Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Crowe, Dheer, Duducu and Khursheed.  The Mayor asked that Members' best wishes be passed to Councillor Khursheed for a speedy recovery.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 2015 (attached)

It was noted that, although Councillor Eginton had passed his apologies to his Group for the Council meeting on 5 November 2015, these had not been passed on at the meeting and, therefore, the minutes were a correct account. 

 

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 November 2015 be agreed as a correct record. 

The Mayor outlined a number of events that he and the Mayoress had attended over the Christmas period.  He noted that Hillingdon had won the first prize of £10k in the Lord Mayor of London's New Year's Day Parade and congratulated those that had taken part in it. 

 

In addition to a forthcoming quiz night, clay pigeon shooting, a concert and a Magna Carta, Monarchy and Commonwealth event, the Mayor noted that Councillor Singh would be completing four marathons in four days to raise money for the Mayor's charities.  He encouraged Members to support these fund raising events. 

Councillor Puddifoot moved the recommendations as set out in the Order of Business.  The motion was seconded by Councillor Simmonds and it was:

 

RESOLVED:  That:

i)           the recent urgent decisions taken be noted;

ii)          the Council's Constitution be amended to reflect the merger of the posts of Director of Adult Social Care Services and Director of Children and Young People’s Services into the new post of Corporate Director of Social Care with the combined delegations and responsibilities thereof, including the creation of a new combined Directorate of Social Care; and

iii)         upon the recommendation of the Conservative Group, Councillor Higgins replace Councillor Melvin as a Member of the:

·      Corporate Services and Partnerships Policy Overview Committee;

·      North Planning Committee; and

·      Major Applications Planning Committee.

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Finance

Councillor Bianco moved, and Councillor Puddifoot seconded, the recommendation as set out in the Order of Business. 

 

Councillor Eginton queried the contents of the report with reference to the availability of the results of the consultation exercise and the time that Members had to consider this information.  It was confirmed that the results of the consultation were available online as a background document, although there had been a slight problem with the online link.  Members were satisfied that there was sufficient information within the report to consider the item.

 

Councillor Eginton moved an amendment to delete recommendation d) and amend the figure in recommendation b) from 95,770 to 94,859.  The amendment was seconded by Councillor Morse.  Following debate (Councillors Curling, Puddifoot and Simmonds), the amendment was put to the vote and lost.

 

The original motion was put to a recorded vote:

 

Those voting for: The Mayor (Councillor Cooper), the Deputy Mayor (Councillor Hensley), Councillors Barnes, Bianco, Bridges, Burrows, Chamdal, Chapman, J Cooper, Corthorne, Dann, Davis, Denys, Edwards, Flynn, Fyfe, Gilham, Graham, Haggar, Higgins, Jackson, Kauffman, Kelly, Lavery, Lewis, Markham, Melvin, D Mills, R Mills, Morgan, O’Brien, Palmer, Puddifoot, Riley, Seaman-Digby, Simmonds, Stead, White and Yarrow.

 

Those voting against:  Councillors Ahmad-Wallana, Allen, Birah, Burles, Curling, Dhillon, Dhot, Duncan, East, Eginton, Gardner, Garg, Jarjussey, Khatra, Lakhmana, Money, Morse, Nelson, Oswell, Sansarpuri, Singh and Sweeting.

 

The motion was carried and it was:

 

RESOLVED:  That:

 

a)        the report of the Corporate Director of Finance for the calculation of the Council Tax Base and the Business Rates Forecast, be approved;

 

b)        in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by the London Borough of Hillingdon as its Council Tax Base for 2016/17 shall be 95,770;

 

c)        the Corporate Director of Finance be authorised to submit the 2016/17 NNDR1 return to the Department of Communities & Local Government (CLG) and the Greater London Authority (GLA) in line with the business rates forecast contained within this report; and

 

d)        the amended Council Tax Reduction Scheme for 2016/17 be approved with the following changes to be effective from 1 April 2016:

·           the maximum amount of reduction a working age household can receive is reduced to 75% of the council tax liability from 80%;

·           the maximum amount of reduction a vulnerable household can receive is reduced to 90% of the council tax liability from 100%; and

·           align the scheme with recent and impending welfare reforms, including changes to Housing Benefit.

To consider the adoption of a Local Development Scheme

Councillor Burrows moved the motion, which was seconded by Councillor White, and it was:

 

RESOLVED:  That the revised Local Development Scheme be adopted with effect from 17 January 2016.

To consider the adoption of the Policies

Councillor Bianco moved the motion, which was seconded by Councillor Lewis, and it was:

 

RESOLVED:  That:

a)    the Statement of Licensing Policy be adopted with effect 17 January 2016 to 17 January 2021; and

b)   the Gambling Policy be adopted with effect 17 January 2016 to 17 January 2019.

9.2       QUESTION SUBMITTED BY COUNCILLOR DAVIS TO THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL - COUNCILLOR PUDDIFOOT

 

"Given that you have long supported local residents as regards inappropriate developments, are you aware that Powerday have submitted another planning application for a material recycling facility on the Coal Yard site in Yiewsley?"

 

Councillor Puddifoot confirmed that the administration's commitment to inappropriate development was as strong as ever.  The new planning application would be subject to extensive consultation and Powerday would need to follow due process.  The planning application would be considered on its planning merits without any political interference and, as such, it would not be appropriate for him to comment on the merits or otherwise of the application.  The Council had listened carefully to its residents when making planning decisions in relation to the Tavistock Road site in the past and, as the application had been submitted just before Christmas, additional time would be allowed for consultation to be undertaken.  Councillor Puddifoot urged local residents to put their views in writing so that these could be fully considered by the Council as part of its decision making process.

 

There was no supplementary question.

 

9.1       QUESTION SUBMITTED BY COUNCILLOR EGINTON TO THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL - COUNCILLOR PUDDIFOOT

 

"How will the "freeze" in Council Tax in 2016/17 in Hillingdon affect vulnerable and disadvantaged households?"

 

Councillor Puddifoot advised that, from April 2016, Council Tax would have been frozen for the last eight years, providing residents with an in year saving of £191 and a cumulative saving of £840 per household.  Council Tax had been frozen for those aged 65+ for the last ten years, providing those residents with an in year saving of £245 and a cumulative saving of £1,350.  Furthermore, the administration proposed that Council freeze Council Tax for those aged 65+ until 2019/2020. 

 

The main changes to the Council Tax Reduction (CTR) scheme would only affect working age claimants.  Pensioners, war widows, war disabled and armed forces compensation scheme applicants would continue to receive support as they did now.  The Council would be bringing the support levels roughly in line with those of Harrow and Ealing councils which would mean that the weekly Council Tax payment for a working age households in a band D property would increase by £1.35 per week.  Since CTR had been introduced, by the end of 2016/2017, Harrow CTR clients would have paid £524.26 more than Hillingdon CTR clients and Ealing clients would have paid an additional £23.

 

This proposal would lower the level of financial support available to working aged households in receipt of any disability premium from 100% to 90%.  This would mean that claimants would become liable for the payment of 10% of their Council Tax liability and was in line with many other local authority schemes that required everyone to pay something towards the service they received, but still continued to provide a significant amount of protection to disabled applicants or families.  This widened the number of claimants contributing towards the Council Tax and, in doing so, stopped a disproportionate burden falling on all other working aged Council Tax reduction recipients. 

 

Under this proposal, the weekly Council Tax payment for a claimant in a band D property would be £2.69 whilst Harrow residents would have paid £636 more by the end of 2016/2017.  If Ealing froze its Council Tax and did not impose a 2% social care precept, its residents would pay 49p less per week than Hillingdon residents. 

 

Z2K had launched its campaign about Ealing Council's Council Tax support cuts.  Of the eight London boroughs proposing cuts this year, Z2K believed that Ealing's was the worst, putting up the poorest residents' tax by the back door with 5,114 CTS claimants falling into arrears in the last year.  Furthermore, Ealing could retain the option to increase or decrease the minimum payment of up to 5% in April 2017.  Councillor Puddifoot advised that the recorded vote in relation to agenda item 6 would be passed to the Conservative Members at the London Borough of Ealing.

 

By way of a supplementary question, Councillor Eginton asked, bearing in mind the increasing deficit in Government funding, whether Councillor Puddifoot could confirm that no further changes would be made to the CRT scheme which would further impoverish the poor and vulnerable. 

 

Councillor Puddifoot advised that, like many councils across London, including Ealing and Harrow, the Council would not subsidise the Government's benefits cuts regime.  If the Council did not receive the funding, it would consider passporting the cuts on. 

 

9.3       QUESTION SUBMITTED BY COUNCILLOR BRIDGES TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR EDUCATION & CHILDREN'S SERVICES - COUNCILLOR SIMMONDS

 

"Would the Cabinet Member please tell me what progress is being made in negotiations with the Education Funding Agency (EFA) to ensure appropriate drop-off and pick-up arrangements at the new Abbotsfield and Swakeleys schools, as I am concerned that, unlike the Council-managed project to rebuild Northwood school, the EFA are causing extensive delays?"

 

Councillor Simmonds advised that he was aware that the Ward Councillors (Councillors Bridges, Chapman and Jackson) had been forthright in representing their residents in relation to this issue.  He noted that the Council was seeing vulnerable residents sometimes having to pay additional taxation as a result of the debt left by the last Labour Government and, despite the austerity measures put in place, the surface of that debt was just being scratched. 

 

The Government, through its Building Schools for the Future programme (BSF), had encouraged local authorities to spend to ensure future school places provision.  Hillingdon's spend had increased from £100m to £150m to £200m and the Council had anticipated receiving the money back from Government.  However, there was a massive reduction in the resources available to the Labour Government towards the end of its administration and complete recompense had not been forthcoming.  This had affected a number of schools in Hillingdon including Northwood, Abbotsfield and Swakeleys schools.  The Council had engaged with the new Government to prioritise the work needed on those schools that were in the worst condition to ensure that Hillingdon was in a position to manage these projects to a high standard and deliver them on time in a way that met the needs of its residents. 

 

After Hillingdon had made its representation, a Liberal Democrat Minister had made the decision to allow the Council to manage the Northwood School rebuild project which was now underway and would provide a good quality new school that would be delivered on time. 

 

With regard to Abbotsfield and Swakeleys, ministers had taken the decision to let the Education Funding Agency (EFA) manage the project.  This had resulted in a litany of delays and some obfuscation which had frustrated Ward Councillors and residents.  However, the EFA had now advised that it was ready to start work and officers had managed to ensure that there would be access to the site from Sutton Court Road as well as a proper drop off area located within the site so that local residents would be less affected by parents dropping off/picking up their children (this had already been approved by the Council's Planning Committee).  It had been frustrating that the EFA had seemed unwilling to take into account how the provision of an onsite drop off point would impact on the quality of residents' lives.  Councillor Simmonds paid tribute to the work that the officers had undertaken to secure the onsite drop off point to ensure that residents' needs were safeguarded. 

 

There was no supplementary question.

 

9.7       QUESTION SUBMITTED BY COUNCILLOR LAKHMANA TO THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL - COUNCILLOR PUDDIFOOT

 

"Can the Leader of the Council please update us on the feedback from the NHS Trust (Hillingdon) on the use of 'Hillingdon First Cards' in Hillingdon Hospital car parks?"

 

Councillor Puddifoot advised that, following the Council meeting on 16 September 2015, he spoken to the Chief Executive of The Hillingdon Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust about a number of the administration's suggestions to address parking issues, including the possibility of residents being able to use the Hillingdon First Card in the hospital car parks.  The issue had been discussed at the Trust Board's December meeting where it had been agreed to fund a scheme to deliver 48 new ground level spaces on the hospital site and segregate staff and visitor parking, subject to planning permission.  However, there were no plans to offer Hillingdon First cardholders a concessionary rate. 

 

There was no supplementary question.

 

9.4       QUESTION SUBMITTED BY COUNCILLOR PALMER TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR COMMUNITY, COMMERCE AND REGENERATION – COUNCILLOR D.MILLS

 

"Can the Cabinet Member outline the additional sports opportunities residents will have with the arrival in the Borough of "Make a Splash" and "Street Velodrome"?"

 

Councillor D Mills advised that "Make a Splash" was a Mayor of London's initiative to encourage people to take up swimming.  This would be the second year that Hillingdon had taken part in the initiative.  In 2015, the event had been held in the Barnhill area over a 6-8 week period and had been successful in getting many people back into, or starting, swimming.  This year, the event was being hosted by Harefield Academy until 24 March 2016 and would be officially opened at the end of January 2016 by an Olympic swimmer and the Mayor of London. 

 

To encourage residents to swim, free swimming sessions were available on Saturdays and during the school half term.  It was anticipated that approximately 1,200 people would be targeted in the Borough during the initiative. 

 

Street Velodrome would set up at Fassnidge Park for three days in March 2016 to provide a cycling track facility for the local community to encourage all abilities.  A range of organised and competitive events had been put together, the final day of which would be televised.  It was anticipated that the event would encourage approximately 3,000 residents to either get back into cycling or take it up as a more permanent activity. 

 

"Make a Splash" and "Street Velodrome" were just two examples of the Council encouraging residents to take up physical activity.  The latest exercise campaign supported by the Council was "This Hillingdon Girl Can" which would have sessions running from February through the summer to encourage mothers and daughters to exercise together.

 

There was no supplementary question.

 

9.8       QUESTION SUBMITTED BY COUNCILLOR SWEETING TO THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL - COUNCILLOR PUDDIFOOT

 

"What are the Council’s plans for the redevelopment of the Swimming Pool site in Yiewsley, which was given to the people of Yiewsley for leisure purposes and protected by covenant?"

 

Councillor Puddifoot advised that the property consisting of Yiewsley recreation ground and the Yiewsley swimming pool site had not been gifted but had been conveyed to the Yiewsley and West Drayton District Council in 1934 for £450 with a protected covenant.  This covenant restricted the use of the land and, amongst other things, would allow it to be used for the "purpose of public walks and pleasure grounds".  Councillor Puddifoot advised that the Council would be applying for release from the covenant under provisions in the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).  As soon as the plans were ready to be made public in relation to the proposals for the site, Council would be informed.

 

By way of a supplementary question, Councillor Sweeting asked whether the residents of Yiewsley and West Drayton would be consulted to gain their views in relation to the future use of this important community asset before any decisions were made.

 

Councillor Puddifoot advised that the elections held every four years enabled residents to choose who they thought was best to represent them.  Individuals would have the opportunity to comment in relation to any associated planning application. 

 

9.5       QUESTION SUBMITTED BY COUNCILLOR KAUFFMAN TO THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL - COUNCILLOR PUDDIFOOT

 

"Would the Leader of the Council please let us know how much the Council received for recycled textiles in the last financial year?"

 

Councillor Puddifoot advised that the market value of textiles had fallen since September 2013 from £300 to £170 per tonne.  In 2014/2015, the average textile collection rate in the Borough was 5½ tonnes each month producing a receipt of £17,100.

 

By way of a supplementary question, Councillor Kauffman asked whether there were any plans to use these funds.

 

Councillor Puddifoot advised that, although this was a valuable service to residents, it did impact on charity shops.  As such, he would propose to Cabinet that the receipt be doubled to £34,200 and donate this amount to the Mayor's charity. 

 

9.6       QUESTION SUBMITTED BY COUNCILLOR FYFE TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR COMMUNITY, COMMERCE AND REGENERATION – COUNCILLOR D.MILLS

 

"Residents and traders are already seeing the benefits of our town centre improvement programme in Hayes. What further improvements are still to be carried out?"

 

Councillor D Mills advised that the first phase of work to modernise and refresh Hayes town centre had started in February 2015 and was on track for completion in the spring.  As a result of the work already undertaken, traffic flow had improved.

 

It was anticipated that the second phase would start in April/May 2016.  This phase would see the introduction of promotional signature features such as a new canopy to replace the bandstand and a distinctive new clock near the station.  Following the clean up of the Botwell Canal Bridge in October 2015, the Council had been in detailed discussions with Transport for London (TfL) and Crossrail in relation to funding further improvements to the bridge and to improve the commute from the station towards Coldharbour Lane.  Discussions had been undertaken with TfL and Great West Railway (and funding had been allocated by TfL) to refurbish and replace the EMI site railings outside Hayes train station. 

 

By way of a supplementary question, Councillor Fyfe asked what other town areas would receive new investment. 

 

Councillor D Mills advised that, following the successful development of Ruislip Manor, Northwood Hills and Harefield, the investment had been signed off and work was due to start soon in Belmont Parade (Barnhill Ward) to improve the area outside the Lidl supermarket.  Furthermore, Cavendish and Eastcote & East Ruislip Ward Councillors would be contacted in the next month in relation to proposals for Eastcote High Street. 

 

Discussions were underway with TfL to invest £2m in Uxbridge town centre which, it was anticipated, would attract additional private investment.  It was noted that large retailers had already expressed an interest in opening stores in Uxbridge as a result of the commitment from the local authority.  As well as providing an increased choice, residents would also benefit from new employment opportunities in the area. 

 

Discussions continued with Crossrail in relation to utilising funds in the West Drayton station area.  Councillor D Mills advised that the Council was only half way through the administration and those areas that had not yet been addressed had not been forgotten.

Councillor Morse moved, and Councillor Lakhmana seconded, the following motion:

 

"That this Council will amend Part Four, Schedule D (Access to Information Procedure Rules), Paragraph 22 (Filming, Recording and Reporting of Meetings), of the Council Constitution, to include the following additional paragraphs:

 

i)       The Council will make reasonable facilities available to the public to assist in recording meetings as far as is practical.

 

ii)     The Council has no responsibility or liability for, any filmed/ recorded/ photographed material made by any persons or its subsequent use or publication.

 

iii)    The Council will record Full Council and Cabinet Meetings to maintain a raw, unedited film and audio record of proceedings. The content of the recordings will be retained for 5 years and be available to all residents of the borough and councillors to provide full public access to proceedings."

 

Following debate (Councillors Bianco, Curling, Oswell and Puddifoot), the motion was put to the vote and lost.