Council, Thursday, 21 July 2016 Report of the Council Thursday, 21st July, 2016 (7.15 p.m. - 11.20 p.m.) Present: The Worshipful the Mayor, G. Bhamra, Z. Hussain (Deputy Mayor), Councillors Mohammad Ahmed, Mushtaq Ahmed, J. Athwal, S. Bain, S. Bellwood, I. Bond, D. Bromiley, P. Canal, M. Chaudhary, A. Choudhury, K. Chowdhury, H. Cleaver, R. Cole, H. Coomb, C. Cronin, C. Cummins, G. Deakins, L. Duddridge, Mrs M. Dunn, R. Emmett, K. Flint, J. Haran, R. Hatfull, N. Hayes, J. Hehir, J. Howard, Mrs L. Huggett, F. Hussain, M. Javed, T. Jeyaranjan, B. Jones, A. Kissin, B. Lambert, B. Littlewood, T. McLaren, P. Merry, B. Nijjar, Mrs S. Nolan, E. Norman, Mrs K. Packer, A. Parkash, K. Prince, K. Rai, T. Rashid, Mrs J. Ryan, A. Sachs, M. Santos, D. Sharma, T. Sharpe, M. Stark, W. Streeting, R. Turbefield, A. Weinberg, B. White and N. Zammett Public: 80+ Officers: Chief Executive, Corporate Director of Children & Young People, Corporate Director of Health & Social Care Integration, Corporate Director of Place, Corporate Director of Resources, Head of Corporate & Property Legal Services and Joint Head of Constitutional Services. Prayers were said by Dr. Mohammed Fahim. 1. Standing Order 68: Electronic Media (COU/01/210716) All present were reminded that in accordance with the Openness of Local Government Bodies Regulations 2014 that the public and press were permitted to report on the meeting using electronic media tools. However, oral commentary would not be permitted in the room during proceedings. All present were also advised that the meeting was being audio recorded and the recording would be available to download on Redbridge i. 2. Apologies for Absence (COU/02/210716) Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Shakil Ahmed, Best, Fairley- Churchill, Kaur-Thiara, O’Shea and Singh Bola. Apologies for lateness were also received from Councillors Cleaver, Cole, Hayes and McLaren. 3. To Approve the Minutes of the Meeting of Annual Council Held on 12th May 2016 and Council on 19th May 2016 (COU/03/210716) Resolved: That the Minutes of the meeting of Annual Council held on 12th May 2016 and the Council meeting held on 19th May 2016 be approved for signing when in the official Minute Book. 4. Declarations of Interest (COU/04/210716) All Members and Officers in attendance were reminded of the requirement to consider whether they had an interest in any matter on the agenda that needed to be disclosed and, if so, to declare the interest when Council reached that item on the agenda. Council, Thursday, 21 July 2016 Minute's Silence Members stood for a minute in silent tribute for the victims of the recent terror attack in Nice, France. 5. Correspondence (COU/05/210716) There was no correspondence. Change in Order of Business Resolved: That, pursuant to Standing Order 22, the Order of Business be changed so that agenda item 11 – (Urgent Statement) could be taken before agenda item 7 – (Questions from Members of the Public). 6. To Receive the Mayor's Announcements (COU/06/210716) Vote of Thanks The Mayor announced that this would be the last Council meeting attended by Alan Paterson (Mayor’s Chauffeur), Pat Reynolds (Corporate Director of Children and Young People) and John Powell (Corporate Director of Health and Social Care Integration). We wished to record our thanks to all three officers for their excellent service to the Borough over many years and we wished them a happy retirement. Mayor’s Appeal Event The Mayor advised that a visit to the site of the Battle of The Somme, as part of the Centenary commemorations, was being arranged for 22nd October 2016. 11. To Hear an Urgent Statement by the Leader of the Council in Accordance with Standing Order 18 - Hate Crime and Xenophobia (COU/11/210716) Council noted the statement from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Athwal, against hate crime and xenophobia, and the responses from Councillor Canal, on behalf of the Conservative Group and Councillor Bond on behalf of the Liberal Democrat Group, pursuant to Standing Order 18. Suspension of Standing Order Resolved: That, in accordance with Standing Order 26.1, Standing Order 17.1 be suspended to allow a period of one hour for public questions. 7. To Hear Questions from Members of the Public and Replies Thereto, in Accordance with Standing Order 17. (COU/07/210716) (i) Mr. Walker asked the Mayor, Councillor Bhamra, as prior notice of his question had allowed the Mayor to consult with party leaders, was there support in this Chamber to enhance our local democracy by extending the right of the public to question elected representatives by: 1) removing current restrictions to allow every Councillor to be questioned, Council, Thursday, 21 July 2016 2) allowing one of the four Redbridge MPs to be questioned in this chamber once a month? The Mayor replied taking each part of the question in turn. Regarding the first part of the question, Redbridge residents, tax payers, rates payers and elected members could put questions to Councillors with special responsibilities, such as Chairs of Service Committees, Cabinet Members and the Leader. To allow questions to be put to all other Councillors was both unnecessary and inappropriate as such questions were unlikely to be in respect of their Council functions. He would, therefore, not be seeking support for this from full Council. As far as the second part of Mr. Walker’s question was concerned, MPs were elected to serve their constituents in accordance with the Parliamentary practices and the Council had no formal functions in such matters and could not dictate where MPs met with their constituents. By way of a supplementary question, Mr. Walker asked, as prior notice of this question gave party leaders time to contact the Mayor, do any of the party leaders agree that questioning of Councillors would be enhanced, (enhancing this democracy was the subject of the first question), by the Council publishing on its website each month the GPs in our Borough alongside the population of the Borough? The Mayor advised Mr. Walker that his supplementary question did not comply with Standing Order 17.13 as it was not relevant to the original question. (ii) Mr. Madhani asked the Leader of the Council, Councillor Athwal, in light of the Council’s stated aim to promote diversity and community cohesion, did the Leader of the Council not recognise the need to retain assets such as Sir James Hawkey Hall, that provide a valuable facility to the residents of the Borough? Councillor Athwal replied by referring to a petition of 1926 signatures which was presented to this Council on 17th March this year and to the response given at the last meeting on 19th May. Councillor Athwal assured those present that the Council would certainly always consult with the residents on relevant issues. As regards the Sir James Hawkey Hall, there were currently no plans for redevelopment but once a proposal was formed then, certainly, local residents would be consulted. Councillor Athwal stated that the Council would face difficult decisions like this. If it was not socially and economically viable, a proposal would not be taken forward, but equally the Council could not live in the past. Members had to accept financial responsibility for this Borough and needed to consider the social responsibility with residents. The Council would consult with Mr. Madhani and others on any future proposals. A report would be taken through the Council’s decision making process in due course and all Councillors would be able to express their views at that time, as would Mr. Madhani. By way of a supplementary question, Mr. Madhani asked, as the Woodford Pantomime had seen, in recent years, an increase in attendance from audiences that covered a wide-cross section of the Redbridge community, including disabled people and people from black and minority ethnic backgrounds, whether the Leader of the Council would undertake to fully review the existing benefits that Sir James Hawkey Hall provided to the community? Council, Thursday, 21 July 2016 Councillor Athwal replied that what needed preserving was that culture, i.e. the pantomime, which will then suit the residents of this Borough. This would certainly come out when any plans were drafted up. There would be a full study and an equalities assessment, and there would be, going into the future, awareness of the needs of the neighbourhood. When this happened, Councillor Athwal would give that undertaking that all the issues were looked into. (iii) Mr. Page asked the Cabinet Member for Regeneration, Property & Planning, Councillor Coomb, in respect of the draft Borough Plan and in regard to Policy LP3, will the Cabinet Member increase the amount of affordable housing target to 45%, instead of 30% (in line with GLA policies) and amend the draft Plan to at least 500 affordable homes per annum, instead of the woefully inadequate 336 as it stands, given that the Council, and most Councillors should know this, has no less than 214 brownfield sites which without touching the green belt could deliver at least 12,000 new homes? Councillor Coomb replied that the London Plan 2015 sought to ensure an average of at least 17,000 more affordable homes per year are built in London. This was a London-wide target which all Boroughs will contribute towards achieving. The London Plan did not set individual affordable housing targets for Boroughs, rather it stated that, “Boroughs should set an overall target in LDFs (Local Development Frameworks) for the amount of affordable housing provision needed over the plan period in their areas.” As stated in London Plan policy 3.11 C (f), when setting affordable housing targets, Boroughs should consider a range of factors including, the viability of future development, taking into account future resources as far as possible.