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 12.3 – Motion regarding solidarity with French citizens.

·         Item 1 - Apologies for absence.

·         Item 2 – Declarations of Disclosable Pecuniary Interests.

·         Item 3 – Minutes.

·         Item 4 – Announcements.

·         Item 5 – Petitions.

·         Item 6 – Public Questions.

·         Item 7 – Mayor’s Report.

·         Item 13.1 - Urgent Motion regarding Waste Management Strategy.

·         Item 8 – Members Questions.

·         Item 13.2  - Urgent Motion regarding Wasted Public Money.

·         Item 9.1 – Report of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on matters referred by the Council.

·         Item 12.2 - Motion regarding Docklands Sailing Centre.

·         Item 13. 3 - Urgent Motion regarding Circle Housing Group & Old Ford Housing Association.

The Speaker of the Council opened the meeting and welcomed the Secretary of State Commissioners to the Council meeting.

Prior to commencing the Council’s formal business, the Speaker of the Council referred to the terrible events that took place in Paris two weeks earlier, when twelve people lost their lives as a result of terrorist actions.  He invited the Council to stand and observe a minute’s silence in memory of those who died and in solidarity with the people of Paris.

Councillor Shiria Khatun moved and Councillor Rachael Saunders seconded a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.3 the order of business be varied such that Motion 12.3 ‘Motion regarding solidarity with French citizens’ be considered as the next item of business”. The motion was put to the vote and. subject to an amendment was agreed.

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillor Abdul Asad and Councillor Oliur Rahman.

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.

Councillor Marc Francis declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in the Urgent Motion regarding Circle Housing Group & Old Ford Housing (item 13.3).  This was on the basis that the Councillor was a Board Member of Old Ford Housing Association. The Councillor left the meeting for the consideration of this motion.

To confirm as a correct record of the proceedings the unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Council held on 26^th November 2014.  The draft minutes are attached.

RESOLVED

That the unrestricted minutes of the Council meeting held on 26 November 2014 be confirmed as a correct record and the Speaker be authorised to sign them accordingly.

There were no announcements.

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 15^th January 2015.  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 regarding licensing in Poplar High Street, E14 .

Mr Dulal Uddin addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners, presenting their revised petition as set out in the supplementary agenda; and responded to questions from Members.

Councillor Ohid Ahmed, Cabinet Member for Community Safety responded to the matters raised in the petition. Whilst sympathising with the petitioners cause, he explained that the matter had been determined by the Council’s Licensing Sub-Committee in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.

With the Speaker’s permission, Councillor Amina Ali, the Chair of the Sub-Committee, explained that, in considering the application, the Sub-Committee had carefully considered all of the representations including those from the petitioner.

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 entitled ‘Stop G4S bidding contracts in Tower Hamlets’

Ms Tahsin Ahmed 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 expressed sympathy for the issues raised and explained that the Council was reviewing its ethical procurement policy to ensure that it was robust.

RESOLVED

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

5.3       Petition entitled ‘Count Tower Hamlets’ Votes in Tower Hamlets!’

The Petition was not presented at the meeting due to the absence of the petitioner.

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 (except where indicated) a supplementary question were put, and were responded to by the relevant Executive Member:-

6.1      Question from Ms Margaret Bradley: 

Why are the leaseholder services provided by Tower Hamlets Homes so dreadful?

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

Thank you Margaret for your question.  First of all apologies on behalf of myself and the Administration for the way Tower Hamlets Homes have conducted themselves with you.  The Leasehold Services Department at Tower Hamlets Homes has been performing poorly but when the Leasehold Service was with the Council it was quite severe as well.  I understand your concerns about Tower Hamlets Homes’ services particularly in light of the major works charges.  I’ve already received 2 petitions in relation to the major works charges and how we can rectify our current policies to ensure people like yourselves are able to pay on a long term plan as well. 

In terms of transparency and the quality of work that’s taking place within Tower Hamlets Homes in relation to major works charges, I wanted to cite you an example.  Previously before I became a Councillor, there was a particular block near where I lived where decent homes work took place under the pilot project.  Subsequently those leaseholders came to see me a year and a half later and I instructed a surveyor to inspect the property and to make sure that the work that took place and the major works was correct.

Unfortunately it was found that the work that took place needed to be redone again because the repointing and several other things were not carried out by the contractor.  Subsequently I pulled that contractor back in to address the concerns of the leaseholders and we’re looking forward to actually addressing the fact that they can be compensated but that’s a little example of the things that we’re doing.  In terms of service charges, that is also something that the Mayor and I discuss and as part of that pledge we’re also developing the dispute resolution panel which was actually in the borough at one time but got disbanded a few years ago well before I became a Councillor. 

In terms of the dispute resolution panel this is something for you to take your service charges including the major works charges so that you can put your case forward as well.  Including on top of that we also will be holding a referendum which is part of the Mayor’s pledge to see whether or not leaseholders and tenants will judge whether or not the ALMO should stay outside or be bought back into the Council.  And finally I hold surgeries; I would welcome you to come to my surgery so I can look at your concerns and make sure that you are charged correctly.

Summary of supplementary question from Ms Bradley

When you took over from the GLC which was in 1986 I believe up until we  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Council’s Constitution provides for the Elected Mayor to give a report at each Ordinary Council Meeting.

A maximum of five minutes is allowed for the Elected Mayor’s report, following which the Speaker of the Council will invite the respective political group leaders to respond for up to one minute each if they wish.

The Mayor made his report wising all present a belated Happy New Year.  He updated the Council on key events and achievements within the Borough, and congratulated the Tower Hamlets Clinical Commissioner Group (CGG) on being awarded best CCG of the year. . 

The Mayor also echoed the Speaker’s sentiments about the tragedy in Paris and reported that he had attended a multi faith meeting last night with community, religious leaders and the Borough Commander in respect of community safety

When the Mayor 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.

After Councillor Rachael Saunders’ response to the Mayor’s report and before Councillor Peter Golds’ response, Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs moved, and Councillor John Pierce seconded, a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.5, Rule 13.1 be suspended to enable an urgent motion regarding Waste Management Strategyto be considered”. The procedural 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 (except where indicated) a supplementary question were put and were responded to by the relevant Executive Member or Committee Chair:-

8.1       Question from Councillor Asma Begum

As Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board, how many of the meetings did the Mayor attend in 2014?  Does this reflect his commitment to the important issue of Health in the borough? 

Response from Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources

Thank you Councillor Begum.  I’d say that he has attended all of them really because he attends them through us.  He has four Councillors on the Committee; they include Councillor Gulam Robbani, myself and Councillor Asad who chairs the meeting as well as our Executive Advisor, Councillor Mahbub Alam.  The Mayor is clearly committed to the health agenda and he will do everything he can to make sure that we improve people’s health and wellbeing in the borough.

Summary of supplementary question from Councillor Asma Begum

It’s a shame that the Mayor has not prioritised the health of the Borough; it’s his Vice-Chair that’s chairing it, not the Mayor.  And will the Mayor commit to attending any other meetings of the Health and Wellbeing Board?

Summary of response from Councillor Alibor Choudhury

I remember sitting and observing the contribution of my opposition Councillor, Councillor Denise Jones who is happy to turn up to some of these meetings, sometimes for 10 minutes, sometimes for a bit more than that. But she hardly says anything.  So I think it is quite hypocritical for you to have a pop at the Mayor and a pop at us when we make a valuable and meaningful contribution.

8.2       Question from Councillor Abjol Miah

Could the Mayor highlight any steps, policies or initiatives that he has taken to put money in people’s pockets in this Borough despite huge Tory cuts? 

Response from Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources

Thank you Councillor Miah, I’ll go straight into the initiatives shall I?  The Mayor has helped in many ways.  He has provided Council Tax discounts for pensioners and those that are on low incomes so they equated to £245,000 in 2012/13 and a further £575,000 In 2014/15.  He froze Council Tax for the last five years.  He absorbed the 10% cut to our Council Tax benefit reduction scheme which cost us £2.7m.  He provided free school meals and then he rolled them out to benefit more primary school children. 

He provided the Mayor’s educational allowance which is something that the government took away.  He provided university bursaries which were to the tune of £1,500 for each student and this benefitted 400 university students.

His DHP (Discretionary Housing Payments) continued to be supported and that cost us £1m and helped a variety of people in poor or dire housing situations.  And he has set aside a further £1.3m over the next 2 years to help women back into work.

Summary of supplementary question from Councillor Abjol Miah

Can the Mayor highlight, provide steps  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To receive a report back from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on matters that were referred to that committee from previous meetings of the Council (report to follow).

Councillor Joshua Peck, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, moved the report.  In doing so however, he stated that he had not seen the report prior to publication and did not believe that it was fully accurate in conveying the findings of the Committee on the matter.  

RESOLVED

That the report, and the observations of the Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee thereon, be noted.

Councillor Rachael Saunders, moved, and Councillor Khales Uddin Ahmed seconded, a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.5, Rule 13.1 be suspended to enable an urgent motion regarding ‘Circle Housing Group & Old Ford Housing Association’ to be considered”. The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.

Councillor Rachael Saunders moved, and Councillor Khales Uddin Ahmed seconded, a procedural motion that under Procedure Rule 14.1.3 the order of business be varied as follows:

Item 12.2 - Motion Regarding Dockland Sailing Centre

Item 13.3 - Urgent Motion regarding Circle Housing Group & Old Ford Housing Association  

Item 12.8 - Motion regarding public access to information

Item 12.11  - Motion regarding New Schools

Item 12.12  - Motion regarding homelessness in Tower Hamlets

Item 12.13  - Motion regarding tax dodging

This motion was put to the vote and was agreed.

Councillor Rachael Saunders moved, and Councillor Danny Hassell seconded, a procedural motion that “under Procedure Rule 15.11.7 the meeting be extended for up to an additional 15 minutes to enable the consideration of the Urgent Motion regarding Circle Housing Group & Old Ford Housing Association.”

The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.

There was no business to transact under this agenda item.

There was no other business.

The motions submitted by Councillors for debate at this meeting are set out in the attached report.

12.2    Motion regarding Docklands Sailing Centre

Prior to the debate on this motion, the Interim Monitoring Officer advised the Council.  He stated that members of the Strategic Development Committee would be aware that they had a duty to consider any planning application that came before the Committee on its merits and on the basis of all the information presented to the Committee.  Those Members should therefore not make any contribution to the current debate that could indicate that they were predetermined in relation to any potential planning application.  The Interim Monitoring Officer also advised the meeting that the Council could not bind the Strategic Development Committee in its consideration of a planning matter and therefore in the event that the second proposed resolution was agreed, this would not have effect.     

Councillor Dave Chesterton moved, and Councillor Andrew Wood seconded, the motion as set out in the agenda.

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

RESOLVED

This Council Notes:

1.    The developers of the Westferry Printers site are currently going through pre-application public consultations.

2.    The Sailing Centre is concerned about the potential effect development alongside the Millwall Dock may have on the wind and the detrimental impact this may have on sailing and other watersports.

3.    The Sailing Centre has made a number of representations to the developers; so far the Sailing Centre’s concerns have been largely ignored.

4.    The Sailing Centre is the borough’s premier watersports centre and among the largest public open space in Tower Hamlets. Pressures on public infrastructure as a result of population increases arising from new developments are well understood. The Council must protect its public open spaces for use by current and future generations.

This CouncilBelieves:

1.    Pressures on public infrastructure as a result of population increases arising from new developments are well understood.

2.    The Council must protect its public open spaces for use by current and future generations.

3.    Council should continue to recognise the importance of the Docklands Sailing Centre in enabling use of one of the largest areas of open space in Tower Hamlets by the whole community for sport and recreation, with unique opportunities for education and employment.

This Councilresolves:

1.    To protect the Docklands Sailing Centre from the consequences of property development which may prevent the continued use of the Millwall Docks for those uses and the charitable purposes of the Docklands Sailing Centre Trust.

2.    To exercise its powers as local planning authority, to ensure any development on the West Ferry Printers site does not cause any detriment to sailing and use of the Millwall Docks from Docklands Sailing Centre.

[Note:  Members of the Strategic Development Committee wished it recorded that they abstained from voting on the above motion.]

12.3    Motion regarding solidarity with French citizens

Councillor Chris Chapman moved, and Councillor Julia Dockerill seconded, the motion as set out in the agenda.

Councillor Shiria Khatun moved, and Councillor Rachael Saunders seconded, an amendment to  ...  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 Waste Management Strategy  

Councillor Amy Whitelock Gibbs moved, and Councillor John Pierce seconded, a tabled motion on the above matter.

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

RESOLVED

This Council notes:

• that the Cabinet Paper making significant proposals about the future of waste management in Tower Hamlets was withdrawn on 7^th January without any public discussion
• that the proposals have concerning implications for the cost, scrutiny and efficiency of rubbish and recycling collection in the borough, including multiple contracts with variable prices and no local depot which could lead to delays in collection and fewer local jobs
• that the proposals fail to investigate all options, such as whether costs could be reduced and scrutiny of services improved by bringing waste management services in-house

This Council further notes:

• that there are already problems with waste management in the borough, with local residents regularly raising concerns about dirty streets, missed rubbish collections and flytipping hotspots
• that this has been exacerbated by the Mayor bringing in charges for bulk rubbish collection back in June 2012
• that residents rightly expect the council to deliver on basic services and ensure our streets are kept clean
• that despite improvements in recycling rates, many residents still struggle to recycle as much as they could, due to inadequate purple bin capacity and lack of facilities to recycle food waste in many blocks
• that the Budget includes worrying cuts to monitoring of street cleaning

This Council believes:

• that there is an urgent need to get a grip on clean streets and recycling rates
• that the waste management strategy must be used as an opportunity to tackle these problems while ensuring value for money for local taxpayers
• that all options for waste management must be thoroughly considered and openly discussed in public

This Council resolves:

• to call on Mayor Lutfur Rahman to protect local waste services including a local depot
• to call on the executive to thoroughly investigate the option of bringing waste services in house
• to instruct officers to explicitly identify how the new waste management proposals will improve street cleaning, flytipping collection and recycling rates, including more options for recycling for those living in blocks

13.2        Motion regarding Wasted Public Money  

Councillor Rachael Saunders moved, and Councillor Khales Uddin Ahmed seconded, a tabled motion on the above matter.

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

RESOLVED

This Council notes:

·         The £38,735 of taxpayers’ money spent by the Mayor on judicial review of the government’s decision to send in PwC inspectors.

·         The £81,924.70 of taxpayers’ money spent by the Mayor to employ the law firm Taylor Wessing in response to the Panorama program.

·         The £41,144 of taxpayers’ money spent by the Mayor to employ the communication consultancy company Champollion in response to the Panorama program.

This Council further notes:

·         The Mayor’s intention  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.