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 to be revoked in the next day or so. The Council was
very clear that responsibility for regulating the site lay with the
Environment Agency. Members suggested asking HMRC to pursue the
former directors of the operating company for the profits made, and
possibly using the Proceeds of Crime Act or other legal avenues.
- Discussions with ZhongRong on
Crystal Palace Park were still going on, and the position was now
more positive again.
- A Member asked whether the number of
staff in HR had shrunk; Mr Patterson confirmed that as the number
of staff directly employed by the Council reduced the need for
support staff would also reduce.
- A question was asked about whether
the staff choir practised during the working day or in staff time,
and whether staff were allowed to take cigarette breaks during
their working hours – a completely smoking-free working zone
was suggested. Mr Patterson agreed to look into these matters.
- A Member asked whether the need for
election candidates to obtain ten physical signatures could be
modernised; however, this was a legal requirement that the Council
could not change.
- The Chairman suggested that the
Council needed fewer meetings and more concise reports with better
executive summaries that did not bury numbers in text and that
covered the wider impacts of proposed decisions. Mr Patterson
undertook to discuss this with Directors.
The Chairman thanked Mr Patterson for his
presentation.