Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence was received from Councillor Mills and Councillor East, with Councillor Ahmad-Wallana substituting.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 4 January 2018 were agreed as a correct record.

It was agreed that all items would be considered in public.

The Committee received the comments from Policy Overview Committees on the Cabinet's draft budget proposals for 2018/19.

The Labour Group noted the comments from the Labour Members on the budget proposals that were included in the minutes of the four Policy Overview Committees, attached as an appendix to the report.

Members agreed to note the budget and forward it to Cabinet for approval.

RESOLVED: The Committee noted the budget proposals and submitted the agreed set of comments to Cabinet for consideration.

The report introduced by the Democratic Services Officer outlined the background to the Council's Youtube broadcasting of council meetings and feedback from residents in relation to meetings that were attended or watched online.

Members heard that the viewing of council meetings online compares favourably with the few other local authorities that also do this within the UK, with over 25,000 people having watched meetings online since broadcasts began in 2016. The Committee was also informed that resident feedback was overall positive, with 81% satisfied.

Members noted that the satisfaction at Planning Committees was lower than other meetings, and heard that in some cases this was due to the respondent being unhappy with the decision made at the meeting, as opposed to the meeting process.

It was noted that satisfaction at Planning Committees may also improve if the maps and plans were made more visible on the screens, and the quality of photos taken by officers was improved. Members requested that this information was relayed to the Planning Department.

Responding to Members' questioning, the Democratic Services Officer confirmed that Petition Hearings were not usually recorded on Youtube, although if a hearing was held regarding a high-profile petition that had attractive a number of signatures, then it was possible to broadcast the meeting. It was noted that broadcasting equipment was only available in the Council Chamber and Committee Rooms 5 and 6.

Councillors asked whether a breakdown of the 25,000 views could be achieved to find out how many viewers were residents of Hillingdon, and questioned whether it would be possible to subtitle broadcasts or look into transcriptions to ensure that the broadcasts were accessible for deaf residents.

The Committee thanked the Democratic Services Manager for the quality of the report, and noted that the content was very interesting.

RESOLVED: That the report regarding Resident Engagement in Democracy was noted.

Members considered the draft recommendations that were to be included in the Committee's review regarding Homophobic, Biphobic and Transphobic Bullying, and noted that they wanted to ensure the recommendations were as strong as possible.

It was agreed that a further recommendation be included to ensure the Council put out a press statement celebrating LGBT awareness on the occasion of the London Pride festival, and fly the rainbow flag outside the Council on this date. Members noted that it was vital the Council led by example and action that was supportive of the LGBT community would send an important message to the rest of the community.

Members also agreed that the wording of recommendation four be changed to state that "The Committee recommend that the Council becomes a 'Stonewall Diversity Champion'".

The Committee also noted that the review should be publicised in the Hillingdon People magazine, with comments from both the Chairman of the Committee and Labour Lead Member, to advertise the review.

RESOLVED: Members agreed to publicise the final report into homophobic, biphobic and transphobic bullying in the Hillingdon People magazine, and confirmed the recommendations for the review, subject to the following changes:

1.    The addition of a recommendation which ensures the Council put out a press statement and fly the rainbow flag outside the Council on the date on London Pride to celebrate LGBT awareness; and

2.    That recommendation four be reworded to state that "the Committee recommend that the Council becomes a Stonewall Diversity Champion".

RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan be noted.

The Chairman confirmed he was unable to attend the meeting scheduled for June 2018, and asked that the Vice-Chairman be informed and asked to chair the meeting.

RESOLVED: That the work programme be noted, subject to the addition of the Work Programme for 2018-19 to the meeting in March 2018.