Apologies were received from Councillor Charlie Chirico.

No declarations were made.

The minutes of the Council meeting held on the 10 September 2014 were approved as a correct record.

The Mayor provided the Council with an update on her recent Mayoral duties as well as updating the Council that so far she had raised approximately £18,000 for her Mayoral charities.

The Mayor then led the tributes to the passing of Honorary Alderman and former Councillor Jan Jones and former Councillor Ron Wilson. She then invited Councillors Nick Draper and David Williams to say a few words on the death of Honorary Alderman and former Councillor Jan Jones. Councillors Stephen Alambritis, Peter Southgate and Oonagh Moulton then said a few words on the death of former Councillor Ron Wilson. A copy of the speeches are included as Appendix A.

The Mayor informed the Council that Lola Barrett, had recently won the Compact Voice Chair’s Special Award, the ‘Chris Frost Award’, at the National Compact Awards. The Council was also nominated in four other categories.

The Leader announced that the Council had also recently won an award as the ‘most small business friendly Council in London,’ which was awarded jointly by the Federation of Small Businesses and the London Councils.

The questions and written responses will be circulated at the meeting.

The responses to the written public questions were circulated prior to the meeting. The Mayor then invited each of the questioners in turn to ask (if they wished) a supplementary question to the appropriate Cabinet Member.

A copy of the supplementary questions and the responses would be included within the ‘Public questions to Cabinet Members’ published document.

The questions and written responses will be circulated at the meeting

The responses to the Members’ ordinary priority questions were circulated prior to the meeting. The Mayor then invited each of those Councillors in turn to ask (if they wished) a further supplementary question to the Cabinet Member.

A copy of the supplementary questions and the responses would be included within the ‘Councillors' ordinary priority questions’ to cabinet members published document.

The questions and written responses will be circulated at the meeting.

The responses to the Members’ strategic theme priority questions were circulated prior to the meeting. The Mayor then invited each of those Councillors in turn to ask (if they wished) a further supplementary question to the Cabinet Member.

A copy of the supplementary questions and the responses would be included within the ‘Strategic theme: Councillors' questions to Cabinet Members’ published document.

The report was moved by Councillor Edith Macauley and seconded by Councillor Stephen Alambritis.

Councillor Jill West also spoke on this item

RESOLVED:

That the report is agreed

The motion was moved by Councillor Andrew Judge and seconded by Councillor Katy Neep

Councillors Mary-Jane Jeanes and Gilli Lewis-Lavender also spoke on this item

A roll-call was called on the substantive motion.

Voting in Favour:

Councillors: Agatha Mary Akyigyina,  Stephen Alambritis, Mark Allison, Stan Anderson, Laxmi Attawar, Tobin Byers, David Chung, Caroline Cooper-Marbiah, Pauline Cowper, Mary Curtin, John Dehaney, Nick Draper, Brenda Fraser, Fidelis Gadzama, Ross Garrod, Jeff Hanna, Joan Henry, Mary-Jane Jeanes, Abigail Jones, Philip Jones, Andrew Judge, Sally Kenny, Linda Kirby, Edith Macauley, Russell Makin, Maxi Martin, Peter McCabe, Ian Munn, Katy Neep, Dennis Pearce, Judy Saunders, Marsie Skeete, Geraldine Stanford, Imran Uddin, Gregory Udeh, Peter Walker and Martin Whelton. (37)

Voting Against

None (0)

Not Voting:

Councillors: Hamish Badenoch, John Bowcott, Michael Bull, Adam Bush, Stephen Crowe, David Dean, Edward Foley, Suzanne Grocott, Daniel Holden, James Holmes, Janice Howard, Abdul Latif, Najeeb Latif, Brian Lewis-Lavender, Gilli Lewis-Lavender, Oonagh Moulton, John Sargeant, David Simpson, Peter Southgate, Linda Taylor, Jill West, and David Williams. (22)

The Mayor declared the motion to be carried.

RESOLVED:

That the Council notes that the Mayor's Office for Police and Crime (MOPAC) has been selling off residential properties across London as part of their 2013-16 Estate Strategy, with tenants at Raynesfield, Raynes Park and 30 Griffiths Road, South Wimbledon served with eviction notices.

These tenants are mainly key workers such as nurses, teaching and school support staff and care workers, and are on modest incomes and have lived in these properties for up to 20 years. With average house prices and private rents in the area well beyond what their income would afford, they will have to uproot their families, leaving their jobs and removing their children from their schools.  They have had no assistance from the Mayor of London in finding new homes in the area.

Council notes that after a hard fought campaign by local residents, MOPAC has now announced that the evictions at Raynesfield have been halted whilst the policy is reviewed. However this comes too late for residents of 30 Griffiths Road where all the families have already been forced out. 

Council urges the Mayor of London to put a permanent stop to the evictions at Raynesfield and calls on the Mayor to work with tenants to find a solution which allows them to remain in their homes or to find them suitable alternative affordable accommodation in the neighbourhood.

The motion was moved by Councillor Jeff Hanna and seconded by Councillor Edith Macauley

Councillors Hamish Badenoch and Peter Southgate also spoke on this item

A roll-call was called on the substantive motion.

Voting in Favour:

Councillors: Stephen Alambritis, Mark Allison, Stan Anderson, Laxmi Attawar, Tobin Byers, David Chung, Caroline Cooper-Marbiah, Pauline Cowper, Mary Curtin, John Dehaney, Nick Draper, Edward Foley, Brenda Fraser, Fidelis Gadzama, Ross Garrod, Jeff Hanna, Joan Henry, Mary-Jane Jeanes, Abigail Jones, Philip Jones, Andrew Judge, Sally Kenny, Linda Kirby, Edith Macauley, Russell Makin, Maxi Martin, Peter McCabe, Ian Munn, Katy Neep, Dennis Pearce, John Sargeant, Judy Saunders, Marsie Skeete, Peter Southgate, Geraldine Stanford, Imran Uddin, Gregory Udeh, Peter Walker and Martin Whelton. (39)

Voting Against:

Councillors: Hamish Badenoch, John Bowcott, Michael Bull, Adam Bush, Stephen Crowe, David Dean, Suzanne Grocott, Daniel Holden, James Holmes, Janice Howard, Abdul Latif, Najeeb Latif, Brian Lewis-Lavender, Gilli Lewis-Lavender, Oonagh Moulton, David Simpson, Linda Taylor, Jill West, and David Williams. (19)

Not Voting:

Councillor: Agatha Mary Akyigyina. (1)

The Mayor declared the motion to be carried.

RESOLVED

That the Council notes that whilst levels of crime in Merton are the third lowest in London, and fear of crime is lower than the London average, nevertheless there are areas of the borough where concern about crime is substantially higher than average, and 46% of our young people include crime amongst their top three concerns, and believes that these concerns can be better addressed.

That the Council notes that although current police deployment in Merton is based on three sectors, based around Wimbledon, Morden and Mitcham, each with the same number of wards and the same number of Local Police Team officers, statistics show some 42% of crime in Merton to occur within the Mitcham sector, including violent crime, recent stabbings, and crime related to drug dealing, all of which causes an increased degree of fear of crime amongst residents living in these wards, and even within sectors there are particular areas and times when crime is typically higher than the norm, such as Wimbledon town centre in the evening and night-time. We recognise the need for increased policing of those areas at those times.

The Council is conscious that the vast majority of residents in Mitcham and of Wimbledon are responsible, law abiding citizens, as is true across the borough, believes that all our residents are entitled to a level of policing that responds to the incidence and seriousness of crime in their immediate neighbourhood, and confirms that this should be provided by the Mayor of London, without subsidy from council tax payers from an increasing hard-pressed council budget.

The Council was pleased to host the ‘meet the public’ session with the Metropolitan Commissioner, Sir Bernard Hogan-Howe on Monday 10 November in this council chamber, and noted

a.   his confirmation that individual Borough Commanders are not required to deploy officers evenly across sectors, but are free to deploy their officers across and within sectors in accordance with the needs of each of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7d

The motion was moved by Councillor David Simpson and seconded by Councillor James Holmes

Councillor Joan Henry also spoke on this item.

The motion was put a vote by the Mayor with 22 votes in Favour, 35 votes Against and 2 Not Voting.

The Mayor declared that the Motion falls.

Councillor John Dehaney presented the report, which was received by the Council.

Councillor Ian Munn presented the report, which was received by the Council.

Councillor Philip Jones presented the report, which was received by the Council.

Councillor Mary-Jane Jeanes presented the report, which was received by the Council.

Councillor James Holmes presented the report, which was received by the Council.

The motion was moved by Councillor David Williams and seconded by Councillor Adam Bush

The Labour amendment, as set out in item 27 was moved by Councillors Andrew Judge and seconded by Councillor Ian Munn.

The Labour amendment was then put to the vote and was carried – votes in favour 39, and votes against 19 with 1 abstention.

The substantive resolution was agreed.

RESOLVED:

This Council notes the various consultations that have been conducted by the London Borough of Merton in recent years on proposed regeneration schemes around the borough. These have included:

•        Rediscover Mitcham;

•        Connecting Colliers Wood;

•        Rainbow Industrial Estate Planning Brief;

•        Morden Station Planning Brief;

•        ‘Future Wimbledon’ conference and ideas competition on the evolution of Wimbledon town centre over the next 15 years; and

•        The Local Plan for the Ravensbury, High Path and Eastfields housing estates.

Council welcomes this investment in Merton’s future and congratulates the Future Merton team on undertaking intensive consultation around all of these developments to ensure the views of residents are heard.

Council further notes that, unlike a number of other councils, Merton has successfully completed the detailed process of developing a Local Plan for the borough.  This comprehensive series of documents  sets out an overarching strategic vision for the borough’s future development whilst also incorporating more detailed considerations of particular town centres, such as Morden, Mitcham, Colliers Wood and Wimbledon and sets out the infrastructural needs and opportunities arising from future development.        

This Council understands and takes seriously its responsibility not only to listen to the views of residents and businesses about significant changes proposed for their neighbourhoods but also to act on the results of these consultations to ensure that any plans drawn up by town planners, architects and developers are translated into a real and deliverable vision, which enjoys the support of the local community and brings tangible benefits to the people living and working here.

Furthermore, this Council appreciates the importance of investing in high quality homes and stronger communities, and not just in buildings, and recognises that one of the major concerns raised by residents about large scale regeneration projects is their impact on local infrastructure such as school places, traffic congestion, parking and health services.

Council therefore welcomes the administration’s creation of more than 2,000 extra school places in our local primary schools with 2,000 more planned and, following on from this success, the secondary school strategy being implemented by the administration to ensure all our young people can attend a good local school. Council further welcomes the administration’s commitment to tackling traffic congestion in the borough through a series of measures to smooth traffic flow and reduce traffic and parking contraventions. The council’s ambitious plans for Merton’s future make it even more important that we continue our fight to maintain accident and emergency, maternity and related services at St Helier hospital.  However, council regrets the threatened closure of the Vineyard Hill surgery in Wimbledon, noting that lack of government investment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13.

The report was moved by Councillor Mark Allison and seconded by Councillor Stephen Alambritis.

Councillor Janice Howard also spoke on this item

RESOLVED:

That the full Council agrees to the revisions to the polling districts and polling places as set out in the appendix of the report.

The report was moved by Councillor Mark Allison and seconded by Councillor Stephen Alambritis.

Councillor Suzanne Grocott also spoke on this item

RESOLVED:

That the Council agrees to authorise the Electoral Registration Officer (ERO) to appoint Deputy Electoral Registration Officers to carry out his powers and duties either in full or in part in accordance with section 52(2) of the Representation of the People Act 1983.

The report was moved by Councillor Mark Allison and seconded by Councillor Stephen Alambritis.

Councillor Janice Howard also spoke on this item

RESOLVED:

That the Council agrees to implement the council tax empty home premium of an additional charge of 50% on the council tax for long term empty properties (over two years empty) from 1 April 2015.

The report was moved by Councillor Mark Allison and seconded by Councillor Stephen Alambritis.

Councillor Suzanne Grocott also spoke on this item

The motion was put a vote by the Mayor with 40 votes in Favour, 0 votes Against and 19 Not-Voting.

RESOLVED:

That the Council, agrees to the uprating changes for the 2015/16 council tax support scheme, as detailed in within the Council Tax Support Scheme report, in order to maintain low council tax charges for those on lower incomes and other vulnerable residents.

The motion was moved by Councillor Mark Allison and seconded by Councillor Judy Saunders

The Conservative amendment, as set out in item 28 was moved by Councillors Suzanne Grocott and seconded by Councillor Stephen Crowe.

The Conservative amendment was then put to the vote and fell by – votes in favour 20, and votes against 38 with 1 abstention.

The original motion was then agreed.

RESOLVED:

That Council approves the following two schemes for inclusion in the Capital Programme:

*subject to reviewing the need for legal charge/financial penalties and clarification of the financial benefit to the Authority.

RESOLVED:

That the Council:

A).    agrees the revised Financial Regulations for the Authority. This document will replace Part 4F of the Council’s Constitution.

B).    approves the changes in respect of Contract Standing Order Number 6 and Appendices 2 and 4 of Contract Standing Orders.

RESOLVED:

That the Council agrees to renew it's promise to promote the application of Fairtrade principles and environmental justice in support of the Thematic Partnership 'Sustainable Communities and Transport'. In this, Merton Council will:

o     review, and where appropriate, amend its own practices as a demonstration of leading by example, including where value for money can be demonstrated, using Fairtrade Mark products;

o     ensure this philosophy is carried through in the way the council delivers services and works with its partners, the voluntary sector and businesses;

o     as a practical demonstration support the Fairtrade Merton steering group through:

§    a dedicated link officer in the council;

§    attendance at steering group meetings by council representative;

§    the council to publicise Fairtrade and associated events;

§    the council to support Fairtrade Merton with support for administrative tasks in promoting Fairtrade e.g. printing promotional material;

§    the Leader of the Council and all other party leaders supporting Fairtrade in council activities and through their activities;

§    the support of Cabinet Member for Environmental Sustainability and Regeneration; and

§    the support for Fairtrade events by the Mayor.

RESOLVED:

That the Council:

A).      agrees that the functions delegated to the London Councils Transport and Environment Committee to enter into the arrangements with the British Parking Association were and continue to be delivered pursuant to section 1 of the Localism Act 2011;

B).      delegate the exercise of section 1 of the 2011 Act to the London Councils Transport and Environment Committee for the purpose of providing an appeals service for parking on private land under contract on a full cost recovery basis

C).      delegate the formal signature of the Memorandum of Participation to the Director of Environment and Regeneration in consultation with the Cabinet member for Environmental Sustainability and Regeneration.

RESOLVED

That the Council

A).      approves, for its part, the establishment of a Joint Committee with neighbouring boroughs in the South London Partnership with the terms of reference and remit as set out in Appendix A of the report.

B).      notes that the Procedure Rules for the Joint Committee will be brought to a future meeting of Council for approval.

C).      appoints the Leader of the Council to serve as the Council’s representative on the Joint Committee

D).      agrees to increase the Borough’s subscription to £35k per annum in order that the Partnership is adequately resourced for what it needs to do.

E).      agrees that Richmond be the host Borough for staffing, with costs and liabilities shared between the constituent boroughs.

The report was moved by Councillor Mark Allison and seconded by Councillor Stephen Alambritis.

Councillor David Williams also spoke on this item

RESOLVED:

That the Council

A.     agrees the constitutional changes in the relation to the publication of non-key officer decisions as set out in the report and that officer  decisions be made ‘subject to ‘call-in’’ as detailed in appendix A, to the report, with a review after six months.

B.     agrees a minor constitutional change regarding filming of council meetings in order to comply with recent legislation, as detailed in appendix B, to the report.

The report was moved by Councillor Stephen Alambritis and seconded by Councillor Mark Allison.

Councillor David Simpson also spoken on this item. He commented that a membership change had been missed from the report with re-instatement of Councillor Linda Taylor to full member of the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel and the removal of Councillor Hamish Badenoch from full member to that of substitute, on 9 September 2014.

RESOLVED:

That Council

A.     notes the changes to the membership of Committees approved under delegated powers since the last meeting of the Council, including the re-instatement of Councillor Linda Taylor to full member, and Councillor Hamish Badenoch as a substitute, to the Children and Young People Overview and Scrutiny Panel

B.     agrees the constitutional changes to the terms of reference of the General Purposes Committee, as detailed in Appendix 1 within the report.

A petition was presented by Councillor Abdul Latif. The petition was called ‘petition against rat run and heavy vehicular traffic in South Park Road, between Trinity Road and Haydons Road including Wycliffe, Latimer and Bridges Roads, Wimbledon, SW19.

That the Strategic theme for the next ordinary meeting of the Council to be held on 2 February 2015 shall be Corporate Capacity with a focus on the Merton Partnership.