Notices of Motion 9
Motion 1. SQUATTED AND EMPTY HOMES IN THE BOROUGH
Councillor Jeremy Clyne (14.06.06)
Council notes the considerable pressures on housing in Lambeth: -
• The need in Lambeth to provide decent homes to the borough's tenants, whether in the public or private sector; • The demand for rented social housing in the borough; • The blight inflicted on some parts of the borough by long term squatted and empty homes which often result in crime and a nuisance to neighbours
Council further notes the immediate decision by Cllr Kazantzis on becoming Cabinet Member for Housing to order a halt to the sale of derelict street properties. Council condemns this decision as reckless and imprudent.
Amendment 1 Councillor John Kazantzis
Delete from "Council further notes"
Add:
“Council notes that when he came to office in 2002, the very first action of the previous Executive Member for Housing, Councillor Keith Fitchett was to authorise the sell-off of family sized street properties despite the desperate shortage of such homes. A former Councillor then promptly went to an auction and bid for one of those very same properties as an investment for himself. Council notes that the very first decision taken by the Labour Administration regarding the Housing Department was to end the Liberal Democrat sell-off of these street properties, which are so badly needed to provide homes to families in over-crowded accommodation.
Council further notes that the abject failure of the Liberal Democrat/Conservative coalition to manage the Housing Department properly left a £5.35m overspend in the Housing budget. The Labour Administration will now take decisive action to deal with the dire financial situation left behind by incompetent Tory-Liberal councillors.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 63 Council shares the anger of tenants and leaseholders who now know that the disastrous Lib Dem and Tory "reframing" programme not only failed to produce £6.3 million of the much-trumpeted savings but in many areas actually led to an increase in costs despite cutting back services. It takes a particular excess of incompetence to cut services in such a way that they end up costing the Council more - but this is what the failed Tory-Liberal coalition achieved.
Council further notes that under the previous administration the Housing Department was defrauded of £3 million and was subsequently found to be almost completely devoid of even the most basic financial control systems. The Tory-Liberal response to this was to do nothing for 9 months after it first happened and then to over-react to such an extent that they caused meltdown in an already weakened management team. Ultimately, they left Lambeth Housing bereft of management leadership and, after the disgraced former Executive Member was forced out, without any political leadership either.
Not only will the new Administration sort out the Lib Dem legacy of chaos in Housing, it will also act quickly to bring in extra investment to ensure that Lambeth meets its "Decent Homes" target by 2010. The new Administration will be able to do this because, unlike petty- minded Liberal Democrats and Conservatives, it is prepared to engage with the Government for the benefit of tenants and leaseholders.
Council notes that a combination of anger at the incompetence of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative mismanagement of the Housing Department and faith in the ability of a Labour Council to sort it out, contributed significantly to the Labour victory in the local elections. Council notes that the contrast between the first actions of the respective Administrations on housing suggest that the tenants and leaseholders of Lambeth have sound political judgement. Labour now has a mandate to put Lambeth Housing back on track.”
Amendment 2 Councillor Ashley Lumsden
Add at the end: -
“Council condemns this decision as it marks a return to the bad finances and poor sense that categorised the last Labour administration Cllr Kazantzis had a role in. Council recalls only too well the press headlines under the 1998 to 2002 Labour
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 64 administration as street properties worth hundreds of thousands of pounds were lost to the Council. Labour not only failed to use the homes to house the homeless they also lost the capital that could have been invested in bringing other homes up to standard (£400,000 in one infamous case). Labour’s only response then was to campaign for a change in the law, rather than taking action to evict the squatters.
Lambeth tenants and leaseholders now face a return to the failed policies of the past, where squatters could jump the housing queue and acquire council homes from the Council for free, paying no rent or service charges to do so. Stopping the sale of derelict street properties will fail to provide the further homes that Cllr Kazantzis believes it will, while also signalling that Lambeth will be leaving street properties vacant and unoccupied for considerable periods of time. The new policy has already encouraged squatters to occupy Council properties, with a property in Streatham Hill having already been taken over. “
Amendment 3 Councillor Irene Kimm
Add at the end:
“Council congratulates the Empty and Derelict Homes Unit in the Housing Directorate for its diligent and painstaking work during the past four years in tracing owners of vacant property and in using a range of measures including compulsory orders to bring some 180 plus empty and derelict homes back into use. Council expresses the hope that the new administration will continue and strengthen the work of this valuable team of officers.”
Amendment 4 Councillor Brian Palmer
Add at the end: -
“Not only is the new Labour administration returning Lambeth to a borough where squatting went unpunished and Lambeth’s tenants paid the cost, but is also returning Lambeth to a culture the I&DeA criticised in December 2000 of over promising and under delivering.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 65 Having boldly made a public statement, which is still posted on the Lambeth Labour website, that “In his first act as Lambeth’s new Housing chief John Kazantzis has ended the sell-off of council owned street properties….” Council notes that on Monday 12th June 2006 there was an auction at which Lambeth Council properties were sold, with a five-room semi-detached house being put up for sale by the Council. Council regrets that in their four years in opposition Labour failed to learn that running Lambeth requires more than issuing a press release and relying on spin to carry out a decision.”
Amendment 5 Councillor Robert Banks
Add at end: - Not only has the new Labour administration been unable to carry out this decision but they will also be throwing away much needed capital resources. Not only will there be the money expended on slowly doing up a small number of derelict properties which have been left empty for years, but the Council will have to do without a valuable capital receipt. Between 2002 and 2006 disposal of derelict street properties which would have cost considerable amounts to repair raised millions of pounds. This has already been invested in repairs and improvements in other Council properties, money which would not have been available if the properties were left empty or allowed to be squatted.
Amendment 6 Councillor Julian Heather
Add at end: - Council further condemns Cllr Kazantzis for sending out a message to private sector landlords that leaving properties empty is acceptable. Council notes the success of the last administration in introducing a compulsory purchase process which has led to numerous properties being brought back into use. His decision makes it more difficult for the Council to criticise private landlords for allowing properties to be left empty and become a nuisance and a blight on the local neighbourhood when the Council is doing just that. His mistaken and misconceived change of policy will damage efforts to increase the supply of accommodation in the borough, while simultaneously reducing the supply of funding for repairing and improving the homes of council tenants.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 66
Motion 2 FLOODING INTO BLENHEIM GARDENS
Councillor Steve Reed (13.06.06)
For many years, water has been flooding out of the Thames Water Site into the garage area of the Blenheim Gardens Estate. This causes considerable damage and nuisance, but the previous Tory- Liberal administration refused even to speak to Thames Water to try and find a solution. Council calls on the Acting Executive Director of Housing to instigate discussions with Thames Water with a view to finding a solution to the problem of flooding into the estate, and to involve the RMO Estate Manager in the discussions.
Amendment 1 Councillor Gavin Dodsworth
In the second sentence delete the words from ", but the…." To the end of the sentence.
Amendment 2 Councillor Irene Kimm
Delete the second sentence beginning with “This causes considerable damage and nuisance…”
Motion 3 VALERIE SHAWCROSS, GLA MEMBER
Councillor Steve Reed (13.06.06)
Council notes with appreciation the hard work carried out on behalf of Lambeth's residents by our excellent GLA Member, Valerie Shawcross. Council is keen to build much stronger relationships with the GLA and to play its full role as part of the family of London Government, bringing to an end four years of self-imposed isolation and political posturing by the defeated Tory-Lib Dem administration that hurt the interests of Lambeth's residents. As part of that improved relationship, Council will work in close cooperation with Lambeth's GLA member and, to that end, instructs officers to liaise with Ms Shawcross's office to ensure that she is formally invited to future council meetings and other occasions when issues relevant to her role are likely to arise.
Amendment 1 Councillor Ashley Lumsden
Delete the first sentence.
In the second sentence delete all from the words ", bringing to an end…." to the end of the sentence.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 67 In the third sentence delete the words "Lambeth’s GLA member" and replace with: -
“all London Assembly members, including Assembly Member Mike Tuffrey, a former joint leader of the Council and councillor for Princes Ward”
Also in the third sentence delete the words "Ms Shawcross’s office" and replace with "the Greater London Assembly", delete the words "she is" and replace with "they are", delete the words "future council meetings and other", and also delete the word "her" and replace with "their".
Add at the end: -
Council also believes that Lambeth has been able to build stronger relations with the family of London Government by the regular meetings with neighbouring boroughs conducted by the former Leader and Deputy Leader of the Council who met their counterparts in Wandsworth, Southwark and Westminster on a regular basis. Council therefore instructs the Chief Executive to arrange a further set of meetings for the new Leader of the Council with these boroughs so that the good relations established under the joint administration continue, rather than become neglected when Labour previously ran the borough.
Motion 4 FAITH BOARDMAN
Councillor Steve Reed (13.06.06)
Faith Boardman served as Chief Executive of Lambeth Council between 2000 and 2005. During that time, she made a significant personal and professional contribution to the Council's improvement programme. Following her departure, Council failed to record its appreciation to her. Council wishes to correct that oversight by thanking Faith Boardman for her years of service to the Council and for her invaluable contribution to setting the council on the road to recovery. Council asks the Chief Executive to write to Ms Boardman to let her know that our appreciation has been formally recorded, and to send her Council's best wishes for her future.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 68
Motion 5 PROPOSED CLOSURE OF REDFEARN CENTRE
Councillor John Whelan (13.06.06)
Council notes with concern that the administration's first published action since the election in the Children's and Young People's directorate is to announce the proposed closure of the Redfearn Centre for young people aged 16-19 with severe learning difficulties.
Council regrets that there has been no consultation with users, parents or carers, published options for alternative provision or any statement from the Leader of the Council or the Cabinet Member with responsibility for services to children and young people.
Council recalls that the last majority Labour administration closed the £1 million special needs nursery at the former Thurlow Park School only months after it had been opened by the former Education Secretary David Blunkett and the MP for Dulwich and West Norwood.
Amendment 1 Councillor Sally Prentice
Delete all and replace with:
"The Council regrets the decision to close the service for young people with learning difficulties at the Redfearn Centre. The LSC are responsible for funding education provision for 16 to 19 year olds and they have decided not to fund this service. Without core funding it would be impossible to run such a service.
Officers and the Cabinet Member for Children and Young People have met with parents to discuss the issues. All current students have been offered provision at Lambeth College."
Amendment 2 Councillor Roger Giess
Add at end:
Council particularly regrets the new Labour administration’s decision on the Redfearn Centre as this only opened in September 2005 to provide one, two or three year courses for up to 30 young people with disabilities and learning difficulties during the day while being used as a community facility during the evening.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 69 Council notes both the Cabinet member for Children and Young People and the Deputy Cabinet Member for Young People received a briefing on the proposed closure of the Centre at the end of May and is surprised that they have allowed it to go ahead, especially when the Redfearn Centre caters specifically for young people with, other things: • social communication disorders • sensory impairment • severe/mild learning difficulties • speech and language difficulties • fine/gross motor difficulties and is primarily geared to developing independence and essential life skills for those attending it, including the use of ICT.
Council therefore calls on the administration to:
Stops it plans for the closure of the Centre for use by young people with disabilities and learning difficulties. Consult the parents of young people with disabilities and learning difficulties on the future provision of training in basic life skills. Lobby the DfES and the Learning and Skills Council for funding for the current use of the Centre. Conduct a review on how best to provide the services of the ‘virtual school’ including examining whether the BSF rebuild of Stockwell Park could assist in this.
Motion 6 BROCKWELL LIDO
Councillor Kirsty McHugh (13.06.06)
This Council warmly welcomes the signing of Brockwell Lido's lease by Fusion, after an extraordinary five years of negotiation and looks forward to the significant injection of investment that this deal should provide these much loved Lambeth facilities.
This Council also pledges to ensure that Whippersnappers, a social enterprise based within the lido providing services to a diverse range of local people, is kept as a vital part of Brockwell Park and is allowed to operate within suitable facilities.
In addition, this Council looks forward to seeing frontbenchers of all political parties flexing their muscles as they take advantage of the lido's early morning swimming sessions, in an effort to achieve work/life balance prior to arriving at the town hall to serve the local people.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 70
Amendment 1 Councillor Clare Whelan
Add:
“Council is grateful to all the members of the local community who worked with the Council to determine the arrangements for securing the future of the Lido, in particular members of the Brockwell Lido steering group. “
Motion 7 SPECIAL RESPONSIBILITY ALLOWANCES
Councillor Stephen Morgan (14.06.06)
After the last council elections in 2002, the Liberal Democrats made repeated demands that outgoing Labour cabinet members should repay their special responsibility allowances for the period between the council election and the Council AGM at which they were formally replaced. Although Labour councillors have not made any similar demand, it would clearly be hypocritical of the Liberal Democrats not to practise what they preach. Council therefore asks the Leader of the Liberal Democrats to advise the Director of Finance when he can expect to receive a cheque repaying the special responsibility allowances retained by former Lib Dem members of the Executive for the period between the election on 4 May and the AGM on 24 May.
Motion 8 HERNE HILL JUNCTION REGENERATION
Councillor Jim Dickson (14.06.06)
The council supports the Herne Hill Forum in calling on the new administration to make more effective the previous approach to the Herne Hill junction improvement and related regeneration works. It is very important for the area that these works now move ahead.
The council notes that Mayor and TfL have made a commitment to the scheme and to provide the funding to help see it implemented and that forward movement is very much needed. The council should identify the resources to ensure that design work can continue during this financial year.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 71 The council believes it is important that the principle of the project board - of officers, Forum representatives and residents - managing the development of the scheme should be retained and that the commitment of officers in the transport section to partnership working with the community should remain.
The council therefore commits itself to work in partnership with residents in this way to ensure that the full scheme is taken forward as quickly and effectively as possible.
Amendment 1 Councillor Andrew Gibson
At the end of the penultimate paragraph, add:
"Furthermore, the Council commends the Herne Hill Forum for its effective work as an advocate for the interests of Herne Hill residents, both in Lambeth and Southwark."
Motion 9 STERNHOLD AVENUE
Councillor Ashley Lumsden (14.06.06)
Council notes with concern the continued disturbance and nuisance suffered by residents close to the development on the railway alongside Sternhold Avenue.
Amendment 1 Councillor Paul McGlone
add:
Council further notes that the new administration has been extremely concerned by recent developments with regard to South Rail's activities next to Sternhold Avenue. This issue came to our attention in the week following the May local elections.
The council has raised strong concerns with the rail company for ignoring the views of local residents and pressing ahead with this work without consultation or local authority Planning approval in any form.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 72 Council lawyers were asked for legal advice about what the council can do about this issue. The legal advice received was that the work the train company wants to carry out is deemed "permitted development", which means that it can go ahead without the need to get planning permission from the council. Their advice was also that Lambeth Council had no legal basis to seek any planning enforcement action what so ever.
Council believed that this is simply an unacceptable situation. Council must now put pressure on the train company and force them to listen to the concerns of residents of Sternhold Avenue. The managing director of Southern Railways has been written to asking him to outline what should be a minimum response from them as a good neighbour and major employer. We must now identify and pursue any possible legal or other means that may be available to mitigate the impact of this development and the distress it is causing to local residents.
Residents have expressed their wish to meet a senior representative of the Council's new Administration to discuss this matter, and this will be organised at the earliest opportunity.
Motion 10 KNIFE RELATED ATTACKS
Councillor Darren Sanders (14.06.06)
Council condemns the recent knife-related attacks in Streatham and on the Ethlered Estate, and regrets the loss of life resulting from these and other attacks involving knives.
Council believes that it must give a lead in trying to reduce knife- related crimes. Therefore Council instructs officers to:
1) release funds to set up a hotline to encourage people to report knife crime, similar to that used so successfully by the Borough to deal with gun crime;
2) establish a programme of test purchasing by trading standards of shops in the borough to ensure that they are not selling knives to children under 16;
3) lobby the government by backing moves to increase the maximum sentence for possessing a knife from 2 to 7 years, so there are the same penalties for carrying a knife as for carrying a firearm;
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 73 4) work through the youth service with the police and local schools on a campaign to discourage those under 17 from carrying knives as a means of personal protection;
5) work with the police to gather intelligence on stores of knives and other weapons used by gangs of youths in the borough so these can be seized and confiscated; and
6) work with Lambeth's Youth Council on developing other measures to reduce knife-related crime in the borough.
Amendment 1 Councillor Mark Bennett
Delete “Ethlered” in second line and substitute “Ethelred.”
In second paragraph, delete everything after “crimes” and substitute “and notes the following recommendations from the Liberal Democrat spokesman on community safety, Cllr Darren Sanders.”
After recommendation 6, form new paragraph and add:
“Council welcomes the above suggestions from Cllr Sanders, and offers the following points of clarification.
On setting up a hotline, a consultation exercise with the Police is required in order to scope out the need for such a phone line and funding would need to be identified. Council does not rule out such an exercise or such a hotline if funds can be identified.
On test purchasing, Cllr Sanders may not be aware that during the last 12 months, during a period when he had responsibility for community safety, Trading Standards visited over 300 premises in a rolling programme of test purchases of age-restricted sales of alcohol, knives and tobacco.
In the first two weeks of April 2006, 160 test purchase attempts were made as follows: 60 attempts for alcohol; resulting in 23 sales, where £80 fixed penalty notices were issued by the Police; 15 attempts for knives; resulting in 4 sales, and formal cautions being issued; 85 attempts for tobacco; resulting in 3 sales, and formal cautions being issued.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 74 A range of premises were visited, including larger retailers such as Sainsbury's, B & Q, Woolworths, etc.
Trading Standards has also objected to convenience stores' alcohol licences, where it was not the first time they sold alcohol. Additionally, Trading Standards have objected to a 24hr licence change as the premises sold previously. The objection was upheld and the amendment was refused. The programme is part of the Alcohol Misuse Enforcement Campaign (AMEC) undertaken in co- operation with the Police, and Council is pleased to note it is ongoing.
Council also notes the existence of ‘Risky Business’ a personal safety programme for Key Stage 3 pupils has been developed and piloted and will soon be available on the Interactive Whiteboard system’ for all teachers to access. Council awaits with interest the outcome of discussions regarding the development of a personal safety programme for primary School pupils.
Council welcomes the forthcoming launch of the Violent Crime Joint Action Group on 4th July allowing closer partnership with the Police and enhancing the gathering of intelligence and thus the targeting of resources.
Council resolves to lobby the Labour Government for tougher sentences on knife possession and carry out work in partnership with the Youth Council and the Borough’s Youth Forums to develop appropriate measures to reduce knife crime in Lambeth.”
Motion 11 CONTACTING COUNCILLORS
Councillor Gavin Dodsworth (14.06.06)
Council notes the importance of residents being able to contact their councillors. However Council also notes that under the recently revised Members’ Allowance Scheme for 2006/07 all new councillors cannot seek reimbursement for the installation and rental costs for a dedicated council landline. Instead, councillors have been told that they should use their allocated Blackberry device as their contact phone number for incoming calls.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 75 Council believes that it is wholly inappropriate that residents who want to get in touch with their local councillors should have to call them up on their Blackberries at premium mobile rates. Call charges would be significantly higher and could well put off the most disadvantaged members of our community from calling on councillors for help. Council therefore resolves that all councillors should have the option to install a council landline if they so choose in continuation of the arrangements offered to councillors prior to May 2006, in order to ensure that it remains as easy and inexpensive as possible for residents to get in touch.
Amendment 1 Councillor Alex McKenna
Para 1 Last sentence; Delete ‘instead’ Replace ‘ told that they should’ with ‘ offered the opportunity to’
Add new middle para:
“The previous Lib Dem administration made the decision to allocate all councillors elected in the May 2006 elections with a laptop and blackberry device. This followed a successful pilot by Executive councillors who found that the blackberry device enabled residents to make immediate contact with their councillor. No charges were made to councillors for calls during the pilot.
Unfortunately the telephone budget for councillors during the previous administration was wholly inadequate and only sufficient for 19 out of 63 councillors to make any claims. A few Lib Dem councillors made large claims up to £300 per quarter due to lengthy dial up internet calls. Councillors with broadband were not able to claim any internet expenses.
The new administration is reviewing support arrangements for all councillors and will look to contain telephone costs at a reasonable level. In the meantime councillors have a choice of options should they wish to claim any telephone expenses.”
Last para
First sentence: Replace ‘is wholly inappropriate ’ with ‘may be inappropriate for some residents without a mobile phone’ Replace ‘should’ with ‘to’
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 76 Second sentence:
Replace ‘would’ with ‘may’.
Third sentence:
Replace ‘resolves’ with ‘confirms ‘ Delete ‘should’. Delete all after ‘choose’.
Motion 12 BUS 137
Councillor Julian Heather (14.06.06)
137 bus service. Council notes the continuing uncertainty hanging over the future of the 137 bus service since consultation on TfL’s proposed changes to the route ended in January 2006. The proposed cuts to vital peak hour services from Streatham and through Clapham to the tube network and central London will hit passengers hard and lead to overcrowding on the remaining services. Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Mayor of London and Peter Hendy, the Transport Commissioner, expressing Lambeth Council's vigorous opposition to these service cuts and calling on them to drop their proposals.
Motion 13 COUNCIL CODE OF CONDUCT
Councillor Jeremy Clyne (14.06.06)
Council calls on all members to pledge that they will follow the Council's Code of Conduct, and abstain from personal attacks following the disgraceful tactics used in the recent elections which brought politics in Lambeth to a new low.
Amendment 1 Councillor Steve Reed
Delete all after "council's code of conduct"
Add:
Council notes that the Leader of the Conservative Group and former Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group were both invited by the Leader of the Labour Group before the election campaign to agree a
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 77 joint protocol on the conduct of campaigning in the borough elections. Both refused the offer. Complaints now coming from the Liberal Democrats calling for a protocol are therefore typically hypocritical and confused.
Council condemns the personal attacks and disgraceful tactics used by the Liberal Democrats during the election campaign. This included, but was not limited to, repeating an unsubstantiated personal attack on the Labour Group Whip. This contrasts with the campaign fought by Labour councillors and candidates which highlighted the positive programme of a potential Labour Council contrasted with the numerous damaging political failures of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Coalition. Quite reasonably, the Labour Party's winning campaign also highlighted - with evidence that had been presented before a court of law - acts of criminality and rule-breaking by Liberal Democrat councillors and candidates which the public had a right to know about before deciding whether to vote for such people and entrust them with public resources.
Amendment 2 Councillor Andrew Gibson
Add at end:
“Council agrees to establish an all-party Scrutiny Commission to review campaigning and literature during the Lambeth Borough Council elections in May 2006, and for the Commission to put forward recommendations to Standards Committee that will strengthen the Council’s Code of Conduct.”
Motion 14 COMMUNITY COHESION
Councillor Ashley Lumsden (14.06.06)
This Council takes pride in Lambeth's rich diversity and the high level of community cohesion in the borough, reaffirms its commitment to foster even greater tolerance and cohesion among all the borough's residents. The council also welcomes the efforts the Lambeth Borough Police has made to develop good links, in partnership with council and community partners, with the range of different communities in Lambeth.
The Council looks to recent events in the London Borough of Newham and notes with concern the effects of the Forest Gate raid by officers from SO19, the Metropolitan Police specialist firearms division, on community relations in that area and notes the concern this has produced among some parts of the Muslim community in Lambeth.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 78 The Council recalls the various repercussions for Lambeth’s Muslim communities of a number of tragedies - the 7 July 2005 bombings, the failed bombings of 21 July and the shooting the next day of Tulse Hill resident Jean Charles de Menezes by officers of SO19 at Stockwell tube station. The Council notes the substantial work done by Lambeth police, councillors of all parties and local community and faith leaders was extremely valuable in the days following each of those sad events.
The Council believes that interests of security and community are not mutually exclusive. The Council commends the work of Lambeth Borough Police in, for example, the Lambeth United initiative led by Superintendent Jonathan Tottman of Streatham and calls on police, councillors and other leaders to find new ways to connect with the Muslim community.
Further, the Council recognises that borough boundaries are not boundaries of faith and asks the Metropolitan Police Authority to consider how the Metropolitan Police Service can better promote community engagement with Muslims across London.
The Council also requests that the MPA looks urgently at the work of the SO19 specialist firearms division.
Amendment 1 Councillor Clare Whelan
Add at end of paragraph 4:
“... and all hard to reach groups in our borough.”
Motion 15 ADULT EDUCATION
Councillor Rob Banks (14.06.06)
Council deeply regrets the news that Lambeth College is having to cut a number of adult education courses for this academic year, including cutting all three pottery courses. Council notes that these courses were well attended and oversubscribed, bringing people from a wide range of backgrounds and ages from across the borough together in a shared interest and helping promote the community cohesion the borough has been rightly proud of in the last year.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 79 Council also regrets the reason for these cuts backs is a change in Labour government policy which places a stress on adult and further education courses that provide ‘learning for earning’. This will mean that over the next three years 500,000 adult learning places will be cut across the country where they do not directly lead to a qualification. As a result the Learning and Skills Council is now reallocating its local government and further education college funding to 16-19 year olds.
The consequence of this change in funding has been a 7.5% cut in Lambeth’s adult and community learning budget, that Lambeth College has to find savings of between £2.1 and £2.6 million, and Morley College in Waterloo which has received a 7.3% cut in its funding for 2006/07 will have to find savings of £650,000 on a turnover of around £7 million. Further Education colleges are expected to make up for the reduction in their budgets by increasing the charges to pay for the courses. In the case of the pottery classes at Lambeth College it is estimated a 30 week course would cost £6,000 to run. With an average of 30 students per class this would mean people finding £200 each to go on the course. These costs are out of reach of the people who usually enroll to go on the classes.
Council condemns the Labour government policy of cutting funding for adult education classes which will affect people who have joined the courses to expand their skills, to meet people from different backgrounds and who have no wish to be trapped at home with little to do. Council therefore: -
1. Instructs the Chief Executive to write to Lambeth’s three MPs outlining the Council’s opposition to those changes in adult and further education funding which have resulted in ‘lifestyle’ classes being cut and asking for them to lobby their government to reverse the decision. 2. Instructs the Chief Executive to write to the DfES and the Learning and Skills Council outlining the Council’s opposition to the changes in funding which have resulted in courses being cut. 3. Instructs the Executive Director of Finance to bring forward proposals to the July Budget review which would allow the cut in funding from Lambeth to Lambeth College as a result of the 7.5% cut in Lambeth’s budget by the Learning and Skills Council to be reversed.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 80
Motion 16 GUN CRIME
Councillor Darren Sanders (14.06.06)
Council welcomes the establishment of the Gun Crime Programme Board under the previous administration. Council views this as a successful example of partnership working between the Council, the Police and other agencies and wishes it success in the future.
Amendment 1 Councillor Mark Bennett
Delete “under the previous administration” in the second line.
Motion 17 TACKLING CRIME
Councillor Darren Sanders (14.06.06)
Council welcomes the announcement in April 2006 that Lambeth was London's best Borough in tackling crime, ahead of Westminster and Camden. Council notes that the worst boroughs in tackling crime were then all Labour-run.
Council believes that this is an excellent example of how the previous administration worked with the Police and others to ensure that the days of massive rises in street crime and burglaries were halted.
Amendment 1 Councillor Mark Bennett
Delete “in April 2006 that Lambeth was London's best Borough in tackling crime, ahead of Westminster and Camden. Council notes that the worst boroughs in tackling crime were then all Labour-run.”
Substitute “that in Financial year 2005-06 compared to the previous year, for all Total Notifiable Offences Lambeth achieved the second highest reduction of all London boroughs.”
In the second paragraph delete “how the previous administration worked with the” and substitute “partnership working between Lambeth Council and Lambeth”.
Delete “were halted” and substitute “can be halted.”
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 81
Motion 18 WARDEN SCHEME IN STOCKWELL
Councillor Darren Sanders (14.06.06)
Council instructs Cabinet to maintain the previous administration's support of and investment in the URBAN II wardens’ scheme in Stockwell and calls for no delays in its implementation. Additionally Council maintains its support for the Lambeth Wardens Scheme and opposes any reduction in investment in the wardens.
Amendment 1 Councillor Darren Sanders
Insert the following in front of the first sentence: -
Council believes the 7-strong team of Stockwell wardens will play a key role in reducing crime in Stockwell, especially around the tube station, and in making local residents feel safer on their own streets. Council therefore regrets the decision by the new Labour administration to withdraw funding for the Stockwell Wardens, especially when the £95,000 committed by the Joint Administration would have brought £250,000 of matched funding from URBAN II and additional resources from Hyde Housing.
In light of this development Council can only agree with the question put by Councillor Pete Bowyer and Labour Assembly Member for Lambeth & Southwark, Val Shawcross, on Lambeth Labour's website on the 21st June 2006: "The area around Stockwell Tube is one of the worst crime hotspots in the whole of Lambeth, but what is Lambeth Council doing about it?".
Council notes Councillor Bowyer and Val Shawcross answer to this question, as they call on the Lambeth Labour's website for Lambeth to put "...its money where its mouth is and fund a Street Warden Project around the Tube so that the area is regularly patrolled."
Council notes this is consistent with Councillor Bowyer's demands in the Summer of 2005 through the Stockwell Labour Rose, edition 6, in which he said: "However more needs to be done to protect local residents. The Stockwell Labour Action Team is campaigning for street wardens to be introduced in Stockwell to assist the public."
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 82 With the decision not to fund the Stockwell Wardens Council can only condemn Councillors Akhtar, Bowyer and Walker and Assembly Member Val Shawcross as hypocritical and cynical politicians more interested in being elected, than in delivering improvements in their constituents’ lives.
In order to provide the wardens Stockwell residents have demanded"
Amendment 2 Councillor Mark Bennett
Delete “maintain” in first line and substitute “review”.
In third line, delete “and calls for no delays in its implementation” and substitute
“welcomes the Labour Administration’s decision to review warden schemes across the borough with a view to reform and value for money.”
In fourth line, delete “maintains its support for the Lambeth Wardens Scheme and opposes any reduction in investment in the wardens” and substitute:
“welcomes the sergeant-led “Safer Neighbourhood” police teams starting up in all wards, and therefore resolves to ensure residents’ money will be spent wisely before making a decision on the future of borough-wide warden schemes.
“Council values the work of a number of existing warden schemes. However, Council deplores the decision of the then Lib Dem Tory administration to employ £15 an hour agency staff to patrol in the place of permanent staff. Council does not believe this can be a sensible long term use of council tax payers’ money, particularly when council tax payers are also paying for permanent police officers to patrol their streets.
“Council notes with concern that a bid for a Stockwell warden scheme was put together at the direction of the Lib Dems – presumably in the hope of winning more votes in Stockwell.
“Council notes the background to the Stockwell wardens bid. The original bid consisted of 1x manager and 6 x wardens to the Stockwell URBAN II board. This bid was rejected mainly because it failed to hit the employment targets. However, the project to engage wardens was welcomed and it was anticipated that a revised proposal would be submitted for consideration in June.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 83 “Council understands that following this a number of concerns were highlighted that brought into question the viability of the project and particularly with regards to a funding shortfall of £140k , and Hyde Housing specified remit that the wardens take responsibility for the monitoring of their CCTV system as a condition of the matching funding that they had offered.
“In light of these factors, Council notes that several days before the deadline, officers made clear to the Cabinet Member for Community Safety that the bid was weak, unrealistic and almost certain to fail - a fitting legacy for the Lib Dems.
“Council therefore supports the decision of the Cabinet Member for Community Safety not to submit the bid and instead to explore other ways of providing wardens in Stockwell. In the unlikely event the bid had been successful, unsustainable funds would have been tied up in years to come and instead of patrolling the streets, wardens would have been reduced to looking at streets from a CCTV control room. Wardens are not paid to watch TV – they should be out talking to local people, supporting police in a community safety role.
“Labour has ensured that Lambeth wardens from the borough-wide team are currently patrolling Stockwell and nearby areas. Labour is also taking action to close the notorious Brooklands Passage, which residents have asked for and the Lib Dems failed to do for years. Other community safety plans are in the pipeline.”
Motion 19 CLAPHAM COMMON BANDSTAND
Councillor Darren Sanders (14.06.06)
Council welcomes the restoration and re-opening of the Clapham Common bandstand and congratulates the Heritage Lottery Fund, the previous administration, the Clapham Society, the Friends of Clapham Common and many local people in the area for their financial support.
Amendment 1 Councillor Christopher Wellbelove
Delete “the previous administration”
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 84
Amendment 2 Councillor Clare Whelan
Add:
“Council resolves that following the welcome commitment of the previous administration to the bandstand that the current administration ensures it is properly maintained from now on and an appropriate programme of events for the enjoyment of the local community is arranged for the bandstand.
Council recognises that there are also bandstands in Myatts Fields and Ruskin Parks and resolves that these two be restored to their former glory.”
Motion 20 LIMITED HOUR PARKING CONTROLS
Councillor Darren Sanders (14.06.06)
Council believes that limited-hour parking controls of the type seen in Wandsworth, the Abbeville village and the Hyde Farm Estate work and that they should be introduced wherever roads want them.
Amendment 1 Councillor Nigel Haselden
Delete “believes that” Replace with “Notes”
Delete "of the type seen"
Delete “and they should be introduced wherever roads want them”
Add: Council notes the Labour Administration’s manifesto commitment that there should be “More choice for residents over what hours parking restrictions apply”. Council supports this approach and looks forward to proposals being brought forward which promote this objective.
Council also notes that the previous administration caused unprecedented chaos for drivers in Lambeth by introducing the a parking contract which gave financial incentives to a private contract to meeting an arbitrary ticketing target. Such an approach encouraged parking wardens to unfairly issue parking tickets to people who had not necessarily parked illegally. The Labour Administration is now conducting a comprehensive review of the parking service to remedy this situation to deliver on the manifesto promise to return fair parking to Lambeth.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 85 Motion 21 CLAPHAM AND STOCKWELL TOWN CENTRE OFFICE
Councillor Darren Sanders (14.06.06)
Council notes that the Clapham and Stockwell Town Centre Office has just been moved to a non-DDA compliant building. Council notes that not all council buildings comply with the Disability Discrimination Act. For instance the equalities and diversity unit is up three flights of stairs.
Council believes this is wrong and instructs the Cabinet to draw up a plan to ensure that all council meetings are held in DDA compliant buildings by October 2006 and that all council staff are in DDA compliant buildings by January 2007.
Council accepts that such a plan will send out a positive signal to people that the administration is serious about reducing inequality and looks forward to its implementation.
Motion 22 HOUSING BENEFIT SERVICE
Councillor Clive Bennett (14.06.06)
Council notes the considerable progress made in improving the performance of the Housing Benefit Service in the last four years. Council in particular agrees with the comments of the Executive Director of Finance made at the recent Cabinet Meeting that there has been a dramatic improvement since the introduction of the Lambeth Benefits Service Strategy in 2004.
Council notes that the result of this is that over the last year it was taking an average of 53 days to process a new claim, and 26 days to process a change in circumstances. Should members have forgotten this represents a considerable contrast to the Service's performance in the last year of the previous Labour administration. In 2001/02 Lambeth took an average of 163 days to process a new claim and 76 days to process a change of circumstance claim, despite a manifesto promise from Labour in 1998 that they would process 97% of Housing Benefit claims within 14 days by 1999.
While Council accepts that excellent progress has been made in transforming this vital service which directly affects 38% of the borough's residents, it also accepts there is more work to be done. Council is concerned that the Service is still making overpayments of Housing Benefit thereby causing recipients to fall deeper into debt.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 86 Council believes the Lambeth should become more accountable for its own inaccuracies and urges the new Executive Member for Finance to review as a matter of urgency the progress to date, and to prepare a further strategy to take Lambeth's Benefits Service to the point were its performance matches that of the majority of other authorities and addresses any remaining shortfalls in performance.
Motion 23 THE ADMINISTRATION’S PRIORITIES
Councillor Ashley Lumsden (14.06.06)
Council recalls that at the first meeting of the Joint Administration’s Executive on 10th June 2002 the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Groups set out their priorities for the next four years in a report.
Council notes the failure of the new Labour administration to set out its priorities for scrutiny by the Council and residents of the Borough in a similar document at the June Cabinet meeting. Council can see little reason for Labour’s failure to do this especially when the agenda for the meeting was taken up with approving plans put in place by the Joint Administration.
Council finds Labour’s failures even more puzzling given Labour already had in place a transition plan to ensure there was a smooth hand over of power. Council can only assume from this that Labour has no belief or interest in its manifesto commitments, and that its real agenda and focus is one of providing allowances for aspiring Labour spin doctors seeking to climb the greasy pole of national politics and with no interest in their local community. Council therefore condemns the new Labour administration’s moral and intellectual bankruptcy, which only weeks into the new Council means they have failed to put forward a comprehensive package implementing their election promises, or any proposals on how they will go about making the lives of Lambeth’s residents better.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 87
Amendment 1 Councillor John Whelan
Add at end:
“Council notes that the Leader of the Council on May 11th wrote to the Chief Executive setting out a range of proposed actions on the theme of 'delivering quality, tackling inequality" including:
• An early priority is to secure the funding to expand secondary school places • Levering in new resources to increase the opportunity for every citizen • Bringing forward proposals for a "strengthened enterprise function (sic)" • A sea change in how this council listens, consults, and behaves • For elected Councillors no longer to be treated as a "necessary nuisance"
More than eight weeks after his election to run the council, Council, at the risk of being thought "a necessary nuisance," urges the Leader to explain what he has been doing to deliver on these clichéd promises and whether a "strengthened enterprise function" means the adoption of private sector strategies leading to the creation of Lambeth Plc. “
Motion 24 STREATHAM TRANSPORT LINKS
Councillor Dave Malley (14.06.06)
Council notes that Streatham public transport continues to have significant gaps. Residents remain very keen to see a connection to Croydon tram link, but none is planned at present.
Council resolves to call on TfL and the Mayor to put Streatham on the tram link map.
Amendment 1 Councillor Andrew Sawdon
Delete all after “Council notes that Streatham public transport continues to have significant gaps.” and add as a new paragraph: -
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 88 In recent years Streatham has received a raw deal from the Government and the Mayor of London. Original plans for the East London Line's extension to Wimbledon with stops at Streatham and Streatham Common have been abandoned, bus services have been cut and routes shortened, and the prospect of Streatham appearing on either the Croydon tram link or Cross River Transit maps appears no closer to reality.
As part of his bid to forge closer relationships with Greater London Authority Council therefore calls on the Leader of the Council to request a meeting with the Mayor of London to discuss ways of improving public transport links in Streatham, including the possible regeneration of the Streatham Safeway site as a transport interchange.
Motion 25 VEHICLE CLAMPING
Councillor John Whelan (14.06.06)
Council proposes that the Cabinet follow the example of Conservative-Liberal Democrat Camden and instruct Control Plus to cease clamping parked vehicles on the basis that if a vehicle is parked illegally trying to keep it there longer flies in the face of all logic.
Amendment 1` Councillor Nigel Haselden
Delete: “proposes that the cabinet follow the example of Conservative and Liberal Democrat” replace with “notes”
Replace with: "notes"
Delete “and instruct Control Plus to cease”
Replace with “have ceased”
Delete: "on the basis that if a vehicle is parked illegally trying to keep it there longer flies in the face of all logic."
This should now read "Council notes Camden have ceased clamping Parked Vehicles."
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 89 Add at end: Council notes that the Conservative Party were in Administration in Lambeth for the previous four years and yet oddly did not introduce this policy. Council also notes that Conservative councillors used the parking service as a cash cow during their time in office by introducing a parking contract which contained unfair financial incentives. This ridiculous approach did nothing but undermine confidence in parking enforcement within the borough and gave Lambeth a national reputation for unfair parking enforcement.
The Labour Administration is now conducting a comprehensive review of the parking service to remedy this situation to deliver on the manifesto promise to return fair parking to Lambeth.
Motion 26 SUSTAINABLE COMMUNITIES
Councillor Clare Whelan (14.06.06)
Council notes that the All Party Parliamentary Small Shops Group has reported that within 10 years many more high streets could be destroyed if action is not taken and expresses its concern at:
• the decline of local services and facilities which affects local communities and in particular the elderly and people on the lowest incomes; • the resulting decline of local jobs and local economies and the resulting extra traffic pollution caused by the need to travel further.
Council therefore resolves to support the Sustainable Communities Bill which:
• requires the government to assist councils and communities in promoting local sustainability in ways decided by those councils and communities; • sets up a participative process whereby councils and communities can drive the way in which government uses its power and influence to assist with the promotion of local sustainability; • recognises therefore that the Bill provides for a 'bottom-up' rather than a 'top-down' one-size-fits-all process; • notes that this Bill is therefore fully in accord with current thinking in local government in that it impacts on central authorities and does not impose any new duties on councils but instead enables them to influence how government uses its resources and influence to help councils and communities.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 90 Council further resolves to inform the local media of this decision, write to local MPs asking them to support the Bill and sign Early Day Motion 641 and write to the Local Works campaign to express this Council's support.
Motion 27 KNIGHT’S HILL SAFER NEIGHBOURHOOD TEAMS
Councillor David Malone (14.06.06)
The Ward of Knights Hill now has a Safer Neighbourhoods Team of dedicated police officers. Thankfully Knights Hill now joins the rest of Lambeth in this regard, as a result of funds from a Labour Government and local campaigning by the Labour Party.
Crime and anti-social behaviour are the number one concerns for both the residents of Knights Hill and Lambeth generally, therefore the Council should do everything in its power to support our police and our Safer Neighbourhood Teams in tackling crime and anti- social behaviour.
Amendment 1 Councillor Darren Sanders
Delete the second sentence and then add at the end: -
Unfortunately for Lambeth's residents while Labour's election campaign literature talked of every ward will having six uniformed officers, the reality is that they will only be at this strength at the end of 2006/07. In the meantime many new Safer Neighbourhood Teams will only have four officers and may well have a probationary sergeant in command.
Council therefore regrets that rather than providing all Lambeth with the full strength of six officers and PCSOs by the 1st of April 2006, Labour's Mayor preferred in his inflation busting budget for 2006/07 to spend £4.5 million on promoting his political activities something he has been doing for a number of years. Council condemns the Mayor of London and the London Labour party for wasting Lambeth residents' Council Tax on political spin when this could have been invested in extra police for Lambeth and the rest of London.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 91 Council also regrets the disbanding by the Labour government on the 31st March 2005 of a specialist unit fighting street robberies in the borough with the loss of an inspector, 4 sergeants and 40 police officers.
Council therefore endorses the decision by the Joint Administration to expand the wardens’ schemes already in place to cover all areas of the borough.
The new wardens have already been able to assist the Safer Neighbourhood Teams by delivering a visible and reassuring presence on the streets at a neighbourhood level. They have also been able to work with the Teams on local community safety issues, building up intelligence and working together to make Lambeth safer.
Council also endorses the decision by the Joint Administration to part fund an extra sergeant and ten police constables on Lambeth's streets in conjunction the Borough Commander to replace the Safer Streets Unit based in Cavendish Road police station which Labour cut on the 31st March 2005.
In contrast to the Joint Administration's action Council notes the Labour Group descended into misrepresentation in their campaign in a desperate desire to cover up their own party's failings on tackling crime in Lambeth. Labour claimed that the Liberal Democrats had taken police officers from Streatham and Norwood to send them to Brixton and Clapham, including the comment in a leaflet delivered in Knight's Hill before Christmas (The Rose, West Norwood, Winter 2006) which stated: "Last year the Liberal Democrats voted against the extra police for West Norwood and instead sent them to leafy Clapham".
However in a letter sent out in Stockwell by the Stockwell Action Team in February 2006 Labour stated:
"Thanks to the Mayor Ken Livingstone there are more police than ever on the streets across London...... When the Liberal Democrats, who run Lambeth Council, got the chance to decide where the Mayor's extra police should go, they decided not to send them to Stockwell but to Norwood and Streatham instead". "That is not good enough. We need our own Safer Neighbourhood police team here in Clapham".
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 92
Amendment 2 Councillor John Whelan
Delete “a Labour Government and local campaigning by the Labour Party” and replace with:
“taxpayers.”
Motion 28 ST MATTHEW’S TRAINGLE
Councillor Toren Smith (15.06.06)
Council recalls that the last administration sold off land on St Matthew’s estate, including green open space, to a Housing Association consortium for £5m. A working group of residents & councillors was established in early 2003 by the Executive & tasked with producing a master plan for the St Matthew’s triangle area. Unfortunately despite the employment of external consultants, staffing resources within Lambeth Housing were insufficient to enable the working group to complete its report by May 2006.
Two public consultation events have taken place and residents are impatient for action. We therefore wish to see the working group‘s report completed as a matter of urgency and residents consulted on the findings. An action plan should be developed to implement the preferred course of action as soon as possible.
Amendment 1 Councillor Jeremy Clyne
Add at end: -
Council notes that the previous administration's innovative policy of recycling the proceeds from sales of void properties into regeneration projects has produced the substantial funding available for the St Matthew's Estate. Council invites Cllr Smith to have a quiet word with Cllr Kazantzis to explain to him the benefits of this policy.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 93 In respect of Tulse Hill Council additionally notes local peoples concerns about the potential loss of natural light if the old garages site on the Tulse Hill Estate is over-developed. Council further notes that the Joint Administration ensured that enough money from the receipt from the site would be ring-fenced to refurbish Jubilee Hall as soon as possible. Council believes that this refurbishment would be a valuable improvement to the lives of residents of the estate.
Council therefore urges the Cabinet to commit sufficient funds, whatever receipt is delivered, to complete the refurbishment of Jubilee Hall.
Council 06.07.06 Item 9 Council motions and amendments 94