Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Will Harmer and Ian Payne. Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Samaris Huntington-Thresher and William Huntington-Thresher, and from Cllr Nicholas Bennett who had to leave early.

There were no declarations of interest.

No questions had been received for the Committee.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd September 2014 (excluding exempt information) be confirmed.

Report CSD143

The Committee received a summary of matters arising from previous meetings. It was noted that the report on Anerley Town Hall was now expected in the November cycle.

Councillor Nicholas Bennett complained that his i-pad was unable to open certain documents, including the agenda for the Executive, and asked about progress with supplying Office 365 for Councillor’s i-pads. There were significant costs involved in purchasing Office 365 for all Members, so the intention was to carry out a trial to establish whether it offered useful benefits over the free software available.

The Committee noted the Forward Plan of Key and Private Executive Decisions as published on 16^th September 2014.

One question had been received from Evelyn Collington, Coordinator, Bromley Mental Health Forum. The question was put at the meeting by Mr Peter Moore – details are set out in Appendix 1.

Doug Patterson, Chief Executive, attended the meeting to update the Committee and answer questions. He began by stating that officers were working hard to deal with the projected overspend on the current budget to ensure that it was removed by the end of the year. They were also working on the financial challenges of the next four years, when savings of £60-£80m would be needed. The Leader had set a target of finding £30m of this ready to implement after the general election. This would be achieved with a combination of continuing to find top-down efficiencies and making significant bottom-up changes to the services provided, maintaining statutory requirements. Work was under way on many issues and these were being fed into the Cabinet.

Among current issues were – implementation of the Care Act 2014, which the government was saying would be fully funded; joint working with Oxleas and Bromley Healthcare on the delivery of services; joining up back-office services across Council departments and moving all Directors into the Old Palace; disposal of assets; the consultation just launched by Biggin Hill Airport on varying operating hours; the tensions around the Local Plan and building more houses, which would raise finances; the continuing problems with the Waste4Fuel site in St Paul’s Cray; the forthcoming official opening of the new Penge Library;  and preparation for the 2015 general election – a report on this was being prepared for the next General Purposes and Licensing Committee meeting. He would be circulating an update on current issues from Assistant Directors to all Members shortly; he also mentioned that he would be visiting LB Barnet to find out more about their approach to services.  

Mr Patterson responded to questions from Members on a number of issues –

• Asked what was being done to reduce the numbers of children coming into care, he responded that there was great pressure on staff dealing with these issues, and that the Council had to remember its corporate parenting responsibilities.

• Mr Patterson was not aware of any approaches from major developers looking to build on the green belt, but he did anticipate that such proposals could come forward at some stage.

• A Member asked about a particular planning issue, but Mr Patterson responded that he would discuss the matter outside the meeting. 

• Mr Patterson was confident that savings could be delivered and he already had draft plans that would achieve this, although the choices involved were very difficult.

• Mr Patterson did not consider that many other authorities were doing better than Bromley, but he had asked Directors to check the benchmarking information and look at other high-performing Councils.

• Asked about the need to inform residents about the difficult choices ahead, Mr Patterson reported that some online surveys were being planned and that the Leader was looking at holding a series of meetings with residents associations to try to get more informed discussion than with the traditional public meetings held in recent years.

• On Waste4Fuel, the permit for the site was due  ...  view the full minutes text for item 59.

Report CSD14145

Updates were received from PDS Chairmen on recent PDS meetings – these are set out in appendix 2.

Report CSD14146

The Committee received the latest version of its work programme for 2014/15. It was noted that membership of the New Technology Working Group included Councillors Nicholas Bennett, Judi Ellis and Kate Lymer in addition to Councillor Will Harmer.

The Chairman to move that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business listed below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

RESOLVED that the Press and public be excluded during consideration of the items of business referred to below as it is likely in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or the nature of the proceedings that if members of the Press and public were present there would be disclosure to them of exempt information.

The following summaries

refer to matters

involving exempt information

The exempt minutes of the meeting held on 3^rd September 2014 were confirmed.

The Committee scrutinised three reports on the Executive’s part 2 agenda for the meeting on 15^th October 2014 concerning contract awards for Learning Disability Supported Living and for contracts involving Clare House and Worsley Bridge Primary Schools and Langley Park School for Boys, and regarding Mall Refreshment at the Glades Shopping Centre.