During the meeting the Council agreed to vary the order of business. To aid clarity, the Minutes are presented in the order that the items originally appeared on the agenda. Urgent motions, moved with the agreement of the Council, without notice, are listed at Item 13. The order the business was taken at the meeting was as follows:

·         Item 1 – Apologies for absence

·         Item 2 – Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

·         Item 3 – Minutes

·         Item 4 – Announcements

·         Item 5 – Petitions

·         Item 13.1 – Urgent Motion regarding nursery closures

·         Item 13.2 – Urgent Motion regarding OFSTED Inspections

·         Item 6 – Public Questions

·         Item 7 – Mayor’s Report

·         Item 12.3 – Motion regarding the Best Value Inspection undertaken by PwC.

·         Item 9 – Extension of Substance Misuse Strategy

·         Item 11.1 – Mid-Year Review Report for Treasury Management and Investment Strategy 2014./15

·         Item 11.2 – The Structure and Governance arrangements of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets Pension Fund

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of:

·         Councillor Ohid Ahmed

·         Councillor Andrew Cregan

·         Councillor Ayas Miah

·         Councillor Mohammed Mufti Miah; and

·         Councillor Oliur Rahman

There were no declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Council held on 10^th September 2014. The draft minutes are attached.

DECISION

That the unrestricted minutes of the Council meeting held on 10 September 2014 be confirmed as a correct record and the Speaker be authorised to sign them accordingly.

(Action by: John S. Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services)

RESOLVED

That the unrestricted minutes of the Council meeting held on 10 September 2014 be confirmed as a correct record and the Speaker be authorised to sign them accordingly.

The Speaker announced that his Charity Ball in aid of the Tower Hamlets Food Bank was to take place on Friday 28^th November at Eastwinter Garden. He invited all Members to purchase tickets to attend this worthwhile event.

Procedural Motion

At the conclusion of the Speaker’s announcements, Councillor Mahbub Alam moved, and Councillor Alibor Choudhury seconded, a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.3 the order of business be varied such that Motion 12.4 ‘Motion regarding the NUT Manifesto for Education’ be taken as the next item of business”. The motion was put to the vote and was defeated.

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 20^th November 2014. However, at the time of agenda despatch, the maximum number of petitions has already been received as set out in the attached report.

5.1 Petition to reduce the speed limit on Longnor Estate

Ms Joan Burton addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Shahed Ali, Cabinet Member for Clean and Green then responded to the matters raised in the petition.

DECISION

That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Communities, Localities and Culture, for a written response on any outstanding matters within 28 days.

(Action by: Stephen Halsey, Corporate Director, Communities, Localities and Culture)

5.2 Petition regarding services for children

Ms Christine Trumper addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Gulam Robbani, Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services then responded to the matters raised in the petition.

DECISION

That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Education, Social Care and Wellbeing, for a written response on any outstanding matters within 28 days.

(Action by: Robert McCulloch-Graham, Corporate Director, Education, Social Care and Wellbeing)

5.3 Petition against ‘the witch-hunt on Tower Hamlets’

Mr Nick Parkin and Mr Raihan Islam addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources then responded to the matters raised in the petition.

DECISION

That the petition be referred to Directorate of Law, Probity and Governance, for a written response on any outstanding matters within 28 days.

(Action by: Meic Sullivan-Gould, Interim Monitoring Officer)

The Council agreed to suspend Procedure Rule 19.2 to enable the following petition to be heard:

5.4 Petition on ‘Save our Nurseries in Tower Hamlets’

The petitioners addressed the meeting and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Gulam Robbani, Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services, then responded to the matters raised in the petition.

DECISION

That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Education, Social Care and Wellbeing, for a written response on any outstanding matters within 28 days.

(Action by: Robert McCulloch-Graham, Corporate Director, Education, Social Care and Wellbeing)

5.1 Petition to reduce the speed limit on Longnor Estate

Ms Joan Burton addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Shahed Ali, Cabinet Member for Clean and Green then responded to the matters raised in the petition. He was pleased to report that a consultation had already taken place on a potential borough-wide 20mph zone and that he hoped a decision could be taken on that in 2015. He promised to keep the petitioners updated.

RESOLVED

That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Communities, Localities and Culture, for a written response on any outstanding matters within 28 days.

5.2 Petition regarding services for children

Ms Christine Trumper addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Gulam Robbani, Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services then responded to the matters raised in the petition. He reiterated that no decision had yet been taken and that all consultation feedback would be fully considered. However, the highlighted that the Council had to find significant savings following central government cuts.

RESOLVED

That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Education, Social Care and Wellbeing, for a written response on any outstanding matters within 28 days.

5.3 Petition against ‘the witch-hunt on Tower Hamlets’

Mr Nick Parkin and Mr Raihan Islam addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources then responded to the matters raised in the petition. He highlighted what he referred to as the ‘attack on democracy and self-determination’ by the Secretary of State and reported that the Best Value investigation had uncovered no illegality or failures in front line services.

RESOLVED

That the petition be referred to Directorate of Law, Probity and Governance, for a written response on any outstanding matters within 28 days.

Procedural Motion

Councillor Khales Uddin Ahmed moved, and Councillor Danny Hassell seconded, a procedural motion “that Procedure Rule 19.2 be suspended to allow a further petition, on ‘Save our Nurseries in Tower Hamlets’, to be heard. The motion was put to the vote and was agreed.

5.4 Petition on ‘Save our Nurseries in Tower Hamlets’

The petitioners addressed the meeting and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Gulam Robbani, Cabinet Member for Education and Children’s Services, then responded to the matters raised in the petition. He highlighted that a consultation exercise was underway and that feedback from users was important to the final decision. He also stated that visits would be made to the nurseries to help gather information for use when taking the decision.

RESOLVED

That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Education, Social Care and Wellbeing, for a written response on any outstanding matters within 28 days.

Procedural Motions

At this point Councillor Danny Hassell moved, and Councillor Asma Begum seconded, a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.5, Rule 13.1 be suspended to enable an urgent motion regarding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The questions which have been received from members of the public for this Council meeting are set out in the attached report.  A maximum period of 20 minutes is allocated to this agenda item.

The following questions and in each case a supplementary question were put and were responded to by the relevant Executive Member:-

6.1       Question from Mr Terry McGrenera: 

Does the Council’s Constitution or the legislative introducing the Executive Mayoral system permit an alternative way to elect a Chair of the Council, a Councillor, other than by Councillors?

Response by Councillor Rabina Khan, Cabinet Member for Housing and Development

[Note:  Before responding to Mr. McGrenera, Councillor Khan stated that it was with sadness that she informed the Council of the death, earlier in the day, of a long-serving member of the authority’s development control staff.  Councillor Khan paid tribute to the officer’s service and offered her condolences and those of the Council to his wife and family.]

Thank you Terry and apologies.  The answer to your question is simply ‘no’.

Summary of supplementary question from Mr McGrenera

I was expecting that response and I would like to explain the reason for my question. My question arises from the regrettable events that took place at the previous council meeting in September. At the September meeting there were two adjournments for legal advice, one walk-out and zero respect for the democratic process on occasions. That said, since the decision to have a directly elected mayor the position of Speaker has become inherently a more difficult one in no small part because of the circumstances surrounding the fallout from the decision to have a directly elected mayor in 2010.

In these circumstances is it not time to change the constitution regarding the way the speaker is chosen in order that they are equal to the changed conditions in which the council conducts council meetings. In my opinion it is no longer tenable that the position of Speaker is seen as a sinecure or used for symbolic purposes by whichever party has the greater number of councillors. Also under the present arrangements the speaker is chosen without appearing before any committee, for example, the Overview and Scrutiny committee, so that their suitability can be tested. In summary I am asking that the council’s constitution is changed in order to help prevent any regrettable incidents taking place in the future?     

Summary of Councillor Rabina Khan’s response to the supplementary question

That was very interesting. It was the Blair administration that introduced the elected Mayoral system. People have to trigger a yes for Mayor vote and that happened in 2010. Most famously the Labour Party does have a track record of imposing Mayoral candidates, sometimes Councillors and possibly MPs as well. But what they don’t understand is that it is their own ideas which is in the democracy which is operating in this Borough. True democracy allows opposition to operate. You can see it in this Borough you can see it in Tower Hamlets that the opposition here enjoy democracy because they are able to operate, they are able do the things that they care about such as put up motions and do the things they  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Mayor made his report to the Council meeting, extending a warm welcome to all present. During his presentation he reported on the Best Value Inspection that had been undertaken on the Council by PricewaterhouseCoopers.  He highlighted that the Council provided excellent services but that where process and governance issues were identified they would be corrected.

When he had completed his report, at the invitation of the Speaker the Leaders of the other political groups each then responded briefly to the Mayor’s report.

Procedural Motion

At the conclusion of her response to the Mayor’s report, Councillor Rachael Saunders moved, and Councillor Shiria Khatun seconded, a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.3 the order of business be varied such that Motion 12.3 ‘Motion regarding the Best Value Inspection undertaken by PwC’  be taken as the next item of business. The motion was put to the vote and was agreed.

The questions which have been received from Councillors to be put at this Council meeting are set out in the attached report.  A maximum period of 30 minutes is allocated to this agenda item.

The following questions and in each case a supplementary question were put and were responded to by the relevant Executive Member:-

8.1       Question from Councillor Clare Harrisson

Does the Mayor regret blocking Labour’s attempt to recruit a new Chief Executive?

Response by Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources

My answer is very short as well. Let’s look at it differently. Does Labour regret voting against the appointment of the first BME Chief Executive that this Borough would have had?

Summary of supplementary question from Councillor Clare Harrisson

That’s not an answer to my question. I speak as a new Councillor, I was involved as the Chair of the Human Resources Committee.  We started a process which you walked out of at our last meeting, refusing to partake in it because you object fundamentally to a Chief Executive. Considering the Price Waterhouse Cooper report specifies that some of the governance issues that you have admitted exist may be helped by having a Chief Executive with appropriate powers, moving forward will the Mayor support recruiting a new Chief Executive and devolving the appropriate powers to him?

Summary of Councillor Alibor Choudhury’s response to the supplementary question

This administration will not take lessons from a Labour Party that colludes and works constantly with the Tories to stop us getting a first BME Chief Executive.

8.2       Question from Councillor Abjol Miah

After 6 months we’ve finally seen Eric Pickles’ £1M Best Value Report.  Are Tower Hamlets residents getting best value for money?

Response by Councillor Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources

You know from hearing us and from everything that’s been said in the community that this inspection, this audit was a politically motivated one and has cost us over £1M. It’s clearly not value for money for residents or for this Council.

Summary of supplementary question from Councillor  Abjol Miah

I’ve seen a lot of politics happening in the Council Chamber here. Best Value for money -  as a Londoner do you think that Londoners  deserve best value for money and do you think other Councils should be investigated and that Eric Pickles is just picking on Tower Hamlets for a specific agenda?

Summary of Councillor Alibor Choudhury’s response to the supplementary question

I think that this is a ruse, a ploy. I think what Eric Pickles did in coalition with the Tower Hamlets Labour Party was about politics and about removing our first BME elected Mayor. It is very clear that there are many Councils that Eric Pickles has deliberately overlooked and I won’t give you the reasons why.

8.3       Question from Councillor Peter Golds

Will the Mayor, in view of the confirmation in section 2.112 of the Best Value Inspection by Price Waterhouse that he has “reserved to himself substantially all of the decision making powers which it is legally possible for an Executive Mayor to exercise”, answer the following question with regard to the disposal of 111-113 Mellish Street, E14.

Being aware of the comments in Section 5.182  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider a proposed extension of the Substance Misuse Strategy.

The report of the Corporate Director, Communities, Localities and Culture, including the recommendations of the Executive, is attached.

The Council considered the recommendations of the Executive on the extension of the Substance Misuse Strategy. The recommendation was put to the vote under the guillotine procedure at Council Procedure Rule 9.

RESOLVED

To agree an extension of the current substance misuse strategy by one year to the end of March 2016.

There is no business to be transacted under this agenda item.

There was no business to transact under this agenda item.

To consider the Mid-Year review report of the Council’s Treasury Management and Investment Strategy 2014/15.

The report of the Acting Corporate Director, Resources is attached.

The Council considered the report of the Acting Corporate Director, Resources setting out the mid-year review of the Council’s Treasury Management and Investment Strategy. The recommendations were put to the vote under the guillotine procedure at Council Procedure Rule 9.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the report.

2.    To approve the changes to the minimum credit rating criteria; that is the removal of viability or financial strength rating and support ratings as set out in section 10 and table 1 of Appendix 3 to the report.

3.    To approve the updated investment instruments as set out in section 10:15 and tables 2 and 3 of Appendix 3 to the report.

4.    To approve the proposed new prudential indicator limit for investments over one year but no more than three years to £50 million from £25 million.

To consider the attached report of the Acting Corporate Director, Resources regarding proposed changes to the structure and governance arrangements of the Local Government Pension Schemes.

The Council considered the report of the Acting Corporate Director, Resources regarding the structure and governance arrangements of the London Borough of Tower Hamlets’ Pension Fund. The recommendations were put to the vote under the guillotine procedure at Council Procedure Rule 9.

RESOLVED

1.    To note the proposed changes in the Governance Arrangements for LGPS Pension Funds with effect from 1 April 2015.

2.    To delegate to the Pensions Committee the creation of the Pensions Board for the Tower Hamlets Pension Fund.

12.3    Motion regarding the Best Value Inspection

           undertaken by PwC

Councillor Peter Golds moved, and Councillor Chris Chapman seconded, the motion as printed on the agenda.

During debate Councillor Rachael Saunders moved, and Councillor Shiria Khatun seconded, an amendment. Following debate the amendment was put to the vote and was agreed.  The substantive motion as amended was then put to the vote and was agreed as below.

RESOLVED

This Council believes:

1.    That a wide range of local people and organisations have tenaciously fought long standing campaigns on unjust distribution of grants, improper decision making in the procurement of services and failures in the disposal of assets, including through rigorous scrutiny and debates at full council. 

2.    That public money is at stake, along with public trust and proper accountability. Every community in our country is entitled to the highest standards of probity and honesty in our democracy. No community should have to put up with lower standards of democracy and transparency. 

3.    That the Mayor and his administration can no longer avoid taking responsibility for their failures now that an audit report has set out multiple failures of the best value duty. 

4.    That in the debate in the House of Commons, Members of Parliament from across political parties were shocked by the failures of the administration and the Mayor.

5.    That multiple failures of the best value duty – the statutory responsibility of local authorities to do the right thing with tax payer’s money – are extremely serious, and that local people are deeply concerned about the leadership of this authority. 

This Council further believes: 

1.    That the report sets out nine ongoing criminal investigations into alleged fraud relating to youth services.

2.    That the report demonstrates that, through changes to grants recommendations, the Mayor chose to make cuts to vital services in the poorest parts of the borough, whilst giving money to organisations ruled ineligible. 

3.    That the view of the auditors is that “current governance arrangements do not appear to be capable of preventing or responding appropriately to failures of the best value duty”. 

4.    That Lutfur Rahman has brought shame to our great borough, and should consider his position. 

5.    That there are many important questions to which local people deserve answers.

This Council resolves:

1.    To require from the Mayor and senior management team of the council a full response to the issues raised in the auditor’s report, including but not limited to answers to the following questions:

·         According to the audit report, there is evidence of nine incidents of alleged fraud in relation to the Youth and Community Service, and that “no discernible procurement process appears to have been followed”. Please provide the fullest possible information about these payments.  Will the Mayor and corporate director cooperate fully to ensure that these police enquiries can be concluded as soon as possible?  What action will the mayor take to reassure local people about the quality and integrity of their youth  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.

The Council agreed to suspend Procedure Rule 13.1 to enable the following urgent motions to be debated without notice:

13.1    Motion regarding nursery closures

Councillor Danny Hassell moved, and Councillor Asma Begum seconded, the motion as tabled.

Following debate the motion was put to the vote and was agreed.

DECISION

This Council notes:

1.    The proposal submitted by the Mayor and Cabinet for public consultation on the closure of the four council run nurseries in the borough - Mary Sambrook, Queen Mary, Overland and John Smith.

2.    The excellent campaign run by local parents of children attending the nurseries to prevent the closure and the significant local support their campaign has attracted.

3.    The concern of many parents about provision for disabled children in particular as a result of these proposals.

4.    The statement of the Mayor at the November cabinet meeting that the savings proposals would be reviewed, which appeared to contrast to other proposals which were clearly withdraw at the meeting.

5.    The letter sent by Cllr Danny Hassell to the Mayor on 7th November asking for further clarity on the remarks by the Mayor and calling for clearer information on the future of all four nurseries.

6.    That Tower Hamlets has the highest levels of child poverty in the country.

7.    Publicly run early years provision is generally of a much higher quality than that in the private, voluntary and independent sector.

This Council believes:

1.    The early years are crucial to improving life chances and that the quality of provision has a significant impact on effectiveness.

2.    The services provided by these nurseries to disabled children and their families are especially valuable and unlikely to be provided in the same way by alternative provision.

3.    Council-run nurseries in Tower Hamlets provide important opportunities for young people and their families, and their continued operation should be a priority for this council.

This Council resolves:

To call on the Mayor to withdraw entirely the proposal to close all four council-run nurseries: Mary Sambrook; Queen Mary; Overland; and John Smith.

13.2    Motion regarding OFSTED Inspections

Councillor Rachael Saunders moved, and Councillor Shiria Khatun seconded, the motion as tabled.

Councillor Alibor Choudhury moved an amendment to include in the motion the names of the 6 independent schools. Councillors Rachael Saunders and Shiria Khatun indicated that they accepted the amendment and altered their motion accordingly.

Councillor Rabina Khan moved an amendment to add a bullet point under This Council notes ‘To note that there is no evidence or suggestion whatsoever of an attempted takeover, as allegedly occurred in Birmingham under the so-called Trojan Horse scandal, at Sir John Cass School or any other school in Tower Hamlets.’ Councillors Rachael Saunders and Shiria Khatun indicated that they accepted the amendment and altered their motion accordingly.

Following debate the motion as amended was put to the vote and was agreed.

RESOLVED

This Council notes:

1.    The outcome of the Ofsted inspections of six independent  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.