Agenda item
TO RECEIVE WRITTEN QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL
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.
Decision:
8.1Question from Councillor Mizanur Chaudhury re: proposed fire station cuts.
The above question and a supplementary question were put and were responded to by the relevant Executive Member.
Questions 8.2 to 8.28 were not put as, following the changes to the order of business below, the time limit for the meeting had expired. Written responses will be provided to each question.
(Action by: John S. Williams, Service Head, Democratic Services)
Procedural motion
Following consideration of Question 8.1, Councillor Carli Harper-Penman moved, and Councillor Bill Turner seconded, a procedural motion – “That under Procedure Rule 14.1.3 the order of business be varied to allow motion 12.8 to be considered as next business.”
The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.
Motion 12.8: Motion against Boris Johnson’s Tower Hamlets Fire Cuts
Councillor Shahed Ali moved, and Councillor Kabir Ahmed seconded the motion as printed in the agenda.
Councillor Carli Harper-Penman moved, and Councillor Rajib Ahmed seconded, a tabled amendment to the motion as set out below.
After debate, the tabled amendment was put to the vote and was agreed.
The substantive motion as amended was then put to the vote and was agreed.
DECISION
This Council notes:
1. The deplorable decision by the Mayor of London to proceed with budget cuts that would see Bow fire station closed and the number of fire engines at Whitechapel fire station halved.
2.
The plans to close Bow fire station and reduce the
number of engines at Whitechapel fire station to one, would remove
one geographically important base as well as reducing the
borough’s fire response teams by almost 25%.
3.
Whilst fire call outs across London are reducing
Tower Hamlets has by far the highest level of call outs in the
capital. Cutting the capacity of two of our fire stations against
this backdrop would put lives at risk. The Draft Fifth London
Safety Plan states that deprivation is an issue but then proposes
closure in an area of high deprivation. This leaves the plan open
to questions on the validity and degree of consideration and risk
assessment that has gone into the proposals. If the method of
assessment has not changed, we believe that questions could be
raised as to how the cuts can be justified.
4.
If implemented these cuts would mean that response
times for some areas of Tower Hamlets would dramatically exceed
LFEPA targets with some response times doubling to over 7 minutes.
The area served by Bow fire station contains 64 blocks of flats, 20
of which are above 10 stories, and Bow itself suffers from narrow
roads and traffic congestion.
5. Areas such as Bow, which will be most affected by the proposed changes, are home to a large number of densely populated tower blocks where fire can spread quickly to other floors trapping residents. Even modestly increased response times to these areas could end in tragedy. There is also a high number of elderly people who reside in Bow, adding further need for quicker response times.
6. Proposed station closures across the border in Newham and Hackney would also have a significant impact should a major incident occur in the borough.
This Council Further Notes:
1.
The motion on fire and police station closures
proposed by Cllr Abdal Ullah and passed by Council on 23 January this
year.
2.
The numerous press and community campaigning
activities undertaken by Labour councillors, MPs and London
Assembly member John Biggs.
3.
That Labour MP Rushanara
Ali and Labour Assembly Member John Biggs met the Mayor of London
on Monday the 17th June to personally lobby his against
the cuts to fire stations in Tower Hamlets.
4.
The three public consultation meetings held in Tower
Hamlets, all of which were arranged, attended, promoted and
addressed by Labour councillors.
5. That no independent or Tory councillors nor the Mayor attended the public consultation meeting on the fire service cuts.
6.
Labour Group’s submission to the LFEPA
consultation on the changes to fire services in London.
7.
That Labour councillors have consistently campaigned
across the community with residents, fire fighters, unions and
others against Boris Johnson’s fire station cuts.
8. That the Mayor of Tower Hamlets has issued press statements and attended photo ops but has failed to attend the three most important meetings on the fire station closures where he had the opportunity to use his position to make a real difference to fire and police cuts plans:
a. The LFEPA public consultation meeting on the 7th May.
b. The meeting of the London Councils Leader’s Committee on Tuesday 12th February with Deputy Mayor of London for Crime Stephen Greenhalgh,
c. The meeting of the London Councils Leader’s Committee on Tuesday 13th November with London Fire Authority Chief James Cleverly AM.
This Council believes:
1. That the Mayor of London’s plans to shut 17 fire stations and axe 600 jobs will have a devastating impact on fire safety across London and Tower Hamlets.
2. That the plans to close of stations in Bow and Whitechapel, putting residents’ safety at risk.
3. That the Mayor of Tower Hamlets has failed to effectively stand up for residents by not attending key high level consultation meetings where he had a personal opportunity to put residents’ points to regional decision makers.
This Council resolves:
1. To write to the Mayor of London in formal support of and enclosing a copy of the Labour Group submission to the LFEPA consultation.
2. To condemn the Mayor of Tower Hamlets for failing to attend key consultation meetings at which he could have made a strong case for Tower Hamlets residents directly to the decision makers.
(Action by: Stephen Halsey, Corporate Director, Communities, Localities and Culture)
Extension of time limit for the meeting
Councillor Carlo Gibbs moved, and Councillor Rachael Saunders seconded, a procedural motion – “That under Procedure Rule 15.11.7 the meeting be extended for up to an additional 30 minutes to enable consideration of agenda items 9.1, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 12.6, 12.9 and 12.12.”
The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.
Minutes:
At this point the Service Head, Democratic Services, indicated that, in accordance with the Council’s Constitution, the meeting could continue for a further 15 minutes only and would terminate at 10.53 p.m.
8.1 Question from Councillor Mizanaur Choudhury
Referring to Boris Johnson’s proposed fire station cuts the Mayor said in East End Life recently, and I quote "its essential that we take every chance to support the campaign against these cuts". Can he then tell the Council why he failed to turn up to the crucial public consultation on fire station closures on the 7th May and why he has consistently missed key London Councils meetings on police and fire station closures?
Response by Councillor Ohid Ahmed, Deputy Mayor
The Mayor has made numerous representations against both the police and fire cuts and has stood shoulder-to-shoulder with Paul Embery from the Fire Brigades union to condemn Boris’ actions.
It seems Cllr Chaudhury needs a lesson in government. These cuts are not the fault of this Mayor, they are the fault of Boris Johnson and the slash and burn Tories.
But instead of attacking those who are responsible, he is trying to lay blame where it does not belong.
If Cllr Chaudhury really wants to best represents his constituents I would suggest he spend a bit more of his time attacking those who are responsible for the cuts instead of covering for them by trying to blame this administration.
Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Mizanur Chaudhury
The Mayor should be there when it matters and to protect residents from Tory cuts. Labour had held three public meetings against the cuts, why did the Mayor not attend?
Summary of Councillor Ohid Ahmed’s response to the Supplementary Question
The Mayor had been campaigning on a number of issues and was already in discussions with the Borough Commanders.
[NOTE: Members’ Questions 8.2 to 8.28 were not put as the time limit for the meeting had expired. Written responses were provided to each question and are included in Appendix A to these minutes.]
Procedural motion
Following consideration of Question 8.1, Councillor Carli Harper-Penman moved, and Councillor Bill Turner seconded, a procedural motion – “That under Procedure Rule 14.1.3 the order of business be varied to allow motion 12.8 to be considered as next business.”
The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.
Motion 12.8: Motion against Boris Johnson’s Tower Hamlets Fire Cuts
Councillor Shahed Ali moved, and Councillor Kabir Ahmed seconded the motion as printed in the agenda.
Councillor Carli Harper-Penman moved, and Councillor Rajib Ahmed seconded, a tabled amendment to the motion as set out below.
After debate, the tabled amendment was put to the vote and was agreed.
The substantive motion as amended was then put to the vote and was agreed. Accordingly it was:-
RESOLVED
This Council notes:
1. The deplorable decision by the Mayor of London to proceed with budget cuts that would see Bow fire station closed and the number of fire engines at Whitechapel fire station halved.
2.
The plans to close Bow fire station and reduce the
number of engines at Whitechapel fire station to one, would remove
one geographically important base as well as reducing the
borough’s fire response teams by almost 25%.
3.
Whilst fire call outs across London are reducing
Tower Hamlets has by far the highest level of call outs in the
capital. Cutting the capacity of two of our fire stations against
this backdrop would put lives at risk. The Draft Fifth London
Safety Plan states that deprivation is an issue but then proposes
closure in an area of high deprivation. This leaves the plan open
to questions on the validity and degree of consideration and risk
assessment that has gone into the proposals. If the method of
assessment has not changed, we believe that questions could be
raised as to how the cuts can be justified.
4.
If implemented these cuts would mean that response
times for some areas of Tower Hamlets would dramatically exceed
LFEPA targets with some response times doubling to over 7 minutes.
The area served by Bow fire station contains 64 blocks of flats, 20
of which are above 10 stories, and Bow itself suffers from narrow
roads and traffic congestion.
5. Areas such as Bow, which will be most affected by the proposed changes, are home to a large number of densely populated tower blocks where fire can spread quickly to other floors trapping residents. Even modestly increased response times to these areas could end in tragedy. There is also a high number of elderly people who reside in Bow, adding further need for quicker response times.
6. Proposed station closures across the border in Newham and Hackney would also have a significant impact should a major incident occur in the borough.
This Council Further Notes:
1.
The motion on fire and police station closures
proposed by Cllr Abdal Ullah and passed by Council on 23 January
this year.
2.
The numerous press and community campaigning
activities undertaken by Labour councillors, MPs and London
Assembly member John Biggs.
3.
That Labour MP Rushanara
Ali and Labour Assembly Member John Biggs met the Mayor of London
on Monday the 17th June to personally lobby his against
the cuts to fire stations in Tower Hamlets.
4.
The three public consultation meetings held in Tower
Hamlets, all of which were arranged, attended, promoted and
addressed by Labour councillors.
5. That no independent or Tory councillors nor the Mayor attended the public consultation meeting on the fire service cuts.
6.
Labour Group’s submission to the LFEPA
consultation on the changes to fire services in London.
7.
That Labour councillors have consistently campaigned
across the community with residents, fire fighters, unions and
others against Boris Johnson’s fire station cuts.
8. That the Mayor of Tower Hamlets has issued press statements and attended photo ops but has failed to attend the three most important meetings on the fire station closures where he had the opportunity to use his position to make a real difference to fire and police cuts plans:
a. The LFEPA public consultation meeting on the 7th May.
b. The meeting of the London Councils Leader’s Committee on Tuesday 12th February with Deputy Mayor of London for Crime Stephen Greenhalgh,
c. The meeting of the London Councils Leader’s Committee on Tuesday 13th November with London Fire Authority Chief James Cleverly AM.
This Council believes:
1. That the Mayor of London’s plans to shut 17 fire stations and axe 600 jobs will have a devastating impact on fire safety across London and Tower Hamlets.
2. That the plans to close of stations in Bow and Whitechapel, putting residents’ safety at risk.
3. That the Mayor of Tower Hamlets has failed to effectively stand up for residents by not attending key high level consultation meetings where he had a personal opportunity to put residents’ points to regional decision makers.
This Council resolves:
1. To write to the Mayor of London in formal support of and enclosing a copy of the Labour Group submission to the LFEPA consultation.
2. To condemn the Mayor of Tower Hamlets for failing to attend key consultation meetings at which he could have made a strong case for Tower Hamlets residents directly to the decision makers.
Extension of time limit for the meeting
Councillor Carlo Gibbs moved, and Councillor Rachael Saunders seconded, a procedural motion – “That under Procedure Rule 15.11.7 the meeting be extended for up to an additional 30 minutes to enable consideration of agenda items 9.1, 11.1, 11.2, 11.3, 12.6, 12.9 and 12.12.”
The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.
Supporting documents: