Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Morton, Sally Taylor, Bora Kwon, Andrew Jones, Ann Rosenberg, Nicole Trehy and Alex Karmel.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Ross Melton and Natalia Perez.

If a Councillor has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a particular item, whether or not it is entered in the Authority’s register of interests, or any other significant interest which they consider should be declared in the public interest, they should declare the existence and, unless it is a sensitive interest as defined in the Member Code of Conduct, the nature of the interest at the commencement of the consideration of that 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 disclosable pecuniary interest or other significant 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.

Where Members of the public are not allowed to be in attendance and speak, then the Councillor with a disclosable pecuniary interest should withdraw from the meeting whilst the matter is under consideration. Councillors who have declared other significant interests should also withdraw from the meeting if they consider their continued participation in the matter would not be reasonable in the circumstances and may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interest.

Councillors are not obliged to withdraw from the meeting where a dispensation to that effect has been obtained from the Standards Committee.

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2025 as an accurate record.

7.10pm – RESOLVED

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 January 2025 were agreed as an accurate record.

Anniversary of the War in Ukraine

The Mayor noted that Monday the 24^th of February marked the three-year anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan, and the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler made speeches.

The Council then observed a minute of silence.

Councillor Laura Janes – Honorary King’s Counsel

The Mayor noted that Councillor Laura Janes was awarded as one of nine new Honorary King’s Counsel in January. The honour was awarded to those who had made a major contribution to the law of England and Wales, outside practice in the courts. Councillor Janes was nominated for her contributions to the legal profession promoting access to justice, her work to drive policy changes, representing vulnerable individuals in prison, advocating for the rights of children and young people in custody and reforms to the Imprisonment for Public Protection (IPP) sentence. The Mayor congratulated Councillor Janes on behalf of the Council.

The Mayor thanked the resident who submitted a question. The question was addressed in the meeting. The question and response can be found in Appendix 1.

7.25pm – The report on the results of the Local Government By-Elections on 20 February 2025 was noted.

Speeches were made by Councillor Max Schmid (for the Administration) and Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler (for the Opposition).

7.25pm – The report on the allocation of seats and proportionality on committees was noted.

7.25pm – The report and recommendations were moved for adoption by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan.

In accordance with Council convention, the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan, and the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Victoria Brocklebank-Fowler, were given unlimited time to speak on the Budget report.

The Council adjourned for a short break from 8.41pm to 8.54pm.

Speeches on the report were also made by Councillors Lydia Paynter, Callum Nimmo (who made their maiden speeches), and Rowan Ree (for the Administration) – and Councillors Adronie Alford, Adrian Pascu-Tulbure, and Amanda Lloyd-Harris (for the Opposition).

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan, then made a speech winding up the debate.

The report and recommendations were put to the vote and a roll call was undertaken, in accordance with Council convention when voting on the budget:

FOR                        32

AGAINST                9

NOT VOTING         1

The recommendations were declared CARRIED.

9.41pm – RESOLVED:

That Full Council agrees, for the reasons set out in this report and appendices:

1.    To approve a balanced budget for 2025/26 as set out in the report, including the underlying principles and assumptions.

2.    To approve £12.3m of new investment on key services for residents.

3.    To increase the Hammersmith & Fulham element of Council Tax by 2.99% as modelled by the Government in its spending power calculations for local government.

4.    To apply the Adult Social Care precept levy of 2% as modelled by the Government in its spending power calculations for local government.

5.    To approve fees and charges, as set out in Appendix E, including freezing charges in adult social care, children’s services, and General Fund housing.

6.    To approve the Medium-Term Financial Strategy and to note the proposed funding reforms from 2026/27 onwards and budget projections to 2028/29 made by the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Services in consultation with the Strategic Leadership Team. (Appendix B)

7.    To note the statement of the Executive Director of Finance and Corporate Services, under Section 25 of the Local Government Act 2003, regarding the adequacy of reserves and robustness of estimates (paragraph 66).

8.    To approve the reserves strategy and forecast as set out in Appendix H.

9.    To require all Directors to report on their projected financial position compared to their revenue estimates in accordance with the Corporate Revenue Monitoring Report timetable.

10.To authorise Directors to implement their service spending plans for 2025/26 in accordance with the recommendations within this report, the council’s Standing Orders, Financial Regulations, relevant Schemes of Delegation and undertake any further consultation required regarding the Equalities Impact Assessment.

11.Set the council’s element of Council Tax for 2025/26 for each category of dwelling, as outlined in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.3

9.42pm – The report and recommendations were moved for adoption by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform, Councillor Rowan Ree.

Speeches on the report were made by Councillors Frances Umeh, Florian Chevoppe-Verdier, Lisa Homan, and Adam Peter Lang (for the Administration) and Councillor Aliya Afzal-Khan (for the Opposition).

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR                        32

AGAINST                9

NOT VOTING         1

The recommendations were declared CARRIED.

10.07pm – RESOLVED:

1. To approve the four-year General Fund Capital Programme budget at £103.8m for the period 2025/26-2028/29 (presented in Table 2 and Appendix 1).

2.    To approve the continuation of rolling programmes for 2025/26 funded from the Council’s mainstream resources. For financial modelling purposes, these programmes are assumed to continue at the same level until 2028/29:

3. To delegate approval of the detailed programmes for use of the rolling programmes, in recommendation 2, to the relevant SLT Director in consultation with the Executive Director, Finance and Corporate Services and the relevant Lead Cabinet Member

4. To approve the four-year Housing (HRA) Capital Programme at £428.5m for the period 2025/26-2028/29 as set out in Table 6 and Appendix 1.

5. To approve the Capital Strategy 2025/26, as set out in the report.

6. To approve the annual Minimum Revenue Provision policy statement for 2025/26, as set out in Appendix 2.

7. To note the potential financial impact of a number of development schemes not included in the current programme but being in the various predevelopment stages.

10.07pm – The report and recommendations were moved for adoption by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform, Councillor Rowan Ree.

Councillor Rowan Ree made a speech on the report (for the Administration).

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR                        32

AGAINST                9

NOT VOTING         1

The recommendations were declared CARRIED.

10.11pm – RESOLVED:

It is recommended that:

1. Approval be given to the future borrowing and investment strategies as outlined in this report.

2. The Strategic Director of Finance, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform, be delegated authority to manage the Council’s cash flow, borrowing and investments in 2025/26 in line with this report.

3. In relation to the Council’s overall borrowing for the financial year, to approve the Prudential Indicators as set out in this report and the revised Annual Investment Strategy set out in Appendix E.

10.12pm – The report and recommendations were moved for adoption by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Reform, Councillor Rowan Ree.

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR                        32

AGAINST                9

NOT VOTING         1

The recommendations were declared CARRIED.

10.16pm – RESOLVED:

1. That Council approve the pay policy statement for 2025/26 as set out in Appendix 1.

2. That Council note the benchmarking of the Council’s median pay multiple against the average of other Inner London Boroughs contained in paragraph 11 below.

10.13pm – The report and recommendations were moved for adoption by the Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Cowan.

The report and recommendations were then put to the vote:

FOR                        UNANIMOUS

AGAINST                0

NOT VOTING         0

The recommendations were declared CARRIED.

10.13pm – RESOLVED:

1. That Full Council approves the updates to Contract Standing Orders detailed in the report and Appendix 1.

2. That Full Council approves the updates to the Financial Regulations detailed in the report and Appendix 2.

3. That Full Council approves the updates to the Registers of Authorities attached at Appendix 3.

4. That Full Council agrees the following committee appointments:

5. That Full Council agrees the following changes to Outside Bodies appointments:
   • Remove Councillor Nikos Souslous from The Lyric Theatre.
   • Add Councillors Lydia Paynter and Callum Nimmo to The Lyric Theatre.