Agenda and minutes

Members of Council stood and observed one minute silence for those affected by the earthquakes in Syria and Turkey.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2022 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 24 November 2022 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members of the Council.

The following interests were declared:

Item 4 – Petitions

Councillor Hitesh Karia declared a pecuniary interest and would leave the room for the discussion and vote on this item.

Councillor Varsha Parmar declared a pecuniary interest and would leave the room for the discussion and vote on this item.

Item 9 – Revenue Budget 2023/24 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2023/24 to 2025/26

Councillor Jean Lammiman declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she was in receipt of social care provision.

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

Item – 19 – Motion supporting Harrow Council’s opposition to the ULEZ expansion

Councillor Stephen Greek declared a pecuniary interest and he worked for the London Assembly and would leave the room for the discussion and vote on this item.

Councillor Susan Hall, during the course of the meeting, declared a pecuniary interest and would leave the room for the discussion and vote on this item.

Councillor Asif Hussain declared a pecuniary interest and would leave the room for the discussion and vote on this item.

Councillor Norman Stevenson declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he was a member of Friends of the Earth.

To receive and consider any procedural motions by Members of the Council in relation to the conduct of this Meeting.  Notice of such procedural motions, received after the issuing of this Summons, will be tabled.

The Mayor drew Council’s attention to the Procedural Motions under Rule 26.1 included in the Supplemental Summons and also the Urgent Motion, Supporting Harrow Council’s opposition to the ULEZ expansion, and Procedural Motion in set out in the Tabled Documents.  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 Revenue Budget 2023/24 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2023/24 - 2025/26, 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 2023-2026, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget 2023/24 and Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) 2024/25 to 2025/26, Housing Revenue Account Capital Programme 2023/24to 2027/28 and HRA Business Plan, the Treasury Management Strategy Statement including Annual Investment Strategy for 2023/24 and Capital Strategy for 2023/24, the Capital Programme 2023/24 to 2025/26, in so far as the recommendations be debated jointly.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)           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 Supplemental Summons be approved for the purposes of the debate upon

(2)           the Procedural Motion be agreed.

(3)           the urgent Motion, Supporting Harrow Council’s opposition to the ULEZ expansion, be accepted for the reasons set out in the Tabled Documents.

(4)           having, accepted the urgent Motion, Council agreed that item 6, Leader and Portfolio Holder Announcements, be deleted from the agenda and the urgent Motion be debated after item 7, Constitution Update.

(5)           having been moved and seconded, Council agreed that the Urgent Motion not stand referred to the Executive.

To receive any petitions to be presented:

(i)            by a representative of the petitioners;

(ii)          by a Councillor, on behalf of petitioners;

(iii)         by the Mayor, on behalf of petitioners.

In accordance with Rule 10, the following petition was received:

(i)              Petition submitted by Scott Flashman containing over 2,000 signatures in relation to Tesco Towers.

In accordance with the Council’s Petition Scheme, debate was held on the content of the above-mentioned petition which had the following terms:-

“Residents SayNo toTesco Towers andNotting HillGenesis Developmentin Harrow

This petition is to object to the proposal by Notting Hill Genesis and Tesco to turn the store on Station Road Harrow into a high-rise development called Greenmead Place - Notting Hill Genesis 'Tesco Towers' including a 15 storey building.

We ask Harrow Council to consider why the community objects:

·         The proposed development is overbearing and will dominate the surroundinghomes ofmainly two-storey housesand low-rise flats.

·         The development design totally ignores the surrounding community.

·         There are no infrastructure improvements, no additional GP surgeries, capacity at Northwick Park Hospital, improvement to public transport links, roads, water supply or sewage disposal.

·         The increased congestion and pollution from high density housing in one of the busiest roads in Harrow, adds 155 cars to a road where two schools are within a few metres.

·         20% reduction in the Tesco store size and 33% less parking spaces for Tesco customers yet further increasing congestion on the roads and less jobs for residents in a smaller store.

·         NHG says ‘35%’ of the new accommodation will be ‘affordable’ but this includes shared ownership which is anything but affordable with prices in Harrow.

This development does not benefit the communityand would be detrimental to the health and wellbeing of the area.

We ask Harrow Council to not approve the application of this development.”

RESOLVED:  That the petition be referred to the Corporate Director of Place for consideration.

[Note:  Councillors Hitesh Karia and Varsha Parmar left the room for the discussion and vote on this item].

A period of up to 15 minutes is allowed for members of the public to ask questions of members of the Executive, Portfolio Holders and Chairs of Committees, of which notice has been received no later than 3.00 pm two clear working days prior to the day of this Meeting.  Any such questions received will be tabled.

To note that four questions from members of the public had been received and the recording was on the Council’s website.

[Note:  Councillor Hitesh Karia left the room for question 4].

To receive a presentation from the Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holders on business since the last ordinary meeting, followed by a question and answer session.  The item is allotted 20 minutes.

This item was deleted from the Summons.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services

RESOLVED:  That

(1)            the Council, Committee, Health and Wellbeing and Executive Procedure Rules, as set out in paragraph 2.4 of the officer report, be approved and

(2)            the amendments take effect immediately and be applied to all remaining agenda items at the meeting.

RESOLVED:  That  the new Corporate Plan for 2023-26 be approved.

Upon the meeting moving to the vote on the substantive Recommendation it was carried.  The voting was as follows:

In Favour of the Recommendation:  Her Worshipful the Mayor Councillor Janet Mote, David Ashton, Marilyn Ashton, Christopher Baxter, June Baxter, Philip Benjamin, Bharadia, Blackman, Chauhan, Chowdhury, Goodwin-Freeman, Greek, Halai, Hall, Hirani, Idaikkadar, Jogia, Karia, Kumaran, Lammiman, Moshenson, Osborn, Mina Parmar, Anjana Patel, Pritesh Patel, Rabadia, Stevenson, Sumaria, Teli and Wagman.

Against the Recommendation:  Councillors Dan Anderson, Peymana Assad, Simon Brown, Choudhury, Gilligan, Graham Henson, Maxine Henson, Hickman, Hussain, Kalu, Kulig, Miles, O’Dell, Parekh, Perry, Varsha Parmar, Proctor, Shah-Levy, Shah, Krishna Suresh, Sasi Suresh and Weiss.

Abstain: Councillor Sasi Suresh

Absent:  Councillor Ghazanfar Ali, Kandy Dolor, Vipin Mithani.

RESOLVED: That

(1)           the 2023/24 budget, being mindful of consultation results, be approved to enable the Council Tax for 2023/24 to be set;

(2)           the Model Council Tax Resolution 2023/24, as set out in Appendix 11 to the officer report, be approved;

(3)           in accordance with Section 38 (2) of the Local Government Finance Act 1992, the Chief Executive be instructed to place a notice in the local press of the amounts set under Resolution 2 above within a period of 21 days following the Council’s decision.

(4)           the Medium-Term Financial Strategy, set out in Appendix 2 to the officer report, be approved;  

(5)           the 2023/24 Members’ Allowances Scheme, set out in Appendix 12 to the officer report, be approved;

(6)           the 2023/24 Annual Pay Policy Statement, set out in Appendix 13 to the officer report, be approved;

(7)           the Capital Receipts Flexibility Strategy, set out in Appendix 14 to the officer report, be approved.

RESOLVED: That

(1)           the Housing Revenue Account Budget for 2023/24 and the Housing Revenue Capital Programme, as set out in Appendix 1 and 6 to the officer report, be approved.

(2)           the proposed average weekly rent for general needs and sheltered accommodation of £132.00 and £113.52 for 2023-24 respectively as set out in paragraph 32 and Appendix 2 to the officer report, be approved;

(3)           the proposed average weekly rents for affordable and shared ownership properties of £197.49 and £210.64, which reflected increases of 7% in line with the national rent policy for social housing, be approved;

(4)           a five-year Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Capital programme of £181,228,214 made up of £52,965,240 planned investment, £54,617,799 Building Council Homes for Londoners (BCHfL), £212,249 Grange Farm phase 3, £2,615,000 Grange Farm Infrastructure, £70,817,926 Homes for Harrow Phase 2, as set out in paragraphs 59 to 65 Appendix 6 to the officer report, be approved;

(5)           the HRA 30-year Business plan and assumptions, as set out in Appendices 7 and 7a to the officer report, be approved;

(6)           the flexibility under the Government’s Rent Policy, to allow void properties to be re-let at formulae rent plus 5% and 10% for general needs and sheltered properties respectively, be approved;

(7)           the proposed average weekly general need service charge of £8.22 and sheltered services charges of £16.95 per week, be agreed, noting that the charges proposed reflected the outcome of the service charge review as set out in paragraph 38 and Appendix 2 to the officer report;

(8)           the proposed average weekly services charges for affordable and shared ownership properties of £15.86 and £8.91 respectively as set out in Appendix 2 to the officer report, be approved;

(9)           an average weekly facility charge of £30.77 for sheltered properties be agreed, noting that the charges proposed reflected the impact of significant increases in utility costs;

(10)        an average weekly heating charge for general needs properties of £18.77, be approved;

(11)        an increase of up to 7.5% to water charges, as set out in paragraph 40 and Appendix 4 to the officer report, be approved;

(12)        weekly parking spaces and garage charges of £10.16 and £15.55 respectively as set out in paragraph 39 and Appendix 3 to the officer report, be approved;

(13)        a 10% increase to the 2022/23 hourly hire charges applied to Community Halls, as set out in Appendix 5 to the officer report, be approved;

(14)        the use of Section 106 Affordable Housing contributions held by the Council for the purpose of providing affordable housing as part of the Council funding for the development of this 100% affordable housing scheme, be approved.

RESOLVED:  That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2023/24 be approved, including:

·                 Prudential Indicators for the period 2023/24 to 2025/26;

·                 Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement for 2023/24, as set out in paragraph 2.17 and Appendix C to the officer report;

·                 Annual Investment Strategy for 2023/24, as set out in Appendix F to the officer report;

·                 Annual Capital Strategy, as set out in Appendix G to the officer report.

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

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services.

Having noted the amendment set out in the Tabled Documents it was

RESOLVED:  That

(1)           the role of Returning Officer be assigned to the Chief Executive;

(2)           the designation of the roles of Monitoring Officer, RIPA Monitoring Officer, Proper Officer for Births, Deaths & Marriages, and Proper Officer under the Local Government Act 1972 to the acting Director of Legal & Governance Services, Jessica Farmer, be confirmed;

(3)           the roles of Electoral Registration Officer, Land Charges Registrar and the Honorary Secretary of the Mayor of Harrow’s Charity and the Edward Harvist Charity be assigned to the Democratic, Electoral & Registration Services Manager; and

(4)           the Monitoring Officer be authorised to make any necessary changes to the Constitution to reflect the above.

Report of the Chief Executive

RESOLVED:  That

(1)            the fees and charges listed for the financial year 2023-24 set out in Appendix 1 to the officer report be set and approved;

(2)            the Director of Finance be authorised to amend fees and charges in year and agree new fees and charges, following consultation with the Corporate Director of Place and the relevant Portfolio Holder.

RESOLVED:  That the revised Statement of Licensing Policy be approved.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Chief Executive.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

A period of up to 15 minutes is allowed for asking written questions by Members of Council of a member of the Executive or the Chair of any Committee:-

(i)            of which notice has been received at least two clear working days prior to the day of this Meeting; or

(ii)          which relate to urgent matters, and the consent of the Executive Member or Committee Chair to whom the question is to be put has been obtained and the content has been advised to the Director of Legal and Governance Services by 12 noon on the day of the Council Meeting.

Any such questions received will be tabled.

To note that three questions from Councillors to Portfolio Holders had been received.  Written responses would be provided.

No Motions have been notified.

(i)              “Motion supporting Harrow Council’s opposition to the ULEZ expansion

Motion in the names of Councillor Paul Osborn and Councillor Marilyn Ashton

This Council notes:

·         In the summer of 2022, Harrow Council agreed a motion to oppose Sadiq Khan’s ULEZ expansion and protect our poorest and most vulnerable residents as well as businesses.

·         There have been serious concerns raised by many Harrow residents about the impact of this expansion on their family finances and businesses.

·         Once expanded, the ULEZ could cost a family with a non-compliant car up to £87.50 per week (£350 per month).

·         The Mayor’s own research shows that the ULEZ expansion will make only minimal difference to outer London’s air quality.  When weighed with the economic and financial devastation the ULEZ will cause to Harrow, this nominal benefit is not justifiable.

·         The £200 million minimum cost of expanding the ULEZ could be spent on far better and more positive schemes that work with local people to improve London’s air quality.

·         Harrow Council, alongside Hillingdon, Bexley, Bromley and Surrey County Council, has applied for permission for a Judicial Review of the Mayor’s decision to expand the ULEZ to outer London.

This Council believes:

·         It is highly likely that Sadiq Khan will move the goalposts and widen the criteria for the ULEZ scheme sometime after it is expanded and does not believe the Mayor is expanding the scheme using £200 million only to generate ‘nominal income’.

This Council resolves:

·         To fully support local residents in opposing Sadiq Khan’s money making ULEZ tax.

·         To fully support the Administration in refusing to cooperate with TfL in installing any ULEZ infrastructure.

·         To fully support the administration’s application for a Judicial Review of the Mayor’s decision.”

RESOLVED:  That the Motion, as set out above, be adopted.

[Note:  Councillors Susan Hall, Asif Hussain and Stephen Greek left the room for the discussion and vote on this item].

At 9.19 pm, during the debate on items 8-12, it was proposed that the guillotine be extended until the conclusion of the budget debate.  Members assented to continue until the budget debate was completed following which the guillotine be applied.

RESOLVED (unanimously):  That the provisions of Rules 9.2 and 9.3 be applied.