Agenda and minutes

To appoint a relief Chairman.

Motion, moved by the Lord Mayor and seconded by Councillor Melvyn Caplan that Councillor Louise Hyams be elected as Relief Chairman.

Motion put, and on a show of hands, declared CARRIED.

To sign the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council meeting held on 4 March 2015.

The minutes of the proceedings at the Council meeting held on Wednesday 4 March 2015 were, with the assent of the Members present, signed by the Lord Mayor as a true record of the proceedings.

(a)          The Lord Mayor to report that on Sunday 1 February she attended the Solemn Commemoration of the 70^th Anniversary of the Liberation of Auschwitz at Westminster Abbey.

(b)          The Lord Mayor to report that on Thursday 19 February she represented the City of Westminster at a visit by HRH The Prince of Wales and HRH The Duchess of Cornwall to Chinatown. 

(c)          The Lord Mayor to report that on Friday 20 February she presented certificates to young people participating in Westminster Take-Over week.

(d)          The Lord Mayor to report that on Tuesday 24 February she attended the Metropolitan Police Borough Commander’s commendation ceremony and presented certificates to the police officers being recognised for their bravery and diligence.

(e)          The Lord Mayor to report that on Wednesday 25 February she hosted a dinner for the Ambassador of Mexico to mark the forthcoming State Visit of the President of Mexico. 

(f)           The Lord Mayor to report that on Friday 27 February she hosted a fund raising evening for the Sir Simon Milton Foundation at the Hippodrome, raising £76,000 for the Foundation.  

(g)          The Lord Mayor to report that on Tuesday 3 March she attended the State Banquet in honour of the President of Mexico and Senora Rivera at Buckingham Palace in the presence of HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

(h)          The Lord Mayor to report that on Thursday 5 March she hosted a reception to mark the conferral of the title of Honorary Alderman upon Alan Bradley, Michael Brahams and Dr. Cyril Nemeth MBE. 

(i)            The Lord Mayor to report that on Sunday 8 March she attended, in Civic State, the Evensong Service to mark the 50^th anniversary of the re-organisation of Local Government in London, and afterwards she hosted a reception for guests from all the London Boroughs, the GLA and the City of London in Westminster School.

(j)            The Lord Mayor to report that on Monday 9 March she presided at the ceremony to raise the Commonwealth Flag on the roof of Westminster City Hall to mark Commonwealth Day.

(k)          The Lord Mayor to report that on Monday 9 March she received a delegation from the Chinese Community Centre and accepted on behalf of Westminster City Council a gift of 12 Chinese zodiac bronze statues signifying the friendship between the Chinese community in London and WCC.   

(l)            The Lord Mayor to report that on Monday 9 March she attended the annual Commonwealth Day Observance at Westminster Abbey in the presence of HM The Queen and HRH The Duke of Edinburgh.

(m)        The Lord Mayor to report that on Wednesday 11 March she hosted a reception to thank the Chair of School Governing Bodies and Local Authority School Governors in Westminster.

(n)          The Lord Mayor to report that on Saturday 14 March she represented the City of Westminster at a ceremony to mark the unveiling of a statue of Mahatma Gandi in Parliament Square. 

(o)          The Lord Mayor to report that on Sunday  ...  view the full agenda text for item 3.

3.1       The Lord Mayor drew the Council’s attention to her communications set out in the agenda.  The Lord Mayor advised that this week saw the 100^th anniversary of the award of the Victoria Cross to a Westminster, William Rhodes Moorhouse.  The citation read as follows:

            The Victoria Cross was awarded to William Rhodes Moorhouse “For most conspicuous bravery on 26^th April 1915, in flying to Courtrai and dropping bombs on the railway line near that station.  On starting the return journey he was mortally wounded but succeeded in flying for 36 miles to his destination, at a very low altitude and reported the successful accomplishment of this object.  His aircraft was found to have 95 bullet and shrapnel holes in its fuselage.  He died of his wounds the following day.”

To the retiring Lord Mayor and Consorts Councillor Audrey Lewis and Ms Victoria Lewis, Miss Frances Gladwin and Miss Nancy Gladwin.

(a)      Vote of Thanks to the retiring Lord Mayor and Consorts, Councillor Audrey Lewis, Miss Victoria Lewis, Miss Frances Gladwin and Miss Nancy Gladwin

          Motion moved by Robert Davis and seconded by Councillor Richard Beddoe that the full Council resolve to record a vote of thanks to Councillor Audrey Lewis for the distinguished service rendered by her as Lord Mayor and Miss Victoria Lewis, Miss Frances Gladwin and Miss Nancy Gladwin for the constant and invaluable help given by them as the Lord Mayor’s Consorts.

          We assure them of our gratitude for, and high appreciation of, the dignity and ability with which they have carried out their many duties in accordance with the highest traditions of the City and this Vote of Thanks be inscribed on Vellum under the Common Seal and presented to them.

          Motion put and on a show of hands declared CARRIED following which the Lord Mayor replied.

          RESOLVED: That we assure them of our gratitude for, and high appreciation of, the dignity and ability with which they have carried out their many duties in accordance with the highest traditions of the City and this Vote of Thanks be inscribed on Vellum under the Common Seal and presented to them.

To receive any declarations of interests from Members and Officers of the Council.

5.1     During the course of debates, at the commencement of their respective speaker, the following members declared a personal interest:

          Councillor Hall that her property may be subject to a future Mansion Tax.

          Councillor Glanz that he has interests in properties which may be subject to a future Mansion Tax.

          Councillor Boothroyd that he is employed by a Planning Consultancy but he has no involvement in any Westminster related applications.

There were no Petitions or Deputations.

(Standing Order 9 limits the questions to matters relevant to the general work or procedure of the Council).

The questions, supplementary questions and replies are included on the Council’s website.

(a)      Councillor David Harvey – Improving the NHS through Scrutiny.

(b)      Councillor Christabel Flight – Silver Sunday/Sir Simon Milton Foundation.

(a)            Improving the NHS through Scrutiny

Councillor David Harvey spoke and Councillor Rachael Robathan replied.

(b)      Silver Sunday/Sir Simon Milton Foundation

          Councillor Christabel Flight spoke and Councillor Philippa Roe replied.       

With the approval of the Chairman of the meeting, the Leader of the Council may make a statement on an urgent matter and the Leader of the Opposition will have an equivalent right of reply.

There were no urgent matters.

(a)      Mansion Tax

The Majority Party had selected for debate the Notice of Motion – Mansion Tax as set out on the agenda.  The Motion was moved by Councillor Melvyn Caplan and seconded by Councillor Tony Devenish.

Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg moved and it was seconded by Councillor Adam Hug that everything after “Westminster City Council and residents” be deleted and  replaced with:

“Agree that proposals for a Mansion Tax are fair and will protect those on low incomes with a right to defer the charge until the property changes hands. All but higher-rate taxpayers will be able to choose to defer the charge until the property is sold at a time of their choosing. As only 5% of pensioners are higher rate taxpayers this should go a long way towards reassuring the older, longer-standing residents in higher value homes.

This Council notes that no property currently valued at less than £2 million will be included and this threshold will be uprated in line with prime value property inflation. The charge will be £250 per month for properties valued between £2 and £3 million (equivalent to the average Band H Council Tax across the country). Further bands will apply to properties valued above £3m. A recent YouGov poll found that 60% of Londoners support the Mansion Tax proposal to finance the NHS, with 28% against.

This Council further agrees that there is little difference between a Mansion Tax and a Council Tax ‘super-band’ as argued by Councillor Lindsey Hall in the ‘Evening Standard’ on 25th November 2014 when she said that, “The cure for inequity in housing lies in re-banding council tax, perhaps with a ‘super band’ that reflects genuine ‘mansion’ status”.

In addition, this Council notes that Mark Field, former Member of Parliament for the Cities of London and Westminster, has called for three extra Council Tax bands – “Band H for prime properties worth between £2 and £5 million; Band I for so-called ‘intermediate prime’ properties in the £5 to £15 million bracket; and finally Band J for super prime properties worth over £15 million.”

This Council further notes that annual property taxes have become increasingly inequitable over the last 25 years. As former Times editor Simon Jenkins recently pointed out:

“Houses in parts of Westminster, Kensington and Camden that are now worth over £2m were in 1990 paying between £3,000 and £10,000 in rates. Had the rates not been abolished, mere inflation would now have them paying £6,000-£20,000. That is without revaluation or any increase in the cost of local services, which would have pushed some rates to more than £50,000”

Finally, the Council agrees that we are increasingly no longer debating whether to raise the annual property charge on very high value homes, but how this is best done, where to direct any money raised (for example, to the NHS, to build more social housing) and the best means of protecting those who are ‘asset rich but cash poor”.

For all the above reasons, this Council looks  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.