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[BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANK_AUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] Thank you, I've received apologies from the Deputy Mayor Councillor Nigel Betz and Councillor Fraser Brooks. I've also been informed that Councillor Lucia Henness may arrive late. Are there any further apologies this evening? Thank you. We now move on to the next item, which is the minutes. Is it the wish of the members of the Council that are sign the minutes of the meeting of the Council held on the 6th of March, 2024 as a correct record. Thank you, members. [BLANK_AUDIO] We now move on to item three, disclosures of interest and dispensation. Does any member wish to vary or add to the list attached to the supplementary report? Nobody, thank you. We now move on to item four, which is communications. I have none this evening. We now move on to item five, which is questions for which there is an overall time allocation of 30 minutes. The agenda for this evening lists a question from Mr. Chapman, but as he has confirmed that he will not be attending the meeting, a written response will be sent to him in accordance with procedure rules. I will, therefore, move straight to question from members of the Council. I shall be following the user convention by offering the second supplementary questions across the other side of the Chamber. Please would members confine themselves to asking questions and not preface them with opening statements. The time now is 1939 and I invite Councillor Rassen-Ramen to put her question to Councillor Reed, cabinet member for Children's Services, Councillor Rassen-Ramen. Can the cabinet member advise on what measures are being undertaken to deal with the record overspend of 30 million in Children's Services, as reported in the latest budget monitoring report? Councillor Reed. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I refer Councillor Asramaramo to the agenda of last week's public cabinet meeting. This is made available in both hard copying online to all members, as well as being freely available to all residents. If you look at that, you will see on pages 110 to 113 inclusive, comprehensive information on both the reasons for the overspend and the detailed listing of the work being undertaken on implementing and developing measures to mitigate the cost pressures. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councillor Rassen-Ramen, do you have a supplementary? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. With the current overspend, and whilst we're putting in efforts to put in more prevention work to assist and support our young people, where will we find the money to ensure the best in service delivery to our children and young people? Councillor Reed. Mr. Mayor, just give some background information to this, which again is contained in the public cabinet documents. Some of the areas which are contributing to the main overspend pressures have been addressed in the NTFS for the forthcoming year. For example, placements, 3.5 or 3.7 million pounds worth of growth has been provided. There is. This comes out of my colleague's portfolio, but SEM Transport, 600,000 growth provided, and staffing, there's 3.5 million growth provided. In addition to all the work that we are doing in prevention, and that is referenced again in the public cabinet report. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Reed, is there a supplementary question from the bench? Councillor, more. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We all saw the various mitigations clearly set out in the public cabinet agenda for the meeting on the 16th of April. Does the cabinet member believe that these are having an impact on reducing the cost of the rising demand on children's social care services in Vexley? Councillor Reed. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you to Councillor Neill for the supplementary. As a report to the public cabinet demonstrated, there are already mitigations having a significant impact on costs. For example, these are just two of the examples which are listed in the public cabinet document. Monthly panels were looked after children and carelier placements track and review of the highest cost replacements, and so far savings of 1.3 million pounds have been delivered. In addition, new opportunities to reduce costs have been identified during the year, meaning total cost reductions of 1.7 million are expected to be achieved. Those are just two of the examples set out in the public cabinet papers, but of course we continue to see significant pressures on the service, and those pressures have arisen because of the impact of the pandemic. However, there are early indications that the numbers of contacts and referrals to our children's social care service are reducing. It's still very early days, and I do not want to presume anything, but those over the last few months do appear to be moving back toward the level seen immediately pre-COVID. If that trend continues, it will obviously be good news, but and it's a big but. We still and will still have to cope with the consequences of the major impact of a pandemic that has significantly increased the complexities of the problems of our children and young people who were affected and continue to be affected from the height of the pandemic. Now, I know, Mr Mayor, that there are some deniers of that, but it's obvious to most informed observers that the pandemic had and continues to have a major continuing impact, not just in Bexley, but across the country. That will continue for some time, which is why it's right that we in Bexley continue to proactively seek and introduce innovative, imaginative and effective ways of working with and supporting our young people and their families. That is to their benefit, and the benefit, of course, of Bexley's tax paying residents. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Reid. I will now invite Councillor Asin Rami to put her question to Councillor Newton, cabinet member for Education, Councillor Asin Rami. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Can the cabinet member confirm what funding will be needed to deal with the actions identified from the recent disappointing send area inspection report? Thank you. Councillor Newton. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and thank you, Councillor Asin Rami, for the question. We've reviewed the card improvements highlighted in the recent Offstead inspection published on February 23rd and have together with our partners developed a priority action plan, which was reported to cabinet on April 16th, as well as discussed at the OSC subgroup on April 2nd. We will continue to work closely with our partners to implement the plan, and we'll be able to provide more information on the progress and funding of the improvements and respective funding contributions at a later date. Councillor Asin Rami, do you have a supplementary? Thank you, Mr Mayor, and thank you, Councillor Newton. Could you please tell us what the potential impact on the safety valve process is, please? Councillor Newton. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. Well, safety valve is obviously an important program that we are part of. It is a government program to enable us to reduce our dedicated scores, grant deficit and deliver a range of innovative programs to enable us to deliver interventions that will improve outcomes. For children and young people, we send in Betsy's scores. There is an obvious correlation between the implementation of safety valve and also of the improvement plan. While they're separate work streams, there are many overlaps and they're in a strip of the linked. In fact, earlier on today, the leader and I, along with the interim chief executive and Mr Kitchman, spoke to the Minister of one of the Ministers in the DFE. Mr Johnston, and explained our interest and the importance that we need to work with the DFE, work with our partners to make sure this becomes one program as we go forward. Thank you, Councillor Newton. Is there a supplementary question from the Conservative group? Councillor CASSIDY. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Mine was also on something on the safety valve. Could the Cabinet member share how the priority action plan interacts with the safety valve program in order to deliver improvements following the office's CQC inspection of the local area partnership? Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Newton. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I know you warned me earlier not to repeat myself, but I can give a little bit of extra information there. As I've just mentioned, Councillor Astrone, Romeo, it's obviously incredibly important that the two programs are interlinked and worked together. Unfortunately, the Officer at CQC inspection did not recognise the work that was undertaken so far and how, within Bexley, the key element of the safety valve program, which is funded by the DFE, is the early intervention package that's aimed at pupils. And I think if we see an increased cost of EHCP packages or continue to see the number of EHCP's rise, that will impact the resources and service to service the plans as well as what we need to fund the package. So this could compromise the safety valve. But as I mentioned to Councillor Astrone, Romeo, we are keen to make sure that we're working with partners and with the DFE to ensure this is one program. Thank you, Councillor Newton. I will now invite Councillor WILSON to put her question to Councillor Newton, cabinet member for Education, Councillor WILSON. We're very, very popular tonight, Councillor Newton. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Will the cabinet member for Education provide details on the outcome of the joint SCND area inspection, please? Councillor Newton. Thank you, Mr Mayor. And I do apologise. You're going to hear a lot of me this evening. And thank you also to Councillor WILSON. It is a very helpful question and I hope that my answer, perhaps give members that aren't as aware as others a bit further, a bit more information further to the previous question. The Bexley Local Area Partnership was subject to a joint inspection by the Clear Quality Commission and Offstead, which looked at services for children and young people with special educational needs and disability in Bexley. The report has now been published with a number of areas of the partnerships work receiving positive feedback from inspectors, such as the impact of our multi-agency, early intervention team, our joint communication team, services to our most vulnerable residents, creative use of social prescribing and the academic achievement of youth pupils. However, the outcome of the report was disappointing with inspectors identifying widespread and/or systematic failings leading to significant concerns about the experiences and outcomes of some of the children and young people with SCND and ABARA. Following the inspection, the local area partnership has 18 months to make improvements against three priority outcomes and an additional two areas of development. Thank you, Councillor Neusen. Is there a supplementary question from the Labor Center bench? Sorry, bigger pardon. Councillor WILSON, you've got a supplementary question first. Overstepping myself. Councillor WILSON. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Will the Cabinet Member comment on the priority action plan that has now been submitted to Offstead and what contribution partners are committing to it, please. Thank you. Councillor Newton. Thank you, Mr Mayor. A detailed priority action plan has been produced by the local area partnership. It's now been approved by both Offstead and the Department for Education and was published yesterday on the Council's and Partners websites. A page tribute last week at public cabinet to officers and partners who worked hard to develop the improvement plan and will continue to work hard to implement it and make those very important improvements for our children and young people. It was a real collaboration and demonstrates the partnership working that existed before the inspection and will continue going forward. With regards to the scrutiny of the action plan, the sending improvement board, which is made up of all partners, will meet six weekly. It will be chaired by an independent chairman, Fiona Phelps, and it will look into deep dive areas at every meeting. Similarly, the Department for Education will be monitoring improvements against the action plan. And as I mentioned earlier, along with the Leader, Mr Kitchman, Mr Thurgood, we spoke to David Johnston about our commitments to improvement earlier on today. I hope subject to members agreements that relevant OSCs will continue to scrutinize the improvements in the next municipal year. So the priority action plan and improvement will continue to be well scrutinized and without doubt, subject to future questions here. Thank you, Councillor Newton. Now we come to the supplementary from the Labor Group. Councillor Aslan-Rameau. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. Are there any plans in place to reimburse parents who have had to use their own personal funds to pay for assessments that should have been provided by the Council to ensure we don't have a two-tier system affecting children? And how do you plan to keep parents in the loop at every stage of their children's plans? Thank you, Councillor Aslan-Rameau. Councillor Newton. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I think the point about parents paying for assessments was well made at the scrutiny subgroup. I think we spoke that evening about ensuring equity, and that's equity not only for parents who can't afford to pay for private assessments, but also for the children of those parents who can't afford it are potentially disadvantaged given that the private assessments that are made perhaps push forward further EHCP plans, for example. So certainly in cases that I've seen, you could potentially say that not only was an inequity of parents having to pay for assessments, but there's an inequity of parents to parents of children who haven't paid for them or can't afford to pay for them. I think there's a point as well about communication. I'm happy to carry on to Councillor Perfect's question, but perhaps I can stop there and speak to Councillor Perfect's question with regards to communication later on. Thank you, Councillor Newton. I will now invite Councillor O'Hare to put his question to Councillor LEAF.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Can the cabinet member provide the details of the total amount of council tax collected from Bexley residents by the greater London authority through the precept collected by the Mayor of London? Councillor LEAF. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It's very timely this question. I'm certainly grateful for it. As members will know, the Mayor of London is able to charge a precept on our council tax bills. In 2016-17, the amount at Ban D per council tax bill was 276 pounds, having fallen over the previous eight years under a conservative Mayor of London. During the eight years at the current, and hopefully soon to be outgoing, Mayor of London has been in office. That amount has risen by 71% to 471 pounds and 40 pence. This means, once taking into account the growth that we have in our council tax base, that the total amount raised by this precept from households in Bexley has risen over the last eight years from 21.7 million pounds to an estimated 39.6 million pounds this year. That's an 82% rise and about 18 million more being taken from the pockets of Bexley's hardworking residents. Of course, this figure does not include the money he gets from business rates or the millions of pounds being taken from hardworking businesses and families through his hated US tax. Thank you, Councillor LEAF. Councillor interjecting. Do you have a supplementary? Yes, Mr. Mayor. With a total amount of money, the current Mayor of London has taken from Bexley tax bills nearly doubling in eight years under a study come. Can the cabinet member give any details of what Bexley gets back? If anything, and what can we do to bring a bar to change? Councillor LEAF. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. It's very little. Very little is the answer of what we get back from the current Mayor of London. We're seeing Chair Feld funding for our bar slashed by over 80% from about 7.5 million to barely a million pounds. He's so neglectful of our bar when it comes to Rose. The government have actually intervened and give us money direct rather than leaving it in the hands of Mayor Carn's distribute. He's also imposed Ules, as I mentioned earlier, and he is plotting to make everyone pay more through his paper mile tax which he's plotting to impose on us. He's failed to support our housing plans. On top of that, of course, when it comes to policing, he wanted to shut our police station across the road. He's reorganized the Met to take policing away from our bar. And of course, he failed to take the funding that the government made available to him for the National Police Uplift Program. And as a result, there's more than 1,000 fewer police officers on our street. All of this at a time when some serious and violent crimes are arising in our capital city. Whether it is on transport, housing, or the police, the current Mayor of London has neglected our bar and has failed our city. But of course, there is one thing that the good people of Bexley can do in the next eight days. And that is to vote conservative at the London elections. Vote to Saxodyque and vote to make London safer with Susan. Thank you, Councillor LEAVE. Is there are members? [INAUDIBLE] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] Members, if I can have your attention please. Which has been advised by the monitoring officer that currently we are in Purda. Thank you. And we need to be mindful of what we say in public and observe the Purda rules. If that's okay and that's to both sides to observe those rules. Thank you very much. Is that a comment, Councillor Taylor? There is a supplementary that I think the Labor Group wants to ask. Thank you very much, Councillor BRILLER. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'm going to put on different slants, as you can imagine. Could the current member confirm or congratulate who has provided the bus hop affairs, free school meals for all primary children, the SL3 Superloop bus, which I know Councillor LEAVE uses. Funding for the Bexa LEAVE night market for Bexa residents. Funding for the Violence Production Unit. And also, he provided more affordable housing on the old Bexa Civic side. Pushed back against this council who were not going to do that. So I hope he's going to change and actually say there were some things. And maybe he can congratulate the Mayor for what he has done. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor BRILLER. Councillor LEAVE. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. I think I need to fact check the few things that Councillor BRILLER said. I think the Violence Production Unit was actually funded by central government. And as I said earlier, when it comes to crime and tackling crime in London, the Mayor of London refused to take millions of pounds available from government through the police national uplift program. So there are thousands less police officers on our street than there should be tackling crime. He may want to celebrate that fact, but I certainly don't. When it comes obviously to the Mayor of London, as I said earlier, he's taken far more out of the pockets of people in this bar and given a hell of a lot less back. And that is exactly why, without straying into perder rules, before the Monastery Officer tries to tell me off for that. That is exactly why the good people have better say we'll make the right choice when it comes to the elections in a week's time and vote for a candidate who will invest in our police, back our city, and cut all the wasted nonsense that we see from the current Mayor. Thank you, Councillor LEAVE. [INAUDIBLE] Members, I will now invite Councillor Perfich to put a question to Councillor Newton, cabinet member for education. Councillor Perfich. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Can the cabinet member outline the ways in which the Council will ensure timing updates and actions to work effectively with parents and carers of children with EHC plans? Councillor LUTA. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you to Councillor Perfich. Whilst we waited for the priority action plan that I've already mentioned this evening to be approved, we have been progressing a comprehensive communication plan to keep parents and children informed and engaged with regards to ongoing improvements in SENS services. This will focus on progress updates to share latest developments in the priority action plan and the milestones and improvements achieved. Access stories will highlight positive outcomes and case studies to showcase the impact of the improvements. Thank you, Councillor Newton. Councillor Perfich, do you have a supplementary? I don't know. It was disappointing to read in Becky's recent inspection report that some EHC plans were not received, were not reviewed, amended and I understand some agreed provision was not provided in the title way or not provided at all to some children. The Labor Group reformed that some of this was down to poor record-keeping. What other issues are preventing up-to-date EHC plans to ensure Becky's children are getting the educational health and social needs they require so they can reach their full potential? Councillor Newton. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. If I could just let Councillor Perfich know of the process that happens for EHCP. And also, I think this might respond to Councillor Asin rumour's earlier question. And if I don't, please do get in touch with me. There is a well-established process in place to work with parents through the EHC process. Every child with an EHCP or who is assessed or being assessed for an EHCP has an allocated Senn case officer who is the parent's main contact person. Each Senn case officer has some allocated business support officer time who is also the point of contact for the parent. There is advice on the local offer for parents and carers including a description of the timeline for any EHCP assessment informing parents of the stages and when these will happen within the 20-week timeframe. And school sinkos are also a valuable source of advice and information for parents and carers. I would also just remind members opposite that within the 20-week timeframe we do compare extremely well against statistical neighbours and nationally. I think we are around 70-something percent right now, 77 even, whereas I think nationally we are well under 50%. Thank you, Councillor Newton. Is there a supplementary question from the Conservative group? Councillor Christopharidis. Mr Mayor, thank you very much. Last week some members of the Children's and Education's EHC met with parents of some children with special educational needs and disabilities to discuss their experience of working with the Council. And those parents were very positive. So I'd be really interested to hear from the Cabinet member what we're doing to make sure that we learn from the best practice and we utilise the best practice that's clearly going on there to make sure that every parent feels similarly positive about the engagement that they have with the Council. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Newton. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Christopharidis. And I'm delighted to hear that the subgroups conversation with parents were interesting and useful. And I do look forward to hearing more about that next week's subgroup meeting. I'm also incredibly grateful to the parents who took time to speak to members. All parents will do what they can for their children, and none more than parents of children would send. We all recognise the pressure that parents can face when trying to get a review, or get or review an EHCP, and communication is an important factor. I'm also grateful for the many parents who recognise that there are over 3,000 other families in Bexley in the same position. Their patients and understanding that our case officers are dealing with a lot of cases, all of which are unique and need working through. However, I'm sure that there is more that the Council and partners can do to keep families informed so that parents can also be aware of those expected timelines in the process, and I'm afraid it is a process, and can better understand decisions. With regard to the communication plan I talked about earlier, to Councillor Perfect, sharing a best practice and support for parents is a key part of supporting and communicating. I'm keen to ensure that parents get the best advice from reliable sources, such as Bexley Send Information and Advice Support Service and Bexley Voice, and that also needs to be promoted through the local offer website I mentioned earlier, and social media, where many parents, especially those starting out on their child send journey to get their first information. Bexley Voice run a huge number of workshops and support sessions, and keen on what they, Bexley IS, NHS Partners and the Education Team, as well as other partners run, is all complimentary and well used, so some further conversation or ongoing to ensure the best use of resources. Parent workshops will help officers and partners to discuss progress, gather feedback and provide a platform for parents to voice their concerns or suggestions. I also think that children forums that have begun in a part of the action plan will provide interactive sessions with children to get their input and make them feel involved in the improvement process. That was part of the Send Inspection Recommendations, and as well as parents feeling best practice is being shared and positive about, feeling positive about their support their children receive. Co-production and input from children and young people is as important. I'm pleased the priority action plan addresses this, and a Partition Patient Officer, much like the participation officers for our Look to Have to Children forums, is being recruited. Finally, the priority action plan recognises the need for continued training and support for case officers, and that would certainly include the need for sharing best practice and reflecting on the quality assurance process that is continual on the HCPs, both those of which are new and those that are being reviewed. Thank you, Councillor Newton. I will now invite Councillor Bawl to put his question to Councillor Gower, Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing. Councillor Bawl. Good evening, Mr Mayor. Thank you. Could I ask, can the Cabinet Member tell us how many libraries are likely to be Council run by the end of this Administration? Councillor Gower. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Bawl, for your question. There are six Council run libraries in Bexley and also six community managed libraries, and I can confirm there are no current plans to change either of these numbers. Thank you, Councillor Gower. Councillor Bawl, would you have a supplementary? I do indeed. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'm sure the Cabinet Member will appreciate that libraries are a key part of the Council's offer over a century or more, including in Bexley. I was proud to lead in the Administration that managed to get 25,000 new members, and the current Administration that clearly invested in City Cup and Thamesmead. My concern is, as we move forward, as the Cabinet Member suggests, that the more volunteer-led libraries we have and the more services provided, there's a diminishing return for the library service itself and the professional librarians and their work may be lost in a bid to fill buildings and be run by people that perhaps have less professional skills. I assume she agrees with me. Councillor Gower. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Very dangerous to assume anything. I think there's a big change coming with libraries. We've got a new government strategy that's going to be published later on this year, and we're quite excited about what that might contain. And I think libraries have the potential to become so much more than a place to access books and reading material, but that said, we do need the professionalism to stay there, and that's why we're not going to change the number of Councillor and libraries that we have in this current Administration. At the British Library in London, they've actually set up a business IP support centre to support small business owners, and they're extending that to other local libraries. So that gives you an example of how professionalism in respect of learning and businesses can be expended out. So I think we've got great opportunities in terms of libraries, but we are committed to making the best of them for our residents, and for the success of the two new libraries we've got, I think, that shows our commitment to that. Thank you, Councillor Gower. Do we have a supplementary from the Conservative benches? Councillor Jackson, and are mindful that we've got approximately a minute left. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'll be quick. Could the Cabinet number for communities in housing please tell us how well Bexley's libraries are doing at attracting visitors, when nationally this is proving to be a huge challenge for all public libraries post-COVID? Councillor Gower. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'll make this quick. Yes, there is a new report that's called 'Come Rain Shine' that's confirmed that attracting visits does remain a key challenge for public libraries generally, but our libraries have actually attracted more visitors in the last year than any year post-COVID. I could give you the stats, but in the interest of time I won't, but, yes, we're in a very good position. Thank you, Councillor Gower. The total time allowed for questions is now elapsed, and in accordance with a procedure of all 19.7, written replies to those questions, which have not been dealt with this evening will be circulated to all members of the Council who are published in the Council's website. Thank you. We will now move on to item six, which is business remaining from the Council meeting held on the 8th of December, 2023. The time now is 20, come out to 2010. I now call upon Councillor Burella to move the first motion on tonight's agenda. Councillor Burella. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'm delighted after five years after submitting this motion in the last Council that I can finally speak about this very important motion. Members may remember at the time there was a lot of protest outside school, and I agree with the Government's guidance. It's not often I do, but I do agree that this is a very important facet that needs to be taught in schools. At the time, there were demonstrations outside schools of parents who didn't want this to be taught to their children. Finally, five years later today we're going to hear, obviously that debate heard in this Chamber. I think it also shows a mockery of actually it just shows that our motion system in this Council doesn't work, that five years later we're talking about something. Although I have to say, I think some issues have come to the news recently, which I will talk about later. And why is this really important? I'm going to use a bit of a personal journey for myself as well. You know, I'm 50 years this year. I know you can't believe it. You still can't believe, Mr Mayor. I'm actually the big father. I understand there's another Council that's also done this year, but it's always good to reflect on how you were scored and what you went through when I was growing up. Now, of course, I was born to Italian father and English mother. My Italian father, I would say, was more conservative in his views in Italy at the time you had the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope, but we're saying that all kinds of things were very homophobic, and they still do, actually. They have a lot of control of the Italian Government. So my dad came up with some things that maybe were not very good. My mum would tell him off. And, of course, I think one of the things that actually helped change my father and his view was actually what was happening in this country and was changing. Now, of course, in 1955, there was the Warfordan Report, which had a committee to recognise a partial discrimination of homosexuality. You also, I remember, I think John Gilgert was caught, she would say, soliciting men in an unusual place. And, of course, that was one of the reasons why they set up this committee that men were being called out, having to go to places that maybe are not the best places to find a company for the evening. And, of course, in 1967, there was the partial discrimination of homosexuality by Leo Apps. And it was very interesting to read, and I've read a lot about that. There were some interesting people who actually voted on that. Mrs. Thatcher actually voted on part of that bill at the time. There was also Nicholas Ridley. So it wasn't just, there were some conservative members who saw the light in that time in 1967 to do that. And, of course, I'm very grateful for that, because as I was growing up, you know, before 1967, you could have been thrown in prison. And, of course, some people were going back a very long time. Now, I grew up in the '80s. That was my formative years. And I went to two Catholic schools, and Stephen's primary in Welling, and St. Columba was just down the road, very traditional Catholic schools. And, of course, their teaching of, should we say, LGBT issues was hardly, it was non-existent. And, indeed, there was certainly some priests at the time that I remember saying that we probably end up in a place that isn't very good if you're a Catholic if we were gay. And, of course, when you hear all that, and you hear all that kind of anti-negative stuff, it does have an effect on your formative years. We remember the AIDS epidemic that took place in the '80s. There was a real increase in anti-gay hatred. In fact, there were some conservative MPs that were calling for criminalizing homosexuality again in the '80s. And, fortunately, the Prime Minister and other people didn't listen. But, Mrs. Thatcher, they did get caught up on that, because she introduced the '80s Section 28, a member at, sorry, clause in the local government act of 1988, which, although some teachers rebelled, did mean we didn't want to talk about this kind of issues in school. Now, I was affected by that, Mr. Mayor. That was at the time when we were told all kinds of... I remember the headlines. I can remember the headlines in the Sun newspaper. The newspapers I don't read, but you see it at the front page when you walk into a news age. The Sun, the Daily Mail, absolutely disgraceful headlines. When actually what we should be doing is helping people to deal with their journey. And that's the same for young people today. Those young people that are in school today need that support. And I'm very pleased that this kind of teaching is going on in schools now. We're dealing with relationship education. We're dealing with LGBT plus QSUs. We're making people aware, not just people who identify as gay like myself, but people who identify the community, but also the wider community. We understand how people are feeling, and actually words can hurt people, and the way that goes on. And of course, at the time, role models, you know, you need role models. Now, you know, I love Larry Grayson. I love John Inman. I love Kenneth Williams. I love Frankie Howard. But they were people I didn't identify with. They were not people. You know, I don't come across as camp. I love football. I love cricket. I love snooker. I love golf. Where was that person for me? And the only person that I remember sadly was Justin fashion. And that's a person that unfortunately died in very bad circumstances, very talented football player. But who was there supporting him? He was condemned by the press, particularly the Sun newspaper. And he ended up taking his own life. And that's where I think this is very important in today's context. Why it's very important that we've got to remember young people today, how they're feeling and having to deal with their hormones. Now, I think my dad changed because this country changed the last Labour government. I'm very proud of that last Labour government. They changed a hell of a lot. Civil partnerships. They made equality laws. There's a lot of things in that last Labour government that we forget. And I'm very proud of that. And I think the way the move was changing, the country was changing, my dad was one of those people that changed. So when I did come out at the age of 20, I thought I came out a lot later to my dad. I was getting very nervous, going to Italy, I'm going to send my dad. Oh, dear. Well, I told him, and he was fine. That is because he was in a tolerant and inclusive country. And that's because he realized actually we shouldn't be condemning people for who they go to bed with. We should be supportive and tolerant. And of course, when you are a youngster, you have those hormones. You have those feelings. And I think we should be supportive and not condemn people for the way they are. Of course, the gay marriage motion that was brought to this council, I actually looked it up, Mr. Mayor. Because the last Conservative government, Mr. Cameron, do you remember that? That's a long time ago, isn't it? And David Cameron's government came up with a policy that I was supportive of. The gay marriage motion. I was so happy to hear it. And of course, even at the time, I thought, are we ever going to see gay marriage in this country? Well, you know, the Conservative government actually proposed this motion. But there was a lot of division in that Conservative party parliament. But there was also division in this chamber. And I have actually a copy of the motion here. We were actually in my motion that I proposed. I actually said in one line in here, the commitment of the Conservative party, the council notes, the commitment of the Conservative party to support gay marriage and the council's duty to promote equality. So I was actually supportive of that. And yet the amendment had nothing about gay rights in it. Nothing about gay marriage in it. It had a line about seek to facilitate and support marriage in long-term relationships in whatever form they take. You didn't actually say gay marriage because I know at the time there was a row in their group. Now, I'm confident the Conservative group that today is a very different group to that group of 12 years ago. It is a much more diverse bunch. I know there are members on the Conservative side who identified LGBT. And I like to think that members on that side probably wouldn't have come up with what I thought was a disgraceful amendment when we wanted to strike out gay marriage. And I'm very positive. I think it's been fantastic to see people doing the other things that other heterosexual couples are engaging in, building a long-term relationship, now being able to adopt children, now being able to look after children in a safe environment. I think that should be welcomed in today's environment. But because it should be noted that the gay marriage motion in Parliament only passed because of labour votes in Parliament at the time, and that's why it got through. But I congratulate David Cameron on his vision in doing that. I'm sure there are some people in this country who don't congratulate him on Brexit. But on this, I think we can. I'm also very proud of the way these councils changed. Since I got on the council, there was nothing. I mean, I'm wearing a lanyard now. There's a few people here at the Interim Treaty that were wearing a lanyard. We're wearing a lanyard to show we're proud of the LGBT+ community. We have a staff group. I will give credit to the cabinet member. He's been very supportive of those different groups in the council. It's been great to see the events run, and to see the flag raising for LGBT History Month. I remember I asked the question of the officer at the time. Where's the LGBT History Month in the libraries? Nothing. Today, we see that. We see this council actually embracing it. And I think it's great to see even the journey, the party, the controlling party, have been on. That, today, we're proud to celebrate that. And we must celebrate that. Because today, Mr Mayor, there are still those issues that went on in the '80s. The transgender issue. Now, the transgender issue, I think, has been weaponized by people. I remember some of the disgraceful emails I got. Goodness and one video, Councillor Baurin. In the lead up to the last local elections. Transgender people need support. They need our support. We shouldn't be condemning them. We should give them that support and wrap around them and give them that support on their journey. As they're dealing with the issues I was dealing with in the '80s. And that's what we should be doing. And they've been trans, they've been people who now identify as a different sex now, who've been officers and councillors. And I think we should be supportive. We have the first Irith Pride event, Councillor Taylor organised it. Fantastic. And I think, Mr Mayor, you know, to me, when I look at this motion, I'm thinking surely the party opposite aren't going to amend it and put something in it. This, to me, is nothing. We're actually supporting the government. This is the government's guidance that we're putting in here that we're supporting. Because I want to see children get a rounded view of the world. So that everyone is included and everyone is supported. So I hope the party opposite will support this motion in its form. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor BRILLA, for sharing your personal experience with this meeting here tonight as well. Did we have a seconder? Councillor Taylor. Thank you. I'm proud to be an ally of the LGBTQ+ community. I'm proud to be seconded in this motion tonight. And I'm proud to have led the team that brought Bexley, its first ever Pride Festival, Eerith Pride. But sadly, I'm not proud of the statistics that I'm going to share with you tonight. Because they show that we've got a long way to go to tackle the extreme prejudice that people in the LGBTQIA+ community face every single day. Research by charities such as Just Like Us show that nearly half of LGBT children have suffered bullying. But only a third of children said that there was a clear process for reporting anti-LGBT bullying in their school. And 48% of children reported that there was no or little positive messaging about being LGBT at their school. So it's no wonder that LGBT people are twice as likely to suffer from depression. One in six trans people report having a long-term mental health issue. And sadly, LGBT young people are twice as likely to contemplate suicide with black LGBT young people being three times as likely. It's clear we need to tackle this and it starts with the positive messages in schools and a comprehensive RSE curriculum. Particularly if we are to reduce hate crime. Because members over the past decade hate crime targeting the LGBT community has risen dramatically. According to the ONS, homophobic hate crime has risen by 465%. And transphobic hate crime has risen by 1,211%. Let's think about that figure. 1,211% increase in transphobic hate crime, absolutely shocking. And it is no wonder that LGBT people do not feel safe. Now this week it's lesbian visibility awareness week. And it's been reported that less than a third of LGBTQ+ women feel very safe in their neighbourhood. Only 13% feel very safe on public transport. And only 10% feel very safe in social media. Now, Councillor Burella mentioned clause 28. We've come a long way since then, but there's still a long way to go. And members, we cannot afford to go backwards. Those statistics prove that. Eerith Pride was a fantastic community led event that showed the people of Bexley that we embrace our LGBT community. Working with all our community partners, we worked hard to create an event where all people could come together and feel safe. And the team have exciting plans for Pride 2025. Now, school diversity week takes place on the 24th to 28th of June. I think members, let's pass this motion unamended tonight in order to send a clear message to all of our schools. And there are schools out there that are doing some great work within the LGBT arena. But send a clear message to all of those schools and to our LGBT community that we support them. And just like the LGBT community, we are unified in order to fight that prejudice in our borough and beyond. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Taylor. Does any member wish to speak? Councillor ADAMS. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'd like to move an amendment to the motion, please. Councillors interjecting. Councillors interjecting. No? Councillors, with advice from officers, I will now consider to propose the amendment. [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] Members, with advice from officers, the amendment is permissible. Before the Council considers the proposed amendment, I will give members some time to read it. [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] Members, has everybody read the amendment or do you want a more time? Couple more minutes, no worries. [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] [BLANKAUDIO] Members, have we all absorbed it and are we ready to move ahead? [BLANK_AUDIO] Before I call Councillor ADAMS, may I remind members to speak to the amendment under consideration? Councillor ADAMS, do you wish to speak to the amendment? Yes, Mr. Mayor. Please go ahead. Mr. Mayor, it is important that we recognize LGBT+ inclusive relationships and sex education. We stand at the crossroads of tradition and progress. This amendment, while fairly rooted in our fundamental values of equality and inclusivity, also reflects a modern understanding of our diverse needs of our students. Our commitment to safeguarding and promoting the welfare of all our children is unwavering. The government's statute guidance on relationships, education and sex education and health education outlined in 2019 laid a strong foundation. Furthermore, the recent consultation on gender, questioning, children, giraffes, schools and college guidance seeks to address newer challenges and perspectives that have emerged. These documents are not merely guidelines but are blueprints for creating a safer, more supportive and inclusive educational environment. However, the statistics that we face regarding the experience of LGBT students in our schools are deeply concerning. Reports indicate that nearly half of LGBT+ community pupils, including 64% of trans pupils, have based bullying due to their identity. Especially for statistics on hate crime that Councillor Taylor spoke about, which is shocking. And I went to thank her for her IRF Pride event. I also found out about Councillor Hunt's activities as mayor and his work for the LGBT+ community this evening. There you go. An educational requirement but a critical measure, this is an educational requirement but a critical measure to protect and empower some of our most vulnerable members of our community. Mr Mayor, this amendment is one of constructive refinement rather than one that disregards the Council's original motion as he recognised that this time has somewhat passed since when he first submitted the motion. I know he's passionate about this issue but I think we both agree on the intent here. As a Council, we are consistently advocated for policies that not only respect but celebrate diversity. This amendment aligns with such policies by ensuring that all our children, regardless of their sexual orientation or gender identity, receive education that is respectful, informative and inclusive. Moreover, it is vital that we engage with all stakeholders in this process, especially parents and bring them along in this journey. The amendment accalls for a collaborative approach in planning and delivering relationship, education and RSE. This collaboration will ensure that education provided is age appropriate, developmently suitable and sensitive to the backgrounds and belief of our pupils and parents alike. Such an approach does not dilute the content but rather enriches it, ensuring that it is delivered in a manner that is respectful and effective of a multicultural society. As we move forward, let us do so with clear vision and a commitment. We are not merely passing a policy but are shaping the future of our next generation. We must therefore ensure our actions today will lead to a tomorrow where every student can walk into a school feeling safe and respected and valued, as well as people of LGBT+ community and our society as a whole. In conclusion, why support the underlying objectives of this original motion? This amendment I advocate for with the acknowledgement that it must be a living document that one that evolves and adapts in line with both societal changes and practical experiences of implementing such policies in our school. Let this amendment not only be a testament to our commitment to equality and inclusivity, but also a reflection of our dedication to a thoughtful, comprehensive approach to education. I must say, Councillor BRILLA, that we have a very similar journey and I, in fact, went to your schools as well. I hope you recognise that this is coming from a good place, even if you disagree with the emotion itself. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor ADAMS. Do I have a seconder for the amendment? Yes. You would like to second the amendment. Go ahead, Councillor BRILLA. That's a job, too, isn't it, Mr. Mayor? I think, exactly what you say, I think the amendment is coming from a good place. I think the motion that Councillor BRILLA put in is somewhat dated now, simply because our processes have taken this long to get where we are, something I know we perhaps need to consider going forward. I think, from a personal point of view, what is stated there is very good. I think the Councillor's policies and colleagues here have welcomed the inclusion policy going forward to 22, 26 inclusion policy, et cetera. I think this recognises where we are now. I think it's extraordinary to see Bexie Council in a position where it's likely to agree a motion of this type unanimously, having looked at the list of members that were present in 2012 that voted against and in favour of things. A number of those people are still here and attitudes have quite clearly changed, which is a positive thing. And I think speaking from my head teacher position, social media, peer pressure, et cetera, et cetera, is having an absolute impact on primary-age children. The sexualisation of primary-age children is absolutely rife and certainly a pupil that left my school and is now in year 7. As the temperatures commit suicide in the last few weeks based on the fact that he's struggling with his sexuality. And I think I reflect as a practitioner if we don't know if we can support him and I don't know the answer to that. But I think the policies and the process and the involvement in parents in the USRE arrangements is absolutely fundamental to protecting individuals from some of those external pressures, but also allowing them, I think as Councillor BRILLA was saying, to be yourself and to be able to express yourself in an environment that you've seen as safe. So I am delighted to second your amendment. Thank you, Councillor BRILLA and I'm absolutely delighted that we seem to be heading in a direction of the unanimous decision. But before we go there, I think there's Councillor Taylor wanted to speak on this matter. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and it's really good. I could scratch the first line out of my speech and Irish was. For me, second this amendment and my hope was we could come together and have a revised motion that we could agree unanimously tonight. I didn't, there was not much for me to object personally on the original motion. I think it's right to tidy it up because the wells moved on from when it was first submitted. It was that small point, but it's an important one made in the original motion around bringing parents along on that journey. I think it's absolutely crucial. I think, Bixley, we can be proud that we've supported our LGBTQ+ residents in quite symbolic ways, like the flying of the Pride flag outside of the civic offices here, but also in more substantial ways. We have engaged our LGBTQ staff group on a range of issues. We've supported local schools. We're presenting artwork from their LGBTQ+ groups. I think that's really important. There was an example of that just last year. I think through our fairing Bixley, the Equality Diversity Inclusion Policy, we're seeking to guide us as members, Councillors, as well as our staff, partner activities and decision making. It lets our residents know what they can expect from us, along with how they can contribute to building an inclusive borough. If we're fully inclusive, as I say, it's quite important that we're taking parents along that journey with us. Of course, it's always a difficult balance protecting the interests and rights of our young people, but also including parents in that process, even sometimes when they've got certain views. You know, it's great. I'm glad tonight we're able to come together and have something unanimous that every member of the Council can get behind. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. [applause] Thank you, Councillor Taylor. Is there any other member wish to speak? Councillor De Nemedemar. Short. Excuse me. I'm having a listen to Councillor Burella, and indeed, Councillor Adams, do forgive me. [laughter] I lost it for a second. Do forgive me. The pain, I'm on so many pain meds at present eye. I'm surprised I could even stand up. But I had to say that there's a truism in politics because this, after all, is political. To govern is to choose. And when you choose, you're divided. And despite the suggestions here that there's unanimity and what we're talking about is an all more inclusive Council, I have to say, if this comes down to a vote, I would be voting against it. Because I think there's a choice that's been made here that divides people and it makes people with a more traditional background, or Christian background, or indeed other religious background, feel excluded. It is not the case, I think, that a Council should be choosing political positions, cultural positions, which are divisive. And in this case, I think it is very divisive. I would take an example in the same way that Councillor Birella has. In my own experience, I grew up just like him playing cricket, and I love cricket. And there is nothing in any way divisive about a man playing against another man and being described as a batsman. But all of a sudden, we're being told in the name of inclusivity and diversity and openness, we must change every single facet of our traditions. In the same way that a person can no longer call himself a batsman, we're being told that if you, for instance, want your child to go to school and not be exposed to a certain cultural ideology, you are in some way the problem, and I do not share that view. So I will be voting against the motion. I'm sorry to disrupt the unanimity in this chamber. Thank you very much, Councillor Dina, let you know. Members, will the Council now vote on the amendment? Mr Mayor, it's been really good to hear the late this evening. I would like to roll call 31.4, a roll call vote. I mean, we need six members to stand up, but I think everyone's in pretty much unanimity here this evening. I think it'll be good to have actually on the minutes, because on the minutes it will show all the names of the people. And it will show actually, yes, the wording, I'm delighted to see this today. And it's nice to be cool, because the last time we had this motion, I was called Bad Cop. And former Councillor Malick was called Good Cop, so we've moved on a little bit in 12 years, haven't we? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councillor BRILLA. We can, in accordance with Procedure Rule 31.4, Councillor BRILLA, supported by many other members here tonight. As requested that the motion may be voted by a roll call, a monitor and officer has and will disclose call out the roll call. So, what we are voting on is the amendment, which has been seconded by the Labor Group, so that is what we're voting on from the roll call. Yeah, is everybody clear on that? Okay, monitor and officer. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I shall call out the name of each member in alphabetical order and ask whether they are voting for, against or wish to abstain on the motion, which is now the substantive motion, since it's agreed. Councillor ADAMS. Councillor MANNIN. Councillor SUNRAMU. Councillor BACON. Councillor BOURN. Councillor BRILLA. Councillor BRILLA. Councillor CURRY. Councillor CATERYLL. Councillor CRISSE. Councillor CRISSE. Councillor CURTIS. Councillor DAVY. Councillor DAVY. Councillor DYMANN. Councillor NITIMA. Councillor FERGSON. Councillor FRANCIS. Councillor GIL. Councillor GAWA. Councillor HOLL. Councillor HINKLEY. Councillor HUNT. Councillor JACSN. Councillor LEIS. Councillor LUCIAHANIS. Councillor MOURN. Councillor MUNNER. Councillor NUTIN. Councillor OGUNDYLE. Councillor NICK O'Hare. Councillor O'Hare. Councillor O'Neill. Councillor PERFECT. Councillor RIDD. Councillor RIDDYLE. Councillor RAGSANDY. Councillor CIMOR. Councillor SRIJER. Councillor SMIRF. Councillor CRISTELLER. Councillor NICKOLER. Councillor WILSON. Councillor interjecting. Councillor interjecting. Councillor interjecting. Councillor interjecting. Councillor interjecting. Councillor interjecting. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor interjecting. Councillor interjecting. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I take the hint if you didn't want to hear me again. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Councillor BRIAN. Thank you. We've had a really good discussion this evening on the crucial need for LGBT inclusive relationships and sex education. They need to be. So thank you, Councillor BRIAN. For putting down the original motion. And to Councillors ADUND and Councillor CRISPAL for their passionate speeches in putting forward the amendment. In the spirit of unity with one regrettable exception, I'm really pleased to hear Councillor BRIAN. And I was going to explain why it was such an important amendment. But as usual, Councillor BRIAN has gone and done a far better job than I could ever do. I think it's important to highlight the efforts of schools in the London Borough of Bexley. These schools have taken proactive steps to create more inclusive and supportive environments for all students. Indeed, a number of recent off-stead inspections of our primary schools commended the PSHE curriculum, including healthy and positive relationships, consent and being part of a community and the challenges of peer pressure. While most of our schools are now academies and all are in the secondary sector, it's still an important issue that the Council and members should be supportive of and pay attention to as schools are at the heart of our communities. Our communities are made up of individuals with their own unique characteristics, including sexuality, including sexuality. And our communities are at the best when we seek to understand each other and what makes us unique. I welcome the actions of our schools and organisations more widely across the borough in promoting inclusivity, equality and diversity. None more so than the Council's work with our own LGBT staff and allies and along with residents. We heard from Councillor ADAMS as the advocated respect and celebration of diversity and the importance of engaging all stakeholders, especially parents in a collaborative approach to delivering RSE. I couldn't agree more and I really don't believe the RSE guidance or this motion is at all divisive. Bringing people together will develop our communities and support young people in understanding relationships and beliefs and being sensitive to each other. Invexly, schools have recognised the importance of fostering understanding and acceptance of LGBT+ individuals within their communities. In addition to teacher and staff training opportunities on RSE, I've been impressed by the PHSE curricular of our schools, tailoring age-appropriate learning about relationships, including relationship boundaries, safety, mutual respect, gender identities and sexual orientation, consent, parental responsibility and diverse family relationships. Our schools openly demonstrate to parents the curriculum and learning students will follow and outcomes expected, while intending their RSE policy to be sensitive to the needs of different ethnic, religious and cultural groups whilst upholding British values. So it is clear, as I've said, the motion does respect parents' beliefs. They also demonstrate the spirit of guidance encouraging our schools also demonstrate the spirit of the guidance in encouraging young people to talk to parents or carers about relationships. By embracing LGBT+ inclusive relationships and sex education, schools in this borough are set in a positive example for others to follow. They are fostering a cultural acceptance, respect and understanding where every student feels empowered to be their authentic self. Finally, again referring to Councillor ADN's speech, I agree that this motion needs to be something that the Council and our schools live by, evolving as we learn and society changes almost unanimously or able to commend the efforts of our school and by organisations across the borough and continue to support initiatives that promote inclusive and equality for all. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Newton, for your summing up. Members, we now have to formally vote on the amendment, which has now become the substantive. So I will now put the motion to the Council by a show of hands. Those in favour? Those against? The motion is carried. Members, I'm very proud, particularly proud that we've eventually come together on a motion that's very, very important and up to date. And on a personal note, I would sincerely love to see the LGBT History Month flag raised but flown for all of the month during this period of diversity. But that is something that's a matter for you all to decide upon. And we will see in the future what happens. Thank you. Members, we will now move on to item 7, which is a report of the Leader of the Council. May I remind members that the total time allowed for discussion on this item is 30 minutes. I would like to remind members that the rules of debate as set out in the Constitution do not apply for this item. There is no restriction on the length of time any member may speak. And it is also permitted for members to speak more than once. However, although speeches will not be timed, I would ask members to make their points succinctly to allow for as many speakers as possible. Could members please make it clear to the page and paragraph to which they are referring. The time is now 8.52. And I invite the Leader of the Council to introduce the report. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Well, what an evening. I think that's the first time in my knowledge of that happening. So fantastic to everyone that's taken place. But we also found out Councillor BRILL is 50 this year. We all look forward to the party invites. And also, Councillor BULL's got glasses for the first time tonight. So that's a new one. So yeah, fun time all around tonight. A couple of things that have happened since the report that I really want to pull out really. So first off the storms that took place earlier part of this year. I think we should place on record our thanks to our teams that went out sometimes at their own risk to actually make sure residents were kept safe. And I think we should also acknowledge some of the inconveniences that are around the boroughs sometimes that we have no control over. And I'm talking about those dreaded road works. But, you know, actually that's quite often about keeping our residents safe and going forward, keeping our traffic moving. So the short term inconvenience does give a longer term gain. In the reference tonight, we know that we use lots more digital and digital connectivity is really important for us all. And so therefore I was proud to be able to arrange a meeting with Minister Lopez through London, local London to actually get the minister to acknowledge that there actually are black spots within urban. In urban areas as well as in rural areas and I think that was really important. Council Newton said a very busy day today and that's not just this evening. The same improvement plan as she said we had a meeting earlier with the minister. It was a really good meeting and I was grateful for the contributions earlier on tonight as well. I think that there are a few things that we really do need to all understand as a council. We absolutely need to marry the improvement plan with the safety valve process. We can't have one going off against the other. We need to take people with us on that. Conversation earlier, there was a suggestion, why didn't you appeal the send improvement and actually we did think about it. But as usual in Bexley, we just want to get on for the right of our young people. And so we thought spend time and effort on appealing or get on with it. We already know and they know because we recognised it in our self assessment what needs to be done so we're getting on with it. The DFB actually were very complimentary of both the send improvement plan as well as safety valve progress so far. So we think we're going in the right direction and it's only right because the send inspection was a partner's inspection that we acknowledge. The involvement of our partners as well who have been very supportive and at the table and that's really important. When we last met as a council, members will recall we hadn't quite agreed. The temporary solution for those young people going to the new Shenstone school as members will remember. We've got 9 million pounds to build a new school, great terrific investment in our borough as we are known to do. That build is underway, contractors have been appointed and they even bought the young people Easter eggs so they're really very popular. But more important, we've decided on the temporary solution and I understand members that went to see it were really very complimentary about that. That's great, those young people will be safe there for the year and their education won't be impacted. We know we've taken part in the youth offending inspection and understand the results should be known indicatively on Friday. It was a very different inspection because actually although they came on site and there were an awful lot of inspectors for the site of our team. They then had to go away and look at the case files afterwards so we hope that inspection will come out this Friday. The inspections are a bit like buses so we're also expecting a peer review and a CQC in adults and we've also got the LECB to come as well. So lots more inspections along the way. The report references the superloop and Councillor Burella raised that item earlier on this evening and yeah I understand Councillor Lee from probably Councillor Diamond as well have had a spin on the superloop. We shouldn't forget it will have stopped at Bexie Heath. It was this council that asked for it to go to Abbey Wood and to link up and I'm sure members have views on where else it needs to go. Likewise the consultation about DLR coming across to Thamesmeade Town we asked for it to go on to Belvedere because we think that's absolutely the right thing to do. Being a member can sometimes be a role that we can get frustrated with and all the rest of it and I think the last thing I want to say is acknowledge 50 years for Councillor Mrs Sauter on the second of May. If you can hold your call for 50 years that's not bad going. Happy to answer questions. Thank you Leader and I confer with you and congratulations Councillor Sauter on your 50 years of service. Not many people can say that so congratulations. I will now invite members to comment and we're appropriate to quote the section of the report to which they are referring. I will also allow a reasonable discussion with relevant matters which may not be specifically covered in a report. So I've got a list of members who very quickly put their hands up previously Councillor ADAM but I've taken note. The first person I've got here is Councillor BACON. Thank you Mr Mayor. I'm referring to page 42 paragraph 3 and I wonder if the Leader will join me in welcoming the improvement in our waste collection service with the reduction in miss bins. Our thanks must go to the officers who manage the contract and to country style and their team for their considerable improvement in the service. In addition referring to page 44 paragraph 1 will the Leader update members on the rollout of the new litter bins across the borough. Leader. Thank you Councillor BACON and I think I should allow Councillor DYMANN to answer. Councillor DYMANN. Thank you very much. I just could make a very quick comment on the fraction of the improvement in the number of the reduction in the number of miss bins. I think it really is a tribute to those who go out day in day out in all weathers to collect the bins. They are picking up something like a million bins a month from front gates and doors across Bexley and they're actually picking up something like 99.98% of them correctly. That's an incredible performance. We would like it to be even better but I think we have to give them credit for doing that. Turning to the more specific question we've been talking for some months now about the new litter bins. The first of them have actually now been delivered. They were actually installed around Blackfenn High Street outside the library and wanted to other locations at the early part of last week. And colleagues will be seeing more and more of them going out over the next 9 to 10 months. It will be a protracted period, partially because of the time it takes to get them manufactured. The fact that we can only store so many on site and also how the staff who are actually installing them how many they can do. But I hope colleagues will be seeing more and more of them in the weeks to come. And I hope our residents will take advantage of them because of course litter doesn't drop itself on the floor. People create litter and we need to encourage everybody to use the bins we're putting out. Thank you Councillor Diamond. The next person I've noted is Councillor Rida. Mr. Mayor, thank you. I refer to page 45 resources and the ultimate paragraph. Would the leader give her assessment on the government's proposals to overcome the backlogs and delays identified with external auditing of local authority accounts and this authority in particular? Thank you. I think Councillor Leaf is ready to answer that question. Councillor Leaf. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Fortunately, I don't need to say too much this evening because this is a topic that comes up at every meeting of the general purposes and audit committee which Councillor Rida expertly chairs. I do want to put on my thanks to the committee also to him and to Councillor Ms. Slaw to the Vice Chair of the Chairman for their work on this very important issue. As members will know, there is a massive backlog in the public sector audit space for external audit, especially affecting local government. What's been proposed to try and address this is to draw a line under a lot of those audits which have gone back over many, many years. So there is a process in place to deal with that. Unfortunately, it does mean we've been caught up in this process. Although we are our Councillor ready on time, our external auditors are not able to provide that follow-up review of our Council they normally do for the 2022-23 years. We are obviously challenging and continue to challenge them and I know again Councillor Rida and Councillor Ms. Slaw to continue to press along with us. Along with us as press are external auditors on this issue. We've made representations to government. We've contributed to the consultation. I'm involved in discussions with the local government association. We've all been brought on this. We are pressing for progress to be made on this issue and for this difficult and challenging situation to be resolved. I very much look forward to the next meeting of the General Purpose and Audit Committee where there will be further updates. Thank you, Councillor Leeke. The next speaker will be Councillor Burillah. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'm very proud this evening that actually the whole Council unified on LGBT+ issues. It just shows you that in 12 years, what I heard 12 years ago, I thought was disgraceful actually. Today, actually, it's been really good to see the Council has unified, of course, the motion I brought to the Council and I will keep on fighting for the LGBT+ community. This is something that I believe as soon as I got elected, that was the thing I wanted to really push and make sure I'm actually improved on. I'm going to refer to paragraph, page 21 paragraph 1, about the budget. We heard about Children's Services overspend, which this year are very significant and they are a last part of our overspend. I'd really like to ask, I'm sure that Lee will refer to the Council and really how confident we are that in this year, we're not going to see a similar overspend because I think, you know, things don't just magically disappear. We have those pressures that are going to be at this year as well. What is the potential impact on the Council's finances? We all know it, it's the elephant in the room because if we don't have those overspend to continue. And really, it's to ask the leader, when will the Council have to apply for a capitalisation directive? We've already done that once and where we're heading, we're heading for that again. When will we have to do it? When is the likely timeframe for that? Because of the precarious budget position and is it not an indictment of 14 years failure of this Tory government? We've heard it so many times, the fair funding review and all this stuff, nothing's happened. The leader of the Council has been a very high-profile member in the House of Lords, she's been in the LGA, London Councils. What in hell has been going on? Nothing. This Council isn't getting enough money from this government and the fair funding review and that's bluntly what's happening. It's the same what's happened with the safety valve, the same with all those things. We're not being given enough money to deal with those democratic pressures. And if we do have to apply for a capitalisation directive, does she not think she should reflect on her position? I mean, after 17 years, 17 years is a great amount of time. I also wanted to congratulate Councillor Stalter on 50 years being a Councillor. She was very kind to me and so was her late husband, Mike Stalter, when I first got on the Council. Both were very kind and I think she deserves a lot of credit for 50 years. I'm not sure I'm going to be doing 50 years service, but you never know. I don't know. I mentioned the Superlut bus. No, I think the Superlut bus is fantastic. And she said about lobbying TFL. TFL hadn't put the consultation out. It was an initial proposal. We did also speak to TFL about we'd like the bus to go further. We would like to see further bus improvements linking welling with our wood, looking at black fame, looking at Bexit Village. Those are things that we are advocating. We are talking with the Mayor. And I would just say currently to the part of it, instead of slacking off the Mayor and condemning the Mayor, I think we should work with the Mayor more constructively. I think it's fantastic. Yes, I'll have three bus loops coming to Bexit. I do use it. I've even got, sadly, a seat cover with the moquette of the bus in my living room. I can't believe I've got a bus seat cover, but I'm absolutely delighted. And I think it's great. I think we should congratulate the Mayor, but there's more to be done. And we see the other proposal between Thames Mead and North Greenwich, the super loop. And I want to see more bus routes and I will keep on campaigning for that. And I know our group will. But do you know our extension to Thames Mead? Yeah, we put our consultation response. We wanted to come to Bell Verdeer as well. But I would like to know what the Council could do more, maybe to work with our partners in Greenwich and other Labour boroughs. And I know we're going to have to work. We're going to have to work. That's how we got Crossrail done. We got Crossrail, Elizabeth Line, because people voted for the hybrid Berlin Parliament. It had cross-party support. That's the only way we're going to get the DLR, is that there is support and there is some unity. And we need to do some work, I think we've done some work. And there is Elizabeth Line expended. But I think we need to be doing a bit more with the DLR. And I want to see it come to Bell Verdeer. Absolutely. More trains? Of course I want to see more trains in Bexley. Mr. Mayor. And we've talked about trainsport. And I think, finally, it's about the train services in Bexley. I think, you know, we run a campaign to stop the ticket office closures. We run a campaign to stop the capster role services. I know the MP for our BX and SIG Cup seems to be taking credit for that, but it's good to see the round-the-loop service is going to come back in some form later this year because that is an important link from north to south. We've got to see better links from north to south, Mr Mayor. I look forward to the responses from the leader and the cameraman. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Mr Mayor, Mr Mayor and Councillor Bora Leader. There's several questions and comments there. He wants to test my memory capacity, really. The Budget Children's Services, it is something we need to keep a watch on, and we're working very hard to actually maintain and question every bit of spend to make sure we've got the right placements, make sure we've got permanent employees, all of that. I know Miss Holland has put, I think, the screws on every spend is checked going out the door, so we work very, very hard around that, and of course, safety valve is actually a major part of that, so the safety valve and the send implementation plan is also very much part of that. So, you know, actually that's all wrapped up in keeping our budget in the right place. Applying for the capitalisation, yes, we did apply for it once before. We applied for it in the middle of the pandemic when actually there wasn't the site of where the money was coming from. As you know, there is a general election due sometime this year, and you would expect that it will be followed by a spending review and some realignments of spending. I don't think I have a side of what they think I have a side of the election. The reality is that there are unknowns at the moment that you would have liked to have had future site on, you know, in multi-year settlements, et cetera. The reality is that, as usual, because we go for multi-year budgets, we plug in what we know at that time. So, that's the best way of managing our budgets. It's the way we do it in our own personal lives, I'm sure most of us do anyway, and, you know, we've got to stick with that. I'm proud of what we've done as a Council, because let's be honest about it. People that are in similar places to us with similar distributions as us are in a worse financial place. And I think we've punched above our weight, and we've got into the space of doing prevention and all the rest of it much earlier than other people. We continue to innovate, and through that innovate, we've transformed services, and we've made them more effective than other places, and I'm really proud of that as a team that we've delivered that. The soup loop and the DLR, as I understand it, and, as I said earlier on, this Council, a lot of that conversation has actually happened to transport users and all the rest of it. I think, again, we can be proud that we've put those things in when we've needed to put them in. And, actually, when you talk about working with others, we led the C2E work. We've done lots of work around and working with other partners, both in London and in Kent. So, actually, I think we do punch above our weight there as well. Thank you. The next speaker on my list is Councillor Mural. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I refer to page 30, Paragraph 4. Please may we have some information on the progress of the reorganisation of BEXE's children centres. Leader? Councillor Rhee's going to take that one. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you to Councillor Mural. Mr Mayor, the reconfigured children's centre went live in November 21 with the aim of focusing on the first 1,001 days of life from the antenatal period right up until the child's third birthday. And that was in line with the guidance published in the policy document, the best start for life vision for the first 1,001 critical days. That was published by the Government in 2021 as well. That recognised that this is a crucial time and critical for development when babies and young children are at their most vulnerable. It also sets the foundations for an individual's cognitive, emotional and physical development. The data we have shows that the majority of the registrations with the new offer are within the most deprived areas of the borough indicating that the targeted services and areas correlate with the needs in the community as was intended by the reorganisation. Our Children's Centre offer has, as members may know, a main hub situated in Eerith with a fort with formal building situated in Slade Green, Northumberland Teeth, St Mary's and St James and Crook Log. Plus, of course, we have our SEMD, Harbin Barnhurst at the Normandy Children's Centre. But in addition to that and crucially, there are also groups and activities delivered by the Children's Centre staff in the two Thamesmed East locations of Green Mead and the Nest and also at East Wickham School. The Crapid Library as well offer their own stay and play groups as well as toddler singing groups where the Children's Centre Practitioners attend as part of their outreach work. Most importantly, the Children's Centre Practitioners undertake their outreach to community groups and activities on a monthly basis, keeping up to date with changing trends and activities and the needs in the community. Thamesmed remains an area of need along side Belvedere, Eerith, Slade Green and North End and the south of St Mary and St James is where the North Prairie Children's Centre is located. We also now have a partnership board which meets quarterly with community centres and tracks the changing needs of families in Bexley in order to ensure that the programs delivered within the Children's Centre are responding to the needs of the community. Finally, Mr Mayor, I can tell members that there are currently 1,056 Children attending services with time attending groups regularly and that equates to just over 3,700 attendances overall. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Rhee. Next speaker is Councillor Foggison. Thank you, Mr Mayor. My comments relate to housing on page 33 and I'll refer directly but briefly to the passages I'm talking about. But if I can just start, Mr Mayor, by saying the report of the Leader of the Council mentions initiatives and partnerships aimed at improving the general well-being of Bexley residents and that is to be welcomed. But there is one key area which her State of the Borough address touches on, certainly in the physical report, but does not get to grips with the fundamental problem. The Leader of the Council notes that the pressures on our housing service remain significant in Bexley across London and further afield. Her report goes on to state that the contracting supply of affordable homes to rent in a private sector is further exacerbated by the activity of agencies working for central government on designated schemes to assist those seeking asylum and with refugee status. Then there is the added pressure of other London boroughs increasingly placing in Bexley, which has the knock-on effect of further reducing supply available for those facing homelessness and to whom the Council has a housing duty to stay local. But rather surprisingly, the only solution that is mentioned is sustaining current arrangements or seeking affordable alternatives in the private rented sector. But members, the part opposite is well aware of the problem, but seemingly does not want to take the bold step of building or more strictly enforcing our own construction targets for affordable homes in Bexley. The pressures on our housing service are quite a lot more than significant. We are in a desperate situation. The Labor benches can attest to that through case work. Mr Mayor, I have some good news for the party opposite. If they refer to the speech I gave at the last full Council meeting, they will find some solutions to alleviate the problem. I had no intention of re-preising my earlier remarks, but in the light of the Leader of the Council's report, here is a very quick summary. I tried to be helpful. Firstly, discounts must have used the undisturbed £3 million allocated for affordable housing to drive through such a programme through Bexley Co. Of course, diligence and spending money wisely is very important. But you either want to spend the money or you don't. Secondly, this authority should take a hard look at how its own planning system works. In the face of such a crisis, it simply won't do for applicants after the developer to rock up with proposals of one kind or another and bold-facedly say the provision of any or some affordable homes will do too much damage to their profit margins. Those opposites will undoubtedly argue that feasibility studies or viability assessments are independent, professional and completely above board, but they very much have the feel of he who pays the piper. The companies or individuals that carry out these evaluations never seem to come back and say, no, no, we think the applicant can provide affordable housing or if the developer makes this or that adjustment to 5 or 10% can be provided, even if 35 or 50% can't be met. It's rather like when certain kinds of reports or studies are published. The first thing you do is look at who has commissioned or funded them and lo and behold, they support the benefactors viewpoint. There must be developers who can meet our targets to some degree at least. The leader of the council's words demanded. It was a surprise to some of us that Bexley co-recently put forward a planning application for a block of flats and eryth with no affordable housing. But there are examples of local authorities of different political persuasions that have taken an intervention ist approach over the past 5 to 10 years in building affordable homes through their own development companies. How and where is Bexley co-providing affordable homes? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Mayor, I'm going to get councilman to answer the substantive but before he does, I want to put on record that Councillor Ferguson needs to actually speak to his local Labor Councils who are block booking hotels in Bexley to place people in there, which then gives our taxpayers the costs of the antisocial behaviour, etc., that's happening in those hotels. But I'll allow Councillor MINNER to answer the substantive. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Mr. Councillor Ferguson says he wanted to repeat what he said before and I'll also repeat what I said at last Council, which was a simple fact is the £3.5 million is an extremely small amount of money and what we're trying to do is get the biggest bank we can from that buck with our housing providers. Now, that money has already been looked at and it's in the works now, providing bigger affordable homes on Bexley co-developments. They say there is no affordable for Bexley co. Well, there is. If you look at old farm place, there's a huge block there. I believe over 12 units there, which has been provided. In terms of viability. In terms of viability, Mr. Mayor, we do what we can and we have met mechanisms within the planning department to challenge those liabilities and I can assure all members, we do challenge. As we short on time, Mr. Mayor, I leave it there, but I assure all we are doing all we can to deliver affordable homes and quality homes for Bexley residents. Thank you, Councillor MINNER. As indicated earlier, the total time allowed for this discussion of this item is 30 minutes. I shall therefore now invite the Leader of the Council to sum up, Leader. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As usual, this report highlights some of the great work in our borough by residents, officers and members to make Bexley even better. Now, we need a Mayor elected on 2 May who will understand out to London and stop fleas in those who can't afford it by turning off the Euler's expansion. A Mayor that recognises the importance of the car to many and the need to improve public transport in places like Bexley, at least Boris used to visit by public transport. I have just been advised, one of the monitoring officers, we are in Purda. The current leader of the GLA is indeed a candidate. So, let's just be a bit more mindful in terms of how we express ourselves in that respect, please. Absolutely, Mr. Mayor. I'm talking about what's right for Bexley in my role as Leader of the Council, and I believe that the issues that I'm highlighting, the use of the car in Bexley, is actually needed. Some of the emails that we've had to tell us the impact of the Euler's expansion on our local residents is appalling. A million pounds in fines within five months that the Mayor has taken from Bexley residents. We're not the highest, absolutely disgraceful. Councillor FRANCIS, if you put your hand up, if you put your hand up, instead of speaking out of turn, I will come to you, OK? Who wants to intervene? Councillor BRILLA. Right, Mr. Mayor, you've given guidance. I'm hearing here a political statement from the Leader of Bexley. All I would ask to lead it, if she really wants to get in a political debate, maybe she should condemn the blade runners that are going around vandalising property, our property, taxpayer money. Councillor BRILLA. Maybe the Leader should do that. Councillor BRILLA, thank you. I will ask the one who has given guidance, this is wrong, Mr. Mayor. Councillor BRILLA, I will ask the monitoring officer to clarify where we are now, monitoring officer. Councillor FRANCIS, the monitoring officer will answer your question. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The guidance is on the Council's website in relation to the publicity restriction requirements. There is a requirement, as we all know, not to promote candidates who are standing for election. So I think the specific reference to particular candidates who are standing for the mayoral election and various other seats, that should be avoided. For example, the reference to you, Les, is not a breach of the requirements because that is a policy position. So I think the recent commentary wasn't referenced to a candidate. It was just a policy position. What the earlier conversations that we had were specific reference was being made to candidates standing for the election. That perhaps was a little bit close to the restrictions, and that is why I felt it appropriate to remind the Mayor, Mr. Mayor, about the position. So it's about the need to avoid making reference to specific candidates. So that is the requirement for this particular meeting. But I think policy positions, members do have the liberty and freedom to debate political issues and policy issues. So reference to you, Les, is perfectly permissible, but reference to specific candidates that perhaps should be avoided. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, monitoring officer. And I think that's quite clear that we should not be promoting individuals. However, policies previous are allowed. Does everybody understand that? Leader, please continue. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, monitoring officer. Yes. So as I was saying, to make Brexit an even better place, we actually need to recognise the importance of the car. We need someone that's actually going to make us feel safer by bringing back borough-based policing and increasing the number of police on our streets. We need our residents to feel that and not be frightened of the number of abstractions that are taken to elsewhere. That means we're not seeing our bodies on the beat, so to speak. We need a mayor that's actually going to understand we need family accommodation for Bexsey residents and for their futures. And we'll actually revise the London plane that was referred to earlier. We actually need someone that understands out of London. And that's what I believe. And I think my group believes is what's needed next week. I want to name anyone, Mr. Mayor. But actually, I think that's desperately what Bexsey needs. So let's make Bexsey even better. Thank you. Thank you, Leader. We'll now receive the report. We will now deal with item eight reports of the committees I now call upon Councillor HAIR. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move that the reports of the various committees listed in item eight be received and were necessary approved and adopted. Councillor SANDU. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I second the motion. I have not been advised of any exceptions to this item. Would members now approve and receive as appropriate the reports listed in item eight? Thank you. We will now deal with the final item calendar of meetings 2024-2025. I'll now call upon Councillor OWEN. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I move that the recommendations in Agenda item nine be approved. Councillor SANDU. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I second the motion. Does any member wish to speak? Will members now please vote on the recommendation? Those in favour? Those against? The recommendation is approved. That completes the business on the agenda for this evening. I declare the meeting closed. Thank you very much for your participation tonight. Thank you. Thank you. the meeting. Thank you. Thank you. the meeting. Thank you. the meeting. Thank you. the meeting. Thank you. the meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned. Thank you. The meeting is adjourned.