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 supplementary questions were put (except where indicated) and were responded to by the Mayor or relevant Executive Member

 

9.1       Question from Councillor Denise Jones:

 

Can the mayor tell us what steps he has taken to ensure fire safety on Tower Hamlets Homes and other housing provider estates following the tragic Grenfell Tower disaster?

 

Response of Councillor Sirajul Islam,Cabinet Member for Housing:

 

The Grenfell tower fire was a terrible tragedy and our thoughts and I know the prayers of everyone in the council go out to the victims, their friends and families.

 

The safety of Tower Hamlets residents is our top priority and in the wake of this tragedy we are taking the necessary precautions to protect residents.

 

All 900 blocks managed by Tower Hamlets Homes have had Fire Risk Assessments within the last year.  The nine blocks identified as a “substantial” risk have been re-checked following the Grenfell Tower fire and works to reduce the risk level are underway, in close consultation with the London Fire Brigade. 

 

The Mayor and senior officers met with local registered social housing providers to coordinate and provide mutual support in responding to resident concerns and Government guidance, particularly around cladding materials including emphasising the importance of robust FRAs, as well as working closely with the new Fire Brigade Commander. 

 

Officers have also contacted private block owners and the Approved Inspectors responsible for ensuring construction materials and methods complied with building regulations.

 

The swift response to the recent fire at Dickinson House on Turin Street (Avebury Estate) demonstrated the readiness of the Council and Tower Hamlets Homes to act quickly and we’ve done fantastic work together.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Denise Jones:

 

You have said that all the Tower Hamlets Homes properties have had new Fire Risk Assessments done in the last 9 months or so and I would like to know how these will be monitored in the future and how we are keeping those up. And also can you tell us how many Tower Hamlets Homes blocks had valid Fire Risk Assessments when you became the Mayor?

 

Councillor Sirajul Islam’s response to supplementary question:

 

In the last nine months we ensured that all Tower Hamlets Homes blocks as well as RPs had approved FRAs. Prior to Mayor Biggs being elected we had no approved FRAs within the Council. In the last 9 months we have managed to get those done. How would we monitor FRAs, FRAs are carried out on a regular basis, an annual basis, so they will be rechecked, but I think that the Grenfell fire enquiry will probably recommend a newer kind of FRA regime, so you may know that FRAs only look at internal areas not the external cladding, so it could be a recommendation that we bring in more robust FRAs following the enquiry recommendations.

 

9.2       Question from CouncillorOhid Ahmed:

 

Can the Mayor confirm the precise figures and names of the high-rise buildings as well as tower blocks in the borough which are ‘unsafe’ or ‘at risk’ because of the ‘substantial’ or ‘significant’ fire risk, and what action has he taken to make sure these are safe?

 

Response of Councillor Sirajul Islam,Cabinet Member for Housing:

 

The nine Council-owned blocks that were identified as a “substantial” risk in Fire Risk Assessments are Alzette, Brewster, Brodick, Malting, Modling, Offenbach, Puteaux, St Gilles and Velletri Houses.

 

Works are instructed and underway to reduce the risk to these blocks.  None of these blocks are at risk due to the Aluminium Composite Material (ACM) type cladding which was installed at Grenfell Tower.

 

Brodick House has been undergoing significant works for a number of years and once complete later this year will be reassessed with our expectation the FRA rating will be significantly reduced.

 

The Mayor announced earlier this week that work on all other blocks which have a substantial rating are being procured and will start as soon as possible.

 

Obviously the only reason we know which blocks have fire safety issues is because unlike the previous administration we have undertaken a full suite of Fire Risk Assessments. Under the former Mayor and lead member for Housing many of these blocks developed significant problems which Mayor Biggs and I are now addressing after years of neglect.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Ohid Ahmed:

 

Can I remind you that one of the independent expert on fire safety, professor Arnold Dixsaid that a fact is that Grenfell Tower burned so fast despite being deemed only a medium risk in the Fire Risk Assessments, showed that that a fire assessment did not work, so we need to take a lesson from this. Will the Mayor publish all FRAs as well as the planning assessments for the constituents in this Borough?

 

Councillor Sirajul Islam’s response to supplementary question:

 

In terms of the fire I think there would be lessons learnt following the enquiry and we will follow those recommendations. Bracknell house 2009, recommendations came out; your administration failed to deliver on those recommendations, which is not good for the safety of this Borough. FRAs, the Mayor has already made a commitment that we will make all FRAs available to residents, we will probably start with the tower blocks first, I think that’s the most important ones. We have committed, in terms of blocks, we cannot publish this now until DCLG give us the clearance.

 

9.3       Question from Councillor Rajib Ahmed:

 

Can the Mayor update the council on his housing plans including the opening of Watts Grove and the new Private Renters Charter?

 

Response of Councillor Sirajul Islam,Cabinet Member for Housing:

 

As you know the Mayor launched a new Housing Strategy with the aim of tackling the affordable housing crisis in Tower Hamlets and driving up standards. Since 2015 we have made massive strides in that work.

 

As you note, we recently launched a new Private Renters Charter to guarantee private renter’s rights and improve quality of life for renters.  Last year we also introduced a landlord licensing scheme in three wards and we are keen to extend that further should government allow it. To tackle the affordability crisis we are making major progress on the Mayor’s pledge of 1,000 new homes. The new Watts Grove estate will begin to open next month providing 148 new council homes.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Rajib Ahmed:

 

Thank you Councillor  Islam. It seems like a lot is happening. Could you tell us how you are working to make housing more affordable?

 

Councillor Sirajul Islam’s response to supplementary question:

 

In addition to the 1,000 council homes the Mayor is working to deliver we have delivered 1,070 new affordable homes last year and 1,073 the year before – far higher than under Lutfur Rahman and Councillor Rabina Khan who delivered just 630 in 2012/13 and only 595 in 2013/14. Though we accept affordable homes need to be genuinely affordable to local people. That is why for our new council homes, we have introduced far lower rents.

 

Under the previous Mayor and the then Cabinet Member for Housing, the average rents for new council developments were £239.08 a week for a two bed property.  Under Mayor John Biggs' new policy, rents will be based on a combination of London Affordable Rent at £152.73 and the new Tower Hamlets Living Rent at £223.14 a week, both of which are significantly lower than rents under the previous administration.

The change means, compared to the previous Mayor's rent levels, a family living in a new three bed property will be up to £5,791 better off as a result of Mayor Biggs' changes.

 

9.4       Question from Councillor Andrew Wood about fire safety inspections:

 

Is the Mayor satisfied that all buildings in Tower Hamlets with cladding have now been checked or are in the process of being checked and that fire safety assessments are up to date?

 

Response of Councillor Sirajul Islam,Cabinet Member for Housing:

 

Fire Risk Assessments to Council blocks managed by Tower Hamlets Homes are up to date as I have already explained.

 

The Council does not have authority to inspect Fire Risk Assessments carried out by other landlords, but all registered social housing providers locally report that they are up to date with Fire Risk Assessments and that any issues are being addressed.

 

All Council blocks over six storeys with cladding have been checked and all registered social housing provider blocks over six storeys with cladding have been checked or are in the process of being checked. 

 

Officers have also contacted the Approved Inspectors responsible for ensuring construction materials and methods complied with building regulations on private blocks. 

 

The Council does not have authority to require private owners to check cladding on privately owned blocks nor to provide their FRAs which has proved to be a significant problem responding to Grenfell and one which has been raised a number of times with Government. We are however doing all we can to contact and urge the managers of private tower blocks to follow suite.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Wood:

 

Obviously the focus has been on Tower Hamlets Homes and social housing, but there was a brief mention there about private housing and hospitals and schools, but can the Cabinet member talk about other buildings as well especially hospitals and schools, whether there is any information about the checking of those in particular?

 

Councillor Sirajul Islam’s response to supplementary question:

 

Yes. On top of the social housing that we are checking for cladding, my colleagues Councillor Amy Whitelock-Gibbs and Councillor Rachael Saunders have been talking to unions and schools as well and so far we haven't come across any of this cladding on other public buildings.

 

9.5       Question from Councillor Candida Ronald:

 

What is the Mayor doing to ensure that the failures revealed by the Clear Up investigation can never happen again, whoever is Mayor?

 

Response of Mayor John Biggs:

 

The clear up project was launched in September 2016 following discussions between the commissioners and myself and the senior leadership of the Council. By the time nominations closed on the 8th of December, 66 allegations had been received which have all been investigated. I committed at the onset of the project that the final report would be made public along with the investigators comments, which are here on the agenda this evening. No alterations have been made to the report. How do we ensure things never happen again? Well it's about changing the culture, the reporting framework and the relationships between Members and officers and relationships between Members and each other. Ensuring our codes and our probity arrangements are squeaky clean and everyone understands what should be happening, what their duties are to each other and to themselves and to the residents of Tower Hamlets. By working on that I think we can achieve a better arrangement. It is fundamentally part of the cultural change we need to make in this Borough, which I talk to members about from time to time.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Candida Ronald:

 

Are you confident that any new systems will be robust enough to withstand any future assault?

 

Mayor John Biggs response to supplementary question:

 

I think any system can be tested to destruction by bad behaviour or by malevolent intent. What we need to do is have an empowered Council which will hold the Mayor to account. We have to have an empowered opposition that will hold the administration to account. We have to have statutory officers, we have a new monitoring officer who is a permanent employee, as her predecessor, sadly not here was, rather than an acting person who is at the end of a piece of string from the Mayor or from the political leadership. We need to have proper understanding and relationships and probity in those relationships. By doing that I think we can be more assured, although we always need to watch out for the behaviour of people who will try and work the system.

 

9.6       Question from Councillor Rabina Khan:

 

Will the results of the cladding tests of both council and social high rise tower blocks in Tower Hamlets be made public?

 

Response of Councillor Sirajul Islam,Cabinet Member for Housing:

 

The protocol with DCLG is that cladding test results conducted by the Building Research Establishment are reported to the Council and not made public until residents and local MPs in the affected blocks have been informed of the results.  After that, the test results can and will be published.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Rabina Khan:

 

My question is about the hospital right near me. I do wonder whether or not, what sort of cladding or whatever material has been used there, whether or not there could be a possibility of just finding this out? I ask in the interests of everyone in this community.

 

Councillor Sirajul Islam’sresponse to supplementary question:

 

Yes, I totally understand. I think I have already answered that question. If needs be my colleague Councillor Saunders can talk to them herself and get some confirmation.

 

9.7       Question from Councillor Helal Uddin:

 

Can the lead member give an update on the performance of Work Path?

 

Response of Councillor Joshua Peck, Cabinet Member for Work & Economic Development:

 

It is early days for work path. It is effectively the first quarter, so I don't want to make any early judgements, but certainly things look very positive. We have seen, even in the first quarter, a 24% increase in the number of residents who are engaging, up from 340 to 420. A 54% increase in the number of residents starting work and a 42% increase in the number of employers that we have got on board.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Uddin:

 

You may be aware there are long term issues of people in this borough who are long-term unemployed and also I am sure you are particularly aware of the approach we are having from Jobcentre Plus. There is a soft approach to addressing the long-term unemployment issue and economic increase in the borough. Do you have any plans for how you will address these particular issues?

 

Councillor Joshua Peck’sresponse to supplementary question:

 

We have got lots of plans. You will remember that in the Mayor's last budget we put an extra £5 million into schemes to enable our residents to break down some of the barriers that keep them out of work. We have made a major extension of the women into health and social care programme. This work with many women across the Borough, who are probably the biggest group who face long-term unemployment and barriers to work. We are massively increasing our ESOL provision, both by recruiting more tutors, also putting in place vocational ESOL training but also by setting up an ESOL hub that enables us to direct residents to spare places on other suppliers’ courses. We’ve got an over 50’s adviser already in place and working and with Councillor Whitelock-Gibbs. We are leading a really big project to look at how we can break down the barriers to affordable child care that keeps many people out of work. So there’s a massive amount going on, some really positive early stuff.

 

9.8       Question from Councillor Oliur Rahman:

 

Can the Mayor confirm what salary is he claiming at present from the Council - is it the full increase to his pay packet that he granted himself in his budget - and since when has he claimed this full increase? Will he confirm if he receives any other allowances, salaries, money or perks from the Council or elsewhere?

 

(In addition, notwithstanding what may or may not be currently on the council website buried in reports, for the sake of transparency and for the benefit of residents who may not have time to explore website links or read reports full of jargons, will the Mayor clearly list all his current, past and up to date hospitality/gifts, salaries, allowances and any financial interests since the day he became the Mayor, and list the full details in the minutes for a simple public record reference?)

 

Response of Mayor John Biggs:

 

As you well know, when I became Mayor I proactively reduced my allowance to £30,000 for my first year which was less than half of the allowance for the Mayor in Tower Hamlets. All allowances are within or below the levels recommended by the 2014 report of the independent panel. I happen to be the lowest paid Mayor in London as well. When allowances were increased in 2016 I only took half of the rise for that year. This year there has been no increase in my allowance, but I have chosen to take the full allowance. Unlike some of my predecessors I believe the Mayor is a full time job. I regularly work 6 days a week. I start here just after 7 a.m. and get home around 10 p.m in the evening, I must be crazy I think, but I do it out of a sense of duty and service. I do not receive any additional allowances, salaries or perks from the Council. I don't claim for a telephone. I don't claim for travel other than three exceptions, when I have been to conferences outside of London and the train fare has been paid for by the Council and on two occasions overnight stays, which I was very reluctant to take up, because I prefer being in Tower Hamlets.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Rahman:

 

What the Mayor did not say was when he first started here he was getting two salaries. He was getting paid from the GLA and he was getting money from the Council, so clearly you had more money than what you actually told us Mr Mayor. Do you think you getting a 14.24% pay rise you are putting residents first or yourself first and would you apologise for the hypocrisy, when your group was in opposition for the motion that was put down to cut the Mayor's salary?

 

Mayor John Biggs’ response to supplementary question:

 

I have stated very clearly, I think it was a mistake of the opposition group when the previous Mayor was Mayor, to cut his salary in the way they did. I think it is a serious job and we should expect whoever takes that job on to receive a pay which is similar to or greater than that of a Member of Parliament. I am very clear about that. The previous Mayor’s expenses, you talked about junkets and so on, in a 6 month period he took 85 cab journeys costing taxpayers £2,789. If I pick on one member, say, Oliur Rahman, he took £1,841 for 67 cab rides, including 39 between Stratford Jobcentre, where he works and the Town Hall. Maybe with his new concern for taxpayers’ money, he can tell us if he intends to pay any of those journeys back. It is very important that we get value for money and I think that when there is a fantastic transport system people should think very hard before they use a taxi service.

 

9.9       Question from Councillor John Pierce:

 

How many meetings of Tower Hamlets Homes board were inquorate, preventing key strategic decisions being made, due to non-attendance of councillors, appointed by Mayor Rahman from 2012 – 2015?

 

Response of Councillor Sirajul Islam,Cabinet Member for Housing:

 

THH is an incredibly important organisation for 20,000 of our residents and any councillor appointed to their Board has a duty to engage properly for the benefit of those residents.

 

I am disappointed, but not surprised, to report that five Board meetings were cancelled under the previous administration between 2012 and February 2015 due to the non-attendance of at least two Councillors. Another had to be abandoned half way through as the councillors walked out. That’s almost 40% of meetings disrupted or cancelled.

 

The councillors who sat on the Board at this time were:

-       Alibor Choudhury

-       Kabir Ahmed (until May 2014)

-       Lutfa Begum (Until May 2014)

-       Gulam Robbani

-       Maium Miah (From Oct 2015)       

-       Abdul Asad (From Oct 2015)

All from Tower Hamlets First. Their attendance was appalling. The worst was Lutfa Begum who attended just 20% of meetings then Councillor Gulam Robbani who attended just 38%.

 

By that standard I suppose we should congratulate Councillors Miaum Miah and Abdul Asad who managed to turn up to a third of their meetings, but Just not good enough.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Pierce:

 

Do you agree that if Tower Hamlets Homes had been in a housing association it would have been downgraded by the regulator and they would be considering taking over that organisation, because of actions of the members opposite. The two thousand homes that are managed locally would have been taken away from the control of the Council. How concerned are you about the failings of the members opposite, in regards to the management of our housing provider and aren't we lucky that there were no serious incidents in our neighbourhoods whilst they were in control of Tower Hamlets Homes?

 

Councillor Sirajul Islam’sresponse to supplementary question:

 

I totally agree Councillor Pierce and since Mayor Biggs’ election, not a single meeting of Tower Hamlets Homes Board has been inquorate, with all our Councillors on board. Yes, it probably would be downgraded. We know about Poplar HARCA, we spoke about this earlier on, that because non-attendance of Council Members that RP decided to reject Councillors on that board. I am sure that other RPs could do the same as well and it is not right that when we put members on RP boards, or Tower Hamlets Homes Board that we have a responsibility for them to deliver for the residents of this Borough and not just turn up to the meetings they like and walk out of those meetings they dislike.

 

9.10    Question from Councillor Peter Golds:

 

Will the Mayor inform the council as to whether the four homeless families have moved into the Shoreditch area property stated in the decision of the Asset Management Board seven months ago on the 9th December 2016?

 

Response of Mayor John Biggs:

 

In April of this year I signed a Mayoral decision allowing a meanwhile use for a community organisation whose mosque was planned to undergo works that would require decanting. The organisation, the City Bangladeshi Cultural and Community Centre has already received planning permission. It is my understanding that adaptation for the site into residential occupation would take 6 months to be on site. This is partly because it had been squatted and vandalised by the squatters, so needed further work to get it into good order. The arrangement with the City Bangladeshi Cultural and Community Centre was with very clear conditions which required the mosque to vacate once their existing premises are refurbished. They haven't yet taken up occupation because they haven't satisfied those conditions. It remains to be seen whether they will be able to. As part of the decision we evaluated the financial cost and the timelines and I think this represents reasonable value for the people of Tower Hamlets and a good service for the community if it goes ahead.

 

Supplementary question from Councillor Golds:

 

Will, at some point, 10 Turin Street be returned for housing with people and if so when is this likely to happen?

 

Mayor John Biggs’response to supplementary question:

 

My intention would be that it be refurbished and made available for full housing units sometime during next year, which was indicated on the timeline in the mayoral decision, which I believe has been published and I am happy to talk to the member outside this meeting about that.

 

9.11    Question from Councillor Marc Francis:

 

When will there be a safer crossing over the A12 at Wick Lane?

 

Response of Councillor Amina Ali,Cabinet Member for Environment:

 

We have been working closely with TfL Signals on the design of improvements to accommodate pedestrian phases into the signals at this junction. 

 

I am pleased to announce agreement and final approval on the design and modelling has almost been finalised and there is a provisional date for completion of the works by December 2017.

 

The proposals include:

• Green man phases across all on and off slip roads from the A12;
• Narrowing of the entry slips to one carriageway width to provide a shorter distance for pedestrians to cross;
• Footway redesign at Wick Lane to reduce the width of the mouth of the junction;
• Revised traffic management orders to stop the straight across movement from off slip to on slip, thus restricting movements to one lane right turn, one lane left turn at each exit slip;
• Further consideration is also being given to extending the box junctions to keep the area clear and prevent vehicles blocking the junction.

Finally, I just want to say that safety is paramount to us; we will continue to look at ways to improve safety in the borough.

 

Supplementary Question from Councillor Marc Francis:

 

Can I welcome the lead member and congratulate her on her appointment and especially her speedy success after 12 long years of lobbying and campaigning for a pedestrian crossing, all we needed to do at the outset was for the lead member to come from Bow West ward. Can the lead member ensure us the London Borough of Tower Hamlets will press for early implementation of the new pedestrian crossing in 2018?

 

Councillor Amina Ali’s response to supplementary question:

 

As I stated there is a provisional date for completion of works of December 2017. Therefore in line with this Council’s commitment to safety, I am hopeful we will be able to push for this date.

 

9.12    Question from Councillor Shah Alam:

 

Following the stabbing of Syed Jamanoor Islam, the Mayor committed to the requests of the family in Altab Ali park, can he please provide an update to the council as to what he has completed to date?

 

Response of Councillor Asma Begum,Cabinet Member for Community Safety:

 

The terrible murder of Syed Jamanoor Islam was a tragedy and our thoughts are with his family at this difficult time.

 

Tackling knife crime to prevent these tragedies is a top priority for the council.

 

The Mayor agreed he would support London citizens in any campaign they launched on knife crime and he stands by that pledge. However we have not been idle on this issue. Following the rise in knife crime earlier this year a partnership task and finish group was set up.

 

This task force has resulted in:

 

-          A number of Community/police and council weapon sweeps in target areas.

-          A rolling programme of knife test purchase activity is going on.

 

-          We are educating young people with intervention programmes in a community setting.

 

We still have a long way to go and more work is definitely needed.

 

No supplementary question was asked.

 

9.13    Question from Councillor Danny Hassell:

 

Will Tower Hamlets have a Creative Enterprise Zone when announced by the GLA later this year?

 

Response of Mayor John Biggs:

 

I certainly hope so and, on the creative Enterprise zones, we are working with the Mayor of London and the GLA in establishing Fish Island and The Lower Lea Valley as a Zone. They are important areas in the cultural fabric of London and it is important to get things like the affordability of creative work spaces and ensure that in planning decisions we maintain creative work spaces and we support the creative industries, they are major employers in our Borough and we have for too long neglected the SME sector. I am working with Councillor Rachel Blake and with Councillor Joshua Peck on the employment and the regeneration aspects of this. It is important for our Borough that we maintain our creative sector and do not allow it to be squeezed out. One of the great anxieties in that area of Fish Island is that property development will squeeze people out of the area. And working in partnership with the London Legacy Development Corporation, I am hoping we can achieve some good objectives to that end.

 

No supplementary question was asked.

 

Questions 9.14 - 29 were not put due to lack of time. Written responses would be provided to the questions.  (Note:  The written responses are included in Appendix ‘A’ to these minutes.)