Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 December 2015 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 3 December 2015 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

The Mayor invited appropriate declarations of interest.

Item 4a – Petition – Don’t force communities out of Wealdstone

Councillor Susan Hall declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she ran a business in Wealdstone.

Item 4b – Petition – The Bridge

Councillor Jeff Anderson declared a non-pecuniary interest in that his son was a service user of the Bridge.

Councillor Sue Anderson declared a non-pecuniary interest in that a family member was a service user of the Bridge.

Councillor Kairul Kareema Marikar declared a non-pecuniary interest.

Councillor Georgia Weston declared an interest in that she sang in the Bridge’s choir.

Item 9 – Final Revenue Budget 2016/17 and MTFS 2016/17 to 2019/20

Councillor Susan Hall declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she held a special treatments licence.

Councillor Paul Osborn declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he was Chair of Lee Valley Park Authority.

Item 14 – Investment Property Strategy

Councillor Bharat Thakker declared a pecuniary interest in that he had investment properties Harrow.  He would leave the Chamber for the discussion and vote on this item.

Councillor Kanti Rabadia declared an interest and left the Chamber for the discussion and vote on this item.

Item 20 – Fund our Local NHS Fairly Motion

Councillor Simon Brown declared a non-pecuniary interest in that his daughter worked for CNWL in Harrow.

Councillor Chris Mote declared a non-pecuniary interest in that his daughter was a senior staff nurse at Northwick Park Hospital.

Councillor Janet Mote declared a non-pecuniary interest in that her daughter was a senior staff nurse at Northwick Park Hospital.

Councillor Nitin Parekh declared an interest in that his son was a junior doctor in the NHS.

Councillor Georgia Weston declared a non-pecuniary interest in that her husband was employed at Northwick Park Hospital.

(i)            The procedural motion under Rule 26.1 was agreed so that, in line with previous years and for the purposes of the debate on the Final Revenue Budget 2016/17 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2016/17 to 2019/20, the rules of debate be varied, as set out in the tabled documents, and that the procedure therein also be applied to the reports on the Corporate Plan 2016/19, the Treasury Management Strategy Statement including Prudential Indicators, Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy for 2016/17, the Capital Programme 2016/17 to 2019/20, the Housing Revenue Account Budget and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2016/17 and 2019/20, in so far as the recommendations be debated jointly.

(ii)          Having asked whether there were any further Procedural Motions, Councillor David Perry moved that Council Procedure Rule 19.5 – Roll Call, be suspended for the Budget items.  This was seconded by Councillor Keith Ferry and upon being put to the vote was agreed.

RESOLVED:  That the partial suspension under Rule 26.1, regarding the moving of recommendations from Cabinet and the rules of debate (including extended time for opening speeches by the political groups), as set out in the tabled papers be approved for the purposes of the debate upon

In accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme, a petition containing more than 2,000 signatures will be considered/debated by full Council.  The following Petitions meet the threshold of signatures needed to engender a Council debate.

 A representative of the petitioners will read the terms of the petition on behalf of the petition signatories.  There is a period of one minute allocated to present.  A period of ten minutes is permitted for Members to debate the Petition terms and issues.

 Following discussion the Council may choose to refer the petition to the Cabinet, a Committee or Corporate Director to determine the matter, taking into account the views expressed by Council.

A petition containing 2,400 signatures has been received and has the following terms:

‘Don’t Force Communities out of Wealdstone Petition

Harrow Council has announced plans for a new Civic Centre in Wealdstone, which could force out a community banqueting hall, a local temple and undermine local businesses by closing the Peel House car park.

Under the plans Premier Banqueting, a local temple and other organisations could face closure, with their buildings demolished to make way for the new Civic Centre.

We believe that putting these popular and valued community assets at risk would be a major loss to Wealdstone and its local economy, and call on the Council’s administration to rethink their plans.’

In accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme, Council received a petition containing over 2,000 signatures as follows

(i)            Petition submitted by Councillor Susan Hall containing 2,400 signatures  stating

‘Don’t Force Communities out of Wealdstone Petition

Harrow Council has announced plans for a new Civic Centre in Wealdstone, which could force out a community banqueting hall, a local temple and undermine local businesses by closing the Peel House car park.

Under the plans Premier Banqueting, a local temple and other organisations could face closure, with their buildings demolished to make way for the new Civic Centre.

We believe that putting these popular and valued community assets at risk would be a major loss to Wealdstone and its local economy, and call on the Council’s administration to rethink their plans.’

(ii)          Debate was held on the content of the petition.

RESOLVED:  That the petition referred to the Divisional Director of Regeneration and Planning for consideration.

A petition containing 3,152 signatures has been received and has the following terms:

‘Petition: The Bridge

We, the undersigned, hereby petition Harrow Council and ask that the decision to close The Bridge should be reconsidered as the impact of the closure on service users, their carers, families and the wider community has not been thought through.’

In accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme, Council received a petition containing over 2,000 signatures as follows

(i)            Petition submitted by Councillor Susan Hall containing 3,152 signatures stating

‘Petition:  The Bridge

We, the undersigned, hereby petition Harrow Council and ask that the decision to close The Bridge should be reconsidered as the impact of the closure on service users, their carers, families and the wider community has not been thought through.’

(ii)          Debate was held on the content of the petition.

RESOLVED:  That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director, People for consideration.

In accordance with Rule 10,  the following petitions were presented

(i)            Petition submitted by Paul Skidmore containing 340 signatures requesting that the current Sunday music sessions at Headstone Manor continue at the heritage site on a weekly basis.

[The petition stood referred to the Portfolio Holder for Community, Culture and Resident Engagement].

(ii)          Petition submitted by a representative of the Bridge containing 39 signatures.

[The petition stood referred to the Portfolio Holder for  Adults and Older People].

(iii)         Councillor Susan Hall presented a further 1,000 signatures to the petition ‘Don’t force communities out of Wealdstone’ (Minute 145 refers).

To note that six questions from members of the public had been received and responded to, and the recording of these questions and the answers given had been placed on the Council’s website.

(i)            The Leader of the Council, Councillor David Perry, introduced the item highlighting the achievements, challenges and proposals since the last ordinary meeting.

(ii)          Other Members of the Council spoke and/or asked questions of the Leader of the Council which were duly responded to.

Having agreed that the guillotine be extended until all notified speakers had spoken on agenda items 8-12, the Mayor advised that the ‘guillotine’ procedure would come into operation for the determination of the remaining business on the Summons.

RESOLVED:  That the Corporate Plan 2016/19 be adopted.

(i)            Further to item 9 on the Summons, the Council received Recommendation I of the Cabinet meeting held on 18 February 2016 and a report of the Chief Finance Officer.

(ii)          The Mayor requested that Members, in making the decision on this item, have regard to the Cabinet report of 18 February 2016, the sections on equalities, the equality impact assessments and the results of the budget consultation.

(iii)         The Leader of the Council, Councillor David Perry, formally moved the Recommendation.

(iv)         Upon the meeting moving to the vote upon the substantive Recommendation and the report of the Chief Finance Officer it was carried.  The voting was as follows:

In Favour of the Motion:  Councillors Ali, Amadi, Jeff Anderson, Sue Anderson, Borio, Brown, Currie, Dattani, Davine, Dooley, Ferry, Fitzpatrick, Hearnden, Henson, Kendler, Marikar, Maru, Miles, O’Dell, Parekh, Varsha Parmar, Primesh Patel, Perry, Ramchandani, Robson, Aneka Shah, Mrs Rekha Shah, Sachin Shah, Sasikala Suresh, Swersky, Weiss and Whitehead.

Against the Motion:  Councillors Almond, Ashton, Mrs Bath, Baxter, Bednell, Chana, Chauhan, Greek, Hall, Hinkley, Jogia, Kara, Lammiman, Macleod-Cullinane, Moshenson, Chris Mote, Janet Mote, Noyce, Osborn, Mina Parmar, Pritesh Patel, Rabadia, Seymour, Stevenson, Thakker and Wright.

Abstain:  His Worshipful the Mayor Councillor Krishna Suresh and Councillor Weston.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          whilst being mindful of the results of the various consultations and equality impact assessments, the 2016/17 budget be approved to enable the Council Tax for 2016/17 to be set, Appendix 2 to the Cabinet report refers;

(2)          the Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) at Appendix 2 to the Cabinet report be approved;

(3)          the 2016/17 Schools’ Budget at Appendix 6 to the Cabinet report be approved;

(4)          the 2016/17 Members’ Allowance Scheme at Appendix 13 to the Cabinet report be approved;

(5)          the Annual Pay Policy Statement at Appendix 14 to the Cabinet report be approved;

(6)          the Model Council Tax Resolution, at Appendix 1 to the Council report, be approved;

(7)          in accordance with section 38(2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, Council instructs the Chief Finance Officer to place a note of the amounts set out in section 4 of Appendix 1 to the Council report within a period of 21 days following the Council’s decision.

RESOLVED:  That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2016/17 be approved, including the:

•           Prudential Indicators for 2016/17;

•           Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement for 2016/17;

•           Annual Investment Strategy for 2016/17;

•           maximum total investment in the Investment Property Strategy which be set at £20m;

•           limit of investments for over 364 days which be increased to £60m.

RESOLVED:  That the Capital Programme, as detailed in Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report, be approved.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget for 2016-17 be approved;

(2)          the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Programme, as detailed at Appendix 7 to the Cabinet report be approved.

RESOLVED:  That a new Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital Budget totalling £3.5m to finance the development of homes for private sale, two of these homes being in Masefield Avenue and the remainder on other sites identified in Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report, the proceeds from which would be recycled to support the development of affordable homes included within the approved Homes for Harrow HRA infill development programme, be approved.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          an addition to the Capital Programme of £20m in order to proceed with the acquisition of the investment property portfolio be approved;

(2)          the treasury management Counterparty Policy be amended in respect of investment in a property portfolio from an upper limit of £10m to £20m.

RESOLVED:  That, in respect of Capital Expenditure incurred before 1 April 2008, the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy be revised to read:

For capital expenditure incurred before 1 April 2008 or which in the future would be Supported Capital Expenditure, the Minimum Revenue Provision Policy be the equal annual reduction of 2% of the outstanding debt at 1 April 2015 for the subsequent 50 years.

Report of the Head of Paid Service

RESOLVED:  That

(1)          the fees and charges listed in appendices 1 and 2 to the report  for the (financial) year 2016/17 be approved;

(2)          the use of Fixed Penalty Notices as a method of enforcement for street trading offences as listed in appendix 2 to the report be approved.

Report of the Monitoring Officer

RESOLVED:  That the protocol on officer decision-making, as set out at Appendix 1 to the Council report, be agreed for insertion in Part 5 of the Constitution.

Report of the Monitoring Officer

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

To note that eighteen questions from Councillors to the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holders had been received and that a written response would be provided and placed on the Council’s website.

The following Motion has been notified in accordance with the requirements of Council Procedure Rule 14, to be moved and seconded by the Members indicated:

This Council Notes:

·         Harrow’s CCG is responsible for funding and allocating resources for healthcare services in Harrow, such as GP practices and walk-in clinics.

·         Across London, Harrow’s Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) has the second lowest per capita allocation in 15/16, and one of the lowest for 14/15 and 13/14.

·         In response to a recent question tabled in Parliament by Harrow West Labour MP Gareth Thomas, Health Ministers revealed that Harrow had received the lowest amount of funding per head of any CCG in London over the three year period since the Conservative-led Coalition Government’s top-down re-organisation of the NHS in 2012.

·         This poor funding allocation on NHS spend for Harrow’s residents is a historic trend, with Harrow’s former Primary Care Trust (PCT) also having one of the lowest per capita allocation across London.

·         Gareth Thomas MP has asked the Health Secretary in a Parliamentary question what he is doing to help Harrow’s CCG avoid its projected deficit of £116.4m in 2018-19.

·         The amazing work our doctors, nurses and all staff across our NHS in Harrow do day in day out. All this hard work is in the climate of our local heath service being severely underfunded compared to other parts of London, and across the country.

·         This poor deal for Harrow’s residents is on top of the long running problems of waiting times at Northwick Park Hospital. In November Northwick Park Hospital was one of the worst hospitals in London for meeting the 4 hour A & E waiting time target. Northwick Park Hospital was only able to see 72% of patients in 4 hours against a 95% target. 

·         Harrow Council has started the ‘159’ campaign to get a better deal for its residents. A poor funding settlement from Government means that the Council receives £159 less than the London average for every person in Harrow. That’s £39.8 million this year for the borough as a whole.

This Council Believes:

·         To have both the CCG and local Council receive a well below average funding settlement from Government is a double whammy for our residents.

·         Harrow’s public services should receive a fair funding allocation from Central Government.

·         Our residents deserve to have a local Council and NHS that is properly funded so we can provide the vital services our residents rely on, from street cleaning and care for the elderly to GP services and medical walk in centres.

·         The Council and the CCG have a strong track record of working together to create innovative and preventative work, which is now being put at risk by the Government’s insufficient support for the NHS both locally in Harrow and across the country.

·         All Councillors should be joining the efforts of the administration and local MP to secure a  ...  view the full agenda text for item 161.

At Item 20 the Council received a Motion in the names of Councillor Anne Whitehead and Councillor Varsha Parmar in the following terms:

At 10.25 pm, during the debate on items 8-12 it was proposed that the guillotine be extended until all speakers that had been notified to the Mayor in advance had spoken on the budget items.  This was agreed.

At 10.32 pm, the meeting adjourned until 10.45 pm.

RESOLVED:  That the provisions of Rules 9.2 and 9.3 be applied as set out above.