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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Katharine Street, Croydon CR0 1NX

Contact: Democratic Services  Email: Democratic.Services@croydon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

45/21

Disclosure of Interests

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

 

Minutes:

There were none.

 

46/21

Urgent Business (if any)

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

 

47/21

Announcements

To receive Announcements, if any, from the Mayor, the Leader, Head of Paid Service and Returning Officer.

Minutes:

Before the start of the meeting the Mayor explained that there were 18 Councillors present in the Council Chamber, while all other Councillors had joined online.

 

For residents watching at home, The Mayor explained that only Councillors present in the Council Chamber were able to vote at this meeting. Members attending remotely were able to ask and answer questions, and to speak during debates. Seats in the Chamber had been allocated to the two political groups based upon the total number of seats they held on the council overall.

 

The reason for holding the meeting this way was because the Council was required to hold its meetings in one place, but at the same time it was also required to minimise the risk of anyone transmitting COVID during the meeting.  By running the meeting this way the Council had been able to avoid the significant cost of hiring a larger meeting space to accommodate all Councillors safely.

 

The Mayor also advised that he had agreed with both Groups that the order of the agenda was slightly amended.  Item 8, the Recommendations of Cabinet or Committees for Decision, was heard after Item 5, Croydon Question Time.

 

The Mayor

In his announcements the Mayor thanked everyone who attended the Holocaust Memorial Day the previous Thursday. On Saturday 15 January, the Tamil Harvest and Thanksgiving Festival of Thai-Pongal was celebrated in Braithwaite Hall.

Unfortunately, both the Bollywood Dinner & Dance Fundraiser and the second round of the Mayoral Awards event had been cancelled, but there were a number of upcoming events in February and March.

The first was the International Language Day, honoured by UNESCO, which was being held in Braithwaite Hall on Monday 21 February. This was part of the International Language Week being held at Croydon Library from Monday 21 February to Saturday 26 February 2022.

The Mayor took this opportunity to mention that he would be working with the lead Cabinet Member and officers to bring forward proposals for the Council to agree to recognise and celebrate the Tamil Heritage Month of January and International Language Day every year.

The London Assembly had recently designated January to celebrate Tamil Heritage, which coincided with the Tamil celebration of Thai Pongal and the Mayor looked forward to working with the Cabinet Member and officers on bringing those proposals forwards.

Continuing with Mayoral events, he would be holding a charity fundraiser dinner, organised by the Royal Tandoori Selsdon and the Bangladesh welfare association on Monday 7 March.

This would be followed by a Cake Celebration on Friday 11 March to raise funds for the Mayor’s charities.

There would also be a Tree Planting Ceremony at Croydon University Hospital on Wednesday 23 March to mark ‘Her Majesty’s Platinum Jubilee 2022 and Looking to the Future from Covid’ through The Queen’s Green Canopy Initiative.

Finally, he would be celebrating Bangladesh Independence Day & Victory Day at Braithwaite Hall on a date to be confirmed during March.

 

The Leader

 

The Mayor invited the Leader, Councillor Hamida Ali,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47/21

48/21

Council Debate Motions

To debate any motions submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rules.

Minutes:

The Mayor asked the Monitoring Officer, John Jones to read out the First Debate Motion on behalf of the Administration.

The covid pandemic is the single biggest public health challenge since World War II, and Croydon residents have made tremendous sacrifices over this incredibly difficult and uncertain period.

People have lost loved ones before their time; children have not been able to witness their parents’ final breath; and thousands have died alone without anyone by their side.

Over 150,000 people have died in the UK of COVID, with the total registered COVID Deaths in Croydon at 19 January being 1,125.

Colleagues on both sides of the Chamber have suffered the effects of this terrible virus as have their friends and family.

Businesses have been shattered; livelihoods irreversibly destroyed whilst Croydon nurses, teachers, police - and many key workers - have been pushed to their limits working all hours to keep society functioning.

Thousands of people in Croydon have made tremendous sacrifices over the last two years in complying with all legislation and guidance, to keep everyone safe and allow NHS and Council services to function safely for the benefit of all.

This Council applauds everyone who has followed these rules and supported efforts to keep us all safe in Croydon. The Council also calls upon all elected politicians nationally and locally, including the Prime Minister to adhere to all government legislation and guidance with regard to Covid, and to be held publicly accountable in respect of any breaches of Covid safeguarding.”

The Mayor invited Councillor Pelling to propose the motion.

Councillor Pelling stated that great pride could be taken from what this council and the public health services had done. However, he continued by stating that there were some people of privilege within the Conservative Party who looked down their noses at Croydon and the way that the Prime Minister had behaved had raised very serious concerns with the people of Croydon.

Councillor Pelling continued by stating that it was now very interesting to see how the people of Croydon had come together and showed that Croydon cared for its neighbours and that the principles of equalities could be more than just a mantra.

In conclusion, Councillor Pelling felt that there was a real opportunity to enhance the community spirit and the willingness to work for the public good, whether Conservative or Labour or any other political persuasion so that the council could build on that consensus for equality. 

Councillor Young seconded the motion.

Councillor Perry agreed that Covid-19 had been an unprecedented event in our lifetimes and had had the biggest impact in everyday lives across the world and the people of Croydon had responded with fortitude. Councillor Perry continued by acknowledging how tough it had been on individuals and businesses and stated that the council’s frontline services had been amazing with some people literally putting their lives on the line to help others.

Councillor Perry continued by agreeing with Councillor Pelling that there was now a much  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48/21

49/21

Appointment of Corporate Director of Resources and Chief Finance Officer (S151) pdf icon PDF 119 KB

To consider the report of the Chief Executive.

Minutes:

The Leader proposed the recommendations and congratulated all the successful candidates who had already been appointed the roles covered by the Chief Executive’s statement earlier in the meeting.

 

Councillor Perry seconded the recommendations.

 

The recommendations were put to the vote and were unanimously carried.

 

RESOLVED: Council AGREED the recommendations in the report, to:

 

1.1     Note the decision of the Appointments Committee on 17 January 2022 to permanently appoint to the role of Corporate Director of Resources;

1.2     Agree the appointment of Jane West as the Council’s Chief Finance Officer and Section 151 Officer under the Local Government Act 1972, and;

1.3     Agree the above recommendations subject to the receipt of satisfactory pre-employment clearances.

 

The Mayor took the opportunity to congratulate Jane West on her appointment as the Council’s new Section 151 Officer Chief Finance Officer and Corporate Director of Resources.

 

50/21

Recommendations of Cabinet or Committees to Council for decision pdf icon PDF 283 KB

To consider the recommendations made by Cabinet or Committees since the last ordinary Council meeting relating to the following matters:

 

i.              Review of Council Tax Support Scheme – 2022/23

ii.            Education Estates Strategy

iii.           Report in the Public Interest October 2020 – Quarter 3 Update

iv.           Council Diary 2022-23

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM CABINET HELD ON 24 JANUARY 2022

 

Review of Council Tax Support Scheme – 2022/23

 

The Leader proposed the recommendation.

 

Councillor King seconded the recommendation and the Mayor called on him to introduce the report.

 

The recommendation was put to the vote and wascarried; however, under clause 117 of the Council’s Constitution of Council Procedures, Councillor Pelling requested that his opposition was recorded.

 

RESOLVED: Council AGREED the recommendations in the report:

 

1.1  That the Council’s Council Tax Support Scheme be amended to an income band scheme subject to the changes made following the consultation, from 1 April 2022. A full copy of the Council’s Council Tax Support Scheme in the form to be recommended, is circulated as Appendix 1 to this report [Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report].

 

 

Education Estates Strategy

 

Councillor Flemming introduced the report and proposed the recommendation.

 

The Leader seconded the recommendation.

 

The recommendation was put to the vote and was carried.

 

RESOLVED: Council AGREED the recommendation in the report:

 

1.2To agree the proposed community schools’ Admission Arrangements for the 2023/24 academic year attached as Appendix 5 [Appendix 1 to the Cabinet report].

 

 

Report in the Public Interest October 2020 – Quarter 3 Update

 

The Leader introduced the report and proposed the recommendations.

 

Councillor King seconded the recommendations.

 

The recommendations were put to the vote and were unanimously carried.

 

RESOLVED: Council AGREED the recommendations in the report:

 

1.3To note the progress the Council had made in regard to achieving the recommendations set out by external auditor in the Report in the Public Interest October 2020 with 65 out of 99 actions complete;

 

1.4To note the outcome of internal audit of actions delivered to properly evidence what had been achieved so far, in order to provide full assurance to members and residents on the changes achieved;

 

1.5To note the refreshed Action Plan including actions marked complete, progress updates against open actions and identification of actions to be embedded going forward as business as usual.

 

 

RECOMMENDATIONS FROM GENERAL PURPOSES & AUDIT COMMITTEE HELD ON 25 JANUARY 2022

 

Council Diary 2022-23

 

The Leader proposed the recommendations.

 

Councillor King seconded the recommendations.

 

The recommendations were put to the vote and were unanimously carried.

 

RESOLVED: Council AGREED the recommendations in the report:

 

1.6  To note the schedule of Full Council meeting dates for 2022/23, as agreed by the General Purposes & Audit Committee.

 

1.7  To note the schedule of Cabinet meeting dates for 2023/23 as detailed in paragraphs 3.6 and 3.12 of the report; and

 

1.8  To note the proposed schedule of remaining meeting dates for 2022/23, as recommended by the General Purposes & Audit Committee, as detailed in Appendix 17 and Appendix 18, depending on the outcome from GPAC on 25 January 2022.

 

51/21

Croydon Question Time pdf icon PDF 123 KB

a)    Public Questions (30 minutes)

To receive questions from the public gallery and questions submitted by residents in advance of the meeting.

 

b)    Leader and Cabinet Member Questions (105 minutes)

To receive questions from Councillors.

Minutes:

The Mayor explained that Croydon Question Time would be taken in two parts.

 

The first part was public questions to the Leader and Cabinet, which was followed by questions from Members to the Leader and Cabinet. Wherever possible, the Cabinet Member provided an answer during the meeting, but if a question required detail that the Cabinet Member did not have with them then a written response would be published on the Council website within the following three weeks.

 

Leader and Cabinet Member Questions

 

With the end of time allocated to questions from members of the public in attendance the Mayor moved on to public questions to the Leader and Cabinet Members.

 

Questions to the Leader

The Leader reminded Members that in November Cabinet began a search for a new Brick by Brick Board of Directors which would be led by both council officers and the existing Brick by Brick company directors. They had appointed an Executive Chair, Andrew Percival and a Non-Executive Director, Griff Marshalsay.

 

The Leader continued by informing Members that at the first Brick by Brick Cabinet Advisory Board members had brought their expertise to the table as they worked towards the decisions that Cabinet had made to complete the existing sites before winding down the company.

 

In his question, Councillor Perry asked whether the Leader believed that all those responsible had been held accountable, since the two Reports in the Public Interest.

In her response, the Leader stated that in the last 15 months, taking over as Leader the day before the first Report in the Public Interest was published, she believed that significant progress had been made by the council, as stated by the Minister of State.

 

The Leader continued by reminding Members that the first Report in the Public Interest regarded corporate failures and that everyone in the Chamber had had to reflect on this. The further Report in the Public Interest would be discussed on Thursday (3 February 2022). However, none of the former officers were now in place, had been suspended or had left the council. In addition, Members with responsibility were no longer councillors as they had resigned from their roles.

 

In his supplementary question, Councillor Perry askedagain whether the Leader believed that all those responsible had been held accountable.

 

In her response, the Leader stated that the council had used the powers that it could to take that action. Everyone shared the anger about what had happened, and all the officers no longer worked for the authority or were suspended, and all the senior councillors had resigned and had been referred to their membership bodies.

 

In her question, Councillor Henson welcomed the decision to pause the sale of Ashburton Lodge to allow the council and Oasis to explore the possibility of turning the lodge into a youth centre in memory of the young man who lost his life in Ashburton Park at the end of last year.

 

In her reply, the Leader stated that she was sure that all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51/21