The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was scheduled to meet to review the budget scrutiny process and approve the work programmes for the select committees. The meeting was also scheduled to cover declarations of interest from councillors.

Here's a breakdown of the key items that were expected to be addressed:

Budget Savings 2025/26 and 2026/27 Process Review

The committee was scheduled to look at a report summarising the process used to scrutinise the council's proposed budget savings, before a decision by the Mayor and Cabinet.

The report pack included a report that was scheduled to be tabled at the Mayor and Cabinet meeting on 9 July, along with supporting appendices. These appendices contained:

• Prior year agreed proposals
• New proposals for officers to agree and implement
• New proposals for members to agree and officers to implement
• Navigation sheets showing how savings fall within the terms of reference of committees
• Equalities impact assessments, including a cumulative impact assessment of all savings

The report set out that the council started the process of identifying £30 million in savings in late January. Each of the council's general fund directorates was given a savings target proportionate to their net budgets. The Housing Revenue Account (HRA) set its budget based on available resources and sought to identify savings commensurate with areas of persistent overspend in prior years, such as repairs and maintenance.

The report noted that there remained a savings gap of £0.750 million against the £30 million general fund target. Officers were scheduled to continue to develop proposals to address this, for consideration by the scrutiny committee and the Mayor and Cabinet in autumn 2025.

The report also noted that there was significant uncertainty regarding both the quantum and mechanism of government funding for local authorities. Once the outcome of government funding reforms is known, the council will produce a revised Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS). This may produce a new budget gap and therefore savings target for 2026/27 and later years, potentially requiring another savings process round.

The report stated that of the general fund savings, £21.0 million were decisions for the Mayor and Cabinet to take. Of the HRA savings proposed, £0.125 million were decisions for the Mayor and Cabinet to take. These included:

• ASC&H-0002
• ASC&H-0003
• ASC&H-0004
• ASC&H-0005
• ASC&H-0007
• ASC&H-0008
• CEX-0000
• CEX-0002
• CR-0010
• CR-0020
• CR-0021
• HRA-0002
• CYP-0004
• CYP-0005
• HSG-0000
• PLACE-0002
• PLACE-0013
• PLACE-0014

The remaining savings can be agreed and implemented by officers under delegation in the council's constitution.

Appendix 1 Previously Agreed Savings for 2025-26

The report pack included a list of previously agreed savings for 2025-26, including:

• Corporate Resources: One Oracle Archive, with savings of £35,000 in 2025/26 and £40,000 in 2026/27. The contract with Capgemini for support of the One Oracle archive will end in December 2025. The archive contains only financial data.
• Children & Young People: Repairs and Maintenance spend from School Estates budget, with savings of £50,000 in 2025/26 and £50,000 in 2026/27.
• Children & Young People: Reduction in Youth Service Budget, with savings of £100,000 in 2025/26 and £200,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: Centralising back office functions Libraries and ALL, with savings of £100,000 in 2025/26 and £111,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: Reduction to the main Grants Programme, with savings of £217,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: Ending the funding for the council run assembly programme, with savings of £203,000 in 2026/27.

Ending the Funding for the Council Run Assembly Programme

The report pack included a proposal to end the funding for the council run assembly programme.

The Assemblies function includes a range of responsibilities across the 19 wards including:

• Keeping up to date with services, organisations and assets at ward level
• Providing information, advice and support to residents and community organisations and community spaces and places
• Supporting consultation with Lewisham residents on a range of Council strategies
• Working with colleagues in the council to ensure a flow of information between residents and officers

The report stated that a decision to end the Assembly programme would lead to annual savings of around £203,000. The assemblies and community development functions of the team are currently spread across seven members of staff and a management post, therefore all eight roles would be affected by this reduction in staffing.

The report noted that assemblies are in the council constitution, so this will need to be changed at full council.

An Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) was undertaken for this proposal. The EIA noted that the only community likely to be disproportionately affected by the withdrawal of assemblies are older people, who tend to be more democratically engaged and as such are likely to find other ways to engage with the council.

Centralisation of back-office functions for Adult Learning Lewisham and the Library and Information Service

The report pack included a proposal to restructure the Library and Information Service and Adult Learning Lewisham to centralise back-office functions.

This restructure would create posts within Adult Learning Lewisham which centralise support for libraries, reducing those salaries from the council's general fund budget by £211,472 and increase the costs to ALL's budget by £135,889.

The report noted that the general fund subsidy for ALL's annual staffing salary increase would need to be safeguarded to ensure the financial stability of the service is not affected, as the grant allocation does not increase year on year to cover the annual increase to staffing salaries.

The report stated that a formal restructure process will be required with staff consultation, and there are potential redundancies for the effected posts.

Reduction to the Main Grants Programme

The report pack included a proposal for a further reduction of £217,000 to the Main Grants Programme, made up of £103,000 from the general fund and £114,000 from the Improved Better Care Fund¹. This reduction would be applied to the Main Grants Programme when it is due to be relet from 1 April 2026. This reduces the general fund contribution to the Main Grants Programme to £1,603,308 and reduces the overall value of the programme to £2,112,308.

The report noted that the Main Grants Programme has seen significant reductions during each cycle over the last 10 years, and local and national research shows that the voluntary and community sector (VCS) has been significantly impacted by austerity, the cost of living crisis and local authority cuts.

The report stated that the impact will be that communities will have reduced services and support. As the saving will be delivered as a reletting of the overall programme it is difficult to accurately assess where the cut will fall as this will depend on the application process and the quality of the bids.

Appendix 2 New Savings Proposals for Members

The report pack included a list of new savings proposals for members, including:

• Adult Social Care & Health: Continual review of care home placements where 1:1 care is provided, with savings of £500,000 in 2025/26 and £500,000 in 2026/27.
• Adult Social Care & Health: Managing a vacancy factor across Adult Social Care, with savings of £815,000 in 2026/27.
• Adult Social Care & Health: Increase charges for the Linkline service, with savings of £250,000 in 2026/27.
• Adult Social Care & Health: Prevention - Public Health Grant, with savings of £800,000 in 2025/26.
• Adult Social Care & Health: Zero based budgeting, with savings of £2,000,000 in 2026/27.
• Adult Social Care & Health: Fee Uplifts for Care Providers, with savings of £700,000 in 2025/26.
• Chief Executive's: Chief Executive's Management Proposals, with savings of £70,000 in 2025/26 and £686,000 in 2026/27.
• Chief Executive's: Corporate Savings – Target Operating Model Review, with savings of £1,600,000 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Register Office Income, with savings of £40,000 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Employers Pension Contribution Reduction (General Fund), with savings of £1,200,000 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Employers Pension Contribution Reduction (HRA), with savings of £125,000 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Review the council tax reduction scheme operation and thresholds up to the maximum 75% award, with savings of £1,000,000 in 2026/27.
• Children & Young People: Health care packages and short breaks, with savings of £800,000 in 2026/27.
• Children & Young People: Placement Sufficiency cost saving, with savings of £6,290,000 in 2026/27.
• Housing: Temporary Accommodation Cost Reduction, with savings of £2,494,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: Improved Enforcement of Existing Road Safety Restrictions, with savings of £300,000 in 2025/26 and £700,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: Bereavement Services: Annual Increase in fees and charges in line with other Councils, with savings of £238,888 in 2026/27.
• Place: Adult Learning, with savings of £100,000 in 2026/27.

Appendix 3 New Savings Proposals for Officers

The report pack included a list of new savings proposals for officers, including:

• Corporate Resources: Enablement Efficiency, with savings of £118,000 in 2025/26 and £239,000 in 2026/27.
• Adult Social Care & Health: Progression and Next Steps (PANS), with savings of £400,000 in 2026/27.
• Adult Social Care & Health: Maximising Wellbeing at Home, with savings of £400,000 in 2025/26.
• Chief Executive's: Reduction in provisions, with savings of £500,000 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Cessation of old BT Lines, with savings of £140,000 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Reduction in Internal Audit budget held for ad-hoc investigations, with savings of £55,000 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Reduction in Assurance budgets (other than internal audit) held for ad-hoc investigations, with savings of £53,000 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Passenger services team, with savings of £43,203 in 2025/26 and £28,167 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Anti-Fraud & Corruption Team, with savings of £26,461 in 2025/26 and £14,539 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Corporate Contact Centre Chatbot, with savings of £23,220 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Insourcing Health & Safety Risk Assessments, with savings of £42,000 in 2025/26.
• Corporate Resources: Insurance Provisions & Reserves, with savings of £140,000 in 2025/26.
• Corporate Resources: Removal of IT subscriptions, with savings of £15,045 in 2025/26 and £48,392 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Treasury Management Adjustments, with savings of £1,000,000 in 2025/26.
• Corporate Resources: Recharge of the pension investment and administration costs, with savings of £100,000 in 2025/26.
• Corporate Resources: Reduced subsidy loss from supported exempt accommodation, with savings of £400,000 in 2025/26.
• Corporate Resources: IT Shared Service Savings (Lewisham share), with savings of £205,000 in 2025/26.
• Corporate Resources: Laurence House Opening Times, with savings of £55,000 in 2025/26 and £53,000 in 2026/27.
• Corporate Resources: Ensuring cost recovery under tenancy agreements, with savings of £100,000 in 2025/26 and £100,000 in 2026/27.
• Children & Young People: Central Services DSG reduction mitigation, with savings of £175,000 in 2026/27.
• Children & Young People: Education Estates, Compliance and Contracts- Incorporating school catering management, with savings of £65,000 in 2026/27.
• Children & Young People: Alignment of implementation of early years entitlements, with savings of £75,000 in 2025/26.
• Children & Young People: Optimising Home School Transport, with savings of £400,000 in 2026/27.
• Children & Young People: Supporting Families Grant, with savings of £100,000 in 2026/27.
• Housing: Legal Costs – Court Representation, with savings of £59,046 in 2025/26.
• Housing: Repairs Service Re-alignment, with savings of £3,500,000 in 2025/26 and £1,000,000 in 2026/27.
• Housing: Rechargeable Costs Policy, with savings of £50,000 in 2025/26 and £50,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: National increase in planning application fees for householders, with savings of £120,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: Community Services management efficiencies, with savings of £280,000 in 2025/26.
• Place: London Councils changes to penalty charge notices, with savings of £800,000 in 2025/26 and a loss of £100,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: Parking Contract - Cost Reduction, with savings of £500,000 in 2025/26 and £500,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: Place Directorate Efficiencies, with savings of £555,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: Mainstreaming the Mayor's Apprenticeship Programme incentive, with savings of £324,000 in 2026/27.
• Place: Planning staffing budget, with savings of £73,000 in 2026/27.

Appendix 4 Budget Savings Equalities Impact Assessment

The report pack included an Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA) for the cumulative impact of the budget proposals as a whole.

The EIA noted that the Council's budget setting process, in terms of how it saves, invests and spends money, impacts all the residents of the borough of Lewisham and by extension, all protected characteristics.

The EIA stated that the Council's budget setting process, in terms of how it saves, invests and spends money, impacts all the residents of the borough of Lewisham and by extension, all protected characteristics.

The EIA identified that disabled residents are the most likely to be impacted negatively by the proposed changes, and that savings proposed by the Place Directorate identified the highest number of high and medium negative impacts across residents.

The EIA noted that several of the proposed savings are likely to have an impact on council officers, and that in advance of these savings being enacted, full impact assessments will be completed to ensure that this impact is not disproportionate or discriminatory.

Scrutiny Work Programme 2025-26

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee was also scheduled to review and approve the proposed contents of the work programmes of the select committees.

The report pack included a summary of the proposed work programmes for each of the select committees, including:

• Children and Young People Select Committee
• Healthier Communities Select Committee
• Housing Select Committee
• Public Accounts Select Committee
• Safer Stronger Communities Select Committee
• Sustainable Development Select Committee

The report noted that the select committees have been asked to devise annual work programmes which cover areas of business that fall within, and contribute towards achieving, all corporate priorities.

The report also stated that committees have also been asked to develop inclusive work programmes, that reflect the diversity of Lewisham's communities and ensure that the views of residents are fairly represented in scrutiny processes.