Transcript

As for normal, you are reminded that this meeting is being filmed and recorded for webcasting. Please remember to use your microphone when you speak and turn it off when you have finished. Please remember, no flash photography is permitted in the chamber. In the event of any disturbance or disruption during the meeting this evening, I reserve the right to adjourn the meeting and clear the chamber, and I will do so without notice. Members are asked to be mindful when speaking tonight that we are in the pre-election period in relation to the West Thamesmead by-election, which is due to take place on 19th December. Item 1, Apologies for Absence. I have received Apologies for Absence from the following Councillors. I have received Apologies for Lateness from Councillors. I have received Apologies for Lateness from Councillors. Lauren Dingestell, I will come to you, and Apologies for Living Early from Joshua Ayodele. Are there any other Apologies for this meeting, please? Apologies from Councillor Azli Mohammed, Apologies from Councillor Miranda Williams, and Apologies for Lateness from Izzy Cook. Thank you, Liz. Thank you, Liz. Thank you, Liz. Thank you, Liz. Thank you, Liz. Thank you, Liz. Yeah, Nass. Thank you, Liz. Thank you, Liz. Yeah, Nass. Thank you, Nass. Living early. Yep. I want to stay in the early as well. Okay, thank you. Sandra? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Apologies for leaving early, please. Thanks. Thank you. Thank you, noted. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Item two, minutes. Are members happy to agree the minutes of the 24th July Council meeting? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Item three, Mayor's Announcements. I have five announcements this evening. Firstly, I would like to welcome the newest member to December, Councillor Charlie Davis and Councillor Rajah Jishan. and Councillor Rajah Jishan. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Following their recent by-election successes. I have agreed to redact the following statement on behalf of Councillor Pat Slattery starts. At full council on 31st January 2024, I remonstrated with four people in the public gallery, who failed to stand in memory of those who had died in the Holocaust. I apologize to Mayor Embank for my inappropriate outburst. He graciously accepted my apology. After the meeting, I learned that one of the families in the public gallery had the previous day received news that some of their family members had been killed in Gaza. I wish to extend my apology to council and them if my behavior was insensitive and added to their sense of bereavement. The statement ends. Tonight, we have available in the chamber white ribbons to mark the 16 days of action against violence against women and girls running from 25 November to 10th of December. The white ribbon is a globally recognized symbol to end man's violence against women and girls. Since the inception of the white ribbon movement 35 years ago in Canada, the white ribbon has become an important symbol in the flight to end gender-based violence. It represents men taking responsibility to challenge this issue and being allies every day to stop violence against women and girls before it starts. You will see a banner here with a QR code which members can scan to sign up to be ambassadors for women and girls across the bar. I would like to extend our thanks and best wishes to Sarah McClinton, our Deputy Chief Executive and Director of Health and Adult Services. We will be leaving the Council after nearly five years to start a new position as Chief Social Worker for Adult in Government Department for Health and Social Care in the New Year. Thank you, Sarah, for all your hard work for the residents of the bar. Thank you. In the light of Sarah's imminent departure, Jamie Carswell, Director of Housing and Safer Communities, will be taking over as Deputy Chief Executive. Congratulations, Jamie, and wish you all the best. It is with sadness I note the date of John Cartwright. John was leader of the Chinese Council from 1971 to 1973, having been first elected to the Council in 1966. John became the MP for Wulich in 1974 and held the seat for nearly 18 years, both as Labour and SDP MP. Can I ask everyone to stand for a minute's silence in remembrance. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Item 4. Declaration of Interest. Do any members or officers have any other declaration of interest? Item 5. Item 5. Notice of members wishing to exceed the 5 minutes rule. I have received no request to exceed the 5 minutes rule. I have received no request to exceed the 5 minutes rule. Item 6. wish to submit a petition. After I call your name, please stand and briefly summarise the substance of the petition and hand it to the officer. First, Councillor Christine Saint-Nafi Daniel. Thank you. The petition is from local residents, council workers and trade unionists giving support of the Palestinian people for illegal occupation of the West Bank by the Israeli state. The petition is calling upon the council to support the boycott, diversement and sanctions campaign against Israel. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Saint-Nafi Daniel. Next, Councillor Christine May. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I've got a petition here from residents on the Horn Park Lane, Upwood Road, Abergeldy Road and Craithy Road. Regarding traffic and parking, they're requesting that they have a CPZ there. It's extremely bad there. The traffic just builds up and causes it's not, not companies to them. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor May. Next, Councillor Ivys-Williams. I think you have multiple persons. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I've got three petitions, so I'll read each and summarise. So the first one, I wish to submit a petition titled Save Greenwich Equestrian Centre signed by 1,005 local people, calling for a proper consultation and transparency of the plan to dispose of the land and asset. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I wish to submit a petition on behalf of the Woodlands Farm Trust, objecting to the Council's decision to dispose of the Olympic Legacy Equestrian Centre 341 Schutazil without any community consultation. Third petition. I've got a petition on behalf of the Shrewsbury House Community Centre. They'd like to take on the management of the Greengarth, otherwise known as the 28 Merriweith Drive. They would want to turn the space into a positive space for the whole community to create a community garden and to transform the building into a space for the community activities. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Williams. Does any other member have a petition to submit? I see none. Item 7, petition responses. There are responses to petition submitted to the previous meetings. Petitioners, if present, may address the Council. You must make your address to the Chamber and keep your comments to the subject matter of the petition. Each petitioner has up to two minutes to speak. I will be strict with time. Appendix 1, is Eleanor Russell here? Please. Excuse me, can you turn the microphone on, please? Okay, thank you. West Charlton Residence Association, WCRA, wishes to make an official complaint about the West and East Greenwich Neighbourhood Management Project. Councillor LeCou has gone ahead with this project without consulting boundary areas before its implementation. This is despite admitting that some boundary areas, including parts of West Charlton... Sorry? Any more for the question? Is this meant to be the public question or is this the petition response? We were told we had two minutes for a petition response or a public question. I have evidence from Siobhan. Councillor LeCou has gone ahead with this project without consulting boundary areas before its implementation. This is despite admitting that some boundary areas, including parts of West Charlton, feel underrepresented in the original consultation. That consultation included multiple options. All were rejected by at least 70% of respondents. These objections have been consistently ignored. Last week, Invicta Primary School wrote to parents with a list of serious concerns about the project. They made it clear they have not been contacted by the Council. They have been trying since March to contact the Council to understand the project details and their communications have been ignored. The WCRA submitted a petition of over 750 signatures from residents objecting to this project. The Council responded, saying ongoing monitoring will allow for data-driven decisions. But the traffic counters used have been proven to be ineffective in residential areas and are known to undercount slow-moving or at-a-standstill traffic. WCRA have been collecting camera-based data since June. This shows an increase of 40% to 55% in traffic since the start of this week. This is data collected from the lower end of Eastcombe Avenue, right by Fostein Primary School. The Council promises to create safer, greener and healthier neighbourhoods, but poor signage has led to multiple examples of dangerous reversing and U-turns within the project area. Many of these examples are outside Halstow and James Wolfe Primary Schools. In boundary roads, we are obviously concerned about additional pollution, but the extra traffic brings other risks. Drivers are speeding through the top of Eastcombe Avenue, where pupils from four local schools cross the road to use the underpass. Examples from the last week show this is an accident waiting to happen. And so my question to you, Avril, is, is that what it's going to take to make you listen to us? There's been no evidence of genuine consultation, so at what point will you listen and consider the safety of all of your residents? At July's call-in, we were dismissed with this is just an 18-month experiment. Well, that's a long time to live with the consequences of an ill-thought-through plan. A plan that we were telling you a year ago would simply shift the problem to an area that already carries its share of the burden. Thank you. Thank you, Ellen. Does Cabinet Member for Climate, Environment, and Transport want this one? Thank you, Mr Mayor. And I thank Hayley for the supplementary. I think what we said, and what we've said consistently, is that we are going to be monitoring the boundary areas. We've extended the information to boundary areas. The counts, as we promised in the call-in for the decision, included and we accepted that we would be including the full consultation of the boundary areas. And when it says the whole program takes 18 months, certainly within the first six months of understanding the traffic impacts or within that time, we'll be looking to see what adjustments, if any, need to be made. So I think that's the time that we'll be able to have concrete data. Until that time, I think it's important for residents in the surrounding areas to be engaged in the consultation. That's live as we speak. Thank you. Cabinet Member. Next Appendix, Hayley Jeffery. Is Hayley Jeffery here? So we'll jump to the next Appendix 3, Ellen Magnus for Nigel Dews. Please. Thank you very much. I was accepting, sorry, at the last moment, because Nigel was unable to attend due to a work commitment. So I just basically wanted to say that the residents on West Hallows are bitterly disappointed at the continued delay. We've read the response to the petition, but we now find ourselves in limbo again with the council, which we feel is completely unacceptable. We've submitted countless amounts of evidence, campaigning to have new traffic measures put in place, but consistently, this campaign has been going on for seven years. We still find ourselves now with missed timescales again. There was a potential for a solution to be in place in January. That's already was moved back to July. In the space of four weeks, that timescale changed. Now we're told that because of the number of by-elections that there have been, that our consultation has been put on hold. We have no idea of what timescale we're looking at now. And basically, we are bitterly disappointed and utterly frustrated with the council's lack of action and providing any active and positive solution for the residents that live on West Hallows. And also, it mentions in the petition response that the communications team want to avoid putting out too many consultations at the same time, because it can cause confusion and frustration amongst the public and lead to a poor response with the ballot. But in fact, the residents on both West Hallows and the adjoining roads are well aware of this. There is no, there would be no confusion. The confusion and frustration is merely that we are still waiting to see the next steps that the council has promised. Thank you. Thank you. I can see Council Tessa raise hand, but you can ask questions later. Thank you. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. Under 10 minutes in the world, question time. So, this time, we'll invite a cabinet member for climate change, environment and transport, to respond with your wishes. Mr. Mayor, if Councillor Tester wants to ask a supplementary to the response, it would be useful, I think, if I just answered that at the same time. Point of order, Mr. Mayor, Councillor Tester was the original petitioner, and normally we've had the councillor who's handed in the petitioner has had a chance to comment, and I know that the named petitioner who couldn't be here tonight has also passed on some comments, so as Councillor Lacau said, I think it would be useful to hear that now before Councillor Lacau replies. Councillor Tester, it is not clear that you are the original person to raise the petition, so can we keep your question to the world question section? Yes, please, as you go, can we clear that? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It's not clear that Councillor Tester was the original petitioner or submitted the original petition, or that he was going to be speaking on behalf of, I believe, Elaine Magnus, sorry, on behalf of Nigel Dewes, and therefore, just in terms of a matter of order, it would be appropriate to leave this until oral questions at the end of item 10. Point of order, this is not how it has happened before. The member who has handed it in has been able to respond to the response from the cabinet member. I have done that myself in a previous incarnation in this council chamber, and I think the interpretation that we are hearing here is incorrect, and if the cabinet member is willing to take the response from the member, it seems rather heavy-handed not to take that response. Thank you, Councillor, for your comment. Just for ruling from the monitoring officer, we will move on, and we have to give your question to the oral section. I can only apologise for causing any confusion, but I'll be happy to respond to an oral question later. And in response to the petitioner, I can only say I'm really sorry that there's been a delay. Having been to West Hallows myself and seen some of the issues that were raised, and I know that I'd arranged a meeting with residents there, and I was trying to push this whole matter as fast as I could. Again, it is through no fault of officers or myself that we've had, unfortunately, a whole series of by-elections that have impacted on how we do business in the council. I can only take that away and say yes. As soon as we are able to forge ahead, I'll continue to meet with yourselves and the councillors involved and try to push this matter forward. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Litter. Appendix four is Catherine Henry here. I can't see. Appendix five is Andrew Crozier for Mariam Crozier here. Yes, please. Can you move to the microphone and turn it on and start, please. Sir, thank you for installing the speed bumps on the 20 mile, under 20 mile an hour restriction signs on our street, Cedarhurst Drive. An extra bump in the middle of the drive, however, would provide extra protection between the Eltham Road and West Thorn Avenue filters from speeding cars using the road as a rat run. Parking congestion in the drive continues to be frequent and dangerous on the part of the drive that filters from Eltham Road to the centre of the complex. I now come to the question, would it be possible in the interim, before the introduction of the CPZ, to have double yellow lines on the bend at number one Cedarhurst Drive, parking prohibition at the entrances to drives of homes and extension of the double red lines at the Eltham Road end of Cedarhurst Drive, negotiating the bus lane from Eltham Road coupled with inconsiderate parking near the entrance and cars cutting through from West Thorn Avenue to make for a potentially very dangerous situation. I thank you for your supplementary. I would add that I am not a traffic engineer, so you've come with a shopping list of things that you would want to see put in place. I'm not in a position to respond to those as we sit here tonight, but what I will do is I'll take it away. And I think the first thing is that we did respond, and we did try to mitigate against some of the issues that you have. We would need to reevaluate what the situation is there in light of the comments you're making, so I'll take that away. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Likail. I would now ask the Council if it agrees to note this report. Thank you. Item 8, public deputation on matters not otherwise on the agenda. There are no public deputations this evening. Item 9, public questions. The questions together with the written responses have been published to the website. Can I remind everyone of the procedures under the Council's Constitution? Part 4, A 1.26 and A 1.33. There is a maximum time of 30 minutes for public questions, and one supplementary question can be made for clarification purposes only. Please make your supplementary question as concise as possible to enable every questioner to have an opportunity to speak. Can those asking supplementary questions please move to the microphone, press the button to speak, remain standing and speak directly to the microphone when addressing the meeting. If the relevant Cabinet member is not in attendance tonight, your supplementary question can be directed to the Leader. The first question, Helen Marathi. Thank you to the Council Leader for your response. It's great to hear that a consultation is being planned and that there's regret around the actions that were taken mistakenly. We just wonder if you have a date in mind and how information on the format of the consultation, will it be possible for us to have a face-to-face meeting, for example, and if we have a date it will allow us to make sure that we've got greater representation within the community group that we represent. Thank you. Can I ask the Leader of the Council to respond please? First of all thank you Mr Mayor and thank you Helen for your question. I haven't got a date at the moment but happy to facilitate a meeting and have a conversation around the shape of the consultation and what that will incorporate. Thank you. Thank you. Can you go to your second question please, Helen? Yeah, there's no supplementary for that one. Thank you very much. So we move to the next questioner, Tamsin Rhines. Yes, so I'm responding on behalf of Tamsin and the question really is again really encouraging to read that there's a designated council officer who's being upskilled in this area. Question is do you have an idea on the time frame for which you plan to start working on the actions that you've outlined? Thank you. Can I ask the member for climate change, environment and transport to this one please? Thank you very much and I thank you for your supplementary question. I can't give you that as yet but as soon as it's available I can certainly make that available to you. Thank you. Thank you. Now the second question for Tamsin Rhines. No supplementary. Thanks. Thank you. Now the next questioner, Simon Firani. Yes, I'm sorry it's me again. Simon asked if I could respond. So again encouraging to read. When and how will it be possible for us to see how carbon offset payments are going to be used for specific carbon reduction measures? So something we've been asking for for quite a while is more specific specifics around what the carbon neutral plan is going to do and and how we can track its progress. Thank you. Captain Member, Councillor Littell. Well I thank you for the supplementary on behalf of Mr. Pirani. The carbon neutral plan of course we do have action plans and there's a tracker there that people can um follow and it's it's um it also goes to scrutiny and you're welcome as a member of the public to attend those scrutiny meetings. Um in terms of the um specific details I mean you'll understand that um the carbon offset fund is used in a whole um range of areas that does just that. So when that information comes it's fed into the tracker for the carbon neutral plan so you would see it in there. Thank you. Could I just ask about the tracker and where that is? Um we've seen the action plans. Online? Sorry? Okay I beg your pardon the tracker is internal it's um it helps us track what we're doing but um you'll always be able to see the work that we're doing through the uh scrutiny function. Okay thank you. Okay thanks. Next question for Simon Firani. Uh no supplementary for that one. Thank you. Thank you so much. Uh is Mr. Malcolm Raid here to ask the question? Thank you. Thank you Mr. Thank you Mr. Mayor and thank you Councillor Lukaku for your question. There are so many um different questions about transport. I just want to take this opportunity to thank you and your officers for all the work that you do um in transport. Nothing's ever going to be easy. I had hoped to ask this question. It would be you know at the end of the summer and um obviously with the by-elections with um Chris and Sammy and Danny leaving um I suppose the positive is in a few weeks time um the days are going to get longer. So um but can I urge you to please ask your officers to um do as you say in your question to raise this dangerous crossing. Just tonight I saw people almost get run over again trying to dart across the road to get their posses. So it really is important. But I appreciate you've got so many different questions and things on your plate. Thank you. Cabinet Member. Councillor Lukaku please. Councillor Lukaku can you yes please thank you. I beg your pardon Mr. Mayor. I also thank you for um the acknowledgement of um on behalf of the team of course um of the work that is done um and it it is uh considerable. There are dangerous crossings and roads in so many parts of the borough and our job is to try and um minimize that um the safety of all our residents is is absolutely key and so we keep monitoring and you know as changes happen you know things like CPZ etc sometimes these have different impacts on the roads. So we're continually monitoring you know the impacts of this road. So this is no exception to that rule um and you know we are issuing PCNs as you can see um and trying to make sure that it's clear but we this job doesn't stop. Thank you. Thank you Cabinet Member. Uh question number eight uh for Mr. Wade. Yes I think that was the answer. Thank you Mr. Mayor. Thank you um Councillor Lukaku for the PCNs um I've noticed even this week with these new signs for the um cameras going up I've seen a difference there's fewer cars going around. We're not very good in this country at doing pedestrian zones um I wonder if the other part of the square could at some point in the future be pedestrianised or reduce speed limits within the town centre given their main roads are 20 bring that down to five then especially with that wonderful new um leisure centre that's been built I can just see an increase in families around the area so thank you. Thank you. It's not a question do you still come back on? Yeah go on. Well I I I would like to add that I'm working really closely with my colleague um Councillor Smith um on what the changes will look like once all that is done and maybe to then re-evaluate um from that what a safe um what's safe for for pedestrians so we are having these ongoing conversations and um I'm sure we'll continue until we come to the the right conclusion so thank you. Thank you Deputy Member. Can I invite uh Mr John Wave for question number nine? I can see him uh for question 10 Claire Nichols No? For question 11? No? For question 11? John McMahon? No? No? Question number 12? Seema Chandabar? No? Question number 13? Seema again. Question number 14? Dan Sfinney and Sarah Cross? Question number 15? 15? Again Dan Sfinney and Sarah Cross? Question 16? Karen Chiel? Yes please. Thank you Mr Mayor and I thank Councillor Kaur for her answer to my question unfortunately this restates the status quo and does not answer my questions but I am pleased to hear that an independent assessor will be performing a review. May I ask this independent assessor equality assessor to respond to these questions please? Can I ask cabinet member to respond please? Thank you Mr Mayor and I'll be quite happy to put the questions to the independent. Thank you Mr Mayor and I thank Councillor Slattery for her answer but it has been two and a half years now when do you expect to sign off from the regulator for social housing? Thank you. Cabinet member Pat Slattery, Councillor Slattery? Yes thanks Mr Mayor and Ms Terl. That is in the gift of the regulator. By the end of this month we expect to have achieved 100% compliance across all of the six major safety areas so I think that tenants can very much be assured that they're as safe as we can make them as they're landward. And I am grateful for the opportunity Ms Terl has given me because it doesn't come up very often to say thank you, a massive thank you to all of the tenants who've let us in and not just repair staff, caretakers, tenancy officers, fire safety officers have all been mobilised to achieve what I think is an outstanding piece of work and we intend to future proof it so that we're never again in that position. So thanks for that opportunity. Thank you. Thank you so much Councillor Slattery and thank you so much to you. Question number eight, sorry 18 my apologies. Can I invite Aliyah Mimak? That will go to the chair of Councillor Barbathola. Thanks so much Mr Mayor. I'm going to ask a supplementary if that's possible. So in light of the mansion house speech, Rachel Reeves talks about the pension review and it looks like the Greenwich pension fund will be then mostly invested in the sieve and not have as much independence as we currently do. With the dangers of like stranded assets, investing in fossil fuels and breaching legal duties by investing in illegal Israel investments, will you prioritise investing in the funds that you have stated like the responsible infrastructure fund going forward when you are pulled entirely into the sieve? Thank you very much. Thank you Councillor Barbathola, please. Thank you Mr Mayor and thank you Leah for your supplementary question. As you can see from the response that I gave you, we have moved money from some dangerous areas to a more green area which is in total of 279.5 which is more than the council you are referring to of 200,000. Having said that, I will say that at the time. I have attended the update on the mansion house and as soon as we have a clear instruction, we will follow it. And I can proudly say this panel, we have done a lot since about two and a half years ago to move our money to more greener and renewable investment. Thank you very much Mr Mayor. Thank you Councillor Barbathola. Now move to question 19. Can I invite Rose Jarin for the supplementary question. Moving to question number 20, Lubna Spaten. Hello. I asked in what way does Greenwich Council uphold its responsibility of eliminating unlawful discrimination under the Equalities Act 2010. Despite the council's debatable response, I want to stress that one group of its residents has been systematically excluded from the equality of consideration. By this, I mean its Palestinian residents. In a previous submission of this question, I asked, does Greenwich Council under the Equality Act 2010 uphold its responsibility of eliminating unlawful discrimination, including eliminating discrimination against its Palestinian residents? The word Palestinian was removed. This is reflective of the discrimination and marginalization of Palestinian residents. It's as if our existence cannot be acknowledged even by naming us. The council's lack of humanity over Palestine, its selective racism, is demonstrated by the stark contrast between its unparalleled support for Ukraine and the absence of it in the case of Palestine. Can you go to the question please? I'm still talking. No, question, because this is a time for question. It's coming to the question. I have two minutes. Please. Please go to the question, please. Again, it's this continuous contempt for democracy when it comes to Palestine. Even asking my question, I'm interrupted. This is what happens. And this is the point I'm making. We've had censoring of our questions, rejections of our request to meet with the council leader, a refusal to allow a minute's silence for Palestinians massacred. And that was after the council were notified of the slaughter of some of my own relatives. Yes, an apology or some form of it has been made. A council employee also tried to raise a question on this matter. It was rejected. I put forward a request for deputation on divestment. It was declined in spite of other councils accepting it. Our experience with this council has reflected an utter contempt for local democracy when it comes to the issue of Palestine. My supplementary question is how and when will the council remedy this? I'm going to do this. Can I ask the leader of the council to us on this, please? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I can hear the tension in Lubna's voice when she raises the question on the conflict in the Middle East. It's fair to say to you that all members of this House want to see an end to the conflict in the Middle East. It's not a conflict, it's a genocide. Why do you not see that? Thank you. And Mr. Mayor, obviously, in line with the question, we seek to always uphold the Equalities Act. More importantly, Mr. Mayor, as local councillors, our remit is quite set in legislation in terms of where we have a sense of authority to act. And in the sense of the conflict in the Middle East, we very much see that as a place where government is leading that work and talking to all the different sides around the table, Mr. Mayor. And I think that's the best response that we can give on that particular matter. But I would just want to reiterate, this is a council that wants peace and will always continue to be on the side of peace. And both myself and Councillor Hartley have continued to speak to that and also engage with our faith groups in line with what other councillors have been doing in their community. And our responsibility falls down to local leadership and supporting our residents and being a listening ear to all of these things. So it may not be the response you wanted, but our ears are continuously listening. And when you come to this chamber to exercise your democracy, you will still be listening to. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Leida. Can I ask Louvna to go to the supplementary question about question 21, please? How does this council intend to support its Palestinian residents who have been affected by the current onslaught in Palestine? That was my question. The council removed the word onslaught and replaced it with event. I would like to make clear that genocide is not an event. It's an action. It's not a Christmas party or a birthday due. Many Palestinian residents are deeply affected by the genocide occurring in Palestine. What's particularly wounding for me and other Palestinian residents is the council's silence and inactivity on the issue. And even worse, its complicity in the genocide through local government pension scheme. This council continues to invest over 43 million pounds in companies linked to Israel through these pension funds. Such investments enable the continuing genocide and the maintenance of an apartheid state. Such investments enable the continued genocide and maintenance of this apartheid state. We've put forward our concerns so far to no avail. The council's refusal to act upon our concerns against the background of Israel's escalation of its genocidal assault on Palestinians. Can I remind you, move to the question please. Statements, then other statements. Okay. You'll receive the ICJ warnings as well I'm sure. I'll ask you frankly, will the council genuinely support its Palestinian residents and all residents of goodwill and agree to the immediate and permanent divestment of all investments in company linked to Israel? Cabinet member, Councillor Lulava. Thank you Mr Mayor and thank you Lubna for your question. I'm going to be really honest, the question that you, the supplementary that you asked is not one for me to answer. You're asking me a specific question about pension funds and disinvestment and I'm not in a position to answer that. It wasn't directed at you Mariam, I know it's not your remit, I'm aware of that. I didn't stipulate it was going to you. But because it's attached to this question and it's a supplementary, the question was originally for me so it comes back to myself. So all I can say is, I think that question has potential to be answered, you have those discussions. I can feel the sense of pain, you know, I see that and it upsets me, upsets me, I can feel it in the room. The issue is, I think, the thing that's really difficult as a local councillor here is we have a really set role. So I can feel the pain that you're bringing here and that many people feel. We have seen the scenes of conflict and across the whole of, you know, on all sides. No one wants this, we all want this to end. All of us want peace, all of us want peace. But I can't sit here as a local councillor and promise you I can sort these things out. There are limits to my power. As much as I sit and watch those scenes and wish that I could do something to stop it, I can't. But what I can do is I can, you know, this question specifically I don't think is, this is specifically talking about what we will do in the borough. And we are trying, we are connecting with our community, we are speaking to them, we are speaking through multi-faith forums, we are speaking through community groups, we speak through our borough sanctuary. And I will continue to speak and listen to anyone that I can to make them feel welcome and make them feel safe in this borough. But I have to be honest with you, like, I wished I could have more power to end this and bring about peace. But that is very much outside of my remit. And as is, and the divestment peace, I won't respond to that specifically, as I said, because I think it is not my place. So I feel your pain. And I am sorry, but I think we have to be honest with you as politicians about the power that we hold in this room. Otherwise, I'm doing a disservice to you as well as one of our residents. Thank you. Thank you for at least trying to answer, Mariam, I appreciate that. But there is a lot more that this council can do. They have done it for others. They did it in the case of the invasion of Russia. Thank you. You can do it for Palestine. It is an anti-apartheid zone. You can divest, you can support the anti-apartheid movement, which was supported from 1983. Thank you. We are now in the supplementary question, so we only discuss. Okay. I just want to clarify, this council can and should do more. Thank you. We go to question 22. Question 22, can I invite Ferdi Suleiman for Maria Freeman? Maria, I apologize for not being able to come this evening anyway. I will go straight to the supplementary. I thank the cabinet member for the response and progress on the carbon neutral plan. However, it is a little disappointing that the reply only refers to links online. When I ask for a summary of the key activities, so can I ask what more she will be doing to promote the wider audience and action plans published online? For example, will she publicise regular progress, updates and success and detail any further mitigations needed to stay on track with targets? Thank you. Thank you. Can I invite the cabinet member, I will leave out, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I thank Mr. Suleiman for his supplementary. To say it was just a link, the document is quite a big document and short of writing a book the size of this, in order to answer that one question, I felt it was easier to direct you to the link because there's a lot more detail there. I'd also like to take the time to say that Greenwich Council actually is one of the few councils that have got to the stage yet of providing a second action plan on its carbon neutral plan. So, we're kind of ahead of the loop here. Are we ahead of the work? Of course, we've got challenges. We are aware that we have, as all councils, financial challenges. So, within the scope that we have, I think we have made some really good headway in this area. And I'd really like to, I'm quite happy to sit with you and go through some of those in more detail once we go through the plan. But it's quite a big document and I'm happy to go through that with both you and Maria, anytime. Thanks. Thank you, Councillor Likau. Question 23. Can I invite Rebecca Bennett? Question 24. Freddie Solomon. I have two questions, but they're similar, so I will only read one supplementary. I'll read the supplementary to the first question, which it says, in view of the Greenwich Council's declared promise of delivering on the climate policies, is the Council considering formulating all their other Council policies to align with their climate policies? Yes. This is very important. Right. Yes. My supplementary... Let's deal with this question. Sorry. Let's deal with this question. And then, if you have a... Yeah, I have a supplementary to this. 25 will be differently dealt. Yes. Yes. Sorry, Mr. Mayor. What he's done is to read out the substantive question. He was now going to follow that up with the supplementary. Reassuringly, Councillor Avril is on record saying it is indispensable that climate change is rapid, accelerating and very real threat to how we live. In July 2022, in its mission statement, Royal Battle of Greenwich set out the definition of responsible investment, stating it regards climate change, in quotations, we consider that significant exposures to high-carbon-emitting companies and projects within portfolios should pose a material financial risk to the value of the fund's investment. However, Royal Battle of Greenwich is currently investing in its employees' pensions in companies heavily involved in supporting the fossil fuel industry, such as BlackRock. Currently, 26.4 million, if I'm right. Mr. Fauri, can you focus on the question? Yeah, I'm getting to it right now. As I said, I'm not doing a supplementary on the second question. So, yeah, I've got one paragraph to read, that's all. Currently, 26.4 million in a company that says the following on its website. Mr. Solomon, they know the background. Cabinet member knows the background. You can focus on the question. Right, the question is, so will Greenwich Council commit itself to closing this gap by redirecting its employees' pension funds in favour of investments supporting a just transition to renewables that will be beneficial to the future of its employees? This will be a huge move. As Mr. Olu said, we are moving gradually to investing in more and more to green investments. But why is it gradual? We need to immediately move. That's my question. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Ligao, please. Of course not. I'm actually very confused, to be quite honest, because I've looked at both question 24 and question 25, and the only thing I can suggest is that, Councillor, Mr. Solomon has just used the questions as a Trojan horse, to be quite frank. And so, what he's come up with has no relevance to the actual question that's on paper. So, further than that, I have nothing else to say. Thank you. Mr. Solomon, if you have a new question, you need to submit separately. But this time, it's just the supplementary question to your original question. You cannot go any further, or any BO, and they cannot do that. So, thank you for your time. And you can submit questions for the next council. Can I just say one thing on that? Yeah. The leader wants to come back in. Sorry. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Just to make it clear, obviously, full council is not the responsible body for dealing with pensions. We have a pensions committee, and that is with the chair of the committee. So, I hear the point on, or the question you asked. But I just want to clarify, we do not deal with those decisions when it revolves at pension, in this Chamber or at Cabinet. Thank you. Thank you very much. I hope Mr. Solomon understood this context. I disagree to some extent, but I'm not going to go into it now. Perhaps we should have... Thank you so much. Question 26. Can I invite Amaral Kennedy, please? Thank you to the council. I think it was Councillor Okereke for answering my question. And I'm really pleased to hear that there is now a dedicated tree establishment team, because we can all see and feel the change in weather patterns that is happening as a result of climate change and the negative impact this is having on our trees and on everything, in fact, which is only going to get greater. And therefore, and therefore, the council needs to respond to this practically and effectively to safeguard its trees for the sake of its residents' futures in accordance with its carbon neutral plan. And I would just like to ask, when was this dedicated tree establishment team set up? And is it big enough to cover the whole borough? Because anecdotal evidence from walking around the borough would suggest that it's not being particularly successful yet. So I'd also like to know how can residents contact the tree establishment team, as most residents are on water meters and can't be expected to look after the trees that the council has planted? Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. So just in terms of your question or supplementary, it's fair to say, if you want to raise it, if residents want to raise an issue surrounding issues like a tree or anything like that, they can contact their councillors and they can raise it with the department via email in our proper systems. But your good go-to place is also your councillors to have those discussions to raise with them. On the point on the tree establishment team and whether we have, you speak to resources and whether we have significant resources in terms of the extent of this tree establishment team and the extent of greenish that we have to look after. I can write back to you in terms of what we think we need versus what we're currently covering. Obviously, you know the situation that public services is facing at the moment. And I can sit here and say to you that no council has all the resources it needs to respond to the inflation and demands that it's experiencing in terms of offering services. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Can I just add that trees are not a luxury? They're a necessity. Sorry, thank you. Thank you. This is the end of allocated 30 minutes. Sorry, Miss. I do apologise. I think you're quite right. It's why we've taken decisions to point 5,000 over to 2026 and we're nearly at that stage. So I think in this chamber we demonstrate our commitment to tree planting and the impact it can have on our neighbourhoods. Thank you. Thank you very much everyone. That's the end of the allocated 30 minutes time for the public questions. The answers to all questions have been published. Just a second, let me finish it. Published online. If you have a supplementary question today, which you have not been able to ask tonight, please submit it as a question for the January meeting. Now item 10, members question. There are 36 written members questions and those together with the responses have been published to the websites. Are these questions and responses received? Thank you. Thank you. I'll call out the number of each question in turn. Can any member who wishes to ask a supplementary question, please indicate. Priority will be given to the original questioner. One supplementary question is allowed on each of these matters. You asked councillors to indicate that they wanted to ask a supplementary question, so I indicated. No, that will be in the question numbers. Okay. Good. Thank you. Question one. Councillor Hadley. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and good evening. Can I thank the leader of the council for his answer to this first question? My question asked him about what actions he is taking in light of recent feedback from residents in the south of the borough. And sitting next to me is the physical six foot five manifestation of that feedback after residents voted to elect Charlie Davis as a councillor with a 10% swing away from the council's administration. The second big swing to the opposition this year. So can I ask as my supplementary, is he really saying to residents that he's not listening to that feedback, that he won't be changing anything in his administration's policies and approach? And group leader to group leader, does he not worry that that might lead to further feedback in 2026? Leader. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And just before I proceed to the question, I thought it would be worth helping speak to the clarifications on petitions and lead petitioner and whether there's clarity. There's really some form of miscommunication around clarity today and I went through our constitution, I didn't necessarily see the rights and roles of the lead petitioner. But what it might be worth doing is for myself and Councillor Hartley to pick this matter up with our overview and scrutiny chair on the Constitutional Working Committee to be able to really bring clarity around the roles. I think from the minutes or from the petition it's not clear on who the lead petitioner is and I think that's the point that the monitoring officer was speaking to. So it's us collectively picked that up outside of here. Listen, I think that the response is very clear and I think you can see all the wonderful Labour councillors in this chamber that speaks to the priorities and aspirations of our residents in terms of what they want to achieve. However, I will say, I see by the time we get to the agenda, we'll be welcoming a new opposition deputy leader and I'm very glad to see that Wallace has his grommet back in the chamber. Thank you, Leader. Councillor Hartley, question two. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Can I thank the leader of the council for his answer to this second question, which is on a really serious point. We've discussed many times that the leader says he's put communication and community engagement at the heart of his administration. But here we have the cabinet member for communities and he's failed to communicate anything about her departure from his cabinet beyond the fact of it. As of right now, Councillor Cousins is still listed as a cabinet member on the council's website. So can I ask the leader, what was the reason for her removal from his cabinet? Doesn't he think the public have a right to know who's in his cabinet and who isn't? And when will he announce her successor? Leader. First of all, thank you, Mr. Mayor. And obviously, as leader, I make changes to cabinet and undertake reshuffles. That was clearly communicated on the council's website the next day, I believe, via a statement. And also, I believe it has changed on the website because I personally checked myself. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Hartley for question three. Yeah, that's not the case. And I think that doesn't pass the transparency test at all, Mr. Mayor. Can I thank the leader of the council for his written answer to this question? So, businesses and residents are really concerned, as he acknowledges, about the impact that the council's planned sales of these three council car parks is going to have. I filmed a video at the old Dover Road shops. You may have seen it online. And I spoke to Keith and his 94-year-old mum, who's disabled and a blue badge holder. And Keith told me that without that old Dover Road car park, it's not going to be feasible for him to bring his 94-year-old mum to the cafes and shops at the standard. He told me it's one of the few things that brings her any quality of life at all. So, I've asked the leader to conduct an economic impact assessment, which that hasn't been forthcoming, which I'm really disappointed by. Will he at least ask officers to conduct an equalities impact assessment on the specific removal of these car parks, given the concerns that residents like Keith and others have raised? Leader of council. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. And I thank Councillor Hartley for his question. I do think he's jumping ahead a little bit. You know, the council has taken a position to say what we will do with these assets. But we haven't said what will happen to the asset. It will go onto the market. If someone bids for it, it could actually remain a car park, Mr. Mayor. So, I think he's jumped ahead and formulated a position. It's worth noting that there was also on-street parking on the road as well. From our assessment of the car park, Mr. Mayor, the usage hasn't been that high. But let's not jump ahead. Let's not decide what could be there. We don't know yet. We haven't tested the market in terms of what could come forward in that area. And we will continue to listen and engage. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Hartley for question four. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. We will return to that issue at the next meeting. Can I thank the leader of the council for his answer on this question? He will know that I have asked this in the spirit, given the media interest this generated at the time, of giving him the opportunity to respond to Sir Alistair Graham's comments about the perception that his actions cause. I have said repeatedly that there is no actual wrongdoing here, but perception matters too, as I know he agrees. So, can I press him further on this issue of future corporate gifts? It would seem to me, surely, to be wise for the leader of the council in these circumstances just to choose not to accept these corporate gifts in the future. And I have to declare an interest, Mr. Mayor. I, too, have accepted one corporate gift in my ten years as a councillor, which was a banana at the start of the London Marathon from London Marathon Events Limited. The value of the transaction was 18 pence. It was declared in the proper way and registered online. And I am happy to commit not to accept any future bananas if the leader of the council can forego any future Kylie tickets. Thank you. The leader of the council. Mr. Mayor, I'll have you know that I've never gone to a Kylie concert in my life. However, not all gifts offered are accepted. And what I would say to Alistair Graham's remarks is when he's led a council and been in a position of a council, he'll be able to understand the roles and responsibilities. Sometimes I do go to events where there are key industry areas there. Barclay Homes is our third biggest employer that we have to engage with. Sometimes it means going to the O2 and speaking with the owners of the O2 down there. That is the role and the mandate that I am giving as leader to represent this borough, fight for an inclusive economy, and make sure we get the best outcome for our residents. Councillor Hartley, you can keep your bananas, but I won't be taking that agreement. Thank you. Councillor Hartley for his fifth question, please. I mean, that's extraordinary. Sir Alistair Graham hasn't run a council, but he was the chair of the committee for standards in public life. And I think that response to his comments is absolutely extraordinary. Can I thank Mr. Mayor, the leader of the council for his answer to this question on the Silvertown on Blackwall tunnel charges. I think the toll discounts confirmed this week by the Mayor of London and TfL are woefully inadequate for local residents. I regret deeply that the leader of the council did not join our efforts to make the case for a full exemption for Greenwich residents and local businesses. I asked previously that the council's tolls consultation be published and subject to public scrutiny. In his answer, he said that wasn't possible due to purdah rules, which we've heard a lot. Could he commit, though, to publish that and beyond that consultation and beyond that, could he commit that the council should publish all future consultation responses, whether it's with TfL or any other public body? There's a lot of interest in this. Leader of the council. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It really depends on the kind of engagement that we're consulting on. I mean, JJLA, who is a public organisation, it's right. When anyone engages with them, you can get those submissions from their website, same way as central government publishes who engages with them. So that information is accessible, obviously, in the context of pre-election period. There are some consequences. It's not to say that it won't be published. So, Mr. Mayor, I think there is already that system that kind of exists. Thank you. Councillor Hartley for his sixth question. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And can I thank the leader of the council for his answer to this question? I've asked for the same information privately with officers, and I am aware, I do know the figure now, of what payment was made by Universal Pictures to RBG to pay for this Greenwich publicity stunt. I've been asked by officers not to share that figure publicly on the grounds of the council's commercial confidentiality agreement with Universal Pictures, and I will obviously respect that request. But I will give my view, which is that it was surprisingly low to me for the value that Universal Pictures extracted from this. The leader has listed the value to the council and the borough, but the value that this company got from this promotion was far in excess, I think, of what they paid to RBG. So, could I ask the leader of the council to personally look into this, to make sure there's a framework in place to drive the hardest bargain possible, to make sure the council isn't selling the RBG brand too cheaply, and that the council really maximises value for the taxpayer if we're going to continue to do these corporate partnerships? Thank you. The leader of the council? Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I thank Councillor Hartley for his question. I note the forthcoming opposition deputy leader's comments on this event and his views. It's a real shame. Mr. Mayor, look, we partnered with Universal with a film that was coming up that was really popular. If Councillor Hartley's just sitting here looking at what is low in his own perception, as he says, because let's use the word perception, Mr. Mayor, it's unquantifiable. The interest that it brought, the Greenwich, the Greenwich piggybacking on the fact that visitors were coming here to come and explore those fantastic signs, the impact it had for businesses. You've just sat there and spoke about business. Actually, we're partnering with global organisations that are able to bring more people and bring more trade to the borough. So, Mr. Mayor, I think what it brought to Greenwich was very good, actually. And even though the deputy forthcoming opposition deputy leader doesn't agree, we will continue to work with our residents and get the best interest for them, like we always do. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Hartley for the second question. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Can I thank the deputy leader for her answer to this question on the implementation of the Greenwich and Blackheath low-traffic neighbourhoods? As she's acknowledged, the signage wasn't fully up and running on day one. She's committed that it will be before fines start to appear. We're now a week into what I've been told is a three-week sort of no-fine assimilation period. But given the fact the signs weren't up and running, given the confusion caused, will she extend that three-week no-fine period to give residents more time to adjust to these changes? Thank you. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. I thank Councillor Hartley for his supplementary. The fact of the matter is I have extended it from a two-week to a three-week period. I also can assure you that all the signs will be in place by the end of this week, so you'll have another two weeks, basically, to adjust. And in terms of any confusions or anything tomorrow, the chief exec, the leader, and myself and my team will be assessing what's happening so far and evaluating if there's an issue with signage, et cetera, because some things have been brought to our attention. So we're keeping a close eye on this and we are ready to act as swiftly as we can on any issues that arise. Thank you. Councillor Hartley for his eighth question, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And that blue badge confusion in particular would be really useful to pick up. And can I thank the Deputy Leader for her answer to question eight, also on the Greenwich and Blackheath low-traffic neighbourhoods. The loss of these parking spaces with no replacement with no waiting at any time designations came as a surprise to residents. She's given a detailed response, which I'm grateful for. And residents, including residents who engaged with the whole process right from the very beginning, found that a surprise. It wasn't communicated very clearly. Can the Deputy Leader commit to making sure that residents' feedback on that specific element of the scheme is going to be captured when assessing the results of the experimental traffic order? Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Yes, I can. Councillor Hartley for ninth question. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And another question on Greenwich and Blackheath LTNs. There's a lot of aspects, as she says, to how the Council is going to measure impact of the scheme. And she said that the boundary roads will be included. And as she knows from the call in, as she's heard tonight, residents in Charlton, in particular, and in Blackheath, are very concerned about that impact on boundary roads, as am I. Could I ask, in the interest of transparency, and as a helpful suggestion perhaps, could she publish in one place online the timetable for all the measurement and all the monitoring everywhere that's going to be put in place, so she can try and restore some public confidence in the process? Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Already we have quite a lot of information online, but I'm quite happy to look at that and if there's anything that would be helpful to include. As I say, having had a, having a sort of an assessment tomorrow of where we are so far, I'll be able to see if any adjustments are needed. Thank you. Councillor Hartley for a tenth question, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. One more for the Deputy Leader. I can't really thank the Deputy Leader for her answer to this question, because she hasn't answered it. I feel like I've raised these questions about asking for the data on the first year of the Council's emissions-based parking charges half a dozen times. I was told I had to wait until a year was up. I asked again, it was not forthcoming. I've asked again, it's not forthcoming. So, she says in her answer that the Council is comparing this with other, with other councils, but the data I'm asking for is the data, the Council's own data about its own scheme. So, could she just commit to a date when she will answer these questions that I've been asking? Because it's going to be a lot quicker and a lot easier for her and her officers than forcing me to do a Freedom of Information request, Mr. Mayor. Deputy Leader. I thank the Council for keeping the exercise today. There are challenges. There were challenges and there still remain challenges. Emissions-based charging went live in 2023, in June. So, anybody who had just purchased a year's parking would not be in the count for that year if it was just prior to the start date. So, to get a realistic figure, we would need kind of a two year span to see where the differences came in. Also, we've increased the number of CPZs in the area, so that in itself will have an impact. But, yes, we can say that there has been an increase in permits that have been purchased and that number, as the CPZs grow, is increasing. And, you know, as we add more CPZs, if we do, following consultation, that will change again. So, you're not always going to be able to compare apples with pears. But, I'll be happy to give you all the data as it's coming in. But, you will know that it's changing data. Thanks. Thank you. Councillor Hartley for his 11th question. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Can I thank the Cabinet Member for Finance for her answer to this question about the £9 million slippage in the Council's planned medium-term financial strategy savings? That was at the end of Q1. And, at overview and scrutiny, we were reminded by officers that only did cover Q1 to the end of July, and that we were reassured that work was underway to recover the position. But, as she knows, the Q2 tracker, which was examined by Cabinet only a few hours ago, shows the slippage has grown from £9.0 million to £9.8 million at the end of Q2. So, the situation is worsening. We're well into Q3 now. What's her level of confidence that she can turn this around as the Cabinet Member in Q3 and 4? And, what specific change in approach is she putting in place to make that happen? Councillor Member, Cabinet Member Councillor Highland, please. Thank you very much for your question. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Basically, we over-programmed by £3.3 million. So, you can take that off to begin with. In addition to that, we're hoping that it will be fully recovered. There are difficulties. For example, there are private people, companies profiteering, as we know, of keeping young people in secure accommodation. And, our director is working very hard with other councils across London to develop our own secure unit. But, of course, these things take time. It can't be done overnight, as they say. And, in the meantime, the Labour Government are going to crack down on these companies that are, you know, wildly profiteering from the misery of families and young people. And, we also have, if you like, for want of a better expression of Star Chamber, interviewing around agency spend, around recruitment. You'll realise, of course, that the London Council's research shows how many senior officers we have earning over £100,000 a year. It looks greater than it is because, of course, that includes head teachers. When you take that out, we are, in fact, in the herd of other local authorities. And, of course, we have a large direct workforce, which means that we offer a complete range of activities. And, obviously, there have been job cuts over the years, which means that it's really important that we have strong and qualified leadership, and that we continue to recruit and retain those people, which, of course, also means growing your own. But, three people involved in that are interviewing directors and trying to cut down on agency staff and looking at any which way money can be saved in year. So, I would imagine we would at least get it to £4 million, within £4 million would be… I'm looking at the Director of Finance who's… He's looking confident, I have to say. No. I would hope that we'd get it within that figure, if not completely balanced. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Highland. Now, Councillor Hartley for the twelfth question. That was an actual answer to her question. That's going to catch on. That's dangerous tactics. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Can I direct this question to the Leader in the Cabinet Member for Community Safety's absence? I'm really, really disappointed in this answer, which confirms that the Council is supporting the Metropolitan Police's closure of Cold Arbor Police Base. He knows that earlier in the summer, when this came out from MOPAC, the Mayor's Office of Policing and Crime, I asked the Cabinet Member for a meeting that was declined with the ward councillors. That was declined on the basis of a conversation with him as the Leader of the Council. That it wouldn't be appropriate to have the meeting. And I've had to ask the question publicly to get the Council's position. And the Council's position is to back the closure of a police base that serves the very south of the Borough. Residents are going to be outraged at this. Can I ask him to reconsider that policy position? And would he agree now, particularly as the Council is the landlord of the property, could he agree to meet with me and Councillor Dowes and Councillor Tester as the ward councillors to discuss this? Because I think the Council's got it badly, badly wrong. Cabinet Member, Councillor Jackie Smith. Sorry to disappoint you, Councillor Hartley. But you know I just love questions on police stations. And I wouldn't want to disappoint Councillor Davies on his first time back here tonight without one. I've discussed this with Rachel before she went away. And I think you're considering it that we're supportive is probably a stretch too far. But as I've answered in this Chamber time and time again, it's not for us as a Council to influence other agencies on how they manage their budgets. And to remind you yet again that the closure of police stations across London was actually a policy that was implemented by Kit Malthouse, who is not exactly a Labour person. We know that the Metropolitan Police are facing enormous cuts in the coming financial year, which results in cuts in police numbers, which will take us back to about 2019. This is not the time to say to the police, well actually you're cutting police officers all over the place, but spend some money on keeping a police base. I'm not calling it a police station. It's a police base. It's merely somewhere where officers muster from. So, you know, I'm sorry to disappoint you. And I don't think we've got kind of loads and loads and loads of complaints from residents. Because in effect, it will probably make no difference at all. What people will get, and you can monitor this. You can monitor it through scrutiny panel to see how much time the Cold Harbour Safer Neighbourhoods team spend in their ward and in their roads. But what you've got, and you know, the question is totally negative. We've got substantial, something like £780,000 worth of investment from 106 Plus, in partnership with Barclay Homes, creating the new base in Kidbrook, which will be a state of the art place for police to be based, to muster. Yet you would seek to isolate the Cold Harbour officers from being able to work with their colleagues. If you've understood what happens, they'll be able to talk to their colleagues in neighbouring wards and share information and do all of those things. It's not facile. It's absolutely true. That's how it works. But test it. Test it with scrutiny. Test it with asking the borough commander how much time his officers are spending on the ward as compared to when they were based in Cold Harbour. And I think you'll get the answer that I think you're going to get. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you. Councillor Hartley for question 13, please. That is astonishing. Astonishing. There's been 1,500 complaints from residents who signed the petition. And we'll return to this subject, Mr Mayor. That is an astonishing neglect and failure of the very south of the borough. It really is. Can I ask the leader of the council, I think, to answer, to follow up on this question about employer national insurance contributions? I think it's come to him because he is the acting cabinet member for communities following that cabinet change. From his answer, we don't appear to have made an assessment. He says we haven't made an assessment of the impact of the Chancellor's increase in employer national insurance contributions on the local community and voluntary sector. I accept and agree with him that not all BCS organisations are impacted. But those that do have payroll are impacted, many of them. And it's going to present a big financial challenge to some charities. And I'm really surprised we haven't asked those voluntary sector and community sector organisations that the council commissions to deliver local services, what impact it will have on their bottom line. So can I ask the leader to go and ask the local charities that the council partners with that do have payroll, that will be hit by that increase, and establish what the knock and impact on council services will be? Thank you. Leader of the council. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And the great thing about being leader is that I get to reallocate questions as I see fit, Mr. Mayor. So maybe Councillor Hartley doesn't understand that. Mr. Mayor, first of all, on this issue of NI. Look, Mr. Mayor, we continue to talk with our voluntary sector communities. But bear in mind, central government has said that local government will get a rebate. So with those that we contract with, there's an opportunity there to make sure that we continue to work with them and uplift certain things in the next VCS round. Who knows? Local governments getting a pound for pound rebate. That's helpful. But let's not pretend why we are in this situation and why we got the budget from what we got from the government. Is because we are fixing the foundations of conservativeness, Mr. Mayor. And we can't ignore that. We can't ignore that. What we saw is a good budget from central government. One that has given this local authority more headroom to be able to breathe where they were suffocating us. Right? Suffocating us. A new spending review that will go on to a three-year settlement. That is the opportunity for us to be in a game-changing position where we can think about budgets long-terms. If you want to speak about the voluntary sector, Mr. Mayor, let's talk about the money that they took out and diversify it to other areas. London suffers from deprivation, Mr. Mayor, and hopefully we get a government that is looking to support us and work with us with our voluntary sector. Thank you. Thank you, Leader. Councillor Hartley for our 14th question. So, the local government has been reimbursed, charities haven't been, and nor have social care providers. So, can I thank the cabinet member for Health, Adult Social Care and Borough of Sanctuary for the response to this question. And I'm glad to read that, unlike with the charity sector, we have done some work on the impact on social care providers. Because under the Care Act, the Council clearly has a duty to shape and monitor the social care market. That seems urgent. Could I just ask, will the results of that assessment, of how that employer national insurance cut is going to hit social care providers in the Borough, is that going to be published and could that commitment be made tonight? Cabinet member, Councillor Lollower, please, go ahead. I jumped the gun there. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, Councillor Hartley, for your question. I'm not going to make a commitment to that tonight. But what I will say is, as you can see here, we are very much looking into this. We have really strong relationships with our local providers, and we are kind of working in tandem with them. I hate to disappoint you, but I have to agree with the leader of the Council. The issue is, if we have inherited a £22 billion budget gap, what are we supposed to do? At the end of the day, what we are doing is we are looking at, I think these national insurance contributions are going to be key in helping to fund the repair of broken public services. I think it is important. Even the IMF has come out to say that they endorse the sensible rise that Rachel Reeves has put in considering the national insurance. And the other point is, as well, is that a healthy and educated workforce is something that is really important. And employers stand to gain from that, and stand to gain from improved public services. On top of that, employees are being even further protected by the national living wage increases and the employment rights bill that will be coming through. So I really do think that this is important, and I think we are having to respond to requests and a gap that we have inherited. But I do also think that we have to invest in our workforce, and that is important. Thank you. Councillor Hartley, for a pertinent question, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Could I thank the Cabinet Member for Housing for her comprehensive answer to this question? So some improvement still below target across those measures on the repair service. At Overview and Scrutiny, we had a fascinating and really useful session on the carbon neutral plan. And I raised an opportunity to link up the repair service transformation plan that she's leading to our ambitions around net zero council homes. And by which I mean to say those colleagues who are out making repairs aren't walking past at the very micro level of this challenge. Problems that they might currently be walking past. Dislodged insulation, broken window seals at the very micro level. So that's a connection that doesn't appear to have been made from the answers we had at Overview and Scrutiny. A recommendation is on the way to her via Cabinet. But I raise it here so I can put it on her radar and ask her as the Cabinet Member. It may be a pretty modest contribution to the carbon neutral plan. But could she take an interest in that and see if those two dots could be joined? Cabinet Member, Councillor Scrapsley. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Hartley. And interesting. Yes, I'm pretty sure I can and would like to. We charge whoever goes out and about and especially those who go into people's homes to not only look at the job they've gone to do, but to look at safeguarding, obviously. Is the smoke alarm working? Are there issues such as that that have not been picked up? Because they're a tremendous resource for us. So, yeah, I'm very happy to add that to the work that we're doing more formally on carbon reduction. And we're doing, I think, a fair amount. And our capital program is also obviously massively linked with that. And also the improvements we've made to the damp and mould service, whereby you get a mould wash within three working days if you're vulnerable. And then a surveyor's visit within 11 days to work out what's wrong. And putting right damp and mould and leaks and condensation in itself contributes to carbon reduction. But yes is the answer to your question. Thank you. Councillor Hartley for 16th question. Thank you. Councillor Fahey for 17th question. No supplement, Mr Mayor. Thank you. 18th question, Councillor Fahey. No supplement, Mr Mayor. Thank you. Councillor Smith for 19th question, please. Thank you. No. 20th one? 21st one. Thank you. Councillor Mazzelani for question 22. Thank you, Mr Mayor. And thank you very much, Councillor, for your detailed response to my question. However, I think I would like to ask you whether you are aware of how far behind Greenwich Council is behind other London councils on this issue. Waltham Forest, Islington Council, and now Lewisham Council, just next door to us, who have announced publicly that they will rewrite their responsible investment statement. So they have rewritten it, with immediate effect to limit exposure to potential human rights abuses in the illegally occupied territories. Islington Council has pledged to divest 2.6 million, publicly pledged to divest 2.6 million. Waltham Forest has publicly announced it will be divesting from arms companies. I have information that three other London councils are very close to making similar announcements. So my question to you is this. Isn't it time that we upped our game in Greenwich? Otherwise we will be the last cab off the rank. This is a very important issue. And we must make a public commitment to divest from financing illegal activity in the occupied territories. And if you are worried about the word illegal, you should listen to the Foreign Secretary, who five days ago stated the UK's position on all Israeli settlements is clear. They are illegal under international law. This is a very, very vital and urgent issue. We should be doing more in Greenwich. We should not be investing our funds in illegal activities. Will you now up the game for Greenwich and persuade your fellow councillors that this is very important that we make a public statement and a public commitment like other London councils are doing? Thank you. Thank you Mr Mayor and thank you Councillor Marnie. Mr Mayor, if I may ask a question. Does all councillors receive email from me last Monday? Yes or no? Yes. So I believe if you have read this information that is not meant for public, that I sent to all councillors, maybe you will not be asking another question. However, since the time you brought this to the council in July, I have met face to face with you. I have collected some documents from you. We've verified to find out which of these are okay with the United Nations list. I have communicated that to you as well. Notwithstanding, today I should be in the London, the Local Government Authority Pension Fund annual meeting. But I decided not to go because you have raised some questions. Having said that, I've asked officers there to make sure that they ask the question. And every opportunity I've got to ask questions, to meet with people, I do meet them and I ask questions. We are going well, as far as I'm aware, because we are not going to take a rational decision that will affect our pension. But we will do it gradually and perfectly because we can rush into judgment. I will say that we understand with London safe that our own Section 151 officers, they are drafting a response that you can give to residents. But I can assure you, we will get there, but we are not going to take a rational decision. You noted, you said, we are moving gradually, that we need to up the game. I am prepared to do that, but I will do that at the right time and when it's okay for us to do that. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Question 23, Councillor Naz Asker. Question 23, Councillor Naz Asker. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I'd like to thank our committee services colleagues for getting the answers to all the member questions to us in time for the meeting. Your work is very much appreciated. We know it's a lot of work and thank you. I have a supplementary for the cabinet member. I'd like to thank her for her answer. And it's very positive news about the Sustainable Streets programme that's going to be starting in the new year. And I'm very pleased to see that Plumster Common and the wider Plumster area has been identified as one of the priority areas in Phase 1. I'd just like to ask the cabinet member whether the 17 roads in the Plumstead area that have been identified as that would benefit from a formal solution on the pavement parking issue, whether she could come back to me at a later date because I'm not expecting you to know the answer now, whether that's 17 streets in Plumstead Common or in the wider Plumstead area because it's not clear. And also, will residents get to put forward suggestions for their area on the first phase of the programme? We have a lot of streets where there are concrete pads on the pavement that suggest that pavement parking is permitted, but there's no markings. And I think residents could play a big part in helping officers to draw up the initial plans. Thank you very much. Thank you Deputy Leader. Thank you Mr Mayor. And I'd like to ask the Council to ask about all our recommendations and so on and so forth. In regards to what we've been excluded in the list. We really need to understand where, how and what the residents in that area will be wanting. And so that's part of the process that we'll be following. So we hope to get a lot of input and then we will go into the formal consultation period. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Charlie Davis for Question 24. Thank you Mr Mayor. And thank you to the Leader, not just for his answer, but his apparent keen interest in my social media, which has shone through in his answers this evening. It's good to know at least someone reads my social media. Onto the supplementary. Will the Leader publicly apologise to pensioners in this borough who have lost access to the winter fuel allowance due to the actions of his government? Leader. Mr Mayor, sometimes when I'm on social media I do catch nonsensical things online and it just catches my attention. And that's the case. It's a really interesting study, now that the Conservatives are in opposition. They suddenly have an interest in national issues. I think today they're learning that national decisions have implications on local implications. So Mr Mayor, thank you. Mr Mayor, do you know what's really important in this question? Look, governments have had to take really tough decisions. As they say, they are fixing the foundations of our economy. Fixing the foundations. Those foundations that were dug up by the Tories, ripped apart and thrown up with no real recourse for the support that people need. Now, it's interesting that Councillor Davies there speaks to us about what representations we've made. When their Conservative government were trying to bring an end to the household support funds. Again, and again, and again, and again, I'm coming, I'm coming. And again, Mr Mayor, it was local government that stepped up and fought for it. It was local government, key word, local government across all sides of parties, Mr Mayor. The LGA, Conservative councils, Labour councils, Liberal Democrat, I'm not pointing to you. Liberal Democrat councils. The point is, all councillors stood up and spoke about the household support funds. So part of that lobbying has included that and you can see that the government have extended that again. Within that, it's been able to, we've been able to do some of that within our winter support program for our own residents. So there is some things there. We are also working on pension and credit take-up, Mr Mayor. But please let us remember, please let us remember, we are dealing with the consequences of 14 years of the last Tory government. And therefore, while government is trying to fix the foundations, let's not forget who tore it up. Thank you. For question 25, Councillor Davies. Question 26, Councillor Davies. Thank you, Mr Mayor. It's good to be back. Thank you to Councillor Smith for her answers to both the last two questions. Especially by giving an idea of the uplift for question 25, where there wasn't data available. Will she is the cabinet member commit to further campaigns on top of anything which is already planned or occurs annually, between now and the next winter, as well as sharing data where possible and where it exists publicly? Cabinet member, Councillor Smith. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Davies. I wonder if you've switched to the welfare rights questions just because you can't stay away from me, really. I think there is a law about stalkers and I think I may need to report you. However, of course we'll do everything we can to support our pensioners and we always have. And as the leader has eloquently answered the question on why the government have had to do it. And, you know, I must share in his bemusement about your side of the Chamber's interest in national government. When we raise national government issues, they were never anything to do with you, but suddenly they're everything to do with us. However, you know, hard decisions have to be made in order to balance books. But the answer to your question is, every single pensioner, I've had my letter, I own up to being a pensioner. I'm looking along here at my colleagues and they can put their hands up as well. We've all had a letter from the DWP telling you what you need to do to clean pensioner credit. We've put stuff out, we've got the welfare hubs where people can come in and have assessments. I know my officers have been to the pensioner forum to talk to them about what they need to do. And there is a hardship fund. There is a hardship fund that is being promoted for anybody that is in need to make an application. It's not a dreadful application, but if anybody needs help with that, they can go to one of the welfare rights hubs and have assistance with even making that application. And as it says in the answer, we are linked in with all sorts of other networks to make sure that people are supported and don't choose between eating and hating, that we are doing all we can. And we will carry on doing that throughout the year and ahead of next year. And hopefully when our government gets things on a more solid ground from what they've inherited, then things will change. But I think whilst everyone is talking about the taking away of the winter fuel allowance, which I know has had a big effect on doorsteps and people and people are naturally concerned about it. But we are keeping the triple lock thing to do with pensions and pensions have far outstripped the wage increases that workers are getting. And if you take off the two or three hundred pounds of winter fuel allowance from the increase in the annual pension, people are still hundreds of pounds ahead. So I am not saying it is a great thing and I am not saying that I want anybody to suffer. But there are other schemes as well that we are signposting things through. Like the energy companies that we are providing, I think it is £140 to eligible people, of which most of the pensioners will be. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Charlie Davies for question 27. Thank you Mr Mayor and thank you to the cabinet member for her answer. Although it does appear to be shrouded in mystery. Is she saying that the Council is not aware of the exact financial saving from the previous changes and whether this is more than the £9 million invested in the last three years? Deputy Leader for the Council. Deputy Leader for the Council. Thank you Councillor Davies for your supplementary. I just confused you because you seems to be – Councillor Leggett, can you please start? Yes, I was saying my confusion was your fixation with the past. You asked me questions about nine years ago. ago. I gave you the answer about the exact amount. When we had the cuts for, and Clean Sweep was disbanded at the time, part of those cuts were cuts that went right across the council where a percentage was requested of each department to make cuts. It was soon found that we needed to address the growth in the borough. We were also finding that there were some areas that were not getting the adequate services they wanted. So yes, we cut, but we also ended up putting some stuff back in. And that's why I gave you the answer I did. Since this particular administration, I think one of the first things the leader and I had discussions about was the long impact of not insufficient funding for this department. The result of that that was, over the last few years, at £9 million growth bid. And that's where we are now. So we are looking at addressing the issues as they arise. We are reacting to those issues. And so that's why we have, for example, the return of jet washing that at some point had been stopped. That's why we have been able to increase some of the services that we are providing. And that's why we are also able to respond to the 17% growth over the last 12-15 years within the borough. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Davies for question 28. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you to the Cabinet Member for her answer. A return of jet washing which was campaigned for by the local Conservatives. And from that last answer, Mr. Mayor, no idea of any savings from the previous change. £1.5 million in start-up investment last time round, £682,000 this time. When will the Labour Party in Greenwich get serious about how they spend taxpayers' money? And given the Council is not aware of previous savings, how can residents have any confidence that the savings linked to the latest proposal will be realised? Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. I think Jackie was, Councillor Smith was saying you were missed at one point. I'm a bit surprised because you've just really come back and all I can take it is a rumble, to be honest. I don't see what I have to answer in that question. I think it's been really clear. Deputy Leader. Thank you. Councillor Davies for question 29. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And thank you to the Cabinet Member for her answer and her lack of answer to that supplementary. Can the Cabinet Member make a commitment to residents on the Page Estate this evening that any future scheme will not include a modal filter on the estate? Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. I'm sorry. This has been a very long evening, Mr. Mayor. So I can't start pre-empting that consultation. Once that's completed, I'm sure you'll be aware of what decisions are made subsequently. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Deputy Leader. Thank you Mr Mayor and imagine my excitement when I ask a police station question and the cabinet member isn't present and so there's an opportunity for someone else to answer it. But as a serious question, I have personally engaged, I assume the lead will answer this, with the developer who has said they have no plans on bringing a permanent proposal for that site until they're aware of what's going on with the BT building. Will the council work with ward councillors to engage with the developer to ensure that a plan is brought forward, you know that is a site in the middle of Elton town centre, ripe for helping to regenerate the town centre and will the leader work with ward councillors to ensure that it is brought into use. Thank you, leader of the council. Thank you Mr Mayor and again I'm going to reallocate this one, thank you. Yes. Councillor Smith from the Cabinet of Rule. Thank you Mr Mayor, sorry it's me again. I think the original question was aimed for me anyway and I looked carefully at it and I thought, hmm, why is Charlie asking me this question? And I was a little bit phased because when I look up 20 Wellhall Road, it's a dentist surgery. So, I wondered why your sudden interest was in private dental work and implants, looking at your wonderful smile that you're not in need of it. However, when I realised it was the former police station site address, I understood your interest. Look, officers are engaging with the owner of the site, I don't think it's a role for councillors to do that because it could come to planning, you could be sitting on planning, you could be doing anything and it's not something that is normally done. The developer is quite clear that they are not keen to do anything permanent at this moment in time, that they want to do a temporary fix on the site. The original proposal was rejected through planning and rightly so, so they are looking at people every week and when they put forward something that is acceptable to planning, then it will get meanwhile use. I suspect like most developers in the country, they are sitting on the site waiting for the markets to change so that their development can be a suitable development and if it happens to be residential, then clearly the council will be engaging with them through the planning process to make sure that we extract the maximum amount of social housing that we can out of that site. But we can't force people to move. There are a lot of sites at the moment that are all over the borough that are being delayed, that have even had planning commission that's not been acted on. So I think trying to go in and make suggestions to people is probably not the right thing for councillors to do. If you want to do it privately, then that's entirely up to you, but I wouldn't advocate doing it through a formal mechanism. Thank you. Thank you. By the lack of progress and the current state of the buildings, as I say, 2020 was a long time ago. What effect is this continued closure having on future plans for the winter gardens? Thank you. Thank you. Your question? Thank you. Cabinet member, Councillor Kerr. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Greenwell, for your supplementary. Unfortunately, it's completely something different about the winter gardens. If you're talking about the school side of it, it's not in my hands. It's in the Department of Education. I always just have to wait back for them. But the winter garden, well, I can't comment on that. I don't know what's happening with it. I've been at that probably for some time now. But if you need any questions around the school, we have to go back to the Department of Education for it. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Kerr. Councillor Greenwell for question number 32. This is for Councillor Kerr as well. And as long as, going back to the one, if you can keep us as councillors, local councillors, well informed, please, of what does happen regarding the Greenwich Sixth Form Harris Academy. Yes? Thank you. My next question, again, for Councillor Kerr, this was regarding the possibility of some pupils from private schools wanting to enter the state system because of what's happened, obviously, in the last few months. Can we be assured that measures will be put in place for any impact on SEND pupils seeking to transfer from independent education in the future? Thank you. Thank you. Cabinet Member, Councillor Kerr. Thank you, Mr Mayor. And thank you, Councillor Greenwell, for your question. Yes, you know, we are doing so much work for SEND children, children of special needs. There is a whole transformation that's happening, and I am proud of so far what the team is doing around this work. Young people with special needs is at the heart of everything we do. We're going to continue supporting them case by case, and I rest assured the team will do everything they can to support these kids. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Greenwell for question 33. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and also thank you, Councillor Slattery, for your response. I'm not quite sure, possibly, there may have been some confusion in the question. The question came around because of concerns about mutual exchanges with council homes, and it's whether or not, once the council, the exchange has been made and initial repairs carried out that were already needed to be carried out, if any repairs, urgent repairs, do occur within that first year when the exchange has taken place, do you sort of, or what is the council's policy? So it's if any actually occur within that first year, would there be, I mean, essential repairs hopefully would be carried out, is that correct, within that first year? Thank you. Cabinet member, Councillor Slattery. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and Councillor Greenwell for your supplementary. I'm not sure I wholly understand it, so happy to have a conversation outside, but people accept sight on scene. They accept the mutual exchange based on what they've seen, and they can't kind of arrive and then order a million repairs. But, of course, if there's any danger whatsoever to our tenants, then we will not allow procedure to get in the way. We will deal with that. But if you've got specific concerns, I'm very happy to talk to you. Thank you. Councillor Greenwell for question 35, supplementary question. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and again this is a question for Councillor Slattery. I thank you for your response about the number of empty properties, and I do remember from when I was on housing that it was going in the right direction, and yes, congratulations that Voight Properties are now, I think you said that the figure was 180 at the moment. My question is, how long does it take for those properties to come through the system once the keys have been handed in, and is there a good communication from this point of handover? I say this because, as well, I'm referring to one particular very sad case, which I know that I've asked about, and I've referred it to the head of housing, where a particular resident passed away in August. First, the son handed the keys in, in September, beginning of September, and very sadly, the son is still receiving letters saying that there are the arrears, rent arrears overdue, and please, can the keys be handed in? So obviously, there has been some lack of communication somewhere, and I'm hoping that this is just a single case. And I'm wanting reassurance where it's good that the numbers are coming down. My question is, how good is our system of communication between once the keys are handed in, and the wheels are set in progress, have we got a foolproof system? Is that... Thank you. Thank you. Cabinet Member, Bachelor of Activity. Councilor Slattery, please. Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and thank you, Councilor Greenwell, for your question, and grateful you've acknowledged the big drop in the number of empty homes, which in January 23 was 472, and is now below 180, and is the lowest for 10 years. In terms of how quick we turn it around, it very much depends on the condition of the property, and it also depends sometimes we take the opportunity to put in a new kitchen or put in a new bathroom, or we may discover asbestos, and that's a whole other story of time. So it's very difficult to say, although I can get you an average figure. I'm not totally sure which bit of communication you were referring to, so I think maybe if it's a specific case, I'm happy to pick it up, but I'm not sure what bit of communication. What I do know, if you're talking about internally in the department, the head of repairs goes line by line through a void every week to see where it's at, and we'll talk to where, if it's stuck somewhere, like keys are not handed in, or been handed in late, or if it's stuck somewhere else and plumbing, we'll unlock it. So I'm not sure which bit of communication you mean, but maybe in clarifying an email to me. Thanks. Thank you. Now we reach into the last question of this section. Councillor Greenwell. Question 36. Yes. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and thank you, Councillor Rahman, for the response regarding the Pramshedts, and what are the Councils looking for, should I say, from a potential buyer for the Pramsheds, bearing in mind that the Pramsheds are part of Eltham's dying heritage. Thank you. The Leader of the Council. Thank you, Mr Mayor, and I guess once again thank Councillor Greenwell for her question and highlight the narrative around our asset sales. It's obviously contributing to make sure it supports this authority to support its budget gap and its services that it delivers. We're not just doing disposals, we're also reletting properties, and there's a whole asset management strategy there to be able to do that. On the specific question, what I will say is that we're looking to see what the market comes up with and keen interest to see what comes forward in the market. We don't want to put any limitations on the art of the possible. There could be a range of ideas or a number of ideas that the market comes up with, and that will be all sorted out through the disposal process, and we'll see what comes forward. But we don't want to limit what can come forward. Thank you. Thank you very much. Now we're proceeding to the world question sections. These are the questions to Cabinet members. Yeah, we're reaching there. Cabinet members, up to 10 minutes' time is allowed. Could you please indicate by raising your hand if you wish to ask a question? Councillor Hartley. Can I ask that perhaps Councillor Tester goes first, given what happened earlier with the petition? Councillor Tester. Thank you, Mr Mayor. This is a question for Councillor Lacalle, which is about the West Hallows petition earlier, which I wasn't allowed to ask. Firstly, I'd like to pass on the frustration felt by Nigel, Elaine, and all the other West Hallows residents who signed, due to the slow progress and constant delays to the promised action. I would like to, however, also thank Councillor Lacalle and officers involved for meeting with ward residents and us and councillors in recent weeks. But our residents have waited years already. Is it too much to ask that the residents are given a clear timetable for the consultation and completion of the installation works so that they're, to set their minds at ease that these measures will be implemented sooner rather than later? And also, will she commit to an urgent meeting with residents and councillors to discuss this timetable? Thank you. Deputy Leader of the Council. Thank you, Mr Mayor. And I thank Councillor Tester for his question. Look, I think I apologise for the time taken. I have been working with the local councillors, yourself included, and some of the delays have been beyond my control as well as my officers' control. And within that, we are trying to work as swiftly as we can. And I'm very aware of the anxieties. I mean, this is a situation that has been there for many, many years. And so, you know, I think I've shown goodwill in really taking this up and trying to push it forward for attention. You are aware of the reasons why we've not been able to engage at this stage, but I'm hoping very early in the next year, in January, that we will be in a position. And, of course, you know, I'm speaking not having a sort of crystal ball. What's happened over the last year has been absolutely unprecedented. So I'm hoping that that's kind of settling down so that we can move on with business as usual. And I'll be getting in touch with you as soon as I can. Thank you. Councillor Hadley. Thank you, Mr Mayor. My question is to the Leader of the Council. It's about Cold Ardha Police Base. He avoided my first question on this, but he can't do it twice, because it was the Leader of the Council who made the decision for the Cabinet Member to decline my request for a meeting with the ward councillors earlier in the year. And that was on the basis we were told that it wasn't the right time to discuss the Council's position. Now we learn, months later at this meeting, the Council has developed a policy position on this to support the closure of Cold Ardha Police Base without engaging us as ward councillors. So can I ask him, 1,500 people have signed our petition against the closure. We heard earlier about police officers. Speak to police officers about what they think about this. Can I ask him, the Leader of the Council, will he agree to meet with all three of us as ward councillors to discuss this? Because we need a chance to change his mind on his view on Cold Ardha Police Base and the Cabinet members and the Council's position on this, which we've learned this evening. Leader of the Council. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I mean, Councillor Hartley seems to be stipulating positions that no one has stipulated. I think Councillor Smith highlighted a really well, robust and reasoned answer, Mr. Mayor, that sets out the challenges and difficulties and also the historical implications of Conservative decision-making that has led to this closure. We recognise, Mr. Mayor, we recognise the impact that those historic decisions have had on our community. That's why we took the decision to invest in a new hub in Kudbrook, directly put an investment from this Council in there to be able to support the police in doing their job and making sure that they keep us safe. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Sandra Bar. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. It's a question for the Leader. I'm sure we're all very proud to be wearing our white ribbons this evening to recognise that we stand against violence against women and girls. I wonder if, as Jess Phillips memorialises the names of the women killed by men each year on the run-up to International Women's Day, there might be a place for the women killed in Greenwich by men that we can either build into for Council or another appropriate forum. Leader of the Council. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And as we mark white ribbon, I thank Councillor Babel for raising this point, and I think it's a really important point, one that talks to the work we are doing against violence against women and girls, and also making sure that, as men in this chamber, we are not bystanders, but we stand up when we see wrongdoing and intervene, Mr. Mayor. I will take that request away and see how we can facilitate it. Thank you. Thank you, Leader. Councillor Hyde-Leading. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Another question for the Leader of the Council. This one's about the asset review that he mentioned a couple of questions ago. He'll be aware that Councillor Testa and I have felt the need to call in for further scrutiny the Council's planned sale of the Equestrian Centre and also Green Garth at Shrewsbury House. We did that at the request of local community groups in Shooters Hill, the Woodlands Farms Trust and Shrewsbury House Community Association. They hadn't been consulted at all on the future of those two sites, which are obviously very important to that community. So my question is on the broader approach his administration is taking to the asset review. Can he just reconsider the comms and consultation arrangements around the asset review process? To make sure that community groups are being consulted along the way rather than just finding this appearing on a Cabinet agenda. Leader. Thank you very much, Mr. Mayor. And I note the fact that Councillor Hartley and his colleague, I believe Roger Testa, called it in. And I believe we'll see what happens at the call-in. Obviously, there will be a call-in panel which will speak to the issues that were subjected in there. Mr. Mayor, we have to be very conscious that when it comes to assets, we have to be careful. You know, assets are not a referendum. And we must also recognise that some people have interests in assets. There is a process in which we deal with assets for the community through the community asset review or the community... The name has been lost in me. But there's a way of protecting assets that the council has and there's a proper process for it to be considered. And what I would say is we have to be mindful of the fact that some community groups do want certain assets that councils own or would like to use it. And that is a fair request. That is a fair request. But we also have to consider how we use our assets to deliver the overarching services of the council. I believe the scrutiny will speak to all of those things and consider them. Thank you. Thank you, Leader. Councillor Adley. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Squeezing one more in. Another one for the leader of the council. This year has seen six elections, seven if you count the neighbourhood forum referendum. And I've lost count of the number of times I've heard PEP and PIRDA cited as the reason for a delay or for something not happening at some level in the council. It's had an impact, as we know, a material impact on the delivery of the medium-term financial strategy savings and contributed to that slippage. So there's also a material cost. And it's difficult because the law is very ambiguous. The LGA guidance is much less ambiguous. And so there is a bit of room for interpretation and different authorities take different approaches. It's been frustrating for councillors from both parties. It's been very frustrating for officers I know as well. So could I ask him as leader of the council, could he take an interest in this after the current PEP period is over? And could he just review the council's approach to interpreting the PIRDA rules to make sure that the council is getting the balance right? Because I don't think any of us can afford for council business to, in part, grind to a halt in the way that sometimes it has felt like it has since spring? Thank you. Leader of the council. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And I note the councillor Hartley's question and I'm just cautious that he's pointing that question in my direction. We have a responsibility to communicate with the monitoring officer on the decisions and you actively engage with the monitoring officer on your motions just like the way that we did. This is an example. And, you know, they made their, gave us their, hold on, I'll land my point, Mr. Mayor. And the monitoring officer gave us their opinion. And as councillors, it's very easy to question and challenge advice, which is exactly why we're here, to do that. But the role of the monitoring officer is to protect us for those things that we can't sometimes see ourselves. And I would assure Councillor Hartley, in the same way he questions the monitoring officer's decisions, it's the same way we question the monitoring officer's decisions and engage with all officers with challenge and robustness through absolutely everything. I hear whispering. Did someone whisper? Anyway, the point that I'm making is really clear. Mr. Mayor, I've spoken to the monitoring officer myself and spoken about PrEP. Obviously, it's very frustrating for everybody. But more importantly, Mr. Mayor, it's about making sure we come to the right decisions. And I believe and trust the advice our legal counsel gives us. Thank you. Thank you very much. Time is really going to the close point. Easy is raising hand. Ten minutes, I've already gone. Easy, sorry. Do you have a leader? Do you want to say something? I was just going to ask a question to the leader. I'm sorry. To confirm. The question is, the time is over. Oh, okay. Yes. Because our ten minutes has been gone through. Yeah, okay. Item 11, matters for early debate. There are no matters for early debate. Item 12, deputy leader of the opposition. This is an information report and is for noting only. Matt Hartley. May I just speak very briefly to communicate from the... Yeah, I would be asking it anyway. Does any member wish to speak on this report? So you'll get the chance. You don't have to rush. Yeah, yeah, you can do now. Yeah. I'm so sorry, Mr. May. I jumped the gun. I'm so keen to welcome Councillor Charlie Davis. We understand that. I just wanted to communicate from the growing opposition conservative group our pleasure in putting forward the appointment of Councillor Charlie Davis back as deputy leader of the opposition after he was so rudely interrupted two years ago, resuming that function that I know he will fulfil with great aplomb. And to those... And Councillor Smith has left the chamber, but to those Cabinet members who were here in the last Council and were subjected to Councillor Davis's forensic and ferocious questioning on all manner of subjects, all I would say with them to this Cabinet, be afraid. Be very afraid, Mr. Mayor. Leader of the Council. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I have to say he was dearly missed. But no, just want to welcome Councillor Davis back to the chamber and congratulate him in securing the position of the shadow deputy leader or opposition shadow opposition deputy leader. So welcome to your role. What I will say, I know you've been welcomed by your leader, is that this is not the chamber you left. Well, this is not the chamber you left and we will have robust debates in this chamber and with that comes the healthy tension that we all expect in politics. But this is a chamber of robust debate and we will give the opposition the respect they deserve that's our official opposition on our benches because in politics opposition plays an important role. Thank you. Thank you very much. Councillor Sardin? Councillor Sardin, did you raise a hand? No, I have a hand. Oh, thank you. So, does the council note this report? Thank you very much. I echo the voice of leader. Congratulations and welcome as a saddle cabinet leader, opposition deputy leader. Thank you. Item 13 now, Gambling Act 2005, adoption of revised gambling policy. This report was considered by licensing committee in October and by cabinet in November. And they both recommended that council adopt the revised policy. In the absence of the cabinet member, can I ask the leader of the council to move the recommendation? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And the report before us today is really all in line with our statutory duties and maintaining how we deal with gambling licenses and all of our associated items. and so I formally move the report, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Does any member wish to speak on this report? No? I now I'll ask the council to vote on the recommendation in the report. Those in favor, you need to raise your hand. Thank you. Against and abstinence. the revised gambling policy has been adopted. Item 14, Royal War of Greenwich Strategic Risk Register. This item has been to the Audit and Risk Management Panel in September and to cabinet in November. the comments on the Audit and Risk Management Panel where there should be a focus on responsibility. The ownership of risk should be more holistic rather than just one director. Can I call on Councillor Dennis Highland, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Social Values to introduce the report? Thank you very much indeed, Mr Mayor. Well, as a local authority, the Royal Borough of Greenwich is responsible for ensuring that it conducts its business in accordance with the law and that public funds are properly accounted for, used economically, efficiently and effectively and good risk management allows us to effectively minimise the consequences of threats that we face down to acceptable levels to seize opportunities and to make informed decisions. This increases confidence in the achievement of our corporate plan, our Greenwich. and our ability to deliver those key priorities. Risk management occurs as part of a number of different activities and decision-making processes across the Council. Members will notice risk considerations and comments are now included in all reports. a risk-based approach is adopted more widely when discussing Council operations. It must, however, be recognised that risk management is, in fact, a continuous process that relies on the dedication and ability of employees at all levels across the Council to consistently apply agreed procedures within the Council's risk management framework. And as we navigate the significant challenges that we and every other Council face, officers will continue to take steps to embed risk management across the Council. and I know, Mr Mayor, that Councillor Gardner, as Chair of Audit and Risk, would most likely wish to comment on those recommendations from last September, and I submit this report to full Council for agreement. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Highland, for introducing the report. Can I call on Councillor David Gardner, Chair of Audit and Wix Management Panel, to speak on the report? Thank you very much, Mr Mayor, and can I thank the Cabinet member, Councillor Highland, and indeed the Director and Officers, for the effort in putting this and maintaining this new strategic risk register. As you reported, Mr Mayor, we did have a very long discussion on this item at our September Audit and Risk Management Panel, and actually we made two sort of quite significant overarching recommendations. one that you referred to, which I think that the senior leadership team has certainly taken cognizance of, is that the ownership of the recommendations, which are very important, the ownership of the different actions from the risks, should be more corporate and less silo-based, and I certainly think that is now being recognized, which is excellent. and the second recommendation, which is a more technical one, Mr Mayor, I'm sure everyone has read Appendix C, and on Appendix C there is a great table which shows where each of these strategic risks falls on a heat map, showing the likelihood on the y-axis and the impact on the x-axis, both in terms of their gross tracking, the gross multiplier, and their net multiplier, and also what the target is. We thought there should be a way of, that is such an important heat map, and that, you know, the way it's presented of likelihood, multiplied by impact, actually equals the level of risk, but that should also be reflected in the main schedule, indeed as it used to be. So that was our second recommendation, just to make it easier to read, so the key information is buried in a further appendix. But we're very pleased with the new model, and that the council's cabinet and senior leadership team are taking these risks very seriously, and taking the necessary action. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Gardner. Does any member wish to speak on the report? Councillor Abley. Thank you, Mr Mayor. Just very briefly, just to wholly endorse the cabinet members' comments, and welcome the updated strategic risk register, and to thank Councillor Gardner for his sterling efforts chairing the order and risk management panel, and colleagues on the panel for their work in contributing to it, but most importantly to the officers who've done, I think, a very comprehensive piece of work to update the strategic risk register to give us all a much better ability and platform from which to scrutinise the very important continuous task of risk management in the council. So just to attach the opposition's endorsement of all those remarks, Mr Mayor. Thank you very much, Councillor Hadley. So, now, can I now ask the council if it notes the report? Thank you. The report is noted. Item 15, 2024-25, Treasury Management and Capital Mid-Year Update. This report was considered by the Audit and Risk Management Panel yesterday and Cabinet earlier today. Neither had any comments for council. Can I call on Councillor Dennis Hyland, Cabinet Member for Finance, Resources and Social Values, to introduce the report? Certainly, Mr Mayor, thank you so much. Could I draw to your attention, though, what could be referred to as a mistake? I'd like to think about it as further clarification. Section 5.2 on page 15, sorry, item 15, page 3, line 13, instead of its reading, this has increased in line with the Bank of England's rapid interest rates increase over the last year, we should add the word financial, so it reads, last financial year. Okay? And that will take care of the issue. Thank you. With regard to the Treasury report itself, there's no increase in the risk profile or the appetite of the Council for risk, and we continue to maintain a prudent investment strategy. All councils are facing challenging and volatile economic conditions with high borrowing rates and geopolitical events still impacting global financial markets. External borrowing has gone up by 135 million in the last six months to cover the funding needed for the projects in the capital programme as outlined in table four of the report. The key points for capital are that all projects remain within the approved multi-year budget envelope. The leasehold disposal of the property at Oakmere Road, although on 125-year peppercorn rent, helps us to achieve the savings that we set out in the medium-term financial strategy report in March of this year. But it also, perhaps more importantly, enables us to meet our statutory requirement to provide sufficient special educational needs placements, helping many young people in the years to come. I submit this report to full council. Thank you. Mr. Mayor. Thank you, Cabinet Member, Councillor Highland. Does the Chair of Audit and Risk Management Panel wish to speak on this? Councillor David Gardner. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. As I say, the audit and risk management panel received this report last night. Obviously, we had a few questions, but we had no comments or recommendations to make, and therefore, obviously, we're happy with the report. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Gardner. Does any member wish to speak on the report? Councillor Highland. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. And likewise, I had my opportunity to comment at order and risk management last night. The one thing I would just want to flag from that discussion is to give full council some reassurance that the arm panel is annually really dip testing the really important question which is, is there sufficient resource at the corporate centre to fulfil treasury management, to fulfil that function and those responsibilities? So, just to give some reassurance that that is high on our list to keep an eye on. And other than that, just to endorse everything the cabinet member for finance said, it strikes me, Councillor Highland, that we spend quite a lot of the year agreeing with each other on technical reports like this and then we make up for it by having a big old row at the budget just to keep things in equilibrium and long may that continue. Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. I will now ask the council to vote on the recommendations. Those in favour? Against? Any abstinence? The recommendations have been agreed. item 16. Proposed changes to the constitution. I will move the report. Does any member wish to speak on this report? Councillor Adley? No? Yeah. Does a leader of the council? Thank you, Mr. Mayor. I just thought I will speak on the report very briefly and thank officers for reviewing the constitution and getting it ready for the procurement act, which is why we need to make these changes and making sure that the authority is able to act in accordance with the new procurement act and its requirements, especially in line with thinking about social value and how we procure things. it's taken a lot of work from our officers to get this work ready and we've seen it span two councils and I believe hopefully this brings it to the finalisation of it. So we just want to thank officers for their work and the work of the constitutional working panel or review panel that Councillor Hartley and myself sit on with the chair of awareness. So thank you, Mr. Mayor. Thank you very much. Does the council agree the recommendation? Those in favour? Those against? Any abstinence? The recommendations are agreed. That concludes the meeting this evening. I would like to wish everyone a very merry Christmas and happy new year. I would like to invite you all to join me in the mayor's parlour for the repressment and mince pies. And I will see you all back in the chamber next year. Wish you all the best. Thank you. Thank you.