Skip to main content

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Westminster Council House, 97-113 Marylebone Road, London, NW1 5PT

Contact: Reuben Segal, Head of Committee and Governance Services  Email:  rsegal@westminster.gov.uk Tel: 020 7641 3160

Live Broadcast: recordingofmeeting

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Relief Chairman

To appoint a relief Chairman.

 

 

 

Minutes:

1.1      Motion moved by the Lord Mayor and seconded by Councillor Paul Swaddle, that Councillor Judith Warner be elected as Relief Chairman.

 

1.2      Motion put, and on a show of hands, declared CARRIED.

 

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 200 KB

To sign the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council meeting held on the 26th June 2019 as a true and correct record.

Minutes:

2.1      The minutes of the proceedings at the Council meeting held on Wednesday 26 June 2019 were, with the assent of the Members present, signed by the Lord Mayor as a true record of the proceedings.

3.

Lord Mayor's Communications

1.               The Lord Mayor to report that, on 5 June, she attended a reception for new London Borough Mayors in Pimlico.

 

2.               The Lord Mayor to report that, on 6 June, she attended Beating the Retreat at Horse Guards Parade.

 

3.               The Lord Mayor to report that, on 8 June, she was in attendance during Trooping the Colour at Horse Guards Parade, in the presence of HM The Queen.

 

4.               The Lord Mayor to report that, on 8 June, she attended a graduation ceremony at the American School in London.

 

5.               The Lord Mayor to report that, on 9 June, she attended a reception to mark 40 years of The Avenues Youth Project.

 

6.               The Lord Mayor to report that, on 14 June, she attended the Annual Ladies Day Luncheon hosted by the Master Mariners onboard HQS Wellington.

 

7.               The Lord Mayor to report that, on 19 June, she met with the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Norway in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour.

 

8.               The Lord Mayor to report that, on 20 June, she attended a reception onboard HMS Enterprise in Canary Wharf.

 

9.               The Lord Mayor to report that, on 21 June, she attended the Make Music Day Recital at Westminster Music Library.

 

10.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 27 June, she hosted a reception to mark Armed Forces Day in the Lord Mayor’s Parlour.

 

11.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 28 June, she attended the annual Petertide Dinner at Westminster Abbey.

 

12.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 30 June, she attended the MyWestminster Day at Paddington Recreation Ground.

 

13.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 6 July, she marched in the Pride March throughout Westminster.

 

14.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 9 July, she presented awards at the WCC Community Awards at City Hall.

 

15.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 13 July, she attended the 85th Annual Belgian Parade at the Cenotaph.

 

16.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 14 July, she supported Westminster Cadets at the London Police Cadet Parade in Gravesend.

17.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 27 July, she attended the Enthronement of Archbishop Nikitas at the Greek Orthodox Cathedral.

 

18.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 6 August she attended a luncheon and reception onboard HMS Westminster on her visit to London.

 

19.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 7 August, the Lord Mayor granted HMS Westminster the Freedom of the City and took part in the Parade, beginning at Horse Guards Parade and ending with a reception in City Hall.

 

20.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 13 August, she attended the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra Day at Pimlico Toy Library.

 

21.            The Lord Mayor to report that, on 23 August, she attended the Launch of the Active Streets Programme.

 

 

Minutes:

3.1      The Lord Mayor advised the Council, with deep regret, of the passing in August of Honorary Alderman Alan Bradley.

 

3.2       Alan was first elected as a Westminster City Councillor on 4 May 1978 and retired in 2014, having served as a Councillor for 36 years.  He represented St George’s ward up to 2002 and then Tachbrook until his retirement. He served as Lord Mayor from 1995 to 1996 and chaired almost all of the City Council’s committees as well as serving as a Cabinet Member. He was conferred with the title of Honorary Alderman in November 2014.

 

3.3      Councillors Aiken, Dimoldenberg and Angela Harvey spoke in tribute following which the Council stood in silence in memory of Hon Alderman Alan Bradley.

 

 

 

 

                    

          

 

 

 

 

4.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

4.1      There were none.

5.

Statement on Urgent Matters

With the approval of the Chairman of the meeting, the Leader of the Council may make a statement on an urgent matter and the Leader of the Opposition will have an equivalent right of reply.

Minutes:

5.1       There were none.

6.

Petitions and Deputations, if any

Minutes:

6.1      Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg presented a petition from Queen’s Park residents calling on the Council and EcoWorld to make an immediate start to the long-delayed new housing on the site of the former Jubilee Sports Centre in Caird Street, W10. 

 

6.2      Councillor Gotz Mohindra presented a petition from Wharncliffe Estate residents in St Johns Wood calling on the Council to install CCTV on their Estate

 

6.3      Councillor Geoff Barraclough presented a petition from a local resident calling on the Council to reconsider the proposed rent increase for Carlton Hill Community Nursery.

 

6.4      The petitions were referred to the relevant Chief Officers for reporting to the relevant Cabinet Members.

 

7.

Questions

The Lord Mayor will call Members who indicate that they wish to ask a question after the Leader of the Opposition has asked his questions.

Minutes:

7.1      The questions, supplementary questions and replies are included on the Council’s website.

 

8.

Councillor Issues

Councillor Jim Glen - Practical Steps towards a Healthier Greener       Pimlico

 

Minutes:

(a)        Practical Steps towards a Healthier Greener Pimlico

 

            Councillor Jim Glen spoke and Councillor Tim Mitchell replied.

 

 

 

 

 

9.

Future Policy Plan pdf icon PDF 209 KB

To consider items for debate from the attached Future Policy Plan.

Minutes:

9.1      No items were selected for debate on the Future Policy Plan.

10.

General Purposes Committee Report: 11 September 2019 pdf icon PDF 130 KB

To receive, consider and debate, if chosen, the report of the General Purposes Committee which include recommendations to Council for decision:

 

Appendix 1:  Parental Leave Policy for Councillors and Amendment of 2019-20 Members’ Allowance Scheme

 

REPORT

 

Appendix A

 

Appendix B

 

 

Appendix 2: Change to Programme of Council Meetings 2019-20

REPORT

 

Appendix 3: Amendment to the Members’ Code of Conduct

 

REPORT

 

 

Proposed Amendment to the Code of Conduct

 

 

 

Minutes:

10.1    The Lord Mayor put the recommendation of the General Purposes Committee report to the vote and on a show of hands declared the recommendations ADOPTED.

 

1.        Parental Leave Policy for Elected Members and Amendment to the Members’ Allowances Scheme 2019-2020

 

                     RESOLVED:

 

(i)              To adopt a Maternity, Paternity and Adoption Leave Policy for Councillors as set out in Appendix 1 to the report.

 

(ii)             To enable Councillors to claim reimbursement of care expenses when they attend approved duties and incur costs for the provision of care for children or adult dependants.

 

(iii)           To amend the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2019-2020 as set out in Appendix 1 to the report which incorporated the above mentioned provisions.

 

            2.     Changes to Full Council Meetings 2019-2020

 

                   RESOLVED:

 

                   (i)       To change the Council meeting on 13th November                   from an Extraordinary meeting to an Ordinary meeting.

                   (ii)       To change the Council meeting on 4th March from an Ordinary meeting to an Extraordinary meeting in order to receive a report including recommendations in respect of the reception of a speech by the Leader of the Council on council priorities and financial aims and to consider budget proposals in the form of estimates of income and expenditure for 2020 - 2021 as set out in Council Procedure Rules, Section 9.4 (1)(c) and 9.21 (1-3). 

           3.        Amendment to the Members’ Code of Conduct

 

                        RESOLVED:

 

                        To revise the Members’ Code of Conduct (as set out in Appendix 3 to the report) with effect from 19 September 2019 and to amend the Constitution accordingly.

 

 

 

11.

General Purposes Urgency Sub-committee Report: 28 August & 4 September Appointment of Independent Persons pdf icon PDF 68 KB

To receive, consider and debate, if chosen, the following report which contains a recommendation to the Council for decision.

Minutes:

11.1    RESOLVED:  That the Council appoint Elizabeth Walters and Shajad        Hussain as Independent Persons.

12.

Notice of Motion

(a)      Climate Emergency

 

Moved by Councillor Tim Mitchell and seconded by Councillor Karen Scarborough

 

The Council notes:

 

1.     The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which outlined the need for immediate action if global temperatures are to be kept within 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels.

 

2.     That tackling climate change has been a key priority for this Council and decisive action has already been taken to create a more sustainable environment through the commitment to deliver a healthier and greener city in its City for All plan and the steps to maintaining, protecting and improving the environment set out in the 10-year Greener City Action Plan. Such actions include:

 

·            Installing one of the most extensive Electric Vehicle infrastructure networks in the country having recently doubled our network with currently over 400 charging points installed across the city.   We continue to install EV infrastructure across the city.

 

·            Introducing a city-wide diesel parking surcharge to reduce the numbers of older more polluting diesel vehicles using our roads.

 

·            Reducing the Council’s own energy consumption and associated carbon emissions by more than 40% between 2014/15 and 2017/18.

 

·            Investing in solar improvements across its housing portfolio, as well as managing and delivering one of the UK’s longest running district heat networks; the Pimlico District Heating Unit (PDHU), supplying low carbon heat to over 3,500 local households, three schools and over 50 commercial customers.

 

·            Running the award winning #dontbeidle campaign to raise the awareness of the need to cut idling emissions.

 

·            Establishing a School Clean Air Fund (SCAF) to support our primary and nursery schools to deliver air quality improvements to protect the health of our children.

 

The Council resolves to:

 

1.          Declare a climate emergency.

 

2.          Become a net zero carbon emissions Council by 2030, which will include influencing and encouraging companies in the investment in and development of cleaner fuels and renewable energy and taking positive action to ensure that our suppliers make significant progress in the reduction of their carbon footprints.

 

3.          Put in place policies which achieve net zero carbon emissions in the City of Westminster by 2040, ten years ahead of the Government target for the country.

 

4.          Support ongoing dialogue with the community about environmental issues in the city and action the Council can take to tackle activity which is harmful to our environment.

 

5.          Work with partners in the city to make the case to Government for the necessary legislative reforms and funding to support Westminster’s ambitions for a greener city.

 

6.          Ask the City Management and Public Protection Policy & Scrutiny Committee to receive a report from the Cabinet Member for Environment and City Management in Spring 2020 on progress made since this motion was passed.

 

(b)      Climate Emergency

 

Moved by Councillor Pancho Lewis and seconded by Councillor Andrea Mann.

 

This Council notes that:

 

1.              The climate crisis is an existential threat. It is arguably the single biggest challenge facing humankind today.

2.              According to a recent UN report, global emissions of greenhouse gases must be halved by  ...  view the full agenda text for item 12.

Minutes:

12.1    The Majority Party had selected for debate the notice of motion (a) Climate Emergency as set out on the agenda.  The notice of motion was moved by Councillor Tim Mitchell and seconded by Councillor Karen Scarborough.

 

12.2    The Minority Party had submitted an amendment to the notice of motion as set out on the order paper. 

 

12.3    Councillor Pancho Lewis moved and it was seconded by Councillor Andrea Mann that the notice of motion be amended, as follows:

 

           At the end of 'The Council Resolves' point 2, to add ‘It will become a truly zero carbon Council by 2050 when it will no longer use offsets to achieve its zero carbon target.’

 

           At the end of 'The Council Resolves' point 4, to add ‘It will strongly consider the use of Climate Assemblies as a model to facilitate this dialogue.’

 

           After 'The Council Resolves' point 6, to add two further resolutions to be numbered 7 and 8:

 

           7. Work with contractors and other partners to conduct an audit of the emissions linked to food offered on Council premises to reduce the food miles involved and provide improved meat-free options.

 

           8. Sign the UK100 clean energy pledge which commits to shifting the Council towards receiving 100% of its energy from clean sources by 2050.’

 

12.4    Following debate, Councillor Aiken agreed to accept the amendment to         the motion. 

 

12.5    Councillor Lewis advised in view of the Leader’s acceptance that the Minority Party’s notice of motion (b, Climate Emergency) was withdrawn.

 

12.6    The Lord Mayor put the substantive motion to the vote and on a show of hands declared the substantive motion carried.

 

           RESOLVED:

 

           The Council notes:

 

1.     The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report, which outlined the need for immediate action if global temperatures are to be kept within 1.5°C of pre-industrial levels.

 

2.     That tackling climate change has been a key priority for this Council and decisive action has already been taken to create a more sustainable environment through the commitment to deliver a healthier and greener city in its City for All plan and the steps to maintaining, protecting and improving the environment set out in the 10-year Greener City Action Plan. Such actions include:

 

·         Installing one of the most extensive Electric Vehicle infrastructure networks in the country having recently doubled our network with currently over 400 charging points installed across the city.   We continue to install EV infrastructure across the city.

 

·         Introducing a city-wide diesel parking surcharge to reduce the numbers of older more polluting diesel vehicles using our roads.

 

·         Reducing the Council’s own energy consumption and associated carbon emissions by more than 40% between 2014/15 and 2017/18.

 

·         Investing in solar improvements across its housing portfolio, as well as managing and delivering one of the UK’s longest running district heat networks; the Pimlico District Heating Unit (PDHU), supplying low carbon heat to over 3,500 local households, three schools and over 50 commercial customers.

 

·         Running the award winning #dontbeidle campaign to raise the awareness of the need to cut  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.