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.
The
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.
Councillor
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?