Agenda item

(A) Police Base Re-Openings

 

The following motion was proposed by Councillor Thomas Turrell and seconded by Councillor Hannah Gray -

 

“The Council thanks the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, for coming to Bromley last summer to present his ‘New Met for London’ plan.

 

This Council broadly welcomes the measures in the plan, especially the commitment to restoring community policing. In line with this, Council calls on the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to provide the necessary funding so the Metropolitan Police can re-open bases in Penge/ Crystal Palace and West Wickham, as well increasing the number of bases it has in the rural parts of the Borough. Council welcomes the reopening of the base at Green Street Green in Chelsfield. This will help to achieve the Commissioner’s target of ensuring that no Police officer is more than 20 minutes away from the communities which they serve.

 

Council also calls on the Metropolitan Police to review the bureaucracy around volunteers covering front desks at the local police bases.

 

In addition, this Council is concerned that too many of the Borough’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) are based out of Bromley Police Station. As such, their ability to patrol local neighbourhoods depends on the availability of public bus transport. Council calls on MOPAC to ensure all SNTs have access to Police vehicles so they can travel to these neighbourhoods whenever necessary, not when a bus can take them.”

 

The following amendment was moved by Councillor Alison Stammers and seconded by Councillor Mark Smith -

 

To add the words “and Chislehurst” as follows -

 

“The Council thanks the Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police, Sir Mark Rowley, for coming to Bromley last summer to present his ‘New Met for London’ plan. This Council broadly welcomes the measures in the plan, especially the commitment to restoring community policing. In line with this, Council calls on the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to provide the necessary funding so the Metropolitan Police can re-open bases in Penge/Crystal Palace, West Wickham and Chislehurst, as well increasing the number of bases it has in the rural parts of the Borough. Council welcomes the reopening of the base at Green Street Green in Chelsfield. This will help to achieve the Commissioner’s target of ensuring that no Police officer is more than 20 minutes away from the communities which they serve.

 

Council also calls on the Metropolitan Police to review the bureaucracy around volunteers covering front desks at the local police bases. In addition, this Council is concerned that too many of the Borough’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) are based out of Bromley Police Station. As such, their ability to patrol local neighbourhoods depends on the availability of public bus transport. Council calls on MOPAC to ensure all SNTs have access to Police vehicles so they can travel to these neighbourhoods whenever necessary, not when a bus can take them.”

 

The amendment from Cllr Stammers was put to the vote and CARRIED.

 

A further amendment was moved by Councillor Tony McPartlan and seconded by Councillor Jeremy Adams as follows -

 

Delete everything after 'community policing' and replace with:

 

“Council recognises the funding challenges that the Metropolitan Police face and that the proportion of the Met police budget provided by City Hall has now increased from 19 per cent in 2016 to 27 per cent in the proposed budget for 2024-25. It also recognises the additional strain on funding recent extractions are having.

 

This Council will therefore work with Commissioner Sir Mark Rowley, Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain and Superintendent Luke Baldock to re-open bases in Penge/Crystal Palace and West Wickham, as well increasing the number of bases it has in other parts of the Borough. Bromley Council also calls on the Home Office to provide additional funding if this cannot be achieved within existing budgets.

 

Council welcomes the reopening of the base at Green Street Green in Chelsfield. This will help to achieve the Commissioner’s target of ensuring that no Police officer is more than 20 minutes away from the communities which they serve.

 

In addition, this Council is concerned that too many of the Borough’s Safer Neighbourhood Teams (SNTs) are based out of Bromley Police Station. As such, their ability to patrol local neighbourhoods depends on the availability of public bus transport. Council will work with Chief Superintendent Andy Brittain and Superintendent Luke Baldock to ensure all SNTs have access to Police vehicles so they can travel to these neighbourhoods whenever necessary, not when a bus can take them. It will call on the Home Office to provide additional funding if this cannot be achieved within existing budgets.”

 

The amendment from Cllr McPartlan was put to the vote and LOST.

 

On being put to the vote, the motion from Cllr Turrell as amended by Cllr Stammers was CARRIED.

 

(B) ULEZ and the Mayor of London

 

The following motion was proposed by Councillor Colin Hitchins (with an alteration to remove the word “premature”) and seconded by Councillor Josh Coldspring-White -

 

“This Council believes that the best interests of the people of Bromley have not been served by the extension of ULEZ and profligate spending by the Mayor of London resulting in enormous increases in his precept on council taxpayers.”

On being put to the vote, the motion from Cllr Hitchins was CARRIED.

(C)  Household Support Fund

The motion due to be proposed by Councillor Alisa Igoe and seconded by Councillor Chris Price was withdrawn.

(D) Live Streaming Council Meetings

 

The following motion was proposed by Councillor Chloe-Jane Ross and seconded by Councillor Sam Webber -

 

“Council Notes: 

 

(1) Online access to Council meetings improves local democracy by encouraging more residents to engage in council business with convenient access, whilst increasing transparency and accountability in Council decision making.

 

(2) That an increasing number of local authorities are recording and streaming Council meetings live routinely and maintaining the recordings for public access thereafter.

 

(3) Bromley Council has successfully live streamed Council meetings during COVID and after.

 

(4) That most Bromley Council meetings are already hybrid meetings, with attendees in the Council Chamber and Council Officers and Councillors viewing and/or participating online (noting Councillors are not permitted to vote online), and many hybrid meetings are already being recorded for internal purposes.

 

(5) There are cost and resourcing implications in providing a 5-star live streaming service, however the Council has existing resources to offer basic streaming and to upload recordings of Council meetings online with minimal cost implications.

 

Therefore, Council moves to:

 

(1) Livestream all future Full Council meetings and Committee meetings.

(2) To maintain recordings of meetings online for an appropriate length of time.

(3) Continue to investigate affordable enhancements to live streaming and availability of recordings online to improve the service without incurring significant costs.”

 

The following amendment was proposed by Councillor Jessica Arnold and seconded by Cllr Josh King -

 

“Council notes:

 

(1) Online access to Council meetings improves local democracy by encouraging more residents to engage in Council business with convenient access, whilst increasing transparency and accountability in Council decision-making. This is particularly important for allowing people with disabilities or reduced mobility, caring responsibilities or evening/shift working patterns to attend Council meetings.

 

(2) That an increasing number of local authorities are recording and streaming Council meetings live routinely.

 

(3) Bromley Council has successfully livestreamed Council meetings during COVID and after.

 

(4) That most Bromley Council meetings are already hybrid meetings, with attendees in the Council Chamber and Council Officers and Councillors viewing and/or participating online.

 

(5) There are cost and resourcing implications in providing a 5-star livestreaming service; however, the Council has existing resources to offer basic online viewing access and to upload recordings of Council meetings online with minimal cost implications.

 

Therefore, Council moves to:

 

(1) Provide online viewing access to Full Council meetings and Committee meetings held in public from no later than three months after the move of these meetings into our new premises at Churchill Court.

 

(2) To robustly consider what an appropriate length of time should be to keep recordings of meetings available for public access online, recognising the pros and cons of either short or long periods of access, to be considered by the General Purposes and Licensing Committee.

 

(3) Continue to investigate affordable enhancements to livestreaming and availability of recordings online to improve access without incurring significant costs, and keep our arrangements under review for quality and cost, with future updates coming to the General Purposes and Licensing Committee.”

 

On being put to the vote, the amendment from Cllr Arnold was LOST.

 

On being put to the vote, the motion from Cllr Ross was LOST.