Agenda item
TO RECEIVE PETITIONS
The Council Procedure Rules provide for a maximum of three petitions to be presented at an Ordinary Meeting of the Council.
The deadline for receipt of petitions for this Council meeting is noon on Thursday 14 July 2016.
However at the time of agenda despatch, the maximum number of petitions has already been received as set out in the attached report.
One further petition has been received which collected more than 2,000 signatures and is presented for debate as set out in the additional report.
Minutes:
5.1 Petition relating Drug Dealing
Petition not presented due to the absence of the petitioner.
RESOLVED:
That the petition be referred to the Chief Executive and Acting Corporate Director, Communities, Localities and Culture, for a written response within 28 days.
5.2 Petition relating to Poplar HARCA parking
DorosUllahaddressed the meeting and responded to questions from Members. Mayor John Biggs then responded to the matters raised in the petition. Whilst acknowledging that responsibility for setting the parking charges fell outside the remit of the Council, the Mayor reported that he and ward colleagues had expressed concerns to the Chief Executive and the Chair of Poplar HARCA about the increase in the parking charges. He also reported that Poplar HARCA had indicated a willingness to review their position and the Administration would be making further representations to them again at that stage.
RESOLVED:
That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Development and Renewal for a written response within 28 days.
5.3 Petition relating to Old Ford Housing Association
John Forsteraddressed the meeting and responded to questions from Members. Mayor John Biggs then responded to the matters raised in the petition. He stated that he had met and exchanged correspondence with the Circle Housing Group and Affinity Sutton to discuss their plans to close the Old Ford Housing Association and centralise all services under its own management. He thanked all those involved in this work to date, especially Councillor Marc Francis for his efforts in dealing with the concerns and also for pushing for the outstanding repairs works to be carried out. The Administration would continue to escalate these particular concerns.
The Mayor considered that the proposed transfer conflicted with the Housing Association’s duty to provide locally managed and accountable services. Accordingly, his Administration would be making representations to that end and would be triggering the dispute resolution process of the Stock Transfer Agreement that covered some aspects of the concerns.
The Mayor also stated that he was willing to meet and work with the petitioners to secure a better outcome for the management of their housing and to ensure that the new landlord consulted the residents on their plans.
RESOLVED:
That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Development and Renewal for a written response within 28 days.
5.4 Petition Debate – Cuts to community language services
JahedChouddhury addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners. The Council then debated the matters raised by the petition and Councillor Asma Begum, Cabinet Member for Cultureresponded to the issues raised.
Procedural Motion
Councillor Asma Begum moved and Councillor Racheal Saunders seconded, a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.5, Rule 13.1 be suspended to enable an urgent motion regarding the Community Language Services to be considered”.
The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed
The Speaker adjourned the meeting at 7.50pm. The meeting reconvened at 8:00pm. The Speaker then adjourned the meeting again at 8:15pm and the meeting was reconvened at 8:30pm.
Councillor Asma Begum moved, and Councillor Rachael Saunders seconded, the urgent motion [text of motion as set out in the resolution below].
Following debate, the urgent motion as tabled was put to the vote and was agreed.
RESOLVED:
This council notes:
1. The passion with which community languages have been supported by committed groups in our communities. The CLS is provided through 50 projects and provides tuition for Bengali, Arabic, Somali, Arabic, Cantonese, Mandarin, Lithuanian, Vietnamese and Urdu.
2. That these classes are provided free of charge to local children in venues across the borough including primary and secondary schools, Idea Stores, local community centres, churches and mosques.
3. That the current budget for Community Language Services is £400,000 a year to fund admin costs and tutor hours. There is however a current overspend of £80,000.
4. That some projects also receive Mainstream Grant funding.
5. That the previous administration left a management system in chaos. A recent audit report raised serious concerns about the way the CLS was managed with regular overspending, poor reporting on what it was achieving and serious safeguarding concerns. We cannot ignore those findings.
6. That the Audit report gave the CLS the lowest rating of Nil as a result of its failing management. The investigation found:
o Value for taxpayer money was not monitored
o In some cases no evidence was recorded of students attending and there were no reports on performance.
o There were no child protection policies in place at some providers
o Payments were signed off without proper procedures and massive budget overspends.
o DBS checks were expired and some personal information was unlawfully held.
7. That no change is therefore not an option.
8. That the Mayor understands that the CLS is important to many people in our community and wants to protect and develop it, in partnership with community organisations who support the service, and place it on a more sustainable footing.
This Council also notes that:
9. The Government have removed community languages from the list of accepted GCSEs. The Government have also proposed cutting funding for non-core subjects from next year – this will cut another £3.1m from Tower Hamlets’ education budget. For this reason the current arrangement for the early GCSEs must end. The Mayor will look urgently at whether alternative provision can be secured. This is however likely to be difficult.
10. That the First Language Assessment service has not functioned for the past two years – it was stopped under the last administration - as many schools now have their own assessors and there was no demand.
11. That concerns have been expressed about the CLS being moved out of Children’s services and into the Idea Stores community learning programme despite this change taking place under the previous administration and being introduced by Cllr Oliur Rahman.
This council believes:
12. That the failures of management identified in the Audit report, which happened under the previous administration, put children, tutors, taxpayer money and the whole CLS service at risk. This was a failure of a service provided to the community.
This Council resolves:
13. To welcome the Mayor’s statement recognising the importance of community languages to our community.
14. To note the Mayors intention that the service be supported but recognising that to support the service it must change, in partnership with those who support it.
15. To work with all stakeholders, particularly parents and community groups to ensure that the Community Language Service is fit for purpose.
16. To work with community organisations to develop a service fit for the future and driven by the community.
Supporting documents:
- Item 5 - Report Petitions to Council 210916, item 5. PDF 73 KB
- Item 5.4 - Petition Debate report 210916, item 5. PDF 80 KB