Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 16^th July 2018.

RESOLVED –

THAT the minutes of the meeting held on 16^th July 2018 be approved and signed as a correct record.

In relation to Item 7, Councillor Simon indicated that it was his intention to ask a question about the Chalcots Estate and declared a non-pecuniary interest as a resident of the estate.

In relation to Item 10(b), Councillor Parkinson declared an interest as an advisor to the committee of the Hampstead Neighbourhood Forum.

In relation to Item 10(b), Councillor Cooper declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of the committee of the Hampstead Neighbourhood Forum.

Opening of Brayshaw House

The Mayor announced that she had recently attended to opening of Brayshaw House, a new social housing development named in honour of late Councillor Peter Brayshaw.

London Councils Apprenticeships Awards

The Mayor announced that the Camden Apprenticeships Team had won an award for its work to secure apprenticeships through the planning system and to promote STEAM apprenticeships.

Local Authority Pension Fund Investment Awards

The Mayor announced that the Camden Council Pension Fund, chaired by Councillor Madlani, had won the award for the best approach to environmental, social and governance impact investing.

Councillor Sian Berry

The Mayor congratulated Councillor Berry on her election as Co-Leader of the Green Party.

Councillor Roger Robinson

The Mayor congratulated Councillor Robinson on the birth of his twin grandchildren.

Sir Alan Greengross

The Mayor announced the death of former Councillor Sir Alan Greengross.  Tributes were paid by Councillors Cotton, Fulbrook, Robinson, Cooper and Rea and the Council stood for one minute’s silence in memory of Sir Alan.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Russell, Shah, Taheri and Wood.

A petition was presented to the Council by Kirsten de Keyser on the subject of the use of the weedkiller glyphosphate.  A copy of the petition is attached as an appendix to these minutes.

Members asked questions of the petitioners and the Cabinet Member for Improving Camden’s Environment responded to the topic of the petition.

The Mayor thanked the petitioners for attending the meeting.

The Cabinet Member for Young People and Cohesion 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 Hai, Cabinet Member for Young People and Cohesion, introduced the report and then the Council heard from the following speakers:-

Neil Moss of Camden Faith Forum spoke of an event held by South Hampstead Synagogue and St Saviour’s Church for the Great Get Together in memory of Jo Cox MP, and of the attack on worshippers outside a north London mosque that took place on the same day, which was an assault on shared values.  In Camden, the Faith Leaders’ Forum existed to promote community cohesion and interfaith dialogue, and to support Camden 2025.  He paid tribute to the officers who supported the Forum and highlighted its vital role in promoting shared understanding and unity across communities.  He referred to the solidarity and support shown by faith leaders in the face of recent decisions by the coroner, and the total unity shown at a public meeting on the topic, and thanked Members for the cross party support that had been shown.  He referenced the dozens of initiatives taking place within faith communities in Camden to promote mutual understanding and unity and commented on the strong sense of civic and social responsibility within those communities which was available to be harnessed.  A recurring theme at Forum meetings was the need to tackle hate speech, which was very much on the rise, and technology companies needed to be encouraged to be part of the solution.  People of all backgrounds, all faiths and none needed to stand together to show that discrimination of any kind and via any medium would not be tolerated.

Adejare Oyewole of Camden Black Workers’ Group spoke about the recent Black History Month events.  Austerity had hit black workers in Camden very hard and it was considered important for black workers to have a dialogue with the leadership of the Council.  Thus a small team had been established to work on a more ambitious programme for Black History Month and the Council’s leadership had been given the chance to input.  The job of achieving full equality was not yet done and austerity continued to have an impact, including an increase in violence.  Black History Month was intended to inspire young people and efforts to bring communities together would continue.  It was possible to create an environment where discrimination was the exception and he invited those present to the join the Black Workers Group in the Chamber on 19^th October for the Black History Month event.

Charmaine Brown of Queen’s Crescent Community Centre commented that at the Centre they addressed health inequalities and wealth gaps within Camden.  She had designed a women’s nutrition project, particularly targeting women from ethnic minority communities, a group which tended to suffer major health inequalities as well as sexism and racism.  Women and children were taught to cook healthy meals and the programme was tailored to cater for the local community, working with people to change their dietary habits and to pass what they learned on to future generations.  It was important to  ...  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 Conservative and Liberal Democrat 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 Gould, the Leader of the Council, made a statement to those present.  Councillor Cooper, Leader of the Conservative Group, and then Councillor Rea, Leader of the Liberal Democrat Group, then made statement in response.  Councillor Gould then made some final remarks.

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

·         Councillor Mulholland asked what sort of changes could be expected as a result of the recommendations of the Youth Safety Taskforce and the allocation of £500k of funding, and how could communities and individuals contribute to keeping young people safe?  Councillor Gould responded that Camden’s communities had been shocked and saddened by recent events and the community response had been moving.  She thanked Councillor Hai and Kier Starmer MP for their work on the Taskforce.  Key changes that she would like to see as a result of the recommendations were trauma informed practice across schools and youth centres and support for young adults to get into work.  The Council could not do this alone and so was getting together a group of people to take forward the recommendations.

·         Councillor Parkinson asked whether the insurance cover for 31 Daleham Gardens covered the full cost of reinstating the building as he felt that, as the area had little social housing, this building should be reinstated like-for-like.  Councillor Apak responded that conversations were ongoing with all the leaseholders in the building in order to explore all the options and the future of the building had yet to be determined.  In response to a supplementary question he stated that the excess on the insurance policy was £500k, which would be covered through the self-insurance policy that Camden operated, and the remainder was covered by insurance.

·         Councillor Simon asked when the second phase of the Chalcots Review would take place as there were still important questions that needed answering.  Was there some preliminary work that could be undertaken pending the resolution of the current legal action?  Councillor Gould responded that there were questions to be answered and this would happen.  The first priority though was to hold those responsible for what happened accountable and to get some money back for the taxpayer.  Work was ongoing to look into the issues and the Council was also continually reviewing its fire safety practice and procedures.  In response to a supplementary question, Councillor Gould undertook to take legal advice and then any documents that could be released at this stage would be.

·         Councillor Cotton asked what was being done to lobby for more police officers, given the increase in crime and the decrease in the number of officers in Camden in recent years.  Councillor Gould responded that the rise in anti-social behaviour was an issue that residents told her about on a daily basis and the Police service was stretched.  The Council was doing what it could to help, including investing in hot spot teams, but it could not fill the gap left by government cuts and this was not a long term solution.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

There were no nominations made.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation and to the reference from the Cabinet, which were introduced by the Cabinet Member for Finance and Transformation.

Members asked questions and made comments, after which Councillor Olszewski summed up.  It was then

RESOLVED –

(i)            THAT the Treasury Management Annual Report (paragraph 3.3 of the report onwards) and mid-year strategy (paragraph 3.19 of the report onwards) be approved; and

(ii)          THAT the recommended investment limit for Ultra Short-Dated Bond Funds of £75m per fund, as discussed in paragraph 3.32 of the report, be approved.

Consideration was given to the report of the Cabinet Member for Investing in Communities and to the reference from the Cabinet, which were introduced by the Cabinet Member for Investing in Communities.

Members then asked questions and made comments, after which Councillor Beales briefly summed up.  It was then

RESOLVED –

THAT the Hampstead Neighbourhood Plan – Referendum Version, as attached at Appendix 2 to the report, be made.

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor and to the reference from the Audit and Corporate Governance Scrutiny Committee, both of which were introduced by the Chair of the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee.

Members then asked questions and made comments, after which Councillor Quadir summed up.  It was then

RESOLVED –

(i)            THAT the Constitution be amended as set out in the report; and

(ii)          THAT authority to delegated to the Borough Solicitor to make all necessary changes to the Constitution.

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor and to the reference from the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee, which were introduced by the Chair of the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee.

It was then

RESOLVED –

(i)            THAT the Council’s response to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, as part of the preliminary period reviewing the number of councillors,  be agreed; and

(ii)          THAT authority be delegated to the Borough Solicitor to submit the response to the Local Government Boundary Commission for England, making any minor amendments as required for submission, noting the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee’s direction on corrections and condensing the response.

Consideration was given to the report of the Borough Solicitor and to the reference from the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee, which were introduced by the Chair of the Audit and Corporate Governance Committee.

It was then

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

Consideration was given to a report of the Borough Solicitor and to a reference from the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee, which were introduced by the Chair of the Health and Adult Social Care Scrutiny Committee.

It was then

RESOLVED –

THAT the Camden and Islington Joint Health Scrutiny Committee be established with the terms of reference, membership and operating arrangements set out in the report.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Tackling Health Inequality and Promoting Independence

Consideration was given to the report which was introduced by the Cabinet Member for Tackling Health Inequality and Promoting Independence.

Members then asked questions and made comments, after which Councillor Callaghan summed up.  It was then

RESOLVED –

THAT the report be noted.

This report 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 die to lack of time.

There was no such business.