Agenda and minutes

That the minutes of the meeting held on 13 November 2014 and of the Extraordinary meeting held on 22 January 2015 be taken as read and signed as correct records.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the ordinary meeting held on 13 November 2014 and of the Extraordinary meeting held on 22 January 2015 be taken as read and signed as correct records.

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 Mayor invited appropriate declarations of interest.

Item 8 – Corporate Plan 2015-2019

Councillor Sue Anderson declared non-pecuniary interests in that a familiy member was in receipt of Adult Social Care, she was a member of ADHD and Autism Support, a member of the National Autistic Society, a community champion, a volunteer for Harrow Health Walk and a friend of Harrow Rec.

Item 9 – Final Revenue Budget 2015/16 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2015/16 to 2018/19

Councillor Richard Almond declared an interest as he was appointed to the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

Councillor Jeff Anderson declared an interest in that he was a retired member of Unison.

Councillor Sue Anderson declared non-pecuniary interests in that she was a member of ADHD and Autism Support, a member of the National Autistic Society, a Friend of Harrow Museum, a Friend of English Heritage and a Friend of Harrow Association of Disabled People.

Councillor Bob Currie declared an interest in that he was a member of Unison.

Councillor Pamela Fitzpatrick declared a non-pecuniary interest in that she was a Director of the Harrow Law Centre.

Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane declared a non-pecuniary interest in that he worked for the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

Councillor Chris Mote declared a non-pecuniary interest in that his brother was in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and Council Tax Benefit.

Councillor Janet Mote declared a non-pecuniary interest in that her brother-in-law was in receipt of Disability Living Allowance and Council Tax Benefit.

Councillor Primesh Patel declared an interest in that he was a member of  Unison.

Councillor Lynda Seymour declared a non-pecuniary interest in that a family member was in receipt of Council Tax benefit.

Councillor Krishna Suresh declared a non-pecuniary interest in that his mother was in receipt of Council Tax Benefit.

Councillor Adam Swersky declared an interest in that he was appointed to the Citizens’ Advice Bureau.

Councillor Antonio Weiss declared an interest in that he was the Chair of Trustees of Harrow Law Centre.

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.

(i)                 Councillor James Bond moved a tabled procedural motion in relation to item 9 - Final Revenue Budget 2015 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2015/16 to 2018/19.  The motion was duly seconded by Councillor Georgia Weston and on being put to the vote was lost.

(ii)               Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane moved that item 14 - Petition Scheme, be taken ahead of item 6 - Petitions.  This was seconded by Councillor Kam Chana and on being put to the vote was lost.

(iii)             The Leader of the Council, Councillor David Perry, moved a procedural motion under Rule 25.1 that, in line with previous years and for the purposes of the debate on the Final Revenue Budget 2015/16 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2015/16 to 2018/19, the rules of debate be varied, as set out in the tabled documents, and that the procedure therein be also applied to the reports on the Corporate Plan 2015-2019, the Treasury Management Strategy Statement including Prudential Indicators, Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement and Annual Investment Strategy for 2015/16, the Capital Programme 2015/16 to 2018/19, the Housing Revenue Account Budget 2015/16 and Medium Term Financial Strategy 2016/17 to 2018/19, insofar as the recommendations be debated jointly.  This was agreed.

(iv)              Having asked whether there were any further Procedural Motions, Councillor David Perry moved that item 7 – Leader and Portfolio Holders’ Announcements, be taken ahead of item 6 - Petitions.  This was seconded by Councillor Keith Ferry and was agreed.  Councillor David Perry moved that Council Procedure Rule 18.5 – 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 25.1, 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

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.

The petitions detailed at Agenda Item 6a – Funding to the Voluntary Sector, Agenda Item 6c – Rayners Lane Library Closure and Agenda Item 6e – Brown Bin ‘Garden Tax’ were received.

In accordance with Rule 10, the following petitions were presented

(i)                 Petition submitted by Councillor Georgia Weston containing 125    signatures requesting that the Council make road safety improvements to Elmcroft Crescent.

[The petition stood referred to the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Crime and Community Safety]. 

(ii)               Petition submitted by Councillor John Hinkley containing 2,086       signatures of residents requesting that Hatch End Library remain open.

The Leader of the Council indicated that, as the petition contained the threshold number of signatures to engender debate at Council, it should be debated at the meeting rather than the next ordinary meeting. This was agreed.

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 3.00 pm two clear working days prior to the day of this Meeting.  Any such questions received will be tabled.

To note that three 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.

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 over 2,000 signatures has been received from MIND in Harrow in relation to funding to the voluntary sector and has the following terms:

“Please do not cut funding for Age Concern, Citizens’ Advice Bureau, MIND in Harrow, Harrow Association for the Disabled & other voluntary organisations.”

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

(i)                 Petition submitted by MIND in Harrow containing 2,072 signatures stating “Please do not cut funding for Age Concern, Citizens’ Advice Bureau, MIND in Harrow, Harrow Association for the Disabled & other voluntary organisations.”

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

RESOLVED:  That the petition be referred to Cabinet for consideration.

A petition containing over 2,000 signatures has been received and has the following terms:

“We the undersigned residents would like the local authority to keep the library open at its present location 6-8 North Parade, Mollison Way, HA8 5QH.”

An Open letter from the Bob Lawrence Library Campaign Team and a petition from children attending Stag Lane Junior School had also been received by Cabinet and referred to Council for consideration alongside the aforementioned petition.

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

(i)                 Petition submitted by residents containing approximately 5,000 signatures stating “We the undersigned residents would like the local authority to keep the library open at its present location 6-8 North Parade, Mollison Way, HA8 5QH.”

(ii)               An Open letter from the Bob Lawrence Library Campaign Team and a petition from children attending Stag Lane Junior School were also considered alongside the aforementioned petition.

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

RESOLVED:  That the petition be referred to Cabinet for consideration.

A petition containing over 2,000 signatures has been received from students of Nower Hill School and residents and has the following terms:

“We, the undersigned, deplore the proposed closure of Harrow Libraries, particularly that of Rayners Lane, which serves a densely populated area with very few facilities.  This Library does excellent work with students and pre-school children and serves as a hub for its diverse community.  The loss of this resource would be destructive to the life of the area.”

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

(i)                 Petition submitted by residents and students of Nower Hill High School containing approximately 2,300 signatures stating “We, the undersigned, deplore the proposed closure of Harrow Libraries, particularly that of Rayners Lane, which serves a densely populated area with very few facilities.  This Library does excellent work with students and pre-school children and serves as a hub for its diverse community.  The loss of this resource would be destructive to the life of the area.”

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

RESOLVED:  That the petition be referred to Cabinet for consideration.

A petition containing over 2,000 signatures has been received and has the following terms:

“We, the undersigned, ask Harrow Council to reconsider the proposal to close North Harrow Library. Closure will have a serious detrimental effect on the local community.  It will also lead to a further decline of the North Harrow Town Centre.”

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

(i)                 Petition submitted by residents containing approximately 2,797 signatures stating “We, the undersigned, ask Harrow Council to reconsider the proposal to close North Harrow Library. Closure will have a serious detrimental effect on the local community.  It will also lead to a further decline of the North Harrow Town Centre.”

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

RESOLVED:  That the petition be referred to Cabinet for consideration.

A petition containing over 2,000 signatures has been received and has the following terms:

“Harrow Council’s Labour administration recently announced, as part of their budget proposals, that residents could face a £75 charge for the collection of their brown waste bins. The bins, which are currently used for garden and food waste, would change to being for garden waste only – and would be collected once a fortnight for a £75 per year fee. We believe this proposal is an unreasonable 'garden tax' on Harrow residents, who already pay the third highest council tax in London, and who should reasonably expect waste collection to be included in their bills. The proposal is also unfair on low income households, and will likely have a disproportionate impact on elderly and disabled residents.

We the undersigned therefore petition the administration/Council to drop their plans for a £75 brown bin charge.”

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

(i)                 Petition submitted by residents containing approximately 3,000 signatures stating “Harrow Council’s Labour administration recently announced, as part of their budget proposals, that residents could face a £75 charge for the collection of their brown waste bins.  The bins, which are currently used for garden and food waste, would change to being for garden waste only – and would be collected once a fortnight for a £75 per year fee.  We believe this proposal is an unreasonable 'garden tax' on Harrow residents, who already pay the third highest council tax in London, and who should reasonably expect waste collection to be included in their bills.  The proposal is also unfair on low income households, and will likely have a disproportionate impact on elderly and disabled residents.

We the undersigned therefore petition the administration/Council to drop their plans for a £75 brown bin charge.”

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

RESOLVED:  That the petition be referred to Cabinet for consideration.

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

(i)                 Petition submitted by residents containing 2,086 signatures stating “We the undersigned Petition Harrow Council to keep the well liked and well used Hatch End Library open for the people of Harrow and surrounding areas”.

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

RESOLVED:  That the petition be referred to Cabinet for consideration.

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.

(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.

Recommendation I : Overview and Scrutiny Committee

(24 February 2015)

Recommendation II: Cabinet

                                    (19 February 2015)

Having agreed that the guillotine be extended until 11.00 pm and then agreed that the guillotine be extended until all notified speakers had spoken on agenda items 8 to 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 2015-2019 be adopted.

Recommendation I : Cabinet

                                    (19 February 2015)

(i)                 Further to Item 9 on the Summons, the Council received Recommendation I of the Cabinet meeting held on 19 February 2015 and a report of the Chief Finance Officer.

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

(iii)             Upon the meeting moving to a 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, Green, Hearnden, Henson, Kendler, Marikar,  Miles, O’Dell, Parekh, Varsha Parmar, Primesh Patel, Perry, Ramchandani, Robson, Aneka Shah, Mrs Rekha Shah, Sachin Shah, Sasikala Suresh, Krishna Suresh, Swersky, Weiss and Whitehead.

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

Abstain:  His Worshipful the Mayor Councillor Ajay Maru.

RESOLVED:  That

(1)               the budget be approved to enable the Council Tax for 2015/16 to be set;

(2)               the Medium Term Financial Strategy at Appendix I to the Cabinet Recommendation be approved;

(3)               the 2015/16 Schools’ Budget at Appendix II to the Cabinet Recommendation be approved;

(4)               the 2015/16 Members’ Allowance Scheme at Appendix III to the Cabinet Recommendation be approved for 2015/16;

(5)               the Annual Pay Policy Statement at Appendix IV to the Cabinet Recommendation 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 paragraph (4) of appendix 1 to the Council report within a period of 21 days following the Council’s decision.

Recommendation I : Cabinet

                                    (19 February 2015)

RESOLVED:  That the Treasury Management Strategy Statement for 2015/16 be approved, including the:

·                    Prudential Indicators for 2015/16;

·                    Minimum Revenue Provision Policy Statement for 2015/16;

·                    Annual Investment Strategy for 2015/16;

·                    upper limit for borrowing of under 12 months be increased to 30%;

·                    lower limit for borrowing of 5 to under 10 years be reduced to 0%;

·                    deletion of the “Viability” criteria for  Specified and Non-specified investments.

Recommendation I : Cabinet

                                    (19 February 2015)

RESOLVED:  That the Capital Programme 2015/16 to 2018/19, as detailed at the Appendix to the Cabinet Recommendation, be approved.

Recommendation I : Cabinet

                                    (19 February 2015)

RESOLVED:  That

(1)               the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) Budget for 2015-16 be approved;

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

Recommendation I: Governance, Audit, Risk Management and Standards Committee

                                       (26 January 2015)

RESOLVED:  That

(1)               the new procedure for dealing with complaints against Councillors, as amended by the Governance, Audit, Risk Management and Standards Committee and contained in Appendix 1 to the Committee’s Recommendation be agreed;

(2)               a new Standards Working Group be established;

(3)               the Assessment Working Group and the Hearing Working Group be disbanded;

(4)               the Assessment Sub-Committee and Hearing Review Sub?Committee be disbanded;

(5)               the delegations to the Monitoring Officer, as contained in Appendix 2 to the Committee’s Recommendation be agreed;

(6)               the Constitutional amendments contained in Appendix 2 to the Committee’s Recommendation be agreed.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services

The tabled amendment was moved by Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane was seconded by Councillor Susan Hall and was voted upon but not carried.

RESOLVED:  That the revised Petition Scheme and other constitutional changes detailed in the report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services 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.

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

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

At Item 16 the Council received a Motion in the names of Councillor Adam Swersky and Councillor Anne Whitehead in the following terms:

(i)                 “Harrow Council moves to tackle the explosion of e-cigarette usage across the Borough.

E-cigarettes are a promising and effective tool to help smokers quit.  However, they are also a highly addictive nicotine-based product, with a range of chemicals whose impact on “vapers” has not yet been properly researched.

E-cigarettes, which have been prominently advertised in St Ann’s Shopping centre and will soon be promoted on TV screens nationwide, have risen dramatically in popularity recently, with 2.1 million users in the UK alone.  This equates to over 7,000 users in Harrow. Sales of e?cigarettes quadrupled in 2013, an exponential rate of growth for a product that is as addictive as heroin or cocaine.

This Council congratulates the efforts of Transport for London to extend its ban of smoking to e-cigarettes, and welcomes the cautionary approach taken by cities such as New York. This is in line with the WHO’s recommendations to ban e-cigarette smoking in public places and in work places.

To avoid a new generation of young people in Harrow becoming hooked on nicotine, this Council resolves to take action against the proliferation of e-cigarettes for uses other than to stop smoking.

To this end, we call on the Director of Public Health and other Council officers to:

·           Robustly enforce the ban on sales of e-cigarettes to under-18 year olds.

·           Remove any advertising of e-cigarettes on Harrow Council property and include a ban on e-cigarette advertising in the Council’s policy on acceptable advertising, with the exception of adverts providing information on appropriate use at points of sale.

·         Take all appropriate steps to discourage the use of e-cigarettes for any purpose aside from to quit smoking tobacco.  Smoking prevention campaigns, particularly those targeted at children and young people should include warnings about the addictive properties of e-cigarettes and the significant unknown health risks.”

(ii)               Upon a vote, the Motion was agreed.

RESOLVED:  That the Motion as set out at (i) above, be adopted.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services

RESOLVED:  That the Council’s Constitution be amended as set out in the report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services to enable a member of the voluntary sector to be appointed as a Non Executive member of Cabinet.

To resolve that the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business, on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of confidential information in breach of an obligation of confidence, or of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972:

RESOLVED:  That in accordance with Part I of Schedule 12A to the Local Government Act 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) for the reasons set out below:

Report of the Divisional Director of Human Resources, Development and Shared Services.

RESOLVED:  That the report be noted.

At 10.10 pm, prior to the consideration of item 8 – Corporate Plan 2015?2019 the Mayor sought agreement to the extension of the guillotine until 11.00 pm. This was agreed.

At 10.57 pm, the Mayor sought agreement to the extension of the guillotine until all the speakers notified to him in advance had spoken on the budget items.  This was agreed.

At 11.29 pm, the meeting adjourned until 11.35 pm.

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