Jo Negrini introduced herself:
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Looking at how services delivered and how it affects the structure of the Council
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Changing way the Council delivers services and how the back-room operation is managed
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Responsibilities of residents - need a lot more involvement
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Need to ensure the services needed are provided
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Old way of working not financially sustainable
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Croydon Challenge programme - series of big transformational projects:
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Eyes and Ears - ensuring people feel safe wherever and whenever they are anywhere in Croydon
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Digital Enabling -
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Structure - from 1 April - 3 departments:
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Anything to do with physical fabric of borough will be managed under 'Place'
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Jo Negrini will be Executive Director of Place
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Paul Greenhalgh will be Executive Director of People
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Services will be the same across the whole borough
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Some housing services are different between tenants and corporate - in future they will be the same
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On estates - also about shops, school, parks - looking at neighbourhood as a whole
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Sense of having everything joined up
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Paul Greenhalgh's area will be about integrated services for people
Issues raised:
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The Panel is concerned with Croydon stock which is financed out of the HRA account. The HRA budget is going up so Council cuts do not seem relevant to tenants. The Housing department has its own budget - why does it have to be changed? There will be a mix between officers working and being paid by HRA and those paid by the Council. How will it work?
Response: Jo Negrini - Understand HRA fund spent on housing stock. That will not change. Lot of HRA budget spent on physical fabric. Planned maintenance - not going to change. Aware of separation of HRA and general fund. Richard Simpson manages the HRA account and will be held to account each year.
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Can you assure us that none of the services we have now will be diluted?
Response: We think they will be better. The new arrangements will reduce any duplication and improve services overall.
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Within any organisation, communication and consultation are usually the biggest issues. We commend Croydon Council that there is resident participation offered. With changes, we hope there will be similar concentration on what residents feel, think and how they want to be involved.
Response: Jo Negrini - People will need to work more closely with residents in order to save £100m. The best way to move forward is for people to work together around issues in a neighbourhood - there will be more scope to get people engaged. We can galvanise people to work together in a local area. Allotments, parks offer opportunities for the Council to work with local people to create the environment people want. The 'Don't Mess with Croydon' campaign has brought residents together - people feel very passionately about 'place'.
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If fewer people are delivering the services, how will quality be managed?
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How is this money going to be saved if no staff cuts and no changes?
Response: Jo Negrini - The whole priority is to focus on backroom operations. There is a big Croydon Challenge project (Digital Enabling) - changes do not include huge cuts in staff. Lot of people are signing up to My App. Teams of people are being trained to understand all needs - housing, benefits, education etc.
The HRA will maintain its position with ring-fenced services. Not all housing staff are paid for by the HRA. There probably will be some job losses.
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We are concerned that resources dictated by central government have to be cut. With fly tipping, we are told you can't afford to prosecute due to cost. It is endemic in South Norwood. How can it be put right?
Response: Jo Negrini - Enforcement is important - there will be Directors of Enforcement & Streets. It is a key area where we will try to protect the budget.
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Unless you ring-fence the HRA, surely you will have to cut staff in other areas. Can you explain how the HRA will be protected?
Response: Jo Negrini - We are not going to use the HRA to underpin other spending. We have a statutory responsibility to ensure the HRA is ring-fenced.
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New projects are all very well. You cannot just move staff - there will not be enough work if it is more integrated. How will staff morale be kept up?
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We are talking about £100m over 3 years - national government cuts - loss of services, austerity measures. To lose £30m a year without services being cut is not possible. Concerned about service cuts and rate increases.
Response: Jo Negrini - Part of the saving has been made by moving from 4 to 3 departments and losing one director. We cannot commit to no staff losing jobs. In the 2015-16 budget, jobs at risk have been minimised. All housing staff are coming over to the Place department - the risk of job loss is at senior levels. But we have to look in 2016-17 for more savings. There are ways in which the Council can be a lot more efficient. However, the biggest cost is salaries.
The first stage is backroom efficiency improvements. We have managed to plan for £30m cuts - they are in the budget papers going to Cabinet on 17 February. We have balanced the budget with very little impact on frontline services. We now need to go through the process of identifying where further savings can be made. During this year, we will be looking at how to find an additional £30m saving in each of the next two years.
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As a tenant, repairs and refurbishment are the main concern and expenditure - will these be affected?
Response: Jo Negrini - No.
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Cllr Dudley Mead: Need consultation Section 105 Housing Act. If you are making significant changes to tenant services, we must have a consultation. Need written document stating what proposals are from 1 April.
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Cllr Dudley Mead: Nothing wrong with HRA's position. The present housing service is good. You are proposing separating houses from people who sit in them. There has not been a proper consultation.
Responses: Jo Negrini - We are not changing the housing service so do not need a consultation.
Cllr Alison Butler - Reiterating - the services you receive will not be changing. There will now be 2 directors over them. We do not want residents who are outside the HRA to be receiving different services. The People department will look at a wider range of services - helping people to find jobs, ensuring you get your full benefits entitlement, welfare of your family etc.
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Cllr Michael Neal: The previous administration built up a good rapport with tenants and leaseholders. Panel members seem to feel this is going to change and they will lose one-to-one contact with officers. They want assurance about direct contact with officers.
Response: Jo Negrini - There are no plans to change housing services or relationships with officers. There is no benefit in changing relationships built up over years. We want to reinforce and build on those.
Cllr Alison Butler - No change in contact with current officers. There will be additional officers responsible for certain areas regarding regeneration etc.