Decision details
TO CONSIDER MOTIONS SUBMITTED BY MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL
Decision Maker: Council
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Decision:
Procedural Motion
Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman moved, and Councillor Joshua Peck seconded, a procedural motion – “That under Procedure Rule 14.1.13 the meeting be extended to allow for the consideration of Motions 12.10 12.13 and 12.16”.
The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.
12.10 Mayoral apology to the Honourable Syed Ashraful Islam MP
Councillor Khales Uddin Ahmed moved, and Councillor Motin Uz-Zaman seconded the motion as printed in the agenda.
The motion as printed in the agenda was put to the vote and was agreed.
This Council notes:
- That the Mayor personally intervened to block an event on the 9th August with the Honourable Syed Ashraful Islam MP from taking place in the Council Chamber.
-
That following the Mayor’s decision the
Council was forced to offer to hire an outside venue for the
Speaker’s official function which would have come at
significant tax-payer cost.
-
That the Honourable Syed
Ashraful Islam MP is an elected
representative of a Commonwealth country and had been formally
welcomed in other London boroughs.
- The high level of community interest in Mr Islam’s visit and the many people who wanted to attend the event.
This Council believes:
-
That the Mayor did intentionally abuse his position
to attempt to block the Speaker of the Council from carrying out
his constitutional duties.
-
The Speaker of the Council is a prestigious role
steeped in a history which should be respected and that the office
holder should be supported to carry out their civic duty to serve
and represent the entire borough.
-
The Mayor failed to meet the standards expected of
him by residents and tarnished the reputation of the borough with
his petty actions.
-
The Mayor should make a public apology to all of the
Speaker’s guests, including the Honourable Syed Ashraful Islam MP,
for any offence he caused.
This Council resolves:
-
That use of the Council Chamber should not be a
matter for the Executive or subject to Executive decisions and that
all councillors should have access and use of the Council Chamber
for the purposes of carrying out their roles as elected
representatives
(Action by: Aman Dalvi, Corporate Director Development and Renewal)
12.13 Mattress Recycling in Tower Hamlets
Councillor Shiria Khatun moved, and Councillor Joshua Peck seconded, the motion as printed in the agenda.
The motion as printed in the agenda was put to the vote and was agreed.
DECISION
This Council notes:
-
That across the borough unwanted mattresses are
frequently fly-tipped in streets and public places at the detriment
of the natural environment and local residents.
-
The Mayor’s introduction of a £15 charge for bulk waste
collection in Tower Hamlets.
- That a number of other London Councils have in place schemes offering free mattress collection and recycling. Labour run Lewisham council for example recycles over 9000 mattresses each year resulting in 307 tonnes saved from landfill last year.
- 10 million mattresses are landfilled every year in the UK and the annual contribution of mattresses to the nation’s waste stream is estimated to rise from 160,000 ton to 245,000 ton by the year 2016.
- That the Council incurs significant cost collecting and landfilling fly-tipped mattresses in the borough.
This Council Believes:
- That where possible recycling is a preferable alternative to landfill as it helps to protect the environment, creates jobs and saves money on landfill.
- With its dense urban population mattresses are regularly to be found dumped and fly-tipped in Tower Hamlets.
- Lewisham’s scheme of mattress recycling is a progressive and innovative scheme which has received significant uptake throughout the borough.
- A similar scheme in Tower Hamlets would allow the council to increase the amount of waste it recycles, reduce fly-tipping and better meet resident’s needs.
This Council resolves:
-
To call upon the Mayor to conduct a feasibility
study into introducing in Tower Hamlets a mattress recycling scheme
similar to that operated in Lewisham.
- To call on the Mayor report back to Full Council on the outcome of the study and to include the scheme in his next budget.
(Action by: Stephen Halsey, Corporate Director Communities, Localities and Culture)
12.16 Social Fund – Coalition Reforms
Councillor Carlo Gibbs moved, and Councillor Marc Francis seconded, the motion as printed in the agenda.
The motion as printed in the agenda was put to the vote and was agreed.
DECISION
This Council Notes
· The Social Fund was set up in 1988 to provide financial assistance predominantly to people on low incomes;
· It includes a regulated element, comprising Winter Fuel Payments, Cold Weather Payments, Funeral Payments and Sure Start Maternity Grants.
· The conditions for receiving these payments and grants are set down in regulations.
· It also includes a discretionary element, comprising Community Care Grants, Crisis Loans and Budgeting Loans, where awards are made at the discretion of Job Centre Plus;
· Social Fund Community Care Grants (CCGs) are available to homeless people, care leavers, ex-offenders leaving custody and others with an institutionalised background to help them with the costs of setting up home;
· Funding for CCGs was increased by around £10 million a year between2002/03 and 2006/07, but has remained at a total of £141 million since then;
· The Coalition Government’s proposal to reform to Social Fund, including the replacement of the CCG and Crisis Loans with locally-based provision;
· Ministers have refused to commit to ring-fence funding for this local provision or issue guidance to those authorities to ensure vulnerable people are helped;
· While there were many problems with the discretionary Social Fund, particularly as a result of its cash-limited nature, no organisation has called for it to be abolished;
· The de-ring fencing of Supporting People funding for vulnerable homeless people and others requiring housing support has resulted in cutbacks to those services in many authorities.
This Council Believes
·
These reforms undermine the principles of the
Welfare State and leave vulnerable people at the mercy of a
postcode lottery of local authority provision;
· The Labour Government’s previously published plans to modernise the Social Fund within the same basic structure as exists at present would provide for a much stronger safety-net for vulnerable people.
This Council Resolves
·
To call on the Mayor of Tower Hamlets to voice
opposition to these changes and give a commitment to ring-fence any
funding received for the purposes of replacing CCGs with locally administered grants/loans for
those same purposes.
· To call on the Mayor to prioritise developing a new system to replace CCGs in order to allow full scrutiny before its introduction in April 2013.
(Action by: Stephen Cody, Corporate Director Adults Health and Wellbeing)
Publication date: 21/09/2012
Date of decision: 19/09/2012
Decided at meeting: 19/09/2012 - Council
Accompanying Documents: