Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Philip Jones and David Dean.  Apologies for lateness were received from Councillor Hamish Badenoch.

No declarations of pecuniary interest were made.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the Annual Council meeting held on 17 May 2017 are agreed as an accurate record.

Councillor Tobin Byers, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health paid tribute to the work of Simon Williams, former Director of Community and Housing, following his retirement at the beginning of July and thanked him for his work in Merton over the past 11 years.

Councillor Oonagh Moulton, Leader of the Conservative Group; and Councillor Peter Southgate, Leader of the Merton Park Ward Independent Residents Group also spoke on the subject of his retirement, thanking him for his hard work and dedication.

The Mayor presented two awards. The first was to Wimbledon Red Watch, in recognition of their rapid response to the Grenfell Tower fire and their continuing efforts to keep Merton residents safe. The second award was presented to the Council’s Business Systems team which had recently won two Gold Achievement Awards at the GeoPlace Exemplar Awards for management of its Address and Street Information databases.

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

The responses to the written public questions were circulated during the meeting.  The Mayor then invited each of the questioners in turn to ask (if they wished) a further question to the Cabinet Member.  A copy of the supplementary questions and responses will be included in the ‘public questions to Cabinet Members’ published document.

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

The responses to the written member ordinary priority questions were circulated prior to the meeting.  The Mayor then invited each of the members in turn to ask (if they wished) a further question to the Cabinet Member.  A copy of the supplementary questions and responses will be included in the ‘member ordinary priority questions to Cabinet Members’ published document.

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

The responses to the written member strategic theme priority questions were circulated prior to the meeting.  The Mayor then invited each of the members in turn to ask (if they wished) a further question to the Cabinet Member.  A copy of the supplementary questions and responses will be included in the ‘member strategic theme priority questions to Cabinet Members’ published document.

It was also noted that a copy of the member non priority questions and responses will be published after the meeting, in line with Constitutional requirements.

The Strategic Theme report on Safer and Stronger Communities with a focus on Equalities and Hate Crime was moved by Councillor Edith Macauley and seconded by Councillor Stephen Alambritis.

Councillor Michael Bull also spoke on the item.

RESOLVED:  That the Strategic Theme report is agreed.

The motion was moved by Councillor David Simpson and seconded by Councillor Charlie Chirico.

The Labour amendment as set out in agenda item 18 was moved by Councillor Brenda Fraser and seconded by Councillor Jerome Neil.

Councillor John Sargeant spoke on the item.

The Labour amendment was put to a vote and was carried – votes in favour: 37, votes against: 19, abstentions: 0.

The substantive motion (as amended) was agreed.

RESOLVED: That this Council welcomes the first Residents’ Survey to have been conducted in Merton for 3 years (due to our previous survey company discontinuing this service) and notes the record results Merton has achieved including:

· Record number of residents who think Merton Council is efficient and well run (76%).

· Record satisfaction rates among residents who agree the council is doing a good job.

· Record satisfaction rates among residents who agree the council responds quickly when asked for help.

· Record satisfaction rates among residents who agree the council involves residents when making decisions.

· 92% of Merton residents are satisfied with the local area as a place to live, which is significantly better than the national figure (80%).

· Nearly two thirds of residents agree the council provides value for money (65%), well above the national figure (47%).

· 75% agree the council acts on the concerns of local residents and 81% were in agreement that the council kept them informed about services and benefits, both well ahead of national results.

Council congratulates all our officers, Councillors and partners on these results but most importantly thanks our many residents, including school governors, street champions and community volunteers, who contribute to making Merton such a great place to live.

Council also notes the following results in relation to anti-social behaviour (ASB) from the recently published 2017 Residents’ Survey:

· Most residents (96%) feel safe during the day and after dark (85%), and these results are higher than those found nationally.

· Almost all residents (93%) agreed that their local area is a place where people from different ethnic backgrounds get on well together.

· Residents in both Wimbledon and Colliers Wood town centres are more likely than the borough average to be concerned about people being drunk or rowdy in public places, although by definition a borough average figure will include areas that are above and below this benchmark. Residents in Wimbledon are most likely to feel safe and satisfied overall with where they live and all areas are more safe and satisfied than the national figures.

· Groups hanging around the streets are cited as a big problem by 27% of residents in Wimbledon town centre and by 28% of residents in Ravensbury, Cricket Green and St Helier wards, although over 72% do not cite this as a problem.

· There is an above the borough average level of concern in Ravensbury, Cricket Green and St Helier wards about vandalism, graffiti and other deliberate damage to property/vehicles (with 17% of residents citing this as a big problem and 83% not citing it as a problem) and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7c

Councillor Michael Bull presented the report which was received by the Council.

Councillor Michael Bull presented the report which was received by the Council.

The motion was moved by Councillor Daniel Holden and seconded by Councillor Abdul Latif.

The Labour amendment as set out in agenda item 19 was moved by Councillor Ross Garrod and seconded by Councillor Martin Whelton.

Councillor Mary-Jane Jeanes spoke on the item.

The Labour amendment was put to a vote and was carried – votes in favour: 37, votes against: 19, abstentions: 0.

The substantive motion (as amended) was then put to a vote and was carried – votes in favour: 37, votes against: 0, abstentions: 19.

RESOLVED:  That this Council welcomes the public meeting held recently by local campaign group, Clean Air Merton, to discuss how best to tackle the serious problem of air pollution in the borough which is part of a London-wide and indeed global problem as acknowledged by a key note Speaker at the meeting, Andrea Lee, Healthy Air Campaigner for ClientEarth, who said: “Without national action, there is not much hope for local action to succeed.” Council also welcomes the work the council’s Air Quality Steering Group has undertaken to draft Merton’s updated Air Quality Action Plan 2017-2022 which will shortly be out to public consultation. Council notes with concern that:

1) Over 12,000 people in Merton are estimated to be exposed to unacceptable levels of pollution, and nationally more than 38 million people, or 59.3% of the UK population, are living in areas where levels of nitrogen dioxide pollution are above legal limits;

2) Various locations in Colliers Wood (Western Road and Colliers Wood High Street), Mitcham (London Road and Church Road), Morden (Crown Lane and London Road) and Wimbledon (The Ridgway, Merton Road and Haydons Road) exceed the legal nitrogen dioxide legal annual limit of 40 ug/m3, as do various locations in every single London borough. Council welcomes the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s plans to establish an ultra low emissions zone;

3) 13 out of the 390 nurseries, schools, further education colleges and after schools clubs across the borough are situated in areas where the levels of nitrogen oxide from traffic exceeds the annual legal limit, which at 3% is a lower percentage than our neighbouring boroughs of Kingston, Wandsworth, Richmond and Croydon but slightly above Sutton at 2%, and reflects a nationwide problem with more than 2,000 schools around England and Wales located near roads with illegal and dangerous levels of emissions from diesel cars. This council welcomes the Mayor of London Sadiq Khan’s decision to fund new ‘air quality audits’ for the 50 most affected primary schools in London that will identify new hard-hitting measures to protect pupils from poor air quality; and

4) Plans submitted to Merton Council for construction of a concrete batching plant at Waterside Way have led to a large number of objections citing the potential adverse impact on the air quality in neighbouring residential streets and at the nearby primary school and children's playground. An air quality assessment has been submitted as part of the application and it will be considered by the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

The motion was moved by Councillor Daniel Holden and seconded by Councillor Gilli Lewis-Lavender.

The Labour amendment as set out in agenda item 20 was moved by Councillor Tobin Byers and seconded by Councillor Peter McCabe.

The Labour amendment was put to a vote and was agreed unanimously.

RESOLVED:  That this Council recognises that, whilst it is Merton Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) that commissions support for people with neurological conditions, including Motor Neurone Disease (MND), many decisions about services used by residents with MND, such as social care, housing adaptations and support for carers, are made here at local authority level.

Given these overlapping responsibilities of both health and local authorities, this Council therefore resolves to ask Merton’s Health and Wellbeing Board (HWB) to consider adopting the Motor Neurone Disease (MND) Charter, which sets out the care and support that people living with MND and their carers deserve and should expect, including the right to an early diagnosis which is primarily a health matter, along with other commitments including the right to access quality care and treatments which covers both health and social care, and the right to be treated as individuals and with dignity and respect which should be common to all services.

If the HWB recommends the adoption of the MND Charter, this Council agrees to promote the Charter within the borough and to make it available to all councillors, council staff, partner organisations and health and social care professionals who deliver services for the council. This will serve to raise awareness of MND and demonstrate what good care looks like for those living with this devastating disease.  It will also assist the council, working closely with Merton CCG, positively to influence the quality of life for local people with MND and their carers living in our community.

The report was moved by Councillor Martin Whelton and seconded by Councillor Ian Munn.

Councillors John Bowcott and Andrew Judge both spoke on the item.

RESOLVED: That Council agrees the additions to the Local List set out in paragraphs 2.2 to 2.11 of the report.

The report was moved by Councillor Peter Southgate and seconded by Councillor Peter McCabe.

Councillor Oonagh Moulton spoke on the item.

RESOLVED: That Council receives the Overview and Scrutiny Annual Report.

The report was moved by Councillor Stephen Alambritis and seconded by Councillor Dennis Pearce.

Councillor David Williams spoke on the item.

RESOLVED: That

1.    Council agrees to award the Freedom of the Borough to the late Reverend Andrew Wakefield in recognition of the substantial contribution he made to the borough;

2.    Council agrees to hold a special Council meeting for the purposes of passing the necessary resolutions.

3.    Council agrees to congratulate 210 Squadron on their 50^th anniversary and, at a future meeting, present it with a certificate.

The report was moved by Councillor Stephen Alambritis and seconded by Councillor Martin Whelton.

RESOLVED: That

1.    The Council notes the changes to the membership of Committees that were approved under delegated authority since the last meeting of the Council.

2.    The Council appoints Councillor Philip Jones as Chair of the Pensions Fund Advisory Committee.

3.    The Council notes that no changes are proposed to the allocation of seats to political groups at this time.

The report was moved by Councillor Stephen Alambritis and seconded by Councillor Martin Whelton.

RESOLVED: That Council

1.    Notes the update on the petitions received at the last meeting,

2.    Accepts receipt of a petition presented by Councillor Gilli Lewis-Lavender in respect of the introduction of parking charges at Sir Joseph Hood Memorial Park.

Councillor Oonagh Moulton announced that the Strategic Theme for the next ordinary meeting of the Council, being held on 13 September 2017, shall be Sustainable Communities.