Agenda and minutes

To approve and sign as an accurate record the Minutes of the Annual Council Meeting held on 30 May 2012.

The minutes of the Annual Council Meeting held on 30 May 2012 were confirmed and signed as an accurate record.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Jean Campbell, Iain Coleman and Andrew Jones.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Tom Crofts, Ali de Lisle and Gavin Donovan.

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.

The following Councillors declared prejudicial interests in Special Motion 2 (Accident and Emergency Services) and Special Motion 6 (Objection to the Conservative-Led Government’s Local Hospital Closures) in relation to their membership of the North West London Joint Health Overview & Scrutiny Committee: -

·        Councillor Stephen Cowan as a substitute Member.

·        Councillor Lucy Ivimy as a Member.

·        Councillor Peter Tobias as a substitute Member.

·        Councillor Rory Vaughan as a Member.

Councillor Dame Sally Powell declared a personal interest in Special Motion 2 (Accident and Emergency Services) and Special Motion 6 (Objection to the Conservative-Led Government’s Local Hospital Closures) in relation to her membership of the Board of the West London Mental Health Trust.

Councillor Caroline Needham declared a personal Interest in Item 6.2 (Localism Act 2011 - Members' Complaint Procedures, Appointment of Independent Persons and Changes to the Constitution) as a former neighbour and friend of one of the appointed Independent Members.

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

7.04 pm - The Mayor called on Mr Jed Keenan who had submitted a question to the Leader (Councillor Nicholas Botterill) to ask his question. The Leader responded.  Mr Keenan asked a supplementary question which was also answered.

(A copy of the public question submitted and the reply given is attached at Appendix 2 to these minutes).

7.09 pm - Under Standing Order 15(e) (vi), the Leader, Councillor Nicholas Botterill, formally moved the report with the following amendment to recommendation 4:

“That Ms Sophia Lambert CBE and Ms Janis Cammel OBE be appointed for a year, in conjunction with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, as Independent Persons to consider complaints against Members and to offer their impartial views on each case, including any investigations undertaken.”

The amendment was unanimously agreed.

A speech on the report was made by Councillor Mark Loveday (for the Administration), before being put to the vote:

The report and recommendations were put to the vote:

FOR                         Unanimous

AGAINST                0

NOT VOTING          0

The report and recommendations were declared CARRIED.

7.16 pm RESOLVED:

1.                  That the revision to the advice in the Council’s ‘Guidance for Councillors and Officers dealing with Planning and Licensing’ as outlined in the report, be adopted.

2.                  That the specific responsibility of maintaining high standards of conduct for Members be delegated to the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee.

3.                  That the Members’ Code of Conduct, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report, be adopted, and that the rules requiring Members to register and disclose pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests be noted.

4.                  That two Independent Members, Ms Sophia Lambert CBE and Ms Janis Cammel OBE) be appointed, in conjunction with the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, as Independent Persons to consider complaints against Members and to offer their impartial views on each case, including any investigations undertaken.

5.                  That a flat rate allowance of £500 per annum be paid to the Independent Person appointed by LBHF in 12 monthly instalments on the 15th of each month.

6.                  That the arrangements for dealing with complaints alleging a breach of the Members’ Code of Conduct, as set out in Appendix 2 of the report, be approved.

7.                  That the terms of reference of the Audit, Pensions and Standards Committee and the Audit, Pensions and Standards Sub Committees, as outlined in Appendix 3, be approved.

8.                  That Standing Order rule 20 be amended as set out in Appendix 4 of the report.

(Councillor Caroline Needham declared a personal Interest as a former neighbour and friend of one of the appointed Independent Members).

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

The report and recommendations were put to the vote:

FOR                         Unanimous

AGAINST                0

NOT VOTING          0

The report and recommendation was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED:

That the Council’s Revised Statement of Licensing Policy 2012 as set out in Appendix 1 of the report, be approved.

7.19 pm - The report and recommendation was moved for adoption by the Leader, Councillor Nicholas Botterill.

The report and recommendation was put to the vote:

FOR                         Unanimous

AGAINST                0

NOT VOTING          0

The report and recommendation was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED:

That Ms Tasnim Shawkat be appointed Monitoring Officer from 1 October 2012.

To consider and determine any Special Motions:

7.20pm Under Standing Order 15(e) (iii), Councillor Mark Loveday moved, and seconded by Councillor Donald Johnson, that Special Motion 7.3 - Children in Care take precedence on the agenda and be considered.  The motion was unanimously was agreed.

7.21pm – Councillor Helen Binmore moved, seconded by Councillor Donald Johnson, the special motion standing in their names:

“This Council:

1.      Notes that:

·        The number of looked after children in the borough has fallen in every year since 2006 and that by the end of 2011 there were only 233 children in care at the end of Year 2011/12;

·        Hammersmith & Fulham Council has outperformed the national average by 40% every year for the last 5 years for children leaving care on permanency orders;

·        The Council is ranked first in the country for Special Guardianship Orders, and;

·        The Council has met both thresholds for the new Adoption Scorecard this year.

2.      Welcomes:

• the work of the recently formed Children in Care Council;

·        the official launch of the Council's ‘Pledge to all Children in Care’ in September, and;

• the establishment of the Hammersmith & Fulham Opportunity Trust.

3.      Resolves to:

·        Review the ‘Pledge to all Children in Care’ every year;

·        Work closely and collaboratively with the Children in Care Council;

·        Drive to secure stable attachments through permanency orders;

·        Actively manage adoption cases and continue to tackle delays, and;

·        Further support our children in care and care leavers by promoting the Hammersmith & Fulham Opportunity Trust.”

Speeches on the special motion were made by Councillors Helen Binmore and Donald Johnson (for the Administration).

Under Standing Order 15(e) (vi), Councillor Elaine Chumnery moved, seconded by Councillor Caroline Needham, an amendment to the motion as follows:

“Delete “2006” in the second line of the first bullet point, and insert “2004”. “

Speeches on the amendment were made by Councillors Elaine Chumnery and Caroline Needham (for the Opposition) and Councillor Georgie Cooney (for the Administration) before it was put to the vote:

FOR                            Unanimous

AGAINST                   0

NOT VOTING0

The amended motion was declared Carried.

Councillor Helen Binmore (for the Administration) made a speech winding up the debate before the substantive motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            Unanimous

AGAINST                   0

NOT VOTING0

The motion as amended was declared CARRIED.

7.41 pm – RESOLVED:

This Council:

1.      Notes that:

• The number of looked after children in the borough has fallen in every year since 2004 and that by the end of 2011 there were only 233 children in care at the end of Year 2011/12;
• Hammersmith & Fulham Council has outperformed the national average by 40% every year for the last 5 years for children leaving care on permanency orders;
• The Council is ranked first in the country for Special Guardianship Orders, and;
• The Council has met both thresholds for the new Adoption Scorecard this year.

2.      Welcomes:

• the work of the recently formed Children in Care Council;
• the official launch of the Council's ‘Pledge to all Children in Care’ in September, and;
• the establishment of the Hammersmith  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.1

7.42pm – Councillor Andrew Johnson moved, seconded by Councillor Harry Phibbs, the special motion standing in their names:

“This Council welcomes the decision by the Government to raise the cap on the Right to Buy discount from £16,000 to £75,000 with effect from 2^nd April this year.

That this Council notes that:

·        The Right to Buy has helped thousands of council tenants in H&F to buy their own home since it launched over 30 years ago.

·        Completions under the scheme all but collapsed when the maximum discount in the capital was reduced in 2004 from £38,000 to £16,000, leading to a slump from 245 Right to Buy sales in 2003/04 to 7 in H&F last year.

·        Since the revised discount came into force on 2nd April, a total of 119 new applications have been received by the Council’s HomeBuy unit, with a total of 134 applications currently being processed.

·        That the first launch event of the Right to Buy road show at 145 King Street attracted over 384 residents.

That this Council resolves to:

·        Continue to promote the Right to Buy to all eligible tenants within Hammersmith and Fulham

·        Continue to promote other forms of low-cost home ownership to council tenants and provide them with help in getting onto the property ladder.

·        Continue to lobby the Government to increase the discount in high value residential areas such as Hammersmith & Fulham, to make the discount more meaningful for our tenants.

·        Re-invest a proportion of the receipts received from each sale into the provision of new affordable housing in line with current Government guidance on the use of receipts.”

Speeches on the special motion were made by Councillors Andrew Johnson and Adronie Alford (for the Administration).

Under Standing Order 15(e) (vi), Councillor Lisa Homan moved, seconded by Councillor Stephen Cowan, an amendment to the motion as follows:

“Delete the final bullet point and replace with:

“The Council recognises that London is suffering the consequences of a housing crisis. That means current statistics demonstrate that the average twenty-something will be in their fifties before they get a foot on the property ladder; it means that there are tens of thousands of hard working families struggling with overcrowding and unsuitable housing conditions and it means that homeless levels are increasing. Fixing the supply of genuinely affordable homes to buy and rent is critical.

The Council therefore resolves to:

• Lobby the government to be able to keep and use 100% of the receipts from council home sales for re-investment in building new homes.
• To provide a like-for-like replacement home for each council home sold.
• Guarantees to use its discretion and ensure that rents on replacement homes are set in line with other social rents in the borough - not at 80% of market rate.
• Stop its policy of selling off council homes to property speculators (as featured in the BBC’s Homes Under The Hammer) and in the process banning local residents from renting or even buying those homes to live in.
• Stop  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.2

8.26pm – Councillor Marcus Ginn moved, seconded by Councillor Andrew Johnson, the special motion standing in their names:

“This Council notes that:

1.      NHS North West London is proposing as options the closure of Charing Cross, Hammersmith or Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Accident & Emergency departments.

2.      Residents in Hammersmith and Fulham value these hospitals and would not support any proposal that downgrades their status from that of major hospitals.

3.      Hammersmith and Fulham is a high density inner-London borough in need of quick access to high quality accident and emergency services. The option of closing  Charing Cross, Hammersmith or Chelsea and Westminster Hospital A&E departments will result in H&F residents having to travel further to obtain this critical service.

This Council resolves to oppose the closure or downgrading of Charing Cross, Hammersmith or Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Accident & Emergency departments”.

Speeches on the special motion were made by Councillors Marcus Ginn and Andrew Johnson (for the Administration).

Under Standing Order 15(e) (vi), Councillor Lisa Homan moved, seconded by Councillor PJ Murphy, an amendment to the motion as follows:

“Delete all after “This Council” in the first line and insert the following:

“is deeply concerned that the Conservative-led government is looking to cut A&E and other essential services from Charing Cross, Chelsea and Westminster and Hammersmith hospitals.  NHS managers have now confirmed that local NHS services will definitely be cut – it is just in the process of deciding exactly where the axe will fall.

The Council notes the Government’s shambolic leadership on NHS reform and resolves to campaign against these potentially disastrous cuts to local NHS services.”

Speeches on the amendment were made by Councillors Lisa Homan, PJ Murphy  and Dame Sally Powell (for the Opposition) and Councillor Mark Loveday (for the Administration) before it was put to the vote:

FOR                            10

AGAINST                   25

NOT VOTING0

The motion was declared LOST.

Councillor Marcus Ginn (for the Administration) made a speech winding up the debate before the substantive motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            Unanimous

AGAINST                   0

NOT VOTING0

The motion was declared CARRIED.

9.05pm – RESOLVED:

“This Council notes that:

1.      NHS North West London is proposing as options the closure of Charing Cross, Hammersmith or Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Accident & Emergency departments.

2.      Residents in Hammersmith and Fulham value these hospitals and would not support any proposal that downgrades their status from that of major hospitals.

3.      Hammersmith and Fulham is a high density inner-London borough in need of quick access to high quality accident and emergency services. The option of closing  Charing Cross, Hammersmith or Chelsea and Westminster Hospital A&E departments will result in H&F residents having to travel further to obtain this critical service.

This Council resolves to oppose the closure or downgrading of Charing Cross, Hammersmith or Chelsea and Westminster Hospital Accident & Emergency departments”.

(Councillors Cowan, Ivimy, Vaughan and Tobias declared prejudicial interests in this item. They left the room during the debate and did not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.3

9.06pm – Councillor Stephen Cowan moved, seconded by Councillor PJ Murphy, the special motion standing in their names:

““This council undertakes to carry out an independent value-for-money review to consider the hundreds of thousands of pounds of tax payers’ money it is spending on legal fees, officers’ time and other council resources fighting local residents and local businesses on its high profile, large developments across the Borough.

The Council recognises that these are difficult times economically and that public money should be prioritised for front line services and tax cuts”.

Speeches on the special motion were made by Councillors Stephen Cowan and PJ Murphy (for the Opposition) and by Councillor Nicholas Botterill (for the Administration).

Councillor Stephen Cowan (for the Opposition) made a speech winding up the debate before the motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            11

AGAINST                   27

NOT VOTING0

The motion was declared LOST.

9.26pm – Councillor Caroline Needham moved, seconded by Councillor Mercy Umeh, the special motion standing in their names:

“Hammersmith and Fulham have one of the highest rates of child poverty in the country with 33% of children in our area growing up without adequate resources.  This council resolves to compile a comprehensive child poverty strategy and to submit that for consideration by the select committees no later than 31st December 2012. The strategy will define a series of measures the council commits to undertake to locally which will alleviate family poverty and meet our legal obligations, as set out in the Child Poverty Act 2010”.

Speeches on the special motion were made by Councillors Caroline Needham Mercy Umeh, Dame Sally Powell and Stephen Cowan (for the Opposition) and by Councillors Peter Graham and  Helen Binmore  (for the Administration).

Councillor Caroline Needham (for the Opposition) made a speech winding up the debate before the motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            11

AGAINST                   27

NOT VOTING0

The motion was declared LOST.

9.59pm – Councillor Colin Aherne moved, seconded by Councillor Lisa Homan, the special motion standing in their names:

“This Council is deeply concerned that the Conservative-led government is looking at cut A&E and other essential services from Charing Cross, Chelsea and Westminster and Hammersmith hospitals.  NHS managers have new confirmed that local NHS services will definitely be cut – it is just in the process of deciding exactly where the axe will fall.

The Council notes the Government’s shambolic leadership on NHS reform and resolves to campaign against these potentially disastrous cuts to local NHS services”.

The motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            9

AGAINST                   25

NOT VOTING0

The motion was declared LOST.

(Councillors Cowan, Ivimy, Vaughan and Tobias declared prejudicial Interests in this item. They left the room during the debate and did not vote on the item. Councillor Dame Sally Powell declared a personal interest in the item and participated in the debate accordingly).

There are no information reports to consider.

There were no information reports to this meeting of the Council.

This report provides details regarding the proposal that Council approve a period of absence from meetings by a Councillor pursuant to Section 85(1) of the Local Government Act 1972.

10pm  The Mayor moved under Standing 2.1 (f) urgent matters in accordance with the provisions of Paragraph 4 (5) of Part I of Schedule 12 of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended by LGA 2000) that the circulated report requesting the approval of Councillor Iain Coleman’s non attendance at meetings of the authority due to ill health pursuant to Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972 be considered as a matter of urgency. 

The motion was put to the vote:

FOR                            Unanimous

AGAINST                   0

NOT VOTING0

The motion was declared CARRIED.

The report and recommendations were put to the vote:

FOR                         Unanimous

AGAINST                0

NOT VOTING          0

The report and recommendations were declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED:

1.                  The Council notes that Councillor Iain Coleman has not been able to attend meetings of the Council due to ill-health since 19 March 2012.

2.                  That Council extends its sympathy to Councillor Coleman and wishes him a speedy recovery.

3.                 That Council approves Councillor Iain Coleman’s non attendance at meetings of the authority due to ill health up to 3 February 2013 pursuant to Section 85 of the Local Government Act 1972.

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