No apologies were received.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2018 were agreed as an accurate record.

Post-meeting note: Following a request from the Director for Community and Housing, the last paragraph on Page 1 of the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September has been amended to read “Following Feedback received, from the CEO of Merton centre for Independent Living had requested the inclusion of community care to the list of lead issues for focus as set out in the funding prospectus, and this was recommended to Cabinet for approval.”

RESOLVED:

A.   That Cabinet approved the second six week consultation on the new borough-wide Local Plan, to run for six weeks between October and December 2018.

B.   That approval for the final consultation documents was delegated to the Director of Environment and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Environment and Housing.

C.   That Cabinet resolved to agree BPAC’s recommendation to revise Merton’s Statement of Community Involvement 2006.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Housing and Transport presented the report which had been discussed at the Borough Plan Advisory Committee. The Cabinet Member highlighted the need for further housing in the Borough.

At the invitation of the Chair, Councillor Aidan Mundy, Chair of the Borough Plan Advisory Committee advising that cross-party feedback had been sought during discussions. Councillor Mundy encouraged all present to respond to the consultation, the responses to which would be looked at in November. 

The Chair welcomed the cross-party approach that had been taken during the process.

RESOLVED:

A.   That Cabinet approved the second six week consultation on the new borough-wide Local Plan, to run for six weeks between October and December 2018.

2. That approval for the final consultation documents was delegated to the Director of Environment and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Environment and Housing.
3. That Cabinet resolved to agree BPAC’s recommendation to revise Merton’s Statement of Community Involvement 2006.

Appendix 5 to follow

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet considered and noted the draft savings/income proposals (Appendix 3) put forward by officers and referred them to Overview and Scrutiny panels and Commission in November 2018 for consideration and comment.

2.    That Cabinet noted the proposed amendments to savings set out in Appendix 2 and incorporated the financial implications into the draft MTFS 2019-23.

3.    That Cabinet noted the latest draft Capital Programme 2019-23 detailed In Appendix 4 for consideration by Scrutiny in November and noted the indicative programme for 2023-28.

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance presented the report and thanked all involved for their work. The Cabinet Member highlighted the current Council finances and advised that £20 million of savings were required by 2022/23 and the report set out previously agreed savings to be analysed, capital programme information to be assessed and new savings that had been identified. The Cabinet Member advised that further savings would need to be looked at and noted the £2 million saving from the Environment and Regeneration division from the introduction of wheeled bins.

The Chief Executive advised that the Equality Impact Assessments had not all been completed to the desired standard before the meeting and therefore a change was required to the recommendations. The Chief Executive advised that the recommendations would therefore now be amended to note the recommendations, not to agree them. This would not affect the progress of the project and the Equality Assessments would be included when the report progressed to Scrutiny.

The Director for Corporate Services advised that Directors had been asked to review the current savings and a number of new savings had come forward. The maximum levels of Council Tax had been assumed in the budget, however it was currently unclear what would happen in regards to funding and so there remained a level of uncertainty. The Director advised they would look to bring forward further savings over the next few months.

The Cabinet Member for Community and Culture asked what the impact of Brexit would be, to which the Director for Corporate Services responded that there would be a paper at the Cabinet meeting in November to assess the potential impacts of Brexit.

RESOLVED:

1.    That Cabinet considered and noted the draft savings/income proposals (Appendix 3) put forward by officers and referred them to Overview and Scrutiny panels and Commission in November 2018 for consideration and comment.

2. That Cabinet noted the proposed amendments to savings set out in Appendix 2 and incorporated the financial implications into the draft MTFS 2019-23.
3. That Cabinet noted the latest draft Capital Programme 2019-23 detailed In Appendix 4 for consideration by Scrutiny in November and noted the indicative programme for 2023-28.

RESOLVED:

A.   That Cabinet noted the financial reported data relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net overspend of £2.78million, 0.5% of gross budget.

B.   That Cabinet approved the virement of £160k between Parking Services and Future Merton in relation to work related to CPZs.

C.   That Cabinet noted the position in respect of the Capital Programme contained in Appendix 5b and approved the adjustments summarised in the Table below:

The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Finance presented the report and thanked all staff involved with the work. The Cabinet Member highlighted the current projected overspend of £2 and ¾ million in the Children Schools and Families division and advised that the report included ways in which this would be addressed.

The Director for Corporate Services advised that the savings progress and projections were being monitored.

The Cabinet Member for Regeneration Housing and Transport welcomed the work being done around safety outside of Schools and enforcement.

RESOLVED:

A.   That Cabinet noted the financial reported data relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net overspend of £2.78million, 0.5% of gross budget.

B.   That Cabinet approved the virement of £160k between Parking Services and Future Merton in relation to work related to CPZs.

C.   That Cabinet noted the position in respect of the Capital Programme contained in Appendix 5b and approved the adjustments summarised in the Table below: