Agenda and minutes

To take the minutes of the Annual Council held on 8 May 2008 and of the Extraordinary Council held on 5 June 2008 as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the Annual meeting held on 8 May 2008 and Extraordinary meeting held on 5 June 2008 be taken as read and signed as correct records.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests arising from business to be transacted at this meeting from all members of the Council.

The Mayor invited appropriate declarations of interests by Members of the Council in respect of the business on the Summons.

Councillor Salim Miah declared a personal interest in relation to Item 10 (Local Authorities (Alcohol Consumption in Designated Places) Regulations 2007) as a Licensee.

Councillor Graham Henson declared a personal interest in relation to Item 16(2) (Motion – Post Offices) as an employee of that organisation.

Councillor B E Gate declared a personal interest in relation to Item 16(3) (Motion – Healthcare in London) as two of his family members were employed by General Practitioner Clinics within Harrow.

The Deputy Mayor (Councillor Eric Silver) also declared a personal interest in relation to item 16(3) (Motion – Healthcare in London) as a Primary Care Trust contractor.

To receive any announcements from the Mayor.

[Note:  Information as to recent Mayoral engagements will be tabled].

The Mayor spoke briefly on several of his upcoming engagements, including the reintroduction of the Annual Battle of Britain Service to be held on 14 September 2008, requesting that Members note the engagements within their diaries.

The Mayor then spoke on a recent event he had attended to mark the retirement of Mr Chris Murphy, who had been employed by the Council for 47½ years.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)                 the report of the Worshipful the Mayor upon his official duties, as tabled, be noted and received;

(2)                 the Mayor write, on behalf of the Council, to congratulate Mr Chris Murphy on his long service to Harrow Council and to wish him an enjoyable retirement.

Members of the Council expressed their pleasure at Councillor Cowan’s return to meetings of the Council and unanimously welcomed him back.

To receive and consider any procedural motions by Members of the Council in relation to the conduct of this Meeting.

[Note:  Notice of any such procedural motions received after the issuing of this Summons will be tabled].

(i)                   Councillor Bill Stephenson moved a procedural motion under the general provisions of Rule 15.6 that the Motion included at Item 16(1) (Harrow Town Centre) of the Summons and indicated to stand referred to the next meeting of the Executive, as being a matter within its remit, should rather be considered at this Council meeting.  Upon a vote, the procedural motion was not carried.

(ii)                 Councillor Bill Stephenson asked why a question from Councillor Bob Currie under the provisions of Rule 13 had been ruled out of order by the Mayor on the grounds that it would require the disclosure of exempt information, given that the matter to be discussed was in the public domain.  The Mayor advised that when he had initially excluded the question the information it referred to was not in the public domain and exempt from disclosure.  However, he accepted that this position had changed and he therefore intended to allow the question to be asked under Item 15, but noted that it would be subject to written response by the Portfolio Holder.

(iii)                The Mayor took this opportunity to announce that following the issue of the Council Summons, he had agreed, under Council Procedure Rule 7.2, to the addition of a new item of business to the Summons, namely “Item 14(a) – Amendments to Committee and Outside Body Appointments”.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)                 the procedural motion under Rule 15.6, seeking the consideration at this meeting of the Motion at 16(1) of the Summons (Harrow Town Centre) (Resolution 286 refers), be not agreed;

(2)                 the question from Councillor Bob Currie under the provisions of Rule 13 be asked under Item 15 (Resolution 285 refers) as the information was now in the public domain.

To receive any petitions to be presented:

(i)                 by a representative of the petitioners;

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

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

In accordance with Rule 11, the following petitions were presented:-

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 Chairmen of Committees, of which notice has been received no later than 5.00 pm two clear working days prior to the day of this Meeting.

[Note:  Any such questions received will be tabled].

The following question had been submitted by a member of the public in accordance with Rule 12.3:-

[Note:  Under the provisions of Rule 12.7, the question was answered orally by the Portfolio Holder.  The member of the public asked a supplementary question, which was also answered orally].

Further to Item 7 on the Summons, the Council considered Recommendation I from the Standards Committee meeting held on 5 June 2008, which sought to revise its terms of reference and operating arrangements in relation to the new system for handling complaints against Members and issues that required addressing by the Council, arising from the requirements of the Local Government and Public Involvement In Health Act 2007.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)                 the revised Terms of Reference be approved and adopted into the Constitution, as detailed in Appendix 1 to these Minutes;

(2)                 the membership of the Assessment and Review Sub-Committees be three persons, comprising one independent member, who shall Chair the meeting, and two elected Members reflecting political proportionality where possible;

(3)                 the membership of the Hearing Sub-Committee remain as five persons (whenever possible) comprising three independent members, one of whom shall Chair the meeting.   This Sub-Committee should be politically balanced whenever possible.  This Sub-Committee shall be quorate when one independent and one elected member from each political party on the Standards Committee are present;

(4)                 the members of the Standards Committee shall form a pool from which the membership of all the Sub-Committees shall be drawn;

(5)                 the Monitoring Officer should prepare a pre-assessment report in relation to any complaint for consideration by the Assessment Sub-Committee;

(6)                 the criteria for the preparation of the Pre?assessment Report, Assessing Complaints, and Referrals to the Standards Board for England be approved;

(7)                 the member complained about should be informed of the complaint as soon as possible after the meeting of the Assessment Sub-Committee;

(8)                 the process be reviewed by Standards Committee in March 2009.

At Item 8 on the Summons, the Council received Recommendation II from the Standards Committee meeting held on 5 June 2008 to add the following paragraphs for Early Engagement on Strategic Planning Applications into the Protocol for Planning Committees, in line with the guidance contained within “Connecting Councillors with Strategic Planning Applications”:

RESOLVED:  That the additional paragraphs be adopted as printed and included in the Protocol.

Further to Item 9 on the Summons, the Council received Recommendation I of the Cabinet meeting held on 19 June 2008 on this matter.

The Recommendation was formally moved by the Leader (Councillor David Ashton).

RESOLVED:  That the Best Value Performance Plan be approved and adopted.

In relation to Item 10 on the Summons, the Council received a Recommendation from the Licensing and General Purposes Committee meeting held on 23 June 2008.

The Recommendation was formally moved by Councillor Mrs Lurline Champagnie.

RESOLVED:  That the existing Controlled Drinking Zone be extended to cover the whole of the Borough and that the current Zone be withdrawn on the date of implementation of the new Zone.

Further to Item 12 on the Summons, the Council received a Recommendation from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 10 June 2008 to effect a change in its Terms of Reference.

The Recommendation was formally moved by Councillor Stanley Sheinwald.

RESOLVED:  That the Terms of Reference of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, as amended, be approved and adopted into the Constitution, as detailed in Appendix 2 to these Minutes.

[NOTE: The recommendation of Overview & Scrutiny Committee will be tabled.  A copy of the Annual Report is circulated with the background papers]

(i)         Council received Recommendation I of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting on 8 July 2008, which had been circulated in the tabled documentation for the meeting.  The Scrutiny Annual Report 2007/08 had been circulated previously.

(ii)         The Recommendation was formally moved by Councillor Stanley Sheinwald.

(iii)        During consideration of this item, questions under Council Procedure Rule 13.1 (Questions Without Notice) were asked by Councillors Phillip O’Dell and Navin Shah, to which oral answers were provided.

RESOLVED:  That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s Annual Report for 2007/08 be adopted.

Report of the Chief Executive attached.

In accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 23 which required Members to monitor annually the operation of the provisions for call-in and urgency, the meeting received a report of the Chief Executive on this matter.

RESOLVED:  That the operation of the call-in and urgency procedures, as now reported, be noted.

To receive proposals as to the appointment to vacancies for representatives of the Authority to serve on Outside Bodies for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2008/09.

FOR DECISION

Item 16 on the Summons provided for the receipt of proposals from the Political Groups as to the appointment of representatives of the Authority to two vacancies on outside bodies for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2008/09.

RESOLVED:  That the following appointments for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2008/09 be approved:

The Mayor has agreed, in accordance with Rule 7.2, to accept the additional Item submitted in accordance with Rule 14.1.

FOR DECISION

Further to Resolution 273 above, the Leader, under the general provisions of Rule 14.1, moved proposals for various amendments to committee memberships and outside body appointments, which were agreed, as follows:

RESOLVED:  That the changes to the committee memberships and outside body appointments, as set out above, be approved.

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 Chairman 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 Chairman 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].

(1)        The following question had been submitted by a Member of Council under Rule 13.2:-

[Notes:  (i)  Under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 13.4, the question was answered orally by the Portfolio Holder;

(ii)  under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 13.5, the Member asked a supplementary question, which was also answered orally].

(2)        Further to Resolution 273 above, the following question which had also been submitted by a Member of Council under Rule 13.2 but initially ruled out of order, was asked:-

[Note:  The Portfolio Holder undertook to respond fully in writing to the Member and all Members of Council].

The following Motions have been notified in accordance with the requirements of Council Procedure Rule 15, to be moved and seconded by the Members indicated:-

Further to the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 15.6, it was

RESOLVED:  That the Motion at item 16(1) of the Summons stand referred to the next meeting of the Executive (in particular the Local Development Framework Panel), as being a matter within the remit of the Executive.

(i)                   At Item 16(2) on the Summons, the Council received a Motion in the names of Councillors Bill Stephenson and Navin Shah.

(ii)                 The Motion was the subject of a cross party amendment in the names of Councillor Bill Stephenson and David Ashton, which sought to amend the Motion to read as follows:-

(iii)                The amendment, and subsequently the amended substantive Motion, were agreed by general assent.

RESOLVED:  That the substantive Motion, as amended and set out at (ii) above, be adopted.

(i)                   At Item 16(3) on the Summons, the Council received a Motion in the names of CouncillorsMrs Vina Mithani and Councillor Mrs Lurline Champagnie.

(ii)                 The Motion was the subject of a cross party amendment in the names of Councillors Mrs Vina Mithani and Councillor Mrs Rekha Shah, which sought to amend the Motion to read as follows:-

(iii)                The amendment, and subsequently the amended substantive Motion, were agreed by general assent.

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

Further to Item 17 on the Summons, the meeting received a report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services which provided a summary of the urgent decisions taken by Portfolio Holders and the Leader and the use of the special urgency procedure, since the last ordinary meeting of Council on 21 February 2008.

RESOLVED:  That the urgent decisions taken by the Portfolio Holders and the Leader since the Council meeting on 21 February 2008 be noted.