Consultation hub

We asked business ratepayers within the borough for their views on our proposed budget for 2023-24, as business rates are a key contributor to our income budget. Business rates help support local services including street lighting, waste collection and public parks. We laid out the Council’s seven Priorities and asked ratepayers to tell us what was most important to them, as well as asking what they thought we were doing well and what needs improvement.

• There is a good level of business support offered to its businesses and that the north of the borough had good public transport links, safe streets and school streets. People are able to live locally and avoid long journeys to reach work and leisure facilities. 

• There is support for increasing street safety and public transport, and a strong desire for a reduction in graffiti. 

• Business rates should be reduced generally and there should be more access to grants. You suggested that new businesses should be entitled to 100% relief in the first year and then a sliding scale for the next five years to enable the business to be established. The benefit of this being that the business would be better able to benefit the wider local community and create and protect jobs.

• The consultation was taken to the Council meeting on Wednesday 1^st March 2023.

• The Council recognises the difference between the north and south of the borough in terms of infrastructure provision and continues to work collaboratively with Transport for London and other partners to secure investment, to ensure that both capital and service delivery provides for all of our residents across all wards. 

• The Council’s Active Travel Fund, as part of its planned capital programme, seeks to increase the number of safe streets and school streets, and will work closely with Transport for London to improve public transport accessibility where possible. As part of the pressures funding for 2023/24 there is specific additional funding being made available to tackle fly tipping and ensure that the Council can continue to tackle and enforce against all types of antisocial or illegal activity on our streets. 

• Business Rates are governed by legislation, in particular the Local Government Finance Act 1992. Whilst we appreciate the comments in terms of the charges and applicable reliefs for new businesses, the Council are solely responsible for the billing and collection of Business Rates, not the setting of these.

• Tackling antisocial behaviour: Please provide your views on our proposed Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) here. 

To help Lewisham Council to prepare an assessment of the current and future needs of local people for pharmacy services, we asked you to tell us how your local pharmacy (also called a chemist) is giving you the things that you need. For example, your prescription, getting advice on treating minor health concerns and healthy living and/or essential vaccination.

Overall, 129 participants completed the survey, and more than 98% were Lewisham residents. Most of the respondents were from SE6 (postcode) or SE13. Majority of the respondents were female (78%) and age group of 45-74 (66%). About 59% of the respondents identified themselves as White British. Around 31% of the respondents consider themselves to have a disability and Hidden disability: Diabetes was declared from 64% of the respondents who said to have a disability.

The survey findings were as follows:

• The majority (95%) of the respondents use a pharmacy in Lewisham. Using a pharmacy one a month was the most common usage by the respondents (50%).
• Most of the respondents said they use the local pharmacy to collect prescribed medication (97%). Many used their local pharmacy for advice (33%) and to buy medication that doesn’t need a prescription (over the counter medicines) (58%).
• More than half of the respondents use the same pharmacy on a regular basis (73%).
• More than half of the respondents usually walk to their pharmacy (78%), and it takes no more than 10 minutes (66%)
• A quarter of the respondents said there is a more convenient or closer pharmacy that they do not use (33%).
• For weekdays, mornings (36%) and afternoon (31%) were the most convenient time for respondents to access as pharmacy.
• For Saturday, mornings (63%) and afternoon (28%) were the most convenient time for respondents to access as pharmacy.
• For Sunday, mornings (47%) and afternoon (27%) were the most convenient time for respondents to access as pharmacy.
• Collecting prescriptions (91%) or repeat prescriptions (93%), buying over the counter medicines (93%) and advice from your pharmacist (91%) were the most selected services that the respondents have used from the pharmacy.
• Most of the respondents wanted to have different public health and/or clinical services offered by the pharmacy, however, services that were not sure or not wanted by the majority of respondents were needle exchange (no: 18%, don’t know: 51%), stopping smoking/nicotine replacement therapy (no: 24%, don’t know: 35%) and supervised consumption of methadone and buprenorphine (no: 22%, don’t know: 46%).
• Majority of the respondents were satisfied or very satisfied with the opening times (79%), consultation rooms (42%), and medicines review and advice (47%).

We used your feedback to help develop our draft of the Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment (PNA) which is now available to review from this link (https://consultation.lewisham.gov.uk/community-services/lewishampna/).

We are now at the second stage of our consultation. A Public Consultation is being undertaken from 30th August 2022 to 28th October 2022, to seek the views of members of the public and other stakeholders, on whether they agree with the contents of this Draft Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment Report and whether it addresses issues that they consider relevant to the provision of pharmaceutical services. We would like you to give us your views on the draft PNA report by the 28th October. The feedback will be reported and reflected in the final revised Pharmaceutical Needs Assessment Report, in November 2022.

Between 9^th May and 10^th June 2022 we asked residents about their knowledge of suicide prevention interventions and training available.

89 responses were received, mostly female and white. All those who responded had heard of the Samaritans but much fewer had heard of Papyrus or the Survivors of Bereavement by Suicide (SOBS). Not many knew what they would say to someone who admitted to wanting to take their own life.

In December 2022 the Council’s Health and Wellbeing Board (chaired by the Mayor) agreed the strategy and the action plan and work will begin to deliver against the aims set out in the strategy. Both the strategy and action plan can be found below.