Agenda, decisions and minutes

Before moving to the formal agenda for the meeting, the Executive Mayor provided an update on the response to the fire at Sycamore House over the weekend.

He said that, as Members would know, Sycamore House was one of the Council’s temporary accommodation blocks. He said that he and the Deputy Executive Mayor had visited Sycamore House yesterday and it was clear that Saturday’s fire had caused significant damage, which meant that the building required a lot of work before it could be reoccupied.

The Executive Mayor said that, whilst thankfully no one had been seriously injured, around 133 people from 63 households had been evacuated. He went on to say that the Council was securing new temporary accommodation options for all of those affected and he wanted to thank all the Councillors and officers who had supported both the initial emergency response over the weekend and those who had been working to support and rehome the affected residents ever since.

In addition, the Executive Mayor highlighted the Thornton Heath Clocktower fire. He said it was clear that the Clocktower had suffered extensive damage and he had instructed officers to carry out a detailed assessment of these damages with a view to restoring this landmark as quickly as possible.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Ola Kolade (Cabinet Member for Community Safety).

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), an other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda. If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they should complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

Members and co-opted Members are required to disclose any DPIs and ORIs at the meeting.

-      Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.

-      Where the matter relates to an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.

-      Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to their financial interest or wellbeing, or that of a relative or close associate, they must disclose the interest at the meeting, may not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation. Where a matter affects the NRI of a Member or co-opted Member, section 9 of Appendix B of the Code of Conduct sets out the test which must be applied by the Member to decide whether disclosure is required.

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3, to be recorded in the minutes.

There were none or the following disclosures of interest were made:

To approve as an accurate record, the Part A (open) minutes of the last meeting held on 21 September 2022.  (To Follow)

RESOLVED that both the Part A (public) and Part B (exempt – not for publication) minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on Wednesday 21 September 2022 be agreed as an accurate record.

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.

There were no items of urgent business.

Cabinet is invited to consider the attached report, which details recommendations that have been developed by the Council’s Scrutiny and Overview Committee and its Sub-Committees since the last Cabinet meeting (Appendix A.)  The Constitution requires that an interim or full response is provided within two months of this Cabinet meeting.

Cabinet is also asked to consider the report on the response to the task and finish group in relation to inclusion and exclusion. (Appendices to Follow).

Scrutiny Stage 1:

RESOLVED: To

1.     Receive the recommendations arising from the meeting of the Scrutiny & Overview Committee held on 6 September (Appendix A).

2.     To provide a substantive response to the recommendations (a Scrutiny Stage 2 Report) within two months (i.e. at the next available Cabinet meeting on 7 December 2022).

Scrutiny Stage 2:

RESOLVED: To

I.                 Consider and comment on the report and recommendation on Inclusion and Exclusions from Children and Young People Scrutiny Committee Task and Finish Group; and

II.               II. To approve the draft response to the scrutiny recommendations which is set out at Paragraph 2 of this report

The Executive Mayor agreed that the Scrutiny Stage 1 and Scrutiny Stage 2 reports be considered together.

Stage 1

Cabinet considered a report, which detailed in Appendix A to the report, recommendations that had been developed from the Scrutiny and Overview Committee and its Sub-Committees, since the last Cabinet meeting.

Stage 2

Cabinet considered a report, which provided a formal response to the task and finish group report in relation to inclusion and exclusion and the recommendations from the task and finish group following the extensive focus on this.

The Executive Mayor welcomed to the meeting, and thanked, former Councillor Jerry Fitzpatrick, for the long-awaited review on inclusion and exclusion of children by the task and finish group.  He also thanked Members and Officers for their work on this in-depth report.

It was reported that the Council’s Education Department welcomed the report and the opportunity to be involved in the process and that, to implement the recommendations within the report, the Education Department would need to work in partnership with school leaders across the sector and would highlight, encourage, and provide support with the application of the recommendations.

The Cabinet Member for Education, Councillor Maria Gatland, offered her thanks to all concerned and highlighted that several of the recommendations were not within the gift of the Local Authority to dictate but were linked to individual education providers’ decision-making and it was them who would influence how those proposals would be delivered.

At the invitation of the Executive Mayor, Councillor Rowenna Davis, Chair of the Council’s Scrutiny and Overview Committee, addressed Cabinet.

Councillor Davis said that, in respect of the Stage 1 report, the recommendations before Cabinet had been raised by her at its last meeting since these had been relevant at that time, in particular, the Committee’s review of the Community Safety Partnership’s work on tackling violence against women and girls.  She said that, following the last meeting, a further recommendation had been proposed by Councillor Nwafar, that the Executive Mayor and the Cabinet Member for Community Safety, consider adopting a programme of domestic abuse champions for Croydon, made up of people who recognised the signs of domestic abuse and given that Croydon had the highest rates of domestic abuse in London, that Cabinet also consider this formal recommendation by the Scrutiny and Overview Committee.

Councillor Davis said that, in respect of the Stage 2 report, she echoed the Executive Mayor’s thanks to former Councillor Fitzpatrick.  She said that the commitments in the report were to be welcomed and the Committee would be revisiting the matter in the New Year.

Councillor Davis then referred to her committee’s meeting the previous evening, at which, the Temporary Workers Contract Award, approved by the Executive Mayor in Cabinet at its meeting held on 12 October 2022, had been called in.

Councillor Davis said that the Committee’s two main concerns were that the contract may have represented an unacceptable legal risk to the Council and that it might not have offered the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67/22

Cabinet is invited to consider the attached report, which presents the Council’s approach with an enhanced Graffiti service, which is the fulfilment of a key Manifesto commitment set out by the Executive Mayor.

It also sets out the Council’s approach for an increased focus on removing illegal, antisocial, offensive graffiti, including non-offensive graffiti across the borough.

RESOLVED: To

1.1.         To approve the plans for tackling graffiti across the borough.

1.2.         To approve the additional expenditure of £0.5m as set out in section 4 of the report.

1.3.         To approve the additional services being commissioned through the existing highways contract.

1.4.         To approve a holistic task-force approach to clean up specific areas which would include graffiti.

1.5.         To approve the council may charge property owners to recover its costs for the removal of graffiti.

1.6.         To approve the draft Graffiti and Street Art Policy as set out in appendix 1.

1.7.         To approve Officers to explore the options from external providers which support Croydon's financial and social value priorities.

Cabinet considered a report, that presented the Council’s approach to an enhanced Graffiti service, which was the fulfilment of a key Manifesto commitment set out by the Executive Mayor.

The report also set out the Council’s approach for an increased focus on removing illegal, antisocial and offensive graffiti, including non-offensive graffiti across the Borough.

It was reported that graffiti was an issue, which was seen across the Borough, and which impacted on the image of the town and the report set out the Council’s framework and plans to increase resources to tackle and reduce the negative impact graffiti had on the quality of life for residents and businesses.  It was anticipated that this new policy direction would allow graffiti enforcement and removal resources to focus on where they were needed, to improve local environmental quality and help reduce the fear of crime, whilst helping increase pride in Croydon.

In response to questions put by Councillor King (Leader of the Labour Group) on behalf of Councillor Nina Degrads (Shadow Cabinet Member for Streets and Environment) in respect of what the £500k allocation would be spent on, how the service would operate and when it would begin, the Executive Mayor said that the focus would be on using existing contractors in the initial stages.  He added that although work had already started on a spot-clean basis, the priority for the Administration was to have a blitz approach to clean up areas and see an immediate improvement with areas then being easier to maintain.

Having listened to the contributions and considered the detail in the report, the Executive Mayor, in Cabinet, RESOLVED that:

1.            The plans for tackling graffiti across the Borough, be approved.

2.            The additional expenditure of £0.5m, as set out in Section 4 of the report, be approved.

3.            The additional services being commissioned through the existing highways contract, be approved.

4.            A holistic task-force approach to clean up specific areas, which would include graffiti, be approved.

5.            That the Council may charge property owners to recover its costs for the removal of graffiti, be approved.

6.            The draft Graffiti and Street Art Policy, as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be approved.

7.            Officers be authorised to explore the options from external providers, which supported Croydon's financial and social value priorities.

Cabinet is invited to consider the attached report, which presents the results of an informal consultation, which sought the public’s view on the possible introduction of 11 new Healthy School Streets under Experimental Traffic Management Orders (ETMOs) for a maximum period of 18 months. 

The consultation was carried out over a one-month period between 1 July 2022 to 30 July 2022.  (Appendix E to Follow)

RESOLVED: To

i.                 Officers from the council’s Highways & Parking Service recommend to the Executive Mayor of Croydon that the following 9 Healthy School Street schemes are taken forward for implementation under ETMOs, with proposed amendments to HSS 10 scheme as detailed in this report:

If the above recommended school streets are agreed to proceed, the following will need to form part of the decision to ensure that the experimental schemes progress smoothly during the 18-month trial period.

i.                 Provide the relevant delegated authority to the Road Space Manager, Sustainable Communities Division to make the required ETMOs which will be valid for a maximum period of 18 months. The first 6 months will serve as the statutory objection period.

ii.                Authorise officers to implement relevant parking, waiting and/or loading restrictions required to support the successful operation of the experimental school street schemes. 

iii.              Authorise officers to install the relevant equipment that allows the collection of traffic and air quality data for the 9 School Street sites.

Cabinet considered a report, whichpresented the results of the informal consultation, which sought the public’s view on the possible introduction of 11 new Healthy School Streets under Experimental Traffic Management Orders (ETMOs) for a maximum period of 18 months.

It was noted that the consultation had been carried out over a one-month period between 1 July 2022 to 30 July 2022 and had been undertaken across multiple channels, including the distribution of 8,345 letters and messaging on the Council’s website and social media channels.  However, the Council only received 531 responses (which represented a 6% response rate).

Although, the Council had consulted on 11 Healthy School Street schemes, it was recommended that only nine be taken forward for implementation, with two schemes not being taken forward, as detailed in the report.

It was reported that the importance of community feedback was recognised and to ensure the Council was listening to the community, the recommendation was that the proposed schemes were taken forward as experiments to allow the community to assess the “real” impacts of the schemes.

In response to questions put by Councillor King (Leader of the Labour Group) on behalf of Councillor Nina Degrads (Shadow Cabinet Member for Streets and Environment) in respect of revenue generated from Penalty Charge Notices and the overall income for the scheme and a request for Ward Members to receive feedback on such schemes within their wards, the Executive Mayor said that the report was centred around policy rather than finance and that it was important for the Council to collate the data and that arrangements could be put in place to provide appropriate ward members with six-monthly updates on feedback received.

Having listened to the contributions and considered the detail in the report, the Executive Mayor, in Cabinet, RESOLVED that:

1.            the following nine Healthy School Street schemes be taken forward for implementation under Experimental Traffic Management Orders, with proposed amendments to Healthy School Streets 10 scheme as detailed in this report:

2.            The Council’s Road Space Manager, Sustainable Communities Division, be authorised to make the required ETMOs, which would be valid for a maximum period of 18 months, with the first six months serving as the statutory objection period.

3.            Officers be authorised to implement relevant parking, waiting and/or loading restrictions required to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69/22

Cabinet is invited to consider the attached report, which provides the Council’s annual forecast as at Month 5 (August 2022) for the Council’s General Fund (GF), Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the Capital Programme (CP).

The report forms part of the Council’s financial management process for publicly reporting financial performance against its budgets on a monthly basis.

RESOLVED: To

1.1  Note the General Fund is projecting a net overspend of £10.547m as at Month 5, or £3.6m assuming the budgeted contribution to reserves is moved from opportunities into the projected outturn. Service directorates are indicating a £25.316m overspend with a £14.769m underspend corporately.

1.2  Note that a further number of risks and compensating opportunities may materialise which would see the forecast year-end variance change. These indicate a net opportunity of £1.838m (risks £10.769m and opportunities of £12.607m) and are reported within Section 3 of this report. Should all these risks materialise, and none of the mitigations be effective, the Council is forecast to overspend by £21.316m. However, if none of the risks materialise and all the opportunities are delivered, the Council will underspend by £2.060m.

1.3  Note the further actions being taken, through development of the Deficit Recovery plan, to mitigate the projected overspend with a view to eliminating it by the end of the financial year. Further details are in paragraph 2.15.

1.4  To approve the non-delivery of the MTFS savings as indicated within Table 2b.

1.5  Note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) is projecting an end of year position of a £3.210m overspend, mainly due to inflation in energy costs.

1.6  Note the Capital Programme spend to date for the General Fund of £7.644m (against a budget of £112.069m) with a projected forecast underspend of £7.715m for the end of the year.

1.7  Note the Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme spend to date of £4.978m (against a budget of £22.083m), with a projected forecast underspend of £3.050m for the end of the year.

1.8  Note, the above figures are predicated on forecasts from Month 5 to the year end and therefore could be subject to change as forecasts are made based on the best available information at this time.

1.9  Note, the Council continues to operate a Spend Control Panel to ensure that tight financial control and assurance oversight are maintained A new financial management culture is being implemented across the organisation through increased scrutiny, such as the Assurance meetings, improved communication and budget manager training from CIPFA.

Cabinet considered a report, whichprovided the Council’s annual forecast as at Month 5 (August 2022) for the Council’s General Fund (GF), Housing Revenue Account (HRA) and the Capital Programme (CP).

The report formed part of the Council’s financial management process for publicly reporting financial performance against its budgets monthly.

In introducing the report, the Executive Mayor said that the Council faced massive in year problems, such as the Borough’s parking revenue shortfall of c.£10m and that the Council was ill-prepared to handle these financial problems.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Cummings, said that the Council was now forecasting a £10.4m overspend at financial year-end but there were opportunities identified also.

He said that whilst the Children and Young People and Assistant Chief Executive’s Directorates had reported improvements, there had been negative movement in Housing.

Councillor Cummings said that there was a £9.2m resources overspend and that the previous Administration had known about this for 18 months.  He added that the Capital Programme continued to forecast an underspend position.

In response to questions put by Councillor Callton Young (Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance) in respect of variances and the provision of £700k additional money, the Executive Mayor said that the Council’s finances had clearly gotten out of control under the previous administration and that he did not yet know what the risks would be. 

Councillor Cummings said that there were figures that were wrong and unachievable and the pressures the Council faced this year were because the figures were simply unachievable and almost impossible to have gotten any worse. 

He said that there was an additional £700k provided for inflation, which the Council had to allow for.

Having listened to the contributions and considered the detail in the report, the Executive Mayor, in Cabinet, RESOLVED:

1.            To note that the General Fund was projecting a net overspend of £10.547m as at Month 5, or £3.6m assuming the budgeted contribution to reserves was moved from opportunities into the projected outturn. (Service directorates were indicating a £25.316m overspend with a £14.769m underspend corporately.)

2.            To note that a further number of risks and compensating opportunities may materialise, which would see the forecast year-end variance change. (These indicated a net opportunity of £1.838m (risks £10.769m and opportunities of £12.607m) and were reported within Section 3 of this report. Should all these risks materialise, and none of the mitigations be effective, the Council was forecast to overspend by £21.316m. However, if none of the risks materialised and all the opportunities were delivered, the Council would underspend by £2.060m.)

3.            To note the further actions being taken, through development of the Deficit Recovery Plan, to mitigate the projected overspend with a view to eliminating it by the end of the financial year. (Further details were in paragraph 2.15 to the report.)

4.            That the non-delivery of the MTFS savings, as indicated within Table 2b to the report, be approved.

5.            To note the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) was projecting an end of year  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70/22

Cabinet is invited to consider the attached report, which seeks authorisation to undertake statutory consultation with both the public and the Major Precepting Authorities (the GLA) in respect of proposed changes to Croydon’s Council Tax Reduction (Support) Scheme (CTS), which will take effect from 1 April 2023.

RESOLVED: To

1.1  Approve statutory consultation on changes to the income banded Council Tax Reduction (Support) Scheme for working age claimants from 1st April 2023 specifically consultation with the GLA, publication of a draft revised Scheme, and consultation with other persons likely to have an interest in the operation of the Scheme, as set out in this report.

1.2  Agree that the recommended changes to be consulted on are:

a) Removing the application of the minimum income floor to disabled working households

b) Introducing non-dependent deductions to disabled not working households

c) Changing the level at which the current income bands are increased annually from CPI to the same percentage increase as Council Tax.

Cabinet considered a report, which soughtauthorisation to undertake statutory consultation with both the public and the Major Precepting Authorities (the GLA) in respect of proposed changes to Croydon’s Council Tax Reduction (Support) Scheme (CTS), which would take effect from 1st April 2023.

It was reported that each financial year, the Council was required to review its CTS scheme in accordance with the requirements of Schedule 1A of the Local Government Finance Act 1992 and to either maintain the scheme or amend it.  Further, an income banded CTS scheme was introduced from 1 April 2022 to simplify the scheme and to achieve MTFS cost reductions of £4.3m for Croydon.

It was further reported that, as of July 2022, Croydon had awarded £28.4m for the financial year of Council Tax Support to residents. This was a decrease in CTS awarded of £6.7m compared to last year, with the financial impact to Croydon being a saving of £5.4m.  Compared to the MTFS estimate of £4.3m, it was on track to cost £1.1m less than originally planned.

The report set out proposals to review the CTS scheme and to make changes, which would impact the level of expenditure by varying amounts.

The Executive Mayor said that this was a tidying-up process following amendments that had been made to the Scheme last year and that the proposed amendments to the Scheme would bring the Council into line with neighbouring Merton, Sutton and Bromley London Boroughs, who took non-dependant reductions within their Council Tax Support Schemes.

The report set out examples of how each of these changes could impact on different claimants and further information would be part of the consultation.  The Executive Mayor asked that Members promote the consultation to their constituents as the Council wanted to hear what residents thought about the proposals and how they could possibly impact them before any final decisions were made.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, detailed the three proposed changes which were going out to consultation and highlighted one of the examples provided in the report and how this might impact upon a claimant.

In response to a question put by Councillor Callton Young (Shadow Cabinet Member for Finance) in respect of the third recommendation in the report, the Executive Mayor said that this was a Council Tax support scheme and what the Cabinet had before it was a scheme to support Council Tax and therefore it tracked Council Tax and that if Council Tax went up, the level of support would also go up accordingly.

Having listened to the contributions and considered the detail in the report, the Executive Mayor, in Cabinet, RESOLVED that:

1.            A statutory consultation on changes to the income banded Council Tax Reduction (Support) Scheme for working age claimants from 1 April 2023, specifically consultation with the GLA, publication of a draft revised Scheme, and consultation with other persons likely to have an interest in the operation of the Scheme, as set out in this report, be approved; and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 71/22

            Cabinet is invited to consider the attached report, which seeks approval of the recommendation to vary the existing Contract with Reed in Partnership for the continuation of the WHP until 30 November 2026 and to increase the aggregate value of the Contract to include DWP funding of £3,202,023.36 in respect of WHP and £300,000 for the JETS Programme (the latter programme having been included via previously agreed variations to the Contract).

RESOLVED: To

Approve a variation of the contract between the London Borough of Croydon (as Lead Accountable Body on behalf of the South London Partnership) and Reed in Partnership (“Contract”) in order to:

a) extend the term of the Contract for the continued delivery of the South London Work and Health Programme (WHP) which also incorporates the Job Entry Targeted Support (JETS) Programme, until 30th November 2026. This means the referrals for WHP will continue until September 2024 with a tail off period until 30^th November 2026 and referrals for JETS until September 2022 with a tail off period until April 2023.

b) increase the Contract value from £20,015,610 to incorporate DWP funding of £3,202,023.36 in respect of WHP and £300,000 for JETS, for a new aggregate contract value of £23,517,633.36.

Cabinet considered a report which sought the Executive Mayor’s approvalof the recommendation to vary the existing Contract with Reed in Partnership for the continuation of the WHP until 30 November 2026 and to increase the aggregate value of the Contract to include DWP funding of £3,202,023.36 in respect of WHP and £300,000 for the JETS Programme (the latter programme having been included via previously agreed variations to the Contract).

The report detailed the work of the Work and Health Programme to date, including the Job Entry Targeted Support Programme and set out how the additional government funding of £3.2m, made available by the Department for Work and Pensions, would be utilised to extend the Programme.

It was noted that the Programme was intended to support residents from Croydon, Merton, Kingston, Sutton and Richmond into sustainable employment, targeting residents with disabilities and health conditions, the long-term unemployed and specified disadvantaged groups.

The Executive Mayor was pleased to note that under Croydon’s leadership, the Programme had been one of the highest performing of its kind in the Country helping residents who had the most difficulty accessing jobs with job opportunities.  He said that the extension of the Job Entry Programme for the Borough’s residents who found it hard to access job opportunities, was a testament to the excellent work of the Council’s officers, the employment services and the Borough’s local business partners and was a great example of partnership working which he hoped to see elsewhere in the Council.

The Executive Mayor reminded Members that there was also a Part B (exempt) report associated with the report, which set out certain exempt legal advice.  He asked if any Member wished to ask a question regarding the Part B material, to indicate in advance since the meeting would be required to formally move to consider such matters in private.

The Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration, Councillor Jeet Bains, said that the Programme offered intensive employment support for participants and that in Croydon alone, almost 2,500 residents had joined the Programme between 2018 and 2022 and of those, 839 had started work.  He said that referrals to the Programme remained strong and that this demonstrated an ongoing need to continue with this support, the need for which, was likely to increase.

Councillor Bains said that the extension would be funded by the DWP and at no cost to the Council, with the exception of recharged internal legal costs associated with the extension and these would be shared proportionately between the five boroughs.

The Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, said that Croydon was the biggest beneficiary of this given its size and level of need.

In response to a question from Councillor Chris Clark (Shadow Cabinet Member for Planning and Regeneration) in respect of whether the Cabinet would work with all Members to lobby Government to secure further funding to continue the important work in seeking employment for Croydon residents, the Executive Mayor said that his Administration would always push the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 72/22

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.”

This was not required.

To approve as an accurate record, the exempt minutes of the last meeting of the Cabinet, held on 21 September 2022.  (To Follow)