Agenda and decisions

To receive apologies from Members of the Committee.

The Chair to announce any items of urgent business circulated separately from the main agenda.

Members to declare any personal and financial interests in items on the agenda. Attention is drawn to the Council’s Constitution; the Council’s Code of Conduct and associated advice.

Members are requested to confirm as an accurate record the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 and 15 May 2024.

No motion or discussion may take place upon the Minutes except as to their accuracy, and any question on this point will be determined by a majority of the Members of the body attending who were present when the matter in question was decided. Once confirmed, with or without amendment, the person presiding will sign the Minutes

To consider and comment upon the authority’s draft Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024

Considered the authority’s draft Statement of Accounts for the year ended 31 March 2024 (including the Pension Fund Accounts) submitted to Forvis Mazars for audit on 12 July 2024 (Appendix A of the report).

To note the Council’s outturn position

Noted the Council’s outturn position

To note the Treasury Management Outturn Report and the Capital Outturn Report both for 2023/24, and to agree an additional allocation of approved contingency within the Priority Investment Programme as a match funding contribution towards the Future High Streets Fund

Noted the Treasury Management Outturn Report for 2023/24 (Sections 4-10 of the report) and referred it to Full Council.

Noted the Capital Outturn Report for 2023/24 (Sections 11-14 of the report), which shows a substantial increase in investment from £177m in the previous year to £318m in 2023/24, which included;

·        £171m on the delivery of new homes via the Councils Greenwich Builds Programme:

o   £104m on the construction of new homes

o   £67m on the acquisition of new homes

·        £56m investment in existing Council homes.

·        £20m acquiring properties to meet Temporary Accommodation, Rough Sleeping and Refugee pressures.

And referred it to Full Council.

Agreed an additional allocation of £1.3m of approved contingency within the Priority Investment Programme, as a match funding contribution towards the £17.2m Future High Streets Fund programme (11.5-11.6 of the report).

Noted that comments were sought from Audit and Risk Management Panel with respect to decisions 1.1 and 1.2 of the report prior to Full Council on 24 July 2024.

To note a forecasted resourcing gap in 2025/26, and to note the potentially significant financial risks to the MTFS going forward

Noted a forecasted £27.3m overall resourcing gap in 2025/26, increasing substantially each year thereafter (Section 7 of the report)

Noted the potentially significant financial risks to the MTFS going forward (Section 6 of the report)

Noted that the MTFS is a continuous process and will be updated on a regular basis

To adopt a Community Engagement Framework

Adopted the Council’s first community engagement framework - now called the Our Greenwich: Community Engagement Pledge and the accompanying Our Greenwich: Community Engagement Handbook appended to the report as Appendix 1 and Appendix 2 respectively (together, the “Framework”).

Agreed that the Framework will inform the way in which the Council communicates with its residents and other stakeholders on proposals which involve engagement including consultation.

Noted that the Framework:

             I.        is intended to both drive forward and build on the Council’s current examples of good community engagement work and ensure that best practice is rolled out across the entire authority.

            II.        ensures the Council places residents at the centre of its plans and how they are delivered, with communities enabled to contribute to decision making, and see actions and outcomes from consultation and engagement.

          III.        has the purpose of enabling the whole Council to:

§    provide more opportunities for residents to have their say and broaden the range of activities undertaken to achieve this, including enabling deeper engagement and stronger relationships.

§    encourage more voices to be heard.

§    see more residents and more diverse communities contributing to and participating in community engagement and taking an active role in decision making.

Noted that following adoption by the Council the Framework is to be implemented and delivered by officers and elected members and can be used by the Council’s partners to guide their community engagement efforts.

To approve the new Children and Young People’s Plan 2024-2029 and agree the high-level objectives and the priorities suggested by the Greenwich Young People’s Council

Approved the new Children and Young People’s Plan (CYPP) 2024-2029 (Appendix 1 of the report) and agreed the high-level objectives (in paragraph 4.5 of the report) and the priorities suggested by the Greenwich Young People’s Council outlined (in paragraph 4.6 of the report).

To adopt and publish the borough’s Air Quality Action Plan 2023-2028

Agreed to proceed with the formal adoption, and publication of the borough’s Air Quality Action Plan 2023-2028

To approve the objectives set out in the Local Area’s revised SEND & Inclusion Strategy, and to approve the proposed publication and communication arrangements

Approved the objectives set out in the Local Area’s revised SEND & Inclusion Strategy (2024-2029)

Approved proposed publication and communication arrangements

To agree the proposed Community Resource Strategy and associated Needs Analysis

Agreed the proposed Community Resource Strategy and associated needs Analysis at Appendix A.

To adopt the Culture Strategy 2024 to 2030, to agree that the Council will explore the creation of a Culture Board, to agree a review of culture project funding schemes to ensure that they deliver against the eight principles of the culture strategy, and to agree that officers should scope the creation of a culture development fund

Adopted the Culture Strategy that covers the period from 2024 to 2030, and which compliments the vision and missions of Our Greenwich.

Noted that this is believed to be the first cultural strategy for the borough. It has been developed through collaboration between the Council and our communities and the creative and cultural sectors, to create a strategic vision with eight strategic principles to be the catalyst for cultural development.

Noted that the Council has had a long and proud history of supporting culture, and in a 2019 GLA report, Greenwich is named as one of the London Councils who spend the most on Culture in London (the other boroughs are City of London, Waltham Forest (in 2019 then the London Borough of Culture), Westminster and Tower Hamlets.

Agreed that the Council will explore the creation of an arm's length high-level strategic Culture Board to advocate for the strategy and the Implementation plan, and work in collaboration and partnership with our communities, cultural and creative sectors and stakeholders in synergy with the aims of our Equality and Equity Charter. 

Agreed a review of the culture project funding schemes which include: Royal Greenwich Festivals, Black History 365 (BH 365) and the Community Arts Fund to ensure that they deliver against the eight principles of the culture strategy.

Agreed that Council officers should scope the creation of a culture development fund to support the aims of the strategy.

To agree to the continuation of the Council’s trading companies beyond 31 March 2025, and to agree to retain the responsibility for the net assets / liabilities from GSP’s membership of the RBG Pension Fund

Agreed to the continuation of the Council’s trading companies GS Plus Ltd and GSS Ltd beyond 31 March 2025, based on the existing delivery model and governed by a new 10-year Strategic Partnering Agreement to be developed and implemented by this date.

Agreed to retain the responsibility for the net assets / liabilities from GSP’s membership of the RBG Pension Fund (the pool is currently fully funded).