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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Katharine Street, Croydon CR0 1NX. View directions

Contact: Simon Trevaskis  Email: simon.trevaskis@croydon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

9/22

Disclosure of Interests

Members are invited to declare any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and other registrable and non-registrable interests they may have in relation to any item(s) of business on today’s agenda.

Minutes:

Councillor Jade Appleton disclosed an interest relating to item 4 as an employee of London Councils, who had been negotiating with Home Office and Clearsprings Ready Homes over Pan-London Scheme for asylum seekers.

10/22

Urgent Business (if any)

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

 

Minutes:

The Vice Chair of the Committee, Councillor Richard Chatterjee addressed the meeting to put on record that a statement given to the press by the Chair following the previous meeting held on 23 January 2023 was not necessarily reflective of his recollection of the meeting concerning the discussion of the Committee on the Whitgift Indemnity and Land Transfer Agreement (ILTA) Remedy report.

11/22

Support provided by the Council to asylum seekers, those seeking refuge under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children pdf icon PDF 153 KB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to review and comment on the support provided by the council to displaced people in the borough including those supported under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, adults and families seeking asylum placed in the borough by the Home Office and unaccompanied asylum-seeking children.

It is also asked note the work underway to quantify the additional financial strain placed on the council as a result of the rapid increase in the placements of asylum-seeking adults and children in the borough by the Home Office.

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report set out on pages 5 to 16 of the agenda which provided an overview of the support provided by the Council to asylum seekers, those seeking refuge under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and unaccompanied asylum seeking children. The report had been included on the agenda to provide the Committee with an understanding of the support provided by the Council.

The Cabinet Member for Children & Young People, Councillor Maria Gatland, Corporate Director for Children, Young People & Education, Debbie Jones, Director of Quality, Commissioning & Procurement, Kerry Crichlow, Public Health Programme Manager, Jason D’Silva-Williams, the Operations Director from Clearsprings Ready Homes, Tina Rea, Service Delivery Lead from the Home Office, Chris Hennigan and Ian McMeeken, a host for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, were in attendance at the meeting for this item.

Before the Committee commenced its questioning of the information provided, the Chair put on record the thanks of the Committee for the clearly written, informative report.

The initial focus of the Committee was on the Homes for Ukraine scheme, with the first question asking what would happen if a placement did not work and how the risk of homelessness was mitigated against. In response it was confirmed that the Council was not involved in the original matching of guests from Ukraine with hosts, but when they arrived in Croydon the Council had to make sure the housing needs were appropriate. If there was a breakdown in the relationship between guests and their host, the Government maintained a list of others who had expressed an interest in acting as a host. Although the Council did not have the ability to create a matching service locally, it did try to keep the networks alive in the borough. The Council also worked with other boroughs to find suitable opportunities.

Regarding mitigating against the risk of homelessness, it was advised that there was little the Council could do to mitigate against the risk of a breakdown in the relationship between a guest and their host. Schemes to help people move on to their own accomodation in the private rental sector were being looked at, but this could be a challenge without references and was also linked to the provision of universal credit support from the Government.

In response to a question about whether more could be done to signpost the support available for Ukrainians in London, it was acknowledged that the team were conscious of the need to put out information on the Council’s website as it became available. It was agreed that the frequently asked questions of the website would be reviewed to ensure there was sufficient advice on managing breakdowns and the provision of new opportunities.

It was questioned whether there was support available for Ukrainians who did not arrive in the country via the Homes for Ukraine scheme. It was explained that there were three different visa routes and there had been instances where people had thought they were included in the Homes for Ukraine scheme  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11/22

12/22

Budget Scrutiny

To inform the Budget Scrutiny process, the Scrutiny & Overview Committee is asked to give consideration to the following three items.

12/22a

Voluntary Community & Faith Sector Support pdf icon PDF 129 KB

The Scrutiny & Overview Committee requested information regarding the voluntary, community & faith sector support as part of its budget scrutiny considerations. This information is set out in the accompanying report for the Committee to note as part of the wider Budget Scrutiny process.

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report set out on pages 17 to 26 of the agenda which gave an overview of the support provided to the voluntary, community and faith sector from the Council. This report was included on the agenda as part of the Committee’s Budget Scrutiny workstream to allow the Committee to seek reassurance on the Council’s relationship with the voluntary sector following confirmation that the Community Fund would expire on 31 March 2022.

Cabinet Members for Community & Culture, Councillor Andy Stranack, Corporate Director for Resources, Jane West, Assistant Chief Executive, Elaine Jackson, Corporate Director for Adult Social Care & Health, Annette McPartland, Director of Policies, Programmes & Performance, Gavin Handford and the Chief Executive of Croydon Voluntary Action, Steve Phaure attended the meeting for this item.

During the introduction to the report from the Cabinet Member for Communities & Culture it was noted that due to the significant financial challenges facing the Council, it was not possible to continue the Community Fund once it expired in March 2023. Even so, the Council would continue to be the largest supporter of the community & voluntary sector (CVS) in the borough.

Those organisations directly affected by the discontinuation of the Community Fund had been informed in November and this had been followed up with a series of one to one meetings, the outcomes from which had helped to inform the new ways of working.  These ideas included increasing the number of contracts available for local providers to bid for, the Council partnering with CVS providers on government contracts, venue hire, supporting CVS organisation to access health funding and looking at where CVS organisations could provide Council services. Thanks was given to all the groups for their positive ideas and challenge and to the thousands of volunteers in the borough.

Steve Phaure, the Chief Executive from Croydon Voluntary Action had been invited to the meeting to provide insight on behalf of the CVS, during which it was noted that there was widespread buy-in to resetting the sector’s relationship with the Council. There was a good basis upon which to build in the borough and the consultation had resulted in a positive list of actions. However, there was a need to firm up these proposals with a robust plan for delivery as there was an immediate crisis from the reduction in funding available that needed a short term response.

Issues for the sector included the need to find a way of supporting preventative work in the borough and being clear on what funds were being raised for which would accompany a fundraising strategy. Fundraising should have a focus on both internal commissioning and attracting funding from outside of the borough. Social value commissioning should also be revisited to find a mechanism by which it can work. Above all, it was important to ensure that the support provided for vulnerable residents remained at the heart of the conversation going forward.

Following the introduction and the feedback from Croydon Voluntary Action, the Committee had the opportunity to asked  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12/22a

12/22b

Transformation Project Deep Dives pdf icon PDF 102 KB

The Mayor published the Transformation Plan on 30 November 2023.   The Committee has subsequently asked for further information on the Commercial & Income Opportunities and the Income & Debt Review projects as part of its Budget Scrutiny assurance process.  The report set out in the agenda provides the information available at this stage for both projects

 

Minutes:

The Committee considered a report set out on pages 27 to 30 of the agenda which provided a further information on two of the transformation projects listed in the Cabinet Budget report considered by the Committee at its 6 December 2022 meeting. The report had been requested to allow the Committee to review in further detail two of the projects listed, namely the Income & Debt Review and Commercial and Income Opportunities.

Cabinet Members for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, Corporate Director for Resources, Jane West, Assistant Chief Executive, Elaine Jackson, Corporate Director for Adult Social Care & Health, Annette McPartland, attended the meeting for this item.

The first question on this item asked whether the aim of the fees and charges review was to improve governance or to improve income streams. It was confirmed that it would be both, as it was aimed at ensuring that fees and charges were updated annually on an incremental basis rather than larger increases every few years.

Regarding the £500,000 estimated increased income from the fees and charges review, it was confirmed that this equated to a small proportion of the uncollected debt to the Council. The viability of sharing debt collection services with other local authorities would also be explored as a means of reducing costs and increasing income. Reassurance was given that although the figure of £500,000 increased income was realistic, it had not been built into 2023-24 as further work was needed to gain a greater level of certainty on its delivery before it could be considered for inclusion in the budget.

It was confirmed that there was a National Fraud Initiative which cross referenced information across the Council, with it highlighted that improved correlation of data would increase the instances of fraud identified. As the use of data had not been as good as expected, it was likely that initially there would be several quick wins once improvement work started, before levelling out.

A question was asked about the potential income from digital bus shelters, as an agreement for the delivery of this project had first been agreed in November 2021. It was confirmed that the project was currently under discussion and an update would be provided for Members in the near future, as soon as it was possible to do so.

In response to a question about the value that could be generated from contractors who provided services to different directorates, it was advised that this was still being mapped, so it was not possible to provide an exact figure at this stage. This work would be prioritised towards the areas that provided the biggest opportunity, but it would help to improve contract management processes across the Council.

Regarding the Premier Supply Programme, it was questioned how the projected £200,000 income would be achieved. It was explained that this would be achieved by getting more suppliers into the programme and that there were a few areas of the Council that still had to introduce their suppliers to the programme.

It was  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12/22b

13/22

Budget Engagement

The Committee is asked to review the outcomes from the Budget engagement process. (Report to follow).

Minutes:

The Chair advised the Committee that due to the large number of responses submitted on the Budget engagement it had not been possible to analysis the results in time for a report to be prepared for this meeting. Instead, the report would be available for the next Committee meeting on 16 February 2023.

As the item was not available, the Committee took the opportunity to outline the areas for further scrutiny when the Budget was considered at its next meeting on 16 February. The areas outlined were: -

-       The biggest risks to the delivery of the budget

-       The level of reserves held and the justification for this.

-       An explanation of the implications for different levels of Council Tax increase.

-       An explanation of any final assumptions included in the Budget.

-       An equalities impact assessment.

-       A summary of the budget engagement feedback

-       Analysis of the main options discounted for inclusion in the Budget.

 

14/22

Exclusion of the Press and Public

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

 

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

 

 

Minutes:

This motion was not required.