Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on October 21 2020 be

confirmed and signed as a correct record.

Councillors Wise, Ingleby and Kalu declared personal interests in Item 7 as

Directors of Lewisham Homes

Lewisham Winter Appeal

The Mayor launched the Lewisham Winter Appeal and called for support to be

given which was particularly important in this time of unprecedented

pandemic. He indicated details of how to make contributions could be found

on the Council’s website.

White Ribbon Day

Councillor Brenda Dacres presented this announcement marking November  25 as White Ribbon Day which heralded sixteen days of action to end violence against women.

Covid Support for Businesses and Small Business Saturday

Councillor Joe Dromey made a joint announcement about two Council

supported initiatives designed to support local businesses in a time of

economic crisis.

Supporting People Experiencing Homelessness

Councillor Paul Bell presented this announcement and displayed a short video  

explaining how proxy addresses were generated allowing homeless people to

access vital services.

Sanctuary Borough

Councillor Kevin Bonavia was pleased to report Lewisham was on track to

become a Borough of Sanctuary for refugees, asylum-seekers and migrants.

Free School Meals

The Council noted measures taken to ensure local children continued to

receive free school meals over the school holidays.

Councillor John Paschoud presented an online petition bearing 861 names

which called for a full review of road safety at Mayow Road and proposed a

series of safety measures be put in place:

The Speaker indicated his strong support for the petition in his role as a  

Lewisham representative on the Road Safety Council and he asked the

Executive Director for Housing, Regeneration and Public Realm to respond

within 14 days.

93 questions were received from members of the public which were

answered by the Cabinet Member indicated. Thirty minutes were made

available at the meeting for questioners to raise supplementary questions.

A copy of the questions and answers was circulated separately and can be

viewed on the Council website with the meeting papers.

19 questions were received from Councillors which were answered by the

Cabinet Members indicated. A copy of the questions and answers was

circulated separately and can be viewed on the Council’s website with the

meeting papers.

Councillor Amanda De Ryk, the Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources,

moved that the recommendations be approved and this was seconded by

Councillor James Rathbone, Chair of Audit Panel. Following a contribution

from Councillor Alan Hall, Councillor Amanda De Ryk agreed to a suggestion

that the Audit Panel receive a report on exit packages and it was then

unanimously:

RESOLVED that

(1) the adjustments to the financial statements in the Audit Findings Reports

be noted;

(2) the Action Plans set out in the reports be approved;

(3) the Letters of Representation on behalf of the Council be approved;

(4) the Annual Governance Statement (AGS) be approved;

(5) the 2019/20 audited Statement of Accounts (including Main accounts,

Group accounts and Pension Fund accounts) be approved; and

(6) delegated authority be given to the Executive Director for Corporate

Resources approval to make final adjustments to the Statement of Accounts if

required by Grant Thornton, prior to the 30 November 2020

The first motion was moved by Councillor Kim Powell and seconded

by Councillor Chris Barnham. Following contributions from Councillors

Obajimi Adefiranye and Caroline Kalu, the motion was then put to the vote

and declared to be unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

Decolonising the Curriculum

The Macpherson report into the murder of Lewisham resident Stephen

Lawrence, published in 1999, asked that “consideration be given to

amendment of the national curriculum aimed at valuing cultural diversity and

preventing racism, in order better to reflect the needs of a diverse society”.

This Council notes:

• That since the publication of the report, the Government has made relatively

little progress in building a curriculum that helps prevent racism. In recent

years, history in the national curriculum has if anything been narrowed.

• That conversely, significant progress has been made in Lewisham with

regards to “decolonising the curriculum”, and adequately representing Black

History as a standardised part of History teaching in our schools.

This Council resolves:

• To write to the Secretary of State for Education, calling on him to urgently

review as a matter of priority the current curriculum, ensuring that Black and

minority ethnic history is taught across the themes of the history curriculum;

teaching about Black civil rights history and reflecting the contribution of Black

people across the ages, locally in the UK and more widely.

The second motion was moved by Councillor Susan Wise and seconded

by Councillor Sophie Davis. The motion was then put to the vote and declared

to be unanimously carried.

RESOLVED that the following motion be agreed:

The Law Commission is currently reviewing all current hate crime legislation  

to consider whether any additional characteristics, including sex or gender,

should be granted legal protection, and is due to report back to Parliament in

2020. Misogyny, or the hatred of women, is not currently recorded as a hate

crime by the vast majority of police forces in the UK, outside of a handful of

trial areas.

Lewisham Council notes: 

·         That this review has been put in place thanks to the work and support

of Stella Creasy MP, as well as groups such as Citizens UK, HOPE Not

Hate, Southall Black Sisters, Tell MAMA UK, and the Fawcett Society.

·         That a 2020 Citizens UK report of over 1000 people’s experiences

showed that 33.5% of hate crimes already have gender as a motivating

factor

·         That studies have shown that the intersectional nature of discrimination

means that women with additional protected characteristics, such as

those who are BAME, disabled or LGBT+, are even more likely to

experience harassment, discrimination and abuse.

·         That the adoption of misogyny as a hate crime was successfully

implemented in Nottingham, with analysis showing that the vast

majority of people interviewed wanted the scheme to continue, and

seven other constabularies have since following suit.

Lewisham Council resolves:

·         To make a submission to the Law Commission’s Consultation at the

earliest opportunity in favour of strengthening hate crime legislation

and making misogyny a hate crime.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 110.

Councillor Brenda Dacres, Cabinet Member for Safer Communities moved

that the recommendations be approved and this was seconded by Councillor

Eva Stamirowski, the Chair of the Licensing Committee, and it was then

unanimously:

RESOLVED that the revised Statement of Licensing Policy for 2020-2025 be

published for implementation with immediate effect.

Councillor Paul Bell, Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning moved that

the recommendations be approved and this was seconded by Councillor 

McGeevor, Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport. Following a 

contribution from Councillor Suzannah Clarke and a response by the mover, it

was then unanimously:

RESOLVED that the following documents be approved for statutory public

consultation

(a) Draft Lewisham Local Plan - Regulation 18 stage “main issues and

preferred approaches” document (Appendix 1) and the corresponding

Proposed Schedule of Changes to the Policies Map (Appendix 2)

(b) Interim Integrated Impact Assessment (IIA) (Appendix 3a) and IIA Non-

technical Summary (Appendix 3b) and Habitats Regulations Assessment

(Appendix 4)

(c) Draft Infrastructure Delivery Plan (IDP) (Appendix 5)

The meeting closed at 9.33pm