Councillor Stephen Alambritis will provide an update and take questions

Councillor Stephen Alambritis provided an update and responded to questions. Finances across local government remain stretched and Merton was no exception. The latest Medium Term Financial Strategy shows that there is a budget gap of £19m from 2019/20 to 2022/23. This would be met through a mix of savings and income generation. Much of the cost pressures relate to Adult Social Care where the Council has a statutory duty to provide for some of the most vulnerable people in Merton. The Council has invested an additional £9m in Adult Social Care to help meet these challenges.

Children’s services, where the Council is a corporate parent to 135 children and young people, are also a high priority. The recent Ofsted inspection found that the Council was good with outstanding features and one of the top ten authorities in England.

Working in partnership with other boroughs has also helped reduce costs. Merton leads a legal services partnership on behalf of four other boroughs; shares regulatory services like licensing across three boroughs and has event let out three floors in the Civic Centre to colleagues in the NHS. Renting out parks has also brought in additional revenue but can cause residents concern which the council is sensitive too.

The new dementia friendly library in Colliers Wood was recently short-listed for the 2018 Library of the Year award.

The Council has created an additional 4400 extra primary school places since 2010 by extending 23 schools. There are now 15 outstanding schools in Merton, including the most recently Harris Morden, a school which had previously rated as inadequate. The Council’s School Improvement Team continues to work across the borough to support schools. In last year’s GCSE results Merton had the highest scores for the Progress 8 school which measures progress from Key Stage 2 to Key Stage 4.

There a number of important regeneration projects underway. Clarion Housing is investing £1billion in improving three estates, that will result in better quality homes and no loss of social housing. The More Morden regeneration is back on track, with a new local plan being developed in 2018, and a development partner being appointed to begin works on improving the public domain in 2021. The new £13m Morden Leisure Centre is due to open later in the autumn with a six-lane pool, diving pool, café and gym. The old leisure centre will then be demolished and returned to park land. On Plough Lane work is progressing on the new football stadium for AFC Wimbledon. The club will hopefully move in for the 2020/21 season. There will also be 600 new homes, at least 30% of which will be affordable. £7million has been invested in Mitcham town centre, the tower in Colliers Wood has finally been improved and a new improved healthcare facility at the Wilson should be open by 2022. Whilst Crossrail 2 is welcomed, it is not at the cost of the town centre.

The use of Landfill needs to stop and the new rubbish and recycling service beginning on 1 October should help increase the amount of household rubbish is recycled to over 45%. The new system should also save £1.5m in the first year, £2million a year thereafter and reduce litter on the street. The street cleaning performance of Veolia has not been good enough, and we are sorry for that. In 2017/18 we deducted 10% of the contract value and will do again this year if necessary.

Cllr Alambritis thanked all those who volunteered in Merton. Volunteers are an essential part of life in Merton and he was pleased that the Cabinet had just agreed to continue to support the voluntary sector through a new Strategic Partner Funding Programme.

On the new Harris Academy Cllr Alambritis said the Council had a duty to provide sufficient primary school places and the expansion in that sector meant a new secondary school was needed. The proposal from Harris had been agreed by the Department for Education and the Education and Skills Funding Agency. The new school was already oversubscribed and proving popular with parents. The Planning Applications Committee is a quasi-judicial committee that takes information from experts and objections and support submitted by residents. If someone feels something untoward has taken place they can report to the Local Government Ombudsman. 

A resident asked about the option of Compulsory Purchase Order of the building being used for temporary accommodation on the Willow Lane Industrial Estate. Cllr Alambritis said CPOs are looked at on an individual basis and he was happy to look into the particular case.

A resident said she felt that planning officers were overworked and under pressure with reduced enforcement activity but a quality service is a priority. Cllr Alambritis said the service is under pressure, many services are as the council has to priorities and make difficult decisions to balance the budget.

A resident asked about the proposal for a concert hall on the P3 site. Cllr Alambritis said that the lease for the site, the car park behind Morrison’s, would return to the council in 2019 and that he had met with the Wimbledon Choral Society to discuss their plans. They key would be if the plans are both deliverable and sustainable.