Agenda item

(1)               Reinstate the Committee System

To be moved by Councillor James Bond and seconded by Councillor Chris Noyce:

“This Council takes the opportunity presented to them by the Localism Act 2011 to reinstate the committee system of governance in Harrow to coincide with the start of the municipal year 2013 /14.

This Council instructs the Constitution Review Working Group to formally start work in preparation for Harrow’s return to the committee system of governance.

In order to act within the spirit of a committee system of governance, that by definition is inclusive of all shades of opinion and expertise, the Constitution Review Working Group will be extended in membership to include councillors representing all the groups and independents.

This plan will:

·         Properly utilise the knowledge, experience and unique skills available to this council which are on offer from all of the elected members which in turn will lead to a better informed debate and better decision making.

·         Lead to a greater transparency, openness and accountability in the decision making of this council by demonstrating to local taxpayers that all of their elected representatives can contribute to the process.

·         Put an end to the decision making being in the hands of a minority who make up the cabinet, which excludes not just all the opposition members but the majority of councillors from the controlling group. It will lead to a greater involvement by all councillors and result in a higher calibre of representation for residents on the council.

·         Say to the people of Harrow that they have a council that actively embraces a significant part of the localism agenda and demonstrates comprehensively that this is an authority that listens and leads.”

(2)       Negative impact of Welfare Reform on Residents

To be moved by Councillor Sachin Shah and seconded by Councillor Graham Henson:

“This Council agrees with the comments of Daily Mail columnist, Sonia Poulton, who wrote in that newspaper on 17^th January 2012 that the Welfare Reform Bill “is the singularly most reprehensible attack on our vulnerable – our disabled – that this country has witnessed in many years.”

This Council further notes with concern the negative impact of current welfare reform on the residents’ of Harrow and urges that the government rethink their proposals which are of little economic value but have serious social consequences.”

(3)       Royal Mail

To be moved by Councillor Bill Stephenson and seconded by Councillor Zarina Khalid:

“This Council is concerned that postal service in West London and by extension, the rest of the UK, is threatened by the collection, sortation and delivery of customer’s mail by the Dutch Postal Service TNT Post UK.  

This Council supports fair competition but recognises that the UK is already the most competitive postal market in Europe and further recognises that Royal Mail has an obligation to deliver mail to every UK address, every working day including Saturdays. 

We accept that Royal Mail is currently delivering a large business transformation programme in partnership with the Communication Workers Union that will ensure the most efficient and effective service for all customers going forward.

Council notes with concern that TNT Post UK end-to-end service, by cherry-picking profitable areas of the business offering collection and delivery from big customers to some addresses in West London will begin a spiral of decline in Royal Mail that will challenge the sustainability of the universal service.

This Council is aware that TNT employees may have to cycle 3 post-coded areas as oppose to the 1 area as Royal Mail are regulated to do, giving rise to mail being delivered after 9pm.

This Council is further aware that TNT have not confirmed how many days they intend to deliver to individual address’s and are concerned that customers will not be able to post items of mail as TNT do not have post boxes.

This Council understands that Royal Mail postmen or women will not be involved in any way in the process of TNT’s mail delivery which means that Royal Mail will no longer be responsible for the postal service experience.

This Council resolves to ask the Leader and Chief Executive, within the next month, to jointly write to:-

·         The Government Minister with responsibility for Postal Services Sector and for managing the Government's shareholding in the Royal Mail Group

·         The Chief Executive of Ofcom who have the responsibility and powers to regulate postal services

expressing Council’s concerns that such a service will disconnect communities, companies and customers every working day across the UK and that failure to impose conditions on companies trying to deliver mail in unfettered competition to Royal Mail could mean the end of the six-day-a-week universal service obligation that is a cornerstone of the Royal Mail's business.”

(4)       Regional and Local Public Sector Pay

To be moved by Councillor Bill Stephenson and seconded by Councillor Krishna James:                                                         

“This Council notes:

·         The Chancellor of the Exchequer announced in the 2012 Budget the Government’s desire to introduce ‘more market facing’ public sector pay. This could mean regional or local public sector pay.

·         This recommendation has come in advance of the Pay Review Bodies reporting on the issue in July and September 2012.

·         There has been no independent assessment of the impact and consequences this policy could have for public services or the economies of low pay regions.

This Council believes:

·         The Government’s case is based on the claim that public sector pay is ‘crowding out’ the private sector. This is not supported by evidence, particularly at a time of high unemployment.

·         This approach also ignores the real reasons for the differences between public and private sector pay. For instance, there are more high skilled workers in the public sector (such as teachers and nurses), and a smaller pay gap between top and bottom earners and a smaller gender pay gap.

·         Public sector employers already have some flexibility to adjust pay in response to local conditions, and higher rates are paid in London and the South East.

·         All other English regions and devolved nations stand to be affected by this, with the possibility of years of pay falling behind the cost of living.

·         65% of public sector workers are female.

This Council further believes:

·         Regional or local public sector pay would have a harmful effect on Harrow.

·         It will make it harder for schools and other public services to recruit and retain good quality professionals who could earn more for doing the same job elsewhere.

·         Reducing the pay of Harrow’s Public Sector Workers in real terms will dramatically reduce spending power and have a negative impact on the private sector and the local Harrow economy.

·         This policy will not improve the pay of private sector workers but instead could encourage further depression of wages in all sectors.

·         We do not want Harrow to be forever defined as a ‘low pay’ borough.

·         This policy is therefore counter to Harrow’s vision and ambitions for the future.   

This Council instructs the Chief Executive :

·         To write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and Chief Secretary to the Treasury stating this council’s opposition to plans for regional and localised public sector pay.

·         To write to all local MPs within the next month outlining concerns about the impact that this policy would have on services and the local economy.

·         To sign up to the Pay Fair campaign and raise awareness of the implications and risks of this policy locally, regionally and nationally.” 

(5)       Olympics & the Diamond Jubilee Street Parties

To be moved by Councillor Graham Henson and seconded by Councillor David Perry:                                                               

“This Council notes the Community Spirit created by the celebration of the Diamond Jubilee through Street Parties. 

This Council takes the opportunity to thank Council staff for all they did to facilitate the volunteer work of Communities and the way in which they supported the work of communities

This Council hopes that this positive way of working will continue as we welcome the Olympics to London especially as it will impact positively on our tourism, youth & sports agenda.

This Council commends all staff who have been involved in getting Harrow ready for the torch relay and wishes that Harrow’s communities will come together once again to celebrate this important event.

This Council takes this opportunity to thank the previous Mayor of London, Ken Livingstone and his team who were instrumental in bringing the Olympics to London.  This Council places on record its thanks to the present Mayor for providing funds to provide flags and other items to highlight the Olympics.”

(6)       Libraries Motion

To be moved by Councillor Barry Macleod-Cullinane and seconded by Councillor Paul Osborn:                                                        

“This Council believes that party manifestos are promises made to Harrow residents, and that promises should be kept.

This Council is therefore of the view that an administration elected on a manifesto that promised three times it would not privatise “our superb in-house library service”, should not be taking steps to privatise or outsource Harrow’s libraries.

So that trust between the Council and residents can be maintained, this Council urges the administration to cease its so-called ‘Commissioning of Libraries’ programme.”

Under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 14.6, it is considered that the subject matter of this Motion refers to matters within the powers of the Cabinet and the Motion should therefore stand referred to its next meeting.  However, in accordance with 14.6, the Leader of the Opposition has notified her right to exercise her wish that this Motion, falling within the powers of the Executive, be first debated by Council.  The Motion will therefore be subject to debate following the disposal of any Motions falling within the business reserved to Council.