Agenda and minutes

Councillor Muldoon declared a personal interest in Item 8 as an elected

governor of the SLAM Foundation Trust.

Councillor Onuegbu declared a personal interest in Item 8 as an appointed

governor of the SLAM Foundation Trust.

Councillor Ingleby declared a personal interest in his question on Item 7 as a

Friend of the Grove Park Nature Reserve.

Councillor Feakes declared a personal interest in Item 19 as a member of a

Teaching Trade Union.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings held on 19 September 2013 and

8 November 2013 be signed as a correct record.

(1) Mr John Collins

The Mayor reported on the 50 years of service given to the Council and

predecessor authorities by lifelong resident Mr John Collins and he

recorded his thanks for the contribution that had been made.

(2) Special Meetings of the Council

The Council noted the date of the special meeting of the Council to

conduct a Freedom ceremony for Doreen Lawrence would now be

January 31 2014 at 6pm.

(3)  Councillor Sam Owolabi-Oluyole

The Chair proposed, and Councillor Jeffrey seconded, a proposal that the

Council agrees a request from Councillor Owolabi-Oluyole for a six month leave

of absence on ill health grounds.

RESOLVED that Councillor Sam Owolabi-Oluyole be granted a six

month leave of absence from November 28 2013 to May 25 2014.

Councillor Maines, presented a petition bearing 14 names asking the Council

to address road safety issues in Baizdon Road and Southvale Road as part of

the expansion of John Ball Primary School.

Mr Clive Baulch and Mr John Hamilton presented a public petition bearing

1505 names calling on the Council to refrain from starting possession

proceedings against council tenants who fall behind with their rent as a direct

result of the bedroom tax.

The Chair introduced the new Young Mayor, Emmanuel Olaniyan and

Deputy Young Mayor, Titanya Murdock. The Chair noted it was

Emmanuel’s birthday and extended birthday greetings to him. The

Mayor spoke to the item and congratulated thesuccessful candidates

on their success at the polls He noted this would be the tenth year of

the scheme and he pointed to the enduring success of the Young

Mayoralty which he continued to believe had been established as a

permanent and valued feature of the Lewisham landscape and had

attracted a consistently high calibre of successful candidates and

interest. He thanked the outgoing Young Mayor, Jamel Higgins, for his

service in what was regarded as another very successful year.

The new Young Mayor and Deputy Young Mayor then signed their

Declarations of Acceptance of Office and an undertaking to abide by

 the Code of Practice for their respective roles which were witnessed

by the Chief Executive.

The outgoing Young Mayor, addressed the meeting and thanked the

Council for the opportunities given to him during his year of office which

he believed had changed his life for ever, and for the help and support

he had received from their Young Advisers, the Mayor and officers in

the Mayor’s Office.

            35 questions were received from the following member of the public

            which was answered by the Cabinet Member indicated. A copy of the

            questions and answers will be circulated separately.

            45 questions were asked from Members of the Council and written

            answers were provided by the Members indicated.

The Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Alan Hall

moved that the recommendations be approved, and this was seconded

by the Vice-Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny Committee, Councillor

Kevin Bonavia. Following a contribution from Councillor Maines, there

was a reply by Councillor Hall and it was:

RESOLVED that the report and recommendations of the Overview and

Scrutiny Committee be received.

The Chair moved that the recommendations be approved, and this was

seconded by the Vice-Chair, Councillor Jackie Addison and it was:

RESOLVED that

(1) the date of the Council AGM in 2014 be changed to June 11 2014.

(2) the attached schedule of additional meetings in the current municipal year

2013 -14 be approved.

The Chair invited nominations for a vacancy on the Lewisham Citizens

Advice Bureau Management Committee and Councillor De Ryk was proposed

by Councillor Hall and seconded by Councillor Jeffrey. There being no other

nominations, it was:

RESOLVED that Councillor Amanda De Ryk be appointed to the

Lewisham Citizens Advice Bureau Management Committee.

Lewisham Schools for the Future Holdings Limited

Lewisham Schools for the Future Holdings 2 Limited

Lewisham Schools for the Future Holdings 3 Limited

Lewisham Schools for the Future Holdings 4 Limited

Lewisham Schools for the Future SPV Limited

Lewisham Schools for the Future SPV 2 Limited

Lewisham Schools for the Future SPV 3 Limited

Lewisham Schools for the Future SPV 4 Limited

The Chair of Council moved that the eight appointments made by the

Mayor be noted, and this was seconded by the Vice Chair, Councillor

Jackie Addison.

RESOLVED that the appointments made by the Mayor be noted.

The Chair of Council moved that the recommendation be approved,

and this was seconded by the Vice Chair, Councillor Jackie Addison.

RESOLVED that the action taken by the Chair of Council be noted.

The Chair of Overview and Scrutiny, Councillor Alan Hall, moved that the

recommendation be approved, and this was seconded by the Vice Chair,

Councillor Kevin Bonavia.

RESOLVED that the action taken by the Chair of the Overview & Scrutiny

Committee be noted.

The motion was not debated prior to the end of the meeting.

The motion was not debated prior to the end of the meeting.

The motion was not debated prior to the end of the meeting.

The motion was not debated prior to the end of the meeting.

The motion was moved by Councillor Hall and seconded by Councillor

Foxcroft.

There was then a debate to which the Councillors Harris, Johnson, Feakes,

Curran, Allison, Bonavia and Maines contributed. There was a reply by

Councillor Hall and the motion was then put to the vote and declared to be

unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

“Council applauds the decision of the Judges in throwing out Jeremy Hunt’s

appeal in relation to the downgrading of services at Lewisham Hospital.  This

clearly vindicates the Council in challenging this decision and the communities

who joined our fight to save this much loved Hospital through the “Save

Lewisham Hospital” campaign.

Council notes that the Government put forward an amendment to the Care Bill

designed to make it easier for the Government and Trust Special

Administrators to close or make changes to the services provided at other

hospitals, no matter how good they are or what support they have in the local

community.

Furthermore, Council is disappointed that an attempt, in the Lords, to stop this

amendment was defeated.  The proposed amendment to the legislation, prior

to the outcome of the Appeal, suggests that the grounds of appeal were

shaky, which raises questions about the use of public money to fight this

appeal.

Our victory over Lewisham Hospital is a testament to the great community

spirit and sheer hard work and dedication of all those Lewisham residents and

health workers who were prepared to join us in challenging the Government

and Council pays tribute to them.”

The motion was moved by Councillor Egan, who was given permission by the

Chair to play an LGA video at the conclusion of his speech, and seconded by

Councillor Curran.

There was then a debate to which the Councillors Maines, Bell, Mallory,

Feakes, Ingleby and Harris contributed. There was a reply by Councillor Egan

and the motion was then put to the vote and declared to be carried

unanimously.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

“Council notes:

•That England is now widely recognised to be the country with the most

centralised system of government in Europe;

•That devolution has brought decisions about tax and spending, and the

quality of public services, closer to voters in Scotland and Wales, while

English voters have not gained comparably greater influence over decision-

making that affects their taxes and services; and

Council considers:

•That the likely scale of change in how public services are funded and

provided  makes it democratically unsustainable for those changes to be

decided within the existing over-centralised model;

•That services need to be reformed and integrated across local

agencies to enable them to prevent problems rather than picking up the

pieces;

•That voters should be given back a meaningful say on a wider range of tax

and spending decisions, through place-based budgetary arrangements and

the reinstatement of fair financial distribution agreed among English councils,

the re-creation of a municipal bond market, and the certainty of multi-year

funding settlements for the life of a Parliament;

•That central government should enable that local decision-making by joining

up and reducing in size Whitehall departments in order to facilitate local place-

based budgets, by reducing Ministers’ powers to  intervene in local decisions,

and replacing bureaucratic tick-box inspection regimes with local service

users champions; and

•That such a new more mature settlement between central and local

government should be put beyond future revision by giving formal

constitutional protection to local democracy; and

Resolves:

•To support the Local Government Association’s Rewiring Public Services

campaign, which embodies these objectives;

•To ask the borough’s Members of Parliament to support the Rewiring Public

Services campaign to improve local voters’ influence over services, tax and

spending; and

•To make the council’s position clear to the Secretary of State.”

The motion was moved by Councillor Britton and seconded by Councillor Bell.

Following a contribution from Councillor Feakes the motion was put to the

vote and declared to be carried unanimously.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

“This Council notes the illegal practice of blacklisting of employees within the

construction industry which has been highlighted by UNITE, UCATT & GMB,

the trade unions in that industry, a campaign which has resulted in claims for

compensation from those kept out of work as a result of this activity.

This Council further notes that this only came to light when the

Information Commissioner's Office (ICO) seized a Consulting Association

database used by 44 companies to vet new recruits and that as a result the

ICO confirmed that 224 construction workers around the UK had been victims

of blacklisting. 

This Council believes this incident shows the importance of regulation and

scrutiny of business activity and notes that Government cuts including the

dismantling and weakening of some public oversight bodies will limit our

ability to control bad business practice.

This Council deplores this illegal practice within the construction industry and

urges all companies who have been involved in it to take all necessary action

to compensate victims affected and to comply with the regulations which have

been introduced to prevent any recurrence of this abhorrent practice."

The motion was moved by Councillor Daby and seconded by Councillor

Morrison. Following a contribution from Councillor Maines, Councillor Smith

then successfully proposed and Councillor Jeffrey seconded a motion without

notice that the question be now put. The motion was then put to the vote and

declared to be clearly carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

“Council notes that the Coalition Government plans to privatise the majority of

probation services including handing community supervision of 200,000

serious and violent offenders to private companies, such as, G4S and

SERCO.

Council notes that a growing number of experts, probation staff and

management have raised serious concerns about these proposals, as

probation services have good performances in public protection, reducing

reoffending and are a valued partner in community safety by their

management of offenders.

Council further notes that when the Council’s Safer and Stronger

Communities Select Committee considered this at their meeting in July they

were also opposed to the privatisation of these services as they were not

based on any sound evidence, scrutiny or piloting. The Safer Lewisham

Partnership also raised the same concerns at its meeting in September.”