Agenda item

7.51pm – Councillor Andrew Jones moved, seconded by Councillor Sue Fennimore, the special motion in their names:

“The Council condemns health bureaucrats for attempting to gag the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and stop us campaigning against the demolition of Charing Cross Hospital.

It recognises that: it was thoroughly wrong for Conservative councillors to falsely claim they had “saved” Charing Cross Hospital in 2013; wrong for them to have consistently accused all those opposing its demolition and closure of not telling the truth; and wrong to have mislead local residents by claiming their administration had led to the A&E at Charing Cross being “retained”.

The Council notes that the department of health, the CCG and Imperial Collage Healthcare Trust have said they will “continue” with the proposals for Charing Cross Hospital “set out in the service strategy [Shaping a Healthier Future (SaHF)] for NW London which was signed off by the Secretary of State for Health in 2013 and that those plans include:

·         Demolishing the current Charing Cross Hospital and selling off most of the site

·         Replacing the current Charing Cross Hospital with a series of clinics on a site no more than 13% the size of the current hospital

·         Re-branding these clinics as a “local hospital”

·         Replacing the current A&E with an urgent care clinic

·         Losing more than 300 - and possibly all – acute care beds.

The Council concludes that the government’s approach to telling the public of the plans for Charing Cross Hospital are, at best, thoroughly disingenuous - and calls on them to listen to the borough’s Labour administration and take a different approach.”

Speeches on the special motion were made by Councillor Andrew Jones, Sue Fennimore, David Morton (his maiden speech), Max Schmid, Caroline Needham, Guy Vincent, and Rory Vaughan (for the Administration), and Councillors Joe Carlebach, Andrew Brown, and Caroline Ffiske (for the Opposition).

Councillor Mark Loveday moved under Standing Order 15(e)(8) that the motion be put to the vote. A vote on the motion was taken and the motion was lost.

Councillor Stephen Cowan then made a speech winding up the debate. The motion was then put to the vote.

FOR                            22

AGAINST                   18

NOT VOTING            1

The substantive motion was declared CARRIED.

8.46pm – RESOLVED

The Council condemns health bureaucrats for attempting to gag the London Borough of Hammersmith & Fulham and stop us campaigning against the demolition of Charing Cross Hospital.

It recognises that: it was thoroughly wrong for Conservative councillors to falsely claim they had “saved” Charing Cross Hospital in 2013; wrong for them to have consistently accused all those opposing its demolition and closure of not telling the truth; and wrong to have mislead local residents by claiming their administration had led to the A&E at Charing Cross being “retained”.

The Council notes that the department of health, the CCG and Imperial Collage Healthcare Trust have said they will “continue” with the proposals for Charing Cross Hospital “set out in the service strategy [Shaping a Healthier Future (SaHF)] for NW London which was signed off by the Secretary of State for Health in 2013 and that those plans include:

·         Demolishing the current Charing Cross Hospital and selling off most of the site

·         Replacing the current Charing Cross Hospital with a series of clinics on a site no more than 13% the size of the current hospital

·         Re-branding these clinics as a “local hospital”

·         Replacing the current A&E with an urgent care clinic

·         Losing more than 300 - and possibly all – acute care beds.

The Council concludes that the government’s approach to telling the public of the plans for Charing Cross Hospital are, at best, thoroughly disingenuous - and calls on them to listen to the borough’s Labour administration and take a different approach.