Agenda and minutes

Council - Wednesday 9th November, 2022 7.00 pm

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

Contact: Janis Best, Committee and Councillor Support Manager  Email:  jbest@westminster.gov.uk Tel: 07971 920521

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Appointment of Relief Chair

To appoint a relief Chair.

Minutes:

1.1          Motion moved by the Lord Mayor and seconded by Councillor Matt Noble, that Councillor Ellie Ormsby be elected as Relief Chair.

 

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

 

2.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 56 KB

To sign the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council meetings held on 17 and 21 September.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

2.1      The minutes of the proceedings at the Council meetings held on Saturday 17 September 2022 and Wednesday 21 September 2022 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 Thursday 15th September, he attended a special gathering to honour HM Queen Elizabeth II at the London Central Mosque. 

2.       The Lord Mayor to report that, on Friday 16th September, he attended the Erev Shabbat Memorial Service at the West London Synagogue.

3.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Sunday 18th September, he attended a Service of Commemoration at St John’s Church.

4.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Monday 19th September, he attended the funeral of HM Queen Elizabeth II and a reception at Westminster Abbey.

5.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Tuesday 20th September, he attended a farewell reception for Jace Tyrell from the New West End Company at the Hippodrome Leicester Square.

 

6.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Wednesday 21st September, he attended the Marylebone Square Development Topping Out ceremony at Moxon Street.

 

7.      The Lord Mayor to report that, from Thursday 22nd to Sunday 25th September, he visited Bari, Italy to meet with the Lord Mayor.

 

8.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Tuesday 27th September, he attended a Culture at King’s Dinner at The Maughan Library.

 

9.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Wednesday 28th September, he toured five Westminster gardens and also attended the Paddington Partnership Annual Garden Party at Penfold Street and the opening of the Lucian Freud exhibition at the National Gallery.

 

10.  The Lord Mayor to report that, on Thursday 29th September, he attended a Westminster Business Council Networking event at the BT Tower.

 

11.  The Lord Mayor to report that, on Friday 30th September, he visited a number of Westminster care homes for Silver Sunday events.

 

12.  The Lord Mayor to report that, on Saturday 1st October, he attended the Summer Reading Challenge at the Odeon Leicester Square and the Mini London Marathon on Horse Guards Parade.

 

13.  The Lord Mayor to report that, on Sunday 2nd October, he attended the London Marathon on The Mall.

 

14.  The Lord Mayor to report that, on Monday 3rd October, he attended the Queen’s Green Canopy Gifting Ceremony at the Royal Hospital Chelsea.

 

15.  The Lord Mayor to report that, on Friday 7th October, he attended a lunch with the Hyatt Area Vice-President UK & Ireland at the Hyatt Churchill Hotel.

 

16.  The Lord Mayor to report that, on Sunday 9th October, he attended a Act of Hope and Remembrance for National Hate Crime Awareness Week at St Paul’s Cathedral.

 

17.  The Lord Mayor to report that, on Tuesday 11th October, he attended the Trees of Life Service of Remembrance at Westminster Abbey.

 

18.  The Lord Mayor to report that, on Wednesday 12th October, he attended the Edith Cavell Wreath Laying Ceremony at Trafalgar Square, a Film Soho Event at Portland Mews and the National Service for Seafarers at St Paul’s Cathedral.

 

19.  The Lord Mayor to report  ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

Minutes:

3.1      The Lord Mayor referred to these as set out on the agenda.

 

4.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

4.1      Councillor Paul Swaddle declared a pecuniary interest in relation to the item on the Council’s New Gambling Policy and would therefore not participate in any debate on this item or vote on the recommendation.

 

5.

Statement on Urgent Matters

With the approval of the Chair 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      The Leader of the Council, Councillor Adam Hug, made an urgent statement thanking Council staff for all their work on Operation London Bridge.

 

5.2      After Councillor Adam Hug had spoken the Leader of the Opposition, Councillor Rachael Robathan, replied.

 

6.

Petitions and Deputations, if any

Minutes:

6.1      There were no petitions or deputations received.

 

 

           Adjournment of Meeting

 

At this point the Lord Mayor adjourned the meeting to enable the Extraordinary Council Meeting to be held.

 

7.

Questions

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

 

Minutes:

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

 

8.

Councillor Issues

Councillor Sara Hassan - The Cost of Living Crisis: The Continuing Impact of the Crisis on Young People and Children

 

Councillor Jacqui Wilkinson - Mismanagement of Silver Sunday

Minutes:

The Cost of Living Crisis and the Continuing Impact on Young People and Children

 

8.1      Councillor Sara Hassan spoke and Councillor Tim Roca replied.

 

Mismanagement of Silver Sunday

 

9.2      Councillor Jacqui Wilkinson spoke and Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg replied.

 

9.

Future Policy Plan pdf icon PDF 98 KB

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

 

Minutes:

9.1      The meeting debated the item chosen for debate from the Future Policy Plan by the Majority Party.

 

           Climate Emergency

 

9.2      The Majority Party had selected item number 24 on the Future Policy Plan, Climate Emergency. The debate would be referred to the relevant Executive Director for consideration when reporting on the subject.

 

10.

Report for Full Council: The Council's New Gambling Policy pdf icon PDF 187 KB

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

 

Cabinet Member Decision Report and Appendices

Minutes:

10.1    RESOLVED:

 

That the Council, in line with the recommendation from the Cabinet Member for Communities and Public Protection, adopted the new Gambling Policy attached to the report as Appendix 1 in accordance with section 349 of the Gambling Act 2005 (the Act) and agreed that it would come into effect on the 12 December 2022.

 

11.

Reports of the General Purposes Committee: Review of the Member/Officer Protocol and Programme of Meetings 2023-24 pdf icon PDF 68 KB

To receive, consider and debate, if chosen, the following reports which contain recommendations to the Council for approval and adoption.

 

Member/Officer Protocol Report

Appendix A


Programme of Meetings 2023-24 Report

Minutes:

11.1    RESOLVED:

 

1)              That the revised Member/Officer Protocol be approved;

 

2)              That meetings of the Council be held as follows: 17 May 2023 (Annual), 28 June 2023, 20 September 2023, 15 November 2023, 24 January 2024, 6 March 2024, 15 May 2024 (Annual); and

 

3)              That the Programme of other formal Meetings set out in Appendix A of the General Purposes Committee report be approved.

 

12.

Notice of Motion

To be moved by Councillor Mark Shearer and seconded by Councillor David Harvey.

 

This Council notes the increasing number of issues of anti-social behaviour (ASB) across Westminster.

This Council understands the need to constantly review best practice.  However, there is a great deal of concern amongst residents that the issues will not wait for a new strategy and need to be immediately addressed.

This Council notes the time it takes for cases to come to more formal enforcement and urges that the timescales are accelerated so that the victims are respected and have more faith in the process. 

This Council calls upon the new administration to quickly address these issues in it’s proposed ASB Strategy that will provide confidence to the victims that their concerns are being addressed.

This Council is concerned about the disbanding of the Integrated Street Engagement Unit (ISEU) that provided much needed co-ordination and expertise to deal with significant issues that arise on our streets.   

This Council is very concerned about the major disruption to the city by the weeks of action by various groups such as Extinction Rebellion.  Whilst we all support peaceful protest this has to be done in a balanced way and in a way that allows people to get on with their daily working lives.

This Council therefore resolves to:

1       Maintain the resources that were in the ISEU.

2       Press the Mayor of London to treat issues of ASB more seriously and to provide the necessary police resources to assist the Council in tackling these issues that if left unresolved will lead to more serious crime and disorder.

3       Urge the Mayor of London to take a more proactive response in managing highly disruptive protests that cause serious disruption to the public.

 

Minutes:

12.1    The Opposition Party had selected for debate the notice of motion as set out on the agenda. The notice of motion was moved by Councillor Mark Shearer and seconded by Councillor David Harvey.

 

12.2    Councillor Aicha Less moved and it was seconded by Councillor Max Sullivan that the notice of motion be amended, as follows:

This Council notes the increasing number of issues of anti-social behaviour (ASB) across Westminster the recent launch of its consultation on a new anti-social behaviour (ASB) strategy, to which all stakeholders can respond. This strategy aims to tackle the behaviours which cause ASB.

This Council understands the need to constantly review best practice which is why this consultation is underway now.  However, tThere is a great deal of concern amongst residents that the issues will not wait for a new strategy and therefore in addition to the consultation, the Council has increased the number of City Inspectors and is urgently looking at further measures to tackle the problem of ASB. need to be immediately addressed.

This Council notes the time it takes for cases to come to more formal enforcement and will look at ways to urges that the timescales are accelerated timescales so that the victims are respected and have more faith in the process. 

This Council calls upon the new administration to quickly address these issues in its proposed ASB Strategy that will provide confidence to the victims that their concerns are being addressed.

This Council notes the decision taken under the previous administration to is concerned about the disbanding of discontinue the Integrated Street Engagement Unit (ISEU) that was provided with one year of funding when it was launched. much needed co-ordination and expertise to deal with significant issues that arise on our streets.   

This Council is very concerned about the major disruption to the city by the weeks of action by various groups such as Extinction Rebellion.  Whilst we all supports peaceful protest, but this has to be done in a balanced way and in a way that allows people to get on with their daily working lives. The Council notes the ongoing cooperation between itself, the Metropolitan Police, Transport for London, the Mayor of London and central government on managing disruption around protests in our City.

           This Council therefore resolves to:

1.     Continue to support our City Inspectors and the work they do tackling ASB on our streets.Maintain the resources that were in the ISEU.

2.     Press Work with the Mayor of London to treat issues of ASB more with the seriousness they deservely and to call on the government to provide the funding for the necessary police resources to assist the Council in tackling these issues that if left unresolved will lead to more serious crime and disorder.

3.     Urge Work with the Mayor of London and other key stakeholders to effectively manage the take a more proactive response to in managing highly disruptive protests which that cause serious  ...  view the full minutes text for item 12.