COUNCIL Wednesday 18 July 2018 at 7.00 pm MINUTES The Worshipful the Mayor in the Chair COUNCILLORS PRESENT: Councillors Councillor Danial Adilypour, Councillor Scott Ainslie, Councillor David Amos, Councillor Donatus Anyanwu, Councillor Liz Atkins, Councillor Mary Atkins, Councillor Jonathan Bartley, Councillor Matthew Bennett, Councillor Anna Birley, Councillor Jennifer Brathwaite, Councillor Linda Bray, Councillor Tim Briggs, Councillor Lucy Caldicott, Councillor Marcia Cameron, Councillor Rezina Chowdhury, Councillor Malcolm Clark, Councillor Joe Corry-Roake, Councillor Fred Cowell, Councillor Edward Davie, Councillor Jon Davies, Councillor Jim Dickson, Councillor Ibrahim Dogus, Councillor Jacqui Dyer, Councillor Jane Edbrooke, Councillor Pete Elliott, Councillor Adrian Garden, Councillor Pauline George, Councillor Nicole Griffiths, Councillor Dr. Mahamed Hashi, Councillor Jack Hopkins, Councillor Mohamed Jaser, Councillor John Kazantzis, Councillor Ben Kind, Councillor Jessica Leigh, Councillor Joshua Lindsey, Councillor Marianna Masters, Councillor Jackie Meldrum, Councillor Irfan Mohammed, Councillor Jennie Mosley, Councillor Philip Normal, Councillor Emma Nye, Councillor Lib Peck, Councillor Jane Pickard, Councillor Joanna Reynolds, Councillor Mohammed Seedat, Councillor Iain Simpson, Councillor Joanne Simpson, Councillor Becca Thackray, Councillor Martin Tiedemann, Mayor Christopher Wellbelove, Councillor Clair Wilcox, Councillor Andy Wilson, Councillor Timothy Windle and Councillor Sonia Winifred APOLOGIES: Councillor Kevin Craig, Councillor Peter Ely, Councillor Paul Gadsby, Councillor Annie Gallop, Councillor Nigel Haselden, Councillor Claire Holland, Councillor Maria Kay, Councillor Matt Parr and Councillor Tina Valcarcel 1. DECLARATION OF PECUNIARY INTERESTS There were none. 2. MINUTES Councillor Tim Briggs proposed the following amendments relating to Minute 9 (Constitution 2018-19): ‘Councillor Tim Briggs (Conservative) said the proposed change to the overview and scrutiny call-in mechanism, raising the threshold from one to five members, was misguided and unreasonable. With only six Opposition councillors in place, the new threshold would prevent residents from voicing their concerns, through opposition councillors, on policies that affected their lives. Failure to allow residents to voice their concerns over contentious issues could lead to discontent in the community. Councillor Briggs listed the issues that had been considered at previous call-in meetings which he said would not have happened if the proposed arrangements had been in place. The administration had a responsibility to allow thorough public scrutiny of their policies’. RESOLVED: That, subject to the amendment proposed by Councillor Briggs above, the minutes of the previous meeting dated 23 May 2018 be approved as a correct record of the proceedings. 3. ANNOUNCEMENTS The Mayor noted the apologies that had been received. The Mayor then led the tributes to Dame Tessa Jowell, former MP for Dulwich and West Norwood. Councillors Lib Peck, Jim Dickson, Tim Briggs, Becca Thackray and Mahamed Hashi also spoke of their memories of her, before a minute’s silence was held. Councillor Jennifer Brathwaite presented the Corporate Parenting Pledge, made up of 10 points which established the Council’s promises to Looked After Children. The Pledge had been developed in conjunction with the Children in Care Council, and would support the improvement plan for Children’s Services. Representatives from the Children in Care Council spoke of the work they had done in developing the wording of Pledge, and hoped that councillors would sign it. The representatives expressed the need for councillors to take responsibility as corporate parents and improve the lives of Looked After Children. The Mayor congratulated the Youth Mayor and Youth Council on their recent election. The Youth Mayor and Executive Chair of the Youth Council explained the role of the Youth Mayor and Youth Council, both locally and nationally, and their activities in the past year. The Youth Council membership had doubled in one year. A careers festival had been held and other events, such as Model UN, were being organised. The Youth Council had established the Education for Life programme in Elmgreen School and planned to expand this in other Lambeth schools. Youth Council members had been distressed by the fears of young people around youth violence. Councillor Jane Pickard thanked the Youth Mayor and Youth Council for their work and plans for the remainder of their term. She expressed her support for the Youth Council’s plans, particularly around youth violence and education. The achievements demonstrated the value of the Council’s investment in the Youth Council, and Councillor Pickard encouraged all schools to get involved in the Youth Council. ii The Mayor stated that the Youth Debating Competition was in its 17th year, with three schools taking part. Topics debated had included the use of empty homes to rehouse former residents of the Grenfell tower and the use of public money on the recent royal wedding. The judging panel had been comprised of Councillors Scott Ainslie, Tim Briggs and Jack Hopkins, and Councillor Marcia Cameron had opened and closed the competition as Mayor. Councillors Cameron and Ainslie spoke of how impressed they were by the entrants and commented on the quality of the debates. The Mayor presented the runners-up prizes to Platanos College and the winning prizes to La Retraite School. He thanked everyone who had taken part in the competition and officers from Legal Services for organising the event. 4. PETITIONS, PNQS AND DEPUTATIONS 4a. Petitions Council received three petitions: 1. From Councillor Pete Elliott on ballots for estate regeneration schemes on the Cressingham Gardens, Central Hill and Fenwick Estates. 2. From Councillor Tim Briggs on the removal of parking on Norwood High Street. 3. From Councillor Tim Briggs on the removal of parking and widening of pavements on Norwood Road 4b. Public Notice Questions There were none. 4c. Deputations There were none. 5. CABINET STATEMENT The Leader of the Council, Councillor Lib Peck, addressed Council and raised the following points: She thanked the representatives from the Children in Care Council for their presentation, and assured them that the Council was listening to them and their concerns. She also thanked the Youth Council representatives for their work representing Lambeth’s young people. Working with young people and improving their opportunities was a key priority for the administration. Next month a new children’s centre and council homes would open in Kennington. The manifesto pledge to ban smoking in playgrounds and the introduction of clean air green screens in schools would improve the health of Lambeth’s young people. 97% of Lambeth’s schools were rated ‘good’ or ‘outstanding’ by Ofsted, but there were always areas for improvement. There were disparities in educational achievement, particularly for Black Caribbean boys. Lambeth had the joint lowest education funding settlement in London, and she stated that the Council would work with teachers and parents to lobby for more funding. iii Lambeth Made would be re-launched, which would involve working with communities and businesses to make the borough more child- friendly. The Council would offer 240 apprenticeships, with 1,500 across the borough as a whole. The level of youth violence caused incredible trauma to many young people. She had recently attended the Mayor of London’s summit on youth violence. The increase in knife crime needed immediate attention, but also a longer term view to analyse the underlying problems. Lambeth was taking a public health approach to youth violence, which had been successful in Chicago and Glasgow, and was the only London Borough doing so. 6. OPPOSITION STATEMENT The Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Jonathan Bartley, addressed Council, raising the following points: He echoed Councillor Peck’s statements on young people, and hoped to find more areas of cross-party agreement over the coming four years. In recent years, outsourcing had become the norm at Lambeth, and he supported the intention in the Labour manifesto to bring more services in-house. The Electoral Commission’s report on Vote Leave had called in to question the legitimacy of the EU Referendum result. He expressed his support for a cross-party motion at the next Council meeting on supporting a ‘People’s Vote’. He also asked that the Labour Group consider a motion on the vote at their next meeting. The Green Group had submitted a motion on the NHS Reinstatement Bill, which he hoped would receive cross-party support. The Green Group supported the People’s Plan for Cressingham Gardens and Architects for Social Housing’s plan for Central Hill. He hoped that the Green Group’s motion of balloting residents of estates due to be regenerated would receive cross-party support. 7. QUESTIONS FROM COUNCILLORS 1. Councillor Scott Ainslie to the Leader of the Council, Councillor Lib Peck Supplementary question Councillor Ainslie asked if the stakeholder consultation with NAPAC and Oxleas NHS Trust would be stopped following potential conflicts of interest being raised by SOSA. Supplementary answer Councillor Peck responded that the Council’s redress scheme was the first of its kind in the country, and the Council was committed to holding the review after six months. NAPAC and Oxleas had provided advice on how best to proceed with the review. 613 applications