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

 

6.1       Question from from Adam Allnutt:

 

The Council recently announced funding for 14 new police officers – how will these officers be used in the borough?

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

 

Recently the Mayor announced £1.5m funding for 14 new police officers to tackle crime and anti-social behaviour on council estates. There will be 12 constables and 2 sergeants.  The Mayor and I also announced at Cabinet last night new funding for an extra 19 Police Officers, on top of the 14 already announced. This will bring the total number of Council funded Officers to 39.  They will be joining Tower Hamlets Homes staff in a joint anti-social behaviour team – the first of its kind in the borough. The new officers will have a particular focus on drug dealing and drug misuse. They will carry out uniformed patrols, Stop and Searches, Issuing ASB warnings, enforcement of disposal zones, weapons sweeps, security checks of blocks and bin stores, door knocking, attending TRA meetings and carrying out home visits. They will take on the persistent offenders who are making life a misery for residents. These officers should be on our streets from this month.

 

Supplementary question fromAdam Allnutt:

 

I was recently attacked by one of these roaming groups of men who commit anti - social behaviour around the borough. It was on Millharbour which is meant to be a safer part of the borough.  With central Government cuts we have seen an end to community policing.  How long can councils fill in for central Government cuts to these police services which are essential?

 

Councillor Begum’s, response to supplementary question:

 

I am sorry to hear about your incident. You’re absolutely right that the Government has slashed police budgets and expects local councils to step in to ‘fill the gap’.While we do what we can, like funding extra officers, we simply cannot replace every officer that the Government scraps.Police numbers fell for the seventh consecutive year in July. Police forces in England and Wales are now at their lowest strength per head on record.Tower Hamlets Council will continue to fund additional officers, and we’re looking at funding even more, but the Government needs to properly fund our police services.

 

6.2       Question from Shohidur Rahman:

 

Many residents are concerned about anti-social behaviour associated with the use of laughing gas. What is the council doing about this?

 

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

 

We recently launched a ‘No Laughing Matter’ campaign working with partners including local Police and Tower Hamlets Homes to tackle the problems caused by Nitrous Oxide. The Council’s ground breaking campaign ‘No Laughing Matter’ includes:

 

·         Educating people about laughing gas.

·         Urging residents to report traders selling it for human consumption.

·         Working closely with trading standards and the police to close down outlets.

·         Providing residents with ways to report discarded canisters.

·         Talking to school children about the dangers of nitrous oxide.

 

In addition, as I just mentioned, the Mayor announced in Cabinet last night, extra funding for 19 Police Officers on top of the 14.

 

(No supplementary question was asked).

 

6.3       Question from AbukorEssa:

 

What action is the Council taking to address poor air quality in Tower Hamlets?

 

Response of CouncillorRachel Blake, Cabinet Member for Strategic Development and Waste:

 

Thanks for raising this important issue. 9000 Londoners die each because of poor air quality. So it is urgent that we tackle this now. Living in London and living in the borough this is a matter of justice. This is about inequality as people living in deprived areas have poorer air quality. 48% of our residents live in areas of unacceptable air quality. 48% of our schools are in areas of unacceptable air quality. Two of the most polluted schools in London are in Tower Hamlets, so it is urgent that we take action. We in Tower Hamlets and the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, are taking action, unlike other parts of London and the previous administration here, we take this issue very seriously. We consulted widely on our Air Quality Action Plan and have received 153 responses, 86% were residents. We are already taking the following actions:

 

·         Electric vehicle charging, for which we approved plans last night.

·         Increasing provisions for walking and cycling.

·         Investing in measures in schools to encourage children to walk to school.

·         Raising awareness of pollution and encouraging people to make small changes to day to day journeys.

·         Leading by example by upgrading our own Council fleet and ensuring that our new civic centre has low impact on air quality and

·         Lobbying the Government for stronger national action on air quality.

 

We need to work together across London with the Mayor of London on this issue. What we need is further action from national Government to help us really tackle this issue.

 

Supplementary question fromAbukorEssa:

 

Councillor Peter Golds earlier mentioned particularly Woolmore Primary School, which is about 400-500 yards from where I live. Although it’s a London issue, this area -  the Isle of Dogs near Blackwall tunnel is one of the worst affected areas in terms of air pollution. Is there any specific targeting for the problem in that area? 

 

CouncillorBlake’s response to supplementary question:

 

Yes we do target the areas that are worst affected. We focus our monitoring stations on the areas worst affected, and then we have other monitors distributed around the borough, that can monitor the overall level of air pollution in the borough. We can also share with everybody methods of identifying where pollution is worst in the Borough at any one time. As you rightly said, the A13 and the A12 corridors are some of the most affected areas and they are surrounded by some of our most deprived communities. That is why this is an issue about social justice and it’s important that we tackle this so that the children growing up in those areas do not have their lungs damaged at such an early age, because national Government is not prepared to take the action that we need to be taken.

 

I think the most interesting thing about the local action that you are requesting is that the residents who responded to the consultation are asking us to do more. They want us to tackle emissions from canal boats, they think we need more action to reduce traffic volume and to tackle engine idling. There is a real demand out there that we tackle this issue, so I think that we should listen to the people that have responded to our consultation, listen to the people who came to our consultation event over the summer and make this air quality action plan strong so that we stop children living around the A12 and A13, from having their lungs damaged by air pollution in Tower Hamlets because it’s not fair. This is something that we as a Labour Party within Tower Hamlets Council are determined to tackle. 

 

6.4       Question from Victoria Obaze:

 

How many affordable homes were delivered in 2016?

 

Response of CouncillorSirajul Islam, Cabinet Member for Housing:

 

Affordable housing is a top priority for this administration and we are delighted to confirm that a City Hall report revealed that Tower Hamlets saw more affordable housing built than any other borough in London (2015/16).

 

Up to date Council figures show that in Tower Hamlets more than 1,070 affordable homes were built last year (2016/17) and another 1,073 the year before (2015/16).

 

Alongside his pledge to build 1,000 council homes in coming years, Mayor Biggs established the Tower Hamlets Affordability Commission last year which resulted in the decision earlier this year to introduce lower rents for new council and affordable housing saving residents up to £6,000 a year.

 

The very high cost of housing, a chronic shortage of stock and a growing population all mean considerable challenges in providing affordable housing. These encouraging figures highlight the massive progress made in fulfilling one of Mayor Biggs’ key priorities.

 

Supplementary question fromVictoria Obaze:

 

What affordable housing is planned for the future?

 

CouncillorIslam’s response to supplementary question:

 

We continue to be committed to providing affordable housing for residents. Last week the Mayor and I alongside other Councillors were joined by the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, to unveil another 150 homes in Watts Grove -  a new rented affordable housing split between Tower Hamlets Living Rents and London Affordable Rent, which is the equivalent of social rent. This scheme was earmarked for scrapping by ex-Mayor Lutfur Rahman and former Cabinet Member for Housing Councillor Khan but reinstated in 2013 after a strong local campaign led by Labour Councillors and John Biggs. As part of the next phase of this important programme, we have identified four such sites in the borough which will provide more new affordable homes for local families. We are also well on our way to providing 1000 Council houses, since the start of this administration.

 

6.5       Question from Dipa Das

 

How many residents in low income households in Tower Hamlets don’t have access to WiFi?

 

Response of Mayor John Biggs:

 

In Tower Hamlets, 24% of residents living in low income households do not have access to Wi-Fi. 45% of those aged over 50 do not have access to Wi-Fi; 40% of residents with disabilities do not have access to Wi-Fi. We will be arranging free digital training for residents so that they can have access to the infrastructure and develop the skills to use free Wi-Fi. Just to be clear in case people think that this is some sort of gimmick, the Council will actually make money not out of residents but from the providers who have been bidding to provide this service for us and they will be providing on top of that the free access to local residents. On top of that, we are very clear that this forms a part of our communications strategy for making sure that we get what is called channel shift - that is getting more people to access Council services on line. It’s also about social exclusion so it’s about making sure that people who are information poor have access to Wi-Fi and can participate more fully in this increasingly electronic age.

 

Supplementary question from Dipa Das:

 

Will the free Wi - Fi benefit businesses in the local area?

 

Mayor Biggs response to supplementary question:

 

Yes. Over 800 businesses in Brick Lane, Watney Market and Chrisp Street town centres and over 130,000 residents living within 800 metres of these centres, will benefit from this first phase. It’s not designed to subsidise more comprehensive business use, but about ensuring in particular that small businesses can have access to the internet to help them be more efficient in the way they do things like, procurement, gathering information and so on. I think it is a progressive move, which is obviously why I have proposed it.