Agenda item

The Sub-Committee considered a resolution from the Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park Committee from its meeting on 7 January 2021 concerning Departmental and Service Committee budget estimates 2021/22, to ensure that this Sub-Committee fully understood the issues facing Open Spaces since the 12% savings figure was agreed, and its joint impact on Open Spaces in combination with significant cuts in the Cyclical Works Programme (CWP) funding.

The Deputy Chairman opened the discussion by outlining that the Sub-Committee were sympathetic to the pressures facing Open Spaces at this time and that if there were further financial issues in-year, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, these could be taken into account.

The Chair of the Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park Committee then spoke in defence of the hard work of officers during the COVID-19 pandemic and underlined how hard the pressures had been. She also felt that the length of this particular meeting should have been scheduled for longer than one hour.

The Deputy Chamberlain underlined the Deputy Chairman’s point that there was recognition of the particular pressures that are faced by the Open Spaces department, and that there were mechanisms in place should there need to be financial flexibility in-year due to COVID.

RESOLVED, that:-

·         The resolution from the Hampstead Heath, Highgate Wood and Queen’s Park Committee be noted.