No apologies were received.

Councillor Alambritis attended online.

The Leader spoke to welcome Councillor Macauley to the meeting as the new Cabinet Member for Enforcement and Community Safety.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 September 2024 are agreed as an accurate record.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

A.    Noted the progress on the programme for the delivery of 93 new affordable homes.

B.    Noted the contents of Section 4 of the report with the financial detail set out in Exempt Appendix A) summarising the financial impact of the revised scheme and recommend that Full Council approves the increase to the capital programme and its funding totaling £27.87m.

This adjustment to the approved capital programme will also be included in the financial monitoring report elsewhere on this Cabinet’s agenda.

C.   Noted that the procurement process for the construction packages is being prepared and tenders will be issued and returned for different packages from early in 2025.

D.   Delegated authority to the Executive Director for Housing and Sustainable Development, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Sustainability, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services and the Executive Director of Finance and Digital, for final approval of the contracts following the outcome of the tendering process.

E.   Noted the longer-term officer resource implications identified in paragraph 4

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Sustainable Development presented the report outlining the progress on the programme for the delivery of 93 new homes across the first four sites, with modern building regulations and energy efficiency having been taken into account. The applications had been through the Development and Planning Applications Committee to take account of those changes and the Council were now looking to move to inviting tenders. The Cabinet Member for Health and Social Care spoke on the importance of good housing and the Cabinet Member for Housing and Sustainable Development thanked the officers for their work.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

A.    Noted the progress on the programme for the delivery of 93 new affordable homes.

B.    Noted the contents of Section 4 of the report with the financial detail set out in Exempt Appendix A) summarising the financial impact of the revised scheme and recommend that Full Council approves the increase to the capital programme and its funding totaling £27.87m.

This adjustment to the approved capital programme will also be included in the financial monitoring report elsewhere on this Cabinet’s agenda.

C.   Noted that the procurement process for the construction packages is being prepared and tenders will be issued and returned for different packages from early in 2025.

D.   Delegated authority to the Executive Director for Housing and Sustainable Development, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Housing and Sustainability, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services and the Executive Director of Finance and Digital, for final approval of the contracts following the outcome of the tendering process.

E.   Noted the longer-term officer resource implications identified in paragraph 4

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

A. Agreed that the Stanford Primary School site, Chilmark Road SW16 is surplus to education and other council service requirements

B. Agreed that officers in Housing and Sustainable development department bring forward options on best use of the Stanford Primary School site, noting the permissions required on disposing of school sites outlined in the legal implications section

C. Noted that further financial appraisal work and legal due diligence is required to determine the financial advantages of demolishing the building at the earliest opportunity

The Cabinet Member for jobs, skills and education presented the report noting that the successful school had now had a drop in roll numbers and due to circumstances deemed to be no longer viable, with the DFE having agreed to the closure. All children had been found other placements and the alternative provision on site had been transferred to Liberty School. The Cabinet Member thanked officers for their work on the report. In response to questions, the Cabinet Member advised that all children who had been previously at the school had been placed in another good or outstanding school.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

A. Agreed that the Stanford Primary School site, Chilmark Road SW16 is surplus to education and other council service requirements

B. Agreed that officers in Housing and Sustainable development department bring forward options on best use of the Stanford Primary School site, noting the permissions required on disposing of school sites outlined in the legal implications section

C. Noted that further financial appraisal work and legal due diligence is required to determine the financial advantages of demolishing the building at the earliest opportunity

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet considered and agreed the new savings proposals for 2025/26 to 2028/29 (Appendix 1) and referred them to the Overview and Scrutiny panels and Commission in November 2024 for consideration and comment.

B. That Cabinet considered the emerging draft working Equalities Impact Assessments (Appendix 2) for each saving, where applicable, and referred them to the Overview and Scrutiny panels and Commission in November 2024 for consideration and comment.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services presented the report setting out the first significant update on the work to date, noting that despite £3m of savings and revenue raising proposals having been put forward, more work was needed to close the projected budget gap. The Cabinet Member expressed their thanks to the Cabinet and officers for their work to prepare the update and the proposals which if agreed would go on to be considered by Scrutiny in November 2024.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet considered and agreed the new savings proposals for 2025/26 to 2028/29 (Appendix 1) and referred them to the Overview and Scrutiny panels and Commission in November 2024 for consideration and comment.

B. That Cabinet considered the emerging draft working Equalities Impact Assessments (Appendix 2) for each saving, where applicable, and referred them to the Overview and Scrutiny panels and Commission in November 2024 for consideration and comment.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the financial reporting data for period 5 (August) relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net adverse variance of £14.805m when corporate and funding items are included.

B. That Cabinet noted the contents of Section 7 of the report and appendices 5a to 5d and approve the proposed adjustments to the programme in Appendix 5b

That Cabinet noted the contents of Section 7 of the report and appendices 5a to 5d and approved the proposed adjustments in the Table below:

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services presented the report noting that progress had been made in reducing the projected adverse variance since period 4 thanks to the efforts and hard work of officers in reducing spending wherever possible. Pressures on budgets were extreme and the Cabinet Member expressed their gratitude to the team for their efforts, noting the report set out steps that had been taken so far and how work was continuing towards meeting savings.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the financial reporting data for period 5 (August) relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net adverse variance of £14.805m when corporate and funding items are included.

B. That Cabinet noted the contents of Section 7 of the report and appendices 5a to 5d and approve the proposed adjustments to the programme in Appendix 5b

That Cabinet noted the contents of Section 7 of the report and appendices 5a to 5d and approved the proposed adjustments in the Table below:

To RESOLVE that the public are excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following report(s) on the grounds that it is (they are) exempt from disclosure for the reasons stated in the report(s).

The meeting proceeded entirely in public session and therefore this item was not required.