Minutes of a meeting of the Council held at The Town Hall, Hornton Street, London W8 7NX at 6.30pm on 6 December 2017 PRESENT Members of the Council THE MAYOR: CLLR. MARIE-THERESE ROSSI ADDENBROOKE, Sarah LIGHTFOOT, Warwick AHERN, Tim LINDSAY, David ATKINSON, Robert LITTLER, Harrison BAKHTIAR, Mohammed MASON, Pat BERRILL-COX, Adrian MOYLAN, Daniel BLAKEMAN, Judith NICHOLLS, David CAMPBELL, Barbara PAGET-BROWN, Nicholas CAMPBELL, Elizabeth PALMER, Matthew CAMPION, David, BA (Arch), Dip PASCALL, Will TP, FRIBA, MBCS, CITP PRESS, Monica COATES, Professor Sir Anthony Bt, RINKER, Andrew BSc, MD, FRC Path, FRCP RUTHERFORD, Elizabeth COLERIDGE, Tim SPALDING, Malcolm COLLINSON, Deborah TAYLOR-SMITH, Kim CONDON-SIMMONDS, Maighread THOMPSON, Robert CYRON, Anne WADE, Linda FAULKS, Catherine WARRICK, Paul FREEMAN, Robert WEALE, Mary HARGREAVES, Gerard WILL, Emma HEALY, Pat WILLIAMS, Charles HUSBAND, James A G E N D A 1. MAYOR’S ANNOUNCEMENTS The Mayor welcomed everyone to the meeting and explained the format for the meeting. She said that the Leader would give an oral report on further progress with the response to the Grenfell tragedy. The Council had set up the Grenfell Recovery Scrutiny Committee – chaired by Cllr Thompson – as the key forum where members of the public could continue to contribute and she encouraged people to make comments on issues relating to Grenfell at those meetings. The Mayor said that the main topic for discussion at the meeting would be how the Council was reviewing its decision-making and how best to involve 1 local people in this. The debate would cover emerging themes from the review. Contributions from the public would be welcome. The Council would also be discussing a petition on Notting Hill Police Station and four Motions, including one on the Hillsborough report and one on the Grenfell Nursery. 2. MINUTES The minutes of the meeting held on 25 October were confirmed as a correct record and were signed by the Mayor. 3. CHIEF EXECUTIVE’S COMMUNICATIONS (i) Apologies for absence Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Cllrs Allison, Aouane, Dent Coad, Feilding-Mellen, Lasharie, Lomas, Marshall, Mills and Powell and for late arrival from Cllr Husband. (ii) Declarations of Interest No declarations were made. 4. LEADER’S UPDATE ON GRENFELL RESPONSE Pursuant to Standing Order 42, it was proposed by Cllr Hargreaves, seconded by Cllr Blakeman and RESOLVED - to suspend Standing Order 30 insofar as it related to the speeches made by the Leader, Cllr Atkinson and Cllr Wade so that they may speak without time limit. The Leader gave an oral update on progress since the October Council meeting. She said people would receive support for as long as they needed it. External experts had been brought in to help the Council. She hoped to hear increasingly positive reports about key workers. She paid tribute to the Heads and teachers of the affected schools for their response. The Task Force had submitted an interim report and the Council was working on its recommendations. The priority was to find permanent accommodation for 209 households. 42 were in new homes and 49 more had accepted offers. The Council had completed on 217 homes and was on track for 300 by Christmas. The Leader expressed sympathy for those still in hotel accommodation but added that the Council would only move at the pace dictated by the survivors. Such decisions could not be rushed. The Council was on track to meet its target for rehousing all survivors by June. It had committed all its reserves to the recovery effort and had requested further financial 2 assistance from the Chancellor. The Leader welcomed the £28m extra which had been received. The DCLG was also being asked to allow the Council to borrow more. In response, Cllr Atkinson commended the Leader for her humility. However, he said that the Council would be judged by its deeds not its words. There had been insufficient progress. The Government’s extra £28m was welcome but was not enough over three years. He paid tribute to the response by schools and also by the NHS. Cllr Wade spoke of the priority for social housing in future. The governance review should examine how finances were allocated. She wanted to see transparency in the bidding system for accommodation and expressed concern about the reasons why some accommodation was being turned down. 5. PETITIONS (i) Petition on Notting Hill Police Station The Mayor informed the Council that a debate at Council had been triggered by the receipt of a petition in excess of 2,500 signatures about Notting Hill Police Station. Amanda Frame addressed the meeting on behalf of the petitioners. She spoke against the closure of such stations given the increasing population of London and rising crime rates. She also spoke of the need for the Council to work with residents to prevent the sale of such community assets. The station had already closed but as it had been designated as an Asset of Community Value (ACV), it would give the Council time to explore options in case MOPAC decided to sell the building. She called on the Council to endorse joint working with the community so that the sale could be prevented. Cllr Mason also welcomed the designation of the building as an ACV. He hoped that Nick Hurd, Home Office Minister, would not cut MOPAC’s budget by £400m at a time of rising crime rates. Cllr Press supported a cross- party working group on this matter. Cllr Warrick was not persuaded about the need to sell the building and expressed concern that police performance would slip if they lost such property. In response, Cllr Weale said this was a good example of co-operation and welcomed the collaborative approach which had been demonstrated. The Council had written to the Minister about its opposition to the closure and had generated publicity. The consultation had been a sham. She spoke of the importance of keeping residents safe and considered that losing a police station sent the wrong message at a time of rising crime rates. 3 RESOLVED – to note the petition and comments made and to take these into account when responding to the petition. (ii) Presentation of other petitions Cllr Coates presented a petition signed by 39 residents of Cranley Mews to install traffic-reduction bollards in the Mews. The petition had the following prayer: “We, the undersigned, are concerned citizens who urge the Council to act now to restrict traffic-flow through the mews by: (i) installing traffic- reduction bollards, or some such similar measure, at the south end of the street, where it intersects with Cranley Gardens; and (ii) installing both a ‘width restriction’ and ‘no right turn’ sign at the north end of the mews where it intersects with Old Brompton Road.” Pursuant to Standing Order 10, the petition was referred to the Lead Member for Planning and Transport for consideration and reply. 6. ORDER OF BUSINESS The Mayor announced that, in accordance with Standing Orders, the order of business would be as set out in the agenda. 7. INDEPENDENT REVIEW OF GOVERNANCE The Mayor said that the main topic for discussion at the meeting would be the review which the Council had commissioned in response to a motion at the July Council meeting. The review would look at how the Council made decisions and how it involved local people in them. The debate would cover emerging themes from the review and would contribute to that review. After Cllr Lindsay had introduced the debate, Jacqui McKinlay, Chief Executive of the Centre for Public Scrutiny (CfPS), drew attention to the paper which had been circulated around the Chamber setting out the role of the CfPS and its contact details. She asked for as many voices as possible to be heard during the consultation period. The review would consider decision culture, scrutiny and public involvement. Evidence was now being gathered. Emerging themes included a need to improve openness and transparency; a need for a more joined-up approach to decision-making; and better resident and community involvement. There would be a report back to the Executive and Corporate Services Scrutiny Committee in January and to Council in March. The Mayor then invited the guest speakers to address the Council. Mary Gardiner spoke of the need for the Council to listen to the right people in responding to the Grenfell tragedy. Local government had been progressively stripped of its power and finances but the Council did well in 4 spite of this. However, it should not base its decisions on finance alone and needed to listen more to its residents. Michael Bach said that post-Grenfell the Council should rethink its mission and values, and the relationships between it and the Borough’s communities. This would need a change in governance arrangements, but above all, in external relationships. There was a need for major change: Complete change in community engagement New social contract with residents o Set out residents’ rights and obligations, as well as opportunities o Set out Council’s responsibilities o Greater/earlier community engagement Need to design new approach with the community A more transparent, open and responsive governance process A more effective and challenging scrutiny process, including co- opted residents/customers. He asked, as a first sign of a change in practice, for the CfPS to engage with the community to discuss the options so that the community could make an input to the final decision. Sophia Lambert said that, as Chair of the former Standards Committee, she had found no convincing evidence of any corrupt practices in the Council but did notice complacency and a lack of sensitivity to Labour wards.