2025.

Budget Monitoring Report 2024/25 (February 2025)

The meeting was scheduled to receive an update on the council's financial performance for the 2024/25 financial year, as of the end of February 2025. The report detailed the forecasted revenue budget position, indicating an anticipated overspend of £2.898 million against the net budget of £215.027 million. This represented a favourable movement of £0.607 million compared to the previous month's report. The report also outlined significant movements within directorates, including overspends in Adult Social Care & Public Health (£2.356 million) and Children's Services (£5.778 million), partially offset by underspends in Corporate budgets.

The capital budget monitoring for the same period showed a forecast for the 2024/25 Capital Programme of £41.775 million, a decrease of £3.626 million from the revised budget. Significant movements included slippage in Children and Education projects (£0.550 million), Finance and Corporate (£0.535 million), and Places and Communities (£1.161 million), primarily due to project delays and changes in timelines.

The report also provided an analysis of the council's reserves, detailing opening balances and projected movements for the year. It highlighted the planned utilisation of the Financial Planning Reserve (£1.862 million) and a portion of the Collection Fund Reserve (£1.036 million) to cover forecasted overspends.

Furthermore, the report included a section on agency staff spend, detailing expenditure by directorate and noting a projected decrease compared to the previous year. Mitigation strategies and their status were also outlined, indicating that while some mitigations were on track, others were forecast not to be achieved, particularly within the Place and Children's directorates.

Bexley Status Report Quarter 3 (October to December 2024)

This report was scheduled to provide an update on the performance of the council's Corporate Performance Indicators for the third quarter of 2024. The report highlighted 16 performance exceptions, categorised as positive, for information, or for consideration.

Positive exceptions included improvements in the proportion of safeguarding enquiries where desired outcomes were achieved (ASCH02), the percentage of care leavers in suitable accommodation (CS06), and the percentage of Bexley nurseries judged Good or Outstanding by Ofsted (CS14). Financial performance also showed positive exceptions, with a higher than expected outlier in the percentage of debts collected in 90 days by value (FC04) and the percentage of Stage 2 corporate complaints closed on time (FC10). Crime rates per 1,000 population were lower than expected (PL01), and a high percentage of non-major planning application decisions were made within statutory periods (PL15). The percentage of people in sustained employment was also a higher than expected outlier (PL31), and there was an upward shift in the number of physical library visits (PL_35).

For information, a downward shift was noted in the rate of children subject to a Child Protection Plan (CS02), a lower than expected outlier for repeat incidents of domestic abuse (PL04), and an upward shift in the number of Penalty Charge Notices issued by CCTV (PL_24).

For consideration, a downward shift was noted in the proportion of first assessments completed within four weeks of referral (ASCH05), and a lower than expected outlier for the percentage of Education, Health & Care Plans (EHCPs) delivered within 20 weeks (CS09). A lower than expected outlier was also noted for the percentage of pothole or trip hazards completed within 90 days (PL_36).

2050 Vision for Bexley

The meeting was scheduled to consider the 2050 Vision for Bexley, a long-term, ambitious plan developed in partnership with residents and stakeholders. The report outlined the shared ambition for Bexley, emphasising growth, aspiration, and fairness, and highlighted the benefits of collaborative working. Feedback from over 750 residents through surveys and consultation events informed the vision, with key findings indicating a desire for Bexley to be safe, clean, and green by 2050. The vision is underpinned by five shared goals: Bexley: a great place to be, Raise the profile of Bexley and attract investment to benefit all, Improve health, wellbeing and fairness, A green innovator and leader, and Take advantage of the skills and employment opportunities of the future. The report recommended that the Cabinet note the vision and refer it to the Council for discussion, with the Leader of the Council to make a final executive decision.

London Borough of Bexley Medium Term Business Plan 2025

The meeting was scheduled to review the introduction of a medium-term approach to business planning, aiming for a strong strategic approach to identifying priorities and allocating resources. This five-year lookahead business plan, developed alongside the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS), aims to identify risks and issues in advance. The plan covers cross-cutting council commitments, high-level directorate objectives, workforce data, the procurement plan for 2025/26, and legislative horizon scanning. The report noted that the business plan had been shared with Overview and Scrutiny Committees for their feedback.