Agenda, decisions and minutes
Venue: Council Chamber - Town Hall
Contact: Anthony Clements tel: 01708 433065 Email: anthony.clements@oneSource.co.uk
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To sign as a true record the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 10 June 2015 (attached). Decision: AGREED as a correct without division. Minutes: The minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 10 June 2015 were before the Council for approval.
It was AGREED, without division, that the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 10 June be signed as a correct record.
RESOLVED:
That the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 10 June, be signed as a correct record.
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DISCLOSURE OF PECUNIARY INTERESTS Members are invited to disclose any pecuniary interest in any of the items on the agenda at this point of the meeting.
Members may still disclose any pecuniary interest in an item at any time prior to the consideration of the matter.
Minutes: There were no disclosures of interest.
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ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE MAYOR, BY THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL OR BY THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE PDF 213 KB To receive announcements (if any). Minutes: The Mayor congratulated the Council Chief Executive – Cheryl Coppell on her recent award of the Order of the British Empire. This announcement was greeted with general applause.
Congratulations were also given to the Havering team at the recent London Youth Games and in particular to the Girls Athletics team who had won the gold medal.
The Mayor also reported that he had recently undertaken a successful visit with the Leader to Havering’s twin town – Ludwigshafen. The Mayor advised Council that this visit had been undertaken at his own expense and was not funded from any Council budget.
The text of the announcements given by the Leader of the Council is shown in appendix 1 to these minutes.
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PETITIONS
Councillor Ray Best, Jason Frost and Michael Deon Burton have given notice of an intention to present a petition.
To receive any other petition presented pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 23. Decision: Received from Councillors Best and Frost. Minutes: Pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 23, the following petitions were presented:
From Councillor Ray Best concerning a request for width restrictions in Faircross Avenue. From Councillor Jason Frost concerning a request for parking restrictions in Lowshoe Lane.
It was NOTED that the petitions would be passed to Committee Administration for attention in accordance with the Council’s Petitions Scheme.
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To consider a report of the Governance Committee a proposed amendment to the Council Procedure Rules for the scope of motions to full Council (attached). Additional documents:
Decision: Procedural motion during debate that the matter proceed straight to a vote CARRIED by 42 votes to 6.
Amendment by the Independent Residents’ Group NOT CARRIED by 41 votes to 6.
Deemed motion by the Administration CARRIED by 42 votes to 6.
Minutes: A report of the Governance Committee invited Council to agree some amendments to the Council procedure rules as regards the scope of motions accepted for debate at full Council. It was recommended that the Council procedure rules be amended to ensure that complaints against a Councillor or Council Officer (which were subject to separate procedures) were not accepted as part of motions to Council. It was also proposed that the authority to reject such motions be delegated to the Council’s Monitoring Officer.
Deemed Motion on behalf of the Administration
That the report be adopted and its recommendations carried into effect.
Amendment on behalf of the Independent Residents’ Group
The Governance report proposes taking away the Mayor’s power to have the final say on whether a Motion is acceptable and instead proposes giving the final say to the Monitoring Officer.
This is anti-democratic because motions are a political matter and it’s the responsibility of the Mayor rather than the Legal Officer to have the final say.
Thus Council agrees to send this report back to the Governance committee for further consideration because it is wrong in principal and practice to delegate political decision making to unelected council officers!
During the course of debate, a procedural motion that the matter proceed straight to the vote was CARRIED by 42 votes to 6 (see division 1).
The amendment by the Independent Residents’ Group was NOT CARRIED by 42 votes to 6 (see division 2).
The deemed motion by the Administration was CARRIED by 42 votes to 6 (see division 3) and it was accordingly RESOLVED:
1. That Council Procedure Rule 11.4 of the Council’s Constitution be revised the read the following:
11.4 Scope
(a) Motions must be relevant to a matter in which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the borough.
(b) The Monitoring Officer may reject a Motion if it: i. is not about a matter for which the local authority has a responsibility or which affects the borough; ii. is defamatory, derogatory, vexatious, scurrilous, frivolous or offensive; iii. is substantially the same as a motion which has been put at a meeting of Full Council in the past six months; iv. requires the disclosure of confidential or exempt information; v. seeks to pursue or further a complaint against a Councillor or an Officer of the Council, where other channels already exist for the determination of complaints.
c). Where it would assist the proper or efficient conduct of the Council’s business, the Mayor may direct that two or more motions relating to the same matter shall be debated together, with a separate vote on each one at the conclusion of the debate.
(d) The Monitoring Officer shall be entitled to clarify the wording of motions and amendments with the proposer before committing the motion or amendment to the agenda and shall be entitled to amend the wording of a motion or amendment in consultation with the proposer prior to the meeting to clarify, ... view the full minutes text for item 29. |
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DELEGATION OF FUNCTIONS TO THE ONESOURCE JOINT COMMITTEE PDF 148 KB To consider a report of the Governance Committee on Delegation of Functions to the oneSource Joint Committee (attached, subject to approval by Cabinet). Additional documents:
Decision: Report AGREED by 44 votes to 3. Minutes: A report of the Governance Committee asked Council to agree a single joint scheme of delegation of functions to the oneSource Joint Committee. This would make it easier for both oneSource constituent Councils and for the Joint Committee to appreciate the precise extent of what functions were delegated and what were retained.
The report was AGREED by 44 votes to 3 (see division 4) and it was RESOLVED:
That the non-Executive functions listed in appendix 2 of these minutes be delegated to the oneSource Joint Committee.
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INVESTMENT IN HARROW LODGE PARK PDF 69 KB To consider a report of an Executive Decision on Investment in Harrow Lodge Park (attached). Additional documents:
Decision: Question on report replied to.
Report AGREED without division. Minutes: A report of an Executive Decision asked Council to agree an addition to the capital budget of a scheme to improve Harrow Lodge Park to the value of £1.406m. This was in response to concerns expressed by local residents about the quality of the park and would allow an application for Green Flag status for the park to be made.
A question by the Residents’ Group relating to the report together with a response by the appropriate Cabinet member are shown in appendix 3 to these minutes.
The report was AGREED without division and it was RESOLVED:
That the Council add to the capital budget a scheme at Harrow Lodge Park to the value of £1.406m, noting that there is already a budget of £56k, so there is an increase in the overall capital budget of £1.350m
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ANNUAL REPORTS OF COMMITTEES, SUB-COMMITTEES AND MEMBER CHAMPIONS PDF 243 KB To receive the annual reports of the Audit Committee, Pensions Committee, Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education, the Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committees and the Member Champions (attached).
Note: The deadline for receipt of amendments to reports published with the final agenda is midnight, Monday 13 July. Additional documents:
Decision: All reports received without division. Minutes: A Member raised a point of order that the large size of the agenda papers for the meeting meant that they could not be delivered to his home and that he had therefore had insufficient time to read them prior to the meeting.
Council received and considered the Annual Reports of the following:
Audit Committee Pensions Committee Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education Children and Learning Overview & Scrutiny Sub-Committee Crime & Disorder Sub-Committee Environment Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee Health Overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee Individuals overview and Scrutiny Sub-Committee Towns and Communities Overview & Scrutiny Sub-Committee Member Champion for the Armed Forces Member Champion for Equality & Diversity Member Champion for the Historic Environment Member Champion for the Over 50s Member Champion for the Voluntary Sector Compact Member Champion for Younger Persons
Each Annual Report was ADOPTED without debate or division.
RESOLVED:
That the Annual Reports as listed be approved.
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Attached.
Additional documents: Decision: 15 questions replied to. Minutes: Fifteen questions were asked and replies given.
The text of the questions, and their answers, are set out in Appendix 4 to these minutes.
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PUBLIC HEALTH FUNDING (agenda item 12A) PDF 206 KB Motions paper attached.
Decision: A. Public Health Funding
Procedural motion during debate that the matter proceed straight to a vote CARRIED by 40 votes to 8.
Amendment by the United Kingdom Independence Party Group CARRIED by 47 votes to 1.
Amendment by the Independent Residents’ Group NOT CARRIED by 41 votes to 4.
Substantive motion as amended AGREED without division.
B. Public Realm Enforcement
Motion by the Residents’ Group, AGREED without division.
C. Flytipping
Motion by East Havering Residents’ Group AGREED without division.
D. New Policing Model
Motion by Independent Residents’ Group withdrawn and resubmitted to next Council meeting. Minutes: Motion on behalf of the Conservative Group
This Council calls upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer to recognise that public health funds transferred to boroughs in 2012 were based on historic spend rather than current need – leaving Havering with the second lowest public health grant in London and it urges him to protect our public health grant in the future.
Amendment on behalf of the United Kingdom Independence Party Group
This Council calls upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer to recognise that public health funds transferred to boroughs in 2012 were based on historic spend rather than current need – leaving Havering with the second lowest public health grant in London and it urges him to protect our public health budget with any future settlement to more closely reflect the needs of the borough given the current demographic trends increasing the demand for services.
Amendment on behalf of the Independent Residents’ Group
Re last sentence. Replace the word protect with increase.
Note: Amended motion would therefore read as follows:
This Council calls upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer to recognise that public health funds transferred to boroughs in 2012 were based on historic spend rather than current need – leaving Havering with the second lowest public health grant in London and it urges him to increase our public health grant in the future.
During the course of debate, a procedural motion that the matter proceed straight to the vote was CARRIED by 40 votes to 8 (see division 5).
The amendment by the United Kingdom Independence Party Group was CARRIED by 47 votes to 0 (see division 6).
The amendment by the Independent Residents’ Group was NOT CARRIED by 41 votes to 4 (see division 7).
The amendment by the United Kingdom Independence Party Group was AGREED as the substantive motion, without division.
RESOLVED: This Council calls upon the Chancellor of the Exchequer to recognise that public health funds transferred to boroughs in 2012 were based on historic spend rather than current need – leaving Havering with the second lowest public health grant in London and it urges him to protect our public health budget with any future settlement to more closely reflect the needs of the borough given the current demographic trends increasing the demand for services.
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PUBLIC REALM ENFORCEMENT (agenda item 12B) Minutes: Motion on behalf of the Residents’ Group
This Council agrees to a thorough review of all public realm enforcement and the resources allocated to these activities, in order to encourage good behaviour and fairness to all our residents and non-residents alike.
Following debate, the motion on behalf of the Residents’ Group was AGREED without division and it was RESOLVED that:
This Council agrees to a thorough review of all public realm enforcement and the resources allocated to these activities, in order to encourage good behaviour and fairness to all our residents and non-residents alike.
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FLYTIPPING (agenda item 12C) Minutes: Motion on behalf of the East Havering Residents’ Group
Fly tipping is a growing problem that blights our community, costing Havering council tax payers in the region of £750,000 a year to clean up. While councils can prosecute offenders, the process is lengthy, expensive and any costs awarded in successful prosecutions rarely cover the expenditure incurred by the council. In order to tackle the problem more effectively, this Council calls upon the Government to:
a) empower councils to issue Fixed Penalty Notices for the specific offence of fly tipping up to £1,000 b) award full costs to Councils when offenders are successfully prosecuted c) To consider commissioning a national strategy to tackle fly tipping with a knowledge sharing platform for local authorities to benefit from best practice
The motion on behalf of the East Havering Residents’ Group was AGREED without division and it was RESOLVED that:
Fly tipping is a growing problem that blights our community, costing Havering council tax payers in the region of £750,000 a year to clean up. While councils can prosecute offenders, the process is lengthy, expensive and any costs awarded in successful prosecutions rarely cover the expenditure incurred by the council. In order to tackle the problem more effectively, this Council calls upon the Government to:
a) empower councils to issue Fixed Penalty Notices for the specific offence of fly tipping up to £1,000 b) award full costs to Councils when offenders are successfully prosecuted c) To consider commissioning a national strategy to tackle fly tipping with a knowledge sharing platform for local authorities to benefit from best practice
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NEW POLICING MODEL (agenda item 12C) Minutes: This motion was withdrawn by the Independent Residents’ Group and resubmitted for debate at the next Council meeting.
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Minutes: The record of voting decisions is attached as Appendix 5.
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