Agenda and minutes

To appoint a relief Chairman.

Motion moved by the Lord Mayor and seconded by Councillor Tim Mitchell that Councillor Jan Prendergast be elected as Relief Chairman.

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

To sign the Minutes of the Annual Council meeting held on 18 May 2016.

The Minutes of the proceedings at the Annual Council meeting held on Wednesday 18 May 2016 were, with the assent of the Members present, signed by the Lord Mayor as a true record of the proceedings.

·             The Lord Mayor to report that on Thursday 19 May he and The Lady Mayoress attended a Garden Party at Buckingham Palace hosted by HM The Queen.

·             The Lord Mayor to report that on Friday 20 May he and The Lady Mayoress attended the 75^th Anniversary annual Awards evening for 291 (Westminster & Chelsea) Squadron ATC in Rochester Row.

·             The Lord Mayor to report that on Wednesday 25 May he attended the Inaugural Annual Dinner of the Westminster Property Association at The London Hilton, Park Lane.

·             The Lord Mayor to report that on Sunday 29 May he attended the Vitality Westminster Mile which took place in The Mall.

·             The Lord Mayor to report that on Wednesday 8 June he hosted a Reception in City Hall for MCC and The Foundation for Goodness Charity who work to help those affected by the Tsunami.

·             The Lord Mayor to report that on Saturday 11 June he and The Lady Mayoress attended the Ceremony of Trooping the Colour to celebrate HM the Queen’s 90^th Birthday on Horse Guards Parade.

·             The Lord Mayor reports that on Monday 13 June he sent a letter of congratulations to a number of Westminster residents who had been awarded Honours in the Birthday Honours list – these names included Sir Simon Robey, Sir Stuart Hampson CVO, DL  and Dame Julia Peyton-Jones DBE.

·             The Lord Mayor to report that on Monday 20 June he hosted a Flag Raising Ceremony at City Hall to celebrate Armed Forces Day. The event was attended by a number of Tri Service representatives from within Westminster who subsequently attended a buffet lunch Reception.

·             The Lord Mayor to report that on Sunday 26 June he attended an evening service of thanksgiving and re-commitment at Westminster Abbey to mark the 25^th Anniversary of the opening of the National Holocaust Centre and Museum.

·             The Lord Mayor to report that on Sunday 3 July he and the Lady Mayoress will attend The Annual Civic Service at Westminster Abbey followed by a Reception in College Garden hosted by The Dean of Westminster.

3.1     The Lord Mayor thanked everyone for their attendance at the Civic Service.

3.2     The Lord Mayor advised that he had, on behalf of Councillors, staff and residents of Westminster, written to HM The Queen on the occasion of her official birthday celebrations, held this year in honour of her own 90^th birthday.  The Queen replied thanking everyone and forwarding her own best wishes.

3.3     The Lord Mayor advised that it was intended to offer those Members who wish to the option of receiving all their papers for full Council meetings electronically.  He asked Members to watch out for further information.

To receive any Declarations of Interests from Members and Officers of the Council.

4.1     Councillor David Boothroyd declared, in respect of Item 10, that he is the Head of Research and Psephology for Thorncliffe, whose clients are companies applying for planning permissions from various local authorities.  If any clients applied for premises relating to Westminster he would be precluded from working on them under the company’s Code of Conduct.

5.1     There were none.

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

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

(a)      Councillor Rita Begum – Youth Inter-Generational Issues in Maida Vale.

(b)      Councillor Paul Church - A West End For All.

(a)      Youth Inter-generational Issues in Westminster

          Councillor Rita Begum spoke and Councillor Danny Chalkley replied.

(b)      A West End for All

          Councillor Paul Church 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.

To consider items chosen for debate from the attached Future Policy Plan.

9.1     The meeting debated the item chosen for debate from the Future Policy Plan by the Majority Party – Licensing.  The debate will be referred to the relevant Executive Director for consideration when next reporting on the subject.

To receive, consider and debate, if chosen, the following reports which contain a recommendation to the Council for decision:

Cabinet/Committee                    Date of Meeting

Cabinet                                       6 June

General Purposes Committee      6 July (To Follow)

10.1    The meeting debated the second item chosen for debate by the Majority Party the report of the Cabinet Member for Built Environment.  The Basement Revisions and Mixed Use Revisions to the City Plan.  The Lord Mayor referred to the note which had been included on the Order Paper which stated the urgency involved.

          The Inspector’s report was only provided to the Council on 28^th June following which Council officers had to consider the report and the modifications to the policies proposed by the Inspector before making a recommendation to the Cabinet Member.

          The Cabinet Member had to approve the proposed policies to be recommended to Council to adopt.

          This meant that the report could not be despatched by the despatch deadline date.

          The report was then published as soon as practicable to the public and Members, as required, at the same time.

          It is important that the policies are adopted as soon as possible to give them full statutory weight as local plan policies and therefore to provide certainty for planning decisions.

          The adoption of the basement policy will enable the new Code of Construction Practice regime to be implemented to minimise the disruption that can be caused by basement developments and the adoption of the policy on mixed use is required to stop the loss of offices from our internationally important commercial areas.

          Following debate, the Lord Mayor put the recommendations in the report to the vote and on a show of hands declared the recommendation Adopted:

          RESOLVED:

(i)              That the Draft Basement Revision to Westminster’s City Plan and the Draft Mixed Use Revision to Westminster’s City Plan, together with the changes requested by the Inspector be adopted as “Westminster’s City Plan, July 2016” and be used henceforth for development management purposes.

(ii)             That the Director, Policy, Performance and Communications, be authorised to undertake all necessary procedural steps in relation to the adoption of the Basement Revision and Mixed Use Revision to Westminster’s City Plan, including the following:

(a)       to take the steps required by Regulation 26 of the Town and           Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations           2012, including issuing an adoption statement and making it         available on the Council’s website.

(b)            To send the adoption statement to the Secretary of State as required by Regulation 26 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development) (England) Regulations 2012 together with the adopted “Westminster’s City Plan, July 2016” and send the adoption statement to all relevant persons.

To be moved by Councillor Adam Hug and seconded by Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg.

Following from the result of the EU Referendum this Council seeks to ensure that the impact of this has a minimal impact on our residents. To that end we will:

·                 Ensure that public services are protected from any further cuts.

·                 Reassure EU citizens who have chosen to work and live in Westminster of the important contribution they make to our City and their place in our future, noting the important planned work of the Community Cohesion Commission. We are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society. Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes have no place in our city.  We will ensure council bodies and local groups are supported to fight and prevent any upsurge in racism and xenophobia. 

·                 Commit to an ever greater house building programme, particularly for those who cannot meet the financial commitments of existing opportunities.

·                 Work with contractors and service providers to develop employment and career opportunities for younger people who live in the City.

·                 Support calls for greater devolution of powers to London and local authorities.

11.1     The Minority Party had selected for debate the Notice of Motion – EU Referendum result impact as set out on the agenda.  The Notice of Motion was moved by Councillor Adam Hug and seconded by Councillor Paul Dimoldenberg.   

Councillor Nickie Aiken moved and it was seconded by Councillor Suhail Rahuja that the Notice of Motion be amended, as follows:

That the words struck through in the text below be deleted from the original Notice of Motion:

Following from the result of the EU Referendum this Council seeks to ensure that the impact of this has a minimal impact on our residents. To that end we will:

·                 Ensure that public services are protected from any further cuts.

·                 Reassure EU citizens who have chosen to work and live in Westminster of the important contribution they make to our City and their place in our future, noting the important planned work of the CommunityCohesion Commission. We are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society. Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes have no place in our city. We will ensure council bodies and local groups are supported to fight and prevent any upsurge in racism and xenophobia.

·                 Commit to an ever greater house buildingprogramme, particularly for those who cannot meet the financial commitments of existingopportunities.

·                 Work with contractors and service providers to develop employment and career opportunities for younger people who live in theCity.

·                 Support calls for greater devolution of powers toLondon and local authorities.

After debate, to which Councillor Adam Hug replied, the Lord Mayor put the amendment moved by Councillor Nickie Aiken and seconded by Councillor Suhail Rahuja to the vote and on a show of hands declared the amendment Adopted.

The Lord Mayor then put the Substantive Motion to the vote and on a show of hands declared the Substantive Motion Adopted.    

            Resolved:

            That following from the result of the EU Referendum this Council seeks to:

            Reassure EU citizens who have chosen to work and live in Westminster of the important contribution they make to our City and their place in our future, noting the important planned work of the Community Cohesion Commission.  We are proud to live in a diverse and tolerant society.  Racism, xenophobia and hate crimes have no place in our city.  We will ensure council bodies and local groups are supported to fight and prevent any upsurge in racism and xenophobia.

The Lord Mayor, at the conclusion of the time allocated for the items selected for debate, put the remaining business to the vote in accordance with Standing Order 18.

2015-2016 Annual Accounts: Noted.

2015-2016 Treasury Outturn Report: Noted.

Members Code of Conduct:  The Lord Mayor put the recommendations of the General Purposes Committee to the vote and on a show of hands declared the recommendation Adopted.

RESOLVED:  That the Members Code of Conduct, as attached to the report of the General Purposes Committee report as Appendix C be adopted with effect from 1 September 2016.