The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to meet to discuss the council's savings programme, receive an update from the Leader of the Council, and review upcoming executive decisions.

The meeting was also scheduled to cover declarations of interest and confirmation of the minutes from the previous meeting.

2024-25 Savings Tracker

The committee was scheduled to discuss the council's savings forecasted at the end of the 2024/25 financial year. A report on the 2024-25 Savings Tracker was prepared for discussion.

In March 2024, the council agreed to £33.7 million in new savings for 2024/25. The report noted that a 2024/25 Outturn budget monitor presented to the Cabinet on 9 July 2025 stated a General Fund overspend of £0.2 million for the financial year, which included the effect of savings slippage.

Of the £33.7 million in agreed savings, £10.4 million were categorised as delayed or not made in 2024/25. These were broken down into:

• Not Possible: Savings that cannot be delivered
• Delivery Issue: Savings that will be delivered, but at a reduced rate
• Timing Issue: Savings that will be delivered at the expected rate, but on a delayed timescale

The largest amount of savings slippage was in Children's Services, with £3.9 million delayed due to timing issues. Communities, Environment & Central had £1.2 million delayed due to timing issues, £0.8 million due to delivery issues, and £0.3 million deemed not possible. Health & Adult Social Care had £1.9 million delayed due to timing issues, £0.1 million due to delivery issues, and £0.4 million deemed not possible.

Appendix A of the report provided a detailed breakdown of the savings slippage, including the saving title, directorate, agreed saving amount, amount that will not be delivered, reason for slippage, and explanation.

Some of the specific savings measures that were not expected to be fully realised in 2024/25 included:

• Maximising external funding opportunities for Health & Adult Services, with £350,000 not possible because the service was unable to secure additional external funding.
• A statutory review of the level of Penalty Charge Notices charge, with £298,000 not possible because increases in Penalty Charge Notice charges can only be levied by the Secretary of State for Transport.
• Review of the Council's Library & Leisure Offer, with a delay due to VAT changes and ongoing negotiations and complexities in amending the contract.
• Optimising the use of the Woolwich Centre, with a delay in marketing floors 4 & 5.
• Reablement & social work decision making, with assumptions on which the original proposed savings figure was based having been reviewed.
• Children's Centres - Reduction and Efficiencies, with delays due to multiple pre-election periods impacting the statutory consultation required to deliver the changes in provision.

Update from the Leader of the Council

The committee was scheduled to receive a verbal update from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Anthony Okereke, on the council's progress and accomplishments over the previous 12 months, as well as his vision and strategic focus for the coming year.

Forward Plan

The committee was scheduled to note the upcoming executive decisions set out in the Forward Plan for the period July 2025 to October 2025. The Forward Plan is published to provide 28 days' notice of upcoming key decisions. Key decisions are defined as executive decisions that are likely to result in the council incurring significant expenditure or savings, or have a significant effect on communities living or working in more than one ward.

Some of the key decisions listed in the Forward Plan included:

• Receipt of grant for the Economic Inactivity Trailblazer and Connect to Work Programmes
• Apprenticeships Programme Procurement for the Royal Borough of Greenwich
• Approval of Voluntary Undertaking with the Regulator of Social Housing
• Award of a Contract for the supply, installation and maintenance of passenger lifts
• Dockless e-bike parking - authority to make the experimental traffic order for phase 1 of the dockless e-bike trial
• Financial & Payments Systems Replacement
• Greenwich Housing Assistance Policy
• Learning Disability Accommodation re procurement Decision Award
• Greenwich Town Centre - interim walking and cycling proposals
• Commercial use of Cutty Sark Gardens
• Urban Regeneration Frameworks - permission to publicly engage
• Woolwich to Greenwich Cycle Route Section 2 - TMO¹
• Adoption of Planning Enforcement Plan
• Leaseholder Repayment Options
• Waste Strategy
• Adoption of Climate Resilience SPD²
• School Place Planning and Capital Programme