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 which identify a close relationship between the group seeking to secure 111-113 Mellish Street and himself, will he explain his decision to promote this acquisition by this particular group in light of the flawed process identified in Sections  5.193 to 5.216 of the PWC report?

 

Response by Councillor Alibor Choudhury, Cabinet Member for Resources

 

Councillor Golds is talking about the lease that was offered to the Docklands Community Organisation. It is about the acquisition of the Mellish Street site. I want to say for the record that the community organisation with its partners acquired the building through a process which involved rigorous scrutiny. Our Asset Management Team had assessed all bids against the criteria which was very robust.  They were awarded the site and have complied with all the requirements of this Council.

 

Summary of supplementary question from Councillor Peter Golds

 

May I refer the Mayor, as he does exercise all Executive power, to read 5.193 and 5.216 of the Price Waterhouse Cooper report that are exactly the opposite of that. They most certainly did not comply with all the required things. There is a relevant point that PWC do allude to but I will point it out, that the person running the Docklands Community Organisation was of course the Tower Hamlets First candidate for Blackwall and Cubitt Town.

 

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

 

As usual Councillor Golds is making up stories and he cannot substantiate what he has just said. I will reconfirm that the organisation acquired the premises through a due process.  There were due diligence checks done and to date they have complied with all of our requirements.

 

 

8.6       Question from Councillor Chris Chapman

 

Will the Mayor inform the Council as to why he was absent from the Remembrance Day Commemoration on Sunday November 9th?

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

 

Thank you for your question.

 

In his absence, the Mayor asked Mickey Ambrose, former footballer and Duke of Edinburgh Awards Ambassador to represent him and lay a wreath on his behalf. The Mayor did attend a remembrance service on Friday at City Hall with other Mayors and Council Leaders, and the Armistice Day event at the Town Hall. The Mayor also hosted a reception for war veterans after the event. The Mayor has continuously and consistently attended Remembrance Day but unfortunately on this occasion he was unable to do so.

 

Summary of supplementary question from Councillor Chris Chapman

 

Does he feel that his decision to send a replacement who did not sit in the prominently positioned empty chair at the front, his decision not to attend in 2010 at all, his decision in 2012 to try to hire out Trinity Gardens for Christmas and New Year parties, which received national condemnation, and finally his decision in 2013 to arrive late, leave his chair empty, stand at the side and barge ahead of other representatives to lay his wreath then leave? Does he feel that these decisions reflect poorly on him as a political leader of this Authority and what message does he feel that this sends to the war veterans as to the degree of respect he affords  to the countless men and women who made the ultimate sacrifice in defence of this Country?

 

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

 

Thank you for your very emotional output. I am taking this seriously as it is the Tory government where we have seen ex-servicemen and ex-veterans homeless in London. That’s what you’ve done.

 

 

Questions 8.7 to 8.22 were not put due to lack of time, Question 8.4 was not put as the questioner was not present. Question 8.5 was not put as the Council had earlier in the meeting resolved that the questioner be not further heard. The Service Head, Democratic Services stated that written responses would be provided. [Note: The written responses are included in Appendix A to these minutes.]

 

 

Guillotine Motion

 

At this point the meeting had sat for three hours and, with no motion to extend the meeting proposed, 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.