Agenda item

(1)          Universal Credit Motion

To be moved by Councillor Kiran Ramchandani and seconded by Councillor Barry Kendler:

“Harrow Council notes that:

The start of the rollout in December means that families receiving Universal Credit for the first time will be left without benefit payments in the run up to Christmas. 

Those switching over to Universal Credit from other existing benefits, will also risk a significant disruption to their income at a challenging time of year for low income households.

Landlords are reporting that rent arrears among tenants receiving universal credit with arrears running up to five times the level of those on the old system.  Research by Citizens Advice found that of the people it had helped, over a third had been waiting for more than six weeks for their first payment, and more than half were borrowing money to cope.

Many statutory and voluntary services are closed or operating at a reduced level over the Christmas period and assistance for local families who are in practical and financial difficulty will be exacerbated.

This council therefore resolves to:

·                     Call on the Secretary of State, the Rt Hon David Gauke MP, to pause the rolling of the Universal Credit until all the issues of the new system that have been identified are solved

·                     Ask the Chief executive and the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State setting out the council’s concerns.”

(2)          Tapan Ghosh - no place for hate speech in Harrow Motion

To be moved by Councillor Kiran Ramchandani and seconded by Councillor Ghazanfar Ali:

“The Council believes:

·                     Harrow has an excellent reputation for outstanding community relations and tolerance of a wide diversity of faiths and peoples;

·                     Hate speech is not tolerated in Harrow and no local official, such as a local Member of Parliament, should be endorsing speakers who are considered to be hate speakers;

The Council notes:

·                     The Harrow East MP, Bob Blackman, has recently hosted an event where the keynote speaker was Mr Tapan Ghosh, who has written articles that are regarded by many in our community as anti-Muslim;

·                     Mr Ghosh has also inappropriately tried to justify the Myanmar ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya community;

The Council resolves:

·                     To instruct the Chief Executive to write to Bob Blackman MP, condemning the visit of Tapan Ghosh and reaffirming that Harrow is one of the most diverse places in the UK, where hate speech is not tolerated;

·                     To instruct the Chief Executive to write to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, calling on him to condemn the visit of Tapan Ghosh and to discourage hate speech in public institutions (such as the UK Parliament).”

(3)          Harrow Council supporting votes at 16

To be moved by Councillor Christine Robson and seconded by Councillor  Sachin Shah:

“This Council believes:

·                     Sixteen and seventeen year olds are able to become more active citizens, being able to work on a full time basis, pay tax, join the army reserves and getting married;

This Council supports:

·                     Extending the voting rights to sixteen and seventeen year olds, as advocated by Harrow Youth Parliament on behalf of the young people residing in the borough;

·                     Young people in exercising their democratic right over the political direction of local authorities and national governments;

This Council resolves:

·                     To instruct the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Theresa May MP, and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport and Civil Society, Tracey Crouch MP, expressingour support for the extension of the voting rights to sixteen and seventeen year olds.”

(i)            Motion in the names of Councillor Kiran Ramchandani and Councillor Barry Kendler.

“Universal Credit Motion

Harrow Council notes that:

·                     The start of the rollout in December means that families receiving Universal Credit for the first time will be left without benefit payments in the run up to Christmas.  Those switching over to Universal Credit from other existing benefits, will also risk a significant disruption to their income at a challenging time of year for low income households.

·                     Landlords are reporting that rent arrears among tenants receiving universal credit with arrears running up to five times the level of those on the old system.  Research by Citizens Advice found that of the people it had helped, over a third had been waiting for more than six weeks for their first payment, and more than half were borrowing money to cope.  Many statutory and voluntary services are closed or operating at a reduced level over the Christmas period and assistance for local families who are in practical and financial difficulty will be exacerbated.

This council therefore resolves to:

·                     Call on the Secretary of State, the Rt Hon David Gauke MP, to pause the rolling of the Universal Credit until all the issues of the new system that have been identified are solved.

·                     Ask the Chief executive and the Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State setting out the council’s concerns.

Upon a vote, the Motion was agreed.

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

(ii)          Motion in the names of Councillor Kiran Ramchandani and Councillor Ghazanfar Ali.  The tabled amendment was voted upon and was lost.

“Tapan Ghosh - no place for hate speech in Harrow Motion

The Council believes:

·                     Harrow has an excellent reputation for outstanding community relations and tolerance of a wide diversity of faiths and peoples;

·                     Hate speech is not tolerated in Harrow and no local official, such as a local Member of Parliament, should be endorsing speakers who are considered to be hate speakers;

The Council notes:

·                     The Harrow East MP, Bob Blackman, has recently hosted an event where the keynote speaker was Mr Tapan Ghosh, who has written articles that are regarded by many in our community as anti-Muslim;

·                     Mr Ghosh has also inappropriately tried to justify the Myanmar ethnic cleansing of the Rohingya community.

The Council resolves:

·                     To instruct the Chief Executive to write to Bob Blackman MP, condemning the visit of Tapan Ghosh and reaffirming that Harrow is one of the most diverse places in the UK, where hate speech is not tolerated;

·                     To instruct the Chief Executive to write to the Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, calling on him to condemn the visit of Tapan Ghosh and to discourage hate speech in public institutions (such as the UK Parliament).”

Upon a vote, the Motion was agreed.

RESOLVED:  That the Motion set out at (ii) above be adopted.

(iii)         Motion in the names of Councillor Christine Robson and Councillor Sachin Shah. 

“Harrow Council supporting votes at 16 Motion

This Council believes:

·                     Sixteen and seventeen year olds are able to become more active citizens, being able to work on a full time basis, pay tax, join the army reserves and getting married;

This Council supports:

·                     Extending the voting rights to sixteen and seventeen year olds, as advocated by Harrow Youth Parliament on behalf of the young people residing in the borough;

·                     Young people in exercising their democratic right over the political direction of local authorities and national governments;

This Council resolves:

·                     To instruct the Chief Executive and the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister, the Rt Hon Theresa May MP, and the Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Sport and Civil Society, Tracey Crouch MP, expressing our support for the extension of the voting rights to sixteen and seventeen year olds.”

Upon the meeting moving to a vote upon the tabled amendment to the Motion, ten Members rose and requested a Roll Call vote. The amendment was lost  The voting on the tabled amendment was as follows:

Roll Call Vote (In Favour of the Tabled Amendment): Councillors Almond, Ashton, Mrs Bath, Baxter, Bednell, Bond, Chana, Chauhan, Greek, Hall, Hinkley, Hirani, Jogia, Kara, Lammiman, Macleod-Cullinane, Mithani, Moshenson, Chris Mote, Janet Mote, Noyce, Osborn, Mina Parmar, Pritesh Patel, Rabadia, Seymour, Stevenson, Thakker, Weston and Wright.

Against (the Tabled Amendment):  Her Worshipful the Mayor Councillor Margaret Davine, Councillors Ali, Jeff Anderson, Sue Anderson, Borio, Brown, Dattani, Dooley, Ferry, Fitzpatrick, Hearnden, Graham Henson, Maxine Henson, Kendler, Marikar, Maru, Miles, O’Dell, Parekh, Varsha Parmar, Primesh Patel, Perry, Ramchandani, Robson, Aneka Shah-Levy, Mrs Rekha Shah, Sachin Shah, Krishna Suresh, Sasikala Suresh, Swersky, Weiss and Whitehead.

Upon a vote, the substantive Motion was agreed.

RESOLVED:  That the Motion set out at (iii) above be adopted.