Agenda item

The Leader shared his presentation of pressures and highlights within the Borough, which included:

-  the wider pressures of Children’s Services following Ofsted’s Report that welcomed the Children’s Improvement Plan;

-  the Brick by Brick scheme of affordable housing for local residents within the borough;

-  the go-ahead of the redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre and the plan to provide seven thousand new jobs;

-  the direct intervention of a new leisure centre in New Addington;

-  the transformation of Fairfield Halls;

-  the new investment in Surrey Street;

-  the huge commitment and success of Box Park;

-  the multimillion private sector investment in the Legacy Centre in Whitehorse Lane that provided the opportunity for hundreds of young people to participate in educational fun filled activities;

-  the Choose Your Future Campaign, where young people were the centre of attention addressing what they wanted in their community;

-  the extra resources for “Don’t Mess with Croydon”, which had achieved significant results; and

-  the air quality in Croydon, as the borough wanted to be a part in improving quality in air, including proposals to dramatically expand the tram network.

The Leader proposed that in the next four years the Council would:

-  drive a better standard in health devolution, to get more residents signed up with their GP to receiving services;

-  Invest in providing decent wages to staff working in Croydon;

-  The notion of Fair Funding as growth in population and infrastructure is under pressure in the borough which was a challenge.

The Leader highlighted that a lot of work would be required to secure Croydon’s future which would take some time due to the current pressure Croydon is facing with the budget and demand for services.

The Committee learned that the public commitment to the redevelopment of the Whitgift Centre would bring Croydon more opportunities. Work had been proposed to start around the end of 2018.

Members of the Committee noted that the Council was reaching the end of its four-year term and they heard that there had been areas of success and areas of work that were still challenges over that period. These had included:

-  Keeping the streets clean and increasing the recycling rate.

-  Building real partnerships with Stanley Halls, Ashburton Library Launch, Ward Budgets.

-  Wandle Park success, although there was more work to do.

-  The ongoing pressures within key services.

-  South Norwood Library – and how to replicate this success in other district centres.

The Leader noted that there was real progress in most areas whilst not being complacent that there was still more that could be done. The Leader noted that money was not everything as the society’s commitment working alongside the Council was also key to a thriving Borough.

Members of the Committee heard that the Council was continuing to Champion the London Living Wage amongst businesses in the Borough. The Committee learned that the London living wage would not work in Croydon if workers were not getting that pay. The bar would need to be set higher as the cost of residing in Croydon had risen.

The Committee learned that the Leader’s largest long term concern was the budget pressure on local authority services, which would become unsustainable if the Government continued its programme of cuts. The Leader’s immediate concern was responding strongly to the recommendations made by Ofsted regarding Children’s Services ensuring that the improvement plan was delivered.

Members of the Committee noted that the Gateway service had been a huge success despite budget pressures. They learned that there were plans to expand the service and support families and households that were affected by Government cuts. The Leader further described the challenge to increase work focused on the health prevention and the challenges facing Croydon’s health providers.

Members of the Committee noted that over recent months, there had appeared to be some changes to Boxpark. Some Members of the Committee expressed a view that events at the venue were targeted at only a small audience and sought assurance that he Venue would continue to have a broad appeal.

The Chair asked the Leader about the challenges the Council would face as a result of ‘Brexit’. The Committee learned that there was uncertainty on the impact on the local economy and public services. The Leader asserted that London and Croydon were resilient but needed to plan well to ensure that they remained resilient as the full impact of ‘Brexit’ became clear.

The Chair thanked the Leader for his Question Time.