Agenda and minutes

To appoint a relief Chair.

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

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

To sign the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council meeting held on 22 June 2022.

2.1      The minutes of the proceedings at the Council meeting held on Wednesday 22 June 2022 were, with the assent of the Members present, signed by the Lord Mayor as a true record of the proceedings.

1.          The Lord Mayor to report that, on Thursday 23rd June, he attendedthe Maida Hill Youth Market, Covent Garden Trust Annual Rent Ceremony at St Paul’s Church and the Age UK Volunteer Awards at St Anne’s Church. 

2.          The Lord Mayor to report that, on Saturday 25th June, he attended West End Live at Trafalgar Square. 

3.          The Lord Mayor to report that, on Sunday 26th June, he attended Westbourne Summer Festival at Canalside and the Marylebone Music Festival in Manchester Square. 

4.          The Lord Mayor to report that, on Monday 27th June, he attended the City of London Pride Flag Raising and reception at Guildhall. 

5.          The Lord Mayor to report that, on Tuesday 28th June, he attended the Kings College Summer Reception. 

6.          The Lord Mayor to report that, on Wednesday 29th June, he attended the Westminster Tree Trust 1000th Tree planting event at St Vincent de Paul School. 

7.          The Lord Mayor to report that, on Thursday 30th June, he attended the WAES Diversity and Inclusion Department Awards. 

8.          The Lord Mayor to report that, on Friday 1st July, he attended the War Widows’ Association Founders’Day Service and Reception at Wellington Barracks. 

9.          The Lord Mayor to report that, on Saturday 2nd July, he attended the Pride March in the West End. 

10.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Sunday 3rd July, he attended the Lord Mayor’s Civic Service at The Abbey. 

11.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Tuesday 5th July, he attended the Metropolitan Police Service at The Abbey. 

12.      The Lord Mayor to report that, onThursday 7th July, he attended the Barrow Hill Junior School Summer Open Evening and the Military Music Spectacular on Horse Guards Parade. 

13.      The Lord Mayor to report that, onFriday 8th July, he attended the Burdett Coutts’ School Founders’ Day. 

14.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Saturday 9th July, he attended the St Mary’s Bryanston Square Primary School Summer Fair. 

15.        The Lord Mayor to report that, on Monday 11th July, he attended Westminster Almshouses Founders’ Day. 

16.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Tuesday 12th July, he attended the Royal Academy of Music Graduation Ceremony and the Step into Dance event at Cadogan Hall. 

17.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Wednesday 13th July, he attended the Carnival Village Trust/Notting Hill Carnival event at The Tabernacle and the Eid in the City Dinner at Guildhall. 

18.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Thursday 14th July, he attended the John Lyons’ White City Theatre Project at the Lyric Hammersmith. 

19.      The Lord Mayor to report that, on Friday 15th July, he attended the Paddington  ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

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

3.2      The Lord Mayor invited two Youth MPs, Kaden Pradhan and James Balloqui, to address the meeting on the work of the Youth Council and their priorities for the year.

4.1      There were no declarations of interest.

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.

5.1      There were no urgent matters.

6.1      There were no petitions or deputations received.

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.

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

Councillor Maggie Carman - Tackling the Drug Problem

Councillor Melvyn Caplan - Housing Major Works in Little Venice Ward

8.1      Tackling the Drug Problem

Councillor Maggie Carman spoke and Councillor Aicha Less replied.

Housing Major Works in Little Venice Ward

Councillor Melvyn Caplan spoke and Councillor Liza Begum replied.

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

9.1      No items were selected for debate.

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

10.1    RESOLVED:

1)        That the appointment of an independent person to sit on the Audit and Performance Committee for a period of four years be approved;

2)        That authority to finalise the role description, skills, competencies and person specification attached as Appendix A be delegated to the Director of Law, in consultation with the Chair of the Audit and Performance Committee/General Purposes Committee.

3)        That approval for the recruitment of the Independent Member be led by a panel consisting of the Chair of the Audit and Performance Committee, the Chair of the General Purposes Committee and a nominated Opposition Group member. The panel would be advised by the Director of Law, Director of Finance and Head of Governance and Councillor Liaison.

4)        That the Members’ Allowances Scheme be amended to provide a remuneration of £2,500 per annum to the Audit and Performance Committee Independent Member.

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

11.1    RESOLVED

That the size of the Westminster Scrutiny Commission be amended from 5 members to 7 members.

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

12.1    RESOLVED:

That an amendment to the Council’s borrowing strategy, allowing greater flexibility in the range of financing options available, be approved.

(a)               Majority Party Motion – Dirty Money

To be moved by Councillor Adam Hug.

To be seconded by Councillor Ellie Ormsby.

This Council notes that:

1.     Westminster City Council is bringing forward a new commitment to tackle dirty money and poor tax conduct, as part of our work to tackle the ill-effects of dirty money on Westminster residents, and nationally on legitimate businesses and communities across the United Kingdom. We want to create a more equitable economy in Westminster, which puts our residents and communities first.

2.     The pressure on organisations to pay their fair share of tax has never been stronger. With the cost-of-living crisis impacting the most vulnerable in our society, it is only right that the council takes the lead in the promotion of exemplary tax conduct and supports those businesses who pay their fair share of tax - contributing to the vital funding front-line services need.

3.     Two thirds of people (66%) believe the Government and local councils should at least consider a company’s ethics and how they pay their tax, as well as value for money and quality of service provided, when awarding contracts to companies; despite this around 17.5% of public contracts in the UK have been won by companies with links to tax havens.

4.     The council is currently investigating unpaid business rates of £7.9m from 30 shops on Oxford Street and continues to pursue these taxes, and is working to enforce against those candy stores and other tenants who are failing to fulfil their legal obligations. Failing to contribute fairly is an extremely broad issue that directly impacts funding for vital public services, for example it has been conservatively estimated that losses from multinational profit-shifting (just one form of tax avoidance) could be costing the UK £17bn per annum in lost corporation tax revenues.

5.     The Centre for Public data has uncovered that within Westminster there has been a 300% rise in the number of properties registered to owners in Jersey since 2010, and a rise of 1,200% in the number of properties registered to owners in Russia. Westminster had 12,104 registered titles owned by individuals based overseas - 9% of all its registered titles, more than any other local authority. This number has trebled since 2010. We are proud of the diverse resident population of Westminster, but this data suggests something troubling, that the use of Westminster as a location to hide ill-gotten gains in the property market is spiralling out of control.

6.     The use of Westminster property to legitimise illicit gains inflates property prices, reduces housing options for residents and diminishes the status of Westminster as a place to do business. We will tackle this head on and call on our partners to do all they can to end these harmful practices, leading the way with a new Westminster Against Dirty Money Strategy.

7.     This starts with adopting the Fair Tax Mark as it offers a means for business to demonstrate good tax conduct and has been secured by  ...  view the full agenda text for item 13.

Motion 13a - Dirty Money

13.1    The Majority Party had selected for debate the notice of motion as set out on the agenda. The notice of motion was moved by Councillor Adam Hug and seconded by Councillor Ellie Ormsby.

13.2    Councillor Paul Swaddle moved and it was seconded by Councillor Ian Rowley that the notice of motion be amended, as follows:

1.              Westminster City Council is bringing forward a new commitment to tackle dirty money and poor tax conduct, as part of our work to tackle the ill-effects of dirty money on Westminster residents, and nationally on legitimate businesses and communities across the United Kingdom. We want to create a more equitable economy in Westminster, which puts our residents and communities first.

2.              The pressure on organisations to pay their fair share of tax has never been stronger. With the cost-of-living crisis impacting the most vulnerable in our society, it is only right that the council takes the lead in the promotion of exemplary tax conduct and supports those businesses who pay their fair share of tax - contributing to the vital funding front-line services need.

3.              Two thirds of people (66%) believe the Government and local councils should at least consider a company’s ethics and how they pay their tax, as well as value for money and quality of service provided, when awarding contracts to companies; despite this around 17.5% of public contracts in the UK have been won by companies with links to tax havens.

4.              1. The council is currently investigating unpaid business rates of £7.9m from 30 shops on Oxford Street and continues to pursue these taxes, and is working to enforce against those candy stores and other tenants who are failing to fulfil their legal obligations. Failing to contribute fairly is an extremely broad issue that directly impacts funding for vital public services, for example it has been conservatively estimated that losses from multinational profit-shifting (just one form of tax avoidance) could be costing the UK £17bn per annum in lost corporation tax revenues.

5.              The Centre for Public data has uncovered that within Westminster there has been a 300% rise in the number of properties registered to owners in Jersey since 2010, and a rise of 1,200% in the number of properties registered to owners in Russia. Westminster had 12,104 registered titles owned by individuals based overseas - 9% of all its registered titles, more than any other local authority. This number has trebled since 2010. We are proud of the diverse resident population of Westminster, but this data suggests something troubling, that the use of Westminster as a location to hide ill-gotten gains in the property market is spiralling out of control.

6.              The use of Westminster property to legitimise illicit gains inflates property prices, reduces housing options for residents and diminishes the status of Westminster as a place to do business. We will tackle this head on and call on our partners to do all they can to end these harmful practices,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.