Council Agenda Combined
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N o t i c e o f M e e t i n g Council 14 October 2015 at 6.30pm The Council Chamber, Kensington Town Hall, Hornton Street, W8 7NX Contact: Mr M Carver E-mail: [email protected] Tel: 020 7361 2477 Website: www.rbkc.gov.uk Issue Date: 6 October 2015 Town Clerk - Nicholas Holgate Public Agenda 1. MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING The minutes of meeting of the Council held on 24 June 2015 are submitted for confirmation. 2. SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENTS BY THE MAYOR 3. TOWN CLERK’S REPORTS AND COMMUNICATIONS (i) Apologies for absence (ii) Declarations of interest Any Member of the Council who has a disclosable pecuniary interest in a matter to be considered at the meeting is reminded to disclose the interest to the meeting and to leave the Chamber while any discussion or vote on the matter takes place. Members are also reminded that if they have any other significant interest in a matter to be considered at the meeting, which they feel should be declared in the public interest, such interests should be declared to the meeting. In such circumstances Members should consider whether their continued participation, in the matter relating to the interest, would be reasonable in the circumstances, particularly if the interest may give rise to a perception of a conflict of interests, or whether they should leave the Chamber while any discussion or vote on the matter takes place. 4. PETITIONS (i) Petition on Marlborough School; (ii) Presentation of other petitions (if any). 5. ORDER OF BUSINESS The Mayor to announce the order of business for the remainder of the meeting. 6. REPORTS FROM THE CABINET (i) Integrated Air Quality and Climate Change Action Plan (ii) Urgent key decisions. 7. REPORTS FROM COUNCIL-SIDE COMMITTEES (i) Pension Fund Annual Report 2014-15 (ii) Annual Treasury Report 2014-15 (iii) Audit and Transparency Committee Annual Report (iv) Report of the Administration Committee 8. MATTERS REFERRED TO THE COUNCIL BY SCRUTINY COMMITTEES Buy to Leave – report of the Housing and Property Scrutiny Committee 9. MATTERS OF LOCAL CONCERN RAISED UNDER S.O. 11 Members may draw to the Council’s attention Ward or other ‘live’ issues of general / broad principle. Each member raising such an issue under this Standing Order should speak for not more than two minutes in addressing the Council. No more than three Majority Group members and one Minority Party member may raise issues in this way per meeting. Members wishing to raise such matters should register their intent with the Town Clerk prior to the meeting. 10. MOTIONS FOR DEBATE (i) Policing budget “The Metropolitan Police has had to implement an almost £600 million, or 20%, cut to their budget since the government's 2010 Spending Review, and Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe, the Police Commissioner, has stated that the upcoming Spending Review is likely to reduce the £3.5 billion policing budget by a further £800 million over the next 4 years. The London Assembly Police and Crime Committee believes the cut could be as high as 43% that they say would seriously damage London’s police force. At a time when crime has started to rise across London and in the Borough, the Mayor's Office for Policing and Crime has stated that such a budget cut would make it difficult to maintain current front line officer numbers, the Metropolitan Police are considering axing what is left of community policing, including all remaining Police Community Support Officers,(PCSO's), and RBKC's Police Commander has stated that an £800 million budget cut would radically alter the way policing is carried out in the Borough. This Council therefore resolves: To write to the Home Secretary opposing any further cuts to the Metropolitan Police Budget in the spending review that could adversely affect officer numbers, result in the closure of Police Stations and the reduction of police vehicles and equipment, end community policing, and will result in the police withdrawing from areas of policing the Borough's residents have come to rely on. To meet with the Mayor of London to ask him to put the Borough's case to the government against swingeing cuts to the Metropolitan Police Budget that could adversely affect policing in RBKC. To lobby the Mayor of London to consult meaningfully with the Council and the Borough's residents about the future of policing in London, and to provide an assessment of the true impact he believes the government's £800 million cut to the policing budget will have on the Capital's and the Borough’s policing service.” Proposed by: Cllr. Pat Mason Seconded by: Cllr. Emma Dent Coad (ii) Refugees “This Council notes that: Conflicts in the Middle East have created the largest refugee crisis in generations. Thousands of people have died while seeking sanctuary from the violence this year alone trying to cross the Mediterranean sea; many were children. The United Kingdom has played a leading role as one of the world’s top international donors, supporting refugees in Syria and the surrounding area. The UN estimates there are over 320,000 people though who live in urgent need of resettlement. Survivors of torture or sexual violence, the very elderly or disabled, there are people who cannot survive in UN refugee camps near in countries surrounding Syria. The UK has a long and important tradition of offering sanctuary to those who need protection. 100,000 Huguenots, 10,000 Jewish Kinder Transport children spared the Nazi concentration camps, 160,000 Poles following the Second World War many of whom had served in the Battle of Britain, the Vietnamese Boat People, the 28,000 Asian Ugandans fleeing Idi Amin and the people who fled the war in Kosovo. This is our proud and decent tradition. To play its part fully in solving this global crisis the British government must work for durable long term political solutions in the region, lead as a major international donor, and live up to its reputation as a place of sanctuary, integration and protection. This Council believes: That this crisis will be better managed if incoming refugees are accommodated around the whole country; We can best rise to the crisis if a National Welcome and Resettlement Board bringing together local and national government, civil society and business leadership is created to oversee efforts to resettle refugees and mobilise public support as in times past; Long term political solutions are needed to ease the crisis, but in the mean time we must do what we can; and The UK must welcome its fair share of refugees to ease this crisis. This Council therefore resolves: • To request the Cabinet formally to express an interest in both the VPR and Gateway programmes to the Home Office, requesting that 50 refugees be resettled here; • To write to local housing associations to encourage them to make properties available to resettle refugees; • To commit to ensuring that refugees are welcomed in this area and to request the Cabinet to consider taking steps to help facilitate this process by coordinating local service provision and coordinating the immense public will to help; • To write to the Prime Minister to assure him that the Council stands ready and willing to help at this time of crisis. Proposed by: Cllr. Robert Thompson Seconded by: Cllr. Monica Press (iii) Trade Union Bill “This Council notes that: In July 2015 the government announced its trade union bill - a wide- ranging set of proposals which, taken as a package, will undermine the basic right to strike and make it harder for workers to organise effectively in trade unions. The proposals include ending the ban on employers bringing in agency workers to cover for permanent staff during industrial action - which fundamentally undermines the right to strike. The proposals will also bring in new restrictions on pickets and protests during strikes. Unions will have to give the details of a lead picketer on every picket line to the police and employers - and the government has even floated the idea of making all picketers give their details to the police. They may even be required to submit a campaign plan to the police and employers two weeks in advance - setting out what they intend to do, whether they will use a loudspeaker or carry a banner and even what strikers intend to put on social media, such as Facebook or twitter. The government has also proposed new thresholds for turnout in strike ballots, plus additional thresholds for those working in "important public services". The government wants to grant ministers the power unilaterally to cut so- called "facilities time" in the public sector. This is paid time-off mutually agreed between employers and unions for union reps to represent their members and negotiate with their employer. The government also proposes to prohibit public sector employers assisting unions to collect their membership subscriptions through payrolls - even though this is used for a variety of other staff benefits such as cycle-to- work schemes and childcare vouchers, and even though unions often meet the costs of this. This Council further notes that: The human rights organisations Liberty, Amnesty International and the British Institute of Human Rights have said that the government's proposals “would hamper people’s basic rights to protest and shift even more power from the employee to the employer". The government refuses to allow trade unions to ballot their members electronically, which could help increase engagement. Trade unions take industrial action for a wide range of reasons including defending wages and pensions, conditions at work and safety. Strikes in the UK are at historically low levels.