The Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to review the delivery of the 2022-2026 Corporate Strategy and discuss lessons learned for the development of the next strategy. Key themes included the impact of external challenges, the need for greater agility and innovation in strategy design, and the importance of measuring outcomes rather than just activities.

Review of the Corporate Strategy 2022-2026

The committee reviewed the delivery of the council's Corporate Strategy for 2022-2026, acknowledging significant achievements despite facing numerous external challenges. These included the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, a severe cost-of-living crisis, and sustained financial pressures on local government. Cabinet members and officers highlighted specific successes across various portfolios, while also discussing the challenges encountered and how the council had adapted its approach.

A key discussion point was the design of the Corporate Strategy itself. Officers Nahaila Alavi, Director of Strategy and Transformation, and Alex Glanz, Head of Policy Strategy, noted that while the strategy clearly outlined priority areas, the use of we will statements specifying actions had limited flexibility and innovation. They recommended a stronger focus on outcome statements for the next corporate strategy to allow for a more adaptive approach. This sentiment was echoed by Cabinet members, who emphasised the need for strategies to be more agile, flexible, and empowering of innovation and resilience.

Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Performance, Councillor Amanda De Ryk, detailed the council's response to the cost-of-living crisis, highlighting innovative approaches such as the Better Off Lewisham platform, which identified £13.7 million in unclaimed benefits for residents. She also mentioned the auto-enrolment of families for free school meals, which not only supported families but also bolstered school budgets.

Cabinet Member for Inclusive Regeneration and Planning, Councillor James-J Walsh, spoke about the challenges in housing delivery due to rising building costs. He highlighted the council's commitment to delivering 2,000 genuinely affordable social homes and discussed innovative solutions such as the housing acquisition programme and strategic partnerships with developers to secure lower costs. He also touched upon the council's national leadership in the small sites aggregator programme.

The committee also discussed performance monitoring, with Councillor Luke Warner raising questions about the robustness of the performance framework. Officers acknowledged that while the dashboard provided a look back at performance, the focus for the next strategy would be on measuring impact rather than just activity. This included the importance of measuring outcomes that are harder to quantify, such as prevention work and co-creation, as discussed by Councillor Edison Huynh, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People, in relation to the Elevate 100 programme.

Councillor Louise Krupski, Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Environment, Transport and Climate Action, spoke about the challenges and successes in the Cleaner and Greener portfolio, including increased recycling rates and efforts to tackle climate change. She stressed the importance of ambition in setting targets, even when they are difficult to measure, and highlighted the quality of work undertaken in areas like housing retrofitting.

Councillor James Rathbone raised points about the structure of the corporate strategy, suggesting a need for more focus on the how of delivery and the organisational capacity required to achieve aspirations. Cabinet Member for Culture, Communities, Libraries and Sports, Councillor Sakina Sheikh, spoke about the importance of a holistic approach to health and wellbeing, including the role of sports in community cohesion and the need to consider cultural enterprise zones.

Councillor Joan Millbank raised the point about involving residents in defining outcomes and asked about plans for formal learning and partnerships to measure the impact of the strategy. Councillor Amanda De Ryk provided an update on the Proud to Care campaign, highlighting its recognition of the inequitable situation of care workers and efforts to ensure fair pay and recognition.

Councillor Mark Ingleby, Vice-Chair, discussed the themes of evolution, holistic approaches, and agility in relation to the corporate strategy, referencing the importance of place-based involvement and community gardening initiatives. Councillor Sakina Sheikh further elaborated on the role of culture and arts in building identity and community, and the potential for culture to become a statutory duty.

Councillor James-J Walsh provided a detailed update on housing delivery figures, clarifying the distinction between delivery (spades in the ground) and completed homes, and addressing discrepancies in reported data.

The committee discussed potential recommendations for the next Corporate Strategy, including:

• Designing the strategy around outcomes as well as actions, with flexibility in delivery commitments.
• Separating the high-level corporate strategy from detailed deliverables to allow for evolution.
• Ensuring early and meaningful engagement with residents, partners, and the voluntary and community sector.
• Treating systems, data quality, resourcing, and partnerships as core enabling conditions for delivery.
• Incorporating a geographic focus and place-based approach, engaging ward councillors and local stakeholders.
• Emphasising co-production and cross-departmental collaboration.

The committee noted the report and agreed to incorporate these recommendations into the development of the next Corporate Strategy. The meeting also acknowledged the contributions of councillors standing down at the upcoming election.