Agenda and minutes

Councillor Susan Wise declared a personal interest in three of the questions

she had asked under Item 6 as a resident of Kilmorie Road.

Councillor Hilary Moore declared a personal interest in Item 13 as an

employee of the London Borough of Barking and Dagenham

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on January 21 2015 be

confirmed and signed as a correct record.

The Chair reported the deaths of Anne Fahey and Christopher Price.

Anne Fahey from Sydenham had been a long serving schoolgovernor. She

had joined Eliot Bank and Sydenham governing bodies in 1973 and was Chair

of Governors for many years. She left Sydenham in February 2013 but

remained as Chair of Eliot Bank until Eliot Bank federated with Gordonbrock.

Ann was instrumental in instituting the Federation in September 2013 and

remained as Vice Chair of the Federated governing body. When she became

ill, Ann only missed one meeting and remained committed to the school

throughout her treatment. Prior to a change in legislation, Ann also served as

the Labour Party Coordinator for nominating people to be members of

Governing Bodies.

Christopher Price had died suddenly on February 21 and had served as

MP for Lewisham West between 1974 and 1983.

The Mayor led tributes to both Anne Fahey and Christopher Price. Councillor

Wise added her warm recollection of Anne Fahey which stretched over

several decades. Councillor Michael praised Christopher Price and

remembered his work in securing the release of three men falsely imprisoned

for the murder of Maxwell Confait.

All present observed a minute silence in memory of Anne Fahey and

Christopher Price.

Victoria Haigh presented a petition supported by 2000 people that called for

the lifting of parking restrictions in Deptford in order to stimulate trade and

benefit traders and shoppers.

16 questions were received from the following members of the public which

were answered by the Cabinet Member indicated. A copy of the questions

and answers will be circulated separately.

16 questions were received from the following Councillors which were

answered by the Cabinet Member indicated. A copy of the questions

and answers will be circulated separately.

The Budget proposals were introduced by the Mayor who outlined the process

involved and the hard choices that had to be made in promoting a balanced

budget and frozen Council Tax. He cautioned the Council that already

announced spending limits would ensure the Council faced another very

difficult Budget round in the forthcoming year. The Mayor confirmed that he

did not intend to vary the budget proposals he had already fully set out at

Mayor and Cabinet on February 11 and 18.

A motion that the proposals be accepted was moved by the Cabinet Member

for Resources, Councillor Kevin Bonavia and seconded by Councillor Alan

Hall.  There was then a general debate to which Councillors Coughlin,

Mallory, Till, Dromey, Reid and Maslin contributed followed by a reply from

Councillor Bonavia. During this general debate on the budget the 5 minute

limit on speeches for the Mayor and Councillors Bonavia, Hall and Coughlin

was suspended.

Once the debate was concluded, there was, in accordance with statutory

provisions, a recorded vote on the Mayor’s proposed Budget. The result of the

vote was as follows:

48 Votes In favour of the Mayor’s Budget Proposals

Councillor Obajimi Adefiranye

Councillor Chris Barnham

Councillor Paul Bell

Councillor Peter Bernards

Councillor Chris Best

Councillor Kevin Bonavia

Councillor Andre Bourne

Councillor David Britton

Councillor Bill Brown

Mayor Steve Bullock

Councillor Suzannah Clarke

Councillor Janet Daby

Councillor Brenda Dacres

Councillor Amanda De Ryk

Councillor Joe Dromey

Councillor Damien Egan

Councillor Colin Elliott

Councillor Alan Hall

Councillor Carl Handley

Councillor Maja Hilton

Councillor Simon Hooks

Councillor Ami Ibitson

Councillor Mark Ingleby

Councillor Stella Jeffrey

Councillor Helen Klier

Councillor Jim Mallory

Councillor Paul Maslin

Councillor David Michael

Councillor Joan Millbank

Councillor Jamie Milne

Councillor Hilary Moore

Councillor Pauline Morrison

Councillor John Muldoon

Councillor Otimi Ogunbadewa

Councillor Rachel Onikosi

Councillor Crada Onuegbu

Councillor Jacq Paschoud

Councillor John Paschoud

Councillor Pat Raven

Councillor Joan Reid

Councillor Jonathan Slater

Councillor Alan Smith

Councillor Luke Sorba

Councillor Eva Stamirowski

Councillor Alan Till

Councillor Paul Upex

Councillor James-J Walsh

Councillor Susan Wise

1 Vote Against the Mayor’s Budget Proposals

Councillor John Coughlin

Abstentions nil

RESOLVED that:

i) the recommendations shown below in respect of the 2015/16 budget be

agreed;

(ii) no further amendments to the Budget were required following

consideration of the Budget update report at Mayor & Cabinet on February 18

2015:

Capital Programme

(iii) the 2014/15 Quarter 3 Capital Programme monitoring position set out be

noted;

(iv) the 2015/16 to 2018/19 Capital Programme of £424.3m be approved, with

two new proposed major capital projects for 2015/16 and including an

allocation of £90,000 of capital to Phoenix Housing in respect of their

proposals for developing the Fellowship Inn, as set out in section 5 of the

report and attached at Appendices W1 and W2;

Housing Revenue Account

(v) the consultation report on service charges to tenants’ and leaseholders in

the Brockley area, presented to area panel members on 11 December 2014

be noted;

(vi) the consultation report on service charges to tenants and leaseholders  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Alan Smith, moved that the recommendation

be approved and this was seconded by the Vice-Chair of the Sustainable

Development Select Committee, Councillor Jamie Walsh and it was:

RESOLVED that the draft River Corridors Improvement Plan SPD be

approved for public consultation in accordance with the Statement of

Community Involvement.

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Alan Smith, moved that the recommendation

be approved and this was seconded by the Chair of the Strategic Planning

Committee, Councillor Amanda De Ryk and it was:

RESOLVED that

(i) the council adopts

            the Lewisham Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Charging

Schedule;

            the Lewisham CIL Regulation 123 List; and

            the Lewisham CIL Instalments policy

(ii) the documents listed above come into effect on 1April 2015.

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Alan Smith, moved that the recommendation

be approved and this was seconded by the Chair of the Strategic Planning

Committee, Councillor Amanda De Ryk and it was:

RESOLVED that the Planning Obligations 2015 SPD as set out be adopted.

The Chair of the Constitution Working Party, Councillor Alan Hall, accepted an

amendment to the report and moved that the recommendations be approved

and this was seconded by the Vice-Chair of the Constitution Working Party,

Councillor Susan Wise and it was:

RESOLVED that

(i) the Constitution be amended as set out in paragraphs 4.7 and 6;

(ii) the Council establish a Pension Board with effect from 1st April 2015 with

the detailed terms of reference set out in Appendix 1;

(iii) appointments be made to the Pension Board at the earliest opportunity;

(iv) the remuneration for the Chair of the Pension Board be equivalent to that

paid to co-opted members of the Council’s Standards Committee from time to

time; that other members of the Board do not receive any remuneration; and

that the Terms of Reference in Appendix 1 be amended to reflect this; and

(v) authority be delegated to the Head of Law to amend the Council’s Member

Code of Conduct to reflect the particular circumstances of the Pension Board

and ask that she circulate it to the Board members once appointed.

The motion was moved by Councillor Egan and seconded by

Councillor Handley. There was then a debate to which Councillor Hilton

contributed. The motion was then put to the vote and declared to be

unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

"The Council notes that:

i) The Local Government Association (LGA) has recently highlighted the

importance of affordable homes in meeting the housing aspirations of

Lewisham residents;

ii) The SHOUT campaign (Social Housing Under Threat) was launched in

June 2014 by housing professionals to promote the importance of social

rented housing as a major part of solving the national housing crisis;

iii) Our ability to provide affordable housing for our people has been restricted

by welfare cuts, the 'bedroom tax' and homes lost through Right to Buy.

The Council therefore resolves:

i) To support the SHOUT campaign and their aim to have 'a genuinely

affordable, flourishing and fair social housing sector';

ii) To ask the Chief Executive and other officers of the Council to continue

working to maximise the supply of affordable housing, including social rented

housing where appropriate, and to use housing supply to stimulate economic

growth and jobs."

The motion was moved by Councillor Reid and seconded by Councillor Daby.

There was then a debate to which Councillors Moore, Millbank and Coughlin

contributed. The motion was then put to the vote and declared to be

unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

“FGM is defined by the World Health Organisation as "all procedures that

involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia, or other injury

to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons". There is no cultural or

religious justification for FGM and it has been illegal in this country since

1985. If it is performed on a British citizen in the UK or overseas it is a crime.

FGM can leave women and girls traumatised as well as in severe pain, with

medical difficulties, cause difficulties in child birth, and in some rare cases it

can lead to death. Current prevalence studies estimate that as many as

60,000 women and girls in the UK could be at risk of FGM, and over 125,000

may already be living with the consequences (Equality Now and City

University July 2014).

This motion calls on Lewisham Council to work towards ending FGM, by

exercising its statutory duty to safeguard children and protect and promote the

welfare of all women and girls. For the council to raise awareness in Primary

and Secondary Schools, to work with Health Partners, Police and other

Statutory Agencies including Children Services and Community Safety

Services to stop the practice of FGM. Additionally, to work with other relevant

partners, as well as with appropriate local community groups and both parents

to support the long term abandonment of the practice.  Support is needed to

those women and girls who suffer from the long term effects of FGM.

The motion recognizes that FGM is part of the Councils Safer Lewisham

Partnership Strategy to prevent Violence Against Women and Girls (VAWG),

but calls on the council to be more proactive with preventative work and

partnership work to rule out FGM in Lewisham.”

The Council agreed to suspend standing orders to allow debate on this item to

proceed beyond the 10pm guillotine.

The motion was moved by the Mayor and seconded by Councillor Hall. There

was then a debate to which Councillors Ingleby, Slater and Bell contributed.

The motion was then put to the vote and declared to be unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

“The United Kingdom is one of the most centralised states in the world.

Compared to other democracies, local government is relatively weak, lacking

the means to raise sufficient income to meet local needs and sufficient and

effective powers over services such as health, the police and education.

Instead of being a relationship of equals, local government is the junior

partner, reliant on central government for most of its funding, and subject to

numerous restrictions and diktats. As the vast majority of council funding

comes from central government, local councils often have to make cuts

imposed by central government.

Since 2010, local government funding has been allocated more on population

and less on need, a cynical move by the Tory-Lib Dem Coalition to shift

funding away from areas of greatest need to the wealthier areas. As a result,

deeply regressive cuts of 38.2% have since hit the poorest areas hardest, and

now Central government cuts will force Lewisham Council into making a

further £85m of savings over the next three years.

To address these issues, Lewisham Council affirms its commitment to the

overarching principle of achieving a fairer distribution of resources among all

regions and localities, with the objective of reducing inequalities. We therefore

call for greater freedoms to raise income locally that will better enable us to

protect our community from the ravages of austerity enforced by the Coalition

while at the same time calling for the retention of some centrally-allocated

funding based on the restoration of a needs-based formula to support

boroughs such as Lewisham that have the greatest needs.

The Modern Charter for Local Freedom, produced by the Core Cities group, is

a bold call for greater devolution and localism. It demands that local areas be

given the freedom to decide, the freedom to invest and the freedom to deliver.

It demands that local government be given the ability to raise a greater

proportion of its income, and to play a greater role in taking decisions and

overseeing local services. In return, local areas will commit to creating

stronger local economies, investing more in local infrastructure, improving

local services, and devolving decision-making further down to local

communities, neighbourhoods and individuals.

Lewisham Council therefore resolves to:

-          Sign the Core Cities’ Modern Charter for Local Freedom

-          Campaign for further devolution and greater localism

-          Support a fairer distribution of resources based on the restoration of

-          needs-based central funding.”

The meeting closed at 10.05pm