Update on Drumbeat Outreach Service
“I wanted to update you on the situation at Drumbeat Outreach. You will remember that, following concerns about a staff consultation at the service, the consultation was paused in March.
At the time, there was a misunderstanding about the Council’s funding of Drumbeat; to restate, we value the work of the Outreach service as much as the families who use it. We did not make any changes to the funding given to Drumbeat, in fact, funding has been increased.
The Council has been working with the leadership team at Drumbeat to support them to carefully review their budget planning and ensure robust scrutiny of their financial position.
We will continue to support them to marketing and trading their services to more schools and settings across Lewisham to increase income generation and long-term viability. We’ve also agreed a refreshed service level agreement, to be in place at the start of the new academic year. This will all help them to get to a more sustainable financial position.
The staff consultation has now reopened and proposes a reduction of three support staff/specialist advisors. We will support Drumbeat and the members of staff to explore options for those impacted, such as opportunities in other Lewisham schools.
I want to emphasise how much we value all the staff and young people at all of our schools. We understand how valuable the work Drumbeat Outreach is and want to do everything we can to support them to operate within their budget to ensure they can continue to do their vital work.”
Cllr Edison Huynh, Cabinet Member for Children and Young People