No apologies were received.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 December 2022 are agreed as an accurate record.

RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet noted the allocation of 24 projects in the voluntary and community sector to receive Civic Pride Fund funding totalling £4,917,252.67.67 over the 2023 -2026 period.

2. That Cabinet noted the approach to selecting providers.

The Cabinet Member for Civic Pride presented the report and outlined the funding awards, thanking officers for their work as well as partner organisations. It was noted that funding had been allocated to 18 organisations and the Cabinet Member listed all those receiving funding. Cabinet members spoke of their support of the process and the decision.

RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet noted the allocation of 24 projects in the voluntary and community sector to receive Civic Pride Fund funding totalling £4,917,252.67.67 over the 2023 -2026 period.

2. That Cabinet noted the approach to selecting providers.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the progress in implementing the proposals for the first £1million from the Cost of Living Emergency Support Fund agreed by Cabinet in September 2022.

B. That Cabinet noted the work on the Cost of Living to date, carried out by the council and its partners

C. That Cabinet agreed the proposed way forward to develop the council’s relationship with the Credit Union as at 3.20

D. That Cabinet agreed the outlined Cost of Living Action Plan, the ongoing development of this Action Plan as laid out in 3.26 – 3.32, and that a proposal on the remaining allocation of the Cost of Living Support Fund will come to Cabinet in March 2023.

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services presented the report which gave an overview of the first tranch of funding, noting that a report regarding the second tranch would be brought to cabinet in March 2023.

The Cabinet Members thanked officers and the Cabinet Member for their work.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the progress in implementing the proposals for the first £1million from the Cost of Living Emergency Support Fund agreed by Cabinet in September 2022.

B. That Cabinet noted the work on the Cost of Living to date, carried out by the council and its partners

C. That Cabinet agreed the proposed way forward to develop the council’s relationship with the Credit Union as at 3.20

D. That Cabinet agreed the outlined Cost of Living Action Plan, the ongoing development of this Action Plan as laid out in 3.26 – 3.32, and that a proposal on the remaining allocation of the Cost of Living Support Fund will come to Cabinet in March 2023.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

A.   Formally adopted the ‘Working Better with Communities’ Framework and ways of working.

B. Noted the proposed process for embedding the Framework into the way in which the council operates

The Cabinet Member for Civic Pride presented the report and thanked officers and the Voluntary sector for their contributions. It was noted that the report had been co-designed with local partners and the Cabinet Member outlined the next steps to be undertaken.

RESOLVED:

That Cabinet:

A.   Formally adopted the ‘Working Better with Communities’ Framework and ways of working.

B. Noted the proposed process for embedding the Framework into the way in which the council operates

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Merton Adult Learning Strategy 2023 – 2026 was reviewed and adopted by Merton Council

The Cabinet Member for Education and Lifelong Learning presented the report and thanked officers for their work. It was noted that 1836 learners had attended over 300 courses and at the last OFSTED inspection in 2019 the service had received 6 good judgements.

Cabinet Members spoke to thank the officers and the Cabinet Member and for the focus on green skills and green jobs.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Merton Adult Learning Strategy 2023 – 2026 was reviewed and adopted by Merton Council

RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet considered and agreed the additional new savings proposals for 2023/24 to 2025/26 (Appendix 2) and refers them to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 25 January 2023 for consideration and comment.

2. That Cabinet considered and agreed that the draft unachievable saving proposal of £50k (2020-21 CS11 ) is removed from the MTFS and referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 25 January 2023 for consideration and comment.

 3. That Cabinet agreed the latest amendments to the draft Capital Programme 2023-2026 and refers them to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 25 January 2023 for consideration and comment.

4. That Cabinet noted the details contained in the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2023/24 and the implications for Merton’s MTFS as summarised in Appendix 1.

5. That Cabinet considered and approved the Council’s draft Capital Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy for 2023/24

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services presented the report, noting that a further set of savings proposals would be considered by Scrutiny panels in the week following the meeting. The Cabinet Member advised that Councils were expected to take the maximum increase and precept however also noted that the majority of households within Council Tax Bands A-D would receive a one-off discount in Merton.

The Interim Executive Director for Finance and Digital advised that officers were continuing to work to deliver savings and that the money from the sale of CHAS ahad been immediately invested.

Cabinet Members spoke to thank all involved for their work.

RESOLVED:

1. That Cabinet considered and agreed the additional new savings proposals for 2023/24 to 2025/26 (Appendix 2) and refers them to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 25 January 2023 for consideration and comment.

2. That Cabinet considered and agreed that the draft unachievable saving proposal of £50k (2020-21 CS11 ) is removed from the MTFS and referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 25 January 2023 for consideration and comment.

 3. That Cabinet agreed the latest amendments to the draft Capital Programme 2023-2026 and refers them to the Overview and Scrutiny Commission on 25 January 2023 for consideration and comment.

4. That Cabinet noted the details contained in the Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement 2023/24 and the implications for Merton’s MTFS as summarised in Appendix 1.

5. That Cabinet considered and approved the Council’s draft Capital Strategy and Treasury Management Strategy for 2023/24

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the financial reporting data for month 8, November 2022, relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net favourable variance at 30 November on service expenditure of £0.183m when corporate and funding items are included.

B. That CMT note the contents of Section 5 and approve the adjustments to the Capital Programme contained in Appendix 5b

That Cabinet noted the contents of Section 5 and Appendix 5b of the report and approve the adjustments to the Capital Programme in the Table below:

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services presented the report noting that the net adverse variance had been eliminated and there was now a small net favourable variance.

The Interim Executive Director for Finance and Digital advised that departments continued to work to drive down departmental overspends and this work would continue.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the financial reporting data for month 8, November 2022, relating to revenue budgetary control, showing a forecast net favourable variance at 30 November on service expenditure of £0.183m when corporate and funding items are included.

B. That CMT note the contents of Section 5 and approve the adjustments to the Capital Programme contained in Appendix 5b

That Cabinet noted the contents of Section 5 and Appendix 5b of the report and approve the adjustments to the Capital Programme in the Table below:

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet approved that the Contract for the Microsoft Enterprise Architecture Licences is awarded to Supplier A

B. That Cabinet approved that the Microsoft Azure Hosting Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) is bundled with the contract award to Supplier A

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services presented the report.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet approved that the Contract for the Microsoft Enterprise Architecture Licences is awarded to Supplier A

B. That Cabinet approved that the Microsoft Azure Hosting Cloud Solution Provider (CSP) is bundled with the contract award to Supplier A

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the progress made with the opportunities available to London Borough of Merton through the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

B. Any relevant observations or actions following discussion of this report be recognised or undertaken by Commercial Services with further updates given to CMT/LSG quarterly or as requested

The Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services presente dthe report noting that new officers were being recruited to enhance this area and that additional training was also being undertaken.

RESOLVED:

A. That Cabinet noted the progress made with the opportunities available to London Borough of Merton through the Public Services (Social Value) Act 2012.

B. Any relevant observations or actions following discussion of this report be recognised or undertaken by Commercial Services with further updates given to CMT/LSG quarterly or as requested

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 Chair advised that the meeting was able to proceed entirely in public and therefore this item was not required