CQ425 - 10 from Councillor Eddy Arram

LE

Would the Leader please let me know when the grant to the Warehouse ceased and is this organisation still in existence? Reply Annual funding to The Warehouse Theatre from Croydon Council ceased 31 March 2007. The Warehouse continues to operate, running a programme of new writing, comedy and other events. At a time when the Council is facing significant budget challenges, no further support has been identified for The Warehouse at this time.

CQ437 - 10 from Councillor Gerry Ryan

LE

Will the Leader of the Council stop spending council tax on the Your Croydon magazine and use it instead to support the voluntary sector who have had to suffer harsh and damaging cuts to the vital service they provide across the Borough? Reply This administration has already taken the decision that Your Croydon, which was published ten times a year under the previous administration at a cost of more than £250,000 to taxpayers, will be reduced to four editions per year, pending the outcome of the CLG consultation on local authority publicity. This will save £150,000 per year compared with the Labour-led magazine, Croydon Reports.

CQ438 - 10 from Councillor Gerry Ryan

LE

How many Scrutiny Call Ins have been made prior to this municipal year since the inception. Please give dates and details? Reply Please see attached sheet

CQ438-10 Council 6 December 2010

CALL-INS HELD IN CROYDON UP TILL APRIL 2010 DATE TOPIC SCRUTINY COMMITTEE 20.02.03 Croydon Co-op Feasibility Study

Scrutiny and Overview committee

14.04.04 Ashburton Learning Village PFI Joint: Scrutiny and Overview committee and Learning and Leisure sub-committee

12.05.05 Customer Focus Process Migration and Contact Centre Development Scrutiny and Overview committee

20.06.05 New Waddon Leisure, Community and Learning Disabilitiers Resource Centre Scrutiny and Overview committee

06.02.07 Primary School Provision in Ashburton

Joint: Scrutiny and Overview committee and Education and Lifelong Learning sub-committee

06.02.07 Phase 2 Budget Options for 2007-2008 Scrutiny and Overview committee

03.10.07

Parking Services management and Administration Project Scrutiny and Overview committee

04.03.08 Housing Special Purpose Vehicle Scrutiny and Overview committee

07.07.08 Selection of preferred private sector partner for Urban Regeneration Vehicle Scrutiny and Overview committee

14.11.08 Proposals for the Council to move to commercial close of the Urban Regeneration Vehicle

Scrutiny and Overview committee

19.02.09 Transforming Croydon schools

Children Learning and Leisure

01.12.09 Croydon Economic Development Company Scrutiny and Overview committee

CQ439 - 10 from Councillor Toni Letts

LE

Did the Leader read pages 18 and 19 of the Croydon Advertiser, Friday November 12 and did he take notice of the effects that the parking restrictions and penalty notices have on businesses within the Borough will he therefore pledge to freeze parking charges over the next three years Reply Unlike when Labour ran the Council and put parking charges up year on year, this administration takes a more considered approach. As we have done in the past we will monitor and take on board any impact parking charges have on the local area and make appropriate decisions on future charging policies in due course.

CQ440 - 10 from Councillor Tony Newman

LE

Will he join with myself and local residents to oppose Boris Johnston’s decision to abolish the Zone 6 to Zone 2 travel card? Reply On balance, the decision to simplify London fares makes sense because many infrequent travellers are often perplexed at the complexity of the current arrangements. Currently only around 7,000 One Day Travelcards valid in Zones 2-6 are sold daily, including just 300 people during peak times. So, although the current “Zones 2-6” daily Travelcard is indeed being withdrawn, the new Oyster PAYG fares mean that only people making large numbers of PAYG trips in a single day will spend as much as the cost of a One Day Travelcard. It also makes sense for those passengers who travel outside Zone 1 frequently consider buying weekly or monthly season tickets. On a wider point about the proposed fares increases for 2011, The Mayor has confirmed that fares on London’s Tube, buses, London Overground, DLR and trams in 2011 will rise only by the level signalled last year, the minimum to secure investment in London’s transport network and protect frontline services. All free and concessionary travel for the elderly, the young, the poorest and disabled Londoners has also been protected in full.

CQ441 - 10 from Councillor Tony Newman

LE

What is the total annual interest payment that the Council is paying with regard to the loan to part finance the new public sector hub? Reply

As set out in the Treasury Management Strategy 2010/11 which was approved by Cabinet in February 2010, the funding of the PSDH has been financed by a secured loan to John Laing (Croydon Development Company) LLP (DEVCO). The Council has been able to secure the finance within the interest rates set out in that report which was 4.5%. DEVCO are liable to repay the council at a commercial rate of interest which ensures that the council are a net recipient of interest from this arrangement.

CQ442 - 10 from Councillor Tony Newman

LE

Will he as Council Leader and after four and a half years of a Conservative Council add his own public apology to that made recently by the Chief Executive, to those parents and students who are unable to find School places in the North of Croydon, despite until recently record levels of investment in Schools from national Government? Reply

“We have got enough places in Croydon, but I can’t get away from the fact that there is less space in the north of the borough. Strong demographic growth and a densely populated area means there is a need to further increase school places in the north” This is in fact what the Chief Executive said to the Advertiser. New Local Authority responsibility for managing the coordination of in-year admissions combined with significant pupil movement into the borough has presented challenges. There are a number of children who have applied ‘in-year’ and have not yet received an offer of a school place. This number changes on a daily basis as offers are made and new children apply. As of 29 November 2010 there were 177 Croydon resident children without an offer of a school place, 51 of whom had applied for a school place four or more weeks ago. Officers are working in partnership with all schools in the borough to ensure that children who require a school place in-year are out of school for as short a time as possible.

CQ456 - 10 from Councillor Paul Scott

LE

Is the Leader of the Council continuing his Fair Deal for Croydon campaign and how successful does he feel he has been to date? Reply

FAIR DEAL – PROGRESS The Council will be continuing to try to obtain a Fair Deal for Croydon. The 2010 Spending Review confirmed that there will be a Local Government Resource Review that will consider both the wider issues around the funding of local government in general as well as the distribution mechanism used to allocate the Formula Grant. Many of the issues we originally identified, where Croydon did not receive a fair deal, are still relevant and will be pursued in engaging with this review and other consultations. Progress to date includes;-

Area Cost Adjustment geography – The Settlement Working Group (SWG) considered a number of options around geographical smoothing, which would have met Croydon’s concerns, in its round of meetings looking at issues for the forthcoming settlement. Although these did not appear in the formula grant consultation paper we took the issue forward in our response and will pursue the matter in the forthcoming review.

Incentives to encourage business growth – We were successful in arguing that

the rewards through the Local Authority Business Growth Incentive (LABGI) grant were distributed on a London-wide basis recognising Croydon’s contribution to London as a whole. We will respond positively to the government’s proposals for it replacement, TIF (Tax Incentive Funding).

Asylum Seekers and Persons subject to Immigration Control - More certainty

on funding has been achieved in the full funding of most of our costs in recognition of Croydon being a gateway authority. The most significant funding-gap remaining is the cost of the No Recourse to Public Funds (NRPF) group and we continue to raise this with government.

Population - Croydon is one of a number of councils seeking funding

recognition of the provision of services arising from population mobility and short-term migration groups. These concerns have been recognised with the possible inclusion of this population group in the Formula Grant settlement following the Resource Review once enumeration issues have been resolved.

Supporting People – This grant will move from Area Based Grant to Formula

Grant in 2011/12. This gives the opportunity for it to be driven by formula rather than by historical spend which penalised Croydon. We will be actively engaged

in the review of the formula that drives the distribution of Adults PSS funding for which the government has already started preparations.

Housing (HRA) – The government is moving towards a self-financing HRA as

Croydon has called for in the past. There have been clear successes in the areas of funding for asylum seekers and LABGI and in ensuring other area such as ACA geography and housing are on the agenda. The government has committed itself to a review of local government finances and we shall take the opportunity to influence the outcomes of that process to obtain a Fair Deal for Croydon.

CQ457 - 10 from Councillor Simon Hall

LE

I understand that there has been a review of every council-owned and council-run property in the Fieldway-New Addington area. Can the Leader please provide me with details of the Council's intention for each of these properties? Reply The Council is currently reviewing all its existing properties across the borough as part of an update of its Corporate Property Strategy and Asset Management Implementation Plan. The project is due to complete in the New Year and will be reported to Cabinet in February.

CQ458 - 10 from Councillor Simon Hall

LE

Does the Leader recognise the cumulative impact of his administration's seeming war on Fieldway-New Addington, including the withdrawal of the sheltered housing officers, the closure of the Cyber Cafe (despite personal assurances from him to one of the directors of the Cyber Cafe prior to the May elections), the probable closure of the Women's Centre, the proposed closure of the Timebridge Youth Clubs, the uncertainty regarding the Timebridge Centre as a whole, the risks that the Family Centre, Fieldway, is under to name but a few? Reply Can I start by saying that I find the way you have chosen to phrase your question to be deeply offensive - to talk about declaring “war” on residents in order to attempt to make a political point is nothing less than scaremongering. This is a Council for everyone living and working in the whole borough. May I also remind you that this Council, like all others, must share the burden of reductions in public expenditure in order to reduce the national debt mess left by the previous – your - Labour Government. I have said repeatedly that my administration intends to do everything we can to minimise the impact of the loss of government funding but the harsh reality is that we face tough choices. Choices that we are involving local people in – which is why last month we asked all our residents to give their views on which services should be supported. It is why we have consulted recently on the future of youth services in the borough, it is why we have reviewed the way we intend to commission services from the third sector across the board and why we specifically consult clients and service users about future service provision. As a Council with a care service judged only last month by independent inspectors as “performing excellently”, our background of efficiency and innovation will, I believe, stand it in good stead. So the proposals to introduce a new model for sheltered housing support are based on careful investigation of good practice and close consultation with users. The model we have selected has the benefit of support from the older people’s partnership group and NHS partners largely because it will improve the service offer to the majority of the borough and it makes better use of technology. We understand that many of our residents and clients are nervous of any change in their services but we intend – again as you would expect from a four star service – to handle the change sensitively and to support users carefully. As regards the specific points you make relating to the Cyber Café, Since 2005, Community Server has received about £150,000 of support through grants as well as support in kind through rate relief, utility costs and building maintenance. In the past year the Council has provided an additional £8,000 to supplement the annual revenue grant. It is a great disappointment to me that an organisation which has received significant support through funding and officer time has not been able to fulfil its potential to

become more sustainable. As regards the Women’s Centre this, I understand, has sufficient external funding to carry on with volunteers for at least another year. It must be right that decisions relating to how the Centre is taken forward are determined by the Centre itself. Equally, that applies to the Timebridge Centre as changes arising from the youth service review don’t necessarily undermine the future of the Centre itself.

CQ459 - 10 from Councillor Wayne Lawlor

LE

Tory Peer, Lord Young incredibly told the nation that ‘they have never had it so good!’ Given the Leader’s acceptance of a 34% pay increase, arguably he may not have had it so good. This message chimes with this Conservative council’s decision to go ahead with its new headquarters, slashing both the voluntary sector and youth provision in this Borough, whilst making thousands of people unemployed. How does he feel about accepting such an over inflated-bumper-pay-rise when council workers are about to be made redundant? Reply

As I have made clear previously, I have not received any increase in the amount that I receive from the Council in my role as Leader of the Council. And, as I have made, and continue to make, clear had your Labour Government not changed the local government funding regime starving this borough of resources and denying Croydon people the same level of funding as elsewhere in the capital, and had your Labour Government not ruined our nation’s economy leaving a record level of national debt, we in Croydon would not be facing the prospect of having to take extremely hard choices about local services.

CQ460 - 10 from Councillor Carole Bonner

LE

Can the Leader provide a summary of the costings in relation to the Employment Based Cost Review and confirm that these proposals are fully costed? Would he further send full details of those savings in the medium term financial strategy, the budgets for 2009/10 (with outturns) and 2010/11 and the latest statements of account to me and the trade unions representing employees of this Council. Reply Please find below the costs for the EBCR proposals. These have been fully costed and confirmed by the Finance department. These costings are based on the current workforce and working patterns, so if there are reductions in the workforce, or changes in working patterns these figures may change. The costings have been shared with the three trade unions recognised for collective bargaining purposes (Unison, Unite and GMB). The council’s final proposals were shared with these three trade unions on 22 November 2010 who will be balloting their members on these proposals.

EBCR PROPOSALS AND ESTIMATED SAVINGS Description Indicative

Saving 2011/12

Indicative Saving 2013/14

Incremental progression limited to excellent PDCS rating only. Based on 15% of staff achieving excellent

£ 623,000

Abolishing overtime payments for employees at or above grade 12.[1]

£ 328,000

Reducing overtime enhancements for staff at grade 11 and below from 33% to 0% for Monday to Saturday 6am to 8pm and from 75% to 50% for Sunday working.

£ 451,000

Removal of the protected Saturday working enhancement from 01/04/13 for existing staff.

£475,000

Reducing the Sunday enhancement rate from 75% to 50% from 01/04/13 for existing staff.

£265,000

Reducing the night enhancement rate from 33% to 20% from 01/04/13 for existing staff.

£279,000

Redefining the qualifying times for receiving the night enhancement to 8pm to 6am

Unable to estimate

Redefining shift allowances so shift patterns worked within 6am to 8pm Monday to Saturday do not attract additional payments

10-20% of shift costs

Redefining essential car user allowance and associated reduction in essential users.

£ 479,000

Description Indicative Saving 2011/12

Indicative Saving 2013/14

Removing the lease car and lease car cash equivalent scheme

Unlikely to be any savings in year 1, but total cost of scheme is £189k p.a.

Limiting pay protection to one year only. For employees receiving pay protection as at 1/4/11, protection will stop with effect from 1/4/12.

None in year 1, but thereafter £194k p.a.

Redundancy pay proposals: compulsory redundancies based on 50% of weekly pay above the statutory cap and voluntary redundancies based on 75% of weekly pay above the statutory cap.

12-24% of redundancy costs.

Reduction in annual leave to a maximum of 30 days. Unable to estimate

Set out below are the latest forecast position on the 2010/11 budget and the final outturn for 2009/10.

2010‐11 Forecast outturn by Department from the October Monitoring report 

DEPARTMENT Revised budget 2010/11

Forecast outturn 2010/11

Forecast variance

after recovery

plans 2010/11

£m £m £m Adult Services and Housing 108.914 108.879 -0.035 Children, Young People & Learners 80.991 86.317 5.326 Community Services 62.410 62.726 0.316 Department of Public Health 0.171 0.171 0.000 Planning, Regeneration & Conservation 14.856 15.210 0.354 Central Departments - Chief Executive's 10.928 10.928 0.000 - Resources & Customers Services 18.671 18.563 -0.108 Transforming Croydon Schools 4.095 2.412 -1.683 Utilities & Business Rates 0.650 0.325 -0.325 Departmental Total 301.686 305.531 3.845

2009‐10 Outturn by Department from Annual Accounts    

DEPARTMENT Revised Budget 2009/10

Outturn 2009/10

Variance to revised

budget 2009/10

£m £m £m Adult Services & Housing 102.877 102.845 -0.032 Children, Young People & Learners 87.814 87.963 0.149 Community Services 66.566 66.534 -0.032 Public Health 0.034 0.034 0.000 Planning, Regeneration & Conservation 19.886 19.831 -0.055 Central Departments       - Chief Executive's 10.919 10.823 -0.096 - Resources & Customers Services 15.823 15.560 -0.263 Building Schools for the Future 5.015 4.815 -0.200 Departmental total 308.934 308.405 -0.529

CQ484 - 10 from Councillor Mark Watson

LE

Would the Leader please give the reason why Croydon Council will not sign up to the Mayor of London's London Living Wage which would ensure that those people employed indirectly by the council will be paid the minimum of £7.85 per hour; the Greater London Authority (GLA) has stated ‘Someone paid less than about £6.80 an hour in the capital will be living in poverty, even after benefits and tax credits are taken into account’. Reply As I made clear at the last Council Meeting none of the Council’s employees, with the exception of apprentices, receive a salary lower than the London Living Wage. Indeed all employees receive pay in excess of the national minimum wage. As regards staff who are “indirectly” employed – by this I’m assuming you mean staff employed by our contractors – our contractors are of course mindful of their obligations to their employees. Quite rightly, the Council always seeks to ensure that quality and value for money are key criteria within the procurement process. Suppliers are able, and indeed are expected, to innovate and transform services using their experience of the market in which they operate. This includes knowledge and application of appropriate pay to enable them to attract and maintain staff as well as focusing on the delivery of excellent value for money services to our residents and customers.

CQ485 - 10 from Councillor Stuart Collins

LE

You and your colleagues continue to peddle the Conservative HQ line that all cuts in Croydon are down to the deficit and it is Labour’s fault, not the bankers. Do you not understand and accept that between 2000 and the credit crunch of August 2007 Labour actually borrowed less as a percentage of G.D.P than the Conservatives did in most of the individual years of their Government. Reply I’m always willing to explain to you in public why the previous Labour Government’s fiscal and economic politics failed. So, in the words of the Chancellor, here goes:

• We have, at £109 billion pounds, the largest structural budget deficit in Europe. • This at a time when the whole world is concerned about high deficits, and our

economic stability depends on allaying those concerns. • We are paying, at a rate of £120 million a day, £43 billion a year in debt interest. • This at a time when we all know that that money would far better serve the needs

of own citizens than those of the foreign creditors we borrow from. • And we have inherited from the previous Government plans – if you can call them

that – that envisaged our national debt ratio still rising in the year 2014.

Undoubtedly the actions of certain banks contributed to the destablisation of the economy, but the major fault resides with the previous Labour Government for its disastrous borrowing policies and failure to crack down on the banks sooner. Even ex-Prime Minister Gordon Brown admitted this last April when he said he should have been tougher on the banks and introduced greater regulation. Unfortunately for everyone, it is as simple as this.

CQ491 - 10 from Councillor Patricia Hay-Justice

LE

Is the Leader aware that Croydon is sometimes portrayed by the media as a grey concrete jungle, is he therefore contributing to this view by his planned cuts to all the arts services within the Borough? . Reply As you appear to have asked exactly the same question as Councillor Alisa Flemming may I direct you to my reply to her in CQ157-10.

CQ493 - 10 from Councillor Matthew Kyeremeh

LE

Given the Leader of the Council’s criticism of the previous Labour Government’s investment in improving our country, could he please list those initiatives such as Building Schools for the Future, LEGI, Parks to be Proud Of, etc that he was opposed to or felt were inappropriate uses of tax payers money and that he therefore did not direct the Council to apply for? Reply I reflected long on this question because in many ways I couldn’t quite believe it. Unless I’ve completely misunderstood, you appear to be suggesting that because the previous Labour Government chose to fund local councils not purely by need (because if that had indeed been the case Croydon people would surely have received more direct government grant per head) but by requiring them (local councils) to negotiate a never-ending cycle of bidding rounds and discrete grants in order to attract additional resources - that the Council should not have done this? It was no secret that, together with my colleagues, we spent our first administration pursuing the former Labour Government for more resources and the best deal possible for the people of Croydon. And if that meant entering bidding rounds and applying for discrete grants – then that is what we did. It would have been nonsense to do otherwise.

CQ517 - 10 from Councillor Alisa Flemming

LE

Is the Leader aware that Croydon is sometimes portrayed by the media as a grey concrete jungle, is he therefore contributing to this view by his planned cuts to all the arts services within the Borough? Reply Yes I’m aware of the comments made I have said previously that it is important that we view them with a degree of amusement – after all we are a borough of more than 300 green spaces and only this year received yet another set of London in Bloom and Britain in Bloom plaudits – or should I say bouquets? We’re also a borough that is seen as being forward thinking and highly innovative in the ways in which we are choosing to make Croydon a place where people want to come and live and work. We have won significant interest the way we have developed our own Regeneration Vehicle – CURV; our recent borough-wide visioning exercise saw 20,000 people comment and saw Croydon shortlisted in the Local Government Awards for 2010. And only last month the Develop Croydon conference was hailed as a significant success (see http://www.developcroydon.com/). Like all in local government, the Council faces difficult decisions as it seeks to bring its expenditure in line with significantly reduced funding from Government. To my mind, it is the manner in which we make those changes – by involving local people in the decisions – and by choosing to be innovative and efficient which will influence Croydon’s future image. Which is why of course, the Council is taking great pains to consult local people about the future of local public services – hence the consultation around the arts service to which you refer. This is the opportunity for local people to say what their expectations are for these services.

CQ522 - 10 from Councillor Raj Rajendran

LE

Croydon is one of the most diverse boroughs of London. Recently a member of Council’s Majority Group described the Black History Celebration as a ‘left wing vanity project’. Does the Leader of the Council share the view of his fellow Councillor? Reply

I have already made it clear publicly that I do not.

_____________________________________________________ CQ523 - 10 from Councillor Donna Gray LE Please set out your vision for the ‘Big Society’ in Croydon explaining how he can ensure that the young, the old and vulnerable will be supported? Reply I’m pleased to advise you that the Cabinet meeting on 13th December will be considering a discussion paper on what the Big Society means for Croydon. It draws on best practice across the Council and our Local Strategic Partnership and highlights a number of areas, including “personalisation” in adult social care, where the Council together with local partners are enabling local people of all ages to have greater control over their lives, whether this is helping design how their needs can be best met within the community or their own home, or improving their quality of life with less dependency on the state. The paper also puts forward for discussion the following five key priorities around which a new Community Empower Strategy will be developed:

• Extending Personalisation and Co-Production • Supporting a Thriving Third Sector • A Centre of Excellence for Youth Empowerment • Assets in People’s Hands • Transparent, Accountability and Fairness

The agenda for the Cabinet meeting and supporting papers are being published this week.

CQ524 - 10 from Councillor Patricia Hay-Justice

LE

Will the Leader please list out the services that he is cutting that are used by him personally or members of his immediate family? Reply I have assumed that your interest here is whether my family use local public services. We do. Like most households, the degree to which we use them varies at different times and I expect that to remain the case for the foreseeable future. I am proud to say that I come from a family that have long been residents of the borough. Indeed, my desire to contribute in some way to the borough of my birth – to help make it a better place - led me directly into local public service and local politics. I believe I am fortunate to be able to serve local residents and remain extremely proud of Croydon. Incidentally, as you are a new Councillor I have made allowances for the way you have elected to pose your question. I’m certain you did not for a moment wish to suggest that the way this administration handles decision-making and decisions around service provision is anything less than to the highest and most transparent standards.