Agenda and minutes

The Mayor welcomed Councillor Christine Harris to her first meeting of the Council following her election on 29^th November.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Jefferys, Suraj Sharma, Diane Smith and Michael Turner.

Apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Robert Evans and Robert Mcilveen.

The Chief Executive reported that the Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Education, Care and Health Services, Ade Adetosoye, and the Director of Corporate Services, Mark Bowen, both had an interest in the report at agenda item 17 - Acting Chief Executive Appointment, and would leave the chamber while it was being considered. 

No petitions had been received.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 8^th October 2018 be confirmed.

Questions must be received by 5pm on Tuesday 4^th December 2018.

Eleven questions had been received from members of the public for oral reply. Six questions were dealt with in the time allowed - the remainder received written replies. All questions, with the answers given, are set out in Appendix A to these minutes.

One question had been received from a member of the public for written reply. This is set out, with the answer given, in Appendix B to these minutes.

Twenty six questions had been received from members of the Council for oral reply. Twelve questions were dealt with in the time allowed - the remainder received written replies. All questions, with the replies given, are set out in Appendix C to these minutes.

Sixteen questions had been received from members of the Council for written reply. These are set out, with the answers given, in Appendix D to these minutes.

Councillor William Huntington-Thresher, Portfolio holder for Environment and Community Services, made a statement on the installation of Bus Driver Toilets in the borough, with most publicity around the Biggin Hill installation. He informed Members that in February the Mayor had announced plans to improve working conditions for London’s bus drivers by ensuring that they all had access to a toilet on their routes for all hours of their working day. The Mayor’s press release stated that he intended to install them at the end of the bus route.

At the time the Council did not appreciate just how inflexibly this policy was intended to be implemented. Recently the Council had been approached via its planning function with regard to a number of locations TfL was considering. TfL stated that these were intended to be installed using its Permitted Development Rights and the borough was to provide feedback on Road Safety grounds. TfL had been advised by the Council to consult affected residents before installation. It appeared that TfL intended to notify residents in advance of installation, but this did not happen in Biggin Hill. The Council was not in a position to confirm that the installation of toilets fell with TfL’s Highway land PD rights as no planning applications had been made on which to judge.

It was disappointing that TfL did not consult local residents and that they had not attempted to locate toilets that could be used by drivers on multiple bus routes.

The Portfolio Holder reported that earlier in the day he had met with representatives from TfL in Biggin Hill with Ward Members and the Chairman of the Residents Association in an attempt to move this forward. TfL had taken away a number of actions and undertook to respond within this week. The Portfolio Holder agreed with residents that this prominent residential location was entirely unsuitable and called upon TfL to remove it as quickly as possible. He would also be looking at the other two installations in detail shortly.

Following his statement, the Portfolio Holder responded to questions from the Biggin Hill ward councillors and other members.

Report CSD18179

A motion to note the report and approve changes to the 2018/19 prudential indicators, approve the inclusion of the new Low Volatility Net Asset Value (LVNAV) category Money Market Funds into the Treasury Management Strategy and approve the non-reporting of treasury management activity quarterly was moved by Councillor Graham Arthur, seconded by Councillor Colin Smith and CARRIED.

Report CSD18170

The following amendment was moved by Councillor Marina Ahmad and seconded by Councillor Angela Wilkins -

To add (3) Excludes Bromley young people leaving care up to the age of twenty five.

The amendment was LOST.

A motion to consider the updated Impact Assessment and the responses to the public consultation, and adopt the proposed Council Tax Support/Reduction Scheme for 2019/20 retaining the calculation of entitlement for working age claimants on 75% of the household’s Council Tax liability, was moved by Councillor Graham Arthur, seconded by Councillor Colin Smith and CARRIED.

Report CSD18182

A motion to approve the addition to the Capital Programme of additional local transport funding of £1.1m allocated for the 2018/19 financial year to fund carriageway maintenance schemes was moved by Councillor William Huntington-Thresher, seconded by Councillor Colin Smith and CARRIED.

Report CSD18178

An amendment was proposed by Councillor Ian Dunn, seconded by Councillor Simon Jeal, that the £3.5m to be set aside in the Technology Fund earmarked reserve from underspends in the 2018/19 Central Contingency be  found instead from the Invest to Save earmarked reserve. The amendment was LOST.  

A motion to agree that £3.5m be set aside in the Technology Fund earmarked reserve from underspends in the 2018/19 Central Contingency for the Council’s IT Transformation scheme, and approve the addition of £5.381m to the Capital Programme to undertake the delivery of the ICT transformation project between 2019 and 2022, funded from a total reduction of £1.925m to existing IT capital schemes, and £3.456m from 2018/19 revenue underspends set aside in the Technology Fund, was moved by Councillor Graham Arthur, seconded by Councillor Colin Smith, and CARRIED.  

(Councillors Simon Fawthrop and Will Harmer declared that they each had an interest in this report as they were employed by BT, but that they had been granted a dispensation by the Monitoring Officer to allow them to participate.)

Report CSD18181

A motion to receive the second report of the Education, Children and Families Select Committee and invite the Leader and appropriate Portfolio Holders to consider the recommendations and (a) refer the recommendations to Service Directors and Partners where appropriate, and (b) provide a written response to the Education, Children and Families Select Committee for consideration at a future meeting of the Select Committee was moved by Councillor Nicholas Bennett, seconded by councillor Neil Reddin and CARRIED.

Report CSD18172

A motion to note the action taken in response to the motion approved on 16^th July 2018 was moved by Councillor William Huntington-Thresher, seconded by Councillor Colin Smith and CARRIED.

Report CSD18171

A motion to receive and note the Local Pension Board Annual Report October 2018 was moved by Councillor Pauline Tunnicliffe, seconded by Councillor Nicholas Bennett and CARRIED.

Report CSD18175

A motion to appoint Councillor Christine Harris to the vacant seat on the Renewal, Recreation and Housing PDS Committee was moved by Councillor William Huntington-Thresher, seconded by Councillor Colin Smith and CARRIED.

Report CEO18005

The Mayor, the Leader, other Group Leaders and a number of other Members thanked Doug Patterson for his excellent service to the borough as Chief Executive since 2007.

A motion to confirm the appointment of Ade Adetosoye (Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Education, Care and Health Services) as the Acting Chief Executive to replace the outgoing Chief Executive, Doug Patterson, with effect from 15^th December 2018, agree that in the interim the Returning Officer and Electoral Registration Officer roles currently discharged by the Chief Executive will be carried out by Mark Bowen, Director of Corporate Services, and to approve additional honorarium/acting up payments to the Acting Chief Executive as set out in the report was moved by Councillor Colin Smith, seconded by Councillor Peter Fortune and CARRIED.

(The Deputy Chief Executive and Executive Director of Education, Care and Health Services, Ade Adetosoye, and the Director of Corporate Services, Mark Bowen, left the chamber while this report was being considered.) 

No motions had been received.

The Mayor thanked Members who had attended her Charity Ball on 27^th October at the Warren; it had been a very enjoyable evening and over £11,000 had been raised for her two charities.

The Mayor reminded Members about the following forthcoming events -

·  The Civic Carol Service on Tuesday 11^th December 2018 at 7pm at All Saints Church, Orpington. 

·  The Charity Dinner at Tamasha on Tuesday 22^nd January 2019. 

·  The Annual Quiz Evening on Friday 8^th February 2019.

·  A Charity Dinner at the East India Club on Friday 5^th April 2019.

She also mentioned the Friendship Agreement with Thunder Bay, Canada was going ahead and a date would be set early in the New Year.

The Mayor concluded by reminding Councillors and Officers that there would be a reception for the Chief Executive after the end of the meeting.