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.

 

8.1       Question from Councillor Denise Jones

 

Sadly for the second year running we are meeting after more stabbings in Wapping over the Christmas period. This year’s incident came at an illegal rave which spiralled out of control. Will the Mayor tell us what steps he has taken since he came to power to crack down on this type of activity as well as to combat knife crime on our streets?

 

Response by Councillor Ohid Ahmed, Deputy Mayor

 

Thank you for your question Councillor Jones.  Knife crime is a serious issue, not just in Tower Hamlets but across London.  Boris Johnson’s police cuts are making it harder to take on this issue.

 

As soon as I heard of it, I ordered the Head of Paid Service to work with the police and check the security of vacant properties in the borough and to improve intelligence to crack down on these sorts of gatherings.

 

However, we are working hard to do what we can with what we have.  We’ve invested £2.2m in new THEOs and £2m in new police officers.

 

Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Denise Jones

 

How are you going to prevent future incidents like this from happening?

 

Summary of Councillor Ohid Ahmed’s response to the Supplementary Question

 

We know the problems and are trying to solve them.

 

 

8.2       Question from Councillor Peter Golds

 

Will the Mayor explain the reasons for the conflicting statements issued by the council in his name regarding the march against the sale of alcohol organised by Anjem Choudhary in Brick Lane during December?

 

Response by Councillor Ohid Ahmed, Deputy Mayor

 

It is not true that conflicting statements were issued.

 

The initial response issued by our communications team was not cleared by the Mayor and should not have been sent out.

 

For the record the Mayor approved the following statement in the aftermath of the demonstration:-

 

“As part of our pledge to ‘No Place for Hate’, we oppose all groups that seek to impose their views on and bring division to our communities. Council staff worked with the police to ensure that the businesses, residents and visitors on Brick Lane were protected during the demonstration.”

 

Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Peter Golds

 

Conflicting statements were issued.  What happened between the two statements being issued?  The public should know and the Mayor should tell us.

 

Summary of Councillor Ohid Ahmed’s response to the Supplementary Question

 

You are not looking at the bigger picture. We want to make sure that everyone who lives and works in the borough feels safe.

 

Procedural Motions

 

At this point Councillor Peter Golds moved and Councillor Tim Archer seconded a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.3 the order of business be varied to debate Motion 12.1 (“Motion regarding the Mayor’s statements on the “March against alcohol”) as the next item of business.

 

The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed. The Council therefore proceeded to debate Motion 12.1 (see minute 12 below).

 

 

8.3       Question from Councillor Rachael Saunders

 

At the Council’s last meeting the Mayor sat for over an hour whilst serious questions were asked about the integrity and legality of his re-election campaign. The Mayor has also refused to attend any of the ten Overview and Scrutiny meetings this municipal year. Does he not realise that he, like us, was elected by the people of Tower Hamlets and that he has a duty to justify his decisions both to residents and the councillors they have elected to hold him to account?

 

Response by Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources

 

All questions were answered by Cabinet members. This is called delegation.  All of your absurd and unsupported allegations have been denied by the Mayor both in print and at the last Cabinet meeting.

 

Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Rachael Saunders

 

You have not denied this and I have not received any response written or verbally. Do you pay anyone to canvass for you, how do you pay for them, when will the Mayor submit a campaign costs declaration to the Electoral Commission and are there any links between the grants and his campaign funding?

 

Summary of Councillor Alibor Choudhury’s response to the Supplementary Question

 

There is nothing improper going on but I do have information on a ‘cash for nominations’ scheme going on in the Labour group.

 

Procedural Motion

 

At this point Councillor Carlo Gibbs moved and Councillor Rachael Saunders seconded a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.15, Rule 13.1 be suspended to enable an urgent motion on the integrity of the upcoming elections to be debated without notice as the next item of business.” The text of the proposed urgent motion was circulated to the meeting.

 

The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed. The Council therefore proceeded to debate the urgent motion (see minute 13 below).

 

 

8.5       Question from Councillor Joshua Peck

 

Is the Deputy Mayor happy with the level of dog fouling and street cleanliness in his ward and in the borough as a whole?

 

Response by Councillor Ohid Ahmed, Deputy Mayor

 

Thank you for your question Councillor Joshua Peck.  No amount of dog fouling is ever acceptable, and so as long as there is even one piece of dog fouling that goes unreported or is seen by a resident, I can never be ‘happy’ with the level of dog fouling in my ward, or in the borough.

 

This is why we are doing lots of good things and as a result the borough is the cleanest it has ever been.

 

Summary of Supplementary Question from Councillor Joshua Peck

 

I am not surprised that the Deputy Mayor says does not want to see any dog fouling on any street in the borough because when I asked if the Council’s dog foul cleaning machine could visit my ward I was told it was too busy elsewhere.  And when I asked where it went I was given a list of eleven streets – the same eleven streets every day.  And where are those eleven streets? In the Deputy Mayor’s ward.  In fact it starts and ends on the same street, which is the street on which the Deputy Mayor lives.  Isn’t there a stench that hangs over this administration – the stench of the abuse of power?

 

Summary of Councillor Ohid Ahmed’s response to the Supplementary Question

 

Our policy is to introduce initiatives to make our streets safe and clean.  It is for officers to implement those initiatives, not for members to make specific instructions to carry out the work.

 

Procedural Motion

 

At this point Councillor Carlo Gibbs moved and Councillor Bill Turner seconded a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.9 the Council move on to the next business”.

 

The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed. The Council therefore proceeded to Agenda Item 9.

 

 

[Note: Question 8.4 was not put at the meeting as the questioner, Councillor Fozol Miah, was not in attendance.  Questions 8.6 to 8.29 below were not put due to lack of time.  The Service Head, Democratic Services indicated that written responses would be provided.  [Note:  The written responses are included in Appendix A to these minutes.]