Agenda and minutes

To approve and sign as an accurate record the Minutes of the Annual Council Meeting held on 26 May 2010.

The minutes of the Annual Council Meeting held on 26 May 2010were confirmed and signed as an accurate record.

Apologies for absence were received from Helen Binmore, Iain Coleman, Jean Campbell, Gavin Donovan, Jane Law and Mercy Umeh.

The Mayor’s Announcements were circulated and tabled at the meeting.  (Copy attached as Appendix 1 to these minutes).

If a Councillor has any prejudicial or personal interest in a particular report he/she should declare the existence and nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of the item or as soon as it becomes apparent.

At meetings where members of the public are allowed to be in attendance and speak, any Councillor with a prejudicial interest may also make representations, give evidence or answer questions about the matter. The Councillor must then withdraw immediately from the meeting before the matter is discussed and any vote taken, unless a dispensation has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

Where members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance, then the Councillor with a prejudicial interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration, unless the disability has been removed by the Standards Committee.

Councillor Powell declared a personal interest in agenda item 7.2 (Special Motion 2 – Careers’ Centre and Carers Services) as a service user.

The following Councillors declared a personal interest in agenda item 7.7 (Special Motion 7 – H&F Credit Union), as follows:-

• Councillors Greenhalgh and Iggulden declared that they were Members of the Credit Union.
• Councillors Karmel and Hamilton declared that they were on the Board of the North Fulham New Deal for Communities which supports the Credit Union.

The Leader/relevant Cabinet Member to reply to questions submitted by members of the public:

The Mayor called on those members of the public who had submitted questions to the Leader or Cabinet Member to ask their questions.  The Leader or the relevant Cabinet Member responded.

7.05 pm - The Mayor called on Ms Margaret Turley who had submitted a question to the Cabinet Member for Community Care (Councillor Joe Carlebach) to ask her question.  The Cabinet Member for Community Care responded.

7.07 pm - The Mayor called on Ms Pauline Trapmore who had submitted a question to the Cabinet Member for Community Care (Councillor Joe Carlebach) to ask her question.  The Cabinet Member for Community Care responded.

7.09 pm - The Mayor called on Ms Marjorie Serra who had submitted a question to the Leader (Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh) to ask her question.  The Leader responded.

7.09 pm - The Mayor called on Ms Desiree Cranenburgh who had submitted a question to the Cabinet Member for Community Care (Councillor Joe Carlebach) to ask her question.  The Cabinet Member for Community Care responded.

7.13 pm - The Mayor called on Mr Bruce Marquart who had submitted a question to the Leader (Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh) to ask his question.  The Leader responded.

[Copies of all public questions submitted and the replies given are attached at Appendix 2 to these minutes.]

This report outlines how the Council intends to meet the requirements of the legislation and requests the approval of its Petitions Scheme.

7.18pm - The report and recommendations were moved for adoption by the Leader, Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh.

The report and recommendations were put to the vote:

FOR                            Unanimous

AGAINST                   0

ABSTENTIONS         0

The report and recommendations were declared  CARRIED.

7.18 pm - RESOLVED:

(1)         That the Petitions Scheme as set out in Appendix 1 to the report, be adopted; and

(2)         That approval be given to amend the Constitution to accommodate the scheme as set out in Appendix 2 to the report.

To consider and determine any Special Motions:

7.19 pm – Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh moved, seconded by Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler, the special motion standing in their names:

"This Council agrees the following appointment under its Constitution for the rest of the Municipal Year 2010/11, effective from the day after the Council meeting:

Councillor Rachel Ford be appointed a member of the Planning Applications Committee.”

The motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            Unanimous

AGAINST                   0

ABSTENTIONS         0

The motion was declared CARRIED.

7.19 pm – RESOLVED:

This Council agrees the following appointment under its Constitution for the rest of the Municipal Year 2010/11, effective from the day after the Council meeting:

Councillor Rachel Ford be appointed a member of the Planning Applications Committee.

7.20 pm – Councillor Rory Vaughan moved, seconded by Councillor Elaine Chumnery  the special motion standing in their names:

“The Council recognises the crucial role played by the many unpaid carers of all ages and from all backgrounds in Hammersmith and Fulham and deplores the Conservative Administration’s removal of critical support for the borough’s unpaid carers. We call on the Administration to reverse plans to close the Carers’ Centre and cut carers’ services.”

Speeches on the motion were made by Councillors Vaughan and  Chumnery  (for the Opposition).

Under Council Procedure Rule 15 (e) (vi), Councillor Joe Carlebach moved, seconded by Councillor Peter Tobias, an amendment to the motion, to delete all words after “Hammersmith and Fulham” and replace with:-

“We support the Administration’s efforts to extend the support given to carers in our Borough and recognise and applaud the fact that there has been no cut in the budget provision or spend this year for this service.”

Speeches on the amendment were made by Councillors Carlebach, Tobias and Greenhalgh (for the Administration) and Councillors Needham, Powell and Cowan (for the Opposition) before it was put to the vote:

FOR                            26

            AGAINST                   12

            ABSTENTION           0

The amendment to the motion was declared CARRIED.

Councillor Vaughan made a speech winding up the debate before the substantive motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            27

            AGAINST                   12

            ABSTENTION           0

The substantive motion was declared CARRIED.

8.04 pm - RESOLVED:

“The Council recognises the crucial role played by the many unpaid carers of all ages and from all backgrounds in Hammersmith and Fulham.  We support the Administration’s efforts to extend the support given to carers in our Borough and recognise and applaud the fact that there has been no cut in the budget provision or spend this year for this service.”

8.04 pm – Under Council Procedure Rule 19 (d) (iii), Councillor Mark Loveday moved, seconded by Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler, that special motion 5 take precedence over all other motions and be heard.

Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh moved, seconded by Councillor Michael Adam, the special motion standing in their names:

“This Council:

(1)     Welcomes action by 2006-10 Conservative administration to cut non-housing debt by £36 million.

(2)     Notes that it currently pays £5 million a year in debt interest before it spends a single penny on front line services.

(3)     Pledges to halve the level of non-housing debt within the next four years and to repay this debt in full over the longer term.”

Speeches on the motion were made by Councillors Greenhalgh and Adam.

Under Council Procedure Rule 15 (e) (vi), Councillor Stephen Cowan moved, seconded by Councillor Colin Aherne,  an amendment to the motion, to delete all words after “This Council and insert;-

"Recognizes the important contribution of the last Labour Administration in paying off £12 million of the £24 million debt the Conservative Administration quoted as the amount of debt reduction it achieved in the period 2006 to 2010.

The Council agrees to protect community assets such as youth clubs, parks, community centres and housing and instead will prioritize the sale of assets not utilized by the community such as staff car parks and excess office space to meet its debt reduction targets.

The Council pledges to seek maximum value for the Borough's tax payers by selling capital assets when market conditions will deliver the Council with the highest likely return."

Speeches on the amendment were made by Councillors Cowan and Powell (for the Opposition) and Councillors Andrew Johnson and Ginn (for the Administration) before it was put to the vote:

FOR                            12

            AGAINST                   27

            ABSTENTION           0

The amendment to the motion was declared LOST.

Councillor Greenhalgh made a speech winding up the debate before the substantive motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            27

            AGAINST                   12

            ABSTENTION           0

The substantive motion was declared CARRIED.

8.48 pm - RESOLVED:

 “This Council:

(1)     Welcomes action by 2006-10 Conservative administration to cut non-housing debt by £36 million.

(2)     Notes that it currently pays £5 million a year in debt interest before it spends a single penny on front line services.

(3)     Pledges to halve the level of non-housing debt within the next four years and to repay this debt in full over the longer term.”

8.48 pm – Councillor Andrew Jones moved, seconded by Councillor PJ Murphy the special motion standing in their names:

“This Council welcomes the findings of the Parliamentary Culture Media and Sports Select Committee in its publication the Future for Local and Regional Media. In particular we note that it referred to the London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham in paragraph 73 stating:

“Publications such as Hammersmith and Fulham Borough Council’s H&F News effectively pose as, and compete with, local commercial newspapers and are misleading to the public. It is unacceptable that a local authority can set up a newspaper in direct competition to the local commercial newspaper in this way. Nor should any council publication be a vehicle for political propaganda.”

We also note that Prime Minister David Cameron’s government has published its plans in a document called Our Programme for Government in which it says “We will impose tougher rules to stop unfair competition by local authority newspapers”.

We call on the Administration to dispose of H&F News and end all political propaganda.”

Speeches on the motion were made by Councillors Jones and Murphy (for the Opposition).

Under Council Procedure Rule 15 (e) (vi), Councillor Stephen Greenhalgh moved, seconded by Councillor Peter Graham, an amendment to the motion, to delete all words and insert:

“This Council:

1.         Welcomes the substantially lower cost and higher quality provided by h&f news compared to HF Magazine.

2.         Endorses the government's proposal that Council publications should offer value for money and that they should not represent unfair competition.

3.         Believes that h&f news fulfils these requirements.”

Speeches on the amendment were made by Councillors Greenhalgh, Graham and Karmel (for the Administration) and Councillor Murphy (for the Opposition) before it was put to the vote:

FOR                            25

            AGAINST                   12

            ABSTENTION           0

The amendment to the motion was declared CARRIED.

Councillor Jones made a speech winding up the debate before the substantive motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            25

            AGAINST                   12

            ABSTENTION           0

The substantive motion was declared CARRIED.

9.22 pm - RESOLVED:

This Council:

1.         Welcomes the substantially lower cost and higher quality provided by h&f news compared to HF Magazine.

2.         Endorses the government's proposal that Council publications should offer value for money and that they should not represent unfair competition.

3.         Believes that h&f news fulfils these requirements.

9.22pm – Councillor Nicholas Botterill moved, seconded by Councillor Robert Iggulden, the special motion standing in their names:

“This Council welcomes the government's swift implementation of its manifesto commitment to cancel the proposed third runway at Heathrow Airport.”

Speeches on the motion were made by Councillors Nicholas Botterill and Robert Iggulden.

Under Council Procedure Rule 15 (e) (vi), Councillor Michael Cartwright moved, seconded by Councillor Lisa Homan,  an amendment to the motion, to delete all words after “welcomes” in the first line and insert:-

“BAA's decision to withdraw its planning application for the third runway and the Coalition's subsequent decision to make clear it would not allow it to happen anyway.

This Council regrets the Coalition decision not to allow a representative of the resident groups such as HACAN to sit on the new airports Task Force and calls on the Coalition to reverse this decision and recognise the vital work that they performed in opposing R 3”.

Speeches on the amendment were made by Councillors Cartwright and Homan (for the Opposition) and Councillors Botterill and Cooney (for the Administration) before it was put to the vote:

FOR                            12

            AGAINST                   27

            ABSTENTION           0

The amendment to the motion was declared LOST.

The substantive motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            Unanimous

            AGAINST                   0

            ABSTENTION           0

The substantive motion was declared CARRIED.

9.47 pm - RESOLVED:

“This Council welcomes the government's swift implementation of its manifesto commitment to cancel the proposed third runway at Heathrow Airport.”

9.48pm – Councillor Nicholas Botterill moved, seconded by Councillor Thomas Crofts, the special motion standing in their names:

“This Council:

(1)           Notes the damage caused to residents and businesses in the borough by the ill-conceived Western Extension of the Congestion Charge Zone introduced by the Mayor of London's predecessor.

(2)           Notes the overwhelming opposition of borough residents and businesses to the Western Extension.

(3)           Welcomes the announcement of the Mayor of London Boris Johnson that the Western Extension will be abolished by Christmas 2010.”

Speeches on the motion were made by Councillors Botterill and Crofts.

Under Council Procedure Rule 15 (e) (vi), Councillor Wesley Harcourt moved, seconded by Councillor Colin Aherne, an amendment to the motion, to add new point 3:-

"(3)     Notes that the previous Labour Administration opposed the Western

Extension and the current members of the Labour Group also oppose it."

Renumber current (3)."

Speeches on the amendment were made by Councillor Harcourt (for the Opposition) and Councillor Botterill (for the Administration) before it was put to the vote:

FOR                            11

            AGAINST                   26

            ABSTENTIONS         0

The amendment to the motion was declared LOST.

The substantive motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            27

            AGAINST                   0

            ABSTENTIONS         11

The substantive motion was declared CARRIED.

9.57 pm - RESOLVED:

 That this Council:

(1)         Notes the damage caused to residents and businesses in the borough by the ill-conceived Western Extension of the Congestion Charge Zone introduced by the Mayor of London's predecessor.

(2)         Notes the overwhelming opposition of borough residents and businesses to the Western Extension.

(3)         Welcomes the announcement of the Mayor of London Boris Johnson that the Western Extension will be abolished by Christmas 2010.

10.02pm – Councillor Harry Phibbs moved, seconded by Councillor Mark Loveday, the special motion standing in their names:

“This Council:

(1)           Congratulates the H&F Credit Union on its provision of straightforward,
affordable financial services to anyone living in Hammersmith & Fulham.

(2)           Urges residents and staff to join the Credit Union and help it to continue to flourish.” 

As the meeting had run out of debating time, the motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            Unanimous

AGAINST                   0

ABSTENTIONS         0

The motion was declared CARRIED.

10.02 pm - RESOLVED: 

That this Council:

(1)               Congratulates the H&F Credit Union on its provision of straightforward,
affordable financial services to anyone living in Hammersmith & Fulham.

(2)               Urges residents and staff to join the Credit Union and help it to continue to flourish.

Councillor Vaughan announced that he worked for the Financial Services Authority and left the Council Chamber during the discussion and did not vote on the motion.

This report is asking Council to note changes to the portfolios of the Leader and Cabinet Member for Residents Services consequent upon the Leader’s wish to change the scope of his portfolio.

10.03pm - The Mayor noted that the Leader had approved the transfer of  portfolio responsibility for the 2012 Olympics (including the London Youth Games) to the Cabinet Member for Residents Services.

This report presents details of decisions taken by the Leader or Cabinet Members (and Chief Executive during the election recess period) under the special urgency provisions of the Constitution (decision not in the Forward Plan).  The report covers the period 1 February to 31 May 2010.

10.03pm - The Mayor noted the information report on special urgency decisions taken between 1 February to 31 May 2010.

* * * * *   CONCLUSION OF BUSINESS    * * * * *