Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Peter Dean, Peter Fookes, Hannah Gray, David Jefferys, Richard Scoates and Teresa Te. Apologies for late arrival were received from Councillors Will Hamer and Sarah Phillips.

Councillor Peter Morgan declared, in relation to the item on the annual accounts for 2016/17, that his daughter was an employee of Kier.

Councillor Angela Wilkins declared, in relation to the question she would be putting on Crystal Palace Park, that she had been a stallholder at the recent Overground Festival.  

Please note the minor changes to the Committee appointments at Minute 8/Appendix A.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the annual meeting held on 10^th May 2017 be confirmed.

No petitions had been received.

Questions must be received by 5pm on Tuesday 20^th June 2017.

Six questions had been received from members of the public. These are set out in Appendix A to these minutes.

Fifteen questions for oral reply had been received from members of the Council. These are set out in Appendix B to these minutes.

Fifteen questions for written reply had been received from members of the Council. These are set out in Appendix C to these minutes.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Stephen Carr, made a statement on the recent the tragic and horrific fire at Grenfell Tower in Kensington and Chelsea. He had expressed sincere condolences both personally as well as on behalf of the Council to those affected. The Leader stated that the safety of residents was always the highest priority and the Council would work continually with partners in the fire service, police and other organisations to ensure that it kept abreast of safety issues that might affect residents.

Bromley had assisted in several ways – the Chief Executive had spent several days with the team helping to assemble and organise resources, and social workers and housing officers had been deployed to assist. 28 units of temporary accommodation from Clarion had been offered, although they had not been required. The Leader stated that he would be writing to all the staff involved offering thanks for their assistance in these difficult circumstances.

The Council had published a statement on its website and in the media explaining what actions were being taken to reassure residents. In particular, assurances had been sought from the major housing associations with high rise properties in the borough – Clarion, Hyde and Riverside. The largest provider, Clarion, had commissioned a detailed review of all their properties over six storeys. In Bromley, this was nine blocks, but none of them needed to be reviewed in relation to cladding. Other providers had also been contacted and all would be expected to demonstrate that risk assessments had been carried out to the required standards.

The Council had also checked that all other provision was safe – this included temporary accommodation, More Homes Bromley, nightly-paid temporary accommodation, supported housing, care leaver’s placements, care homes, schools and other public buildings. The Council’s Emergency Planning and Building Control arrangements would be reviewed. 

The Leader confirmed that the Council was doing everything possible to get the reassurances that residents needed to ensure that they were as safe as possible, and would take the necessary action to ensure that the situation was remedied where these were not satisfactory. The Leader would be meeting with the Chief Executives of Clarion, Hyde and Riverside later in the week to hear about the work they were doing. He concluded by assuring Members that the Council would continue to monitor the investigation into the fire and would work closely with the Department for Communities and Local Government wherever needed. 

Full copies of the Appendices to this report have been circulated to all Members of the Council and are available on the Council website.

Report CSD17026

A motion to approve the Draft Local Plan for submission to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government for Independent Examination was moved by Councillor Peter Morgan, seconded by Councillor Alexa Michael and CARRIED.

Report CSD17092

A motion to transfer a sum of £3,311k to the Growth Fund and transfer a sum of £2m to the Joint Initiatives and Pump Priming (BCF) earmarked reserve was moved by Councillor Graham Arthur, seconded by Councillor Stephen Carr and CARRIED.

Report CSD17093

A motion to (1) note the Treasury Management Annual Report for 2016/17; (2) approve changes to the Council’s Treasury Management Strategy as set out in the report; and (3) approve the actual prudential indicators within the report, was moved by Councillor Graham Arthur, seconded by Councillor Stephen Carr and CARRIED.

Report CSD17081

The following corrections to the Select Committee’s report were noted –

·  in recommendation 2, the words “through the regular” should be deleted.

·  in recommendation 4, the word “available” should be replaced by “appropriate”.

A motion to invite the Leader of the Council and appropriate Portfolio Holders to consider the recommendations of the Select Committee, refer the recommendations to Service Directors where appropriate and provide a written response to the Education, Children and Families Select Committee for consideration at their meeting in October 2017 was moved by Councillor Nicholas Bennett, seconded by Councillor Neil Reddin and CARRIED.

No motions had been received.

The Mayor thanked Members for all their offers of support and reminded them of the following events –

·  The Civic Service on Sunday 9^th July 2017 at Beckenham Baptist Church. 

·  The Volunteers Reception on Thursday 27^th July 2017.

·  The first charity event - a dinner at the Lugana Restaurant in Beckenham.

·  A fun evening at the Bridge House Theatre in Penge on Sunday 3^rd September 2017.