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News and Comment December 2019

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18 December - Budget Scrutiny. When Harold met Sally

Another Scrutiny meeting, another set of excuses. A nasty cold and cough came out of nowhere on Monday which was making me think twice about attending last night’s Public Cabinet meeting; sorry Budget Scrutiny meeting, the Council did a swap at not quite the last minute. Then only an hour before the meeting start time the emergency bell rang in East Ham. It took several phone calls to sort it out.

But there is always the webcast isn’t there? Maybe not last night. The audio started to come through at 19:38 and some sort of image (see below) which didnֹ’t ever get any better.

TweetThe webcast doesn’t convey any of the atmosphere of the meeting and misses some bits altogether. For example, half an hour into the meeting Chairman Andy Dourmoush could be heard slapping down the usual suspects for interrupting a Cabinet Member in full flow. The interruption could not be heard and therefore there was no sure way of telling if the telling off was justified on more than just procedural grounds. (Ironically the Chairman accidentally caused the problem.)

The audio began with what appeared to be the tail end of Councillor Dourmoush saying he wasn’t going to put up with any political point scoring after last Thursday which seemed like a good idea. Who would do that? Were Councillors Read and Craske raring to go?

Without any preliminaries from Finance Officers (but maybe the audio failure had lost it) Councillor Cafer Munur (Conservative, Blackfen & Lamorbey) asked what ‘Children’s Services General Efficiencies’ was all about. “What are we going to do that we haven’t done before?”

More buzzwords was the answer. A coordinated approach, dedicated communications, a pioneer scheme, young ambassadors, social media, more Twitter and an updated website.

Councillor Perfect (Labour, Northumberland Heath) cheekily asked how many children will have to opt out of the SEN Transport scheme to make up the projected £120k. saving next year?

Personalised longer term family budgets seemed to be the answer to spend on what the family needed most. Councillor Perfect said that much the same thing did not work out well last year but was told that family feedback is going to make all the difference next year.

Cabinet Member John Fuller said the new scheme was very different and families covered by it “are very keen”.

Councillor Richard Diment (Conservative, Sidcup) said that some Communities improvements were very dependent on Home Office funding. How confident was the Cabinet Member of the money being forthcoming? Councillor Alex Sawyer said he “was very confident”; presumably the Home Secretary had given him that assurance over breakfast. #doitforbexley Alex.

Councillor Melvin Seymour (Conservative, Crayford) couldn’t quite see from the published figures where the library savings were coming from. Was it true that one more library would become community managed and opening hours would be reduced?

Cabinet Member Peter Harold Craske said the new library strategy was exactly five years old but it was too early to say what will happen next except that no libraries will be closed.

Councillor Sally Hinkley (Labour, Belvedere) asked him which library might become community managed. Cabinet Member Craske threw another of his tantrums telling Councillor Hinkley aggressively and rather sarcastically that he had just said none are to be closed. I have reviewed the recording three times and the word closed never passed Sally Hinkley’s lips, it was the Chairman’s summary of her question that mistakenly used the word. Maybe Councillor Craske will be issuing an apology.

Councillor Hinkley did not get an answer to her question. Councillor Joe Ferreira (Labour, Erith) said, in effect, that Councillor Craske can deny any decision has been made as much as he liked but the official report clearly states that one more library will become community managed. The responsible Council Officer gave an assurance that no such decision had yet been taken. Councillor Ferreira did not seem to be all that convinced.


WebcastCouncillor Steven Hall (Conservative, East Wickham) asked if the new Capita contract to be signed this week will have any impact on Erith Town Hall which had been occupied by Capita for several years. The expectation is that Bexley Council will continue to provide their accommodation but at some time the service will be relocated as part of the Erith regeneration scheme but remain within Erith.

Councillor Ferreira asked how the service level will remain as it has been after £1·2 million has been trimmed from their fee? Because there was a rival bidder was the reason for the reduction and the new Capita contract incentivises better tax collection rates. Capita are going to introduce an automated telephone enquiry service based in Coventry so the likelihood is that any improvement in overall service will benefit the Council and not the taxpayer. Questions will be answered 24/7 using robotics and artificial intelligence.

Switching subjects, Councillor Ferreira asked how staff and unions had reacted to the proposed new Terms and Conditions of Employment? The same proposals made last year weren’t delivered. The HR manager said the T&Cs need “modernising in line with the way we work now”. They need to attract the right sort of staff. The unions have not been supportive but the relationship is constructive.

Councillor Eileen Pallen (Conservative, Bexleyheath) suggested that the new T&Cs could perhaps be applied to new staff only. The Chief Executive said that the current arrangements cost £0·5 million of overtime payments. Presumably she has in mind reducing that figure.

Councillor Linda Bailey (Conservative, Crook Log) was critical of the use of consultants “on £300 a day or even £500 a day” employed to “pull the proposals together”. The HR manager confirmed that additional consultancy would be required but it was essential.

Councillor Val Clark (Conservative, Falconwood & Welling) said she was aware of how staff morale was falling and how “very senior staff are being paid a lot of money”. Unfortunately the webcast doesn’t allow one to see who she might have been looking at at the time.

Councillor Alan Downing (Conservative, St. Mary’s and St. James) referring to housing, in particular of 18 to 25 year olds who had been in care, didn’t want to see them “housed in something like Homeleigh”. Does it all mean that more families might be in temporary accommodation “at a stated [in the Agenda] £8,000 a year per family which is about £155 a week? I don’t know where we are going to get all that property for this sort of money. I don’t see the huge saving of £357,000 happening. What sort of property would it be and where?”

Cabinet Member Philip Read agreed that some of the accommodation is “not up to scratch” and plans are in hand to deal with it.“It is high on the agenda.” We didn’t learn where the money was coming from.

Councillor Cheryl Bacon (Conservative, Sidcup) asked about the projected £200,000 street cleaning savings, “there is no detail, what are the Council Officer’s thoughts” she asked but Cabinet Member Peter Craske stepped in. He was putting his faith in the new street cleaning machine, the catch a smoker getting on a bus scheme and voluntary litter pickers, none of which is new. “There is less litter so it is time to review the service as is. Like libraries it is something we haven’t worked through yet.”

He went on to say you don’t see much litter in the streets now. How many roads must the man walk down, the answer my friend is blowin’ in the wind and how many times can a man turn his head and pretend that he just doesn’t see - the answer once again my friend is blowin’ in the wind.

Hot air mostly.

P.S. Why does the webcast page retain June Slaughter’s old Bexley tag line?

 

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