LONDON BOROUGH OF EALING - Ealing Council

LONDON BOROUGH OF EALING
Town Hall,
Ealing, W5 2BY
26 th March 2012
MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL OF THE LONDON BOROUGH OF EALING ARE
HEREBY SUMMONED TO ATTEND A MEETING OF THE COUNCIL TO BE HELD
AT THE TOWN HALL, EALING AT 7.00PM ON TUESDAY, 3 rd April 2012 TO
TRANSACT THE BUSINESS SET OUT BELOW.
Chief Executive
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A G E N D A
1. Urgent Matters
Any urgent matters arising since the despatch of the agenda that the Mayor
has agreed should be considered at the meeting.
2. Apologies for Absence
3. Declarations of Interest
To note any declarations of interest made by members.
4. Matters to be Considered in Private
5. Minutes
To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on
28 th February 2012 (attached)
6. Mayor's Announcements

7. Petitions
A. Submitted Under Council and Committee Procedure Rule
9.1
1. From Members of the Public.
2. From Members of the Council.
B. Any Petitions Submitted Under the Local Democracy,
Economic Development and Construction Act 2009
Following implementation of the relevant part of the Local Democracy,
Economic Development and Construction Act 2009, Council on 15th June
2010 agreed a Petition Scheme, which amongst other matters, permits the
subject of petitions with over 1,500 signatures to be debated at Council.
The organiser of the petition has five minutes in which to present the
petition and the Council then has a maximum of twenty minutes in which to
debate this.
8. Questions from Members of the Public
To consider any questions from members of the public, due notice having
been received.
9. Questions from Members of the Council
To deal with questions of which notice has been given in accordance with
Rule 10.1 of the Council and Committee Procedure Rules.
10. Opposition Business
10.1 Cllr Mahouz’s Exposed by FOI Request
“This Council welcomed and accepted in good faith Cllr Mahouz’s statement that at
the 31 January Council Meeting that he was “banging on every door in Government
regarding HS2.”
This Council further noted that Cllr Mahfouz wrote in the 17 February Gazette:
“every other borough and authority that was a member (of 51M Group) along the
route got the same response that we did – no concessions… and we put our case
strongly and will continue to do so.”
This Council was therefore dismayed and disappointed to learn from a Freedom of
Information Request dated 13 March 2012 that NO representation from Ealing
Council was received. However, six representations in the form of letters to the
Secretary of State were received from the 51M Group over that period.
This Council regrets that Cllr Mahfouz has misled residents to cover the fact that he
had made no representations to Government on this issue despite his assertions.
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This Council believes that Cllr Mahfouz has compromised his cabinet position.
Given that Cllr Mahfouz is not representing the interest of residents he should
resign.”
11. Notice of Motions
11.1 Fairer Fares and Safer Streets
Councillor Ball to move
“This Council notes that crime and transport are two policy areas which Londoners
feel are the most important for the Mayor to focus his attention on.
Council welcomes the following policies which would make our transport fares fairer
and help reduce crime in Ealing:
• A one hour bus ticket on Oyster, so that changing from bus to bus several
times does not result in multiple charges. Pay-as-you-go Oyster users
include many disadvantaged Ealing residents.
• London’s economy is reliant on an underpaid army of workers, from cleaners
to security staff, who get to work before many people have even got out of
bed. Early bird fare discounts would help alleviate congestion.
• More and more people are taking part time jobs, in particular women, so a
part time travel card would help these residents.
• Genuine community policing, driven by what local people want and involving
community associations.
• Allocating a local member of the Safer Neighbourhood Team to be a link with
teenagers in every ward.
• Tough payback sentences so that offenders are made to give back to the
community that they have offended against.
• Improved rehabilitation to reduce reoffending.
11.2 Reducing Cycling Deaths in Ealing
Councillor Malcolm to move
“Ealing Council is saddened by the recent death of a cyclist in Bishopsgate.
Ealing Council notes that Transport for London figures show that lorries are involved
in approximately two thirds of cyclist deaths in London.”
Ealing Council welcomes the Government’s extra £15m to boost cycling which will
make it easier for cyclists to use the railways.
Ealing Council confirms its support for measures to increase the number of cyclists
in Ealing and agrees that the following initiatives will help reduce the number of
cyclists who are killed or injured on our roads:
• Large goods vehicles entering a city centre should be required by law to fit
sensors, audible truck-turning alarms, mirrors and safety bars to stop cyclists
being thrown under wheels.
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• The most dangerous road junctions must be identified, redesigned or fitted
with priority traffic lights for cyclists and Trixi mirrors that allow lorry drivers to
see cyclists on their near-side.
• Transport for London should earmark part of its budget for next generation
cycle routes providing £100m a year towards world class cycling
infrastructure.
• The training of cyclists and drivers needs to be improved and cycle safety
should become a core part of the driving test.
• The default speed limit in residential areas where there are no cycle lanes
should become 20 mph.
• Businesses be invited to sponsor cycle-ways and cycling super highways,
mirroring the Barclays-backed hire scheme.”
11.3 Harmonious Relations in Ealing
Councillor Dheer to move
Council notes that Ealing has a proud history of good and harmonious relations
between communities with different racial, cultural and religious heritages.
Council notes the people that who have settled here are valued members of the
community and have strengthened our borough.
Council condemns any attempt to divide different racial, ethnic or religious
communities as unbritish.
Conservative politicians have raised the impact of immigration in Southall as an
issue for the council to debate. It is their democratic right to do so.
However council further notes that beds in sheds are a borough wide problem, the
main pressures for school places are not found in Southall, there are proliferations of
betting shops in all our major town centres and nearly all areas of London have
problems with alcohol abuse, gambling addiction and prostitution.
Council condemns comments that seek to assign attributes to a whole community
based upon the actions of a few members of that community.
Council notes the comments of Cllr Dennehy “It is a largely Indian community who
say they deplore this behaviour but yet it is that very same community that harbours
and exploits their own people in squalid third world living conditions...
The exploding population of illegal immigrants is a constant on the public purse.
Illegal immigrants don’t pay tax. The legitimate immigrants exploiting them in the
squalid bed sheds don’t pay tax on their rental income. If these are sorts of people
exploit the desperate what other scams are they perpetrating I ask Criminality is
endemic in Southall.”
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Council calls on Cllr Dennehy to withdraw these comments and issue an apology to
the Southall community.
11.4 Election Promises
Councillor Bell to move:
This council notes Ken Livingstone has promised that if elected he will cut Tube
fares by 7% and end Boris Johnson’s policy of fare increases of inflation plus two
percent every year.
This council notes Ken Livingstone has promised that if elected he will reverse all of
Boris Johnson’s cuts to police numbers and restore officer numbers at the
Metropolitan Police to the levels that Boris Johnson inherited.
Council notes that Ken Livingstone has promised that if he is elected as Mayor of
London that would be his only job. Council further notes that Boris Johnson has
refused to give up his second job as a columnist for the Daily Telegraph.
This council welcomes these proposals, as they will save residents of the borough
on average £1000 on fares as well as making Ealing’s streets safer. This council
believes that London deserves a full time Mayor and welcomes Ken Livingstone
promise to prioritise his Mayoral duties if elected.
11.5 Mayor Boris Positive Leadership for Ealing
Councillor Millican to move:
“This Council is appreciative that the Mayor’s of London has frozen his share of the
Council Tax for three years and will be reducing it by 1% from April. This has saved
the average Ealing family £445.05 per year compared to the 152% increases under
the previous Labour Mayor. This Council further notes that Mayor has pledged to
continue to reduce Council Tax each year for the next four years, as part of his
sustained efforts to help struggling families.
This Council also welcomes that the Mayor of London has chosen to spend
taxpayers’ money on taxpayers rather than bureaucracy and vanity projects such as
the propaganda sheet ‘The Londoner’, which cost £3.1 million a year and the
Uxbridge Road Tram, which would have been bad for Ealing.
In Ealing alone, residents are benefiting from a range of improvements such as:
• £12 million investment for much needed improvements in almost every
neighbourhood across the borough including: Boston Road, Northfields
Avenue, Greenford Road, Allenby Road, Noel Road, Horn Lane, Ruislip
Road, Petts Hill, Bilton Road, Mandeville Road, Lady Margaret Road Then
Uxbridge Road right through Acton, Ealing Broadway, West Ealing, Hanwell
and Southall.
• Upgrades to the District and Piccadilly Lines
• 22 buses routes being expanded/ improved, with 3 new routes added
• Crime down 30% and bus crime down by 30% as well as 23 more police
officers and 74 more Special Constables are on Ealing’s streets
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• High streets regenerated with Greenford receiving £128,000 and Acton
receiving £500,000 as part of the Mayor’s £50 million Outer London Fund
• The borough made greener with19 green spaces and allotments created for
Ealing borough residents to grow their own food and over 324 street trees
planted across the borough
This Council therefore commends the current Mayor of London for his leadership to
make the London Borough of Ealing a desirable Borough for its residents to call
home and for businesses to operate.”
11.6 High Streets First
Councillor D Crawford to move
This Council Notes:
1. The results of a recent survey by the Gambling Association which show that
problem gambling has increased by 50% since liberalisation in 2005.
2. There are currently 450,000 problem gamblers in the UK and they are hugely
expensive to treat.
3. Evidence from the Responsible Gambling Fund shows that there is a clear
targeting of betting shops in poorer areas and those with a known demographic
which is more likely to gamble.
4. The proliferation of bookies on the high street in our poorest communities can
exacerbate debt and problem gambling and create demand for pawnbrokers and
payday loan companies who move in and put more productive businesses off.
5. Betting shops are currently included in the same class as job centres, estate
agents and banks under planning law.
6. A betting shop wanting to open in a property formerly occupied by a business
such as a bank or post office does not have to seek planning permission.
7. The proliferation of betting shops on Ealing's high streets over the last two
decades.
This Council Welcomes:
1. The recommendation in the recent independent Portas Review into revitalising our
high streets, which called on the government to reclassify betting shops in planning
law to give local authorities more control over the number of betting shops in their
area.
This Council Resolves:
1. To support the High Streets First campaign, which calls on the government to
reclassify betting shops in planning law and give local authorities control over their
numbers.
2. To write to the Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government asking
him to implement the recommendation contained in the Portas Review to reclassify
betting shops.
12. Annual Review of the Operation of Standards Committee
(Director of Legal and Democratic Services)
attached
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13. NHS North West London Consultation with Scrutiny on
“Shaping a Healthier Future”
(Director of Legal and Democratic Services)
attached
14. Anti-Bribery and Counter- Fraud Policy
(Director of Legal and Democratic Services)
attached
15. Pay Policy Statement
(Director of Human Resources and Organisational Development)
attached
16 Proposed Changes to Ealing Council Constitution
(Director of Legal and Democratic Services)
attached
17 Adoption of the Council’s Development (or Core) Strategy
(Director of Property and Regeneration)
18. Appointments to Committees and Other Bodies
NOTE: In the event of an emergency your attention is drawn to the evacuation
instructions displayed on the wall by the entrance to the Council Chamber and
Public Gallery. First aid advice will also be found here. Please note that the
filming or recording of proceedings is not permitted unless prior approval has
been obtained in accordance with the Council’s filming protocol.
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