Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd July 2024.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 22^nd July 2024 be approved and signed as a correct record.

There were no declarations.

Broadcast of the meeting

The Mayor announced that the meeting was being broadcast to the internet and may be filmed by members of the press or public.  Those speaking at the meeting were deemed to be agreeing to been recorded and broadcast.

By election results

The Chief Executive announced that, following the by-elections held on 5^th September 2024, Patricia Leman was duly elected as ward councillor for Camden Square ward, Joseph Ball was duly elected as ward councillor for Kentish Town South ward and Robert Thompson was duly elected as ward councillor for Kilburn ward.

Mayoral Trip to Ireland

The Mayor reported on her recent trip to Dublin and remarked that she would shortly be sharing a summary of the highlights with all Members.

Withdrawal of Item 11

The Mayor reported that, in the light of Councillor Rahman’s safe return to the country and her recent attendance at meetings, Item 11 on the agenda had been withdrawn by the Borough Solicitor.

Death of Honorary Alderman Roger Robinson

Councillors Cotton, Olszewski, Simon and Parkinson paid tribute to Alderman Roger Robinson, after which those present observed one minute’s silence in his memory.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ball, De Ayala Parker, Dixey, Fulbrook, Headlam-Wells, Revah and Vincent.

Requests to address the Council or to present a petition on a matter in which the authority has functions or which affects the area of the authority must be made in writing to the clerk named on the front of this agenda by 12 noon three working days before the meeting.

A deputation was heard from Billy Byatt about traffic management in South End Green, as per the deputation statement published on the supplementary agenda.

Members then asked questions of the deputee and the Cabinet Member for Planning and a Sustainable Camden responded to the deputation.

A deputation was then heard from Liz Wheatley of UNISON about bringing services in-house, as per the deputation statement published on the supplementary agenda.

Members then asked questions of the deputee and the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living responded to the deputation.

The Mayor then thanked the deputees for their attendance.

At this point in the meeting, there was disruption from the public gallery and, following warnings from the Mayor communicated on her behalf by the Borough Solicitor, the meeting was adjourned at 7.50pm in order for the gallery to be cleared.

The meeting resumed at 8.11pm.

The Cabinet Member for Better Homes will introduce the topic.

There will then be contributions from experts and community representatives, followed by questions and discussion.

Finally, the Cabinet Member will sum up.

Councillor Abdi-Wali introduced the report and the Council then heard from the following speakers:

Robert Taylor of the Camden Federation of Private Tenants spoke about the private rented sector being the most diverse housing tenure in the country and being where the poorest people and those most vulnerable to harm now lived.  As a result of the current situation, the Federation was now providing a cost of living crisis fund even though it was not funded to do this type of work.  He highlighted the differences between private tenants and council tenants, the primary one being that if a private tenant was experiencing problems with their landlord or home they did not tend to contact the Council and did not have a point of contact to direct them to services that could assist.  He stressed the importance of the Council not telling private tenants that they were only able to help those in council homes.  He felt that there was an urgent need for a new housing strategy, including a dedicated private rented sector strategy, and commented that the Renters Rights Bill would require some form of council enforcement and it was important for the resourcing of this to be properly understood.  He concluded that in order for the Council’s Estates and Neighbourhoods Mission to be successful it must involve private renters.

Gabriela Tocu of Citizens’ Advice Camden remarked that housing was now the second biggest area of concern for the 10,000+ individuals and families that Citizens’ Advice Camden assisted every year, the major issue being lack of affordability.  There were very few properties within the price bracket of the local housing allowance and those that were tended to be too small or in a poor state of repair.  People were unable to afford deposits or were having to choose between paying the rent and buying food.  Others were rejected by landlords because they were in receipt of benefits or had a poor credit rating.  People were signing tenancies without viewing properties and then finding that they were in a very poor state of repair.  Tenants often did not speak to landlords about disrepair as they were afraid of being charged, having their rent raised or being evicted.  Citizens’ Advice saw many clients who were the victims of illegal evictions or harassment by landlords, many of whom were often not aware of their responsibilities to their tenants.  There were frequent cases of landlords either not returning deposits or levying excessive charges for repairs.  They were also seeing a lot of repossessions and were providing advice on eligibility for homelessness services.

Ben Reeve-Lewis of Safer Renting talked about the Renters Rights Bill and specifically the measures relating to enforcement and the risks and opportunities they presented.  It would be the responsibility of local authorities to undertake this enforcement, but the government had made it clear that there would be no extra funding for this, so local authorities would need to think smarter.  Camden was in a good position as it did  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

The Leader of the Council will make a statement, followed by responses from the Leaders of the Liberal Democrat and Conservative Groups and then the Leader to sum up.  There will then be questions from Members to the Leader and Cabinet Members.

(There are no pages for this part of the agenda.)

Councillor Richard Olszewski, Leader of the Council, made a statement to those present.  Councillor Tom Simon, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, and then Councillor Steve Adams, Leader of the Conservative Group, made statement in response and Councillor Olszewski then made some final remarks.

The Leader and Cabinet Members then took questions from Members as follows:-

·         Councillor Simon asked the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living what impact he thought the two child benefit cap would have on families in Camden.  Councillor Aref-Adib remarked that the level of child poverty was appalling and 287 households were impacted by the two child cap in Camden.  It was important to think about the welfare system holistically and it was difficult to assess the impact of the two child limit without reform to the benefits cap, but it would take time for the new government to tackle these issues.  In response to a supplementary question, the Cabinet Member stated that he would not comment on whether he would support a motion to call on the government to lift the two child cap, but he acknowledged the challenge of rising poverty rates and observed that there were difficult decisions to be made.  Locally, the Council had awarded over 1500 discretionary payments to households with 3 or more children and it would continue to support larger families.

·         Councillor Gale asked the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living about the steps being taken to increase to uptake of pension credit in Camden.  Councillor Aref-Adib responded that the take up rate in Camden was above the national average and there had been a lot of work done on this in recent years, but there remained 400 eligible residents who were not claiming.  In collaboration with Age UK, letters were going out to those people and the money advice team would also be making targeted calls.  In response to a supplementary question about work with younger residents, he remarked that the Council continued to invest in one of the most generous cost of living funds in London and had one of the most generous council tax reduction schemes in the country.  He was also pleased that the household support fund had been extended to the end of the year, enabling the Council to continue to support the most vulnerable residents.

·         Councillor McNamara asked the Cabinet Member for Best Start for Children and Families about what steps were being taken to reduce the current autism diagnosis waiting time of 86 weeks and how parents were being supported while they waited.  Councillor Boyland thanked Councillor McNamara and her colleagues for their report on special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) provision.  He recognised the pressures on the system and he shared the concern about the long waiting times.  There had been recent work on reducing waiting times, including through the SEND inclusion board, and concerns had been formally raised with North Central London Integrated Commissioning Board who were working on establishing a standardised pathway.  Camden was also  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

Consideration was given to a report of the Borough Solicitor.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

Consideration was given to a report of the Borough Solicitor.

In relation to the nominations relating to the Planning Committee set out at paragraph 1.15 of the report, Councillor Gale proposed an amendment, with Councillor Djemai remaining on the Committee and Councillor Abdi-Wali stepping down instead.

RESOLVED –

(i)            THAT Councillor Leman be appointed to replace Councillor Tiwari on the Children, Schools and Families Scrutiny Committee;

(ii)          THAT Councillor Tiwari be appointed to the Culture and Environment Scrutiny Committee to fill the vacancy left by Councillor Aref-Adib’s appointment to Cabinet and that Councillor Thompson be appointed as a substitute member of the committee;

(iii)         THAT Councillors Leman and Ball be appointed as substitute members of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee;

(iv)         THAT Councillor Ball be appointed to the Housing Scrutiny Committee to fill the vacancy left by Councillor Djemai’s appointment to the Cabinet and that Councillor Rahman be appointed as a substitute member of the committee;

(v)          THAT Councillor Thompson be appointed to replace Councillor Slater on the Resources and Corporate Performance Scrutiny Committee;

(vi)         THAT Councillor Thompson be appointed to fill the vacancy for a substitute member on the North Central London Joint Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee;

(vii)        THAT Councillor Slater be appointed to replace Councillor Aref-Adib on the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee;

(viii)       THAT Councillor Leman be appointed to replace Councillor Greenwood on the Audit and Corporate Governance (Accessible Transport Appeals) Panel;

(ix)         THAT Councillor Lenga be appointed as a substitute member on the Audit and Corporate Governance (Staff Appeals) Sub-Committee;

(x)          THAT Councillor Aref-Adib be appointed to fill the vacancy on the Audit and Corporate Governance (Performance Review) Sub-Committee;

(xi)         THAT Councillor Leman be appointed to fill the vacancy on the Audit and Corporate Governance (Statutory Officers’ Appeal) Sub-Committee;

(xii)        THAT Councillor Lenga be appointed to fill the vacancy on the Audit and Corporate Governance (Executive Directors’ Appeal) Sub-Committee;

(xiii)       THAT Councillors Leman, Thompson and Ball be appointed to fill the vacancies on the Audit and Corporate Governance (Appointments Panel) Sub-Committee;

(xiv)      THAT Councillor Hanson be appointed as a substitute member on the Pension Committee;

(xv)       THAT Councillors Hanson, Harrison and Thompson be appointed to the Planning Committee to replace Councillor Abdi-Wali and fill the two vacancies;

(xvi)      THAT Councillors Ball and Leman be appointed to replace Councillors Hanson and Olszewski on the Licensing Committee and that Councillor Ball be appointed to fill the resulting vacancy on Licensing Panel D and Councillor Leman be appointed to fill the resulting vacancy on Licensing Panel E;

(xvii)     THAT Councillor Filer be appointed to replace Councillor Lenga on the Standing Advisory Council for Religious Education; and

(xviii)    THAT Councillor Aref-Adib be appointed to replace Councillor Olszewski on the Pension Board.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

Consideration was given to a report of the Borough Solicitor.

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

This report was withdrawn from the agenda.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Corporate Services on the main agenda and to a reference from the Cabinet contained on the supplementary agenda, which were introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living.

Following comments and questions from Members and a summing up from the Cabinet Member for Finance and Cost of Living, it was

RESOLVED –

THAT the Treasury Management Annual Report (paragraphs 3.3 to 3.18 of the report) and the Mid-Year Strategy (paragraphs 3.19 to 3.46 of the report) be approved.

Consideration was given to a report of the Executive Director Adults and Health and a reference from the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee, which were introduced by the Chair of the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee.

RESOLVED –

THAT the changes to the terms of reference of the Health and Wellbeing Board set out in paragraphs 2.1 and 2.2 of the report be agreed.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care

Consideration was given to a report of the Cabinet Member for Health, Wellbeing and Adult Social Care.   

Following a comment from a Member, it was

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

This item was not considered due to lack of time.

During this part of the meeting any Member may make a contribution of up to two minutes primarily on any matter which affects their ward.

(There are no pages for this part of the agenda.)

This item was not considered due to lack of time.

There was no urgent business.