The Speaker of the Council, Councillor Khales Uddin Ahmed in the Chair

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillor Gulam Kibria Choudhury.

Apologies for lateness were received on behalf of Councillors Julia Dockerill, Joshua Peck, Amina Ali and Rachel Blake

The Speaker of the Council adjourned the meeting for 10 minutes at 7:05pm to allow additional time for Members to arrive at the meeting. The meeting reconvened at 7:15pm.

To note any declarations of interest made by Members, including those restricting Members from voting on the questions detailed in Section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act, 1992.  See attached note from the Monitoring Officer.

No Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests were made.

The Speaker of the Council reported that Members may be aware that Victoria Ekubia, a Co-opted Member of the Council’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, sadly passed away recently. Victoria was a valued member of the Committee. He expressed condolences to her friends and family on behalf of the Council. 

Councillor John Pierce, the Chair of the Committee also paid tribute to Victoria and made a short statement on behalf of a fellow Co-opted Member of the Committee reflecting on Victoria’s achievements. He advised that a service would be held on Tuesday 28^th February 2017 at 2pm at the Church of Our Lady and St Catherine of Siena on Bow Road. All were welcomed to attend.

The Council then held a minutes silence in memory of the loss. 

The Council Procedure Rules provide for a maximum of three petitions to be presented at the Budget Meeting of the Council. 

The deadline for receipt of petitions for this Council meeting is noon on Thursday, 16th February, 2017

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

4.1       Petition regarding discrimination to women and minority groups

Apsana Begum and Catherine O'Mahony addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners, and responded to questions from Members. Councillor Sirajul Islam, Statutory Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing Management & Performancethen responded to the matters raised in the petition.

He advised that the Council took seriously its duty to promote equality and diversity and accordingly, took all reasonable steps to consult residents, where, necessary in preparing plans and listened to residents views. Furthermore, Equality Impact Assessments had been completed for the proposals. To illustrate these points, he drew attention to the specific measures in the plans to help under - represented groups.

RESOLVED:

1.    That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Resources for a written response within 28 days.

4.2       Petition regarding the Council Tax

Sultana Begum and Hugo Pierreaddressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners, and responded to questions from Members. Councillor David Edgar, Cabinet Member for Resources then responded to the matters raised in the petition.

He drew attention to the impact of government cuts on Council services and the need for additional income to protect services including social care services. When subject to consultation, a good percentage of the respondents stated that they were supportive of a rise in the Council Tax to protect services. He also advised that the budget proposals included a number of measures to help residents facing financial problems. In addition, the Council Tax Reduction Scheme should also help residents. He also provided reassurances about the Council Tax collection process.

RESOLVED:

1.            That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Resources for a written response within 28 days.

4.3       Petition regarding Cuts to Children’s Services

Candace Macintyre addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners, and responded to questions from Members. Mayor John Biggs then responded to the matters raised in the petition. He reported that tackling child poverty was a key priority of his Administration and that there were a range of measures in the budget that should help alleviate the problem, targeting resources to tackle poverty. For example, there would be additional support for the Children’s stay and play service to improve access to the service. He also explained that whilst changes have been made to the service, overall, the number of play and stay sessions provided should broadly remain unchanged.

He stated that he was willing to continue to meet with residents to further improve services.

RESOLVED:

1.            That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, Resources for a written response within 28 days.

To consider the proposals of the Mayor and Executive for the Council’s Budget and Council Tax for 2017/18.

Mayor John Biggs moved, the budget proposals of the Mayor and Executive as set out in the agenda pack. Councillor David Edgar seconded the proposals. It was noted that the covering report for the February Cabinet meeting was circulated in Members as an addendum.

Three amendments were moved as follows:

(i)    Amendment proposed by Councillor Ohid Ahmed and seconded by Councillor Oliur Rahman

(ii)  Amendment proposed by Councillor Andrew Wood and seconded by Councillor Chris Chapman

(iii)Amendment proposed by Councillor Rabina Khan and seconded by Councillor Abdul Asad.  [Note – a minor amendment was noted to the tabled paper]

Following debate, the amendment proposed by Councillor Ohid Ahmed was put to a recorded vote and was defeated.

Councillors recorded their votes on the amendment as follows:-

The amendment proposed by Councillor Andrew Wood was put to a recorded vote and was defeated.

Councillors recorded their votes on the amendment as follows:-

The amendment proposed by Councillor Rabina Khan was put to a recorded vote and was defeated.

Councillors recorded their votes on the amendment as follows:-

To review the allocation of places on the Council’s Committees and Panels following recent changes to political groups on the Council. (Report to follow)

Guillotine Motion

At this point at the meeting, the guillotine came into effect. As set out in Procedure Rule 9.3, all remaining reports on the agenda were deemed formally moved and seconded and were put to the vote with no further discussion.

The Council considered the report of the Acting Corporate Director, Governance and Interim Monitoring Officer (circulated in a supplementary agenda) reviewing the Council’s proportionality and allocation of places on committees following recent changes to political groups on the Council. The recommendations were put to the vote under the guillotine procedure at Council Procedure Rule 9 and were agreed.

RESOLVED:

1.            That the review of proportionality as at section 3 of the report be noted and the allocation of seats on committees and panels for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2016/17 be agreed as set out at paragraph 4.2 of the report.

2.         That the committees and panels established for the municipal year 2016/17 as listed in paragraph 4.2 be noted as agreed at the Annual Council meeting held on Wednesday 18 May 2016.

3.            That Members and deputies be appointed to serve on those committees and panels in accordance with nominations from the political groups to be notified to the Acting Corporate Director, Governance.

4.            That the Acting Corporate Director, Governance be authorised to approve the appointment of ungrouped Councillors to any committee places not allocated by the Council to a political group, after consultation with those Councillors and the Speaker of the Council.

5.            That the proposed new committee structures for the Overview and Scrutiny and General Purposes Sub-Committees be agreed as set out in Paragraph 4.4 of the report