Agenda and minutes

Prayers were said by Father Philip Blandford.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Allam, Baker, Barnes, Duncan, East, MacDonald and White.

Those present were advised that the Mayor had given permission for a number of Members to use IT equipment to view the agenda during the meeting.

To receive the minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2011 (attached)

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 7 July 2011 be agreed as a correct record.

The Mayor announced that, since the start of her Mayoralty, the number of events that had been attended by the Mayor, the Deputy Mayor and past Mayors on the Mayor’s behalf totalled 217.  It was noted that a substantial amount of money had been raised for the Mayor’s charities during this period. 

Members were advised that the Mayor’s Quiz Night would be taking place in the Middlesex Suite on Tuesday 13 September 2011. 

(i)         URGENT IMPLEMENTATION OF DECISIONS

Councillor Puddifoot moved the recommendation as set out on the Order of Business.  This was seconded by Councillor Bianco, then put to the vote and agreed.

RESOLVED: That the Urgency decisions detailed in the report be noted.

To consider a recommendation from Cabinet for submission of the draft Core Strategy to the Secretary of State.

Councillor Burrows moved the recommendations as set out on the Order of Business.  This was seconded by Councillor D Mills.  Following debate (Councillors Khursheed and Puddifoot), the motion was put to the vote and agreed.

RESOLVED: That the:

1. Local Development Framework Pre-Submission Draft Core Strategy
2. Schedule of Proposed Changes
3. Report of Consultations on the Pre-Submission Draft Core Strategy
4. Consultation Statement for the Consultation Draft Core Strategy; and
5. Final Sustainability Appraisal Report

be submitted to the Secretary of State for formal examination and that the Deputy Chief Executive, Corporate Director of Planning, Environment, Education & Community Services, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Planning, Transportation and Recycling, be authorised to make any further minor amendments required during the examination stage.

To consider a recommendation from Cabinet for the adoption of the Plan (attached)

Councillor Simmonds moved the recommendation as set out on the Order of Business.  This was seconded by Councillor Riley.  Following debate (Councillor Curling), the motion was put to the vote and agreed.

RESOLVED: That the Hillingdon Children and Families Trust Plan 2011-2014, as set out in the Appendix of the report, be adopted.

To take questions submitted by Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11

8.1       QUESTION SUBMITTED BY COUNCILLOR FYFE TO THE CABINET MEMBER FOR EDUCATION AND CHILDRENS’ SERVICES – COUNCILLOR SIMMONDS

“Would the Cabinet Member for Education and Children's Services assure me that there will be no delay in the delivery, or the quality of provision, of the required number of new primary school places in Hayes to ensure that every child in Hayes has a school place close to where they live?”

Councillor Simmonds responded that the Council had no intention of providing children in Hillingdon with a sub-standard education.  He advised that the Council sought to ensure that the new primary school places in Hayes would be of at least an equal standard to all other school places. 

Councillor Simmonds acknowledged that there had recently been a lot of debate in the media about free schools.  He noted that facilities and buildings existed within the Borough that were of an adequate standard and could be used for education purposes but that the Council had a clear agenda to ensure that its education provision met high standards in terms of teaching and facilities. 

Councillor Simmonds advised that the decision to build on green belt land was a difficult one but that the Council would not shy away from making difficult decisions.  With regard to the possibility of building on contaminated land, Councillor Simmonds stated that this was not an option that would be considered. 

Councillor Fyfe, by way of a supplementary question, asked whether the freedoms provided by the Academies Act 2010 would assist in the provision of high education standards.

Councillor Simmonds responded that, currently, more than half of the schools in the Borough were Academies and that there were more schools that were considering the possibility of becoming Academies.  He stated that it would be for each school to consider what benefits Academy status would bring them.  He also noted that there were a number of free school providers in the process of creation. 

8.2       QUESTION SUBMITTED BY COUNCILLOR RICHARD MILLS TO THE LEADER OF THE COUNCIL – COUNCILLOR PUDDIFOOT

“Whilst we appreciate the current national economic position, in Hillingdon we appear to be doing better financially than many other local authorities, so will the Leader of the Council consider recommending to Cabinet that funding be allocated to the ward budget initiative that was so popular with Members and residents in the last Administration?”

In reference to the Council’s economic position, Councillor Puddifoot responded that Cabinet, at its meeting on 28 July 2011, had received a report on the outturn to 31 March 2011.  The 2010/11 savings target had initially been set at £10m but that, as a result of a £2.9m reduction in Government funding and a £2.5m adjustment for losses on banking investments, this had been revised to approximately £15.5m.  Although all councils had been faced with similar challenges, Hillingdon had acted early to ensure that its budget balanced – this meant that there had been no library closures, no Council Tax increases and the number of redundancies had been kept to a minimum.  As a result, Hillingdon had achieved its £15.5m in savings as well as an additional £3.6m. 

Councillor Puddifoot stated that the savings target for 2011/2012 had been set at £16m and that, by the end of July 2011, the Council was £1.4m ahead of target.  In light of this excellent performance, the Leader was pleased to announce that the Ward Budget Initiative would be reinstated from 1 October 2011.  Each Ward would be allocated £15k for the last six months of the financial year on largely similar terms as before.  However, this time any Ward Budget left over at the end of the year could be carried forward into the subsequent year.  Councillor Puddifoot advised that more information about the Ward Budgets would be available in due course.  It was noted that the total cost of the Ward Budget initiative in 2011/2012 would be £330k which would be in addition to the £1m Chrysalis funding that was available. 

Councillor Puddifoot stated that, despite the difficult economic times, Hillingdon would continue to deliver good services to its residents. 

There was no supplementary question.

To consider Motions submitted by Members in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12

9.1       MOTION FROM COUNCILLOR NELSON

Councillor Nelson moved the following motion:

“This Council recognises the importance of Black History Month locally, nationally and internationally. This Council will endeavour to protect and actively uphold the history, heritage and culture of all its residents.

The Council seems to have forgotten why Black History Month (BHM) was launched in 1987 in the UK under the African Jubilee year declaration. The Declaration bound Councils to undertake to organise events that publicise, encourage and implement the tenets of the Declaration. There was also a commitment to promote positive imagery, achievements and contributions of Africans at home and abroad over a wide range of endeavours, plus naming buildings, parks or monuments or streets after notable Africans, such as the CLR James Library in Hackney, and Mandela Street in Camden.

The purpose of BHM is to empower Africans who are generally marginalised and disadvantaged on numerous fronts, to increase their self-worth and knowledge, and indeed for the wider community to also learn more about the achievements of Africans, which are not often found in mainstream education or media.

Over the last two years this Council has not marked Black History Month. Residents and groups of African origin have raised concern that over the last two years this Council has used the month of October to celebrate Hillingdon history month instead of recognising October as Black History Month where the focus should be on the history of people of African descent.

I call upon this Council to re-focus the month of October as the month to celebrate African history.”

The motion was seconded by Councillor Allen.  Following debate (Councillors Corthorne, Gilham, Higgins, Major, D Mills and Puddifoot), the motion was put to a recorded vote.

Those voting for:  Councillors Allen, Bliss, Curling, Dhillon, Gardner, Ghei, Harmsworth, Jarjussey, Khursheed, Lakhmana, Major, Nelson, Sandhu and Sansarpuri.

Those voting against:  The Mayor (Councillor O’Connor), the Deputy Mayor (Councillor Markham), Councillors Barker, Barrett, Benson, Bianco, Brar, Bridges, Bull, Burrows, Buttivant, G Cooper, J Cooper, Corthorne, Crowe, Dann, Fyfe, Gilham, Graham, Harper-O'Neill, Hensley, Higgins, Jackson, Jenkins, Kauffman, Kelly, Kemp, Lavery, Lewis, Melvin, D Mills, R Mills, Morgan, O'Brien, Payne, Puddifoot, Retter, Riley, Routledge, Seaman-Digby, Simmonds, Stead and Yarrow.

Those abstaining:  None.

The motion was lost.