Agenda item

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.

Following the publication of a letter from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety, Lee Rowley MP to the Council informing of proposed statutory intervention, the Scrutiny & Overview Committee had requested an urgent update to provide further understanding on what this might mean for the Council going forward.

In providing an introduction, the Cabinet Member for Finance, Councillor Jason Cummings, highlighted that the challenging financial position of the Council was well know, as was the request made to the Government for additional support in becoming financially sustainable, which included writing off part of the Council’s debt. Although the situation in Croydon was challenging, when compared to comments made on Slough and Thurrock Councils in the letter from Government, those made on the progress achieved by the Council were the most positive and reflective of the movement over the past three years.

The letter set out the Government’s intention to strengthen the Council’s relationship with the Improvement and Assurance Panel, in order to provide additional reassurance on the pace of improvement. Although the powers of the Council remained intact, the Panel now had powers of direction it could use if necessary. The Committee was pleased to note that Tony McArdle would continue as Chair of the Panel, given his knowledge of the progress made over the past three years.

The Council’s Corporate Director for Resources, Jane West, also provided a presentation to accompany the urgent update. A copy of which can be found at the following link: -

https://democracy.croydon.gov.uk/documents/s46309/Urgent%20Item%20DLUHC%20Presentation.pdf

The Committee was provided with the opportunity to ask clarifying questions about the new arrangements. The first question related to the potential cost to the Council for having the Panel remain in place for the next two years. It was acknowledged that there would be a cost, but that this would depend on the size of the Panel. The current rate for the Chair was £900 per day and £800 per day for the Panel members, although this may be reviewed. It was highlighted that wherever the Panel had been deployed it had resulted in significant savings. As such, the level of experience provided was considered to be an invaluable resource and provided good value for money in helping the Council to meet its challenges. Reassurance was given that there was an existing budget for the improvement agenda which the existing costs for the Panel were charged to, which should be able to manage further costs and would be kept under review.

In response to a question about when the Council was likely to hear from the Government on its request for support, it was highlighted that the Government was in a difficult position. A variety of councils were facing challenging financial situations and requesting Government support, which was requiring the creation of a framework that could provide support across a range of different situations, without being seen to be rewarding councils who had got themselves into financial difficulty. The Council had been clear that it would need to have a response in time for the 2024-25 budget setting process, but there was no guarantee that it would be received by this time.

It was noted that one issue raised by the Panel related to the pace of change at Croydon and that the Council still seemed to be in crisis mode. As such, it was questioned how the Council could increase the pace of its improvement. It was accepted that considering the challenges facing the Council, it had become quite risk adverse, which was not conducive to pace. The Council had been focussed on addressing the historic issues that had led to the Section 114 notices and ensuring that there was appropriate governance in place and that it was reasonable, given the scale of the challenge, that it would take two years to address.

There was now a need to pivot towards a more forward focus and a new balance sought between caution and pace. The letter from the Under Secretary of State did set an end date of 2025 for the Panel, which would allow the Council to create a plan to achieve a financially sustainable position by this deadline. One of the roles of the Panel would be monitoring the pace of change.

It was agreed that a key question for Scrutiny over the next couple of years would be how it could gain sufficient reassurance on the pace of change and whether the improvement work was making a difference. It was suggested that the Committee and its sub-committees should regularly schedule deep dives on specific areas of concern to provide reassurance. The Annual Governance Statement could be used by the Committee to track progress on the governance improvements arising from the two Reports in the Public Interest and other relevant reviews.  The Committee agreed that the Council should be moving to a more year-round approach to budget setting that provided greater opportunity for scrutiny throughout the process, with acknowledgement that there needed to be earlier engagement with all Members on the budget.

Actions arising from the meeting

Following the discussion of the item at the meeting, the Committee agreed the following actions that would be followed up after the meeting.

1. That a meeting of the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice-Chairs will be convened as soon as possible to start the development of the 2023-24 Scrutiny Work Programme and that the work programme should primarily be aligned to the improvement of the Council.
2. That further work would be instigated by the Scrutiny Chairs to create a clear pathway for the regular provision of performance monitoring information to Scrutiny, to ensure it is able to effectively monitor the recovery of the Council and target its work appropriately.

Conclusions

Following its discussion of the report, the Scrutiny & Overview Committee reached the following conclusions: -

1. The Scrutiny & Overview Committee welcomed the update provided following the recent letter to the Council from the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Local Government and Building Safety, Lee Rowley MP, on the proposed changes to its statutory intervention at Croydon Council.
2. The Scrutiny & Overview Committee looked forward to working with the Improvement and Assurance Panel and would be developing its work programme for 2023-24 with a focus towards supporting the recovery of the Council.
3. In order for Scrutiny to maximise its effectiveness in supporting the improvement of the Council it would be essential to ensure both the timely provision of performance data and that it was kept informed of emerging issues and risks.