Minutes for Council meeting, Nov 3 2011, 7.30PM official page

The Mayor’s Chaplain, Sri Srutidharma Das, will open the meeting with Prayers.

That the minutes of the extraordinary and ordinary meetings held on 7 July 2011 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

To receive declarations of personal or prejudicial interests arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from all Members of the Council.

To receive any announcements from the Mayor. Information as to recent Mayoral engagements will be tabled.

To receive and consider any procedural motions by Members of the Council in relation to the conduct of this Meeting. Notice of such procedural motions, received after the issuing of this Summons, will be tabled.

To receive any petitions to be presented:

 

(i)                 by a representative of the petitioners;

(ii)               by a Councillor, on behalf of petitioners; or

(iii)             by the Mayor, on behalf of petitioners.

A period of up to 15 minutes is allowed for members of the public to ask questions of members of the Executive, Portfolio Holders and Chairmen of Committees, of which notice has been received no later than 5.00 pm two clear working days prior to the day of this Meeting. Any such questions received will be tabled.

To receive a presentation from the Leader of the Council on business since the last ordinary meeting, followed by a question and answer session.  The item is allotted 20 minutes.

Report of the Constitution Review Working Group.

Recommendation I:             Cabinet

                                                (8 September 2011)

Recommendation II:                        Cabinet

                                                (18 October 2011)

A period of up to 15 minutes is allowed for asking written questions by Members of Council of a member of the Executive or the Chairman of any Committee:-

 

(i)                 of which notice has been received at least two clear working days prior to the day of this Meeting; or

 

(ii)               which relate to urgent matters, and the consent of the Executive Member or Committee Chairman to whom the question is to be put has been obtained and the content has been advised to the Director of Legal and Governance Services by 12 noon on the day of the Council Meeting.

 

Any such questions received will be tabled.

The following Motions have been notified in accordance with the requirements of Rule 15, to be moved and seconded by the Members indicated:-

 

(1)               Riots

 

 

To be moved by Councillor Nana Asante and seconded by Councillor Mitzi Green:

 

 

“This Council wishes to place on record its thanks to all those staff in Children's Services for all that they did to ensure that Harrow remained unaffected during the unrest in August. This includes those Youth Workers who went out on patrols with police and those who worked with the young people themselves.  This was building on a bedrock of work that is carried out throughout the year by working with and engaging young people.  We thank them for all that they did and continue to do in spite of the challenging financial times we find ourselves in.

 

This Council wishes to acknowledge the positive way in which Harrow Police works closely with the Council.  This Council notes that close partnership working through the Harrow Partnership was a factor in preventing riots in Harrow.  This Council wishes to place on record its thanks to Harrow Police for effective preventative work which saved the borough’s businesses from potential destructive loss and disruption and helped confirm Harrow’s place as a safe borough.

 

This Council notes that the challenges created by the riots will not be tackled by moralising, but by sustained investment in jobs supported by an economy whose recovery is not hamstrung by the steepest spending cuts since World War 2. 

 

This Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to:

 

·           The Borough Commander and thank him and his officers for their safety they provided to Harrow residents and businesses. 

 

·           The Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government and urge him to make available more funds to buttress Cross Sector Partnership and for the exceptional work in Education and Youth Services that takes place in Harrow .

 

·           The Treasury citing the commendable work of Harrow Police and Harrow’s Youth Workers and urge that specific funding should be set aside to fund the exemplary youth and partnership work going on in Harrow.”

 

(2)               Pensions

 

 

To be moved by Councillor Graham Henson and seconded by Councillor Krishna Suresh:

 

 

“This Council notes that the LGPS is a sustainable, good quality pension scheme that benefits from being funded and locally managed. It is valuable to employers and employees alike.

 

This Council is concerned by proposals announced by the Chancellor in the last CSR to impose an extra 3.2% contribution tax on scheme members, increasing scheme average member contributions from 6.6% to 9.8% and notes that none of the additional revenue will go towards improving the financial security of the scheme and that in addition, research indicates that 40-50 per cent of affected members may opt out of the scheme as a result of this policy, thereby undermining the viability of the largest pension scheme in the UK.

 

Current Government proposals are not a genuine attempt to make the schemes more sustainable,  ...  view the full agenda text for item 12.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services.

Report of the Director of Legal and Governance Services.