Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

Transcript

I thought I didn't need the microphone. Welcome to the council meeting. Thank you for attending this evening. Please note that the meeting will be recorded and broadcast. By attending, you may be picked up on the recordings. Council recordings are covered by a privacy notice which can be found online. Following meetings may be retained and made available online. Members I have one announcement, an important technical announcement. Members are asked to be very careful when using their water jugs and glasses. There has been several incidents where liquids spill on the desk and microphone units cause them to be malfunctioned and not work and require an engineer to visit to rectify the problem. This council meeting is taking place shortly after the first anniversary of the horrific attack on southern Israel by Hamas terrorists. As the Prime Minister told the House of Commons, it was the bloodiest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Over a thousand people were massacred and 250 hostages were taken. We remember their lives lost and call for the hostages to be brought home. Our thoughts are with Jewish people around the world, those in our twin towns of Ramat Khan and the Jewish community here in Barnet and the UK, and all those we lost a year ago. We also remember the huge loss of innocent lives in the years since in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Israel. I invite a representative from each group to speak briefly, followed by a one-minute silence – can we all stand for a one-minute silence, please? Can I ask a representative from the Labour group who would like to say a few words? Thank you, Mr Mayor. I rise to mark one year since Hamas' terror attack on the communities of southern Israel on October 7. We remember the 1,200 victims murdered in their homes, the communities and at the Novo Music Festival, the 250 taken hostage in Gaza and the thousands of innocent lives torn apart. We also remember the huge loss of life that has occurred in the year since in Israel, Gaza and now Lebanon. At Labour Party Conference, I was privileged to make the families of Odell Lifshitz and Eviatar David two of the over 100 hostages that remain in Hamas' captivity in Gaza. One was taken captive from his house, the other from a music festival designed to celebrate peace. Their families have asked that we don't forget them, that we say their names and we know their stories. In Judaism, we believe that each life is an entire universe. The hostages include a British citizen, Emily Demare. I reaffirm the overwhelming rallying cry to bring them all home, now. Together I hope we can reflect on the deep pain of the past year for many of our residents, our families, for our twin town of Ramat Gan and to unite in our shared hope for a peaceful future. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone from the Conservative side? Mr. Mayor, the Conservative group echoes your words. The horror of the October 7 atrocities deeply shocked our communities. The drastic increase in anti-Semitic and hate crimes have been deeply troubling. We stand united with our colleagues and neighbours and call for the immediate release of the hostages captured a year ago. Never again means never again and we must ensure that our neighbours and residents feel safe once again in Barnet. May we all stand for a one-minute silence, please. Thank you. Also it's great sadness that I'm sharing the news with you that former Councillor David Clarke passed away in early September. David served for eight years for Hadley Ward as a Conservative from 1978 to 1986. Our world contributes to David from Councillor Cook. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll stay seated, if I may. David Clarke's time as Councillor coincided with my first stint. He was part of the large Conservative majority, but his challenge as a Councillor was far from typical. He represented a wall called Hadley, which sounds like a small area, but it was much the biggest in the borough by population, covering most of present-day High Barnet and Barnet Vale, but with only a standard three seats. In addition, there was a very active residents association that contested every local election, winning and holding one of the seats and nearly winning second. So there was much to do for his ward and for his party. I do not remember him saying much at Council, but he played a full part at committee. For years after retiring from the Council, he frequently attended civic events like the annual meeting, and we often had a chat. He'd come off the Council reluctantly in order to prioritise his career. I believe that his wife died before him in his later years. While in his neighbourhood, I remember a Labour Councillor reporting a conversation with a retired Conservative Councillor about his period representing the area. Perhaps he was deliberately taking our time, but I think he was a nice guy who liked to talk about his time in local government. Quietly spoken and polite, a Tory gent, may he rest in peace. Thank you, Councillor Cook. Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and thank you, Councillor Cook, for the kind words that you said. Of course, I knew David Clark in later years because of my extreme youth, and he came back to play a very active part in the Barnet Conservative Party. You're quite right, he did achieve great things in the customs and excise. He was in fact the person who introduced VAT to Finchley, heading up the office there, so I'm sure local traders will be pleased for his work there, but he had a great career. One of the things he had to do in customs and excise was supervise the distilleries in Scotland, so in his retirement, and I know this will appeal to some of the Labour Councillors who, like me, have a taste for the Amber nectar, but he was trying to taste every single milked whisky, but I'm afraid he was stuck on the Gs. Now, David was, of course, a very serious Barnet boy. He was born to our humble parents in East Barnet, and he went to East Barnet Grammar School, and then he went off and did his national service in the RAF, and came back to sit the Civil Service exam. But as you say, he was a gentle Tory, but there was another side to him. Once he had formed a view, he stuck to it. He certainly was not a man for turning. Once he'd decided something, that's what he believed. But he was actually very proud. His last achievement on the council was actually getting the spires' development through the council as he was chairman of the, I'm going to not have the name, and Councillor Greenspan or Councillor Cook will have to correct me there, the Public Works Committee effectively it was, it states and public works. And he was very proud of that, but he accepted something needs to be done again there. But he was a gent, and his wife Norma was a very nice lady, and they were utterly devoted to each other. But as you say, may he rest in peace. He was certainly a great friend to me, and I'm grateful for his life. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Cornelius. I also advise council of the passing of Mr. John Aptal, who was an Edgware Councillor from 1968 to 1974. Mr. Aptal and his mother Millie founded the Millie Ortho General Trust in 1982, using Mrs. Aptal's shares in the frozen food company Bee Jams, which her son had founded. Mr. Aptal made an enormous contribution to thousands of the Barnet residents through the Millie Ortho Authority Trust. It was thanks to him and his family that grants were made available for a range of community and voluntary groups to provide activities and services to the residents of Barnet, especially its youth people, its young people. Mr. Aptal was awarded the freedom of the borough, the highest honour of the council can bestow on anybody in 2008. The notice was seen in the Daily Telegraph and read, John Aptal CBE passed away peacefully on the 9th of July 2024 at the age of 89 after a short illness. Serial entrepreneur and guardian, young businessman of the year, John founded Bee Jams Frozen Food and turned majestic wines into the success story it is today. A generous philanthropist, he was awarded the CBE in 2014 for his charitable work. We will now stand for a minute's silence to remember David and John. Thank you. Silver Week took place last week where a celebration of aging well in Barnet was held at our Silver Sunday event on Sunday the 6th of October from 11am till 3pm at Middlesex University. It was very well attended. Throughout Silver Week there was free and low-cost activities around the borough for over 55s. Nominations for Barnet Civic Awards have opened to recognise the commitment and hard work of those who make positive differences to the lives of others in our borough. More information including categories, criteria and terms of conditions can be found on the nomination form via the council website and completed forms must be received by email or by post to the mayor's office by Tuesday 31st December this year. East Finchley, popular Cherrywood has been recognised as one of the country's best parks after receiving a Green Flag Award, an international quality mark for parks and green spaces. To mark the achievement, a flag raising ceremony took place at the park at the end of September attended by council staff, volunteers and Councillor Anna Snyderman, our cabinet member for environment and climate change. The Green Flag Scheme is managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the government. The council picked up two awards at the London Constructive Awards for our Brent Cross West Station project last week. Our first award was for excellence in community engagement and second was for the project team of the year. The judges were impressed on how the community is very well, is at the very core of Brent Cross, Crickawood community programme. And judges were particularly impressed with how Brent Cross West Station is as accessible as possible for blind and partially sighted people. Congratulations to all that attended and that were involved in helping to achieve that award. And finally, on Wednesday 9 October 2024, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 to Sir John Demis Hassabis and Dr John Jumper for developing an AI model called AlphaFrold2 to solve a 50-year-old problem predicting the complex structure of proteins. Sir John Demis is a former Christ College Finchley student and we are delighted to hear his global recognition. Christ College Finchley are immensely proud that one of their own has achieved this as a researcher and worked as hard as he has for changing lives for millions of people across the hundreds of countries. Finally, Remembrance Sunday service will be held across the borough on Sunday 10 November. I think that councillors who have been asked to lay a civic wreath on behalf of the Mayor, Councillors and Burglars of London Borough of Barnet, I encourage all councillors to attend a service in their own wards if possible, as we remember the sacrifice made by servicemen and women in both world wars and conflicts across the world. Apologies for absence, Group Secretaries, are there any other apologies for absences? Thank you Mr Mayor. We have apologies from Councillor Begg and Councillor Conway and apologies for lateness from Councillor Tracoporty. Thank you. I have apologies from Councillor Joshua Conway, Councillor Val Dijinsky and Councillor Michael Meyer as well as Councillor Peter Zinkin. And I also received apologies from Councillor Lucentiu. I'm delighted to welcome Isit Tochi Oni-Yiri, pardon my pronunciation, Isabel and Mimi to the Council Chambers this evening. Thank you for joining us and now I'd like to invite you to start the meeting this evening with a few words. Good evening Mr Mayor, esteemed Councillors and fellow community members. Thank you very much for inviting us to open tonight's full Council. Our speeches will focus on this year's Black History Month theme which is Reclaiming Our Narratives. My name is Isabelle Stones and I'm here to discuss the one and only Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks is a pivotal figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. Her brave act of refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 sparked a nationwide protest against racial segregation. This courageous stand became a symbol of resistance and inspired countless others to join the fight for equality. Parks' actions highlighted the injustices faced by African Americans and helped to catalyse the Montgomery bus boycott which lasted over a year and led to a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. Her legacy reminds us of the power of individual courage in the face of injustice and continues to inspire movements for equality around the world today. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Tocci Doble. During October when we remember the contributions of black individuals to our society, we are given the opportunity to share and understand the impact of black heritage and culture. This month is a time to reflect, a time to celebrate, and a time to educate. We reflect on the lives, stories, and victories of individuals. Martin Luther King, whose dreams of an equal society changed the landscape of civil rights. Adam C.J. Walker, the first black female millionaire in the United States. Olaudah Equiano, a freed slave turned performer who pushed for the abolition of slavery in the UK. And Mary Seacole, a British Jamaican nurse who funded her own way through the Crimean War after being denied by the British authority. But we must understand that black history cannot be defined by only these individuals. With black influence evident across all aspects of our society, science, sports, politics, art, mathematics, and literature, it's time to celebrate the black voices within those fields. Margaret Busby, Joyce Fraser, Edward Enifel, Marcus Rashford, Stephen Bartlett. Let us remember all the names of those who have broken the glass ceilings for the next generation. However, let us not only celebrate black victories, but also remember the suffering, the harsh reality of black history that we so often try to forget, segregation, slavery, systematic racism, and injustice, a chapter of our history that we must remember in order to not mirror the past and move forward into a society of racial equality and justice. This leads us to the very essence of Black History Month, of how we can move forward as a society as to not repeat the blunders of our ancestors, of how we can come together as a society to see that everyone, no matter of race, can be seen as equal. And this is the question I pose to you, Councillors. As the leaders of today, what do you plan to do to face the issues in this society regarding racial disparity, whether it's more support groups or more outreach programs for young people? Action needs to be taken. Significant progress has been made, but the road ahead is still long. Finally, I would just like to say the essential truth, that black history is British history. And our stories cannot be confined to the month of October, nor can the richness of our history be defined by triumph nor pain. Black history is ongoing, intertwined with our experiences and daily lives. As we reflect this month, let us commit ourselves to learning and unlearning and take the lessons of this month into the rest of our lives. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Onyinye Chima Suma Umatu. I hate how we live in a world where slavery is the only thing black people have to contribute. To history. While slavery was an undeniably dark chapter in history, it is still affecting the lives of black people. The micro and macro aggressions of black individual experiences daily, the constant discrimination and prejudice and less obvious causes of unconscious bias is enough evidence that slavery has repercussions. However, it is not the only thing the black community has to contribute. Black history is rich with more than just this narrative of oppression. Focusing only on slavery reduces the vast contributions of African civilization. Not only does it ignore the powerful legacy of culture, innovation, resistance and leadership, it is also ignorant, a type of racism in itself. Because you are denying your fellow counterparts the right of history, right of past contribution and right of credit. As they're an abundance of stories, I'm afraid I don't have an abundance of time. Focusing on black women accounts, I will start with Sister Mary Kenner, born in 1912, North Carolina. A famous African American inventor known for her innovations in personal hygiene of products, particularly the adjustable sanitary belt, known as the modern sanitary pad. Of course, while she faced racial and gender barriers, she continued to innovate, improving the lives of many women, though she did not achieve fame, accolade, nor recognition. Next, Mabel Wolfwood, 20th century innovator, known for her creative textile patterns that reflect or are inspired by African and Caribbean motifs. Last but not least, Valerie Thomas, born in New York, 1922, is best known for her innovation of the illusion transmitter patent in 1980. This device created three dimensional images using two dimensional images. This technology has applications in medical imaging, data, visualization, and film in the film industry with 3D movies. I'm certain there are many more black pioneers, especially women, that contributed to fields that influenced innovators and concepts we use today, such as Sarah Boone, known for her improving the ironing board, but systematic barriers and historical racism made it difficult for black people to get recognition. History and education is an example of a systematic barrier today which is why I urge you to think of future generations. May they learn a more diverse and rich cultural part of history, recognizing our history is crucial. Without it, how can we expect young innovators to contribute to society and help us move forward in the future? Good evening. My name is Ayomede Olamolehu. Black history for so long has been confined to the margins of our collective memory, neglected and misrepresented, or simply even raced from the forefront of our narratives. Black history is rich in resilience and creativity and has made profound contributions to society. Black history is not a separate story, but in our towns, our cities, and our nation, through their labor, creativity, and leadership, it is about reclaiming the truth and upholding it with honor and pride. An example of this, of those who didn't make it into history books, were their windrush generation, Caribbean immigrants and those who settled right in our very own borough. They greatly contributed to the borough's cultural and social development and local economy, particularly in sectors like transportation and healthcare. They established vibrant communities that shaped Barnet's multicultural identity forever, leaving experiences to be passed down for generations. A mention must definitely go out to the black education sector. Barnet has known home to be multiple black scholars, private educators, and community leaders. Many black-led educational initiatives, including supplementary schools, were established to support from diverse backgrounds, promoting academic excellence and empowering young black students. So the question is, how do we reclaim our narratives, and as a community, how do we reclaim the truth? We must commit to building a more inclusive society in which Barnet residents and young black people are held in high regard when making decisions. It is time to make intentional strides to ensure that black history is not reduced to a footnote or a compulsory assembly at school, but embraced as an essential chapter in the narrative of our shared heritage. By doing so, we can transform our understanding of who we are, both as a community and as a society. In reclaiming black history, I believe we should not dwell on the wrong past, but we must work towards a future where the generations after us grow up learning the full breadth of history, one that includes experiences, triumphs, and sacrifices of black men and women who have been instrumental in shaping the world we live in today. To reclaim black history is to reclaim the soul of our community, is to ensure that we move forward as a society that values truth, inclusion, and justice, and it is not just a remembrance, but empowerment. We uplift the stories of the oppressed and forgotten. We empower future generations to continue to work of justice and equality. Honorable council members, we must ensure that this council, this community, and this generation is remembered not only for allowing history to be forgotten, but for stepping forward to reclaim, celebrate, and honor the truth that comes with it. Thank you. I'd really like to thank you for spending this evening away from your home to come and give us those thoughtful words. Thank you very much for those words, and I invite you to take a seat in the public gallery. You're welcome to stay if you'd like to, and I hope you will find the rest of the meeting interesting. Thank you. So Mr. Mayor, under declarations of interest, before the council this evening we have a motion regarding winter fuel allowances and a motion regarding leaseholders, and some elected members may have pecuniary interest in these matters. Under the constitution, a dispensation may be granted by the monitoring officer. In this case, the dispensation is granted for the following reasons. Many members of the decision-making body have a disclosable pecuniary interest, and it would impede the transaction of business not to grant the dispensation, that the authority considers that the dispensation is in the interest of persons living in the authorities that the authority considers that it is otherwise appropriate to grant the dispensation. So I was monitoring officer Grant and dispensation so that members may take part in the debates for these matters for this meeting and that they may stay, speak and vote. Thank you. Also, members have any other interests to declare, please could you advise and also declare which agenda items the interest relates to. Thank you Mr. Mayor. In relation to the questions to the members and committee chairs, I have an interest in the question on the social workers strike pecuniary interest due to my employment. Thank you. I will leave the room should we reach that question, but it's quite a long way down. Yes, I realize, thank you. Sorry, I didn't notice your hand cancel them, it wasn't high enough. Yeah, I'd like to declare another interest as well regarding item 14.7, the motion on 310 bus route as a TFL employee. Okay. We reached that, please, yeah, you know what to do. Nobody else, okay. Does council agree the accuracy of the minutes of the council meeting held on the ninth of July, 2024? Agreed, there are no public questions this evening. There are no deputations this evening. And there are no petitions this evening. Announcements from the leaders, Paul Pelo, there are none. So now we move on to agenda item 12, we will now move on to questions to the leaders, cabinet members and committee chairs. Can I remind members that the supplementary questions should be questions and not statements. And please keep both questions and answers concise. That way, we'll get through as many as possible, and you'll all have time to speak. Question one, Councillor Richard Cornelius, do you have any supplementary? I do, Mr. Mayor, thank you. There's a surprise. I'd like to thank the leader for his answer in much the same tone as my question. And I appreciate the reminder about the glasses too, I had overlooked that. But on a serious note, would the leader agree with me that is it is not a good look to accept untaxable freebies for someone who is likely to want something? Being lectured from the Conservative Party on matters of probity just seems fantastical, to be honest. There's been no taking having holidays in Mystique, having wallpaper pay for you, gold leaf wallpaper, all these rather dubious freebies that have been taken by past government. But I don't see this as freebies. What you've got to think about is, what is the role of a prime minister? And that is to lead. Now if people are worried about anything, then they can go to, you know, they can complain. But I don't see any evidence that we have approached the sleaze and slander of the last few governments and the damage they've done to Britain. And I'm proud of the government and I'm proud of the people of Britain for deciding a new direction and the change that is needed. Councillor Stark, do you have a supplementary? Thank you very much indeed, Mr Mayor. And if you just bear with me for one minute, I'm going to explain my question. A while ago I brought the motion to the council asking why Barnet Roads was subject to so many ghost traffic lights, hopefully you remember it. I asked this question a few weeks ago, there were two sets of temporary traffic lights causing huge tailbacks on Tottridge Lane. Now this is an A road and it's heavily used by emergency vehicles and many motorists trying to reverse the borough in the east-west direction. In addition to these lights, there were simultaneously temporary traffic lights at the top of Tottridge Lane going into Whetstone High Road and also another set going towards Mill Hill. This brought the whole area to a grinding halt. At two of these locations there were no works taking place like ghost traffic lights. Residents wrote to me in complete frustration. So my question is, please could the traffic management team give careful consideration when looking at works taking place in an area all over the borough and if there is an overrun on the time, rather than fine the companies, because you've mentioned that, could they not just physically, because I have been tempted to actually remove them myself, remove the lights which is causing such a massive waste of time for our residents. Thank you. Councillor Sydenham. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I agree with Councillor Stockton. Temporary traffic lights are unfortunately one of life's annoying necessities but I do understand the frustration that she and indeed many residents feel about this and it is of course also frustrating when there's no one working there. But there is often a reason why there's nobody, nobody working there. It's not just that they've been put, it's not just that they've been put there, it's not just that they've been put there for the fun of it and as it says in the answer, the Council does monitor all of these works. There is a utilities charter in place and as she referred to, it's not unimportant that over half a million pounds worth of fines were levied on utilities in the last year and hitting them in the pocket does have an influence on performance. Once they're regularly fined, we expect them to be a lot less likely to put traffic lights and leave them in place without anything happening. I don't think I can agree with her taking direct action. These lights are needed often for very important safety reasons but if there are particular circumstances, please do report them and the Council's officers will go and check what's happening there. Thank you. Councillor Wakeley. Thank you. Thank you for your answer to my question. Will the cabinet member ensure that the promises made to residents in West Hendon will be kept and the long-awaited works to West Hendon playing field begin before 2026? Can I just point out to the Councillor the answer to the question, no decision has been made. That means no decision has been made and we're not making a decision on the hoof here. We're serious about having the financial probity to make sure we can continue to provide better services for all residents of Barnet which includes residents of West Hendon. When a decision is made you'll hear about it, until a decision is made there's no comment on it. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. It's now been best part of two and a half years since the leader promised the fabled council tax refund and in your response you boast that 2% has been returned to residents which is fantastic. The only problem is I'm a resident and I have not received 2% so please can you let me know when I will receive my 2%? Thank you. I'm not quite sure why you have this difficulty and have asked this same question time after time. We didn't pay the full bit. We put back the 1% rise that the previous Conservative administration has done. We have not, we have looked at the medium term financial strategy that you put which was that the Conservatives, if they had been elected, would have put the council tax up by the maximum every year. We haven't put it up by the maximum either year. No we don't. I can understand that Councillor Longstaff noted for his acting, noted for his interest in the Arch which I accept he is not noted for his ability to add up or do sums. I will explain to you in a minute what the refund is. The full amount was 5% it did not go up 5% therefore it did not go up by the maximum. Mr Mayor can I just point out something that 4.99% is statistically insignificant. As a percentage, 4.99% is statistically insignificant and by the way a refund does not mean giving money to other people. Thank you. Can we go on to Councillor Mitra please. Thank you very much Mr Mayor. Does the lack of transparency that was contained in the Capita contract explain the poor financial decisions that were made by the previous Conservative Administration? Thank you Mr Mayor. I thank the Member for pointing out the many things that we have now discovered since bringing back the Capita related treasury function in house. The level of financial ruin that the previous administration presided over has now only become transparent because of the services being brought back in house. But it is also refreshing that we can now deal with the treasury function of the council in a way that benefits residents rather than stakeholders of Capita. So there is a lot of benefits that we have now only been able to realise and utilise as a result of this. Thank you. Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you Mr Mayor. Does this answer mean that you are planning to spend more money on the services currently provided by Capita and is this what the vast capital provision that we hear about is for? No, the capital provision is different. Some of it is promises made by the previous administration when their own government raised interest rates almost ten times from half a percent to five percent and have caused problems that we are having to clear up. Things on Capita will be made from if you like a sensible financial point of view. On the whole we have brought in a lot of Capita, as you know, over 400 staff and as Councillor Natanac being mentioned, the main reason for insourcing is that we have a responsibility to the people of Barnet. Capita like every private company legally have a responsibility to their shareholders and for us residents come before shareholders, people before profit. Councillor Weiser. Thank you Mr Mayor. Would the Leader agree with me that having a cabinet system rather than a committee system has allowed for greater financial overview to deal with the financial crisis of local government in comparison to siloed thinking under the committee system? Surprise, surprise, yes, I do agree, it is a far better way of administering the borough. We had obviously committee meetings and so many decisions were made and the final decision was made by the chair with the director. So many decisions by the last administration were made behind closed doors, we are happy to make our decisions in front of the public, in front of the webcam and we are proud of what we are doing. Thank you. Councillor Pritger. Thank you Mr Mayor. The only reason that the Conservative Mayor in Croydon had to raise council tax there was because of the mess that he inherited from your Labour colleagues. This council is following along the same path and Barnet residents are the ones that are going to have to pay for that. So I'm just going to reiterate, can the leader guarantee that Barnet is not going to end up like Croydon? Yes, I can guarantee we will not have a Conservative Mayor that puts council tax up by 15% and has a £42 million overspend. We're in a far better position than that, we know what we're doing. The people of Croydon have been suffering because they voted Conservative two years ago and I feel sorry for them. [Applause] Councillor Radford. Councillor Radford. Thank you for your answer to the question. To follow up, I think like anything one of the things in terms of monitoring finance is monitoring our level of cash. I believe now we've put in a liquidity buffer so that we actually have a minimum level of cash that we aim to track and maintain. Do you have any idea why this wasn't the case previous to this administration? Thank you Mr Mayor. Perfect set up, alley-oop as they call it in certain circles in basketball analogies. I think what's important about this, we can get into a lot of technicalities about Treasury management and it can become somewhat nebulous for an average resident to understand but what's particularly important to understand here is the long-term thinking, the benefit that residents will get from worrying about the finances of the council, the management of our Treasury function over the long term rather than bumbling around from one year to the next as the previous administration did. Basically only really worried about the next election cycle, how do we survive within this four-year term. No long-term thinking, no long-term benefit for residents and the consequences of that is being borne by us right now. The debt financing burden that the local authority now has to bear with because of just the economic illiteracy that we have inherited from the previous administration. The liquidity buffer is one example of how we're looking for, it is a benefit because it's a long-term, evidently they still don't seem to understand what long-term benefit is. Oh sorry was that a question? It's true that residents do need to be prepared but luckily with a Labour administration they can benefit from the investment we're making in roads and pavements in sustainability and with regards to street lighting we'll make sure that the levels as it says in the answer always remain compliant because we're committed to ensuring the safety of our roads and pavements and that's also why we invested in fixing the broken CCTV left behind by the previous Conservative administration. Councillor Baker. Barnet Council tax is currently more than £300 lower for Band B and Band D households than Conservative Harrow. Is the leader committed to keeping our manifesto pledge on council tax that we will not increase it to the legal maximum? Thank you Mr Mayor, the leader is delegating the answer to me. So what I'd like to thank my colleague for is giving me an opportunity to reaffirm a pledge that we made to residents and our desire to maintain that in future. When the Prime Minister talks about fixing the foundations, trust and honesty is part of that. I have to use single syllables because our Conservative colleagues don't seem to understand anything more complicated than that. Sentence structure is relevant to answering questions sometimes, I hope you do understand. The answer is yes, we're going to keep promises because keeping promises is very important in politics. Councillor Shuter. Thank you Mr Mayor, thank you for your answer and it was actually the tip of the iceberg. Many many voters in Hendon didn't receive a postal ballot and unfortunately they became disenfranchised, they didn't know what to do, they had to get a new one and by then it was too late. So I myself didn't get my postal ballot sadly. There were also Labour people, I know it was terrible, but I knew what to do and I got a reprint. But the whole thing was a pass. In fact three months later to this day I still haven't received that ballot, I don't know where it's gone, it's probably, well I'm not going to make any accusations, but it's probably in a recycling bin somewhere. And this never happened under our watch, so I don't know, missing postal ballots, look we've had 100 days of farcical Labour government, we're coming out to 1000 days of this utter crazy Labour, local councillors, don't even let people vote, so I'll just come to my question. So the question is, the question is how can we make it easier for residents so they can understand what to do, where to go, can we actually have in the polling stations the ability to reprint postal ballots because clearly this is going to happen in the future as well. There's got to be a way where we can make it easier for people to not become disenfranchised like they were over the last two elections, thank you. Thank you, I'd like, you say this didn't happen under your watch, I lived in Haringey in 2016 and even I heard about what happened in those GLA elections, so let's not say that your election process was perfect, but first I'd like to thank our wonderful officers and staff who worked very hard on two elections this year, two elections, because your last government couldn't decide when it wanted to go to the polls and cost the country 33.2 million pounds more by holding elections on two different days. But let's also look at what your government did to make running elections harder for our officers and staff. They reduced the election period, which means there is a week less for those postal votes to be printed and get out to our residents. That's your government's fault for changing the rules, by reducing the election period you make it harder for the staff here to get your election vote out. You introduce voter ID, which makes it harder to send out polling cards because instead of printing an A5 card that we all used to have that came through our doors, we have to print an A4 letter, we have to get white envelopes and they have to go in those so that people will open them and know there is an election on. We have to have a hand count for the GLA election making it harder for staff because you couldn't decide as a party when you wanted to go to the polls for a national election, we all knew was coming. So if you want to talk about why elections are difficult to run at the moment, maybe you should go and talk to your own party about all the reforms you made unnecessarily to election law to make running elections harder and more expensive for councils already under a financial strain and a government already under a financial strain because of your economic vandalism and disaster. I think you are going to find that you are the government that made it harder for people to get postal votes so it is going to require a national reform of the law to change how we can run elections because we don't decide how that is run, that is a national government decision. So maybe you should talk to your local MP, the new Labour one. Thank you. Council Monasterio. Thank you, Mr Mayor. In her written answer, the cabinet member for Family Friendly Barney outlined the costs of years of underinvestment have had on our children's care costs and how we end up paying for profit operators as a result. What can be done to mitigate these costs? Thank you for the question. I think as I have mentioned before, the way that we try and make sure that we help our most vulnerable children to not have the expensive costs that we have incurred is to have more in-house provision. We will shortly be opening a new children's home in Whetstone and I know that the children's homes that we have got are well used and are virtually fully occupied. We usually only keep one place vacant for emergencies. But as I have mentioned before here, the problem with the high cost placements is the intervention of private companies and hedge funds that are milking profits on the backs of our vulnerable children. This is going to need something further up the chain at a government level to get a handle on this and to really try and make sure that when we do have to look after our most vulnerable children, and I stress our children under our corporate parenting responsibilities that we all hold for our children, it shouldn't be that private companies are hiving off fast profits to make sure that they are adequately and well looked after and often at long distances away from home, not close to where they live and admittedly some children need to be at a distance away. But for a majority they would be far better if they were closer to where they live and to the family networks and their friends and unfortunately this has not been the case. Because of the reduction and the lack of supply of these places, what happens is you have two or three boroughs that need a place and they play one off against the other to try and get a higher cost. They really have us over a barrel to try and look after these young people. And this is something that has really got to stop and the profit making side of it has really got to stop because they are our children and we should make sure that they are looked after in the best possible way but not for profit. Thank you. Thank you. Ken for a long start. Thank you Mr Mayor. I was surprised. I genuinely thought that the offset inspection for children services would have resulted in a much better result than just one outstanding. But the question I want to ask the cabinet member for Family Friendly Barnet is basically about the manifesto where you write in your manifesto that we will work towards outstanding children services. It's just one line right at the very end and that line will have been read by the officers, the council officers here and it will have been read by Ofsted who will then look to the budgets to see if they match up with what you're proposing in your manifesto. And it seems to me that as the lead member you could have done more in terms of getting better resources for the children services simply by arguing your point with the leader about whether or not we should spend the money on the skip service or children services, the cultural strategy or children services, moving to the cabinet system or children services or capital insourcing which I believe cost around five million pounds. But I'd be interested to know if you will be trying to get better resources in the future. Thank you. I'm surprised. I mean generally I respect you Councillor Longstaff because you are shadow lead and you led on this area beforehand and you know that the words working towards outstanding means working towards. You know that our staff and all our social workers work incredibly hard, they are very well valued and you know fully well what we do and how we have ensured that children and young people have a better say in every possible way in what happens to them in their lives. We can't just magic more up under the current circumstances and this department does extremely well in for what it provides for young people and for what it provides for the young children in our care and we should be extremely proud of what they've done for our young people and not think that a one word should make a difference to how we value them and how we support them in all the care that we give for our young people. They are the most important, it's not one word that's important, what is important is the outcomes for our young people and that is what we should be proud of and continue be proud of and continue working more to make sure they always get the best and as I said before not so that businesses get profits out of our young people which is something I definitely disagree with. Susan McCurk. Yes I do have a supplementary and I totally concur what Councillor Clark said about the achievements at the Arts Depot. It's amazing 30 years ago we were like a basically a wilderness when it came to arts and culture but where there was a will there was a way, there was change of administration, the bull was dying, there was only one community festival struggling to maintain itself but suddenly something changed. Last week it was lovely to see Dame Evelyn Glennon who's a world-known award-winning percussionist actually addressing people at the Arts Depot, attended by Labour councillors across the borough, attended by the local Labour MPs. Sorry is this a question? I asked the question in the beginning if you listen properly. My mother is an English drama teacher and she knows that I do have to actually put a question. This was a desert of culture 30 years ago and things have changed and this is in spite of the Tories in opposition and in power trying to stop this amazing venue absolutely happening. I think we did, having listened to those wonderful young women earlier this evening, don't you agree that the arts isn't for the elite, the arts and culture is for everybody. It's not just those who can afford it, it's to be open to everybody whether it be in our schools, whether it be in our church halls, whether it be in our playgrounds where we can put music and that children actually play and dance in playgrounds. I think arts and culture is so important to the well-being of the people of this borough whether you be four years old, 40 year olds, 80 year olds or 90 year olds. Don't you believe that this is and the fact that the Arts Depot in spite of Tory cuts and Tory attacks over the last 30 years, that it's surviving and arts and culture in this borough will survive and we want to see that Burdett is a venue where people want to celebrate arts and culture. Do you agree with me, Councillor Clark? So yes, I do agree with you. But just to add, it was absolutely wonderful to be at that event. If you'd like a note, we're just pausing the timer there. Do you agree with me that Burdett should be a venue for arts and culture? Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. I don't think I can compete with Councillor McGurk for length of question. It was Labour that estimated 4,000 people might die if this proposal was brought forward when they were in opposition and civil servants came up with it. So do you really mean that you haven't done the work for Barnet to see how many people will die? I think that is a false premise, Councillor Cornelius. I don't think we'd want to see anyone die in Barnet, but you can play politics with this. But as the written answer notes, we should as Councillors be actively encouraging residents to use the benefits calculator or other face-to-face support that's available across the borough and enabling those residents who are eligible for pension credit to apply. They will not only retain that winter fuel allowance, but they'll also raise their household income from the benefit itself, one which they're entitled to, it is not charity, and it's one that will benefit them all year round, day in, day out. Thank you. Councillor Halleck. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Presidents of Colindale South and indeed I believe across the borough are noticing the benefits of the investment that the Labour Council have made in the roads, in the pavements and the roads. And we know what a shocking state that the last administration left them in. Of course, more needs to be done. More always needs to be done. When will we find out about the next stage of the programme? Councillor Sandeman. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'm glad that time stood still so that I would have time to answer Councillor Halleck's question. As he says, we inherited a highways network in a shocking state with a huge backlog of repairs. The £97 million programme that we invested in to fix in Barnet's roads and pavements is the largest ever in the history of this council. And as he says, and I know other residents also across the borough are noticing, beginning to notice the improvement in our roads and pavements as a result. And that includes particularly residents in Hamden Way. For the first time in decades the council is actually doing a full reconstruction of a road at a cost of £3 million, not just skimming off a surface and putting a thin layer on top, a proper reconstruction down to the base of that road that I know is being appreciated by residents in that road. But as the old saying goes, you're only as good as your last pot... Am I not allowed to complete, Mr Mayor? Come on, bring it to a point, Councillors. I thought it was the mastermind rules I started so I'll finish. As the old saying goes, you're only as good as your last pothole repair. That's why officers are working at the moment on putting together the 2526 programme. They're going to be engaging with ward members very shortly in advance of the programme being announced next year. The £97 million programme rolls on. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you. We're going to fit in one more question. Councillor Ward. Yes, yes, yes, if you'd talked for less time I would have had the time. It's very quick. Does the council have any idea of how many pensioners living in Barnet are eligible for pension credit but don't currently claim it? Well, no, those are figures that the DWP have. What we do know is there's been a great increase in the number of pensioners getting pension credit. There's a big campaign going on that UK are running. Our benefits calculator has brought in over £7 million more to people, including pensioners in Barnet. And perhaps more important, keeping the triple lock means that every pensioner will get at least £350 extra this year so nobody of whatever age will be poorer through this decision alone. Thank you. That concludes the questions to the leaders, cabinet members and committee chairs. We'll now move on to the remainder of the business. Members, questions? There are none. I now call on the Labour group to state which administration motion they will debate. Thank you, Mr Mayor. We will be debating motion 14.1 in the name of Councillor Baker, celebrating the administration's achievements. I now call on the Conservative group Secretary to state which opposition motion they will debate. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. We will be debating 14.2, the opposition motion in the name of Councillor Richard Cornelius. The Councillor regrets the government's decision to punish Barnet's pensioners. Thank you. I now call Councillor Sue Baker, celebrating the administration achievements. Can I remind everyone this is her maiden speech, so it's allowed longer. Hello, everybody. Hi. As this is my first speech, I'd like to thank my predecessor, Marianne Halep, for her service and say a few introductory words. I've lived in Chipping Barnet most of my life, apart from three years when I was in the University of Wales. I was born in Barnet, raised here and raised my family here and also work in Barnet. I've taught hundreds of Barnet youngsters at Barnet Southgate College, and one of the joys of knocking on doors in Barnet Vale is answering to someone saying, Miss, is that you? which is often quite funny because they're adults with children. I will serve my residents by listening and helping to create a better environment for families, and on canvases they tell me how they are seeing the labour difference in Barnet. They've noted on a canvas last Sunday how they feel safer, and they were aware of the improved CCTV that had been fixed after the Conservatives left 70% broken. They note the excellent new Barnet Leisure Centre facility, which I attend very regularly. Importantly, usage has gone up there by 20% in the last year, and the advertising has definitely worked. You can see the long list of labour achievements in the motion, but the greatest one is ambition, and that's ambition for the borough. Too often, under the Conservatives, the attitude appeared to be, We'll pay capital to run the council for us as long as they can tell us the council tax figure every year will lead them to it. There was no ambition. I'm ambitious for Barnet, and would love to see the music service that I benefited from a youngster in Barnet brought back and reintroduced. We do face a difficult financial time, and I know that we'll not be bringing everything back as we would like, but the ambition for the last two years has been notably fantastic. Barnet's very first Pride celebration, taking on the climate emergency, bringing abandoned green spaces back to use, for example. Labour's vision for council is one that listens to residents and helps them to enrich their lives. It's one that I support and will do so by voting for this motion. Thank you. [applause] [applause] [applause] Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and can I first congratulate Councillor Baker on your maiden speech? That's the nice bit. That leisure centre you talk about was built under the Conservative administration, so it's great that you're using it, even though we did nothing according to you. This motion, which I'm sure you didn't write, is really just narcissism. That's all it is. Every three council meetings or so, Labour put in a motion of self-praise, and as we all know, self-praise is no praise at all. A motion of apologies for your broken promises, now that would have been much more realistic. Apologies for no council tax refund, the maximum increase for council tax, worthless promise to freeze garden waste. The promise, and this is a really good one, the promise to develop a new model of social care for independent living. That group came to this council, presented a petition, and you told them to push off. Even the chief executive left the council to spend more time with his family. In fact, he put in his resignation shortly after telling the cabinet that they had to stick within their budgets. Other members of the senior management have also surreptitiously disappeared. Your manifesto mentions businesses. Your manifesto mentions businesses, and yet this year, you're putting up costs for businesses by 10%, even though the rate is 2.2%. Your quarterly deep cleanses don't happen. You've used over 18 million of reserves this year. Can I just overspend? My point of order is that Councillor Longstaff is out of order in the comments that he's making about past senior officers, and I think he should withdraw them and apologise. Councillor Midler, which point are you actually making? Mr Mayor, it is a fact that the previous chief executive, who I didn't name, wrote in the newspaper that he was leaving to spend more time with his family. What's wrong with that? The other officers have gradually disappeared, and if you think they have to finish, please just allow Councillor Longstaff to finish. We've paused it, so just carry on, Councillor Longstaff. We'll add on 30 seconds, Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Right, the leader said when he first got in charge of this council that the finances were in good order. Which bit of the finances in good order did you suddenly change your mind about? It's council now that is driving the cost-of-living crisis. You're the ones putting up the costs for every resident. You're the ones pushing up the bin charge. You're the ones pushing up all the other costs, the parking costs. So all you're really doing, the plan that you've got for Barnet is bankruptcy, a 114 notice. That's all you're doing and it's happening very soon. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Councillor Rawlings, thank you. Thank you, Councillor Houston. Point of order, Mr Mayor. Can I just point out, Mr Mayor, that Councillors Trusses Bush was never, this Trusses budget was never implemented. You ought to learn that. Councillors, that's, we're moving on, Councillor Houston. Councillor Houston, please. Thank you, Mr Mayor. As Councillor Baker's motion outlines, we acted quickly to deliver our manifesto promises and transform the way the Councillors run. Our five key pledges all delivered, job done. Only yesterday, Cabinet met to go through the full manifesto programme we were elected on and it is remarkable how much has been achieved. From sorting out our broken CCTV network, fixing our crumbling roads and pavements, to groundbreaking anti-social behaviour initiatives such as Clear Hold Build and becoming a council that leads on sustainability and net zero, not one which sticks its head in the sand and denies the threat of climate change. And we've pressed on with delivering new council homes funding through the HRA despite the financial headwinds caused by high interest rates, soaring labour and material costs all following Tory austerity and Brexit, but culminating in the chaos of Trussonomics. Investing to save and help reduce our soaring temporary accommodation pressures. Tory government irresponsibility left us a crisis in council financing, a tsunami of pressures on statutory frontline services unfunded by central government on top of cuts of 100 million to Barnet's budget. On day one we started the process of tightening control by insourcing key services, bringing in the cabinet system and exercising a hands-on approach to governance. Unprecedented emergent pressures faced London councils, but the simple fact is that it has been made so much worse because the Barnet Tories took their eye off the ball. They missed opportunities to invest when interest rates were low, they didn't pressurise developers to deliver enough affordable housing before the recent downturn and they continued to use up our cash to meet spending commitments rather than borrowing when interest rates were historically low, which has left us in a position where the council is now having to borrow at historically high rates to continue to meet those commitments. Barnet faces unprecedented challenges but at last has an administration that is focused on governance, oversight and taking the difficult decisions to get us back on track. Thank you Mr Mayor. I want to start by welcoming Councillor Baker to the chamber and congratulate her on her maiden speech. On behalf of the Conservative group I feel I should update you about what's been happening over the last two and a half years by your Labour group. I only have two minutes so I'm going to limit myself to just ten of their broken promises but I can tell you the rest after if you'd like. So first, they promised to refund 1% of council tax by autumn 2022, that never happened. Second point, they abandoned the council's vote to freeze the garden waste green bin charge and instead increased it by almost 40%. Three, Labour claims to keep council tax increases well below that of other councils. This year it was statistically insignificant, 0.01% below the maximum increase allowed by the government. Four, the administration cut £800,000 from SEND transport services. These are services that help children with disabilities and additional needs get to school. Five, the council spent £100,000 on an events company to run a climate assembly that they've yet to implement any real policies from. Six, the Labour manifesto promised a review of adult independent living services which was abandoned. Seven, council financial reserves are being raided and earmarked for massive depletion over the next two years. Eight, their manifesto stated they would fight tower blocks and high rises and they seem to be supportive, despite this they seem to be supportive of the Edgewood towers. Nine, they promised to get rid of chemical pesticides, however the cabinet member mentioned at our last meeting that that would have been impossible to do. Maybe you should have checked that before you put it in your manifesto. Ten, the mental health social workers are still on strike and the council is buying in cover to meet statutory duties. So, to summarise, Labour breaks their promises, Labour are financially irresponsible and Labour are bad for Barnet. Thank you. Councillor Barnes. I have managed up to now to keep a low profile in the theatre for council meetings, but now with the very welcome election of my colleague, Councillor Sue Baker, it was noticed that I have actually never made my first speech. The tradition is of course to thank the former councillor who represented Barnet Vale, which I believe is made up of four old wards and would include Councillor Stock, Cornelises and Longstaff. Councillor Longstaff, a man who is very familiar with the theatre of four council meetings, has however worked constructively and helpfully alongside me in Barnet Vale, aiding the residents without too much reference to party politics. As the only active Labour councillor in Barnet Vale, I was busy replying to all the concerns of residents about the speeding traffic, emptying of bins, etc, and I look forward to sharing these joys with Councillor Baker. I was pleased, I have been pleased to secure modest area committee funding for dementia-friendly flower arranging, provided by a collaboration of Age UK and a florist in Barnet Vale, and also for a wellbeing garden provided by incredible edible Barnet at St John's Church in the ward. The motion I'm speaking in favour of this evening highlights the many achievements of the council administration over the two years plus in what has been a very difficult financial situation. Residents feel safer now that the CCTV, which the outgoing Conservative administration left 70% broken, has now been fixed. There is a new pride in the appearance of the borough. The return of the community skips programme has helped avoid fly tipping. The regular deep clean of the borough's streets is making a real difference to the pleasantness of the ward. The £97 million programme for fixing our roads and streets has had a great impact on Barnet Vale. We have seen £700,000 invested in the Great North Road, which was needed desperately to deal with the potholes and wear and tear that had developed there. The declaration of the climate of emergency has helped spur community groups into action. We have planted more than 1,000 trees across the borough. The borough has applied for and been awarded its first green flag for more than 10 years at Cherry Tree Wood. We have surpassed Friends of the Earth's target for electric vehicle charging points. The biggest impact a Labour administration has made to Barnet is to bring energy and direction. We will have difficult choices to make given the financial mess the last Conservative government has given us, but Labour has shown it delivers for Barnet and will continue to do so, so I am very happy to support this motion. Thank you, Councillor Barnes. Councillor Parker. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Congratulations Councillors Baker and Barnes on your maiden speeches. It's important to congratulate ourselves and acknowledge when things are going well, but it's equally important to take stock and face some hard truths when things aren't going so well. For this Labour administration to put forward a motion praising themselves for the great job they're apparently doing whilst ravaging the Council's financial reserves is quite frankly delusional. The irony in criticising the financial controls that we put in place as they spend all the money that we saved is palpable and shows a clear lack of understanding of basic finance and further illustrates why we're in this mess. No accountability, no oversight, no control. Slapping yourselves on the backs whilst putting the future of this bar at risk is quite possibly the most tone deaf thing I've ever heard in this chamber and that's saying something. We're going to hear in the Garms report later this evening about the sorry state of the Council's finances. By all means, celebrate the successes, but don't be misguided into thinking that they're long term wins. At the current trend in just a couple of years, the Council will become effectively bankrupt. Councillor Baker, if that were to happen, everything that you're celebrating tonight will be withdrawn with services scaled back just to cover the basics. I'm not here just to talk about doom and gloom. I want to be positive. I want to celebrate in the Council successes. We all do, but please don't be so naive to assume that you can continue to spend money we don't have on vanity projects and that the residents of Barnet will thank you for it because we won't. This financial mess comes despite you increasing council tax by 3%, social care charges 2%, garden waste charges 40%. We're going to hear tonight about more visitor parking permits, almost 100%. I could go on and that's all before the Labour government starts raising national taxes wherever they can. Will there be any respite to Barnet's residents? As a former local MP once said, the problem with Labour, be it nationally or here in Barnet, is that eventually they run out of other people's money. You're precariously close to doing so. Thank you. Is there another speaker from the Labour side? No. Councillor Mering and Smith, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I too would like to congratulate our new maiden speeches speakers Councillor Baker. I don't know Councillor Baker yet, but I've certainly worked with Councillor Barnes and it was a pleasure to hear his maiden speech. And we did some excellent work on the task of finish group. I do feel a bit sorry for Councillor Baker, however, she was set up with this extraordinary motion, claiming all sorts of exciting things. But nevertheless, she did a splendid job trying to defend it all. But I have to say, I was trying to understand the finances of the council because the whole question Councillor Knack we raised about the reserves is obviously significant to us all. My astonishment came because I'm not an inexperienced finance person. Some of you may be aware I've had quite a lot of experience of finance. And I was astonished at the way this report was written. If you were setting out as a finance expert to try and confuse the general public as to what was really happening. This report does a splendid job of it. And frankly, what we're going to see is now this hundred million of reserves has frankly disappeared, that we left you, you're going to have a shocking problem over the next few years. But as you've told us repeatedly, the Conservative government was previously completely incompetent and financial matters. And now you have five years ahead of you as a Labour administration, showing how finances can be properly run at a government level. And clearly the first hundred days of the Labour administration have demonstrated extraordinary efficiency in all sorts of respects. So very best of luck while the two of you try and sort out both the combination of the national finances and the local finances, because you've got a jolly tough job ahead of you. Councillor Baker, OK, in terms of Colour Flight summing this up, hearing the Labour speeches, it's very clear the difference the administration is making to the borough. So I urge everyone to vote for this motion. Thank you. We will now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Baker. All those in favour? That's 36. Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 16. Mr. Mayor. Motion in the name of Councillor Baker is therefore carried. I now call on Councillor Richard Cornelius. This council regrets the government's decision to punish Barnet's pensioners. Councillor Richard Cornelius, you have three minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You summed that up excellently. Thank you. Now I feel sorry for you, Mr. Mayor. You and your colleagues must be so upset and embarrassed by the first hundred days of the Labour government. The flagship policies that hold your party together are revealed as vindictive and hollow. VAT on school fees, it's unravelling. The costs of replacement state education are appearing and hard-pressed special needs students, their parents who pay for them, the costs are becoming apparent. And it's particularly nice to know the Secretary of State of Education actually plays hockey at a public school. Now the tax on non-DOMs looks like it will lose money rather than raise funds for the Treasury. The loss of rich entrepreneurs and their investments can't be good for anybody in this country. Tinkering carelessly with private rentals has damaged the sector, reduced the supply of properties and led to desperate homeless people being put into nightly paid accommodation. And then we have the sheer hypocrisy, the suits, the Taylor Swift tickets, the glasses, the corporate hospitality, and the glasses the PM got can't be any good as he can't see this is all wrong. And what really disgusted me is that Rachel Reeves has claimed for heating as a parliamentary expense and yet decided to remove the winter fuel payment from our seniors. It's disgusting. This was introduced as a fix by Gordon Brown after a minuscule pension increase and an almighty backlash from the Labour Party which I hope will come again. But this benefit has been amazingly effective in persuading frugal pensioners to actually put their heating on. Labour Chancellors hate this kind of benefit and with their statist hats on want to means test everybody. And I suspect Starmer really wants benefits that look magnanimous and generous, flashy, but have a low take-up because of their complexity. But we really do need to keep Barnet's old people warm. They've lost sight of the bigger picture. Pensioners in hospital with hypothermia cost money. Sometimes a moral imperative demands a U-turn. Government is complicated. You found that as taking over the council administration. Things that sound simple actually have a complicated bite in their tail. And these unattended consequences will fully outweigh any supposed benefit on this heating payment being removed. It will end up costing the Labour government more money and yet they lose all their moral credibility by doing it. I am ashamed of our Labour government. Thank you. Councillor Langley. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Trigger warning, I intend to speak in full sentences. Allow me to invite all members to engage in a moment of reflection. I want us to think about what the purpose of political office is. The point of entering into a life dedicated to political service. I ask us to set aside briefly the political point-scoring, the partisan bickering, the rhetorical one-upmanship and concentrate our minds instead on the role of the politician in a representative democracy. So we are charged with absorbing and keeping at the forefront of our minds the concerns, anxieties, hopes and desires of the people we represent. To adequately do so, we must mute our egos, Councillor. We must resist the temptation of becoming distracted by the party political horse trade and get admired in dogmatic policy-making that is indifferent to that which genuinely benefits the long-term wellbeing of the nation. Now, Mr Mayor, I felt I needed to engage in that moment of reflection because this motion is utterly devoid of any historical context. It entirely lacks the humility to acknowledge the years of negligence in the wake of which our future financial decision-making needs to be made. It does not appear to appreciate how badly the Conservative Party has betrayed the trust of all people, whether attentionable of age or otherwise in Barnet and well beyond. From David Cameron calling a ruinous referendum to placate his own party, to Theresa May and Boris Johnson contriving treaty agreements they knew diminished the fiscal and diplomatic prospects of the country to appease ideologues that put them in power, to Liz Truss the less said about her, the better, the less she speaks in future, the better we will all be. So over a decade of economic vandalism, a dereliction of duty by the Tories, that is the context this motion lacks. Labour is doing what it needs to to fix this extraordinary unprecedented mess and for that reason I urge the Chamber to reject the motion. Thank you. Councillor Wakeley. Thank you, Mr Mayor. This winter, if we have any pensioners when they come to us and say they can't afford the heating, if they could hear what you've just said, that pompous speech you just gave, completely out of touch, I can't believe. Anyway, the Prime Minister stated during the general election that pensioners deserve security in their retirement. However, just like Labour here in Barnet, the Parliamentary Labour Party has failed to keep their promise. Keir Starmer managed to break his commitment to pensioners in less than 100 days. David Pinto-Dusinski, Dan Tomlinson and Sarah Sackmann have let down the 47,969 pensioners who will be affected by this policy in Barnet. They have failed to stand up to the government's attack on pensioners and instead voted for it. Labour themselves have said that pensioners will die as a result of this policy and our local MPs voted for this. Barnet Labour should be ashamed and you should be ashamed of the speech you just gave talking about David Cameron when people might die. The actions taken by this government do not surprise me as we have seen how Labour operate once they are in power in Barnet. They promise one thing on the campaign trail and then completely ignore their residence once in power. Labour is bad for pensioners, Labour break their promises and Labour are bad for Barnet. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Now I understand that Councillor Cornelius and the Conservatives are upset about the changes to the winter fuel allowance. But reading their motion, they don't appear to be so upset to give a roadmap to propose a tax rise that can pay for its full retention whilst closing the £22 billion black hole left to the current government. Now the Conservatives may pull their faces and groan, as they are right now, but if we're going to discuss national government policy here, it would be helpful to know what revenue-raising measures those across the Chamber would accept. Are they backing their leadership front-runner calling for cuts to corporation tax and capital gains tax? And this motion is just another example of the fantasy economics from the Conservatives that crash the UK economy, first by delivering a terrible Brexit deal, then the disastrous List Trust budget, thank God it wasn't implemented Councillor Longstaff, and vacating the government months before the election. I wish that no cuts would be needed. I also wish to build a time machine, travel back in time to September 2022 and teach List Trust how to add and subtract. But we can't always get what we want. But as Councillor Wakeley said, the Prime Minister said, pensioners deserve security and pensioners will get their deserved increase in their state pension. Today's labour market data shows that the state pension will rise by over 4%, over £450 a year. And it's the mission of every Labour government to tackle poverty, as it is the mission of this Labour government. And that takes long and serious thinking. We'll be watching closely to see if the Conservatives support the necessary tax regime to support that policy, or if they are still drunk on the irresponsible politics summed up by this motion that always leaves the British people to clear up their mess. Thanks for the award. I think on the basis of what's been said so far this evening, I just want to start with the sort of reminding everyone that it is Labour's decision to link winter fuel payments to pension credit. There were other ways in which you could have benchmark that it's been suggested by Age UK, but Labour have cut it to the bare minimum of the £11,400 threshold that is on you. And the issue is pension credit is poorly claimed, and many who are eligible will never claim it. They're more likely to suffer from ill health, they're more likely to suffer from dementia, and they're much more vulnerable and hard to reach. We also need to remember that much of our housing stock here in Barnet is costly and difficult to heat. 52% of our properties have got an energy rating of Band D or lower. Now locally we've heard about Barnet Labour's ambitions to tackle inequality, to reduce poverty and to get people living well. Please tell me how that policy achieves any of that. The leader outlined earlier that the council don't know how many people might be eligible and don't currently claim pension credit. Now we appreciate that this is held at DWP, but if the government is now passing the book to local authorities to expect them to enact this disastrous policy, we've got to know the steps that we're taking are effective. For instance, the council's pension credit campaign isn't actually due to land on doorsteps until December, which is well into the winter months, and backdated payments will doubtless take months to arrive in people's pockets, leaving people in the lurch over winter. And what is really more worrying to me in some of the responses that we've had back to questions is just how reliant we are on those most vulnerable people who likely do suffer from health issues having to log on to the website and go through a benefit checker. That is not going to get the people who are eligible for pension credit and who don't currently receive it actually in the money that they deserve. And you outlined that the household support fund is something that can be going towards helping people balance their household finances, but again if you go to the council's website, it says it's run out in 2024. It's not good enough. Thank you. Councillor Moore. Thank you, Mr Mayor. This is clearly a very emotive issue, but rather than playing into the political hyperbole created by Councillor Cornelius suggesting that thousands in Barnet will die of hypothermia, I'd just like to bring everyone down to earth and talk about we can, we should and we are already doing to support older people on lower incomes in the community. The answer to Councillor Wardle's last question, the written answer, lays out in detail the millions of pounds of financial support that's been brought into the borough and much of that has gone into the pockets of older people. It lays out how they can access a pension credit, a range of other benefits, and also points them to the face-to-face support that is going on across the borough. And I'll come back to that in a minute because let's be clear, while there are good reasons for protecting our pensioners on low incomes, there are many residents in Barnet who are not going to be facing challenges with this. The first and fundamental task, as I said earlier, is to make sure all of those who are eligible for pension credit and other benefits, but particularly pension credit, do apply and claim it. They will retain their winter fuel allowance and boost their incomes, but the reality is it will also mean that they're better off, it's not charity, they will be better off applying, it will make a real difference to their lives day in, day out. Just finally to point out that for those who are not eligible for pension credit but on low incomes, like an elderly resident in my street with the sterling support of Age UK, he's realised that he's eligible for a number of benefits, grants, and other support he wasn't aware of, and they make a real difference to his life day in, day out. Alongside the triple lock on pensions, it will mean that his and others will see a significant rise in pensioner income, and he and pensioners across the bar of Barnet will be better off because of that, and it will not be helped by hysterical debate in this chamber. Thank you. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Rachel Reeves is refusing to give details of this £22 billion black hole. Her Treasury team blocked a request from the Financial Times to release details of the black hole. And equality's impact assessment was never undertaken. But luckily, the Labour Party have found, since they got into office, money for other things. £22 billion for carbon storage, £11.6 billion for overseas climate aid, £8.5 billion for GB Energy, who now say that reducing energy bills is not part of their remit, another blow for the elderly. £7.5 billion for the ironically entitled wealth fund, £3.6 billion for Ukraine. But it turns out that £1.4 billion that the pensioners get could have destroyed the economy, according to Rachel Reeves. And this is on the back of a £1.3 trillion spending budget that the government have each year. £300 cut from pensioners, and yet the council is putting up charges way beyond inflation. It is extremely tough at the moment for pensioners. They are now getting hit from all sides. Heating is very important. From the lancet, from the year 2000 to 2019, 800 deaths were associated with hot weather. But 60,000 deaths were associated with cold weather. This winter, pensioners don't matter to the Labour Party. It's an awful lot of talk and lies for £1.6 billion. Labour must really hate pensioners. Please support the motion. Thank you. Do we have a speaker from the Labour side? Thank you, Mr Mayor. If the Labour Party hates pensioners, some of my colleagues should be slightly worried, I think. But anyway, let's not get into that. I find this whole conversation a little bit befuddling, really. So to govern fundamentally is to choose and to prioritise. And in inheriting the mess that this Labour government inherited, the new Labour government had to correct a whole series of mistakes over 14 years. Higher energy prices than other countries have to bear. You had 14 years to fix that, you didn't. Regulations in red take the stand in the way of new power generation, which could have lowered prices. You didn't do anything about that. A £22 billion black hole that Councillor Longstaff can't find the details of. But it's clearly in the nation's finances, which, you know, needs to be needs to be closed. We've had an NHS report, which has the NHS, the crown jewel of the British welfare state is in tatters, which somehow we need to find money for. We also have a lack of home insulation, which means that heat literally leaks out of our housing. You could have spent money sorting that out. You didn't. Not to mention, not enough police on the beat, not enough in a provision of public services up and down, Barnet, that takes money, that takes time, that takes resources. I kind of heard throughout the course of this evening people saying, oh, Barnet Labour should be spending money on this, should be spending money on this. By the way, they shouldn't be putting up council taxes. There might be something worse than tax and spend, but potentially the worst is not tax and spend. That's what got you in the trouble to begin with, with Liz Trust not being able to do basic sums. It's what's meant that our public realm is breaking and we have a fiscal mess at the same time. And rather than taking lectures, it's rather akin to the arsonist telling us we should have taken out fire insurance. Perhaps take a bit of time to look at yourselves before you start lecturing others. There are hard choices to make. They're very difficult. But being grown ups means taking these hard decisions rather than living in gaga land, like you say seem to be. So I think we should reject this motion. Councillor Cornelius. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I listened carefully to Councillor Knackby, not sentences, but paragraphs, but they were quite emollient, the words, until he got well into what he said. Now, the Labour Party conference voted against this. So this is not something disreputable that we're coming up with. I know our three MPs voted enthusiastically for it, but I am slightly surprised by this. You know, Labour should see, frankly, giving you political advice. This is politically suicidal. The public have seen through Labour. What does this 100 days look like? Now, this motion was deliberately worded to be very, very mild. It's not like the other ones. And I really do urge that you actually vote for this to encourage the government to do a U turn. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We'll now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Cornelius. All those in favour? That's 15, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. So the motion in the name of Councillor Cornelius is therefore lost. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Anne Hutton, Office of Inspections. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? So the motion in the name of Councillor Hutton is therefore carried. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Dean Cohen. Residents should be able to park outside their own homes. All those in favour? That's 15, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. The motion in the name of Councillor Cohen is therefore lost. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Emmett Weisel, celebrating Barnet's assets of community value. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's abstentions, Mr. Mayor. Alright, the motion in the name of Councillor Weisel is therefore carried. An administration amendment to the opposition motion is now being proposed by Councillor Weisel. We will now vote on the amendments to the motion in the name of Councillor Weisel. Let's help the Barnet leaseholders. All those in favour of the amendments? That's all Bar 1, Mr. Mayor. Bar 1, so anybody against? No. The amendment is in the name of Councillor Weisel, therefore agreed. We will now move to the vote on the motion as amended by Councillor Weisel. All those in favour? That's all. That's all, Mr. Mayor. The motion in the name of Councillor Weisel is therefore carried. We will now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Nigel Young, welcoming the 310 bus routes. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? The motion in the name of Councillor Young is therefore carried. Agenda item 15.1 is a report of the cabinet

• Councillors, please, please. Agenda item 15.1 is a report of the cabinet members for a family-friendly Barnet, outcome of Ofsted inspection of children and families. Councillors asked to note the Ofsted inspection findings as detailed in the report attached to Annex 1. We have the following speakers on this item. So for three minutes, Councillor Copley Webb. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I don't think I'll need three minutes. I mean, the Ofsted report has now been through children's scrutiny, it's known at corporate parenting, it's been through the general scrutiny, and if no one has read it yet in complete form, then please do so, because it really is a positive story for what has happened with our young people and what has happened with the staff that actually look after them. I think as I said before, it was something that we were expecting, it was something that was with no doubt about the same with schools, it's always viewed with some trepidation, but it is a - it's just a sort of focus over just a week to actually take a snapshot of what goes on. So it doesn't actually, when you're with the department week in and week out, tell you exactly fully the whole commitment of what goes on, but I think to congratulate the staff for what they did and for what they continue to do and how they support our young people and how they absolutely worked tirelessly to make sure that everything was ready for that inspection and how we were all prepared for it as well. I think it's a credit to our staff and a credit to our young people for the love and care that they get from our department and from all our foster carers and from the care homes that we have to actually say yes, they did really well, they really look after our young people and this has been absolutely - it's been committed and verified by the Ofsted report that we are still on the right route to get better and better for everything that we do for our young people. So if you haven't read it all, please do, it is well worth a read. Thank you. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Just to clear up, when I asked the question to Councillor Clokey-Webb earlier on, I was actually saying I thought we should have had a better result from Ofsted. If you go back and watch the video, I did actually say a better result from Ofsted for what the team do. They are a great team, they are caring, they are compassionate, they go well above, way and beyond and to anybody who's ever been along to some of the events which I know the Mayor has for the younger people who are in foster care and the older ones who are the care leavers, they are excellent events and they are well attended and they leave people with a great impression, a great feeling that they belong to Barnet and that we are their corporate parents. But when you get to this Ofsted report and Councillor Clokey-Webb is quite right, it causes enormous tension amongst the staff and they try to play it down and they try to keep cool but you can't help getting a bit worked up because you're being judged and it is a very difficult experience. So you've got four areas where we're good in three of them, which we were before, but when you actually read the report clearly, it states very clearly that we've improved enormously since we were rated as good. So I'm absolutely astounded that they still came back and said it was just good only. The one that the experience and progress of children in care was rated as outstanding, which is excellent because that covers most of the council's work anyway, but it must be somehow appreciated by the staff or we must appreciate the staff that none of the children are what they consider to be at risk when they're being brought into care, that they are being well looked after and supported. So I would just like to say finally that, as I said, I did expect a better result from Ofsted. I think the staff from the top to the bottom have worked tirelessly to make this as good as possible for our looked after children and things have improved enormously since we got good in all areas, but somehow it hasn't quite translated into a result that I felt that they deserved. So I would suggest to everybody, it's not a great long report, it's worth reading, it is very informative, but like I say, please read the report and I would also like to offer my congratulations to all the senior management team and the social workers and everybody else who has worked so tirelessly to make it such a good unit and a good department. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Longstaff. We'll now move to the vote on the recommendations of page 40 of the agenda. Councillors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of the recommendations, please show. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Just Yeah, voted. So noted. Thank you. My just shows the time. Great, right. Agenda item 15.2 is a report the cabinet members for family friendly Barney corporate parenting annual report. Council is asked to ensure understanding of their statutory role as corporate parents and to be aware of progress and challenges for services to children in our care and care experience. Young adults. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have the following speakers on this item. Councillor Coakley Webb. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The appendices on these certainly a lot longer than the ofsted report. And again, I would say if you've not had a chance to read them and if you don't take part in the scrutiny or you don't take part in corporate parenting, then please do read them. Because, as I've said time and again, we are all corporate parents and being informed about what happens to our young people and the corporate parenting annual report and the fostering report, the IRA report and the bonnet on point report. It really gives you an insight as to the width and the breath and the length of everything that goes on regarding corporate parenting. And certainly, if you've never been to any of the events and you see them crop up on the menu, please try and go along. Try to actually meet some of our young people. Meet the people that care for them. Meet the staff that help the people who care for them. And I would say the one thing that we certainly need still need to do is that when it came to taking people from Ukraine, people stepped up to the mark. No problem. When we ask people to take on a fostering role, it seems to be much harder to get people to oblige. And yet most of our foster carers now are in an older age bracket. And bit by bit they will get to the point where they cannot foster anymore. And yet we still have to rely on independent fostering agencies. So I would just remind people for whatever circles you have where you can advertise and promote fostering, it's a whole range. Some people just do babies. Some do toddlers. Some do adolescents. Some do a mixture. Some just do emergency. Some just do supported lodgings. Some do respite. So there's a whole range of ways people can get involved. And it doesn't mean that people cannot work as well as foster. So we try and give all the help and advice and training we can, which we're renowned for from the foster carers that have been with us for many, many years, to which it's become their sort of life's work to foster for our children. So I would say please read the reports through. Please keep spreading the word that fostering is a good thing to do for Barnet. And even if people don't want to do it straight away but they want to be informed, still spread the word as wide as possible and as often as possible because these are our children that we need to make sure we have the right caring homes for both now and in the future. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As Councillor Coakley-Webb says, there are four reports. And it's almost as if not reading these reports is the equivalent of not reading your own children's report. We are all corporate parents. We should all be responsible and we should all, if we need to make comments, write to the corporate parenting committee or write to anybody. And I may be wrong here, but I think anybody is entitled to attend the corporate parenting advisory panel. So you've got four reports on corporate parenting, fostering annual report, independent reviewing service and Barnet OnPoint, children in care annual report. But this is all about making sure that our corporate children get the best possible start in life, that we should want for our corporate children anything that we would want for our own, that we should encourage them with their desires, with their aims, with their goals in life, and we should support them to be a success in life. And we know, and this is what bugs me about the previous Ofsted letter, is how many of our corporate children do come back to onwards and upwards, who come back and enjoy the camaraderie of the other children that they've met over their time at Barnet. And there are an awful lot of success stories within our group of corporate children who've gone on to university or who've gone on to get great apprenticeships or jobs in other areas, and they are doing well, enormous numbers of them are doing exceptionally well. But the first question should always be from any corporate parent or indeed any member of staff is what is the best that we can do for our children, what is it we want, what is it the children actually need, supporting them to fulfil their dreams, being there when help is required, supporting mental and physical health, listening, communicating and making decisions with each child, supporting children to become independent as they develop into adulthood. And lastly, and something that all councillors are invited to, is whenever possible to celebrate their achievements. Our staff, as I've said before, go way above and beyond, and it's important as councillors that we are there to support them and show our support by attending the events that are put on. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Is the recommendation noted? Thank you. Members asked to note that 2023-24 annual report and the apprentices of the local pension board. We had the following speakers in this item, Councillor Rugford. Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I'd like to move this motion, but by starting off by giving some thanks. So thank you to Professor Aldermen, who chairs the pension board. You can tell he's a very serious member of the pension board when you see the sheer volume of letters after his name. I don't think that man of brainpower on the pension board, I think, shows that we're being scrutinized with some serious IQ points behind it. I'd also like to thank the staff who have supported both the pension board and the pension committee over the last year. In particular, David Spreckley, who very sadly has taken a far worse job than being the officer who I work with on a regular basis for the government and is therefore moving on, but has been a great service to the pension committee and the pension board over his time in Barnet. So I'd just like that to be noted. Finally, I'd like to thank the collaborative spirit with which both the pension board and the pension committee has worked over the last year. There's been many great ideas and input taken from all sides and it's made for a better end product. So thank you to those who have served on both the committee and the board. And with that, I'd like to move the motion to accept this report. Councillor Shuter. Thank you. I should probably repeat what you've just said, actually. I'll just say, if you add to it a little bit, first of all, obviously, the pension fund is one of the most important parts of the council, managing one half billion of assets. So it's very important that we make returns for investors. The pension board itself is like a scrutiny on a scrutiny of what we do on committee. So I think, to put it mildly, if you've got problems with insomnia, you should serve on that board. I think that first of all, Professor Aldermen, fabulous work, always very, very diligent and a real stickler. And obviously, he had to do a lot of extra work given all the reductions in pensions contributions over the last few years. And I just wanted to mention how well he's doing in terms of return last year, nine point two percent, I believe. And that was above average. And we took 90 percent less risk than other pension funds, similar pension funds. So obviously, it was a legacy we gave you and obviously you've carried it on. But I think we also came second in the small LGPS Fund of the Year award and Sutton beat us to it. I'm sure that if I was still chairman, we would have won it. Thank you. Thank you. So the board's main work, they've found a few items. There's there's a few red marks there. But in general, the administration is in good shape. I hope that committee members are keeping up with their 20 hours of training a year, including substitute members, Councillor Mitra. And obviously, I was an actuary as a consulting actuary. I thought maybe I was working through it. But anyway, just also bear in mind green assets. I know we're pushing towards nature based assets, but it's also very important that we maximise returns as well for investors. So we've got to just bear that in mind and find a happy balance there. Obviously, it adds to a diversified portfolio. Thank you very much to David Spreckely. And he's not here going to the government actuary's department. Got a very senior job there and wish him the best of luck. He really is very been very diligent and helpful to both of us. And I have no objection to this report at all. Fabulous report. Keep up good work. And it's for noting. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a recommendation noted? Okay. Agenda item 15.4 referral from governance, organ risk management and standards committee, treasury management, out turned 2023 24. Council is asked to note the treasury out term report for 2023 24 and the strategic priorities as detailed in the report attached at appendix one. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. We're very grateful. We have the following speakers on this item. Council Mitra. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. As ever, can I start my remarks by thanking the officers and staff across the council for their service in what are clearly extremely difficult times with unprecedented demand in key areas. I'm also very pleased that the administration have now brought in a cabinet member with specific responsibility for the budget and spending. And may I say, given no conservative council seems to understand any of his answers, it seems he's done something that they happen, which is get to grips with the serious problems the council faces. Thanks to 20 years of poor financial management under the previous administration, not, of course, helped by their friends at Westminster on the 14 years of failure to deal with supply side pressures on the budget, such as their failure to reform adult social care and find a fair funding solution or indeed the lack of action to tackle the housing crisis and their own now former local MP who sought to block all house building in her constituency because she didn't know anyone who suffered from it. So I am very grateful, Mr. Mayor, for the engagement and the involvement of the new cabinet member whose job it is to lead on Treasury management. I've heard much groaning from members opposite about scrapping their unfit for purpose committee system, which left decisions taken behind closed doors and a lack of control or information provided to members. Switching to the new cabinet system has led to a major improvement in members understanding engagement in the running of the council and an ability to identify the challenges that the council faces. Unlike when Treasury management was outsourced the capital. It's clear now that the council's finances been under serious question for a number of years. The poor decision making being made between 2020 and 22. She counsel is now paying the price for this committee. Our committee continues to work on these battle continue to scrutinize everything that comes before us. I'm very pleased with the work the committee has been doing on this. I'm very pleased with the engagement we've had from the cabinet member, as well as the work that the overview and Scrutiny committee doing to scrutinize the council finances. There's an awful lot more work needed, and I look forward to a more constructive approach on the committee. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Councilor Prager. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I stood here in February during the Budget Council meeting warning councilors that Barnet's finances were on a cliff edge. These warnings were ignored. And here we are eight months later to assess the damage that continues to be caused by the financially illiterate decisions that have been made. In February, my outlook was bleak. I forecasted at the time that would take their labor administration between seven to eight years to burn through the large cash reserves over 150 million pounds that they'd inherited from us. The situation now is so much worse than that. This report shows that in the last two years, the slave administration has burned through over 100 million pounds. Yes, 100 million pounds of reserves. Now spend isn't necessarily a bad thing if it's being done sensibly. But this spend is coming out of our reserves. A rainy day fund, literally a fallback option. They can only be spent once. And once they're gone, they're gone. This is what the labor administration fails to understand. They failed miserably to replenish the reserves. So now they have a cash crisis, a disgraceful show of financial incompetence. This use of reserves is extremely worrying. This administration effectively spent nearly 200,000 pounds of reserves each day. 200,000 pounds every single day. I'm concerned that this chamber is just becoming a talking shop or where genuine concerns are rebuffed simply because of the side of the room that they emerge from and where we're seeing a severe lack of appropriate performance and budgetary scrutiny. I'm not here to play politics. These are not partisan issues. They have real life impact on every one of our residents and it's our fiduciary duty. That's every single one of us to scrutinize and make well-informed decisions and to keep the executive in check rather than just relying on good faith and that every little thing is going to be all right. Cabinet were advised last month that this administration does not get a grip on the finances of the council. By March, we'll have just 7 million pounds left in unring fenced reserves and just 15 million pounds left in the general fund. This is a perilous position to be in and I continue to urge all cabinet members to ensure we don't reach this situation. Please get a grip on your portfolios and start doing a proper job reviewing your costs. This situation is unsustainable. In response to a question that I asked earlier this evening on the council's finances, the leader of the council said and I quote and I quote, Don't worry, we know what we're doing. I am worried because as this report shows, clearly you don't. Is there a recommendation noted? Agenda item 16.1 is a report... Sorry, Mr. Mayor, don't I have a right of reply? No, no. The agenda item 16.1 is a report of the monitor and office in constitution review. Council is asked to approve the constitution amendments as set out in appendices A, B and C with the exception of section 14 terms of reference to the local pension board and council are asked to authorize the head of governance to implement these revisions and publish a revised constitution. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I now call on Councilor Rowlings to move reception and adoption on this item. I'll move. Okay, we'll now move to the vote on the recommendations on page 170 of the agenda with the exception of appendices C as referred to. Councillors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of their recommendations, please show. Okay, so the recommendation has been agreed. Agenda item 16.2 is a report on the executive director of resources of section 151 officer fees and charges 2025 to 2026. Council is asked to note the council side fees and charges and delegate authority for consultation on the proposed non-executive fees and charges for 2526 as set out in appendix A to the chief financial officer and to ask the chief financial officer to consider them after consultation with the benefit of consultation responses and equality impact assessments for approval. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have the following speakers on this item. Mr. Knavly, you have three minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The report is for noting, but I commend it to the chamber. The report came to cabinet last week and was considered very earnestly and an opportunity was given to conservative members to ask questions of the executive at that stage. It'll be brought to the overview and scrutiny committee later in the month. And it's very important that it's given a good degree of scrutiny from that committee. But this is obviously chargeable services affect every resident in Barnet potentially. And therefore it's an opportunity for the council chamber in its entirety to, to observe it. So thank you. Councillor Marin Smith. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And we are opposing this particular recommendation for a straightforward reason. It was referred to the committee that the relevant body in terms of it being an inflationary increase of fees and charges, which sounds perfectly respectable, except that it's 1% over the proposed inflation measure that was used by the administration, which is apparently the retail price and takes RPI. Those of you remotely familiar with what the government does these days is to say that they use the CPI, which is not the same as the retail price index and the retail price index is no younger monitored to the same extent as the CPI. The CPI is only two and a half percent according to the figures produced by the government. Therefore what you're seeing is a 2% increase over and above inflation. Fair enough. If you want to disclose this to all the members of the voting electorate and tell them that you're quite happy to increase fees and charges substantially above inflation, but I would bear in mind that there's one section for some extraordinary reason where there are no increases. And I look carefully through all of this. There's a whole area where no increases, despite there being much higher limits available to the, the, um, to the administration, were they to wish to increase those charges. And they are in particular things like literary. Now we heard a famous recommendation famous speech earlier telling us what a great job the community skips were doing. Well, actually, yes, you've introduced community skips. And as far as I can see in my ward, what we see is the law abiding citizens use these community skips who would previously have gone to the tip anyway. But unfortunately what has actually happened in our ward is I had a dramatic increase in fly tipping. I don't think this is unique to edge where I rather suspect it's an issue that covers the entire council area. And so what we're seeing is an expenditure on community skips combined with huge increases in fly tipping. And yet you're for some extraordinary reason, not increasing the fines for littering. To me, this is completely inexplicable. I've no doubt it's completely inexplicable to people who suffer from fly tipping and I'd very much like you to reconsider it. And it is the reason we are voting against this particular proposal. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We will now move to vote on the recommendations in the supplementary report pack. We're going to note note and delegate this. All those in favor. I'm sorry. They need all right. A vote. All those in favor of the road condition police show. That's 36. Mr. Mayor. All those against. That's 15. Mr. Mayor. Okay, so this is noted and agreed. Agenda items 16.3 is a report on the head of governance, noting chief officers appointment and approving the designation of the director of public health. Councilor asked to note the appointment of Craig Miller as executive director environment. Councilors to designate Dr Janet to Jamba as a director of public health and councilors to note the appointment of nature plane as the executive director growth. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. We have the following speakers on this item. Councilor rulings. No, it should be the trail of the employment committee. My I'll be speaking. What I'm going to do is move the motion and welcome the appointees to their roles and hope that all members will join me in looking forward to working with them and congratulating them on their appointments. Thank you, Councilor Wakeley. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just echo council wise shows comments and the conservative group welcomes the appointments and we look forward to working with the new officers. Thank you. Thank you. We're now moved to vote on the recommendations. Page 373 of the agenda. All those in favor. That's almost the mayor recommendations been agreed. Agenda item 16 provides a report on the head of governance administration matters. Appendix a details changes to committee appointments whilst also noting an additional change to the East area committee membership, making Councillor Hudson, a substantive member of the committee and Councilor Cook becoming a substitute member. Appendix B details changes a change to the council's nomination on an outside body. Appendix C notifies the Council of changes to future meeting dates and Appendix D notifies Council of the draft calendar meetings 25 26, which counselor asked to approve. Thank you, and I call on Council rollings to move reception and adoption on this item. Move reception. And is there anybody on the side wish to speak? No. Okay, but now move to vote on the recommendation page. Sorry. Can we have a right of reply on this? And I'm sorry, I missed that. I'm confused about the calendar because it's been set and it's been changed so frequently during the last year that personally I find it very confusing. And I remember when I changed one date of a committee meeting. Councilor Cook really let me have it. And the labor group were very against this. And I think, you know, I learnt a lesson from Councilor Cook that good administration means sticking to the dates you set. If the chairman can't attend and chair the meeting, then tough. There's a deputy chairman to do it. You've got such a large majority, you're not going to lose any votes. So for goodness sake, you change the meeting to the date of the Labour Party conference. I don't think that was an innocent accident. It wasn't a good idea. Yeah. Right. Can we now move to the vote on the recommendations page 377 of this of the above? All those in favor. I think that's all Mr. Mayor. Recommendations been agreed. And this comes to the bit of the evening that everybody's probably grateful for after a long debate and exchange of views. This concludes the business of the meeting, which are now declared closed. And thank everyone for coming. Thank you. [applause] [BLANK_AUDIO]

Transcript

I thought I didn't need the microphone. Welcome to the council meeting. Thank you for attending this evening. Please note that the meeting will be recorded and broadcast. By attending, you may be picked up on the recordings. Council recordings are covered by a privacy notice which can be found online. Following meetings may be retained and made available online. Members I have one announcement, an important technical announcement. Members are asked to be very careful when using their water jugs and glasses. There has been several incidents where liquids spill on the desk and microphone units cause them to be malfunctioned and not work and require an engineer to visit to rectify the problem. This council meeting is taking place shortly after the first anniversary of the horrific attack on southern Israel by Hamas terrorists. As the Prime Minister told the House of Commons, it was the bloodiest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Over a thousand people were massacred and 250 hostages were taken. We remember their lives lost and call for the hostages to be brought home. Our thoughts are with Jewish people around the world, those in our twin towns of Ramat Khan and the Jewish community here in Barnet and the UK, and all those we lost a year ago. We also remember the huge loss of innocent lives in the years since in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Israel. I invite a representative from each group to speak briefly, followed by a one-minute silence – can we all stand for a one-minute silence, please? Can I ask a representative from the Labour group who would like to say a few words? Thank you, Mr Mayor. I rise to mark one year since Hamas' terror attack on the communities of southern Israel on October 7. We remember the 1,200 victims murdered in their homes, the communities and at the Novo Music Festival, the 250 taken hostage in Gaza and the thousands of innocent lives torn apart. We also remember the huge loss of life that has occurred in the year since in Israel, Gaza and now Lebanon. At Labour Party Conference, I was privileged to make the families of Odell Lifshitz and Eviatar David two of the over 100 hostages that remain in Hamas' captivity in Gaza. One was taken captive from his house, the other from a music festival designed to celebrate peace. Their families have asked that we don't forget them, that we say their names and we know their stories. In Judaism, we believe that each life is an entire universe. The hostages include a British citizen, Emily Demare. I reaffirm the overwhelming rallying cry to bring them all home, now. Together I hope we can reflect on the deep pain of the past year for many of our residents, our families, for our twin town of Ramat Gan and to unite in our shared hope for a peaceful future. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone from the Conservative side? Mr. Mayor, the Conservative group echoes your words. The horror of the October 7 atrocities deeply shocked our communities. The drastic increase in anti-Semitic and hate crimes have been deeply troubling. We stand united with our colleagues and neighbours and call for the immediate release of the hostages captured a year ago. Never again means never again and we must ensure that our neighbours and residents feel safe once again in Barnet. May we all stand for a one-minute silence, please. Thank you. Also it's great sadness that I'm sharing the news with you that former Councillor David Clarke passed away in early September. David served for eight years for Hadley Ward as a Conservative from 1978 to 1986. Our world contributes to David from Councillor Cook. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll stay seated, if I may. David Clarke's time as Councillor coincided with my first stint. He was part of the large Conservative majority, but his challenge as a Councillor was far from typical. He represented a wall called Hadley, which sounds like a small area, but it was much the biggest in the borough by population, covering most of present-day High Barnet and Barnet Vale, but with only a standard three seats. In addition, there was a very active residents association that contested every local election, winning and holding one of the seats and nearly winning second. So there was much to do for his ward and for his party. I do not remember him saying much at Council, but he played a full part at committee. For years after retiring from the Council, he frequently attended civic events like the annual meeting, and we often had a chat. He'd come off the Council reluctantly in order to prioritise his career. I believe that his wife died before him in his later years. While in his neighbourhood, I remember a Labour Councillor reporting a conversation with a retired Conservative Councillor about his period representing the area. Perhaps he was deliberately taking our time, but I think he was a nice guy who liked to talk about his time in local government. Quietly spoken and polite, a Tory gent, may he rest in peace. Thank you, Councillor Cook. Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and thank you, Councillor Cook, for the kind words that you said. Of course, I knew David Clark in later years because of my extreme youth, and he came back to play a very active part in the Barnet Conservative Party. You're quite right, he did achieve great things in the customs and excise. He was in fact the person who introduced VAT to Finchley, heading up the office there, so I'm sure local traders will be pleased for his work there, but he had a great career. One of the things he had to do in customs and excise was supervise the distilleries in Scotland, so in his retirement, and I know this will appeal to some of the Labour Councillors who, like me, have a taste for the Amber nectar, but he was trying to taste every single milked whisky, but I'm afraid he was stuck on the Gs. Now, David was, of course, a very serious Barnet boy. He was born to our humble parents in East Barnet, and he went to East Barnet Grammar School, and then he went off and did his national service in the RAF, and came back to sit the Civil Service exam. But as you say, he was a gentle Tory, but there was another side to him. Once he had formed a view, he stuck to it. He certainly was not a man for turning. Once he'd decided something, that's what he believed. But he was actually very proud. His last achievement on the council was actually getting the spires' development through the council as he was chairman of the, I'm going to not have the name, and Councillor Greenspan or Councillor Cook will have to correct me there, the Public Works Committee effectively it was, it states and public works. And he was very proud of that, but he accepted something needs to be done again there. But he was a gent, and his wife Norma was a very nice lady, and they were utterly devoted to each other. But as you say, may he rest in peace. He was certainly a great friend to me, and I'm grateful for his life. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Cornelius. I also advise council of the passing of Mr. John Aptal, who was an Edgware Councillor from 1968 to 1974. Mr. Aptal and his mother Millie founded the Millie Ortho General Trust in 1982, using Mrs. Aptal's shares in the frozen food company Bee Jams, which her son had founded. Mr. Aptal made an enormous contribution to thousands of the Barnet residents through the Millie Ortho Authority Trust. It was thanks to him and his family that grants were made available for a range of community and voluntary groups to provide activities and services to the residents of Barnet, especially its youth people, its young people. Mr. Aptal was awarded the freedom of the borough, the highest honour of the council can bestow on anybody in 2008. The notice was seen in the Daily Telegraph and read, John Aptal CBE passed away peacefully on the 9th of July 2024 at the age of 89 after a short illness. Serial entrepreneur and guardian, young businessman of the year, John founded Bee Jams Frozen Food and turned majestic wines into the success story it is today. A generous philanthropist, he was awarded the CBE in 2014 for his charitable work. We will now stand for a minute's silence to remember David and John. Thank you. Silver Week took place last week where a celebration of aging well in Barnet was held at our Silver Sunday event on Sunday the 6th of October from 11am till 3pm at Middlesex University. It was very well attended. Throughout Silver Week there was free and low-cost activities around the borough for over 55s. Nominations for Barnet Civic Awards have opened to recognise the commitment and hard work of those who make positive differences to the lives of others in our borough. More information including categories, criteria and terms of conditions can be found on the nomination form via the council website and completed forms must be received by email or by post to the mayor's office by Tuesday 31st December this year. East Finchley, popular Cherrywood has been recognised as one of the country's best parks after receiving a Green Flag Award, an international quality mark for parks and green spaces. To mark the achievement, a flag raising ceremony took place at the park at the end of September attended by council staff, volunteers and Councillor Anna Snyderman, our cabinet member for environment and climate change. The Green Flag Scheme is managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the government. The council picked up two awards at the London Constructive Awards for our Brent Cross West Station project last week. Our first award was for excellence in community engagement and second was for the project team of the year. The judges were impressed on how the community is very well, is at the very core of Brent Cross, Crickawood community programme. And judges were particularly impressed with how Brent Cross West Station is as accessible as possible for blind and partially sighted people. Congratulations to all that attended and that were involved in helping to achieve that award. And finally, on Wednesday 9 October 2024, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 to Sir John Demis Hassabis and Dr John Jumper for developing an AI model called AlphaFrold2 to solve a 50-year-old problem predicting the complex structure of proteins. Sir John Demis is a former Christ College Finchley student and we are delighted to hear his global recognition. Christ College Finchley are immensely proud that one of their own has achieved this as a researcher and worked as hard as he has for changing lives for millions of people across the hundreds of countries. Finally, Remembrance Sunday service will be held across the borough on Sunday 10 November. I think that councillors who have been asked to lay a civic wreath on behalf of the Mayor, Councillors and Burglars of London Borough of Barnet, I encourage all councillors to attend a service in their own wards if possible, as we remember the sacrifice made by servicemen and women in both world wars and conflicts across the world. Apologies for absence, Group Secretaries, are there any other apologies for absences? Thank you Mr Mayor. We have apologies from Councillor Begg and Councillor Conway and apologies for lateness from Councillor Tracoporty. Thank you. I have apologies from Councillor Joshua Conway, Councillor Val Dijinsky and Councillor Michael Meyer as well as Councillor Peter Zinkin. And I also received apologies from Councillor Lucentiu. I'm delighted to welcome Isit Tochi Oni-Yiri, pardon my pronunciation, Isabel and Mimi to the Council Chambers this evening. Thank you for joining us and now I'd like to invite you to start the meeting this evening with a few words. Good evening Mr Mayor, esteemed Councillors and fellow community members. Thank you very much for inviting us to open tonight's full Council. Our speeches will focus on this year's Black History Month theme which is Reclaiming Our Narratives. My name is Isabelle Stones and I'm here to discuss the one and only Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks is a pivotal figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. Her brave act of refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 sparked a nationwide protest against racial segregation. This courageous stand became a symbol of resistance and inspired countless others to join the fight for equality. Parks' actions highlighted the injustices faced by African Americans and helped to catalyse the Montgomery bus boycott which lasted over a year and led to a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. Her legacy reminds us of the power of individual courage in the face of injustice and continues to inspire movements for equality around the world today. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Tocci Doble. During October when we remember the contributions of black individuals to our society, we are given the opportunity to share and understand the impact of black heritage and culture. This month is a time to reflect, a time to celebrate, and a time to educate. We reflect on the lives, stories, and victories of individuals. Martin Luther King, whose dreams of an equal society changed the landscape of civil rights. Adam C.J. Walker, the first black female millionaire in the United States. Olaudah Equiano, a freed slave turned performer who pushed for the abolition of slavery in the UK. And Mary Seacole, a British Jamaican nurse who funded her own way through the Crimean War after being denied by the British authority. But we must understand that black history cannot be defined by only these individuals. With black influence evident across all aspects of our society, science, sports, politics, art, mathematics, and literature, it's time to celebrate the black voices within those fields. Margaret Busby, Joyce Fraser, Edward Enifel, Marcus Rashford, Stephen Bartlett. Let us remember all the names of those who have broken the glass ceilings for the next generation. However, let us not only celebrate black victories, but also remember the suffering, the harsh reality of black history that we so often try to forget, segregation, slavery, systematic racism, and injustice, a chapter of our history that we must remember in order to not mirror the past and move forward into a society of racial equality and justice. This leads us to the very essence of Black History Month, of how we can move forward as a society as to not repeat the blunders of our ancestors, of how we can come together as a society to see that everyone, no matter of race, can be seen as equal. And this is the question I pose to you, Councillors. As the leaders of today, what do you plan to do to face the issues in this society regarding racial disparity, whether it's more support groups or more outreach programs for young people? Action needs to be taken. Significant progress has been made, but the road ahead is still long. Finally, I would just like to say the essential truth, that black history is British history. And our stories cannot be confined to the month of October, nor can the richness of our history be defined by triumph nor pain. Black history is ongoing, intertwined with our experiences and daily lives. As we reflect this month, let us commit ourselves to learning and unlearning and take the lessons of this month into the rest of our lives. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Onyinye Chima Suma Umatu. I hate how we live in a world where slavery is the only thing black people have to contribute. To history. While slavery was an undeniably dark chapter in history, it is still affecting the lives of black people. The micro and macro aggressions of black individual experiences daily, the constant discrimination and prejudice and less obvious causes of unconscious bias is enough evidence that slavery has repercussions. However, it is not the only thing the black community has to contribute. Black history is rich with more than just this narrative of oppression. Focusing only on slavery reduces the vast contributions of African civilization. Not only does it ignore the powerful legacy of culture, innovation, resistance and leadership, it is also ignorant, a type of racism in itself. Because you are denying your fellow counterparts the right of history, right of past contribution and right of credit. As they're an abundance of stories, I'm afraid I don't have an abundance of time. Focusing on black women accounts, I will start with Sister Mary Kenner, born in 1912, North Carolina. A famous African American inventor known for her innovations in personal hygiene of products, particularly the adjustable sanitary belt, known as the modern sanitary pad. Of course, while she faced racial and gender barriers, she continued to innovate, improving the lives of many women, though she did not achieve fame, accolade, nor recognition. Next, Mabel Wolfwood, 20th century innovator, known for her creative textile patterns that reflect or are inspired by African and Caribbean motifs. Last but not least, Valerie Thomas, born in New York, 1922, is best known for her innovation of the illusion transmitter patent in 1980. This device created three dimensional images using two dimensional images. This technology has applications in medical imaging, data, visualization, and film in the film industry with 3D movies. I'm certain there are many more black pioneers, especially women, that contributed to fields that influenced innovators and concepts we use today, such as Sarah Boone, known for her improving the ironing board, but systematic barriers and historical racism made it difficult for black people to get recognition. History and education is an example of a systematic barrier today which is why I urge you to think of future generations. May they learn a more diverse and rich cultural part of history, recognizing our history is crucial. Without it, how can we expect young innovators to contribute to society and help us move forward in the future? Good evening. My name is Ayomede Olamolehu. Black history for so long has been confined to the margins of our collective memory, neglected and misrepresented, or simply even raced from the forefront of our narratives. Black history is rich in resilience and creativity and has made profound contributions to society. Black history is not a separate story, but in our towns, our cities, and our nation, through their labor, creativity, and leadership, it is about reclaiming the truth and upholding it with honor and pride. An example of this, of those who didn't make it into history books, were their windrush generation, Caribbean immigrants and those who settled right in our very own borough. They greatly contributed to the borough's cultural and social development and local economy, particularly in sectors like transportation and healthcare. They established vibrant communities that shaped Barnet's multicultural identity forever, leaving experiences to be passed down for generations. A mention must definitely go out to the black education sector. Barnet has known home to be multiple black scholars, private educators, and community leaders. Many black-led educational initiatives, including supplementary schools, were established to support from diverse backgrounds, promoting academic excellence and empowering young black students. So the question is, how do we reclaim our narratives, and as a community, how do we reclaim the truth? We must commit to building a more inclusive society in which Barnet residents and young black people are held in high regard when making decisions. It is time to make intentional strides to ensure that black history is not reduced to a footnote or a compulsory assembly at school, but embraced as an essential chapter in the narrative of our shared heritage. By doing so, we can transform our understanding of who we are, both as a community and as a society. In reclaiming black history, I believe we should not dwell on the wrong past, but we must work towards a future where the generations after us grow up learning the full breadth of history, one that includes experiences, triumphs, and sacrifices of black men and women who have been instrumental in shaping the world we live in today. To reclaim black history is to reclaim the soul of our community, is to ensure that we move forward as a society that values truth, inclusion, and justice, and it is not just a remembrance, but empowerment. We uplift the stories of the oppressed and forgotten. We empower future generations to continue to work of justice and equality. Honorable council members, we must ensure that this council, this community, and this generation is remembered not only for allowing history to be forgotten, but for stepping forward to reclaim, celebrate, and honor the truth that comes with it. Thank you. I'd really like to thank you for spending this evening away from your home to come and give us those thoughtful words. Thank you very much for those words, and I invite you to take a seat in the public gallery. You're welcome to stay if you'd like to, and I hope you will find the rest of the meeting interesting. Thank you. So Mr. Mayor, under declarations of interest, before the council this evening we have a motion regarding winter fuel allowances and a motion regarding leaseholders, and some elected members may have pecuniary interest in these matters. Under the constitution, a dispensation may be granted by the monitoring officer. In this case, the dispensation is granted for the following reasons. Many members of the decision-making body have a disclosable pecuniary interest, and it would impede the transaction of business not to grant the dispensation, that the authority considers that the dispensation is in the interest of persons living in the authorities that the authority considers that it is otherwise appropriate to grant the dispensation. So I was monitoring officer Grant and dispensation so that members may take part in the debates for these matters for this meeting and that they may stay, speak and vote. Thank you. Also, members have any other interests to declare, please could you advise and also declare which agenda items the interest relates to. Thank you Mr. Mayor. In relation to the questions to the members and committee chairs, I have an interest in the question on the social workers strike pecuniary interest due to my employment. Thank you. I will leave the room should we reach that question, but it's quite a long way down. Yes, I realize, thank you. Sorry, I didn't notice your hand cancel them, it wasn't high enough. Yeah, I'd like to declare another interest as well regarding item 14.7, the motion on 310 bus route as a TFL employee. Okay. We reached that, please, yeah, you know what to do. Nobody else, okay. Does council agree the accuracy of the minutes of the council meeting held on the ninth of July, 2024? Agreed, there are no public questions this evening. There are no deputations this evening. And there are no petitions this evening. Announcements from the leaders, Paul Pelo, there are none. So now we move on to agenda item 12, we will now move on to questions to the leaders, cabinet members and committee chairs. Can I remind members that the supplementary questions should be questions and not statements. And please keep both questions and answers concise. That way, we'll get through as many as possible, and you'll all have time to speak. Question one, Councillor Richard Cornelius, do you have any supplementary? I do, Mr. Mayor, thank you. There's a surprise. I'd like to thank the leader for his answer in much the same tone as my question. And I appreciate the reminder about the glasses too, I had overlooked that. But on a serious note, would the leader agree with me that is it is not a good look to accept untaxable freebies for someone who is likely to want something? Being lectured from the Conservative Party on matters of probity just seems fantastical, to be honest. There's been no taking having holidays in Mystique, having wallpaper pay for you, gold leaf wallpaper, all these rather dubious freebies that have been taken by past government. But I don't see this as freebies. What you've got to think about is, what is the role of a prime minister? And that is to lead. Now if people are worried about anything, then they can go to, you know, they can complain. But I don't see any evidence that we have approached the sleaze and slander of the last few governments and the damage they've done to Britain. And I'm proud of the government and I'm proud of the people of Britain for deciding a new direction and the change that is needed. Councillor Stark, do you have a supplementary? Thank you very much indeed, Mr Mayor. And if you just bear with me for one minute, I'm going to explain my question. A while ago I brought the motion to the council asking why Barnet Roads was subject to so many ghost traffic lights, hopefully you remember it. I asked this question a few weeks ago, there were two sets of temporary traffic lights causing huge tailbacks on Tottridge Lane. Now this is an A road and it's heavily used by emergency vehicles and many motorists trying to reverse the borough in the east-west direction. In addition to these lights, there were simultaneously temporary traffic lights at the top of Tottridge Lane going into Whetstone High Road and also another set going towards Mill Hill. This brought the whole area to a grinding halt. At two of these locations there were no works taking place like ghost traffic lights. Residents wrote to me in complete frustration. So my question is, please could the traffic management team give careful consideration when looking at works taking place in an area all over the borough and if there is an overrun on the time, rather than fine the companies, because you've mentioned that, could they not just physically, because I have been tempted to actually remove them myself, remove the lights which is causing such a massive waste of time for our residents. Thank you. Councillor Sydenham. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I agree with Councillor Stockton. Temporary traffic lights are unfortunately one of life's annoying necessities but I do understand the frustration that she and indeed many residents feel about this and it is of course also frustrating when there's no one working there. But there is often a reason why there's nobody, nobody working there. It's not just that they've been put, it's not just that they've been put there, it's not just that they've been put there for the fun of it and as it says in the answer, the Council does monitor all of these works. There is a utilities charter in place and as she referred to, it's not unimportant that over half a million pounds worth of fines were levied on utilities in the last year and hitting them in the pocket does have an influence on performance. Once they're regularly fined, we expect them to be a lot less likely to put traffic lights and leave them in place without anything happening. I don't think I can agree with her taking direct action. These lights are needed often for very important safety reasons but if there are particular circumstances, please do report them and the Council's officers will go and check what's happening there. Thank you. Councillor Wakeley. Thank you. Thank you for your answer to my question. Will the cabinet member ensure that the promises made to residents in West Hendon will be kept and the long-awaited works to West Hendon playing field begin before 2026? Can I just point out to the Councillor the answer to the question, no decision has been made. That means no decision has been made and we're not making a decision on the hoof here. We're serious about having the financial probity to make sure we can continue to provide better services for all residents of Barnet which includes residents of West Hendon. When a decision is made you'll hear about it, until a decision is made there's no comment on it. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. It's now been best part of two and a half years since the leader promised the fabled council tax refund and in your response you boast that 2% has been returned to residents which is fantastic. The only problem is I'm a resident and I have not received 2% so please can you let me know when I will receive my 2%? Thank you. I'm not quite sure why you have this difficulty and have asked this same question time after time. We didn't pay the full bit. We put back the 1% rise that the previous Conservative administration has done. We have not, we have looked at the medium term financial strategy that you put which was that the Conservatives, if they had been elected, would have put the council tax up by the maximum every year. We haven't put it up by the maximum either year. No we don't. I can understand that Councillor Longstaff noted for his acting, noted for his interest in the Arch which I accept he is not noted for his ability to add up or do sums. I will explain to you in a minute what the refund is. The full amount was 5% it did not go up 5% therefore it did not go up by the maximum. Mr Mayor can I just point out something that 4.99% is statistically insignificant. As a percentage, 4.99% is statistically insignificant and by the way a refund does not mean giving money to other people. Thank you. Can we go on to Councillor Mitra please. Thank you very much Mr Mayor. Does the lack of transparency that was contained in the Capita contract explain the poor financial decisions that were made by the previous Conservative Administration? Thank you Mr Mayor. I thank the Member for pointing out the many things that we have now discovered since bringing back the Capita related treasury function in house. The level of financial ruin that the previous administration presided over has now only become transparent because of the services being brought back in house. But it is also refreshing that we can now deal with the treasury function of the council in a way that benefits residents rather than stakeholders of Capita. So there is a lot of benefits that we have now only been able to realise and utilise as a result of this. Thank you. Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you Mr Mayor. Does this answer mean that you are planning to spend more money on the services currently provided by Capita and is this what the vast capital provision that we hear about is for? No, the capital provision is different. Some of it is promises made by the previous administration when their own government raised interest rates almost ten times from half a percent to five percent and have caused problems that we are having to clear up. Things on Capita will be made from if you like a sensible financial point of view. On the whole we have brought in a lot of Capita, as you know, over 400 staff and as Councillor Natanac being mentioned, the main reason for insourcing is that we have a responsibility to the people of Barnet. Capita like every private company legally have a responsibility to their shareholders and for us residents come before shareholders, people before profit. Councillor Weiser. Thank you Mr Mayor. Would the Leader agree with me that having a cabinet system rather than a committee system has allowed for greater financial overview to deal with the financial crisis of local government in comparison to siloed thinking under the committee system? Surprise, surprise, yes, I do agree, it is a far better way of administering the borough. We had obviously committee meetings and so many decisions were made and the final decision was made by the chair with the director. So many decisions by the last administration were made behind closed doors, we are happy to make our decisions in front of the public, in front of the webcam and we are proud of what we are doing. Thank you. Councillor Pritger. Thank you Mr Mayor. The only reason that the Conservative Mayor in Croydon had to raise council tax there was because of the mess that he inherited from your Labour colleagues. This council is following along the same path and Barnet residents are the ones that are going to have to pay for that. So I'm just going to reiterate, can the leader guarantee that Barnet is not going to end up like Croydon? Yes, I can guarantee we will not have a Conservative Mayor that puts council tax up by 15% and has a £42 million overspend. We're in a far better position than that, we know what we're doing. The people of Croydon have been suffering because they voted Conservative two years ago and I feel sorry for them. [Applause] Councillor Radford. Councillor Radford. Thank you for your answer to the question. To follow up, I think like anything one of the things in terms of monitoring finance is monitoring our level of cash. I believe now we've put in a liquidity buffer so that we actually have a minimum level of cash that we aim to track and maintain. Do you have any idea why this wasn't the case previous to this administration? Thank you Mr Mayor. Perfect set up, alley-oop as they call it in certain circles in basketball analogies. I think what's important about this, we can get into a lot of technicalities about Treasury management and it can become somewhat nebulous for an average resident to understand but what's particularly important to understand here is the long-term thinking, the benefit that residents will get from worrying about the finances of the council, the management of our Treasury function over the long term rather than bumbling around from one year to the next as the previous administration did. Basically only really worried about the next election cycle, how do we survive within this four-year term. No long-term thinking, no long-term benefit for residents and the consequences of that is being borne by us right now. The debt financing burden that the local authority now has to bear with because of just the economic illiteracy that we have inherited from the previous administration. The liquidity buffer is one example of how we're looking for, it is a benefit because it's a long-term, evidently they still don't seem to understand what long-term benefit is. Oh sorry was that a question? It's true that residents do need to be prepared but luckily with a Labour administration they can benefit from the investment we're making in roads and pavements in sustainability and with regards to street lighting we'll make sure that the levels as it says in the answer always remain compliant because we're committed to ensuring the safety of our roads and pavements and that's also why we invested in fixing the broken CCTV left behind by the previous Conservative administration. Councillor Baker. Barnet Council tax is currently more than £300 lower for Band B and Band D households than Conservative Harrow. Is the leader committed to keeping our manifesto pledge on council tax that we will not increase it to the legal maximum? Thank you Mr Mayor, the leader is delegating the answer to me. So what I'd like to thank my colleague for is giving me an opportunity to reaffirm a pledge that we made to residents and our desire to maintain that in future. When the Prime Minister talks about fixing the foundations, trust and honesty is part of that. I have to use single syllables because our Conservative colleagues don't seem to understand anything more complicated than that. Sentence structure is relevant to answering questions sometimes, I hope you do understand. The answer is yes, we're going to keep promises because keeping promises is very important in politics. Councillor Shuter. Thank you Mr Mayor, thank you for your answer and it was actually the tip of the iceberg. Many many voters in Hendon didn't receive a postal ballot and unfortunately they became disenfranchised, they didn't know what to do, they had to get a new one and by then it was too late. So I myself didn't get my postal ballot sadly. There were also Labour people, I know it was terrible, but I knew what to do and I got a reprint. But the whole thing was a pass. In fact three months later to this day I still haven't received that ballot, I don't know where it's gone, it's probably, well I'm not going to make any accusations, but it's probably in a recycling bin somewhere. And this never happened under our watch, so I don't know, missing postal ballots, look we've had 100 days of farcical Labour government, we're coming out to 1000 days of this utter crazy Labour, local councillors, don't even let people vote, so I'll just come to my question. So the question is, the question is how can we make it easier for residents so they can understand what to do, where to go, can we actually have in the polling stations the ability to reprint postal ballots because clearly this is going to happen in the future as well. There's got to be a way where we can make it easier for people to not become disenfranchised like they were over the last two elections, thank you. Thank you, I'd like, you say this didn't happen under your watch, I lived in Haringey in 2016 and even I heard about what happened in those GLA elections, so let's not say that your election process was perfect, but first I'd like to thank our wonderful officers and staff who worked very hard on two elections this year, two elections, because your last government couldn't decide when it wanted to go to the polls and cost the country 33.2 million pounds more by holding elections on two different days. But let's also look at what your government did to make running elections harder for our officers and staff. They reduced the election period, which means there is a week less for those postal votes to be printed and get out to our residents. That's your government's fault for changing the rules, by reducing the election period you make it harder for the staff here to get your election vote out. You introduce voter ID, which makes it harder to send out polling cards because instead of printing an A5 card that we all used to have that came through our doors, we have to print an A4 letter, we have to get white envelopes and they have to go in those so that people will open them and know there is an election on. We have to have a hand count for the GLA election making it harder for staff because you couldn't decide as a party when you wanted to go to the polls for a national election, we all knew was coming. So if you want to talk about why elections are difficult to run at the moment, maybe you should go and talk to your own party about all the reforms you made unnecessarily to election law to make running elections harder and more expensive for councils already under a financial strain and a government already under a financial strain because of your economic vandalism and disaster. I think you are going to find that you are the government that made it harder for people to get postal votes so it is going to require a national reform of the law to change how we can run elections because we don't decide how that is run, that is a national government decision. So maybe you should talk to your local MP, the new Labour one. Thank you. Council Monasterio. Thank you, Mr Mayor. In her written answer, the cabinet member for Family Friendly Barney outlined the costs of years of underinvestment have had on our children's care costs and how we end up paying for profit operators as a result. What can be done to mitigate these costs? Thank you for the question. I think as I have mentioned before, the way that we try and make sure that we help our most vulnerable children to not have the expensive costs that we have incurred is to have more in-house provision. We will shortly be opening a new children's home in Whetstone and I know that the children's homes that we have got are well used and are virtually fully occupied. We usually only keep one place vacant for emergencies. But as I have mentioned before here, the problem with the high cost placements is the intervention of private companies and hedge funds that are milking profits on the backs of our vulnerable children. This is going to need something further up the chain at a government level to get a handle on this and to really try and make sure that when we do have to look after our most vulnerable children, and I stress our children under our corporate parenting responsibilities that we all hold for our children, it shouldn't be that private companies are hiving off fast profits to make sure that they are adequately and well looked after and often at long distances away from home, not close to where they live and admittedly some children need to be at a distance away. But for a majority they would be far better if they were closer to where they live and to the family networks and their friends and unfortunately this has not been the case. Because of the reduction and the lack of supply of these places, what happens is you have two or three boroughs that need a place and they play one off against the other to try and get a higher cost. They really have us over a barrel to try and look after these young people. And this is something that has really got to stop and the profit making side of it has really got to stop because they are our children and we should make sure that they are looked after in the best possible way but not for profit. Thank you. Thank you. Ken for a long start. Thank you Mr Mayor. I was surprised. I genuinely thought that the offset inspection for children services would have resulted in a much better result than just one outstanding. But the question I want to ask the cabinet member for Family Friendly Barnet is basically about the manifesto where you write in your manifesto that we will work towards outstanding children services. It's just one line right at the very end and that line will have been read by the officers, the council officers here and it will have been read by Ofsted who will then look to the budgets to see if they match up with what you're proposing in your manifesto. And it seems to me that as the lead member you could have done more in terms of getting better resources for the children services simply by arguing your point with the leader about whether or not we should spend the money on the skip service or children services, the cultural strategy or children services, moving to the cabinet system or children services or capital insourcing which I believe cost around five million pounds. But I'd be interested to know if you will be trying to get better resources in the future. Thank you. I'm surprised. I mean generally I respect you Councillor Longstaff because you are shadow lead and you led on this area beforehand and you know that the words working towards outstanding means working towards. You know that our staff and all our social workers work incredibly hard, they are very well valued and you know fully well what we do and how we have ensured that children and young people have a better say in every possible way in what happens to them in their lives. We can't just magic more up under the current circumstances and this department does extremely well in for what it provides for young people and for what it provides for the young children in our care and we should be extremely proud of what they've done for our young people and not think that a one word should make a difference to how we value them and how we support them in all the care that we give for our young people. They are the most important, it's not one word that's important, what is important is the outcomes for our young people and that is what we should be proud of and continue be proud of and continue working more to make sure they always get the best and as I said before not so that businesses get profits out of our young people which is something I definitely disagree with. Susan McCurk. Yes I do have a supplementary and I totally concur what Councillor Clark said about the achievements at the Arts Depot. It's amazing 30 years ago we were like a basically a wilderness when it came to arts and culture but where there was a will there was a way, there was change of administration, the bull was dying, there was only one community festival struggling to maintain itself but suddenly something changed. Last week it was lovely to see Dame Evelyn Glennon who's a world-known award-winning percussionist actually addressing people at the Arts Depot, attended by Labour councillors across the borough, attended by the local Labour MPs. Sorry is this a question? I asked the question in the beginning if you listen properly. My mother is an English drama teacher and she knows that I do have to actually put a question. This was a desert of culture 30 years ago and things have changed and this is in spite of the Tories in opposition and in power trying to stop this amazing venue absolutely happening. I think we did, having listened to those wonderful young women earlier this evening, don't you agree that the arts isn't for the elite, the arts and culture is for everybody. It's not just those who can afford it, it's to be open to everybody whether it be in our schools, whether it be in our church halls, whether it be in our playgrounds where we can put music and that children actually play and dance in playgrounds. I think arts and culture is so important to the well-being of the people of this borough whether you be four years old, 40 year olds, 80 year olds or 90 year olds. Don't you believe that this is and the fact that the Arts Depot in spite of Tory cuts and Tory attacks over the last 30 years, that it's surviving and arts and culture in this borough will survive and we want to see that Burdett is a venue where people want to celebrate arts and culture. Do you agree with me, Councillor Clark? So yes, I do agree with you. But just to add, it was absolutely wonderful to be at that event. If you'd like a note, we're just pausing the timer there. Do you agree with me that Burdett should be a venue for arts and culture? Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. I don't think I can compete with Councillor McGurk for length of question. It was Labour that estimated 4,000 people might die if this proposal was brought forward when they were in opposition and civil servants came up with it. So do you really mean that you haven't done the work for Barnet to see how many people will die? I think that is a false premise, Councillor Cornelius. I don't think we'd want to see anyone die in Barnet, but you can play politics with this. But as the written answer notes, we should as Councillors be actively encouraging residents to use the benefits calculator or other face-to-face support that's available across the borough and enabling those residents who are eligible for pension credit to apply. They will not only retain that winter fuel allowance, but they'll also raise their household income from the benefit itself, one which they're entitled to, it is not charity, and it's one that will benefit them all year round, day in, day out. Thank you. Councillor Halleck. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Presidents of Colindale South and indeed I believe across the borough are noticing the benefits of the investment that the Labour Council have made in the roads, in the pavements and the roads. And we know what a shocking state that the last administration left them in. Of course, more needs to be done. More always needs to be done. When will we find out about the next stage of the programme? Councillor Sandeman. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'm glad that time stood still so that I would have time to answer Councillor Halleck's question. As he says, we inherited a highways network in a shocking state with a huge backlog of repairs. The £97 million programme that we invested in to fix in Barnet's roads and pavements is the largest ever in the history of this council. And as he says, and I know other residents also across the borough are noticing, beginning to notice the improvement in our roads and pavements as a result. And that includes particularly residents in Hamden Way. For the first time in decades the council is actually doing a full reconstruction of a road at a cost of £3 million, not just skimming off a surface and putting a thin layer on top, a proper reconstruction down to the base of that road that I know is being appreciated by residents in that road. But as the old saying goes, you're only as good as your last pot... Am I not allowed to complete, Mr Mayor? Come on, bring it to a point, Councillors. I thought it was the mastermind rules I started so I'll finish. As the old saying goes, you're only as good as your last pothole repair. That's why officers are working at the moment on putting together the 2526 programme. They're going to be engaging with ward members very shortly in advance of the programme being announced next year. The £97 million programme rolls on. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you. We're going to fit in one more question. Councillor Ward. Yes, yes, yes, if you'd talked for less time I would have had the time. It's very quick. Does the council have any idea of how many pensioners living in Barnet are eligible for pension credit but don't currently claim it? Well, no, those are figures that the DWP have. What we do know is there's been a great increase in the number of pensioners getting pension credit. There's a big campaign going on that UK are running. Our benefits calculator has brought in over £7 million more to people, including pensioners in Barnet. And perhaps more important, keeping the triple lock means that every pensioner will get at least £350 extra this year so nobody of whatever age will be poorer through this decision alone. Thank you. That concludes the questions to the leaders, cabinet members and committee chairs. We'll now move on to the remainder of the business. Members, questions? There are none. I now call on the Labour group to state which administration motion they will debate. Thank you, Mr Mayor. We will be debating motion 14.1 in the name of Councillor Baker, celebrating the administration's achievements. I now call on the Conservative group Secretary to state which opposition motion they will debate. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. We will be debating 14.2, the opposition motion in the name of Councillor Richard Cornelius. The Councillor regrets the government's decision to punish Barnet's pensioners. Thank you. I now call Councillor Sue Baker, celebrating the administration achievements. Can I remind everyone this is her maiden speech, so it's allowed longer. Hello, everybody. Hi. As this is my first speech, I'd like to thank my predecessor, Marianne Halep, for her service and say a few introductory words. I've lived in Chipping Barnet most of my life, apart from three years when I was in the University of Wales. I was born in Barnet, raised here and raised my family here and also work in Barnet. I've taught hundreds of Barnet youngsters at Barnet Southgate College, and one of the joys of knocking on doors in Barnet Vale is answering to someone saying, Miss, is that you? which is often quite funny because they're adults with children. I will serve my residents by listening and helping to create a better environment for families, and on canvases they tell me how they are seeing the labour difference in Barnet. They've noted on a canvas last Sunday how they feel safer, and they were aware of the improved CCTV that had been fixed after the Conservatives left 70% broken. They note the excellent new Barnet Leisure Centre facility, which I attend very regularly. Importantly, usage has gone up there by 20% in the last year, and the advertising has definitely worked. You can see the long list of labour achievements in the motion, but the greatest one is ambition, and that's ambition for the borough. Too often, under the Conservatives, the attitude appeared to be, We'll pay capital to run the council for us as long as they can tell us the council tax figure every year will lead them to it. There was no ambition. I'm ambitious for Barnet, and would love to see the music service that I benefited from a youngster in Barnet brought back and reintroduced. We do face a difficult financial time, and I know that we'll not be bringing everything back as we would like, but the ambition for the last two years has been notably fantastic. Barnet's very first Pride celebration, taking on the climate emergency, bringing abandoned green spaces back to use, for example. Labour's vision for council is one that listens to residents and helps them to enrich their lives. It's one that I support and will do so by voting for this motion. Thank you. [applause] [applause] [applause] Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and can I first congratulate Councillor Baker on your maiden speech? That's the nice bit. That leisure centre you talk about was built under the Conservative administration, so it's great that you're using it, even though we did nothing according to you. This motion, which I'm sure you didn't write, is really just narcissism. That's all it is. Every three council meetings or so, Labour put in a motion of self-praise, and as we all know, self-praise is no praise at all. A motion of apologies for your broken promises, now that would have been much more realistic. Apologies for no council tax refund, the maximum increase for council tax, worthless promise to freeze garden waste. The promise, and this is a really good one, the promise to develop a new model of social care for independent living. That group came to this council, presented a petition, and you told them to push off. Even the chief executive left the council to spend more time with his family. In fact, he put in his resignation shortly after telling the cabinet that they had to stick within their budgets. Other members of the senior management have also surreptitiously disappeared. Your manifesto mentions businesses. Your manifesto mentions businesses, and yet this year, you're putting up costs for businesses by 10%, even though the rate is 2.2%. Your quarterly deep cleanses don't happen. You've used over 18 million of reserves this year. Can I just overspend? My point of order is that Councillor Longstaff is out of order in the comments that he's making about past senior officers, and I think he should withdraw them and apologise. Councillor Midler, which point are you actually making? Mr Mayor, it is a fact that the previous chief executive, who I didn't name, wrote in the newspaper that he was leaving to spend more time with his family. What's wrong with that? The other officers have gradually disappeared, and if you think they have to finish, please just allow Councillor Longstaff to finish. We've paused it, so just carry on, Councillor Longstaff. We'll add on 30 seconds, Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Right, the leader said when he first got in charge of this council that the finances were in good order. Which bit of the finances in good order did you suddenly change your mind about? It's council now that is driving the cost-of-living crisis. You're the ones putting up the costs for every resident. You're the ones pushing up the bin charge. You're the ones pushing up all the other costs, the parking costs. So all you're really doing, the plan that you've got for Barnet is bankruptcy, a 114 notice. That's all you're doing and it's happening very soon. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Councillor Rawlings, thank you. Thank you, Councillor Houston. Point of order, Mr Mayor. Can I just point out, Mr Mayor, that Councillors Trusses Bush was never, this Trusses budget was never implemented. You ought to learn that. Councillors, that's, we're moving on, Councillor Houston. Councillor Houston, please. Thank you, Mr Mayor. As Councillor Baker's motion outlines, we acted quickly to deliver our manifesto promises and transform the way the Councillors run. Our five key pledges all delivered, job done. Only yesterday, Cabinet met to go through the full manifesto programme we were elected on and it is remarkable how much has been achieved. From sorting out our broken CCTV network, fixing our crumbling roads and pavements, to groundbreaking anti-social behaviour initiatives such as Clear Hold Build and becoming a council that leads on sustainability and net zero, not one which sticks its head in the sand and denies the threat of climate change. And we've pressed on with delivering new council homes funding through the HRA despite the financial headwinds caused by high interest rates, soaring labour and material costs all following Tory austerity and Brexit, but culminating in the chaos of Trussonomics. Investing to save and help reduce our soaring temporary accommodation pressures. Tory government irresponsibility left us a crisis in council financing, a tsunami of pressures on statutory frontline services unfunded by central government on top of cuts of 100 million to Barnet's budget. On day one we started the process of tightening control by insourcing key services, bringing in the cabinet system and exercising a hands-on approach to governance. Unprecedented emergent pressures faced London councils, but the simple fact is that it has been made so much worse because the Barnet Tories took their eye off the ball. They missed opportunities to invest when interest rates were low, they didn't pressurise developers to deliver enough affordable housing before the recent downturn and they continued to use up our cash to meet spending commitments rather than borrowing when interest rates were historically low, which has left us in a position where the council is now having to borrow at historically high rates to continue to meet those commitments. Barnet faces unprecedented challenges but at last has an administration that is focused on governance, oversight and taking the difficult decisions to get us back on track. Thank you Mr Mayor. I want to start by welcoming Councillor Baker to the chamber and congratulate her on her maiden speech. On behalf of the Conservative group I feel I should update you about what's been happening over the last two and a half years by your Labour group. I only have two minutes so I'm going to limit myself to just ten of their broken promises but I can tell you the rest after if you'd like. So first, they promised to refund 1% of council tax by autumn 2022, that never happened. Second point, they abandoned the council's vote to freeze the garden waste green bin charge and instead increased it by almost 40%. Three, Labour claims to keep council tax increases well below that of other councils. This year it was statistically insignificant, 0.01% below the maximum increase allowed by the government. Four, the administration cut £800,000 from SEND transport services. These are services that help children with disabilities and additional needs get to school. Five, the council spent £100,000 on an events company to run a climate assembly that they've yet to implement any real policies from. Six, the Labour manifesto promised a review of adult independent living services which was abandoned. Seven, council financial reserves are being raided and earmarked for massive depletion over the next two years. Eight, their manifesto stated they would fight tower blocks and high rises and they seem to be supportive, despite this they seem to be supportive of the Edgewood towers. Nine, they promised to get rid of chemical pesticides, however the cabinet member mentioned at our last meeting that that would have been impossible to do. Maybe you should have checked that before you put it in your manifesto. Ten, the mental health social workers are still on strike and the council is buying in cover to meet statutory duties. So, to summarise, Labour breaks their promises, Labour are financially irresponsible and Labour are bad for Barnet. Thank you. Councillor Barnes. I have managed up to now to keep a low profile in the theatre for council meetings, but now with the very welcome election of my colleague, Councillor Sue Baker, it was noticed that I have actually never made my first speech. The tradition is of course to thank the former councillor who represented Barnet Vale, which I believe is made up of four old wards and would include Councillor Stock, Cornelises and Longstaff. Councillor Longstaff, a man who is very familiar with the theatre of four council meetings, has however worked constructively and helpfully alongside me in Barnet Vale, aiding the residents without too much reference to party politics. As the only active Labour councillor in Barnet Vale, I was busy replying to all the concerns of residents about the speeding traffic, emptying of bins, etc, and I look forward to sharing these joys with Councillor Baker. I was pleased, I have been pleased to secure modest area committee funding for dementia-friendly flower arranging, provided by a collaboration of Age UK and a florist in Barnet Vale, and also for a wellbeing garden provided by incredible edible Barnet at St John's Church in the ward. The motion I'm speaking in favour of this evening highlights the many achievements of the council administration over the two years plus in what has been a very difficult financial situation. Residents feel safer now that the CCTV, which the outgoing Conservative administration left 70% broken, has now been fixed. There is a new pride in the appearance of the borough. The return of the community skips programme has helped avoid fly tipping. The regular deep clean of the borough's streets is making a real difference to the pleasantness of the ward. The £97 million programme for fixing our roads and streets has had a great impact on Barnet Vale. We have seen £700,000 invested in the Great North Road, which was needed desperately to deal with the potholes and wear and tear that had developed there. The declaration of the climate of emergency has helped spur community groups into action. We have planted more than 1,000 trees across the borough. The borough has applied for and been awarded its first green flag for more than 10 years at Cherry Tree Wood. We have surpassed Friends of the Earth's target for electric vehicle charging points. The biggest impact a Labour administration has made to Barnet is to bring energy and direction. We will have difficult choices to make given the financial mess the last Conservative government has given us, but Labour has shown it delivers for Barnet and will continue to do so, so I am very happy to support this motion. Thank you, Councillor Barnes. Councillor Parker. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Congratulations Councillors Baker and Barnes on your maiden speeches. It's important to congratulate ourselves and acknowledge when things are going well, but it's equally important to take stock and face some hard truths when things aren't going so well. For this Labour administration to put forward a motion praising themselves for the great job they're apparently doing whilst ravaging the Council's financial reserves is quite frankly delusional. The irony in criticising the financial controls that we put in place as they spend all the money that we saved is palpable and shows a clear lack of understanding of basic finance and further illustrates why we're in this mess. No accountability, no oversight, no control. Slapping yourselves on the backs whilst putting the future of this bar at risk is quite possibly the most tone deaf thing I've ever heard in this chamber and that's saying something. We're going to hear in the Garms report later this evening about the sorry state of the Council's finances. By all means, celebrate the successes, but don't be misguided into thinking that they're long term wins. At the current trend in just a couple of years, the Council will become effectively bankrupt. Councillor Baker, if that were to happen, everything that you're celebrating tonight will be withdrawn with services scaled back just to cover the basics. I'm not here just to talk about doom and gloom. I want to be positive. I want to celebrate in the Council successes. We all do, but please don't be so naive to assume that you can continue to spend money we don't have on vanity projects and that the residents of Barnet will thank you for it because we won't. This financial mess comes despite you increasing council tax by 3%, social care charges 2%, garden waste charges 40%. We're going to hear tonight about more visitor parking permits, almost 100%. I could go on and that's all before the Labour government starts raising national taxes wherever they can. Will there be any respite to Barnet's residents? As a former local MP once said, the problem with Labour, be it nationally or here in Barnet, is that eventually they run out of other people's money. You're precariously close to doing so. Thank you. Is there another speaker from the Labour side? No. Councillor Mering and Smith, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I too would like to congratulate our new maiden speeches speakers Councillor Baker. I don't know Councillor Baker yet, but I've certainly worked with Councillor Barnes and it was a pleasure to hear his maiden speech. And we did some excellent work on the task of finish group. I do feel a bit sorry for Councillor Baker, however, she was set up with this extraordinary motion, claiming all sorts of exciting things. But nevertheless, she did a splendid job trying to defend it all. But I have to say, I was trying to understand the finances of the council because the whole question Councillor Knack we raised about the reserves is obviously significant to us all. My astonishment came because I'm not an inexperienced finance person. Some of you may be aware I've had quite a lot of experience of finance. And I was astonished at the way this report was written. If you were setting out as a finance expert to try and confuse the general public as to what was really happening. This report does a splendid job of it. And frankly, what we're going to see is now this hundred million of reserves has frankly disappeared, that we left you, you're going to have a shocking problem over the next few years. But as you've told us repeatedly, the Conservative government was previously completely incompetent and financial matters. And now you have five years ahead of you as a Labour administration, showing how finances can be properly run at a government level. And clearly the first hundred days of the Labour administration have demonstrated extraordinary efficiency in all sorts of respects. So very best of luck while the two of you try and sort out both the combination of the national finances and the local finances, because you've got a jolly tough job ahead of you. Councillor Baker, OK, in terms of Colour Flight summing this up, hearing the Labour speeches, it's very clear the difference the administration is making to the borough. So I urge everyone to vote for this motion. Thank you. We will now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Baker. All those in favour? That's 36. Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 16. Mr. Mayor. Motion in the name of Councillor Baker is therefore carried. I now call on Councillor Richard Cornelius. This council regrets the government's decision to punish Barnet's pensioners. Councillor Richard Cornelius, you have three minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You summed that up excellently. Thank you. Now I feel sorry for you, Mr. Mayor. You and your colleagues must be so upset and embarrassed by the first hundred days of the Labour government. The flagship policies that hold your party together are revealed as vindictive and hollow. VAT on school fees, it's unravelling. The costs of replacement state education are appearing and hard-pressed special needs students, their parents who pay for them, the costs are becoming apparent. And it's particularly nice to know the Secretary of State of Education actually plays hockey at a public school. Now the tax on non-DOMs looks like it will lose money rather than raise funds for the Treasury. The loss of rich entrepreneurs and their investments can't be good for anybody in this country. Tinkering carelessly with private rentals has damaged the sector, reduced the supply of properties and led to desperate homeless people being put into nightly paid accommodation. And then we have the sheer hypocrisy, the suits, the Taylor Swift tickets, the glasses, the corporate hospitality, and the glasses the PM got can't be any good as he can't see this is all wrong. And what really disgusted me is that Rachel Reeves has claimed for heating as a parliamentary expense and yet decided to remove the winter fuel payment from our seniors. It's disgusting. This was introduced as a fix by Gordon Brown after a minuscule pension increase and an almighty backlash from the Labour Party which I hope will come again. But this benefit has been amazingly effective in persuading frugal pensioners to actually put their heating on. Labour Chancellors hate this kind of benefit and with their statist hats on want to means test everybody. And I suspect Starmer really wants benefits that look magnanimous and generous, flashy, but have a low take-up because of their complexity. But we really do need to keep Barnet's old people warm. They've lost sight of the bigger picture. Pensioners in hospital with hypothermia cost money. Sometimes a moral imperative demands a U-turn. Government is complicated. You found that as taking over the council administration. Things that sound simple actually have a complicated bite in their tail. And these unattended consequences will fully outweigh any supposed benefit on this heating payment being removed. It will end up costing the Labour government more money and yet they lose all their moral credibility by doing it. I am ashamed of our Labour government. Thank you. Councillor Langley. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Trigger warning, I intend to speak in full sentences. Allow me to invite all members to engage in a moment of reflection. I want us to think about what the purpose of political office is. The point of entering into a life dedicated to political service. I ask us to set aside briefly the political point-scoring, the partisan bickering, the rhetorical one-upmanship and concentrate our minds instead on the role of the politician in a representative democracy. So we are charged with absorbing and keeping at the forefront of our minds the concerns, anxieties, hopes and desires of the people we represent. To adequately do so, we must mute our egos, Councillor. We must resist the temptation of becoming distracted by the party political horse trade and get admired in dogmatic policy-making that is indifferent to that which genuinely benefits the long-term wellbeing of the nation. Now, Mr Mayor, I felt I needed to engage in that moment of reflection because this motion is utterly devoid of any historical context. It entirely lacks the humility to acknowledge the years of negligence in the wake of which our future financial decision-making needs to be made. It does not appear to appreciate how badly the Conservative Party has betrayed the trust of all people, whether attentionable of age or otherwise in Barnet and well beyond. From David Cameron calling a ruinous referendum to placate his own party, to Theresa May and Boris Johnson contriving treaty agreements they knew diminished the fiscal and diplomatic prospects of the country to appease ideologues that put them in power, to Liz Truss the less said about her, the better, the less she speaks in future, the better we will all be. So over a decade of economic vandalism, a dereliction of duty by the Tories, that is the context this motion lacks. Labour is doing what it needs to to fix this extraordinary unprecedented mess and for that reason I urge the Chamber to reject the motion. Thank you. Councillor Wakeley. Thank you, Mr Mayor. This winter, if we have any pensioners when they come to us and say they can't afford the heating, if they could hear what you've just said, that pompous speech you just gave, completely out of touch, I can't believe. Anyway, the Prime Minister stated during the general election that pensioners deserve security in their retirement. However, just like Labour here in Barnet, the Parliamentary Labour Party has failed to keep their promise. Keir Starmer managed to break his commitment to pensioners in less than 100 days. David Pinto-Dusinski, Dan Tomlinson and Sarah Sackmann have let down the 47,969 pensioners who will be affected by this policy in Barnet. They have failed to stand up to the government's attack on pensioners and instead voted for it. Labour themselves have said that pensioners will die as a result of this policy and our local MPs voted for this. Barnet Labour should be ashamed and you should be ashamed of the speech you just gave talking about David Cameron when people might die. The actions taken by this government do not surprise me as we have seen how Labour operate once they are in power in Barnet. They promise one thing on the campaign trail and then completely ignore their residence once in power. Labour is bad for pensioners, Labour break their promises and Labour are bad for Barnet. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Now I understand that Councillor Cornelius and the Conservatives are upset about the changes to the winter fuel allowance. But reading their motion, they don't appear to be so upset to give a roadmap to propose a tax rise that can pay for its full retention whilst closing the £22 billion black hole left to the current government. Now the Conservatives may pull their faces and groan, as they are right now, but if we're going to discuss national government policy here, it would be helpful to know what revenue-raising measures those across the Chamber would accept. Are they backing their leadership front-runner calling for cuts to corporation tax and capital gains tax? And this motion is just another example of the fantasy economics from the Conservatives that crash the UK economy, first by delivering a terrible Brexit deal, then the disastrous List Trust budget, thank God it wasn't implemented Councillor Longstaff, and vacating the government months before the election. I wish that no cuts would be needed. I also wish to build a time machine, travel back in time to September 2022 and teach List Trust how to add and subtract. But we can't always get what we want. But as Councillor Wakeley said, the Prime Minister said, pensioners deserve security and pensioners will get their deserved increase in their state pension. Today's labour market data shows that the state pension will rise by over 4%, over £450 a year. And it's the mission of every Labour government to tackle poverty, as it is the mission of this Labour government. And that takes long and serious thinking. We'll be watching closely to see if the Conservatives support the necessary tax regime to support that policy, or if they are still drunk on the irresponsible politics summed up by this motion that always leaves the British people to clear up their mess. Thanks for the award. I think on the basis of what's been said so far this evening, I just want to start with the sort of reminding everyone that it is Labour's decision to link winter fuel payments to pension credit. There were other ways in which you could have benchmark that it's been suggested by Age UK, but Labour have cut it to the bare minimum of the £11,400 threshold that is on you. And the issue is pension credit is poorly claimed, and many who are eligible will never claim it. They're more likely to suffer from ill health, they're more likely to suffer from dementia, and they're much more vulnerable and hard to reach. We also need to remember that much of our housing stock here in Barnet is costly and difficult to heat. 52% of our properties have got an energy rating of Band D or lower. Now locally we've heard about Barnet Labour's ambitions to tackle inequality, to reduce poverty and to get people living well. Please tell me how that policy achieves any of that. The leader outlined earlier that the council don't know how many people might be eligible and don't currently claim pension credit. Now we appreciate that this is held at DWP, but if the government is now passing the book to local authorities to expect them to enact this disastrous policy, we've got to know the steps that we're taking are effective. For instance, the council's pension credit campaign isn't actually due to land on doorsteps until December, which is well into the winter months, and backdated payments will doubtless take months to arrive in people's pockets, leaving people in the lurch over winter. And what is really more worrying to me in some of the responses that we've had back to questions is just how reliant we are on those most vulnerable people who likely do suffer from health issues having to log on to the website and go through a benefit checker. That is not going to get the people who are eligible for pension credit and who don't currently receive it actually in the money that they deserve. And you outlined that the household support fund is something that can be going towards helping people balance their household finances, but again if you go to the council's website, it says it's run out in 2024. It's not good enough. Thank you. Councillor Moore. Thank you, Mr Mayor. This is clearly a very emotive issue, but rather than playing into the political hyperbole created by Councillor Cornelius suggesting that thousands in Barnet will die of hypothermia, I'd just like to bring everyone down to earth and talk about we can, we should and we are already doing to support older people on lower incomes in the community. The answer to Councillor Wardle's last question, the written answer, lays out in detail the millions of pounds of financial support that's been brought into the borough and much of that has gone into the pockets of older people. It lays out how they can access a pension credit, a range of other benefits, and also points them to the face-to-face support that is going on across the borough. And I'll come back to that in a minute because let's be clear, while there are good reasons for protecting our pensioners on low incomes, there are many residents in Barnet who are not going to be facing challenges with this. The first and fundamental task, as I said earlier, is to make sure all of those who are eligible for pension credit and other benefits, but particularly pension credit, do apply and claim it. They will retain their winter fuel allowance and boost their incomes, but the reality is it will also mean that they're better off, it's not charity, they will be better off applying, it will make a real difference to their lives day in, day out. Just finally to point out that for those who are not eligible for pension credit but on low incomes, like an elderly resident in my street with the sterling support of Age UK, he's realised that he's eligible for a number of benefits, grants, and other support he wasn't aware of, and they make a real difference to his life day in, day out. Alongside the triple lock on pensions, it will mean that his and others will see a significant rise in pensioner income, and he and pensioners across the bar of Barnet will be better off because of that, and it will not be helped by hysterical debate in this chamber. Thank you. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Rachel Reeves is refusing to give details of this £22 billion black hole. Her Treasury team blocked a request from the Financial Times to release details of the black hole. And equality's impact assessment was never undertaken. But luckily, the Labour Party have found, since they got into office, money for other things. £22 billion for carbon storage, £11.6 billion for overseas climate aid, £8.5 billion for GB Energy, who now say that reducing energy bills is not part of their remit, another blow for the elderly. £7.5 billion for the ironically entitled wealth fund, £3.6 billion for Ukraine. But it turns out that £1.4 billion that the pensioners get could have destroyed the economy, according to Rachel Reeves. And this is on the back of a £1.3 trillion spending budget that the government have each year. £300 cut from pensioners, and yet the council is putting up charges way beyond inflation. It is extremely tough at the moment for pensioners. They are now getting hit from all sides. Heating is very important. From the lancet, from the year 2000 to 2019, 800 deaths were associated with hot weather. But 60,000 deaths were associated with cold weather. This winter, pensioners don't matter to the Labour Party. It's an awful lot of talk and lies for £1.6 billion. Labour must really hate pensioners. Please support the motion. Thank you. Do we have a speaker from the Labour side? Thank you, Mr Mayor. If the Labour Party hates pensioners, some of my colleagues should be slightly worried, I think. But anyway, let's not get into that. I find this whole conversation a little bit befuddling, really. So to govern fundamentally is to choose and to prioritise. And in inheriting the mess that this Labour government inherited, the new Labour government had to correct a whole series of mistakes over 14 years. Higher energy prices than other countries have to bear. You had 14 years to fix that, you didn't. Regulations in red take the stand in the way of new power generation, which could have lowered prices. You didn't do anything about that. A £22 billion black hole that Councillor Longstaff can't find the details of. But it's clearly in the nation's finances, which, you know, needs to be needs to be closed. We've had an NHS report, which has the NHS, the crown jewel of the British welfare state is in tatters, which somehow we need to find money for. We also have a lack of home insulation, which means that heat literally leaks out of our housing. You could have spent money sorting that out. You didn't. Not to mention, not enough police on the beat, not enough in a provision of public services up and down, Barnet, that takes money, that takes time, that takes resources. I kind of heard throughout the course of this evening people saying, oh, Barnet Labour should be spending money on this, should be spending money on this. By the way, they shouldn't be putting up council taxes. There might be something worse than tax and spend, but potentially the worst is not tax and spend. That's what got you in the trouble to begin with, with Liz Trust not being able to do basic sums. It's what's meant that our public realm is breaking and we have a fiscal mess at the same time. And rather than taking lectures, it's rather akin to the arsonist telling us we should have taken out fire insurance. Perhaps take a bit of time to look at yourselves before you start lecturing others. There are hard choices to make. They're very difficult. But being grown ups means taking these hard decisions rather than living in gaga land, like you say seem to be. So I think we should reject this motion. Councillor Cornelius. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I listened carefully to Councillor Knackby, not sentences, but paragraphs, but they were quite emollient, the words, until he got well into what he said. Now, the Labour Party conference voted against this. So this is not something disreputable that we're coming up with. I know our three MPs voted enthusiastically for it, but I am slightly surprised by this. You know, Labour should see, frankly, giving you political advice. This is politically suicidal. The public have seen through Labour. What does this 100 days look like? Now, this motion was deliberately worded to be very, very mild. It's not like the other ones. And I really do urge that you actually vote for this to encourage the government to do a U turn. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We'll now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Cornelius. All those in favour? That's 15, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. So the motion in the name of Councillor Cornelius is therefore lost. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Anne Hutton, Office of Inspections. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? So the motion in the name of Councillor Hutton is therefore carried. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Dean Cohen. Residents should be able to park outside their own homes. All those in favour? That's 15, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. The motion in the name of Councillor Cohen is therefore lost. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Emmett Weisel, celebrating Barnet's assets of community value. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's abstentions, Mr. Mayor. Alright, the motion in the name of Councillor Weisel is therefore carried. An administration amendment to the opposition motion is now being proposed by Councillor Weisel. We will now vote on the amendments to the motion in the name of Councillor Weisel. Let's help the Barnet leaseholders. All those in favour of the amendments? That's all Bar 1, Mr. Mayor. Bar 1, so anybody against? No. The amendment is in the name of Councillor Weisel, therefore agreed. We will now move to the vote on the motion as amended by Councillor Weisel. All those in favour? That's all. That's all, Mr. Mayor. The motion in the name of Councillor Weisel is therefore carried. We will now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Nigel Young, welcoming the 310 bus routes. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? The motion in the name of Councillor Young is therefore carried. Agenda item 15.1 is a report of the cabinet

• Councillors, please, please. Agenda item 15.1 is a report of the cabinet members for a family-friendly Barnet, outcome of Ofsted inspection of children and families. Councillors asked to note the Ofsted inspection findings as detailed in the report attached to Annex 1. We have the following speakers on this item. So for three minutes, Councillor Copley Webb. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I don't think I'll need three minutes. I mean, the Ofsted report has now been through children's scrutiny, it's known at corporate parenting, it's been through the general scrutiny, and if no one has read it yet in complete form, then please do so, because it really is a positive story for what has happened with our young people and what has happened with the staff that actually look after them. I think as I said before, it was something that we were expecting, it was something that was with no doubt about the same with schools, it's always viewed with some trepidation, but it is a - it's just a sort of focus over just a week to actually take a snapshot of what goes on. So it doesn't actually, when you're with the department week in and week out, tell you exactly fully the whole commitment of what goes on, but I think to congratulate the staff for what they did and for what they continue to do and how they support our young people and how they absolutely worked tirelessly to make sure that everything was ready for that inspection and how we were all prepared for it as well. I think it's a credit to our staff and a credit to our young people for the love and care that they get from our department and from all our foster carers and from the care homes that we have to actually say yes, they did really well, they really look after our young people and this has been absolutely - it's been committed and verified by the Ofsted report that we are still on the right route to get better and better for everything that we do for our young people. So if you haven't read it all, please do, it is well worth a read. Thank you. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Just to clear up, when I asked the question to Councillor Clokey-Webb earlier on, I was actually saying I thought we should have had a better result from Ofsted. If you go back and watch the video, I did actually say a better result from Ofsted for what the team do. They are a great team, they are caring, they are compassionate, they go well above, way and beyond and to anybody who's ever been along to some of the events which I know the Mayor has for the younger people who are in foster care and the older ones who are the care leavers, they are excellent events and they are well attended and they leave people with a great impression, a great feeling that they belong to Barnet and that we are their corporate parents. But when you get to this Ofsted report and Councillor Clokey-Webb is quite right, it causes enormous tension amongst the staff and they try to play it down and they try to keep cool but you can't help getting a bit worked up because you're being judged and it is a very difficult experience. So you've got four areas where we're good in three of them, which we were before, but when you actually read the report clearly, it states very clearly that we've improved enormously since we were rated as good. So I'm absolutely astounded that they still came back and said it was just good only. The one that the experience and progress of children in care was rated as outstanding, which is excellent because that covers most of the council's work anyway, but it must be somehow appreciated by the staff or we must appreciate the staff that none of the children are what they consider to be at risk when they're being brought into care, that they are being well looked after and supported. So I would just like to say finally that, as I said, I did expect a better result from Ofsted. I think the staff from the top to the bottom have worked tirelessly to make this as good as possible for our looked after children and things have improved enormously since we got good in all areas, but somehow it hasn't quite translated into a result that I felt that they deserved. So I would suggest to everybody, it's not a great long report, it's worth reading, it is very informative, but like I say, please read the report and I would also like to offer my congratulations to all the senior management team and the social workers and everybody else who has worked so tirelessly to make it such a good unit and a good department. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Longstaff. We'll now move to the vote on the recommendations of page 40 of the agenda. Councillors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of the recommendations, please show. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Just Yeah, voted. So noted. Thank you. My just shows the time. Great, right. Agenda item 15.2 is a report the cabinet members for family friendly Barney corporate parenting annual report. Council is asked to ensure understanding of their statutory role as corporate parents and to be aware of progress and challenges for services to children in our care and care experience. Young adults. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have the following speakers on this item. Councillor Coakley Webb. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The appendices on these certainly a lot longer than the ofsted report. And again, I would say if you've not had a chance to read them and if you don't take part in the scrutiny or you don't take part in corporate parenting, then please do read them. Because, as I've said time and again, we are all corporate parents and being informed about what happens to our young people and the corporate parenting annual report and the fostering report, the IRA report and the bonnet on point report. It really gives you an insight as to the width and the breath and the length of everything that goes on regarding corporate parenting. And certainly, if you've never been to any of the events and you see them crop up on the menu, please try and go along. Try to actually meet some of our young people. Meet the people that care for them. Meet the staff that help the people who care for them. And I would say the one thing that we certainly need still need to do is that when it came to taking people from Ukraine, people stepped up to the mark. No problem. When we ask people to take on a fostering role, it seems to be much harder to get people to oblige. And yet most of our foster carers now are in an older age bracket. And bit by bit they will get to the point where they cannot foster anymore. And yet we still have to rely on independent fostering agencies. So I would just remind people for whatever circles you have where you can advertise and promote fostering, it's a whole range. Some people just do babies. Some do toddlers. Some do adolescents. Some do a mixture. Some just do emergency. Some just do supported lodgings. Some do respite. So there's a whole range of ways people can get involved. And it doesn't mean that people cannot work as well as foster. So we try and give all the help and advice and training we can, which we're renowned for from the foster carers that have been with us for many, many years, to which it's become their sort of life's work to foster for our children. So I would say please read the reports through. Please keep spreading the word that fostering is a good thing to do for Barnet. And even if people don't want to do it straight away but they want to be informed, still spread the word as wide as possible and as often as possible because these are our children that we need to make sure we have the right caring homes for both now and in the future. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As Councillor Coakley-Webb says, there are four reports. And it's almost as if not reading these reports is the equivalent of not reading your own children's report. We are all corporate parents. We should all be responsible and we should all, if we need to make comments, write to the corporate parenting committee or write to anybody. And I may be wrong here, but I think anybody is entitled to attend the corporate parenting advisory panel. So you've got four reports on corporate parenting, fostering annual report, independent reviewing service and Barnet OnPoint, children in care annual report. But this is all about making sure that our corporate children get the best possible start in life, that we should want for our corporate children anything that we would want for our own, that we should encourage them with their desires, with their aims, with their goals in life, and we should support them to be a success in life. And we know, and this is what bugs me about the previous Ofsted letter, is how many of our corporate children do come back to onwards and upwards, who come back and enjoy the camaraderie of the other children that they've met over their time at Barnet. And there are an awful lot of success stories within our group of corporate children who've gone on to university or who've gone on to get great apprenticeships or jobs in other areas, and they are doing well, enormous numbers of them are doing exceptionally well. But the first question should always be from any corporate parent or indeed any member of staff is what is the best that we can do for our children, what is it we want, what is it the children actually need, supporting them to fulfil their dreams, being there when help is required, supporting mental and physical health, listening, communicating and making decisions with each child, supporting children to become independent as they develop into adulthood. And lastly, and something that all councillors are invited to, is whenever possible to celebrate their achievements. Our staff, as I've said before, go way above and beyond, and it's important as councillors that we are there to support them and show our support by attending the events that are put on. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Is the recommendation noted? Thank you. Members asked to note that 2023-24 annual report and the apprentices of the local pension board. We had the following speakers in this item, Councillor Rugford. Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I'd like to move this motion, but by starting off by giving some thanks. So thank you to Professor Aldermen, who chairs the pension board. You can tell he's a very serious member of the pension board when you see the sheer volume of letters after his name. I don't think that man of brainpower on the pension board, I think, shows that we're being scrutinized with some serious IQ points behind it. I'd also like to thank the staff who have supported both the pension board and the pension committee over the last year. In particular, David Spreckley, who very sadly has taken a far worse job than being the officer who I work with on a regular basis for the government and is therefore moving on, but has been a great service to the pension committee and the pension board over his time in Barnet. So I'd just like that to be noted. Finally, I'd like to thank the collaborative spirit with which both the pension board and the pension committee has worked over the last year. There's been many great ideas and input taken from all sides and it's made for a better end product. So thank you to those who have served on both the committee and the board. And with that, I'd like to move the motion to accept this report. Councillor Shuter. Thank you. I should probably repeat what you've just said, actually. I'll just say, if you add to it a little bit, first of all, obviously, the pension fund is one of the most important parts of the council, managing one half billion of assets. So it's very important that we make returns for investors. The pension board itself is like a scrutiny on a scrutiny of what we do on committee. So I think, to put it mildly, if you've got problems with insomnia, you should serve on that board. I think that first of all, Professor Aldermen, fabulous work, always very, very diligent and a real stickler. And obviously, he had to do a lot of extra work given all the reductions in pensions contributions over the last few years. And I just wanted to mention how well he's doing in terms of return last year, nine point two percent, I believe. And that was above average. And we took 90 percent less risk than other pension funds, similar pension funds. So obviously, it was a legacy we gave you and obviously you've carried it on. But I think we also came second in the small LGPS Fund of the Year award and Sutton beat us to it. I'm sure that if I was still chairman, we would have won it. Thank you. Thank you. So the board's main work, they've found a few items. There's there's a few red marks there. But in general, the administration is in good shape. I hope that committee members are keeping up with their 20 hours of training a year, including substitute members, Councillor Mitra. And obviously, I was an actuary as a consulting actuary. I thought maybe I was working through it. But anyway, just also bear in mind green assets. I know we're pushing towards nature based assets, but it's also very important that we maximise returns as well for investors. So we've got to just bear that in mind and find a happy balance there. Obviously, it adds to a diversified portfolio. Thank you very much to David Spreckely. And he's not here going to the government actuary's department. Got a very senior job there and wish him the best of luck. He really is very been very diligent and helpful to both of us. And I have no objection to this report at all. Fabulous report. Keep up good work. And it's for noting. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a recommendation noted? Okay. Agenda item 15.4 referral from governance, organ risk management and standards committee, treasury management, out turned 2023 24. Council is asked to note the treasury out term report for 2023 24 and the strategic priorities as detailed in the report attached at appendix one. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. We're very grateful. We have the following speakers on this item. Council Mitra. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. As ever, can I start my remarks by thanking the officers and staff across the council for their service in what are clearly extremely difficult times with unprecedented demand in key areas. I'm also very pleased that the administration have now brought in a cabinet member with specific responsibility for the budget and spending. And may I say, given no conservative council seems to understand any of his answers, it seems he's done something that they happen, which is get to grips with the serious problems the council faces. Thanks to 20 years of poor financial management under the previous administration, not, of course, helped by their friends at Westminster on the 14 years of failure to deal with supply side pressures on the budget, such as their failure to reform adult social care and find a fair funding solution or indeed the lack of action to tackle the housing crisis and their own now former local MP who sought to block all house building in her constituency because she didn't know anyone who suffered from it. So I am very grateful, Mr. Mayor, for the engagement and the involvement of the new cabinet member whose job it is to lead on Treasury management. I've heard much groaning from members opposite about scrapping their unfit for purpose committee system, which left decisions taken behind closed doors and a lack of control or information provided to members. Switching to the new cabinet system has led to a major improvement in members understanding engagement in the running of the council and an ability to identify the challenges that the council faces. Unlike when Treasury management was outsourced the capital. It's clear now that the council's finances been under serious question for a number of years. The poor decision making being made between 2020 and 22. She counsel is now paying the price for this committee. Our committee continues to work on these battle continue to scrutinize everything that comes before us. I'm very pleased with the work the committee has been doing on this. I'm very pleased with the engagement we've had from the cabinet member, as well as the work that the overview and Scrutiny committee doing to scrutinize the council finances. There's an awful lot more work needed, and I look forward to a more constructive approach on the committee. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Councilor Prager. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I stood here in February during the Budget Council meeting warning councilors that Barnet's finances were on a cliff edge. These warnings were ignored. And here we are eight months later to assess the damage that continues to be caused by the financially illiterate decisions that have been made. In February, my outlook was bleak. I forecasted at the time that would take their labor administration between seven to eight years to burn through the large cash reserves over 150 million pounds that they'd inherited from us. The situation now is so much worse than that. This report shows that in the last two years, the slave administration has burned through over 100 million pounds. Yes, 100 million pounds of reserves. Now spend isn't necessarily a bad thing if it's being done sensibly. But this spend is coming out of our reserves. A rainy day fund, literally a fallback option. They can only be spent once. And once they're gone, they're gone. This is what the labor administration fails to understand. They failed miserably to replenish the reserves. So now they have a cash crisis, a disgraceful show of financial incompetence. This use of reserves is extremely worrying. This administration effectively spent nearly 200,000 pounds of reserves each day. 200,000 pounds every single day. I'm concerned that this chamber is just becoming a talking shop or where genuine concerns are rebuffed simply because of the side of the room that they emerge from and where we're seeing a severe lack of appropriate performance and budgetary scrutiny. I'm not here to play politics. These are not partisan issues. They have real life impact on every one of our residents and it's our fiduciary duty. That's every single one of us to scrutinize and make well-informed decisions and to keep the executive in check rather than just relying on good faith and that every little thing is going to be all right. Cabinet were advised last month that this administration does not get a grip on the finances of the council. By March, we'll have just 7 million pounds left in unring fenced reserves and just 15 million pounds left in the general fund. This is a perilous position to be in and I continue to urge all cabinet members to ensure we don't reach this situation. Please get a grip on your portfolios and start doing a proper job reviewing your costs. This situation is unsustainable. In response to a question that I asked earlier this evening on the council's finances, the leader of the council said and I quote and I quote, Don't worry, we know what we're doing. I am worried because as this report shows, clearly you don't. Is there a recommendation noted? Agenda item 16.1 is a report... Sorry, Mr. Mayor, don't I have a right of reply? No, no. The agenda item 16.1 is a report of the monitor and office in constitution review. Council is asked to approve the constitution amendments as set out in appendices A, B and C with the exception of section 14 terms of reference to the local pension board and council are asked to authorize the head of governance to implement these revisions and publish a revised constitution. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I now call on Councilor Rowlings to move reception and adoption on this item. I'll move. Okay, we'll now move to the vote on the recommendations on page 170 of the agenda with the exception of appendices C as referred to. Councillors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of their recommendations, please show. Okay, so the recommendation has been agreed. Agenda item 16.2 is a report on the executive director of resources of section 151 officer fees and charges 2025 to 2026. Council is asked to note the council side fees and charges and delegate authority for consultation on the proposed non-executive fees and charges for 2526 as set out in appendix A to the chief financial officer and to ask the chief financial officer to consider them after consultation with the benefit of consultation responses and equality impact assessments for approval. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have the following speakers on this item. Mr. Knavly, you have three minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The report is for noting, but I commend it to the chamber. The report came to cabinet last week and was considered very earnestly and an opportunity was given to conservative members to ask questions of the executive at that stage. It'll be brought to the overview and scrutiny committee later in the month. And it's very important that it's given a good degree of scrutiny from that committee. But this is obviously chargeable services affect every resident in Barnet potentially. And therefore it's an opportunity for the council chamber in its entirety to, to observe it. So thank you. Councillor Marin Smith. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And we are opposing this particular recommendation for a straightforward reason. It was referred to the committee that the relevant body in terms of it being an inflationary increase of fees and charges, which sounds perfectly respectable, except that it's 1% over the proposed inflation measure that was used by the administration, which is apparently the retail price and takes RPI. Those of you remotely familiar with what the government does these days is to say that they use the CPI, which is not the same as the retail price index and the retail price index is no younger monitored to the same extent as the CPI. The CPI is only two and a half percent according to the figures produced by the government. Therefore what you're seeing is a 2% increase over and above inflation. Fair enough. If you want to disclose this to all the members of the voting electorate and tell them that you're quite happy to increase fees and charges substantially above inflation, but I would bear in mind that there's one section for some extraordinary reason where there are no increases. And I look carefully through all of this. There's a whole area where no increases, despite there being much higher limits available to the, the, um, to the administration, were they to wish to increase those charges. And they are in particular things like literary. Now we heard a famous recommendation famous speech earlier telling us what a great job the community skips were doing. Well, actually, yes, you've introduced community skips. And as far as I can see in my ward, what we see is the law abiding citizens use these community skips who would previously have gone to the tip anyway. But unfortunately what has actually happened in our ward is I had a dramatic increase in fly tipping. I don't think this is unique to edge where I rather suspect it's an issue that covers the entire council area. And so what we're seeing is an expenditure on community skips combined with huge increases in fly tipping. And yet you're for some extraordinary reason, not increasing the fines for littering. To me, this is completely inexplicable. I've no doubt it's completely inexplicable to people who suffer from fly tipping and I'd very much like you to reconsider it. And it is the reason we are voting against this particular proposal. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We will now move to vote on the recommendations in the supplementary report pack. We're going to note note and delegate this. All those in favor. I'm sorry. They need all right. A vote. All those in favor of the road condition police show. That's 36. Mr. Mayor. All those against. That's 15. Mr. Mayor. Okay, so this is noted and agreed. Agenda items 16.3 is a report on the head of governance, noting chief officers appointment and approving the designation of the director of public health. Councilor asked to note the appointment of Craig Miller as executive director environment. Councilors to designate Dr Janet to Jamba as a director of public health and councilors to note the appointment of nature plane as the executive director growth. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. We have the following speakers on this item. Councilor rulings. No, it should be the trail of the employment committee. My I'll be speaking. What I'm going to do is move the motion and welcome the appointees to their roles and hope that all members will join me in looking forward to working with them and congratulating them on their appointments. Thank you, Councilor Wakeley. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just echo council wise shows comments and the conservative group welcomes the appointments and we look forward to working with the new officers. Thank you. Thank you. We're now moved to vote on the recommendations. Page 373 of the agenda. All those in favor. That's almost the mayor recommendations been agreed. Agenda item 16 provides a report on the head of governance administration matters. Appendix a details changes to committee appointments whilst also noting an additional change to the East area committee membership, making Councillor Hudson, a substantive member of the committee and Councilor Cook becoming a substitute member. Appendix B details changes a change to the council's nomination on an outside body. Appendix C notifies the Council of changes to future meeting dates and Appendix D notifies Council of the draft calendar meetings 25 26, which counselor asked to approve. Thank you, and I call on Council rollings to move reception and adoption on this item. Move reception. And is there anybody on the side wish to speak? No. Okay, but now move to vote on the recommendation page. Sorry. Can we have a right of reply on this? And I'm sorry, I missed that. I'm confused about the calendar because it's been set and it's been changed so frequently during the last year that personally I find it very confusing. And I remember when I changed one date of a committee meeting. Councilor Cook really let me have it. And the labor group were very against this. And I think, you know, I learnt a lesson from Councilor Cook that good administration means sticking to the dates you set. If the chairman can't attend and chair the meeting, then tough. There's a deputy chairman to do it. You've got such a large majority, you're not going to lose any votes. So for goodness sake, you change the meeting to the date of the Labour Party conference. I don't think that was an innocent accident. It wasn't a good idea. Yeah. Right. Can we now move to the vote on the recommendations page 377 of this of the above? All those in favor. I think that's all Mr. Mayor. Recommendations been agreed. And this comes to the bit of the evening that everybody's probably grateful for after a long debate and exchange of views. This concludes the business of the meeting, which are now declared closed. And thank everyone for coming. Thank you. [applause] [BLANK_AUDIO]

Transcript

I thought I didn't need the microphone. Welcome to the council meeting. Thank you for attending this evening. Please note that the meeting will be recorded and broadcast. By attending, you may be picked up on the recordings. Council recordings are covered by a privacy notice which can be found online. Following meetings may be retained and made available online. Members I have one announcement, an important technical announcement. Members are asked to be very careful when using their water jugs and glasses. There has been several incidents where liquids spill on the desk and microphone units cause them to be malfunctioned and not work and require an engineer to visit to rectify the problem. This council meeting is taking place shortly after the first anniversary of the horrific attack on southern Israel by Hamas terrorists. As the Prime Minister told the House of Commons, it was the bloodiest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Over a thousand people were massacred and 250 hostages were taken. We remember their lives lost and call for the hostages to be brought home. Our thoughts are with Jewish people around the world, those in our twin towns of Ramat Khan and the Jewish community here in Barnet and the UK, and all those we lost a year ago. We also remember the huge loss of innocent lives in the years since in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Israel. I invite a representative from each group to speak briefly, followed by a one-minute silence – can we all stand for a one-minute silence, please? Can I ask a representative from the Labour group who would like to say a few words? Thank you, Mr Mayor. I rise to mark one year since Hamas' terror attack on the communities of southern Israel on October 7. We remember the 1,200 victims murdered in their homes, the communities and at the Novo Music Festival, the 250 taken hostage in Gaza and the thousands of innocent lives torn apart. We also remember the huge loss of life that has occurred in the year since in Israel, Gaza and now Lebanon. At Labour Party Conference, I was privileged to make the families of Odell Lifshitz and Eviatar David two of the over 100 hostages that remain in Hamas' captivity in Gaza. One was taken captive from his house, the other from a music festival designed to celebrate peace. Their families have asked that we don't forget them, that we say their names and we know their stories. In Judaism, we believe that each life is an entire universe. The hostages include a British citizen, Emily Demare. I reaffirm the overwhelming rallying cry to bring them all home, now. Together I hope we can reflect on the deep pain of the past year for many of our residents, our families, for our twin town of Ramat Gan and to unite in our shared hope for a peaceful future. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone from the Conservative side? Mr. Mayor, the Conservative group echoes your words. The horror of the October 7 atrocities deeply shocked our communities. The drastic increase in anti-Semitic and hate crimes have been deeply troubling. We stand united with our colleagues and neighbours and call for the immediate release of the hostages captured a year ago. Never again means never again and we must ensure that our neighbours and residents feel safe once again in Barnet. May we all stand for a one-minute silence, please. Thank you. Also it's great sadness that I'm sharing the news with you that former Councillor David Clarke passed away in early September. David served for eight years for Hadley Ward as a Conservative from 1978 to 1986. Our world contributes to David from Councillor Cook. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll stay seated, if I may. David Clarke's time as Councillor coincided with my first stint. He was part of the large Conservative majority, but his challenge as a Councillor was far from typical. He represented a wall called Hadley, which sounds like a small area, but it was much the biggest in the borough by population, covering most of present-day High Barnet and Barnet Vale, but with only a standard three seats. In addition, there was a very active residents association that contested every local election, winning and holding one of the seats and nearly winning second. So there was much to do for his ward and for his party. I do not remember him saying much at Council, but he played a full part at committee. For years after retiring from the Council, he frequently attended civic events like the annual meeting, and we often had a chat. He'd come off the Council reluctantly in order to prioritise his career. I believe that his wife died before him in his later years. While in his neighbourhood, I remember a Labour Councillor reporting a conversation with a retired Conservative Councillor about his period representing the area. Perhaps he was deliberately taking our time, but I think he was a nice guy who liked to talk about his time in local government. Quietly spoken and polite, a Tory gent, may he rest in peace. Thank you, Councillor Cook. Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and thank you, Councillor Cook, for the kind words that you said. Of course, I knew David Clark in later years because of my extreme youth, and he came back to play a very active part in the Barnet Conservative Party. You're quite right, he did achieve great things in the customs and excise. He was in fact the person who introduced VAT to Finchley, heading up the office there, so I'm sure local traders will be pleased for his work there, but he had a great career. One of the things he had to do in customs and excise was supervise the distilleries in Scotland, so in his retirement, and I know this will appeal to some of the Labour Councillors who, like me, have a taste for the Amber nectar, but he was trying to taste every single milked whisky, but I'm afraid he was stuck on the Gs. Now, David was, of course, a very serious Barnet boy. He was born to our humble parents in East Barnet, and he went to East Barnet Grammar School, and then he went off and did his national service in the RAF, and came back to sit the Civil Service exam. But as you say, he was a gentle Tory, but there was another side to him. Once he had formed a view, he stuck to it. He certainly was not a man for turning. Once he'd decided something, that's what he believed. But he was actually very proud. His last achievement on the council was actually getting the spires' development through the council as he was chairman of the, I'm going to not have the name, and Councillor Greenspan or Councillor Cook will have to correct me there, the Public Works Committee effectively it was, it states and public works. And he was very proud of that, but he accepted something needs to be done again there. But he was a gent, and his wife Norma was a very nice lady, and they were utterly devoted to each other. But as you say, may he rest in peace. He was certainly a great friend to me, and I'm grateful for his life. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Cornelius. I also advise council of the passing of Mr. John Aptal, who was an Edgware Councillor from 1968 to 1974. Mr. Aptal and his mother Millie founded the Millie Ortho General Trust in 1982, using Mrs. Aptal's shares in the frozen food company Bee Jams, which her son had founded. Mr. Aptal made an enormous contribution to thousands of the Barnet residents through the Millie Ortho Authority Trust. It was thanks to him and his family that grants were made available for a range of community and voluntary groups to provide activities and services to the residents of Barnet, especially its youth people, its young people. Mr. Aptal was awarded the freedom of the borough, the highest honour of the council can bestow on anybody in 2008. The notice was seen in the Daily Telegraph and read, John Aptal CBE passed away peacefully on the 9th of July 2024 at the age of 89 after a short illness. Serial entrepreneur and guardian, young businessman of the year, John founded Bee Jams Frozen Food and turned majestic wines into the success story it is today. A generous philanthropist, he was awarded the CBE in 2014 for his charitable work. We will now stand for a minute's silence to remember David and John. Thank you. Silver Week took place last week where a celebration of aging well in Barnet was held at our Silver Sunday event on Sunday the 6th of October from 11am till 3pm at Middlesex University. It was very well attended. Throughout Silver Week there was free and low-cost activities around the borough for over 55s. Nominations for Barnet Civic Awards have opened to recognise the commitment and hard work of those who make positive differences to the lives of others in our borough. More information including categories, criteria and terms of conditions can be found on the nomination form via the council website and completed forms must be received by email or by post to the mayor's office by Tuesday 31st December this year. East Finchley, popular Cherrywood has been recognised as one of the country's best parks after receiving a Green Flag Award, an international quality mark for parks and green spaces. To mark the achievement, a flag raising ceremony took place at the park at the end of September attended by council staff, volunteers and Councillor Anna Snyderman, our cabinet member for environment and climate change. The Green Flag Scheme is managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the government. The council picked up two awards at the London Constructive Awards for our Brent Cross West Station project last week. Our first award was for excellence in community engagement and second was for the project team of the year. The judges were impressed on how the community is very well, is at the very core of Brent Cross, Crickawood community programme. And judges were particularly impressed with how Brent Cross West Station is as accessible as possible for blind and partially sighted people. Congratulations to all that attended and that were involved in helping to achieve that award. And finally, on Wednesday 9 October 2024, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 to Sir John Demis Hassabis and Dr John Jumper for developing an AI model called AlphaFrold2 to solve a 50-year-old problem predicting the complex structure of proteins. Sir John Demis is a former Christ College Finchley student and we are delighted to hear his global recognition. Christ College Finchley are immensely proud that one of their own has achieved this as a researcher and worked as hard as he has for changing lives for millions of people across the hundreds of countries. Finally, Remembrance Sunday service will be held across the borough on Sunday 10 November. I think that councillors who have been asked to lay a civic wreath on behalf of the Mayor, Councillors and Burglars of London Borough of Barnet, I encourage all councillors to attend a service in their own wards if possible, as we remember the sacrifice made by servicemen and women in both world wars and conflicts across the world. Apologies for absence, Group Secretaries, are there any other apologies for absences? Thank you Mr Mayor. We have apologies from Councillor Begg and Councillor Conway and apologies for lateness from Councillor Tracoporty. Thank you. I have apologies from Councillor Joshua Conway, Councillor Val Dijinsky and Councillor Michael Meyer as well as Councillor Peter Zinkin. And I also received apologies from Councillor Lucentiu. I'm delighted to welcome Isit Tochi Oni-Yiri, pardon my pronunciation, Isabel and Mimi to the Council Chambers this evening. Thank you for joining us and now I'd like to invite you to start the meeting this evening with a few words. Good evening Mr Mayor, esteemed Councillors and fellow community members. Thank you very much for inviting us to open tonight's full Council. Our speeches will focus on this year's Black History Month theme which is Reclaiming Our Narratives. My name is Isabelle Stones and I'm here to discuss the one and only Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks is a pivotal figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. Her brave act of refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 sparked a nationwide protest against racial segregation. This courageous stand became a symbol of resistance and inspired countless others to join the fight for equality. Parks' actions highlighted the injustices faced by African Americans and helped to catalyse the Montgomery bus boycott which lasted over a year and led to a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. Her legacy reminds us of the power of individual courage in the face of injustice and continues to inspire movements for equality around the world today. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Tocci Doble. During October when we remember the contributions of black individuals to our society, we are given the opportunity to share and understand the impact of black heritage and culture. This month is a time to reflect, a time to celebrate, and a time to educate. We reflect on the lives, stories, and victories of individuals. Martin Luther King, whose dreams of an equal society changed the landscape of civil rights. Adam C.J. Walker, the first black female millionaire in the United States. Olaudah Equiano, a freed slave turned performer who pushed for the abolition of slavery in the UK. And Mary Seacole, a British Jamaican nurse who funded her own way through the Crimean War after being denied by the British authority. But we must understand that black history cannot be defined by only these individuals. With black influence evident across all aspects of our society, science, sports, politics, art, mathematics, and literature, it's time to celebrate the black voices within those fields. Margaret Busby, Joyce Fraser, Edward Enifel, Marcus Rashford, Stephen Bartlett. Let us remember all the names of those who have broken the glass ceilings for the next generation. However, let us not only celebrate black victories, but also remember the suffering, the harsh reality of black history that we so often try to forget, segregation, slavery, systematic racism, and injustice, a chapter of our history that we must remember in order to not mirror the past and move forward into a society of racial equality and justice. This leads us to the very essence of Black History Month, of how we can move forward as a society as to not repeat the blunders of our ancestors, of how we can come together as a society to see that everyone, no matter of race, can be seen as equal. And this is the question I pose to you, Councillors. As the leaders of today, what do you plan to do to face the issues in this society regarding racial disparity, whether it's more support groups or more outreach programs for young people? Action needs to be taken. Significant progress has been made, but the road ahead is still long. Finally, I would just like to say the essential truth, that black history is British history. And our stories cannot be confined to the month of October, nor can the richness of our history be defined by triumph nor pain. Black history is ongoing, intertwined with our experiences and daily lives. As we reflect this month, let us commit ourselves to learning and unlearning and take the lessons of this month into the rest of our lives. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Onyinye Chima Suma Umatu. I hate how we live in a world where slavery is the only thing black people have to contribute. To history. While slavery was an undeniably dark chapter in history, it is still affecting the lives of black people. The micro and macro aggressions of black individual experiences daily, the constant discrimination and prejudice and less obvious causes of unconscious bias is enough evidence that slavery has repercussions. However, it is not the only thing the black community has to contribute. Black history is rich with more than just this narrative of oppression. Focusing only on slavery reduces the vast contributions of African civilization. Not only does it ignore the powerful legacy of culture, innovation, resistance and leadership, it is also ignorant, a type of racism in itself. Because you are denying your fellow counterparts the right of history, right of past contribution and right of credit. As they're an abundance of stories, I'm afraid I don't have an abundance of time. Focusing on black women accounts, I will start with Sister Mary Kenner, born in 1912, North Carolina. A famous African American inventor known for her innovations in personal hygiene of products, particularly the adjustable sanitary belt, known as the modern sanitary pad. Of course, while she faced racial and gender barriers, she continued to innovate, improving the lives of many women, though she did not achieve fame, accolade, nor recognition. Next, Mabel Wolfwood, 20th century innovator, known for her creative textile patterns that reflect or are inspired by African and Caribbean motifs. Last but not least, Valerie Thomas, born in New York, 1922, is best known for her innovation of the illusion transmitter patent in 1980. This device created three dimensional images using two dimensional images. This technology has applications in medical imaging, data, visualization, and film in the film industry with 3D movies. I'm certain there are many more black pioneers, especially women, that contributed to fields that influenced innovators and concepts we use today, such as Sarah Boone, known for her improving the ironing board, but systematic barriers and historical racism made it difficult for black people to get recognition. History and education is an example of a systematic barrier today which is why I urge you to think of future generations. May they learn a more diverse and rich cultural part of history, recognizing our history is crucial. Without it, how can we expect young innovators to contribute to society and help us move forward in the future? Good evening. My name is Ayomede Olamolehu. Black history for so long has been confined to the margins of our collective memory, neglected and misrepresented, or simply even raced from the forefront of our narratives. Black history is rich in resilience and creativity and has made profound contributions to society. Black history is not a separate story, but in our towns, our cities, and our nation, through their labor, creativity, and leadership, it is about reclaiming the truth and upholding it with honor and pride. An example of this, of those who didn't make it into history books, were their windrush generation, Caribbean immigrants and those who settled right in our very own borough. They greatly contributed to the borough's cultural and social development and local economy, particularly in sectors like transportation and healthcare. They established vibrant communities that shaped Barnet's multicultural identity forever, leaving experiences to be passed down for generations. A mention must definitely go out to the black education sector. Barnet has known home to be multiple black scholars, private educators, and community leaders. Many black-led educational initiatives, including supplementary schools, were established to support from diverse backgrounds, promoting academic excellence and empowering young black students. So the question is, how do we reclaim our narratives, and as a community, how do we reclaim the truth? We must commit to building a more inclusive society in which Barnet residents and young black people are held in high regard when making decisions. It is time to make intentional strides to ensure that black history is not reduced to a footnote or a compulsory assembly at school, but embraced as an essential chapter in the narrative of our shared heritage. By doing so, we can transform our understanding of who we are, both as a community and as a society. In reclaiming black history, I believe we should not dwell on the wrong past, but we must work towards a future where the generations after us grow up learning the full breadth of history, one that includes experiences, triumphs, and sacrifices of black men and women who have been instrumental in shaping the world we live in today. To reclaim black history is to reclaim the soul of our community, is to ensure that we move forward as a society that values truth, inclusion, and justice, and it is not just a remembrance, but empowerment. We uplift the stories of the oppressed and forgotten. We empower future generations to continue to work of justice and equality. Honorable council members, we must ensure that this council, this community, and this generation is remembered not only for allowing history to be forgotten, but for stepping forward to reclaim, celebrate, and honor the truth that comes with it. Thank you. I'd really like to thank you for spending this evening away from your home to come and give us those thoughtful words. Thank you very much for those words, and I invite you to take a seat in the public gallery. You're welcome to stay if you'd like to, and I hope you will find the rest of the meeting interesting. Thank you. So Mr. Mayor, under declarations of interest, before the council this evening we have a motion regarding winter fuel allowances and a motion regarding leaseholders, and some elected members may have pecuniary interest in these matters. Under the constitution, a dispensation may be granted by the monitoring officer. In this case, the dispensation is granted for the following reasons. Many members of the decision-making body have a disclosable pecuniary interest, and it would impede the transaction of business not to grant the dispensation, that the authority considers that the dispensation is in the interest of persons living in the authorities that the authority considers that it is otherwise appropriate to grant the dispensation. So I was monitoring officer Grant and dispensation so that members may take part in the debates for these matters for this meeting and that they may stay, speak and vote. Thank you. Also, members have any other interests to declare, please could you advise and also declare which agenda items the interest relates to. Thank you Mr. Mayor. In relation to the questions to the members and committee chairs, I have an interest in the question on the social workers strike pecuniary interest due to my employment. Thank you. I will leave the room should we reach that question, but it's quite a long way down. Yes, I realize, thank you. Sorry, I didn't notice your hand cancel them, it wasn't high enough. Yeah, I'd like to declare another interest as well regarding item 14.7, the motion on 310 bus route as a TFL employee. Okay. We reached that, please, yeah, you know what to do. Nobody else, okay. Does council agree the accuracy of the minutes of the council meeting held on the ninth of July, 2024? Agreed, there are no public questions this evening. There are no deputations this evening. And there are no petitions this evening. Announcements from the leaders, Paul Pelo, there are none. So now we move on to agenda item 12, we will now move on to questions to the leaders, cabinet members and committee chairs. Can I remind members that the supplementary questions should be questions and not statements. And please keep both questions and answers concise. That way, we'll get through as many as possible, and you'll all have time to speak. Question one, Councillor Richard Cornelius, do you have any supplementary? I do, Mr. Mayor, thank you. There's a surprise. I'd like to thank the leader for his answer in much the same tone as my question. And I appreciate the reminder about the glasses too, I had overlooked that. But on a serious note, would the leader agree with me that is it is not a good look to accept untaxable freebies for someone who is likely to want something? Being lectured from the Conservative Party on matters of probity just seems fantastical, to be honest. There's been no taking having holidays in Mystique, having wallpaper pay for you, gold leaf wallpaper, all these rather dubious freebies that have been taken by past government. But I don't see this as freebies. What you've got to think about is, what is the role of a prime minister? And that is to lead. Now if people are worried about anything, then they can go to, you know, they can complain. But I don't see any evidence that we have approached the sleaze and slander of the last few governments and the damage they've done to Britain. And I'm proud of the government and I'm proud of the people of Britain for deciding a new direction and the change that is needed. Councillor Stark, do you have a supplementary? Thank you very much indeed, Mr Mayor. And if you just bear with me for one minute, I'm going to explain my question. A while ago I brought the motion to the council asking why Barnet Roads was subject to so many ghost traffic lights, hopefully you remember it. I asked this question a few weeks ago, there were two sets of temporary traffic lights causing huge tailbacks on Tottridge Lane. Now this is an A road and it's heavily used by emergency vehicles and many motorists trying to reverse the borough in the east-west direction. In addition to these lights, there were simultaneously temporary traffic lights at the top of Tottridge Lane going into Whetstone High Road and also another set going towards Mill Hill. This brought the whole area to a grinding halt. At two of these locations there were no works taking place like ghost traffic lights. Residents wrote to me in complete frustration. So my question is, please could the traffic management team give careful consideration when looking at works taking place in an area all over the borough and if there is an overrun on the time, rather than fine the companies, because you've mentioned that, could they not just physically, because I have been tempted to actually remove them myself, remove the lights which is causing such a massive waste of time for our residents. Thank you. Councillor Sydenham. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I agree with Councillor Stockton. Temporary traffic lights are unfortunately one of life's annoying necessities but I do understand the frustration that she and indeed many residents feel about this and it is of course also frustrating when there's no one working there. But there is often a reason why there's nobody, nobody working there. It's not just that they've been put, it's not just that they've been put there, it's not just that they've been put there for the fun of it and as it says in the answer, the Council does monitor all of these works. There is a utilities charter in place and as she referred to, it's not unimportant that over half a million pounds worth of fines were levied on utilities in the last year and hitting them in the pocket does have an influence on performance. Once they're regularly fined, we expect them to be a lot less likely to put traffic lights and leave them in place without anything happening. I don't think I can agree with her taking direct action. These lights are needed often for very important safety reasons but if there are particular circumstances, please do report them and the Council's officers will go and check what's happening there. Thank you. Councillor Wakeley. Thank you. Thank you for your answer to my question. Will the cabinet member ensure that the promises made to residents in West Hendon will be kept and the long-awaited works to West Hendon playing field begin before 2026? Can I just point out to the Councillor the answer to the question, no decision has been made. That means no decision has been made and we're not making a decision on the hoof here. We're serious about having the financial probity to make sure we can continue to provide better services for all residents of Barnet which includes residents of West Hendon. When a decision is made you'll hear about it, until a decision is made there's no comment on it. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. It's now been best part of two and a half years since the leader promised the fabled council tax refund and in your response you boast that 2% has been returned to residents which is fantastic. The only problem is I'm a resident and I have not received 2% so please can you let me know when I will receive my 2%? Thank you. I'm not quite sure why you have this difficulty and have asked this same question time after time. We didn't pay the full bit. We put back the 1% rise that the previous Conservative administration has done. We have not, we have looked at the medium term financial strategy that you put which was that the Conservatives, if they had been elected, would have put the council tax up by the maximum every year. We haven't put it up by the maximum either year. No we don't. I can understand that Councillor Longstaff noted for his acting, noted for his interest in the Arch which I accept he is not noted for his ability to add up or do sums. I will explain to you in a minute what the refund is. The full amount was 5% it did not go up 5% therefore it did not go up by the maximum. Mr Mayor can I just point out something that 4.99% is statistically insignificant. As a percentage, 4.99% is statistically insignificant and by the way a refund does not mean giving money to other people. Thank you. Can we go on to Councillor Mitra please. Thank you very much Mr Mayor. Does the lack of transparency that was contained in the Capita contract explain the poor financial decisions that were made by the previous Conservative Administration? Thank you Mr Mayor. I thank the Member for pointing out the many things that we have now discovered since bringing back the Capita related treasury function in house. The level of financial ruin that the previous administration presided over has now only become transparent because of the services being brought back in house. But it is also refreshing that we can now deal with the treasury function of the council in a way that benefits residents rather than stakeholders of Capita. So there is a lot of benefits that we have now only been able to realise and utilise as a result of this. Thank you. Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you Mr Mayor. Does this answer mean that you are planning to spend more money on the services currently provided by Capita and is this what the vast capital provision that we hear about is for? No, the capital provision is different. Some of it is promises made by the previous administration when their own government raised interest rates almost ten times from half a percent to five percent and have caused problems that we are having to clear up. Things on Capita will be made from if you like a sensible financial point of view. On the whole we have brought in a lot of Capita, as you know, over 400 staff and as Councillor Natanac being mentioned, the main reason for insourcing is that we have a responsibility to the people of Barnet. Capita like every private company legally have a responsibility to their shareholders and for us residents come before shareholders, people before profit. Councillor Weiser. Thank you Mr Mayor. Would the Leader agree with me that having a cabinet system rather than a committee system has allowed for greater financial overview to deal with the financial crisis of local government in comparison to siloed thinking under the committee system? Surprise, surprise, yes, I do agree, it is a far better way of administering the borough. We had obviously committee meetings and so many decisions were made and the final decision was made by the chair with the director. So many decisions by the last administration were made behind closed doors, we are happy to make our decisions in front of the public, in front of the webcam and we are proud of what we are doing. Thank you. Councillor Pritger. Thank you Mr Mayor. The only reason that the Conservative Mayor in Croydon had to raise council tax there was because of the mess that he inherited from your Labour colleagues. This council is following along the same path and Barnet residents are the ones that are going to have to pay for that. So I'm just going to reiterate, can the leader guarantee that Barnet is not going to end up like Croydon? Yes, I can guarantee we will not have a Conservative Mayor that puts council tax up by 15% and has a £42 million overspend. We're in a far better position than that, we know what we're doing. The people of Croydon have been suffering because they voted Conservative two years ago and I feel sorry for them. [Applause] Councillor Radford. Councillor Radford. Thank you for your answer to the question. To follow up, I think like anything one of the things in terms of monitoring finance is monitoring our level of cash. I believe now we've put in a liquidity buffer so that we actually have a minimum level of cash that we aim to track and maintain. Do you have any idea why this wasn't the case previous to this administration? Thank you Mr Mayor. Perfect set up, alley-oop as they call it in certain circles in basketball analogies. I think what's important about this, we can get into a lot of technicalities about Treasury management and it can become somewhat nebulous for an average resident to understand but what's particularly important to understand here is the long-term thinking, the benefit that residents will get from worrying about the finances of the council, the management of our Treasury function over the long term rather than bumbling around from one year to the next as the previous administration did. Basically only really worried about the next election cycle, how do we survive within this four-year term. No long-term thinking, no long-term benefit for residents and the consequences of that is being borne by us right now. The debt financing burden that the local authority now has to bear with because of just the economic illiteracy that we have inherited from the previous administration. The liquidity buffer is one example of how we're looking for, it is a benefit because it's a long-term, evidently they still don't seem to understand what long-term benefit is. Oh sorry was that a question? It's true that residents do need to be prepared but luckily with a Labour administration they can benefit from the investment we're making in roads and pavements in sustainability and with regards to street lighting we'll make sure that the levels as it says in the answer always remain compliant because we're committed to ensuring the safety of our roads and pavements and that's also why we invested in fixing the broken CCTV left behind by the previous Conservative administration. Councillor Baker. Barnet Council tax is currently more than £300 lower for Band B and Band D households than Conservative Harrow. Is the leader committed to keeping our manifesto pledge on council tax that we will not increase it to the legal maximum? Thank you Mr Mayor, the leader is delegating the answer to me. So what I'd like to thank my colleague for is giving me an opportunity to reaffirm a pledge that we made to residents and our desire to maintain that in future. When the Prime Minister talks about fixing the foundations, trust and honesty is part of that. I have to use single syllables because our Conservative colleagues don't seem to understand anything more complicated than that. Sentence structure is relevant to answering questions sometimes, I hope you do understand. The answer is yes, we're going to keep promises because keeping promises is very important in politics. Councillor Shuter. Thank you Mr Mayor, thank you for your answer and it was actually the tip of the iceberg. Many many voters in Hendon didn't receive a postal ballot and unfortunately they became disenfranchised, they didn't know what to do, they had to get a new one and by then it was too late. So I myself didn't get my postal ballot sadly. There were also Labour people, I know it was terrible, but I knew what to do and I got a reprint. But the whole thing was a pass. In fact three months later to this day I still haven't received that ballot, I don't know where it's gone, it's probably, well I'm not going to make any accusations, but it's probably in a recycling bin somewhere. And this never happened under our watch, so I don't know, missing postal ballots, look we've had 100 days of farcical Labour government, we're coming out to 1000 days of this utter crazy Labour, local councillors, don't even let people vote, so I'll just come to my question. So the question is, the question is how can we make it easier for residents so they can understand what to do, where to go, can we actually have in the polling stations the ability to reprint postal ballots because clearly this is going to happen in the future as well. There's got to be a way where we can make it easier for people to not become disenfranchised like they were over the last two elections, thank you. Thank you, I'd like, you say this didn't happen under your watch, I lived in Haringey in 2016 and even I heard about what happened in those GLA elections, so let's not say that your election process was perfect, but first I'd like to thank our wonderful officers and staff who worked very hard on two elections this year, two elections, because your last government couldn't decide when it wanted to go to the polls and cost the country 33.2 million pounds more by holding elections on two different days. But let's also look at what your government did to make running elections harder for our officers and staff. They reduced the election period, which means there is a week less for those postal votes to be printed and get out to our residents. That's your government's fault for changing the rules, by reducing the election period you make it harder for the staff here to get your election vote out. You introduce voter ID, which makes it harder to send out polling cards because instead of printing an A5 card that we all used to have that came through our doors, we have to print an A4 letter, we have to get white envelopes and they have to go in those so that people will open them and know there is an election on. We have to have a hand count for the GLA election making it harder for staff because you couldn't decide as a party when you wanted to go to the polls for a national election, we all knew was coming. So if you want to talk about why elections are difficult to run at the moment, maybe you should go and talk to your own party about all the reforms you made unnecessarily to election law to make running elections harder and more expensive for councils already under a financial strain and a government already under a financial strain because of your economic vandalism and disaster. I think you are going to find that you are the government that made it harder for people to get postal votes so it is going to require a national reform of the law to change how we can run elections because we don't decide how that is run, that is a national government decision. So maybe you should talk to your local MP, the new Labour one. Thank you. Council Monasterio. Thank you, Mr Mayor. In her written answer, the cabinet member for Family Friendly Barney outlined the costs of years of underinvestment have had on our children's care costs and how we end up paying for profit operators as a result. What can be done to mitigate these costs? Thank you for the question. I think as I have mentioned before, the way that we try and make sure that we help our most vulnerable children to not have the expensive costs that we have incurred is to have more in-house provision. We will shortly be opening a new children's home in Whetstone and I know that the children's homes that we have got are well used and are virtually fully occupied. We usually only keep one place vacant for emergencies. But as I have mentioned before here, the problem with the high cost placements is the intervention of private companies and hedge funds that are milking profits on the backs of our vulnerable children. This is going to need something further up the chain at a government level to get a handle on this and to really try and make sure that when we do have to look after our most vulnerable children, and I stress our children under our corporate parenting responsibilities that we all hold for our children, it shouldn't be that private companies are hiving off fast profits to make sure that they are adequately and well looked after and often at long distances away from home, not close to where they live and admittedly some children need to be at a distance away. But for a majority they would be far better if they were closer to where they live and to the family networks and their friends and unfortunately this has not been the case. Because of the reduction and the lack of supply of these places, what happens is you have two or three boroughs that need a place and they play one off against the other to try and get a higher cost. They really have us over a barrel to try and look after these young people. And this is something that has really got to stop and the profit making side of it has really got to stop because they are our children and we should make sure that they are looked after in the best possible way but not for profit. Thank you. Thank you. Ken for a long start. Thank you Mr Mayor. I was surprised. I genuinely thought that the offset inspection for children services would have resulted in a much better result than just one outstanding. But the question I want to ask the cabinet member for Family Friendly Barnet is basically about the manifesto where you write in your manifesto that we will work towards outstanding children services. It's just one line right at the very end and that line will have been read by the officers, the council officers here and it will have been read by Ofsted who will then look to the budgets to see if they match up with what you're proposing in your manifesto. And it seems to me that as the lead member you could have done more in terms of getting better resources for the children services simply by arguing your point with the leader about whether or not we should spend the money on the skip service or children services, the cultural strategy or children services, moving to the cabinet system or children services or capital insourcing which I believe cost around five million pounds. But I'd be interested to know if you will be trying to get better resources in the future. Thank you. I'm surprised. I mean generally I respect you Councillor Longstaff because you are shadow lead and you led on this area beforehand and you know that the words working towards outstanding means working towards. You know that our staff and all our social workers work incredibly hard, they are very well valued and you know fully well what we do and how we have ensured that children and young people have a better say in every possible way in what happens to them in their lives. We can't just magic more up under the current circumstances and this department does extremely well in for what it provides for young people and for what it provides for the young children in our care and we should be extremely proud of what they've done for our young people and not think that a one word should make a difference to how we value them and how we support them in all the care that we give for our young people. They are the most important, it's not one word that's important, what is important is the outcomes for our young people and that is what we should be proud of and continue be proud of and continue working more to make sure they always get the best and as I said before not so that businesses get profits out of our young people which is something I definitely disagree with. Susan McCurk. Yes I do have a supplementary and I totally concur what Councillor Clark said about the achievements at the Arts Depot. It's amazing 30 years ago we were like a basically a wilderness when it came to arts and culture but where there was a will there was a way, there was change of administration, the bull was dying, there was only one community festival struggling to maintain itself but suddenly something changed. Last week it was lovely to see Dame Evelyn Glennon who's a world-known award-winning percussionist actually addressing people at the Arts Depot, attended by Labour councillors across the borough, attended by the local Labour MPs. Sorry is this a question? I asked the question in the beginning if you listen properly. My mother is an English drama teacher and she knows that I do have to actually put a question. This was a desert of culture 30 years ago and things have changed and this is in spite of the Tories in opposition and in power trying to stop this amazing venue absolutely happening. I think we did, having listened to those wonderful young women earlier this evening, don't you agree that the arts isn't for the elite, the arts and culture is for everybody. It's not just those who can afford it, it's to be open to everybody whether it be in our schools, whether it be in our church halls, whether it be in our playgrounds where we can put music and that children actually play and dance in playgrounds. I think arts and culture is so important to the well-being of the people of this borough whether you be four years old, 40 year olds, 80 year olds or 90 year olds. Don't you believe that this is and the fact that the Arts Depot in spite of Tory cuts and Tory attacks over the last 30 years, that it's surviving and arts and culture in this borough will survive and we want to see that Burdett is a venue where people want to celebrate arts and culture. Do you agree with me, Councillor Clark? So yes, I do agree with you. But just to add, it was absolutely wonderful to be at that event. If you'd like a note, we're just pausing the timer there. Do you agree with me that Burdett should be a venue for arts and culture? Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. I don't think I can compete with Councillor McGurk for length of question. It was Labour that estimated 4,000 people might die if this proposal was brought forward when they were in opposition and civil servants came up with it. So do you really mean that you haven't done the work for Barnet to see how many people will die? I think that is a false premise, Councillor Cornelius. I don't think we'd want to see anyone die in Barnet, but you can play politics with this. But as the written answer notes, we should as Councillors be actively encouraging residents to use the benefits calculator or other face-to-face support that's available across the borough and enabling those residents who are eligible for pension credit to apply. They will not only retain that winter fuel allowance, but they'll also raise their household income from the benefit itself, one which they're entitled to, it is not charity, and it's one that will benefit them all year round, day in, day out. Thank you. Councillor Halleck. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Presidents of Colindale South and indeed I believe across the borough are noticing the benefits of the investment that the Labour Council have made in the roads, in the pavements and the roads. And we know what a shocking state that the last administration left them in. Of course, more needs to be done. More always needs to be done. When will we find out about the next stage of the programme? Councillor Sandeman. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'm glad that time stood still so that I would have time to answer Councillor Halleck's question. As he says, we inherited a highways network in a shocking state with a huge backlog of repairs. The £97 million programme that we invested in to fix in Barnet's roads and pavements is the largest ever in the history of this council. And as he says, and I know other residents also across the borough are noticing, beginning to notice the improvement in our roads and pavements as a result. And that includes particularly residents in Hamden Way. For the first time in decades the council is actually doing a full reconstruction of a road at a cost of £3 million, not just skimming off a surface and putting a thin layer on top, a proper reconstruction down to the base of that road that I know is being appreciated by residents in that road. But as the old saying goes, you're only as good as your last pot... Am I not allowed to complete, Mr Mayor? Come on, bring it to a point, Councillors. I thought it was the mastermind rules I started so I'll finish. As the old saying goes, you're only as good as your last pothole repair. That's why officers are working at the moment on putting together the 2526 programme. They're going to be engaging with ward members very shortly in advance of the programme being announced next year. The £97 million programme rolls on. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you. We're going to fit in one more question. Councillor Ward. Yes, yes, yes, if you'd talked for less time I would have had the time. It's very quick. Does the council have any idea of how many pensioners living in Barnet are eligible for pension credit but don't currently claim it? Well, no, those are figures that the DWP have. What we do know is there's been a great increase in the number of pensioners getting pension credit. There's a big campaign going on that UK are running. Our benefits calculator has brought in over £7 million more to people, including pensioners in Barnet. And perhaps more important, keeping the triple lock means that every pensioner will get at least £350 extra this year so nobody of whatever age will be poorer through this decision alone. Thank you. That concludes the questions to the leaders, cabinet members and committee chairs. We'll now move on to the remainder of the business. Members, questions? There are none. I now call on the Labour group to state which administration motion they will debate. Thank you, Mr Mayor. We will be debating motion 14.1 in the name of Councillor Baker, celebrating the administration's achievements. I now call on the Conservative group Secretary to state which opposition motion they will debate. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. We will be debating 14.2, the opposition motion in the name of Councillor Richard Cornelius. The Councillor regrets the government's decision to punish Barnet's pensioners. Thank you. I now call Councillor Sue Baker, celebrating the administration achievements. Can I remind everyone this is her maiden speech, so it's allowed longer. Hello, everybody. Hi. As this is my first speech, I'd like to thank my predecessor, Marianne Halep, for her service and say a few introductory words. I've lived in Chipping Barnet most of my life, apart from three years when I was in the University of Wales. I was born in Barnet, raised here and raised my family here and also work in Barnet. I've taught hundreds of Barnet youngsters at Barnet Southgate College, and one of the joys of knocking on doors in Barnet Vale is answering to someone saying, Miss, is that you? which is often quite funny because they're adults with children. I will serve my residents by listening and helping to create a better environment for families, and on canvases they tell me how they are seeing the labour difference in Barnet. They've noted on a canvas last Sunday how they feel safer, and they were aware of the improved CCTV that had been fixed after the Conservatives left 70% broken. They note the excellent new Barnet Leisure Centre facility, which I attend very regularly. Importantly, usage has gone up there by 20% in the last year, and the advertising has definitely worked. You can see the long list of labour achievements in the motion, but the greatest one is ambition, and that's ambition for the borough. Too often, under the Conservatives, the attitude appeared to be, We'll pay capital to run the council for us as long as they can tell us the council tax figure every year will lead them to it. There was no ambition. I'm ambitious for Barnet, and would love to see the music service that I benefited from a youngster in Barnet brought back and reintroduced. We do face a difficult financial time, and I know that we'll not be bringing everything back as we would like, but the ambition for the last two years has been notably fantastic. Barnet's very first Pride celebration, taking on the climate emergency, bringing abandoned green spaces back to use, for example. Labour's vision for council is one that listens to residents and helps them to enrich their lives. It's one that I support and will do so by voting for this motion. Thank you. [applause] [applause] [applause] Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and can I first congratulate Councillor Baker on your maiden speech? That's the nice bit. That leisure centre you talk about was built under the Conservative administration, so it's great that you're using it, even though we did nothing according to you. This motion, which I'm sure you didn't write, is really just narcissism. That's all it is. Every three council meetings or so, Labour put in a motion of self-praise, and as we all know, self-praise is no praise at all. A motion of apologies for your broken promises, now that would have been much more realistic. Apologies for no council tax refund, the maximum increase for council tax, worthless promise to freeze garden waste. The promise, and this is a really good one, the promise to develop a new model of social care for independent living. That group came to this council, presented a petition, and you told them to push off. Even the chief executive left the council to spend more time with his family. In fact, he put in his resignation shortly after telling the cabinet that they had to stick within their budgets. Other members of the senior management have also surreptitiously disappeared. Your manifesto mentions businesses. Your manifesto mentions businesses, and yet this year, you're putting up costs for businesses by 10%, even though the rate is 2.2%. Your quarterly deep cleanses don't happen. You've used over 18 million of reserves this year. Can I just overspend? My point of order is that Councillor Longstaff is out of order in the comments that he's making about past senior officers, and I think he should withdraw them and apologise. Councillor Midler, which point are you actually making? Mr Mayor, it is a fact that the previous chief executive, who I didn't name, wrote in the newspaper that he was leaving to spend more time with his family. What's wrong with that? The other officers have gradually disappeared, and if you think they have to finish, please just allow Councillor Longstaff to finish. We've paused it, so just carry on, Councillor Longstaff. We'll add on 30 seconds, Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Right, the leader said when he first got in charge of this council that the finances were in good order. Which bit of the finances in good order did you suddenly change your mind about? It's council now that is driving the cost-of-living crisis. You're the ones putting up the costs for every resident. You're the ones pushing up the bin charge. You're the ones pushing up all the other costs, the parking costs. So all you're really doing, the plan that you've got for Barnet is bankruptcy, a 114 notice. That's all you're doing and it's happening very soon. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Councillor Rawlings, thank you. Thank you, Councillor Houston. Point of order, Mr Mayor. Can I just point out, Mr Mayor, that Councillors Trusses Bush was never, this Trusses budget was never implemented. You ought to learn that. Councillors, that's, we're moving on, Councillor Houston. Councillor Houston, please. Thank you, Mr Mayor. As Councillor Baker's motion outlines, we acted quickly to deliver our manifesto promises and transform the way the Councillors run. Our five key pledges all delivered, job done. Only yesterday, Cabinet met to go through the full manifesto programme we were elected on and it is remarkable how much has been achieved. From sorting out our broken CCTV network, fixing our crumbling roads and pavements, to groundbreaking anti-social behaviour initiatives such as Clear Hold Build and becoming a council that leads on sustainability and net zero, not one which sticks its head in the sand and denies the threat of climate change. And we've pressed on with delivering new council homes funding through the HRA despite the financial headwinds caused by high interest rates, soaring labour and material costs all following Tory austerity and Brexit, but culminating in the chaos of Trussonomics. Investing to save and help reduce our soaring temporary accommodation pressures. Tory government irresponsibility left us a crisis in council financing, a tsunami of pressures on statutory frontline services unfunded by central government on top of cuts of 100 million to Barnet's budget. On day one we started the process of tightening control by insourcing key services, bringing in the cabinet system and exercising a hands-on approach to governance. Unprecedented emergent pressures faced London councils, but the simple fact is that it has been made so much worse because the Barnet Tories took their eye off the ball. They missed opportunities to invest when interest rates were low, they didn't pressurise developers to deliver enough affordable housing before the recent downturn and they continued to use up our cash to meet spending commitments rather than borrowing when interest rates were historically low, which has left us in a position where the council is now having to borrow at historically high rates to continue to meet those commitments. Barnet faces unprecedented challenges but at last has an administration that is focused on governance, oversight and taking the difficult decisions to get us back on track. Thank you Mr Mayor. I want to start by welcoming Councillor Baker to the chamber and congratulate her on her maiden speech. On behalf of the Conservative group I feel I should update you about what's been happening over the last two and a half years by your Labour group. I only have two minutes so I'm going to limit myself to just ten of their broken promises but I can tell you the rest after if you'd like. So first, they promised to refund 1% of council tax by autumn 2022, that never happened. Second point, they abandoned the council's vote to freeze the garden waste green bin charge and instead increased it by almost 40%. Three, Labour claims to keep council tax increases well below that of other councils. This year it was statistically insignificant, 0.01% below the maximum increase allowed by the government. Four, the administration cut £800,000 from SEND transport services. These are services that help children with disabilities and additional needs get to school. Five, the council spent £100,000 on an events company to run a climate assembly that they've yet to implement any real policies from. Six, the Labour manifesto promised a review of adult independent living services which was abandoned. Seven, council financial reserves are being raided and earmarked for massive depletion over the next two years. Eight, their manifesto stated they would fight tower blocks and high rises and they seem to be supportive, despite this they seem to be supportive of the Edgewood towers. Nine, they promised to get rid of chemical pesticides, however the cabinet member mentioned at our last meeting that that would have been impossible to do. Maybe you should have checked that before you put it in your manifesto. Ten, the mental health social workers are still on strike and the council is buying in cover to meet statutory duties. So, to summarise, Labour breaks their promises, Labour are financially irresponsible and Labour are bad for Barnet. Thank you. Councillor Barnes. I have managed up to now to keep a low profile in the theatre for council meetings, but now with the very welcome election of my colleague, Councillor Sue Baker, it was noticed that I have actually never made my first speech. The tradition is of course to thank the former councillor who represented Barnet Vale, which I believe is made up of four old wards and would include Councillor Stock, Cornelises and Longstaff. Councillor Longstaff, a man who is very familiar with the theatre of four council meetings, has however worked constructively and helpfully alongside me in Barnet Vale, aiding the residents without too much reference to party politics. As the only active Labour councillor in Barnet Vale, I was busy replying to all the concerns of residents about the speeding traffic, emptying of bins, etc, and I look forward to sharing these joys with Councillor Baker. I was pleased, I have been pleased to secure modest area committee funding for dementia-friendly flower arranging, provided by a collaboration of Age UK and a florist in Barnet Vale, and also for a wellbeing garden provided by incredible edible Barnet at St John's Church in the ward. The motion I'm speaking in favour of this evening highlights the many achievements of the council administration over the two years plus in what has been a very difficult financial situation. Residents feel safer now that the CCTV, which the outgoing Conservative administration left 70% broken, has now been fixed. There is a new pride in the appearance of the borough. The return of the community skips programme has helped avoid fly tipping. The regular deep clean of the borough's streets is making a real difference to the pleasantness of the ward. The £97 million programme for fixing our roads and streets has had a great impact on Barnet Vale. We have seen £700,000 invested in the Great North Road, which was needed desperately to deal with the potholes and wear and tear that had developed there. The declaration of the climate of emergency has helped spur community groups into action. We have planted more than 1,000 trees across the borough. The borough has applied for and been awarded its first green flag for more than 10 years at Cherry Tree Wood. We have surpassed Friends of the Earth's target for electric vehicle charging points. The biggest impact a Labour administration has made to Barnet is to bring energy and direction. We will have difficult choices to make given the financial mess the last Conservative government has given us, but Labour has shown it delivers for Barnet and will continue to do so, so I am very happy to support this motion. Thank you, Councillor Barnes. Councillor Parker. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Congratulations Councillors Baker and Barnes on your maiden speeches. It's important to congratulate ourselves and acknowledge when things are going well, but it's equally important to take stock and face some hard truths when things aren't going so well. For this Labour administration to put forward a motion praising themselves for the great job they're apparently doing whilst ravaging the Council's financial reserves is quite frankly delusional. The irony in criticising the financial controls that we put in place as they spend all the money that we saved is palpable and shows a clear lack of understanding of basic finance and further illustrates why we're in this mess. No accountability, no oversight, no control. Slapping yourselves on the backs whilst putting the future of this bar at risk is quite possibly the most tone deaf thing I've ever heard in this chamber and that's saying something. We're going to hear in the Garms report later this evening about the sorry state of the Council's finances. By all means, celebrate the successes, but don't be misguided into thinking that they're long term wins. At the current trend in just a couple of years, the Council will become effectively bankrupt. Councillor Baker, if that were to happen, everything that you're celebrating tonight will be withdrawn with services scaled back just to cover the basics. I'm not here just to talk about doom and gloom. I want to be positive. I want to celebrate in the Council successes. We all do, but please don't be so naive to assume that you can continue to spend money we don't have on vanity projects and that the residents of Barnet will thank you for it because we won't. This financial mess comes despite you increasing council tax by 3%, social care charges 2%, garden waste charges 40%. We're going to hear tonight about more visitor parking permits, almost 100%. I could go on and that's all before the Labour government starts raising national taxes wherever they can. Will there be any respite to Barnet's residents? As a former local MP once said, the problem with Labour, be it nationally or here in Barnet, is that eventually they run out of other people's money. You're precariously close to doing so. Thank you. Is there another speaker from the Labour side? No. Councillor Mering and Smith, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I too would like to congratulate our new maiden speeches speakers Councillor Baker. I don't know Councillor Baker yet, but I've certainly worked with Councillor Barnes and it was a pleasure to hear his maiden speech. And we did some excellent work on the task of finish group. I do feel a bit sorry for Councillor Baker, however, she was set up with this extraordinary motion, claiming all sorts of exciting things. But nevertheless, she did a splendid job trying to defend it all. But I have to say, I was trying to understand the finances of the council because the whole question Councillor Knack we raised about the reserves is obviously significant to us all. My astonishment came because I'm not an inexperienced finance person. Some of you may be aware I've had quite a lot of experience of finance. And I was astonished at the way this report was written. If you were setting out as a finance expert to try and confuse the general public as to what was really happening. This report does a splendid job of it. And frankly, what we're going to see is now this hundred million of reserves has frankly disappeared, that we left you, you're going to have a shocking problem over the next few years. But as you've told us repeatedly, the Conservative government was previously completely incompetent and financial matters. And now you have five years ahead of you as a Labour administration, showing how finances can be properly run at a government level. And clearly the first hundred days of the Labour administration have demonstrated extraordinary efficiency in all sorts of respects. So very best of luck while the two of you try and sort out both the combination of the national finances and the local finances, because you've got a jolly tough job ahead of you. Councillor Baker, OK, in terms of Colour Flight summing this up, hearing the Labour speeches, it's very clear the difference the administration is making to the borough. So I urge everyone to vote for this motion. Thank you. We will now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Baker. All those in favour? That's 36. Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 16. Mr. Mayor. Motion in the name of Councillor Baker is therefore carried. I now call on Councillor Richard Cornelius. This council regrets the government's decision to punish Barnet's pensioners. Councillor Richard Cornelius, you have three minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You summed that up excellently. Thank you. Now I feel sorry for you, Mr. Mayor. You and your colleagues must be so upset and embarrassed by the first hundred days of the Labour government. The flagship policies that hold your party together are revealed as vindictive and hollow. VAT on school fees, it's unravelling. The costs of replacement state education are appearing and hard-pressed special needs students, their parents who pay for them, the costs are becoming apparent. And it's particularly nice to know the Secretary of State of Education actually plays hockey at a public school. Now the tax on non-DOMs looks like it will lose money rather than raise funds for the Treasury. The loss of rich entrepreneurs and their investments can't be good for anybody in this country. Tinkering carelessly with private rentals has damaged the sector, reduced the supply of properties and led to desperate homeless people being put into nightly paid accommodation. And then we have the sheer hypocrisy, the suits, the Taylor Swift tickets, the glasses, the corporate hospitality, and the glasses the PM got can't be any good as he can't see this is all wrong. And what really disgusted me is that Rachel Reeves has claimed for heating as a parliamentary expense and yet decided to remove the winter fuel payment from our seniors. It's disgusting. This was introduced as a fix by Gordon Brown after a minuscule pension increase and an almighty backlash from the Labour Party which I hope will come again. But this benefit has been amazingly effective in persuading frugal pensioners to actually put their heating on. Labour Chancellors hate this kind of benefit and with their statist hats on want to means test everybody. And I suspect Starmer really wants benefits that look magnanimous and generous, flashy, but have a low take-up because of their complexity. But we really do need to keep Barnet's old people warm. They've lost sight of the bigger picture. Pensioners in hospital with hypothermia cost money. Sometimes a moral imperative demands a U-turn. Government is complicated. You found that as taking over the council administration. Things that sound simple actually have a complicated bite in their tail. And these unattended consequences will fully outweigh any supposed benefit on this heating payment being removed. It will end up costing the Labour government more money and yet they lose all their moral credibility by doing it. I am ashamed of our Labour government. Thank you. Councillor Langley. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Trigger warning, I intend to speak in full sentences. Allow me to invite all members to engage in a moment of reflection. I want us to think about what the purpose of political office is. The point of entering into a life dedicated to political service. I ask us to set aside briefly the political point-scoring, the partisan bickering, the rhetorical one-upmanship and concentrate our minds instead on the role of the politician in a representative democracy. So we are charged with absorbing and keeping at the forefront of our minds the concerns, anxieties, hopes and desires of the people we represent. To adequately do so, we must mute our egos, Councillor. We must resist the temptation of becoming distracted by the party political horse trade and get admired in dogmatic policy-making that is indifferent to that which genuinely benefits the long-term wellbeing of the nation. Now, Mr Mayor, I felt I needed to engage in that moment of reflection because this motion is utterly devoid of any historical context. It entirely lacks the humility to acknowledge the years of negligence in the wake of which our future financial decision-making needs to be made. It does not appear to appreciate how badly the Conservative Party has betrayed the trust of all people, whether attentionable of age or otherwise in Barnet and well beyond. From David Cameron calling a ruinous referendum to placate his own party, to Theresa May and Boris Johnson contriving treaty agreements they knew diminished the fiscal and diplomatic prospects of the country to appease ideologues that put them in power, to Liz Truss the less said about her, the better, the less she speaks in future, the better we will all be. So over a decade of economic vandalism, a dereliction of duty by the Tories, that is the context this motion lacks. Labour is doing what it needs to to fix this extraordinary unprecedented mess and for that reason I urge the Chamber to reject the motion. Thank you. Councillor Wakeley. Thank you, Mr Mayor. This winter, if we have any pensioners when they come to us and say they can't afford the heating, if they could hear what you've just said, that pompous speech you just gave, completely out of touch, I can't believe. Anyway, the Prime Minister stated during the general election that pensioners deserve security in their retirement. However, just like Labour here in Barnet, the Parliamentary Labour Party has failed to keep their promise. Keir Starmer managed to break his commitment to pensioners in less than 100 days. David Pinto-Dusinski, Dan Tomlinson and Sarah Sackmann have let down the 47,969 pensioners who will be affected by this policy in Barnet. They have failed to stand up to the government's attack on pensioners and instead voted for it. Labour themselves have said that pensioners will die as a result of this policy and our local MPs voted for this. Barnet Labour should be ashamed and you should be ashamed of the speech you just gave talking about David Cameron when people might die. The actions taken by this government do not surprise me as we have seen how Labour operate once they are in power in Barnet. They promise one thing on the campaign trail and then completely ignore their residence once in power. Labour is bad for pensioners, Labour break their promises and Labour are bad for Barnet. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Now I understand that Councillor Cornelius and the Conservatives are upset about the changes to the winter fuel allowance. But reading their motion, they don't appear to be so upset to give a roadmap to propose a tax rise that can pay for its full retention whilst closing the £22 billion black hole left to the current government. Now the Conservatives may pull their faces and groan, as they are right now, but if we're going to discuss national government policy here, it would be helpful to know what revenue-raising measures those across the Chamber would accept. Are they backing their leadership front-runner calling for cuts to corporation tax and capital gains tax? And this motion is just another example of the fantasy economics from the Conservatives that crash the UK economy, first by delivering a terrible Brexit deal, then the disastrous List Trust budget, thank God it wasn't implemented Councillor Longstaff, and vacating the government months before the election. I wish that no cuts would be needed. I also wish to build a time machine, travel back in time to September 2022 and teach List Trust how to add and subtract. But we can't always get what we want. But as Councillor Wakeley said, the Prime Minister said, pensioners deserve security and pensioners will get their deserved increase in their state pension. Today's labour market data shows that the state pension will rise by over 4%, over £450 a year. And it's the mission of every Labour government to tackle poverty, as it is the mission of this Labour government. And that takes long and serious thinking. We'll be watching closely to see if the Conservatives support the necessary tax regime to support that policy, or if they are still drunk on the irresponsible politics summed up by this motion that always leaves the British people to clear up their mess. Thanks for the award. I think on the basis of what's been said so far this evening, I just want to start with the sort of reminding everyone that it is Labour's decision to link winter fuel payments to pension credit. There were other ways in which you could have benchmark that it's been suggested by Age UK, but Labour have cut it to the bare minimum of the £11,400 threshold that is on you. And the issue is pension credit is poorly claimed, and many who are eligible will never claim it. They're more likely to suffer from ill health, they're more likely to suffer from dementia, and they're much more vulnerable and hard to reach. We also need to remember that much of our housing stock here in Barnet is costly and difficult to heat. 52% of our properties have got an energy rating of Band D or lower. Now locally we've heard about Barnet Labour's ambitions to tackle inequality, to reduce poverty and to get people living well. Please tell me how that policy achieves any of that. The leader outlined earlier that the council don't know how many people might be eligible and don't currently claim pension credit. Now we appreciate that this is held at DWP, but if the government is now passing the book to local authorities to expect them to enact this disastrous policy, we've got to know the steps that we're taking are effective. For instance, the council's pension credit campaign isn't actually due to land on doorsteps until December, which is well into the winter months, and backdated payments will doubtless take months to arrive in people's pockets, leaving people in the lurch over winter. And what is really more worrying to me in some of the responses that we've had back to questions is just how reliant we are on those most vulnerable people who likely do suffer from health issues having to log on to the website and go through a benefit checker. That is not going to get the people who are eligible for pension credit and who don't currently receive it actually in the money that they deserve. And you outlined that the household support fund is something that can be going towards helping people balance their household finances, but again if you go to the council's website, it says it's run out in 2024. It's not good enough. Thank you. Councillor Moore. Thank you, Mr Mayor. This is clearly a very emotive issue, but rather than playing into the political hyperbole created by Councillor Cornelius suggesting that thousands in Barnet will die of hypothermia, I'd just like to bring everyone down to earth and talk about we can, we should and we are already doing to support older people on lower incomes in the community. The answer to Councillor Wardle's last question, the written answer, lays out in detail the millions of pounds of financial support that's been brought into the borough and much of that has gone into the pockets of older people. It lays out how they can access a pension credit, a range of other benefits, and also points them to the face-to-face support that is going on across the borough. And I'll come back to that in a minute because let's be clear, while there are good reasons for protecting our pensioners on low incomes, there are many residents in Barnet who are not going to be facing challenges with this. The first and fundamental task, as I said earlier, is to make sure all of those who are eligible for pension credit and other benefits, but particularly pension credit, do apply and claim it. They will retain their winter fuel allowance and boost their incomes, but the reality is it will also mean that they're better off, it's not charity, they will be better off applying, it will make a real difference to their lives day in, day out. Just finally to point out that for those who are not eligible for pension credit but on low incomes, like an elderly resident in my street with the sterling support of Age UK, he's realised that he's eligible for a number of benefits, grants, and other support he wasn't aware of, and they make a real difference to his life day in, day out. Alongside the triple lock on pensions, it will mean that his and others will see a significant rise in pensioner income, and he and pensioners across the bar of Barnet will be better off because of that, and it will not be helped by hysterical debate in this chamber. Thank you. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Rachel Reeves is refusing to give details of this £22 billion black hole. Her Treasury team blocked a request from the Financial Times to release details of the black hole. And equality's impact assessment was never undertaken. But luckily, the Labour Party have found, since they got into office, money for other things. £22 billion for carbon storage, £11.6 billion for overseas climate aid, £8.5 billion for GB Energy, who now say that reducing energy bills is not part of their remit, another blow for the elderly. £7.5 billion for the ironically entitled wealth fund, £3.6 billion for Ukraine. But it turns out that £1.4 billion that the pensioners get could have destroyed the economy, according to Rachel Reeves. And this is on the back of a £1.3 trillion spending budget that the government have each year. £300 cut from pensioners, and yet the council is putting up charges way beyond inflation. It is extremely tough at the moment for pensioners. They are now getting hit from all sides. Heating is very important. From the lancet, from the year 2000 to 2019, 800 deaths were associated with hot weather. But 60,000 deaths were associated with cold weather. This winter, pensioners don't matter to the Labour Party. It's an awful lot of talk and lies for £1.6 billion. Labour must really hate pensioners. Please support the motion. Thank you. Do we have a speaker from the Labour side? Thank you, Mr Mayor. If the Labour Party hates pensioners, some of my colleagues should be slightly worried, I think. But anyway, let's not get into that. I find this whole conversation a little bit befuddling, really. So to govern fundamentally is to choose and to prioritise. And in inheriting the mess that this Labour government inherited, the new Labour government had to correct a whole series of mistakes over 14 years. Higher energy prices than other countries have to bear. You had 14 years to fix that, you didn't. Regulations in red take the stand in the way of new power generation, which could have lowered prices. You didn't do anything about that. A £22 billion black hole that Councillor Longstaff can't find the details of. But it's clearly in the nation's finances, which, you know, needs to be needs to be closed. We've had an NHS report, which has the NHS, the crown jewel of the British welfare state is in tatters, which somehow we need to find money for. We also have a lack of home insulation, which means that heat literally leaks out of our housing. You could have spent money sorting that out. You didn't. Not to mention, not enough police on the beat, not enough in a provision of public services up and down, Barnet, that takes money, that takes time, that takes resources. I kind of heard throughout the course of this evening people saying, oh, Barnet Labour should be spending money on this, should be spending money on this. By the way, they shouldn't be putting up council taxes. There might be something worse than tax and spend, but potentially the worst is not tax and spend. That's what got you in the trouble to begin with, with Liz Trust not being able to do basic sums. It's what's meant that our public realm is breaking and we have a fiscal mess at the same time. And rather than taking lectures, it's rather akin to the arsonist telling us we should have taken out fire insurance. Perhaps take a bit of time to look at yourselves before you start lecturing others. There are hard choices to make. They're very difficult. But being grown ups means taking these hard decisions rather than living in gaga land, like you say seem to be. So I think we should reject this motion. Councillor Cornelius. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I listened carefully to Councillor Knackby, not sentences, but paragraphs, but they were quite emollient, the words, until he got well into what he said. Now, the Labour Party conference voted against this. So this is not something disreputable that we're coming up with. I know our three MPs voted enthusiastically for it, but I am slightly surprised by this. You know, Labour should see, frankly, giving you political advice. This is politically suicidal. The public have seen through Labour. What does this 100 days look like? Now, this motion was deliberately worded to be very, very mild. It's not like the other ones. And I really do urge that you actually vote for this to encourage the government to do a U turn. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We'll now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Cornelius. All those in favour? That's 15, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. So the motion in the name of Councillor Cornelius is therefore lost. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Anne Hutton, Office of Inspections. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? So the motion in the name of Councillor Hutton is therefore carried. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Dean Cohen. Residents should be able to park outside their own homes. All those in favour? That's 15, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. The motion in the name of Councillor Cohen is therefore lost. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Emmett Weisel, celebrating Barnet's assets of community value. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's abstentions, Mr. Mayor. Alright, the motion in the name of Councillor Weisel is therefore carried. An administration amendment to the opposition motion is now being proposed by Councillor Weisel. We will now vote on the amendments to the motion in the name of Councillor Weisel. Let's help the Barnet leaseholders. All those in favour of the amendments? That's all Bar 1, Mr. Mayor. Bar 1, so anybody against? No. The amendment is in the name of Councillor Weisel, therefore agreed. We will now move to the vote on the motion as amended by Councillor Weisel. All those in favour? That's all. That's all, Mr. Mayor. The motion in the name of Councillor Weisel is therefore carried. We will now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Nigel Young, welcoming the 310 bus routes. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? The motion in the name of Councillor Young is therefore carried. Agenda item 15.1 is a report of the cabinet

• Councillors, please, please. Agenda item 15.1 is a report of the cabinet members for a family-friendly Barnet, outcome of Ofsted inspection of children and families. Councillors asked to note the Ofsted inspection findings as detailed in the report attached to Annex 1. We have the following speakers on this item. So for three minutes, Councillor Copley Webb. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I don't think I'll need three minutes. I mean, the Ofsted report has now been through children's scrutiny, it's known at corporate parenting, it's been through the general scrutiny, and if no one has read it yet in complete form, then please do so, because it really is a positive story for what has happened with our young people and what has happened with the staff that actually look after them. I think as I said before, it was something that we were expecting, it was something that was with no doubt about the same with schools, it's always viewed with some trepidation, but it is a - it's just a sort of focus over just a week to actually take a snapshot of what goes on. So it doesn't actually, when you're with the department week in and week out, tell you exactly fully the whole commitment of what goes on, but I think to congratulate the staff for what they did and for what they continue to do and how they support our young people and how they absolutely worked tirelessly to make sure that everything was ready for that inspection and how we were all prepared for it as well. I think it's a credit to our staff and a credit to our young people for the love and care that they get from our department and from all our foster carers and from the care homes that we have to actually say yes, they did really well, they really look after our young people and this has been absolutely - it's been committed and verified by the Ofsted report that we are still on the right route to get better and better for everything that we do for our young people. So if you haven't read it all, please do, it is well worth a read. Thank you. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Just to clear up, when I asked the question to Councillor Clokey-Webb earlier on, I was actually saying I thought we should have had a better result from Ofsted. If you go back and watch the video, I did actually say a better result from Ofsted for what the team do. They are a great team, they are caring, they are compassionate, they go well above, way and beyond and to anybody who's ever been along to some of the events which I know the Mayor has for the younger people who are in foster care and the older ones who are the care leavers, they are excellent events and they are well attended and they leave people with a great impression, a great feeling that they belong to Barnet and that we are their corporate parents. But when you get to this Ofsted report and Councillor Clokey-Webb is quite right, it causes enormous tension amongst the staff and they try to play it down and they try to keep cool but you can't help getting a bit worked up because you're being judged and it is a very difficult experience. So you've got four areas where we're good in three of them, which we were before, but when you actually read the report clearly, it states very clearly that we've improved enormously since we were rated as good. So I'm absolutely astounded that they still came back and said it was just good only. The one that the experience and progress of children in care was rated as outstanding, which is excellent because that covers most of the council's work anyway, but it must be somehow appreciated by the staff or we must appreciate the staff that none of the children are what they consider to be at risk when they're being brought into care, that they are being well looked after and supported. So I would just like to say finally that, as I said, I did expect a better result from Ofsted. I think the staff from the top to the bottom have worked tirelessly to make this as good as possible for our looked after children and things have improved enormously since we got good in all areas, but somehow it hasn't quite translated into a result that I felt that they deserved. So I would suggest to everybody, it's not a great long report, it's worth reading, it is very informative, but like I say, please read the report and I would also like to offer my congratulations to all the senior management team and the social workers and everybody else who has worked so tirelessly to make it such a good unit and a good department. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Longstaff. We'll now move to the vote on the recommendations of page 40 of the agenda. Councillors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of the recommendations, please show. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Just Yeah, voted. So noted. Thank you. My just shows the time. Great, right. Agenda item 15.2 is a report the cabinet members for family friendly Barney corporate parenting annual report. Council is asked to ensure understanding of their statutory role as corporate parents and to be aware of progress and challenges for services to children in our care and care experience. Young adults. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have the following speakers on this item. Councillor Coakley Webb. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The appendices on these certainly a lot longer than the ofsted report. And again, I would say if you've not had a chance to read them and if you don't take part in the scrutiny or you don't take part in corporate parenting, then please do read them. Because, as I've said time and again, we are all corporate parents and being informed about what happens to our young people and the corporate parenting annual report and the fostering report, the IRA report and the bonnet on point report. It really gives you an insight as to the width and the breath and the length of everything that goes on regarding corporate parenting. And certainly, if you've never been to any of the events and you see them crop up on the menu, please try and go along. Try to actually meet some of our young people. Meet the people that care for them. Meet the staff that help the people who care for them. And I would say the one thing that we certainly need still need to do is that when it came to taking people from Ukraine, people stepped up to the mark. No problem. When we ask people to take on a fostering role, it seems to be much harder to get people to oblige. And yet most of our foster carers now are in an older age bracket. And bit by bit they will get to the point where they cannot foster anymore. And yet we still have to rely on independent fostering agencies. So I would just remind people for whatever circles you have where you can advertise and promote fostering, it's a whole range. Some people just do babies. Some do toddlers. Some do adolescents. Some do a mixture. Some just do emergency. Some just do supported lodgings. Some do respite. So there's a whole range of ways people can get involved. And it doesn't mean that people cannot work as well as foster. So we try and give all the help and advice and training we can, which we're renowned for from the foster carers that have been with us for many, many years, to which it's become their sort of life's work to foster for our children. So I would say please read the reports through. Please keep spreading the word that fostering is a good thing to do for Barnet. And even if people don't want to do it straight away but they want to be informed, still spread the word as wide as possible and as often as possible because these are our children that we need to make sure we have the right caring homes for both now and in the future. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As Councillor Coakley-Webb says, there are four reports. And it's almost as if not reading these reports is the equivalent of not reading your own children's report. We are all corporate parents. We should all be responsible and we should all, if we need to make comments, write to the corporate parenting committee or write to anybody. And I may be wrong here, but I think anybody is entitled to attend the corporate parenting advisory panel. So you've got four reports on corporate parenting, fostering annual report, independent reviewing service and Barnet OnPoint, children in care annual report. But this is all about making sure that our corporate children get the best possible start in life, that we should want for our corporate children anything that we would want for our own, that we should encourage them with their desires, with their aims, with their goals in life, and we should support them to be a success in life. And we know, and this is what bugs me about the previous Ofsted letter, is how many of our corporate children do come back to onwards and upwards, who come back and enjoy the camaraderie of the other children that they've met over their time at Barnet. And there are an awful lot of success stories within our group of corporate children who've gone on to university or who've gone on to get great apprenticeships or jobs in other areas, and they are doing well, enormous numbers of them are doing exceptionally well. But the first question should always be from any corporate parent or indeed any member of staff is what is the best that we can do for our children, what is it we want, what is it the children actually need, supporting them to fulfil their dreams, being there when help is required, supporting mental and physical health, listening, communicating and making decisions with each child, supporting children to become independent as they develop into adulthood. And lastly, and something that all councillors are invited to, is whenever possible to celebrate their achievements. Our staff, as I've said before, go way above and beyond, and it's important as councillors that we are there to support them and show our support by attending the events that are put on. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Is the recommendation noted? Thank you. Members asked to note that 2023-24 annual report and the apprentices of the local pension board. We had the following speakers in this item, Councillor Rugford. Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I'd like to move this motion, but by starting off by giving some thanks. So thank you to Professor Aldermen, who chairs the pension board. You can tell he's a very serious member of the pension board when you see the sheer volume of letters after his name. I don't think that man of brainpower on the pension board, I think, shows that we're being scrutinized with some serious IQ points behind it. I'd also like to thank the staff who have supported both the pension board and the pension committee over the last year. In particular, David Spreckley, who very sadly has taken a far worse job than being the officer who I work with on a regular basis for the government and is therefore moving on, but has been a great service to the pension committee and the pension board over his time in Barnet. So I'd just like that to be noted. Finally, I'd like to thank the collaborative spirit with which both the pension board and the pension committee has worked over the last year. There's been many great ideas and input taken from all sides and it's made for a better end product. So thank you to those who have served on both the committee and the board. And with that, I'd like to move the motion to accept this report. Councillor Shuter. Thank you. I should probably repeat what you've just said, actually. I'll just say, if you add to it a little bit, first of all, obviously, the pension fund is one of the most important parts of the council, managing one half billion of assets. So it's very important that we make returns for investors. The pension board itself is like a scrutiny on a scrutiny of what we do on committee. So I think, to put it mildly, if you've got problems with insomnia, you should serve on that board. I think that first of all, Professor Aldermen, fabulous work, always very, very diligent and a real stickler. And obviously, he had to do a lot of extra work given all the reductions in pensions contributions over the last few years. And I just wanted to mention how well he's doing in terms of return last year, nine point two percent, I believe. And that was above average. And we took 90 percent less risk than other pension funds, similar pension funds. So obviously, it was a legacy we gave you and obviously you've carried it on. But I think we also came second in the small LGPS Fund of the Year award and Sutton beat us to it. I'm sure that if I was still chairman, we would have won it. Thank you. Thank you. So the board's main work, they've found a few items. There's there's a few red marks there. But in general, the administration is in good shape. I hope that committee members are keeping up with their 20 hours of training a year, including substitute members, Councillor Mitra. And obviously, I was an actuary as a consulting actuary. I thought maybe I was working through it. But anyway, just also bear in mind green assets. I know we're pushing towards nature based assets, but it's also very important that we maximise returns as well for investors. So we've got to just bear that in mind and find a happy balance there. Obviously, it adds to a diversified portfolio. Thank you very much to David Spreckely. And he's not here going to the government actuary's department. Got a very senior job there and wish him the best of luck. He really is very been very diligent and helpful to both of us. And I have no objection to this report at all. Fabulous report. Keep up good work. And it's for noting. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a recommendation noted? Okay. Agenda item 15.4 referral from governance, organ risk management and standards committee, treasury management, out turned 2023 24. Council is asked to note the treasury out term report for 2023 24 and the strategic priorities as detailed in the report attached at appendix one. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. We're very grateful. We have the following speakers on this item. Council Mitra. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. As ever, can I start my remarks by thanking the officers and staff across the council for their service in what are clearly extremely difficult times with unprecedented demand in key areas. I'm also very pleased that the administration have now brought in a cabinet member with specific responsibility for the budget and spending. And may I say, given no conservative council seems to understand any of his answers, it seems he's done something that they happen, which is get to grips with the serious problems the council faces. Thanks to 20 years of poor financial management under the previous administration, not, of course, helped by their friends at Westminster on the 14 years of failure to deal with supply side pressures on the budget, such as their failure to reform adult social care and find a fair funding solution or indeed the lack of action to tackle the housing crisis and their own now former local MP who sought to block all house building in her constituency because she didn't know anyone who suffered from it. So I am very grateful, Mr. Mayor, for the engagement and the involvement of the new cabinet member whose job it is to lead on Treasury management. I've heard much groaning from members opposite about scrapping their unfit for purpose committee system, which left decisions taken behind closed doors and a lack of control or information provided to members. Switching to the new cabinet system has led to a major improvement in members understanding engagement in the running of the council and an ability to identify the challenges that the council faces. Unlike when Treasury management was outsourced the capital. It's clear now that the council's finances been under serious question for a number of years. The poor decision making being made between 2020 and 22. She counsel is now paying the price for this committee. Our committee continues to work on these battle continue to scrutinize everything that comes before us. I'm very pleased with the work the committee has been doing on this. I'm very pleased with the engagement we've had from the cabinet member, as well as the work that the overview and Scrutiny committee doing to scrutinize the council finances. There's an awful lot more work needed, and I look forward to a more constructive approach on the committee. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Councilor Prager. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I stood here in February during the Budget Council meeting warning councilors that Barnet's finances were on a cliff edge. These warnings were ignored. And here we are eight months later to assess the damage that continues to be caused by the financially illiterate decisions that have been made. In February, my outlook was bleak. I forecasted at the time that would take their labor administration between seven to eight years to burn through the large cash reserves over 150 million pounds that they'd inherited from us. The situation now is so much worse than that. This report shows that in the last two years, the slave administration has burned through over 100 million pounds. Yes, 100 million pounds of reserves. Now spend isn't necessarily a bad thing if it's being done sensibly. But this spend is coming out of our reserves. A rainy day fund, literally a fallback option. They can only be spent once. And once they're gone, they're gone. This is what the labor administration fails to understand. They failed miserably to replenish the reserves. So now they have a cash crisis, a disgraceful show of financial incompetence. This use of reserves is extremely worrying. This administration effectively spent nearly 200,000 pounds of reserves each day. 200,000 pounds every single day. I'm concerned that this chamber is just becoming a talking shop or where genuine concerns are rebuffed simply because of the side of the room that they emerge from and where we're seeing a severe lack of appropriate performance and budgetary scrutiny. I'm not here to play politics. These are not partisan issues. They have real life impact on every one of our residents and it's our fiduciary duty. That's every single one of us to scrutinize and make well-informed decisions and to keep the executive in check rather than just relying on good faith and that every little thing is going to be all right. Cabinet were advised last month that this administration does not get a grip on the finances of the council. By March, we'll have just 7 million pounds left in unring fenced reserves and just 15 million pounds left in the general fund. This is a perilous position to be in and I continue to urge all cabinet members to ensure we don't reach this situation. Please get a grip on your portfolios and start doing a proper job reviewing your costs. This situation is unsustainable. In response to a question that I asked earlier this evening on the council's finances, the leader of the council said and I quote and I quote, Don't worry, we know what we're doing. I am worried because as this report shows, clearly you don't. Is there a recommendation noted? Agenda item 16.1 is a report... Sorry, Mr. Mayor, don't I have a right of reply? No, no. The agenda item 16.1 is a report of the monitor and office in constitution review. Council is asked to approve the constitution amendments as set out in appendices A, B and C with the exception of section 14 terms of reference to the local pension board and council are asked to authorize the head of governance to implement these revisions and publish a revised constitution. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I now call on Councilor Rowlings to move reception and adoption on this item. I'll move. Okay, we'll now move to the vote on the recommendations on page 170 of the agenda with the exception of appendices C as referred to. Councillors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of their recommendations, please show. Okay, so the recommendation has been agreed. Agenda item 16.2 is a report on the executive director of resources of section 151 officer fees and charges 2025 to 2026. Council is asked to note the council side fees and charges and delegate authority for consultation on the proposed non-executive fees and charges for 2526 as set out in appendix A to the chief financial officer and to ask the chief financial officer to consider them after consultation with the benefit of consultation responses and equality impact assessments for approval. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have the following speakers on this item. Mr. Knavly, you have three minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The report is for noting, but I commend it to the chamber. The report came to cabinet last week and was considered very earnestly and an opportunity was given to conservative members to ask questions of the executive at that stage. It'll be brought to the overview and scrutiny committee later in the month. And it's very important that it's given a good degree of scrutiny from that committee. But this is obviously chargeable services affect every resident in Barnet potentially. And therefore it's an opportunity for the council chamber in its entirety to, to observe it. So thank you. Councillor Marin Smith. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And we are opposing this particular recommendation for a straightforward reason. It was referred to the committee that the relevant body in terms of it being an inflationary increase of fees and charges, which sounds perfectly respectable, except that it's 1% over the proposed inflation measure that was used by the administration, which is apparently the retail price and takes RPI. Those of you remotely familiar with what the government does these days is to say that they use the CPI, which is not the same as the retail price index and the retail price index is no younger monitored to the same extent as the CPI. The CPI is only two and a half percent according to the figures produced by the government. Therefore what you're seeing is a 2% increase over and above inflation. Fair enough. If you want to disclose this to all the members of the voting electorate and tell them that you're quite happy to increase fees and charges substantially above inflation, but I would bear in mind that there's one section for some extraordinary reason where there are no increases. And I look carefully through all of this. There's a whole area where no increases, despite there being much higher limits available to the, the, um, to the administration, were they to wish to increase those charges. And they are in particular things like literary. Now we heard a famous recommendation famous speech earlier telling us what a great job the community skips were doing. Well, actually, yes, you've introduced community skips. And as far as I can see in my ward, what we see is the law abiding citizens use these community skips who would previously have gone to the tip anyway. But unfortunately what has actually happened in our ward is I had a dramatic increase in fly tipping. I don't think this is unique to edge where I rather suspect it's an issue that covers the entire council area. And so what we're seeing is an expenditure on community skips combined with huge increases in fly tipping. And yet you're for some extraordinary reason, not increasing the fines for littering. To me, this is completely inexplicable. I've no doubt it's completely inexplicable to people who suffer from fly tipping and I'd very much like you to reconsider it. And it is the reason we are voting against this particular proposal. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We will now move to vote on the recommendations in the supplementary report pack. We're going to note note and delegate this. All those in favor. I'm sorry. They need all right. A vote. All those in favor of the road condition police show. That's 36. Mr. Mayor. All those against. That's 15. Mr. Mayor. Okay, so this is noted and agreed. Agenda items 16.3 is a report on the head of governance, noting chief officers appointment and approving the designation of the director of public health. Councilor asked to note the appointment of Craig Miller as executive director environment. Councilors to designate Dr Janet to Jamba as a director of public health and councilors to note the appointment of nature plane as the executive director growth. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. We have the following speakers on this item. Councilor rulings. No, it should be the trail of the employment committee. My I'll be speaking. What I'm going to do is move the motion and welcome the appointees to their roles and hope that all members will join me in looking forward to working with them and congratulating them on their appointments. Thank you, Councilor Wakeley. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just echo council wise shows comments and the conservative group welcomes the appointments and we look forward to working with the new officers. Thank you. Thank you. We're now moved to vote on the recommendations. Page 373 of the agenda. All those in favor. That's almost the mayor recommendations been agreed. Agenda item 16 provides a report on the head of governance administration matters. Appendix a details changes to committee appointments whilst also noting an additional change to the East area committee membership, making Councillor Hudson, a substantive member of the committee and Councilor Cook becoming a substitute member. Appendix B details changes a change to the council's nomination on an outside body. Appendix C notifies the Council of changes to future meeting dates and Appendix D notifies Council of the draft calendar meetings 25 26, which counselor asked to approve. Thank you, and I call on Council rollings to move reception and adoption on this item. Move reception. And is there anybody on the side wish to speak? No. Okay, but now move to vote on the recommendation page. Sorry. Can we have a right of reply on this? And I'm sorry, I missed that. I'm confused about the calendar because it's been set and it's been changed so frequently during the last year that personally I find it very confusing. And I remember when I changed one date of a committee meeting. Councilor Cook really let me have it. And the labor group were very against this. And I think, you know, I learnt a lesson from Councilor Cook that good administration means sticking to the dates you set. If the chairman can't attend and chair the meeting, then tough. There's a deputy chairman to do it. You've got such a large majority, you're not going to lose any votes. So for goodness sake, you change the meeting to the date of the Labour Party conference. I don't think that was an innocent accident. It wasn't a good idea. Yeah. Right. Can we now move to the vote on the recommendations page 377 of this of the above? All those in favor. I think that's all Mr. Mayor. Recommendations been agreed. And this comes to the bit of the evening that everybody's probably grateful for after a long debate and exchange of views. This concludes the business of the meeting, which are now declared closed. And thank everyone for coming. Thank you. [applause] [BLANK_AUDIO]

Transcript

I thought I didn't need the microphone. Welcome to the council meeting. Thank you for attending this evening. Please note that the meeting will be recorded and broadcast. By attending, you may be picked up on the recordings. Council recordings are covered by a privacy notice which can be found online. Following meetings may be retained and made available online. Members I have one announcement, an important technical announcement. Members are asked to be very careful when using their water jugs and glasses. There has been several incidents where liquids spill on the desk and microphone units cause them to be malfunctioned and not work and require an engineer to visit to rectify the problem. This council meeting is taking place shortly after the first anniversary of the horrific attack on southern Israel by Hamas terrorists. As the Prime Minister told the House of Commons, it was the bloodiest day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust. Over a thousand people were massacred and 250 hostages were taken. We remember their lives lost and call for the hostages to be brought home. Our thoughts are with Jewish people around the world, those in our twin towns of Ramat Khan and the Jewish community here in Barnet and the UK, and all those we lost a year ago. We also remember the huge loss of innocent lives in the years since in Gaza, in Lebanon and in Israel. I invite a representative from each group to speak briefly, followed by a one-minute silence – can we all stand for a one-minute silence, please? Can I ask a representative from the Labour group who would like to say a few words? Thank you, Mr Mayor. I rise to mark one year since Hamas' terror attack on the communities of southern Israel on October 7. We remember the 1,200 victims murdered in their homes, the communities and at the Novo Music Festival, the 250 taken hostage in Gaza and the thousands of innocent lives torn apart. We also remember the huge loss of life that has occurred in the year since in Israel, Gaza and now Lebanon. At Labour Party Conference, I was privileged to make the families of Odell Lifshitz and Eviatar David two of the over 100 hostages that remain in Hamas' captivity in Gaza. One was taken captive from his house, the other from a music festival designed to celebrate peace. Their families have asked that we don't forget them, that we say their names and we know their stories. In Judaism, we believe that each life is an entire universe. The hostages include a British citizen, Emily Demare. I reaffirm the overwhelming rallying cry to bring them all home, now. Together I hope we can reflect on the deep pain of the past year for many of our residents, our families, for our twin town of Ramat Gan and to unite in our shared hope for a peaceful future. Thank you. Thank you. Is there anyone from the Conservative side? Mr. Mayor, the Conservative group echoes your words. The horror of the October 7 atrocities deeply shocked our communities. The drastic increase in anti-Semitic and hate crimes have been deeply troubling. We stand united with our colleagues and neighbours and call for the immediate release of the hostages captured a year ago. Never again means never again and we must ensure that our neighbours and residents feel safe once again in Barnet. May we all stand for a one-minute silence, please. Thank you. Also it's great sadness that I'm sharing the news with you that former Councillor David Clarke passed away in early September. David served for eight years for Hadley Ward as a Conservative from 1978 to 1986. Our world contributes to David from Councillor Cook. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I'll stay seated, if I may. David Clarke's time as Councillor coincided with my first stint. He was part of the large Conservative majority, but his challenge as a Councillor was far from typical. He represented a wall called Hadley, which sounds like a small area, but it was much the biggest in the borough by population, covering most of present-day High Barnet and Barnet Vale, but with only a standard three seats. In addition, there was a very active residents association that contested every local election, winning and holding one of the seats and nearly winning second. So there was much to do for his ward and for his party. I do not remember him saying much at Council, but he played a full part at committee. For years after retiring from the Council, he frequently attended civic events like the annual meeting, and we often had a chat. He'd come off the Council reluctantly in order to prioritise his career. I believe that his wife died before him in his later years. While in his neighbourhood, I remember a Labour Councillor reporting a conversation with a retired Conservative Councillor about his period representing the area. Perhaps he was deliberately taking our time, but I think he was a nice guy who liked to talk about his time in local government. Quietly spoken and polite, a Tory gent, may he rest in peace. Thank you, Councillor Cook. Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and thank you, Councillor Cook, for the kind words that you said. Of course, I knew David Clark in later years because of my extreme youth, and he came back to play a very active part in the Barnet Conservative Party. You're quite right, he did achieve great things in the customs and excise. He was in fact the person who introduced VAT to Finchley, heading up the office there, so I'm sure local traders will be pleased for his work there, but he had a great career. One of the things he had to do in customs and excise was supervise the distilleries in Scotland, so in his retirement, and I know this will appeal to some of the Labour Councillors who, like me, have a taste for the Amber nectar, but he was trying to taste every single milked whisky, but I'm afraid he was stuck on the Gs. Now, David was, of course, a very serious Barnet boy. He was born to our humble parents in East Barnet, and he went to East Barnet Grammar School, and then he went off and did his national service in the RAF, and came back to sit the Civil Service exam. But as you say, he was a gentle Tory, but there was another side to him. Once he had formed a view, he stuck to it. He certainly was not a man for turning. Once he'd decided something, that's what he believed. But he was actually very proud. His last achievement on the council was actually getting the spires' development through the council as he was chairman of the, I'm going to not have the name, and Councillor Greenspan or Councillor Cook will have to correct me there, the Public Works Committee effectively it was, it states and public works. And he was very proud of that, but he accepted something needs to be done again there. But he was a gent, and his wife Norma was a very nice lady, and they were utterly devoted to each other. But as you say, may he rest in peace. He was certainly a great friend to me, and I'm grateful for his life. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Cornelius. I also advise council of the passing of Mr. John Aptal, who was an Edgware Councillor from 1968 to 1974. Mr. Aptal and his mother Millie founded the Millie Ortho General Trust in 1982, using Mrs. Aptal's shares in the frozen food company Bee Jams, which her son had founded. Mr. Aptal made an enormous contribution to thousands of the Barnet residents through the Millie Ortho Authority Trust. It was thanks to him and his family that grants were made available for a range of community and voluntary groups to provide activities and services to the residents of Barnet, especially its youth people, its young people. Mr. Aptal was awarded the freedom of the borough, the highest honour of the council can bestow on anybody in 2008. The notice was seen in the Daily Telegraph and read, John Aptal CBE passed away peacefully on the 9th of July 2024 at the age of 89 after a short illness. Serial entrepreneur and guardian, young businessman of the year, John founded Bee Jams Frozen Food and turned majestic wines into the success story it is today. A generous philanthropist, he was awarded the CBE in 2014 for his charitable work. We will now stand for a minute's silence to remember David and John. Thank you. Silver Week took place last week where a celebration of aging well in Barnet was held at our Silver Sunday event on Sunday the 6th of October from 11am till 3pm at Middlesex University. It was very well attended. Throughout Silver Week there was free and low-cost activities around the borough for over 55s. Nominations for Barnet Civic Awards have opened to recognise the commitment and hard work of those who make positive differences to the lives of others in our borough. More information including categories, criteria and terms of conditions can be found on the nomination form via the council website and completed forms must be received by email or by post to the mayor's office by Tuesday 31st December this year. East Finchley, popular Cherrywood has been recognised as one of the country's best parks after receiving a Green Flag Award, an international quality mark for parks and green spaces. To mark the achievement, a flag raising ceremony took place at the park at the end of September attended by council staff, volunteers and Councillor Anna Snyderman, our cabinet member for environment and climate change. The Green Flag Scheme is managed by environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy under licence from the government. The council picked up two awards at the London Constructive Awards for our Brent Cross West Station project last week. Our first award was for excellence in community engagement and second was for the project team of the year. The judges were impressed on how the community is very well, is at the very core of Brent Cross, Crickawood community programme. And judges were particularly impressed with how Brent Cross West Station is as accessible as possible for blind and partially sighted people. Congratulations to all that attended and that were involved in helping to achieve that award. And finally, on Wednesday 9 October 2024, the Royal Swedish Academy of Science jointly awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2024 to Sir John Demis Hassabis and Dr John Jumper for developing an AI model called AlphaFrold2 to solve a 50-year-old problem predicting the complex structure of proteins. Sir John Demis is a former Christ College Finchley student and we are delighted to hear his global recognition. Christ College Finchley are immensely proud that one of their own has achieved this as a researcher and worked as hard as he has for changing lives for millions of people across the hundreds of countries. Finally, Remembrance Sunday service will be held across the borough on Sunday 10 November. I think that councillors who have been asked to lay a civic wreath on behalf of the Mayor, Councillors and Burglars of London Borough of Barnet, I encourage all councillors to attend a service in their own wards if possible, as we remember the sacrifice made by servicemen and women in both world wars and conflicts across the world. Apologies for absence, Group Secretaries, are there any other apologies for absences? Thank you Mr Mayor. We have apologies from Councillor Begg and Councillor Conway and apologies for lateness from Councillor Tracoporty. Thank you. I have apologies from Councillor Joshua Conway, Councillor Val Dijinsky and Councillor Michael Meyer as well as Councillor Peter Zinkin. And I also received apologies from Councillor Lucentiu. I'm delighted to welcome Isit Tochi Oni-Yiri, pardon my pronunciation, Isabel and Mimi to the Council Chambers this evening. Thank you for joining us and now I'd like to invite you to start the meeting this evening with a few words. Good evening Mr Mayor, esteemed Councillors and fellow community members. Thank you very much for inviting us to open tonight's full Council. Our speeches will focus on this year's Black History Month theme which is Reclaiming Our Narratives. My name is Isabelle Stones and I'm here to discuss the one and only Rosa Parks. Rosa Parks is a pivotal figure in the American Civil Rights Movement. Her brave act of refusing to give up her bus seat to a white passenger in Montgomery, Alabama in 1955 sparked a nationwide protest against racial segregation. This courageous stand became a symbol of resistance and inspired countless others to join the fight for equality. Parks' actions highlighted the injustices faced by African Americans and helped to catalyse the Montgomery bus boycott which lasted over a year and led to a Supreme Court ruling that segregation on public buses was unconstitutional. Her legacy reminds us of the power of individual courage in the face of injustice and continues to inspire movements for equality around the world today. Thank you. Good evening. My name is Tocci Doble. During October when we remember the contributions of black individuals to our society, we are given the opportunity to share and understand the impact of black heritage and culture. This month is a time to reflect, a time to celebrate, and a time to educate. We reflect on the lives, stories, and victories of individuals. Martin Luther King, whose dreams of an equal society changed the landscape of civil rights. Adam C.J. Walker, the first black female millionaire in the United States. Olaudah Equiano, a freed slave turned performer who pushed for the abolition of slavery in the UK. And Mary Seacole, a British Jamaican nurse who funded her own way through the Crimean War after being denied by the British authority. But we must understand that black history cannot be defined by only these individuals. With black influence evident across all aspects of our society, science, sports, politics, art, mathematics, and literature, it's time to celebrate the black voices within those fields. Margaret Busby, Joyce Fraser, Edward Enifel, Marcus Rashford, Stephen Bartlett. Let us remember all the names of those who have broken the glass ceilings for the next generation. However, let us not only celebrate black victories, but also remember the suffering, the harsh reality of black history that we so often try to forget, segregation, slavery, systematic racism, and injustice, a chapter of our history that we must remember in order to not mirror the past and move forward into a society of racial equality and justice. This leads us to the very essence of Black History Month, of how we can move forward as a society as to not repeat the blunders of our ancestors, of how we can come together as a society to see that everyone, no matter of race, can be seen as equal. And this is the question I pose to you, Councillors. As the leaders of today, what do you plan to do to face the issues in this society regarding racial disparity, whether it's more support groups or more outreach programs for young people? Action needs to be taken. Significant progress has been made, but the road ahead is still long. Finally, I would just like to say the essential truth, that black history is British history. And our stories cannot be confined to the month of October, nor can the richness of our history be defined by triumph nor pain. Black history is ongoing, intertwined with our experiences and daily lives. As we reflect this month, let us commit ourselves to learning and unlearning and take the lessons of this month into the rest of our lives. Thank you. [Applause] Good evening. My name is Onyinye Chima Suma Umatu. I hate how we live in a world where slavery is the only thing black people have to contribute. To history. While slavery was an undeniably dark chapter in history, it is still affecting the lives of black people. The micro and macro aggressions of black individual experiences daily, the constant discrimination and prejudice and less obvious causes of unconscious bias is enough evidence that slavery has repercussions. However, it is not the only thing the black community has to contribute. Black history is rich with more than just this narrative of oppression. Focusing only on slavery reduces the vast contributions of African civilization. Not only does it ignore the powerful legacy of culture, innovation, resistance and leadership, it is also ignorant, a type of racism in itself. Because you are denying your fellow counterparts the right of history, right of past contribution and right of credit. As they're an abundance of stories, I'm afraid I don't have an abundance of time. Focusing on black women accounts, I will start with Sister Mary Kenner, born in 1912, North Carolina. A famous African American inventor known for her innovations in personal hygiene of products, particularly the adjustable sanitary belt, known as the modern sanitary pad. Of course, while she faced racial and gender barriers, she continued to innovate, improving the lives of many women, though she did not achieve fame, accolade, nor recognition. Next, Mabel Wolfwood, 20th century innovator, known for her creative textile patterns that reflect or are inspired by African and Caribbean motifs. Last but not least, Valerie Thomas, born in New York, 1922, is best known for her innovation of the illusion transmitter patent in 1980. This device created three dimensional images using two dimensional images. This technology has applications in medical imaging, data, visualization, and film in the film industry with 3D movies. I'm certain there are many more black pioneers, especially women, that contributed to fields that influenced innovators and concepts we use today, such as Sarah Boone, known for her improving the ironing board, but systematic barriers and historical racism made it difficult for black people to get recognition. History and education is an example of a systematic barrier today which is why I urge you to think of future generations. May they learn a more diverse and rich cultural part of history, recognizing our history is crucial. Without it, how can we expect young innovators to contribute to society and help us move forward in the future? Good evening. My name is Ayomede Olamolehu. Black history for so long has been confined to the margins of our collective memory, neglected and misrepresented, or simply even raced from the forefront of our narratives. Black history is rich in resilience and creativity and has made profound contributions to society. Black history is not a separate story, but in our towns, our cities, and our nation, through their labor, creativity, and leadership, it is about reclaiming the truth and upholding it with honor and pride. An example of this, of those who didn't make it into history books, were their windrush generation, Caribbean immigrants and those who settled right in our very own borough. They greatly contributed to the borough's cultural and social development and local economy, particularly in sectors like transportation and healthcare. They established vibrant communities that shaped Barnet's multicultural identity forever, leaving experiences to be passed down for generations. A mention must definitely go out to the black education sector. Barnet has known home to be multiple black scholars, private educators, and community leaders. Many black-led educational initiatives, including supplementary schools, were established to support from diverse backgrounds, promoting academic excellence and empowering young black students. So the question is, how do we reclaim our narratives, and as a community, how do we reclaim the truth? We must commit to building a more inclusive society in which Barnet residents and young black people are held in high regard when making decisions. It is time to make intentional strides to ensure that black history is not reduced to a footnote or a compulsory assembly at school, but embraced as an essential chapter in the narrative of our shared heritage. By doing so, we can transform our understanding of who we are, both as a community and as a society. In reclaiming black history, I believe we should not dwell on the wrong past, but we must work towards a future where the generations after us grow up learning the full breadth of history, one that includes experiences, triumphs, and sacrifices of black men and women who have been instrumental in shaping the world we live in today. To reclaim black history is to reclaim the soul of our community, is to ensure that we move forward as a society that values truth, inclusion, and justice, and it is not just a remembrance, but empowerment. We uplift the stories of the oppressed and forgotten. We empower future generations to continue to work of justice and equality. Honorable council members, we must ensure that this council, this community, and this generation is remembered not only for allowing history to be forgotten, but for stepping forward to reclaim, celebrate, and honor the truth that comes with it. Thank you. I'd really like to thank you for spending this evening away from your home to come and give us those thoughtful words. Thank you very much for those words, and I invite you to take a seat in the public gallery. You're welcome to stay if you'd like to, and I hope you will find the rest of the meeting interesting. Thank you. So Mr. Mayor, under declarations of interest, before the council this evening we have a motion regarding winter fuel allowances and a motion regarding leaseholders, and some elected members may have pecuniary interest in these matters. Under the constitution, a dispensation may be granted by the monitoring officer. In this case, the dispensation is granted for the following reasons. Many members of the decision-making body have a disclosable pecuniary interest, and it would impede the transaction of business not to grant the dispensation, that the authority considers that the dispensation is in the interest of persons living in the authorities that the authority considers that it is otherwise appropriate to grant the dispensation. So I was monitoring officer Grant and dispensation so that members may take part in the debates for these matters for this meeting and that they may stay, speak and vote. Thank you. Also, members have any other interests to declare, please could you advise and also declare which agenda items the interest relates to. Thank you Mr. Mayor. In relation to the questions to the members and committee chairs, I have an interest in the question on the social workers strike pecuniary interest due to my employment. Thank you. I will leave the room should we reach that question, but it's quite a long way down. Yes, I realize, thank you. Sorry, I didn't notice your hand cancel them, it wasn't high enough. Yeah, I'd like to declare another interest as well regarding item 14.7, the motion on 310 bus route as a TFL employee. Okay. We reached that, please, yeah, you know what to do. Nobody else, okay. Does council agree the accuracy of the minutes of the council meeting held on the ninth of July, 2024? Agreed, there are no public questions this evening. There are no deputations this evening. And there are no petitions this evening. Announcements from the leaders, Paul Pelo, there are none. So now we move on to agenda item 12, we will now move on to questions to the leaders, cabinet members and committee chairs. Can I remind members that the supplementary questions should be questions and not statements. And please keep both questions and answers concise. That way, we'll get through as many as possible, and you'll all have time to speak. Question one, Councillor Richard Cornelius, do you have any supplementary? I do, Mr. Mayor, thank you. There's a surprise. I'd like to thank the leader for his answer in much the same tone as my question. And I appreciate the reminder about the glasses too, I had overlooked that. But on a serious note, would the leader agree with me that is it is not a good look to accept untaxable freebies for someone who is likely to want something? Being lectured from the Conservative Party on matters of probity just seems fantastical, to be honest. There's been no taking having holidays in Mystique, having wallpaper pay for you, gold leaf wallpaper, all these rather dubious freebies that have been taken by past government. But I don't see this as freebies. What you've got to think about is, what is the role of a prime minister? And that is to lead. Now if people are worried about anything, then they can go to, you know, they can complain. But I don't see any evidence that we have approached the sleaze and slander of the last few governments and the damage they've done to Britain. And I'm proud of the government and I'm proud of the people of Britain for deciding a new direction and the change that is needed. Councillor Stark, do you have a supplementary? Thank you very much indeed, Mr Mayor. And if you just bear with me for one minute, I'm going to explain my question. A while ago I brought the motion to the council asking why Barnet Roads was subject to so many ghost traffic lights, hopefully you remember it. I asked this question a few weeks ago, there were two sets of temporary traffic lights causing huge tailbacks on Tottridge Lane. Now this is an A road and it's heavily used by emergency vehicles and many motorists trying to reverse the borough in the east-west direction. In addition to these lights, there were simultaneously temporary traffic lights at the top of Tottridge Lane going into Whetstone High Road and also another set going towards Mill Hill. This brought the whole area to a grinding halt. At two of these locations there were no works taking place like ghost traffic lights. Residents wrote to me in complete frustration. So my question is, please could the traffic management team give careful consideration when looking at works taking place in an area all over the borough and if there is an overrun on the time, rather than fine the companies, because you've mentioned that, could they not just physically, because I have been tempted to actually remove them myself, remove the lights which is causing such a massive waste of time for our residents. Thank you. Councillor Sydenham. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I agree with Councillor Stockton. Temporary traffic lights are unfortunately one of life's annoying necessities but I do understand the frustration that she and indeed many residents feel about this and it is of course also frustrating when there's no one working there. But there is often a reason why there's nobody, nobody working there. It's not just that they've been put, it's not just that they've been put there, it's not just that they've been put there for the fun of it and as it says in the answer, the Council does monitor all of these works. There is a utilities charter in place and as she referred to, it's not unimportant that over half a million pounds worth of fines were levied on utilities in the last year and hitting them in the pocket does have an influence on performance. Once they're regularly fined, we expect them to be a lot less likely to put traffic lights and leave them in place without anything happening. I don't think I can agree with her taking direct action. These lights are needed often for very important safety reasons but if there are particular circumstances, please do report them and the Council's officers will go and check what's happening there. Thank you. Councillor Wakeley. Thank you. Thank you for your answer to my question. Will the cabinet member ensure that the promises made to residents in West Hendon will be kept and the long-awaited works to West Hendon playing field begin before 2026? Can I just point out to the Councillor the answer to the question, no decision has been made. That means no decision has been made and we're not making a decision on the hoof here. We're serious about having the financial probity to make sure we can continue to provide better services for all residents of Barnet which includes residents of West Hendon. When a decision is made you'll hear about it, until a decision is made there's no comment on it. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. It's now been best part of two and a half years since the leader promised the fabled council tax refund and in your response you boast that 2% has been returned to residents which is fantastic. The only problem is I'm a resident and I have not received 2% so please can you let me know when I will receive my 2%? Thank you. I'm not quite sure why you have this difficulty and have asked this same question time after time. We didn't pay the full bit. We put back the 1% rise that the previous Conservative administration has done. We have not, we have looked at the medium term financial strategy that you put which was that the Conservatives, if they had been elected, would have put the council tax up by the maximum every year. We haven't put it up by the maximum either year. No we don't. I can understand that Councillor Longstaff noted for his acting, noted for his interest in the Arch which I accept he is not noted for his ability to add up or do sums. I will explain to you in a minute what the refund is. The full amount was 5% it did not go up 5% therefore it did not go up by the maximum. Mr Mayor can I just point out something that 4.99% is statistically insignificant. As a percentage, 4.99% is statistically insignificant and by the way a refund does not mean giving money to other people. Thank you. Can we go on to Councillor Mitra please. Thank you very much Mr Mayor. Does the lack of transparency that was contained in the Capita contract explain the poor financial decisions that were made by the previous Conservative Administration? Thank you Mr Mayor. I thank the Member for pointing out the many things that we have now discovered since bringing back the Capita related treasury function in house. The level of financial ruin that the previous administration presided over has now only become transparent because of the services being brought back in house. But it is also refreshing that we can now deal with the treasury function of the council in a way that benefits residents rather than stakeholders of Capita. So there is a lot of benefits that we have now only been able to realise and utilise as a result of this. Thank you. Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you Mr Mayor. Does this answer mean that you are planning to spend more money on the services currently provided by Capita and is this what the vast capital provision that we hear about is for? No, the capital provision is different. Some of it is promises made by the previous administration when their own government raised interest rates almost ten times from half a percent to five percent and have caused problems that we are having to clear up. Things on Capita will be made from if you like a sensible financial point of view. On the whole we have brought in a lot of Capita, as you know, over 400 staff and as Councillor Natanac being mentioned, the main reason for insourcing is that we have a responsibility to the people of Barnet. Capita like every private company legally have a responsibility to their shareholders and for us residents come before shareholders, people before profit. Councillor Weiser. Thank you Mr Mayor. Would the Leader agree with me that having a cabinet system rather than a committee system has allowed for greater financial overview to deal with the financial crisis of local government in comparison to siloed thinking under the committee system? Surprise, surprise, yes, I do agree, it is a far better way of administering the borough. We had obviously committee meetings and so many decisions were made and the final decision was made by the chair with the director. So many decisions by the last administration were made behind closed doors, we are happy to make our decisions in front of the public, in front of the webcam and we are proud of what we are doing. Thank you. Councillor Pritger. Thank you Mr Mayor. The only reason that the Conservative Mayor in Croydon had to raise council tax there was because of the mess that he inherited from your Labour colleagues. This council is following along the same path and Barnet residents are the ones that are going to have to pay for that. So I'm just going to reiterate, can the leader guarantee that Barnet is not going to end up like Croydon? Yes, I can guarantee we will not have a Conservative Mayor that puts council tax up by 15% and has a £42 million overspend. We're in a far better position than that, we know what we're doing. The people of Croydon have been suffering because they voted Conservative two years ago and I feel sorry for them. [Applause] Councillor Radford. Councillor Radford. Thank you for your answer to the question. To follow up, I think like anything one of the things in terms of monitoring finance is monitoring our level of cash. I believe now we've put in a liquidity buffer so that we actually have a minimum level of cash that we aim to track and maintain. Do you have any idea why this wasn't the case previous to this administration? Thank you Mr Mayor. Perfect set up, alley-oop as they call it in certain circles in basketball analogies. I think what's important about this, we can get into a lot of technicalities about Treasury management and it can become somewhat nebulous for an average resident to understand but what's particularly important to understand here is the long-term thinking, the benefit that residents will get from worrying about the finances of the council, the management of our Treasury function over the long term rather than bumbling around from one year to the next as the previous administration did. Basically only really worried about the next election cycle, how do we survive within this four-year term. No long-term thinking, no long-term benefit for residents and the consequences of that is being borne by us right now. The debt financing burden that the local authority now has to bear with because of just the economic illiteracy that we have inherited from the previous administration. The liquidity buffer is one example of how we're looking for, it is a benefit because it's a long-term, evidently they still don't seem to understand what long-term benefit is. Oh sorry was that a question? It's true that residents do need to be prepared but luckily with a Labour administration they can benefit from the investment we're making in roads and pavements in sustainability and with regards to street lighting we'll make sure that the levels as it says in the answer always remain compliant because we're committed to ensuring the safety of our roads and pavements and that's also why we invested in fixing the broken CCTV left behind by the previous Conservative administration. Councillor Baker. Barnet Council tax is currently more than £300 lower for Band B and Band D households than Conservative Harrow. Is the leader committed to keeping our manifesto pledge on council tax that we will not increase it to the legal maximum? Thank you Mr Mayor, the leader is delegating the answer to me. So what I'd like to thank my colleague for is giving me an opportunity to reaffirm a pledge that we made to residents and our desire to maintain that in future. When the Prime Minister talks about fixing the foundations, trust and honesty is part of that. I have to use single syllables because our Conservative colleagues don't seem to understand anything more complicated than that. Sentence structure is relevant to answering questions sometimes, I hope you do understand. The answer is yes, we're going to keep promises because keeping promises is very important in politics. Councillor Shuter. Thank you Mr Mayor, thank you for your answer and it was actually the tip of the iceberg. Many many voters in Hendon didn't receive a postal ballot and unfortunately they became disenfranchised, they didn't know what to do, they had to get a new one and by then it was too late. So I myself didn't get my postal ballot sadly. There were also Labour people, I know it was terrible, but I knew what to do and I got a reprint. But the whole thing was a pass. In fact three months later to this day I still haven't received that ballot, I don't know where it's gone, it's probably, well I'm not going to make any accusations, but it's probably in a recycling bin somewhere. And this never happened under our watch, so I don't know, missing postal ballots, look we've had 100 days of farcical Labour government, we're coming out to 1000 days of this utter crazy Labour, local councillors, don't even let people vote, so I'll just come to my question. So the question is, the question is how can we make it easier for residents so they can understand what to do, where to go, can we actually have in the polling stations the ability to reprint postal ballots because clearly this is going to happen in the future as well. There's got to be a way where we can make it easier for people to not become disenfranchised like they were over the last two elections, thank you. Thank you, I'd like, you say this didn't happen under your watch, I lived in Haringey in 2016 and even I heard about what happened in those GLA elections, so let's not say that your election process was perfect, but first I'd like to thank our wonderful officers and staff who worked very hard on two elections this year, two elections, because your last government couldn't decide when it wanted to go to the polls and cost the country 33.2 million pounds more by holding elections on two different days. But let's also look at what your government did to make running elections harder for our officers and staff. They reduced the election period, which means there is a week less for those postal votes to be printed and get out to our residents. That's your government's fault for changing the rules, by reducing the election period you make it harder for the staff here to get your election vote out. You introduce voter ID, which makes it harder to send out polling cards because instead of printing an A5 card that we all used to have that came through our doors, we have to print an A4 letter, we have to get white envelopes and they have to go in those so that people will open them and know there is an election on. We have to have a hand count for the GLA election making it harder for staff because you couldn't decide as a party when you wanted to go to the polls for a national election, we all knew was coming. So if you want to talk about why elections are difficult to run at the moment, maybe you should go and talk to your own party about all the reforms you made unnecessarily to election law to make running elections harder and more expensive for councils already under a financial strain and a government already under a financial strain because of your economic vandalism and disaster. I think you are going to find that you are the government that made it harder for people to get postal votes so it is going to require a national reform of the law to change how we can run elections because we don't decide how that is run, that is a national government decision. So maybe you should talk to your local MP, the new Labour one. Thank you. Council Monasterio. Thank you, Mr Mayor. In her written answer, the cabinet member for Family Friendly Barney outlined the costs of years of underinvestment have had on our children's care costs and how we end up paying for profit operators as a result. What can be done to mitigate these costs? Thank you for the question. I think as I have mentioned before, the way that we try and make sure that we help our most vulnerable children to not have the expensive costs that we have incurred is to have more in-house provision. We will shortly be opening a new children's home in Whetstone and I know that the children's homes that we have got are well used and are virtually fully occupied. We usually only keep one place vacant for emergencies. But as I have mentioned before here, the problem with the high cost placements is the intervention of private companies and hedge funds that are milking profits on the backs of our vulnerable children. This is going to need something further up the chain at a government level to get a handle on this and to really try and make sure that when we do have to look after our most vulnerable children, and I stress our children under our corporate parenting responsibilities that we all hold for our children, it shouldn't be that private companies are hiving off fast profits to make sure that they are adequately and well looked after and often at long distances away from home, not close to where they live and admittedly some children need to be at a distance away. But for a majority they would be far better if they were closer to where they live and to the family networks and their friends and unfortunately this has not been the case. Because of the reduction and the lack of supply of these places, what happens is you have two or three boroughs that need a place and they play one off against the other to try and get a higher cost. They really have us over a barrel to try and look after these young people. And this is something that has really got to stop and the profit making side of it has really got to stop because they are our children and we should make sure that they are looked after in the best possible way but not for profit. Thank you. Thank you. Ken for a long start. Thank you Mr Mayor. I was surprised. I genuinely thought that the offset inspection for children services would have resulted in a much better result than just one outstanding. But the question I want to ask the cabinet member for Family Friendly Barnet is basically about the manifesto where you write in your manifesto that we will work towards outstanding children services. It's just one line right at the very end and that line will have been read by the officers, the council officers here and it will have been read by Ofsted who will then look to the budgets to see if they match up with what you're proposing in your manifesto. And it seems to me that as the lead member you could have done more in terms of getting better resources for the children services simply by arguing your point with the leader about whether or not we should spend the money on the skip service or children services, the cultural strategy or children services, moving to the cabinet system or children services or capital insourcing which I believe cost around five million pounds. But I'd be interested to know if you will be trying to get better resources in the future. Thank you. I'm surprised. I mean generally I respect you Councillor Longstaff because you are shadow lead and you led on this area beforehand and you know that the words working towards outstanding means working towards. You know that our staff and all our social workers work incredibly hard, they are very well valued and you know fully well what we do and how we have ensured that children and young people have a better say in every possible way in what happens to them in their lives. We can't just magic more up under the current circumstances and this department does extremely well in for what it provides for young people and for what it provides for the young children in our care and we should be extremely proud of what they've done for our young people and not think that a one word should make a difference to how we value them and how we support them in all the care that we give for our young people. They are the most important, it's not one word that's important, what is important is the outcomes for our young people and that is what we should be proud of and continue be proud of and continue working more to make sure they always get the best and as I said before not so that businesses get profits out of our young people which is something I definitely disagree with. Susan McCurk. Yes I do have a supplementary and I totally concur what Councillor Clark said about the achievements at the Arts Depot. It's amazing 30 years ago we were like a basically a wilderness when it came to arts and culture but where there was a will there was a way, there was change of administration, the bull was dying, there was only one community festival struggling to maintain itself but suddenly something changed. Last week it was lovely to see Dame Evelyn Glennon who's a world-known award-winning percussionist actually addressing people at the Arts Depot, attended by Labour councillors across the borough, attended by the local Labour MPs. Sorry is this a question? I asked the question in the beginning if you listen properly. My mother is an English drama teacher and she knows that I do have to actually put a question. This was a desert of culture 30 years ago and things have changed and this is in spite of the Tories in opposition and in power trying to stop this amazing venue absolutely happening. I think we did, having listened to those wonderful young women earlier this evening, don't you agree that the arts isn't for the elite, the arts and culture is for everybody. It's not just those who can afford it, it's to be open to everybody whether it be in our schools, whether it be in our church halls, whether it be in our playgrounds where we can put music and that children actually play and dance in playgrounds. I think arts and culture is so important to the well-being of the people of this borough whether you be four years old, 40 year olds, 80 year olds or 90 year olds. Don't you believe that this is and the fact that the Arts Depot in spite of Tory cuts and Tory attacks over the last 30 years, that it's surviving and arts and culture in this borough will survive and we want to see that Burdett is a venue where people want to celebrate arts and culture. Do you agree with me, Councillor Clark? So yes, I do agree with you. But just to add, it was absolutely wonderful to be at that event. If you'd like a note, we're just pausing the timer there. Do you agree with me that Burdett should be a venue for arts and culture? Councillor Richard Cornelius. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. I don't think I can compete with Councillor McGurk for length of question. It was Labour that estimated 4,000 people might die if this proposal was brought forward when they were in opposition and civil servants came up with it. So do you really mean that you haven't done the work for Barnet to see how many people will die? I think that is a false premise, Councillor Cornelius. I don't think we'd want to see anyone die in Barnet, but you can play politics with this. But as the written answer notes, we should as Councillors be actively encouraging residents to use the benefits calculator or other face-to-face support that's available across the borough and enabling those residents who are eligible for pension credit to apply. They will not only retain that winter fuel allowance, but they'll also raise their household income from the benefit itself, one which they're entitled to, it is not charity, and it's one that will benefit them all year round, day in, day out. Thank you. Councillor Halleck. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Presidents of Colindale South and indeed I believe across the borough are noticing the benefits of the investment that the Labour Council have made in the roads, in the pavements and the roads. And we know what a shocking state that the last administration left them in. Of course, more needs to be done. More always needs to be done. When will we find out about the next stage of the programme? Councillor Sandeman. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I'm glad that time stood still so that I would have time to answer Councillor Halleck's question. As he says, we inherited a highways network in a shocking state with a huge backlog of repairs. The £97 million programme that we invested in to fix in Barnet's roads and pavements is the largest ever in the history of this council. And as he says, and I know other residents also across the borough are noticing, beginning to notice the improvement in our roads and pavements as a result. And that includes particularly residents in Hamden Way. For the first time in decades the council is actually doing a full reconstruction of a road at a cost of £3 million, not just skimming off a surface and putting a thin layer on top, a proper reconstruction down to the base of that road that I know is being appreciated by residents in that road. But as the old saying goes, you're only as good as your last pot... Am I not allowed to complete, Mr Mayor? Come on, bring it to a point, Councillors. I thought it was the mastermind rules I started so I'll finish. As the old saying goes, you're only as good as your last pothole repair. That's why officers are working at the moment on putting together the 2526 programme. They're going to be engaging with ward members very shortly in advance of the programme being announced next year. The £97 million programme rolls on. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you. We're going to fit in one more question. Councillor Ward. Yes, yes, yes, if you'd talked for less time I would have had the time. It's very quick. Does the council have any idea of how many pensioners living in Barnet are eligible for pension credit but don't currently claim it? Well, no, those are figures that the DWP have. What we do know is there's been a great increase in the number of pensioners getting pension credit. There's a big campaign going on that UK are running. Our benefits calculator has brought in over £7 million more to people, including pensioners in Barnet. And perhaps more important, keeping the triple lock means that every pensioner will get at least £350 extra this year so nobody of whatever age will be poorer through this decision alone. Thank you. That concludes the questions to the leaders, cabinet members and committee chairs. We'll now move on to the remainder of the business. Members, questions? There are none. I now call on the Labour group to state which administration motion they will debate. Thank you, Mr Mayor. We will be debating motion 14.1 in the name of Councillor Baker, celebrating the administration's achievements. I now call on the Conservative group Secretary to state which opposition motion they will debate. Thank you very much, Mr Mayor. We will be debating 14.2, the opposition motion in the name of Councillor Richard Cornelius. The Councillor regrets the government's decision to punish Barnet's pensioners. Thank you. I now call Councillor Sue Baker, celebrating the administration achievements. Can I remind everyone this is her maiden speech, so it's allowed longer. Hello, everybody. Hi. As this is my first speech, I'd like to thank my predecessor, Marianne Halep, for her service and say a few introductory words. I've lived in Chipping Barnet most of my life, apart from three years when I was in the University of Wales. I was born in Barnet, raised here and raised my family here and also work in Barnet. I've taught hundreds of Barnet youngsters at Barnet Southgate College, and one of the joys of knocking on doors in Barnet Vale is answering to someone saying, Miss, is that you? which is often quite funny because they're adults with children. I will serve my residents by listening and helping to create a better environment for families, and on canvases they tell me how they are seeing the labour difference in Barnet. They've noted on a canvas last Sunday how they feel safer, and they were aware of the improved CCTV that had been fixed after the Conservatives left 70% broken. They note the excellent new Barnet Leisure Centre facility, which I attend very regularly. Importantly, usage has gone up there by 20% in the last year, and the advertising has definitely worked. You can see the long list of labour achievements in the motion, but the greatest one is ambition, and that's ambition for the borough. Too often, under the Conservatives, the attitude appeared to be, We'll pay capital to run the council for us as long as they can tell us the council tax figure every year will lead them to it. There was no ambition. I'm ambitious for Barnet, and would love to see the music service that I benefited from a youngster in Barnet brought back and reintroduced. We do face a difficult financial time, and I know that we'll not be bringing everything back as we would like, but the ambition for the last two years has been notably fantastic. Barnet's very first Pride celebration, taking on the climate emergency, bringing abandoned green spaces back to use, for example. Labour's vision for council is one that listens to residents and helps them to enrich their lives. It's one that I support and will do so by voting for this motion. Thank you. [applause] [applause] [applause] Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and can I first congratulate Councillor Baker on your maiden speech? That's the nice bit. That leisure centre you talk about was built under the Conservative administration, so it's great that you're using it, even though we did nothing according to you. This motion, which I'm sure you didn't write, is really just narcissism. That's all it is. Every three council meetings or so, Labour put in a motion of self-praise, and as we all know, self-praise is no praise at all. A motion of apologies for your broken promises, now that would have been much more realistic. Apologies for no council tax refund, the maximum increase for council tax, worthless promise to freeze garden waste. The promise, and this is a really good one, the promise to develop a new model of social care for independent living. That group came to this council, presented a petition, and you told them to push off. Even the chief executive left the council to spend more time with his family. In fact, he put in his resignation shortly after telling the cabinet that they had to stick within their budgets. Other members of the senior management have also surreptitiously disappeared. Your manifesto mentions businesses. Your manifesto mentions businesses, and yet this year, you're putting up costs for businesses by 10%, even though the rate is 2.2%. Your quarterly deep cleanses don't happen. You've used over 18 million of reserves this year. Can I just overspend? My point of order is that Councillor Longstaff is out of order in the comments that he's making about past senior officers, and I think he should withdraw them and apologise. Councillor Midler, which point are you actually making? Mr Mayor, it is a fact that the previous chief executive, who I didn't name, wrote in the newspaper that he was leaving to spend more time with his family. What's wrong with that? The other officers have gradually disappeared, and if you think they have to finish, please just allow Councillor Longstaff to finish. We've paused it, so just carry on, Councillor Longstaff. We'll add on 30 seconds, Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Right, the leader said when he first got in charge of this council that the finances were in good order. Which bit of the finances in good order did you suddenly change your mind about? It's council now that is driving the cost-of-living crisis. You're the ones putting up the costs for every resident. You're the ones pushing up the bin charge. You're the ones pushing up all the other costs, the parking costs. So all you're really doing, the plan that you've got for Barnet is bankruptcy, a 114 notice. That's all you're doing and it's happening very soon. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Councillor Rawlings, thank you. Thank you, Councillor Houston. Point of order, Mr Mayor. Can I just point out, Mr Mayor, that Councillors Trusses Bush was never, this Trusses budget was never implemented. You ought to learn that. Councillors, that's, we're moving on, Councillor Houston. Councillor Houston, please. Thank you, Mr Mayor. As Councillor Baker's motion outlines, we acted quickly to deliver our manifesto promises and transform the way the Councillors run. Our five key pledges all delivered, job done. Only yesterday, Cabinet met to go through the full manifesto programme we were elected on and it is remarkable how much has been achieved. From sorting out our broken CCTV network, fixing our crumbling roads and pavements, to groundbreaking anti-social behaviour initiatives such as Clear Hold Build and becoming a council that leads on sustainability and net zero, not one which sticks its head in the sand and denies the threat of climate change. And we've pressed on with delivering new council homes funding through the HRA despite the financial headwinds caused by high interest rates, soaring labour and material costs all following Tory austerity and Brexit, but culminating in the chaos of Trussonomics. Investing to save and help reduce our soaring temporary accommodation pressures. Tory government irresponsibility left us a crisis in council financing, a tsunami of pressures on statutory frontline services unfunded by central government on top of cuts of 100 million to Barnet's budget. On day one we started the process of tightening control by insourcing key services, bringing in the cabinet system and exercising a hands-on approach to governance. Unprecedented emergent pressures faced London councils, but the simple fact is that it has been made so much worse because the Barnet Tories took their eye off the ball. They missed opportunities to invest when interest rates were low, they didn't pressurise developers to deliver enough affordable housing before the recent downturn and they continued to use up our cash to meet spending commitments rather than borrowing when interest rates were historically low, which has left us in a position where the council is now having to borrow at historically high rates to continue to meet those commitments. Barnet faces unprecedented challenges but at last has an administration that is focused on governance, oversight and taking the difficult decisions to get us back on track. Thank you Mr Mayor. I want to start by welcoming Councillor Baker to the chamber and congratulate her on her maiden speech. On behalf of the Conservative group I feel I should update you about what's been happening over the last two and a half years by your Labour group. I only have two minutes so I'm going to limit myself to just ten of their broken promises but I can tell you the rest after if you'd like. So first, they promised to refund 1% of council tax by autumn 2022, that never happened. Second point, they abandoned the council's vote to freeze the garden waste green bin charge and instead increased it by almost 40%. Three, Labour claims to keep council tax increases well below that of other councils. This year it was statistically insignificant, 0.01% below the maximum increase allowed by the government. Four, the administration cut £800,000 from SEND transport services. These are services that help children with disabilities and additional needs get to school. Five, the council spent £100,000 on an events company to run a climate assembly that they've yet to implement any real policies from. Six, the Labour manifesto promised a review of adult independent living services which was abandoned. Seven, council financial reserves are being raided and earmarked for massive depletion over the next two years. Eight, their manifesto stated they would fight tower blocks and high rises and they seem to be supportive, despite this they seem to be supportive of the Edgewood towers. Nine, they promised to get rid of chemical pesticides, however the cabinet member mentioned at our last meeting that that would have been impossible to do. Maybe you should have checked that before you put it in your manifesto. Ten, the mental health social workers are still on strike and the council is buying in cover to meet statutory duties. So, to summarise, Labour breaks their promises, Labour are financially irresponsible and Labour are bad for Barnet. Thank you. Councillor Barnes. I have managed up to now to keep a low profile in the theatre for council meetings, but now with the very welcome election of my colleague, Councillor Sue Baker, it was noticed that I have actually never made my first speech. The tradition is of course to thank the former councillor who represented Barnet Vale, which I believe is made up of four old wards and would include Councillor Stock, Cornelises and Longstaff. Councillor Longstaff, a man who is very familiar with the theatre of four council meetings, has however worked constructively and helpfully alongside me in Barnet Vale, aiding the residents without too much reference to party politics. As the only active Labour councillor in Barnet Vale, I was busy replying to all the concerns of residents about the speeding traffic, emptying of bins, etc, and I look forward to sharing these joys with Councillor Baker. I was pleased, I have been pleased to secure modest area committee funding for dementia-friendly flower arranging, provided by a collaboration of Age UK and a florist in Barnet Vale, and also for a wellbeing garden provided by incredible edible Barnet at St John's Church in the ward. The motion I'm speaking in favour of this evening highlights the many achievements of the council administration over the two years plus in what has been a very difficult financial situation. Residents feel safer now that the CCTV, which the outgoing Conservative administration left 70% broken, has now been fixed. There is a new pride in the appearance of the borough. The return of the community skips programme has helped avoid fly tipping. The regular deep clean of the borough's streets is making a real difference to the pleasantness of the ward. The £97 million programme for fixing our roads and streets has had a great impact on Barnet Vale. We have seen £700,000 invested in the Great North Road, which was needed desperately to deal with the potholes and wear and tear that had developed there. The declaration of the climate of emergency has helped spur community groups into action. We have planted more than 1,000 trees across the borough. The borough has applied for and been awarded its first green flag for more than 10 years at Cherry Tree Wood. We have surpassed Friends of the Earth's target for electric vehicle charging points. The biggest impact a Labour administration has made to Barnet is to bring energy and direction. We will have difficult choices to make given the financial mess the last Conservative government has given us, but Labour has shown it delivers for Barnet and will continue to do so, so I am very happy to support this motion. Thank you, Councillor Barnes. Councillor Parker. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Congratulations Councillors Baker and Barnes on your maiden speeches. It's important to congratulate ourselves and acknowledge when things are going well, but it's equally important to take stock and face some hard truths when things aren't going so well. For this Labour administration to put forward a motion praising themselves for the great job they're apparently doing whilst ravaging the Council's financial reserves is quite frankly delusional. The irony in criticising the financial controls that we put in place as they spend all the money that we saved is palpable and shows a clear lack of understanding of basic finance and further illustrates why we're in this mess. No accountability, no oversight, no control. Slapping yourselves on the backs whilst putting the future of this bar at risk is quite possibly the most tone deaf thing I've ever heard in this chamber and that's saying something. We're going to hear in the Garms report later this evening about the sorry state of the Council's finances. By all means, celebrate the successes, but don't be misguided into thinking that they're long term wins. At the current trend in just a couple of years, the Council will become effectively bankrupt. Councillor Baker, if that were to happen, everything that you're celebrating tonight will be withdrawn with services scaled back just to cover the basics. I'm not here just to talk about doom and gloom. I want to be positive. I want to celebrate in the Council successes. We all do, but please don't be so naive to assume that you can continue to spend money we don't have on vanity projects and that the residents of Barnet will thank you for it because we won't. This financial mess comes despite you increasing council tax by 3%, social care charges 2%, garden waste charges 40%. We're going to hear tonight about more visitor parking permits, almost 100%. I could go on and that's all before the Labour government starts raising national taxes wherever they can. Will there be any respite to Barnet's residents? As a former local MP once said, the problem with Labour, be it nationally or here in Barnet, is that eventually they run out of other people's money. You're precariously close to doing so. Thank you. Is there another speaker from the Labour side? No. Councillor Mering and Smith, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I too would like to congratulate our new maiden speeches speakers Councillor Baker. I don't know Councillor Baker yet, but I've certainly worked with Councillor Barnes and it was a pleasure to hear his maiden speech. And we did some excellent work on the task of finish group. I do feel a bit sorry for Councillor Baker, however, she was set up with this extraordinary motion, claiming all sorts of exciting things. But nevertheless, she did a splendid job trying to defend it all. But I have to say, I was trying to understand the finances of the council because the whole question Councillor Knack we raised about the reserves is obviously significant to us all. My astonishment came because I'm not an inexperienced finance person. Some of you may be aware I've had quite a lot of experience of finance. And I was astonished at the way this report was written. If you were setting out as a finance expert to try and confuse the general public as to what was really happening. This report does a splendid job of it. And frankly, what we're going to see is now this hundred million of reserves has frankly disappeared, that we left you, you're going to have a shocking problem over the next few years. But as you've told us repeatedly, the Conservative government was previously completely incompetent and financial matters. And now you have five years ahead of you as a Labour administration, showing how finances can be properly run at a government level. And clearly the first hundred days of the Labour administration have demonstrated extraordinary efficiency in all sorts of respects. So very best of luck while the two of you try and sort out both the combination of the national finances and the local finances, because you've got a jolly tough job ahead of you. Councillor Baker, OK, in terms of Colour Flight summing this up, hearing the Labour speeches, it's very clear the difference the administration is making to the borough. So I urge everyone to vote for this motion. Thank you. We will now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Baker. All those in favour? That's 36. Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 16. Mr. Mayor. Motion in the name of Councillor Baker is therefore carried. I now call on Councillor Richard Cornelius. This council regrets the government's decision to punish Barnet's pensioners. Councillor Richard Cornelius, you have three minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. You summed that up excellently. Thank you. Now I feel sorry for you, Mr. Mayor. You and your colleagues must be so upset and embarrassed by the first hundred days of the Labour government. The flagship policies that hold your party together are revealed as vindictive and hollow. VAT on school fees, it's unravelling. The costs of replacement state education are appearing and hard-pressed special needs students, their parents who pay for them, the costs are becoming apparent. And it's particularly nice to know the Secretary of State of Education actually plays hockey at a public school. Now the tax on non-DOMs looks like it will lose money rather than raise funds for the Treasury. The loss of rich entrepreneurs and their investments can't be good for anybody in this country. Tinkering carelessly with private rentals has damaged the sector, reduced the supply of properties and led to desperate homeless people being put into nightly paid accommodation. And then we have the sheer hypocrisy, the suits, the Taylor Swift tickets, the glasses, the corporate hospitality, and the glasses the PM got can't be any good as he can't see this is all wrong. And what really disgusted me is that Rachel Reeves has claimed for heating as a parliamentary expense and yet decided to remove the winter fuel payment from our seniors. It's disgusting. This was introduced as a fix by Gordon Brown after a minuscule pension increase and an almighty backlash from the Labour Party which I hope will come again. But this benefit has been amazingly effective in persuading frugal pensioners to actually put their heating on. Labour Chancellors hate this kind of benefit and with their statist hats on want to means test everybody. And I suspect Starmer really wants benefits that look magnanimous and generous, flashy, but have a low take-up because of their complexity. But we really do need to keep Barnet's old people warm. They've lost sight of the bigger picture. Pensioners in hospital with hypothermia cost money. Sometimes a moral imperative demands a U-turn. Government is complicated. You found that as taking over the council administration. Things that sound simple actually have a complicated bite in their tail. And these unattended consequences will fully outweigh any supposed benefit on this heating payment being removed. It will end up costing the Labour government more money and yet they lose all their moral credibility by doing it. I am ashamed of our Labour government. Thank you. Councillor Langley. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Trigger warning, I intend to speak in full sentences. Allow me to invite all members to engage in a moment of reflection. I want us to think about what the purpose of political office is. The point of entering into a life dedicated to political service. I ask us to set aside briefly the political point-scoring, the partisan bickering, the rhetorical one-upmanship and concentrate our minds instead on the role of the politician in a representative democracy. So we are charged with absorbing and keeping at the forefront of our minds the concerns, anxieties, hopes and desires of the people we represent. To adequately do so, we must mute our egos, Councillor. We must resist the temptation of becoming distracted by the party political horse trade and get admired in dogmatic policy-making that is indifferent to that which genuinely benefits the long-term wellbeing of the nation. Now, Mr Mayor, I felt I needed to engage in that moment of reflection because this motion is utterly devoid of any historical context. It entirely lacks the humility to acknowledge the years of negligence in the wake of which our future financial decision-making needs to be made. It does not appear to appreciate how badly the Conservative Party has betrayed the trust of all people, whether attentionable of age or otherwise in Barnet and well beyond. From David Cameron calling a ruinous referendum to placate his own party, to Theresa May and Boris Johnson contriving treaty agreements they knew diminished the fiscal and diplomatic prospects of the country to appease ideologues that put them in power, to Liz Truss the less said about her, the better, the less she speaks in future, the better we will all be. So over a decade of economic vandalism, a dereliction of duty by the Tories, that is the context this motion lacks. Labour is doing what it needs to to fix this extraordinary unprecedented mess and for that reason I urge the Chamber to reject the motion. Thank you. Councillor Wakeley. Thank you, Mr Mayor. This winter, if we have any pensioners when they come to us and say they can't afford the heating, if they could hear what you've just said, that pompous speech you just gave, completely out of touch, I can't believe. Anyway, the Prime Minister stated during the general election that pensioners deserve security in their retirement. However, just like Labour here in Barnet, the Parliamentary Labour Party has failed to keep their promise. Keir Starmer managed to break his commitment to pensioners in less than 100 days. David Pinto-Dusinski, Dan Tomlinson and Sarah Sackmann have let down the 47,969 pensioners who will be affected by this policy in Barnet. They have failed to stand up to the government's attack on pensioners and instead voted for it. Labour themselves have said that pensioners will die as a result of this policy and our local MPs voted for this. Barnet Labour should be ashamed and you should be ashamed of the speech you just gave talking about David Cameron when people might die. The actions taken by this government do not surprise me as we have seen how Labour operate once they are in power in Barnet. They promise one thing on the campaign trail and then completely ignore their residence once in power. Labour is bad for pensioners, Labour break their promises and Labour are bad for Barnet. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Now I understand that Councillor Cornelius and the Conservatives are upset about the changes to the winter fuel allowance. But reading their motion, they don't appear to be so upset to give a roadmap to propose a tax rise that can pay for its full retention whilst closing the £22 billion black hole left to the current government. Now the Conservatives may pull their faces and groan, as they are right now, but if we're going to discuss national government policy here, it would be helpful to know what revenue-raising measures those across the Chamber would accept. Are they backing their leadership front-runner calling for cuts to corporation tax and capital gains tax? And this motion is just another example of the fantasy economics from the Conservatives that crash the UK economy, first by delivering a terrible Brexit deal, then the disastrous List Trust budget, thank God it wasn't implemented Councillor Longstaff, and vacating the government months before the election. I wish that no cuts would be needed. I also wish to build a time machine, travel back in time to September 2022 and teach List Trust how to add and subtract. But we can't always get what we want. But as Councillor Wakeley said, the Prime Minister said, pensioners deserve security and pensioners will get their deserved increase in their state pension. Today's labour market data shows that the state pension will rise by over 4%, over £450 a year. And it's the mission of every Labour government to tackle poverty, as it is the mission of this Labour government. And that takes long and serious thinking. We'll be watching closely to see if the Conservatives support the necessary tax regime to support that policy, or if they are still drunk on the irresponsible politics summed up by this motion that always leaves the British people to clear up their mess. Thanks for the award. I think on the basis of what's been said so far this evening, I just want to start with the sort of reminding everyone that it is Labour's decision to link winter fuel payments to pension credit. There were other ways in which you could have benchmark that it's been suggested by Age UK, but Labour have cut it to the bare minimum of the £11,400 threshold that is on you. And the issue is pension credit is poorly claimed, and many who are eligible will never claim it. They're more likely to suffer from ill health, they're more likely to suffer from dementia, and they're much more vulnerable and hard to reach. We also need to remember that much of our housing stock here in Barnet is costly and difficult to heat. 52% of our properties have got an energy rating of Band D or lower. Now locally we've heard about Barnet Labour's ambitions to tackle inequality, to reduce poverty and to get people living well. Please tell me how that policy achieves any of that. The leader outlined earlier that the council don't know how many people might be eligible and don't currently claim pension credit. Now we appreciate that this is held at DWP, but if the government is now passing the book to local authorities to expect them to enact this disastrous policy, we've got to know the steps that we're taking are effective. For instance, the council's pension credit campaign isn't actually due to land on doorsteps until December, which is well into the winter months, and backdated payments will doubtless take months to arrive in people's pockets, leaving people in the lurch over winter. And what is really more worrying to me in some of the responses that we've had back to questions is just how reliant we are on those most vulnerable people who likely do suffer from health issues having to log on to the website and go through a benefit checker. That is not going to get the people who are eligible for pension credit and who don't currently receive it actually in the money that they deserve. And you outlined that the household support fund is something that can be going towards helping people balance their household finances, but again if you go to the council's website, it says it's run out in 2024. It's not good enough. Thank you. Councillor Moore. Thank you, Mr Mayor. This is clearly a very emotive issue, but rather than playing into the political hyperbole created by Councillor Cornelius suggesting that thousands in Barnet will die of hypothermia, I'd just like to bring everyone down to earth and talk about we can, we should and we are already doing to support older people on lower incomes in the community. The answer to Councillor Wardle's last question, the written answer, lays out in detail the millions of pounds of financial support that's been brought into the borough and much of that has gone into the pockets of older people. It lays out how they can access a pension credit, a range of other benefits, and also points them to the face-to-face support that is going on across the borough. And I'll come back to that in a minute because let's be clear, while there are good reasons for protecting our pensioners on low incomes, there are many residents in Barnet who are not going to be facing challenges with this. The first and fundamental task, as I said earlier, is to make sure all of those who are eligible for pension credit and other benefits, but particularly pension credit, do apply and claim it. They will retain their winter fuel allowance and boost their incomes, but the reality is it will also mean that they're better off, it's not charity, they will be better off applying, it will make a real difference to their lives day in, day out. Just finally to point out that for those who are not eligible for pension credit but on low incomes, like an elderly resident in my street with the sterling support of Age UK, he's realised that he's eligible for a number of benefits, grants, and other support he wasn't aware of, and they make a real difference to his life day in, day out. Alongside the triple lock on pensions, it will mean that his and others will see a significant rise in pensioner income, and he and pensioners across the bar of Barnet will be better off because of that, and it will not be helped by hysterical debate in this chamber. Thank you. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Rachel Reeves is refusing to give details of this £22 billion black hole. Her Treasury team blocked a request from the Financial Times to release details of the black hole. And equality's impact assessment was never undertaken. But luckily, the Labour Party have found, since they got into office, money for other things. £22 billion for carbon storage, £11.6 billion for overseas climate aid, £8.5 billion for GB Energy, who now say that reducing energy bills is not part of their remit, another blow for the elderly. £7.5 billion for the ironically entitled wealth fund, £3.6 billion for Ukraine. But it turns out that £1.4 billion that the pensioners get could have destroyed the economy, according to Rachel Reeves. And this is on the back of a £1.3 trillion spending budget that the government have each year. £300 cut from pensioners, and yet the council is putting up charges way beyond inflation. It is extremely tough at the moment for pensioners. They are now getting hit from all sides. Heating is very important. From the lancet, from the year 2000 to 2019, 800 deaths were associated with hot weather. But 60,000 deaths were associated with cold weather. This winter, pensioners don't matter to the Labour Party. It's an awful lot of talk and lies for £1.6 billion. Labour must really hate pensioners. Please support the motion. Thank you. Do we have a speaker from the Labour side? Thank you, Mr Mayor. If the Labour Party hates pensioners, some of my colleagues should be slightly worried, I think. But anyway, let's not get into that. I find this whole conversation a little bit befuddling, really. So to govern fundamentally is to choose and to prioritise. And in inheriting the mess that this Labour government inherited, the new Labour government had to correct a whole series of mistakes over 14 years. Higher energy prices than other countries have to bear. You had 14 years to fix that, you didn't. Regulations in red take the stand in the way of new power generation, which could have lowered prices. You didn't do anything about that. A £22 billion black hole that Councillor Longstaff can't find the details of. But it's clearly in the nation's finances, which, you know, needs to be needs to be closed. We've had an NHS report, which has the NHS, the crown jewel of the British welfare state is in tatters, which somehow we need to find money for. We also have a lack of home insulation, which means that heat literally leaks out of our housing. You could have spent money sorting that out. You didn't. Not to mention, not enough police on the beat, not enough in a provision of public services up and down, Barnet, that takes money, that takes time, that takes resources. I kind of heard throughout the course of this evening people saying, oh, Barnet Labour should be spending money on this, should be spending money on this. By the way, they shouldn't be putting up council taxes. There might be something worse than tax and spend, but potentially the worst is not tax and spend. That's what got you in the trouble to begin with, with Liz Trust not being able to do basic sums. It's what's meant that our public realm is breaking and we have a fiscal mess at the same time. And rather than taking lectures, it's rather akin to the arsonist telling us we should have taken out fire insurance. Perhaps take a bit of time to look at yourselves before you start lecturing others. There are hard choices to make. They're very difficult. But being grown ups means taking these hard decisions rather than living in gaga land, like you say seem to be. So I think we should reject this motion. Councillor Cornelius. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I listened carefully to Councillor Knackby, not sentences, but paragraphs, but they were quite emollient, the words, until he got well into what he said. Now, the Labour Party conference voted against this. So this is not something disreputable that we're coming up with. I know our three MPs voted enthusiastically for it, but I am slightly surprised by this. You know, Labour should see, frankly, giving you political advice. This is politically suicidal. The public have seen through Labour. What does this 100 days look like? Now, this motion was deliberately worded to be very, very mild. It's not like the other ones. And I really do urge that you actually vote for this to encourage the government to do a U turn. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We'll now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Cornelius. All those in favour? That's 15, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. So the motion in the name of Councillor Cornelius is therefore lost. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Anne Hutton, Office of Inspections. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? So the motion in the name of Councillor Hutton is therefore carried. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Dean Cohen. Residents should be able to park outside their own homes. All those in favour? That's 15, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. The motion in the name of Councillor Cohen is therefore lost. We'll now vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Emmett Weisel, celebrating Barnet's assets of community value. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? That's abstentions, Mr. Mayor. Alright, the motion in the name of Councillor Weisel is therefore carried. An administration amendment to the opposition motion is now being proposed by Councillor Weisel. We will now vote on the amendments to the motion in the name of Councillor Weisel. Let's help the Barnet leaseholders. All those in favour of the amendments? That's all Bar 1, Mr. Mayor. Bar 1, so anybody against? No. The amendment is in the name of Councillor Weisel, therefore agreed. We will now move to the vote on the motion as amended by Councillor Weisel. All those in favour? That's all. That's all, Mr. Mayor. The motion in the name of Councillor Weisel is therefore carried. We will now move to the vote on the motion in the name of Councillor Nigel Young, welcoming the 310 bus routes. All those in favour? That's 36, Mr. Mayor. All those against? The motion in the name of Councillor Young is therefore carried. Agenda item 15.1 is a report of the cabinet

• Councillors, please, please. Agenda item 15.1 is a report of the cabinet members for a family-friendly Barnet, outcome of Ofsted inspection of children and families. Councillors asked to note the Ofsted inspection findings as detailed in the report attached to Annex 1. We have the following speakers on this item. So for three minutes, Councillor Copley Webb. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I don't think I'll need three minutes. I mean, the Ofsted report has now been through children's scrutiny, it's known at corporate parenting, it's been through the general scrutiny, and if no one has read it yet in complete form, then please do so, because it really is a positive story for what has happened with our young people and what has happened with the staff that actually look after them. I think as I said before, it was something that we were expecting, it was something that was with no doubt about the same with schools, it's always viewed with some trepidation, but it is a - it's just a sort of focus over just a week to actually take a snapshot of what goes on. So it doesn't actually, when you're with the department week in and week out, tell you exactly fully the whole commitment of what goes on, but I think to congratulate the staff for what they did and for what they continue to do and how they support our young people and how they absolutely worked tirelessly to make sure that everything was ready for that inspection and how we were all prepared for it as well. I think it's a credit to our staff and a credit to our young people for the love and care that they get from our department and from all our foster carers and from the care homes that we have to actually say yes, they did really well, they really look after our young people and this has been absolutely - it's been committed and verified by the Ofsted report that we are still on the right route to get better and better for everything that we do for our young people. So if you haven't read it all, please do, it is well worth a read. Thank you. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Just to clear up, when I asked the question to Councillor Clokey-Webb earlier on, I was actually saying I thought we should have had a better result from Ofsted. If you go back and watch the video, I did actually say a better result from Ofsted for what the team do. They are a great team, they are caring, they are compassionate, they go well above, way and beyond and to anybody who's ever been along to some of the events which I know the Mayor has for the younger people who are in foster care and the older ones who are the care leavers, they are excellent events and they are well attended and they leave people with a great impression, a great feeling that they belong to Barnet and that we are their corporate parents. But when you get to this Ofsted report and Councillor Clokey-Webb is quite right, it causes enormous tension amongst the staff and they try to play it down and they try to keep cool but you can't help getting a bit worked up because you're being judged and it is a very difficult experience. So you've got four areas where we're good in three of them, which we were before, but when you actually read the report clearly, it states very clearly that we've improved enormously since we were rated as good. So I'm absolutely astounded that they still came back and said it was just good only. The one that the experience and progress of children in care was rated as outstanding, which is excellent because that covers most of the council's work anyway, but it must be somehow appreciated by the staff or we must appreciate the staff that none of the children are what they consider to be at risk when they're being brought into care, that they are being well looked after and supported. So I would just like to say finally that, as I said, I did expect a better result from Ofsted. I think the staff from the top to the bottom have worked tirelessly to make this as good as possible for our looked after children and things have improved enormously since we got good in all areas, but somehow it hasn't quite translated into a result that I felt that they deserved. So I would suggest to everybody, it's not a great long report, it's worth reading, it is very informative, but like I say, please read the report and I would also like to offer my congratulations to all the senior management team and the social workers and everybody else who has worked so tirelessly to make it such a good unit and a good department. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Longstaff. We'll now move to the vote on the recommendations of page 40 of the agenda. Councillors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of the recommendations, please show. Oh, sorry. Yeah. Just Yeah, voted. So noted. Thank you. My just shows the time. Great, right. Agenda item 15.2 is a report the cabinet members for family friendly Barney corporate parenting annual report. Council is asked to ensure understanding of their statutory role as corporate parents and to be aware of progress and challenges for services to children in our care and care experience. Young adults. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have the following speakers on this item. Councillor Coakley Webb. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The appendices on these certainly a lot longer than the ofsted report. And again, I would say if you've not had a chance to read them and if you don't take part in the scrutiny or you don't take part in corporate parenting, then please do read them. Because, as I've said time and again, we are all corporate parents and being informed about what happens to our young people and the corporate parenting annual report and the fostering report, the IRA report and the bonnet on point report. It really gives you an insight as to the width and the breath and the length of everything that goes on regarding corporate parenting. And certainly, if you've never been to any of the events and you see them crop up on the menu, please try and go along. Try to actually meet some of our young people. Meet the people that care for them. Meet the staff that help the people who care for them. And I would say the one thing that we certainly need still need to do is that when it came to taking people from Ukraine, people stepped up to the mark. No problem. When we ask people to take on a fostering role, it seems to be much harder to get people to oblige. And yet most of our foster carers now are in an older age bracket. And bit by bit they will get to the point where they cannot foster anymore. And yet we still have to rely on independent fostering agencies. So I would just remind people for whatever circles you have where you can advertise and promote fostering, it's a whole range. Some people just do babies. Some do toddlers. Some do adolescents. Some do a mixture. Some just do emergency. Some just do supported lodgings. Some do respite. So there's a whole range of ways people can get involved. And it doesn't mean that people cannot work as well as foster. So we try and give all the help and advice and training we can, which we're renowned for from the foster carers that have been with us for many, many years, to which it's become their sort of life's work to foster for our children. So I would say please read the reports through. Please keep spreading the word that fostering is a good thing to do for Barnet. And even if people don't want to do it straight away but they want to be informed, still spread the word as wide as possible and as often as possible because these are our children that we need to make sure we have the right caring homes for both now and in the future. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Councillor Longstaff. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As Councillor Coakley-Webb says, there are four reports. And it's almost as if not reading these reports is the equivalent of not reading your own children's report. We are all corporate parents. We should all be responsible and we should all, if we need to make comments, write to the corporate parenting committee or write to anybody. And I may be wrong here, but I think anybody is entitled to attend the corporate parenting advisory panel. So you've got four reports on corporate parenting, fostering annual report, independent reviewing service and Barnet OnPoint, children in care annual report. But this is all about making sure that our corporate children get the best possible start in life, that we should want for our corporate children anything that we would want for our own, that we should encourage them with their desires, with their aims, with their goals in life, and we should support them to be a success in life. And we know, and this is what bugs me about the previous Ofsted letter, is how many of our corporate children do come back to onwards and upwards, who come back and enjoy the camaraderie of the other children that they've met over their time at Barnet. And there are an awful lot of success stories within our group of corporate children who've gone on to university or who've gone on to get great apprenticeships or jobs in other areas, and they are doing well, enormous numbers of them are doing exceptionally well. But the first question should always be from any corporate parent or indeed any member of staff is what is the best that we can do for our children, what is it we want, what is it the children actually need, supporting them to fulfil their dreams, being there when help is required, supporting mental and physical health, listening, communicating and making decisions with each child, supporting children to become independent as they develop into adulthood. And lastly, and something that all councillors are invited to, is whenever possible to celebrate their achievements. Our staff, as I've said before, go way above and beyond, and it's important as councillors that we are there to support them and show our support by attending the events that are put on. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Is the recommendation noted? Thank you. Members asked to note that 2023-24 annual report and the apprentices of the local pension board. We had the following speakers in this item, Councillor Rugford. Thank you, Mayor. Yes, I'd like to move this motion, but by starting off by giving some thanks. So thank you to Professor Aldermen, who chairs the pension board. You can tell he's a very serious member of the pension board when you see the sheer volume of letters after his name. I don't think that man of brainpower on the pension board, I think, shows that we're being scrutinized with some serious IQ points behind it. I'd also like to thank the staff who have supported both the pension board and the pension committee over the last year. In particular, David Spreckley, who very sadly has taken a far worse job than being the officer who I work with on a regular basis for the government and is therefore moving on, but has been a great service to the pension committee and the pension board over his time in Barnet. So I'd just like that to be noted. Finally, I'd like to thank the collaborative spirit with which both the pension board and the pension committee has worked over the last year. There's been many great ideas and input taken from all sides and it's made for a better end product. So thank you to those who have served on both the committee and the board. And with that, I'd like to move the motion to accept this report. Councillor Shuter. Thank you. I should probably repeat what you've just said, actually. I'll just say, if you add to it a little bit, first of all, obviously, the pension fund is one of the most important parts of the council, managing one half billion of assets. So it's very important that we make returns for investors. The pension board itself is like a scrutiny on a scrutiny of what we do on committee. So I think, to put it mildly, if you've got problems with insomnia, you should serve on that board. I think that first of all, Professor Aldermen, fabulous work, always very, very diligent and a real stickler. And obviously, he had to do a lot of extra work given all the reductions in pensions contributions over the last few years. And I just wanted to mention how well he's doing in terms of return last year, nine point two percent, I believe. And that was above average. And we took 90 percent less risk than other pension funds, similar pension funds. So obviously, it was a legacy we gave you and obviously you've carried it on. But I think we also came second in the small LGPS Fund of the Year award and Sutton beat us to it. I'm sure that if I was still chairman, we would have won it. Thank you. Thank you. So the board's main work, they've found a few items. There's there's a few red marks there. But in general, the administration is in good shape. I hope that committee members are keeping up with their 20 hours of training a year, including substitute members, Councillor Mitra. And obviously, I was an actuary as a consulting actuary. I thought maybe I was working through it. But anyway, just also bear in mind green assets. I know we're pushing towards nature based assets, but it's also very important that we maximise returns as well for investors. So we've got to just bear that in mind and find a happy balance there. Obviously, it adds to a diversified portfolio. Thank you very much to David Spreckely. And he's not here going to the government actuary's department. Got a very senior job there and wish him the best of luck. He really is very been very diligent and helpful to both of us. And I have no objection to this report at all. Fabulous report. Keep up good work. And it's for noting. Thank you. Thank you. Is there a recommendation noted? Okay. Agenda item 15.4 referral from governance, organ risk management and standards committee, treasury management, out turned 2023 24. Council is asked to note the treasury out term report for 2023 24 and the strategic priorities as detailed in the report attached at appendix one. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. We're very grateful. We have the following speakers on this item. Council Mitra. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. As ever, can I start my remarks by thanking the officers and staff across the council for their service in what are clearly extremely difficult times with unprecedented demand in key areas. I'm also very pleased that the administration have now brought in a cabinet member with specific responsibility for the budget and spending. And may I say, given no conservative council seems to understand any of his answers, it seems he's done something that they happen, which is get to grips with the serious problems the council faces. Thanks to 20 years of poor financial management under the previous administration, not, of course, helped by their friends at Westminster on the 14 years of failure to deal with supply side pressures on the budget, such as their failure to reform adult social care and find a fair funding solution or indeed the lack of action to tackle the housing crisis and their own now former local MP who sought to block all house building in her constituency because she didn't know anyone who suffered from it. So I am very grateful, Mr. Mayor, for the engagement and the involvement of the new cabinet member whose job it is to lead on Treasury management. I've heard much groaning from members opposite about scrapping their unfit for purpose committee system, which left decisions taken behind closed doors and a lack of control or information provided to members. Switching to the new cabinet system has led to a major improvement in members understanding engagement in the running of the council and an ability to identify the challenges that the council faces. Unlike when Treasury management was outsourced the capital. It's clear now that the council's finances been under serious question for a number of years. The poor decision making being made between 2020 and 22. She counsel is now paying the price for this committee. Our committee continues to work on these battle continue to scrutinize everything that comes before us. I'm very pleased with the work the committee has been doing on this. I'm very pleased with the engagement we've had from the cabinet member, as well as the work that the overview and Scrutiny committee doing to scrutinize the council finances. There's an awful lot more work needed, and I look forward to a more constructive approach on the committee. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Councilor Prager. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I stood here in February during the Budget Council meeting warning councilors that Barnet's finances were on a cliff edge. These warnings were ignored. And here we are eight months later to assess the damage that continues to be caused by the financially illiterate decisions that have been made. In February, my outlook was bleak. I forecasted at the time that would take their labor administration between seven to eight years to burn through the large cash reserves over 150 million pounds that they'd inherited from us. The situation now is so much worse than that. This report shows that in the last two years, the slave administration has burned through over 100 million pounds. Yes, 100 million pounds of reserves. Now spend isn't necessarily a bad thing if it's being done sensibly. But this spend is coming out of our reserves. A rainy day fund, literally a fallback option. They can only be spent once. And once they're gone, they're gone. This is what the labor administration fails to understand. They failed miserably to replenish the reserves. So now they have a cash crisis, a disgraceful show of financial incompetence. This use of reserves is extremely worrying. This administration effectively spent nearly 200,000 pounds of reserves each day. 200,000 pounds every single day. I'm concerned that this chamber is just becoming a talking shop or where genuine concerns are rebuffed simply because of the side of the room that they emerge from and where we're seeing a severe lack of appropriate performance and budgetary scrutiny. I'm not here to play politics. These are not partisan issues. They have real life impact on every one of our residents and it's our fiduciary duty. That's every single one of us to scrutinize and make well-informed decisions and to keep the executive in check rather than just relying on good faith and that every little thing is going to be all right. Cabinet were advised last month that this administration does not get a grip on the finances of the council. By March, we'll have just 7 million pounds left in unring fenced reserves and just 15 million pounds left in the general fund. This is a perilous position to be in and I continue to urge all cabinet members to ensure we don't reach this situation. Please get a grip on your portfolios and start doing a proper job reviewing your costs. This situation is unsustainable. In response to a question that I asked earlier this evening on the council's finances, the leader of the council said and I quote and I quote, Don't worry, we know what we're doing. I am worried because as this report shows, clearly you don't. Is there a recommendation noted? Agenda item 16.1 is a report... Sorry, Mr. Mayor, don't I have a right of reply? No, no. The agenda item 16.1 is a report of the monitor and office in constitution review. Council is asked to approve the constitution amendments as set out in appendices A, B and C with the exception of section 14 terms of reference to the local pension board and council are asked to authorize the head of governance to implement these revisions and publish a revised constitution. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I now call on Councilor Rowlings to move reception and adoption on this item. I'll move. Okay, we'll now move to the vote on the recommendations on page 170 of the agenda with the exception of appendices C as referred to. Councillors will be asked to vote by show of hands. Those in favour of their recommendations, please show. Okay, so the recommendation has been agreed. Agenda item 16.2 is a report on the executive director of resources of section 151 officer fees and charges 2025 to 2026. Council is asked to note the council side fees and charges and delegate authority for consultation on the proposed non-executive fees and charges for 2526 as set out in appendix A to the chief financial officer and to ask the chief financial officer to consider them after consultation with the benefit of consultation responses and equality impact assessments for approval. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We have the following speakers on this item. Mr. Knavly, you have three minutes. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. The report is for noting, but I commend it to the chamber. The report came to cabinet last week and was considered very earnestly and an opportunity was given to conservative members to ask questions of the executive at that stage. It'll be brought to the overview and scrutiny committee later in the month. And it's very important that it's given a good degree of scrutiny from that committee. But this is obviously chargeable services affect every resident in Barnet potentially. And therefore it's an opportunity for the council chamber in its entirety to, to observe it. So thank you. Councillor Marin Smith. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And we are opposing this particular recommendation for a straightforward reason. It was referred to the committee that the relevant body in terms of it being an inflationary increase of fees and charges, which sounds perfectly respectable, except that it's 1% over the proposed inflation measure that was used by the administration, which is apparently the retail price and takes RPI. Those of you remotely familiar with what the government does these days is to say that they use the CPI, which is not the same as the retail price index and the retail price index is no younger monitored to the same extent as the CPI. The CPI is only two and a half percent according to the figures produced by the government. Therefore what you're seeing is a 2% increase over and above inflation. Fair enough. If you want to disclose this to all the members of the voting electorate and tell them that you're quite happy to increase fees and charges substantially above inflation, but I would bear in mind that there's one section for some extraordinary reason where there are no increases. And I look carefully through all of this. There's a whole area where no increases, despite there being much higher limits available to the, the, um, to the administration, were they to wish to increase those charges. And they are in particular things like literary. Now we heard a famous recommendation famous speech earlier telling us what a great job the community skips were doing. Well, actually, yes, you've introduced community skips. And as far as I can see in my ward, what we see is the law abiding citizens use these community skips who would previously have gone to the tip anyway. But unfortunately what has actually happened in our ward is I had a dramatic increase in fly tipping. I don't think this is unique to edge where I rather suspect it's an issue that covers the entire council area. And so what we're seeing is an expenditure on community skips combined with huge increases in fly tipping. And yet you're for some extraordinary reason, not increasing the fines for littering. To me, this is completely inexplicable. I've no doubt it's completely inexplicable to people who suffer from fly tipping and I'd very much like you to reconsider it. And it is the reason we are voting against this particular proposal. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. We will now move to vote on the recommendations in the supplementary report pack. We're going to note note and delegate this. All those in favor. I'm sorry. They need all right. A vote. All those in favor of the road condition police show. That's 36. Mr. Mayor. All those against. That's 15. Mr. Mayor. Okay, so this is noted and agreed. Agenda items 16.3 is a report on the head of governance, noting chief officers appointment and approving the designation of the director of public health. Councilor asked to note the appointment of Craig Miller as executive director environment. Councilors to designate Dr Janet to Jamba as a director of public health and councilors to note the appointment of nature plane as the executive director growth. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. We have the following speakers on this item. Councilor rulings. No, it should be the trail of the employment committee. My I'll be speaking. What I'm going to do is move the motion and welcome the appointees to their roles and hope that all members will join me in looking forward to working with them and congratulating them on their appointments. Thank you, Councilor Wakeley. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just echo council wise shows comments and the conservative group welcomes the appointments and we look forward to working with the new officers. Thank you. Thank you. We're now moved to vote on the recommendations. Page 373 of the agenda. All those in favor. That's almost the mayor recommendations been agreed. Agenda item 16 provides a report on the head of governance administration matters. Appendix a details changes to committee appointments whilst also noting an additional change to the East area committee membership, making Councillor Hudson, a substantive member of the committee and Councilor Cook becoming a substitute member. Appendix B details changes a change to the council's nomination on an outside body. Appendix C notifies the Council of changes to future meeting dates and Appendix D notifies Council of the draft calendar meetings 25 26, which counselor asked to approve. Thank you, and I call on Council rollings to move reception and adoption on this item. Move reception. And is there anybody on the side wish to speak? No. Okay, but now move to vote on the recommendation page. Sorry. Can we have a right of reply on this? And I'm sorry, I missed that. I'm confused about the calendar because it's been set and it's been changed so frequently during the last year that personally I find it very confusing. And I remember when I changed one date of a committee meeting. Councilor Cook really let me have it. And the labor group were very against this. And I think, you know, I learnt a lesson from Councilor Cook that good administration means sticking to the dates you set. If the chairman can't attend and chair the meeting, then tough. There's a deputy chairman to do it. You've got such a large majority, you're not going to lose any votes. So for goodness sake, you change the meeting to the date of the Labour Party conference. I don't think that was an innocent accident. It wasn't a good idea. Yeah. Right. Can we now move to the vote on the recommendations page 377 of this of the above? All those in favor. I think that's all Mr. Mayor. Recommendations been agreed. And this comes to the bit of the evening that everybody's probably grateful for after a long debate and exchange of views. This concludes the business of the meeting, which are now declared closed. And thank everyone for coming. Thank you. [applause] [BLANK_AUDIO]