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-

8.1 Question from Councillor Helal Uddin:

Can the Mayor or Cabinet Member update Council on ongoing work to tackle the housing crisis?

Response of Councillor Sirajul Islam, Statutory Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Housing

I am sure that you will be aware that the Council adopted a new Housing Strategy in December 2016 which set out our plan to tackle the Housing crisis through to 2021. A lack of affordable housing is a major concern for residents and we have made significant strides forward over the past two and a half years. I pledged to provide 1,000 council homes and we’re on track to meet this target. On affordable housing, Council figures show we delivered 1,070 affordable homes last year, 2016/17, and another 1,073 the year before. And under my new Living Rent policy, rents for new affordable homes are more affordable to those on low incomes, saving residents up to £6,000 a year. We are also investing £3m in local neighbourhoods to make them safer, cleaner and greener. Further, we’re driving up standards in the private rented sector with landlord licensing scheme and our new Tower Hamlets Private Renters’ Charter. The Council is doing a great deal to tackle the housing crisis, but we need the Government to back us up and take the challenge seriously, something we discussed already in the motion earlier.

Supplementary question fromCouncillor Uddin:

What sort of strategies are in place to increase social housing as well as affordable housing in the borough and will the Lead Member ensure me that the work programmes created by the Housing Scrutiny Sub-Committee will be supported and resourced by the administration to ensure that fire safety issues are being dealt with effectively?

Councillor Sirajul Islam’s response to supplementary question:

We have recently announced £119m funding to purchase surplus housing stock from registered providers including £19m to buy homes from Poplar HARCA. We have purchased additional homes for use as temporary accommodation. We have also purchased new housing from developers as part of their planning obligations. We’ll discuss this in more detail later this evening, but this is a massive investment in affordable homes for our residents highlighting just how seriously we take the housing crisis.

In terms of fire safety, we take this very seriously. We cannot forget the 71 lives lost at Grenfell Tower. The Mayor has allocated around £30m for fire safety work. As you know, we are already carrying out work at Brewster House and on the Cranbrook Estate. Under Mayor Biggs’ leadership in 2015 we carried out fire risk assessments of every Council block and registered provider block which is something the previous administration failed to and left our residents in grave danger.

8.2 Question from Councillor Oliur Rahman

Following the changes to the Council Tax reduction scheme by the Mayor in April 2017, how is the Council supporting self-employed residents – like mini cab drivers and driving instructors etc. – in relation to their council tax rebate and reduction?

Response of Councillor David Edgar, Cabinet Member for Resources:

The changes made to the local Council Tax reduction scheme earlier this year, kept the option of providing up to a 100% discount. Many Councils throughout the county require all working people to make a contribution to Council Tax. We did make some changes to the assessment criteria that took into account the changes that come from the introduction of the universal credit. The introduction of which means that the Council will no longer be responsible for housing benefit for working age claimants. The Government in their budget made some small changes to universal credit, but really did not make the changes that were absolutely necessary. The introduction of universal credit by the Government has been a disaster for many people. It means that not only are many of the rules around benefits changing, but the government is also stopping sharing information with Councils and is cutting the funding that they give Councils to process benefits. This means that we have no verified information on actual income for those in receipt of universal credit which is the information that we previously used to base the local Council tax calculation on. As a result, one of the changes that was made by the Council in January this year was the introduction of a minimum income floor which was based on 35 hours work on a national minimum wage. That is the same criteria that is going to be applied and is applied under universal credit which will increasingly affect the Borough’s self-employed claimants as universal credit is rolled out. That has had an impact on some self-employed claimants.

Supplementary question fromCouncillor Rahman:

Not every resident receives universal credit and I think for the Council to have a blanket policy affecting every single working resident is not right. When I asked Officers what legal legislation they used to reach that decision they could not answer maybe you could answer that question. What legal legislation have you used to reach this decision that is affecting the self- employed working people in this borough?

Councillor Edgar’s response to supplementary question:

Councils are able to set their Council tax reduction schemes. The Government abolished a number of years ago the national scheme and also reduced significantly the funding that came to it. But what we have done in response to help those people who face problems as a result of the changes, that will affect more and more people as universal credit is rolled out, is to provide support to people so that everybody who feels that they are in financial hardship and feels that they have been affected by the changes can contact the Council and have a discussion with the Council. What the Council can do in response is reduce financial hardship through the support it provides. The Council can provide help on work and advice on benefits. These measures will form part of a report that goes to the November Cabinet. This is in addition to the hardship scheme that was introduced with the Council Tax reduction scheme. We are doing this in the context where the Government continues to push forward universal credit. This makes the work that we do as a Council to support people into work through the hardship fund and through the other things we can do all the more important.

8.5 Question from Councillor Shiria Khatun:

How did the Council respond to the Met Police consultation on police front counter closures?

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

A detailed written response from the Council was submitted to the London Mayor’s Office for Policing & Crime (MOPAC) opposing the closures. There were 17 questions in total covering many aspects of community engagement and accessibility. One of which specifically asked “Do you agree that it is right that the Metropolitan Police Service prioritise police officers over poorly-used front counters?” The Council did not agree with this proposed prioritisation which is far from simple. The Council expressed serious concerns over the impact of government cuts on the police and that MOPAC should not be placed in the situation of having to choose between police officers and front counters.  

Concerns were raised on the loss of two front counters in the borough and the isolation this would cause. We offered alternative options to avoid their closure.

(No supplemental question was asked)

Questions 8.3 – 4 were not put due to the absence of the questioners. Questioners 8.6- 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.)

Procedural Motion

Councillor Danny Hassell moved and Councillor Sirajul Islam, seconded, a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.3 the order of business be varied such that agenda item 12. 4 Motion regarding Operation Lynemouth be taken as the next item of business”. The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.

Procedural Motion

Councillor Danny Hassell moved and Councillor Marc Francis, seconded, a procedural motion “that under Procedure Rule 14.1.3 the order of business be varied such that agenda item 12. 8 Motion regarding the future of Old Ford Housing Association be taken as the next item of business”. The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.

Extension of time limit for the meeting

Mayor John Biggs moved, and Councillor Danny Hassell seconded, a procedural motion that “under Procedure Rule 15.11.7 the meeting be extended for up to an additional 10 minutes to enable item 12. 8 Motion regarding the future of Old Ford Housing Association and the remaining reports on the agenda to be considered”. The procedural motion was put to the vote and was agreed.