Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence – all Members were present. Councillors Robert Evans and Will Rowlands sent apologies for their late arrival.

Councillors Katy Boughey, Kevin Brooks, Kira Gabbert, Christine Harris, Colin Hitchins, Peter Morgan, Suraj Sharma and Melanie Stevens declared interests in relation to the motion (minute 220) as landlords or tenants.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on 20^th July 2020 be confirmed as a correct record.

In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions that are not specific to reports on the agenda must have been received in writing 10 working days before the date of the meeting – by 5pm on Monday 28^th September. 

Questions specifically on reports on the agenda should be received within two working days of the normal publication date of the agenda.  Please ensure that questions specifically on reports on the agenda are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Tuesday 6^th October 2020.

(a) Questions from members of the public for written reply.

(b) Questions from members of the Council for oral reply.

(c) Questions from members of the Council for written reply. 

Thirteen questions had been received from members of the public for written reply. The questions, with the answers given, are set out in Appendix A to these minutes.

Fourteen questions had been received from members of the Council for oral reply. The questions, with the replies given, are set out in Appendix B to these minutes.

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

A statement was made by the Leader of the Council on the Covid-19 situation. The borough was doing well, with rates of infection low compared to many other boroughs but there was no room for complacency. The borough was well-placed for a further lockdown if the Government imposed one – shielded residents had been identified, there were four and a half thousand volunteers ready to serve, seventy-one members of staff were volunteering to assist with track and trace and £500 grants had been issued for people needing to isolate. Due to the hard work and lobbying of Members and officers there were three testing centres in the borough at Crystal Palace, the Cray Valley and Norman Park. Seventy thousand residents could be contacted direct by email, and further communications were planned through local newspapers,  residents associations and community groups, including hard-to-reach groups. Notices and stickers had been provided around all schools to raise awareness of social distancing and additional street marshals were encouraging social distancing in high streets. The environmental health team had been busy visiting restaurants, pubs and other licensed premises, and one license had been suspended. The Leader would be writing shortly with further details - he urged all Members to pass the message on to keep everyone safe.

The Leader responded to questions from Councillors Michael, Bennett and Fawthrop. He considered that there was a case for treating parts of London differently where there were particular clusters of the disease, but it was also difficult to treat areas in isolation where borders were permeable and public health had to remain foremost. Asked about the lack of QR codes at local restaurants, and lack of enforcement of against people congregating outside after pubs and restaurants closed at 10pm, the Leader stated that Cllr Lymer could possibly assist with the QR codes issue, and he agreed that all premises closing at the same time did not assist with dispersal. In response to a question about whether students were included in Bromley’s figures, the Leader suggested discussing this with the Director of Public Health. He also confirmed that reports marked as confidential should not be passed on.

The Mayor thanked everyone who had worked so hard to support the community in fighting the virus.   

Report CSD20095

A motion to note the Treasury Management Annual Report for 2019/20 and approve the actual prudential indicators within the report was moved by Councillor Graham Arthur, seconded by Cllr Colin Smith and CARRIED.

Report CSD20099

A motion to note the responses to consultation and adopt the revised Statement of Licensing Policy under the Licensing Act 2003 including the re-instatement of a flow chart as recommended by General Purposes and Licensing Committee, to have effect on 7^th January 2021, was moved by Councillor Pauline Tunnicliffe, seconded by Councillor Stephen Wells and CARRIED.  

Report CSD20097

A motion to appoint Brayan Bernal-Gil as an Employer Representative to the Local Pension Board for the balance of the four-year term of office ending on 30^th June 2023 was moved by Councillor Pauline Tunnicliffe, seconded by Councillor Stephen Wells and CARRIED.  

Report CSD20099

A motion to approve the revised Code of Conduct as recommended by the  Standards Committee was moved by Councillor Will Harmer, seconded by Councillor Vanessa Allen and CARRIED.

The following motion was proposed by Cllr Josh King and seconded by Cllr Kathy Bance MBE -

“The continuing effects of Covid-19 health crisis have disproportionately impacted those most vulnerable in society - those on benefits and those on zero hours contracts, many of whom rent from private landlords and whose loss of income and additional financial pressures puts them at risk of eviction.

This Council calls on the government to reinstate the evictions ban which came to an end on 21st September and implement the promised ban on section 21 evictions “no fault evictions”.”

The following Members voted in favour of the motion -

Councillors Marina Ahmad, Vanessa Allen, Kathy Bance, Kevin Brooks, Ian Dunn, Simon Jeal, Josh King and Angela Wilkins. (8)

The following Members voted against the motion -

Councillors Gareth Allatt, Graham Arthur, Nicholas Bennett, Kim Botting, Mark Brock, David Cartwright, Mary Cooke, Aisha Cuthbert, Peter Dean, Judi Ellis, Robert Evans, Simon Fawthrop, Peter Fortune, Kira Gabbert, Will Harmer, Christine Harris, Colin Hitchins, Samaris Huntington-Thresher, William Huntington-Thresher, David Jefferys, Charles Joel, Kate Lymer, Robert Mcilveen, Russell Mellor, Alexa Michael, Keith Onslow, Tony Owen, Angela Page, Chris Pierce, Neil Reddin, Will Rowlands, Michael Rutherford, Richard Scoates, Suraj Sharma, Colin Smith, Diane Smith, Gary Stevens, Melanie Stevens,  Kieran Terry, Michael Tickner, Pauline Tunnicliffe and Michael Turner. (42)

The following Members abstained –

Councillors Hannah Gray, Harry Stranger and Stephen Wells. (3)

The following Members did not record a vote (in some cases due to technical issues) –

Councillors Yvonne Bear, Julian Benington, Mike Botting, Katy Boughey, Nicky Dykes, Christopher Marlow and Peter Morgan. (7)

The motion was LOST.

The Mayor highlighted the following events and developments -

·  A virtual Christmas jazz evening for Thursday 17^th December - further details will be sent out by the office when all the arrangements have been finalised.

·  A prize draw with Givergy with a Spitfire flight experience for the winner.  Tickets were £10 and there would be a free ticket for the first Member to sell ten tickets.

·  The first edition of the Mayor of Bromley’s Newsletter had been published – there had been lots of positive feedback and the Mayor welcomed any comments or suggestions.

·  The Mayor had been recording videos and these had received over five thousand views.

·  The Mayor had a monthly column in “Life in …. Orpington” magazine, sent out via my social media. 

·  The website was being updated, and could be used to request a visit or a phone call from the Mayor

The Mayor encouraged members to sign up for the newsletter and keep in touch over social media -

www.facebook.com/mayorofbromley/ (@mayorofbromley)

www.twitter.com/MayorofBromley0 (@MayorofBromley)

www.instagram.com/mayorofbromley/ (@mayorofbromley)