This meeting of the General Purposes Committee was to include the discussion of a number of topics relating to elections and polling, complaints made against the council, and the way in which Councillors are paid.

Polling District and Polling Places Review

The committee was to consider whether to approve the recommendations made by the council's Executive Director of Corporate Services about the designation of polling places and polling districts in the City of Westminster. Councils are required to conduct reviews of polling places and polling districts every 5 years under Section 18C(1) of the Representation of the People Act 1983. The report explained that the council had conducted a public consultation on its proposals, and set out a number of changes that had been made as a result of the consultation. For example:

St Peter’s Church Hall is a more appropriate venue in the HRC polling district as St Peter’s Primary school is required to close completely during a poll.

The report also provided information on the number of electors in each polling district, broken down by which parliamentary constituency they fall within.

Approval of Compensation Report (1)

The meeting was to include consideration of a report on a complaint made by a tenant to the Housing Ombudsman. The Ombudsman found that the council had committed severe maladministration in its handling of a complaint about a leak into the tenant's property from broken guttering, which had been ongoing for a number of years. The report asked the committee to approve a payment of £6,901.48 to the tenant to compensate them for their experience. The report says this about how the figure was decided:

£5,901.48 in recognition of the loss of enjoyment of the home. This was calculated based on 25% of the average weekly rent of £151.34 paid by the resident for the 156 weeks from October 2021 until 4 weeks from the date of their report. This is in line with our compensation policy which offers 35% of rent where a resident is unable to use a room, in this case a bedroom, due to a failure on our part.

The report also described a number of measures that the council was putting in place to learn from the complaint, including:

• Introducing a dedicated Customer Advocacy Team
• Introducing household support reviews

Approval of Compensation Report (2)

The committee was also asked to consider a report on a complaint made by a tenant to the council about delays in carrying out electrical and bathroom repairs in their home. The report recommended that the council pay £4,795.74 to the tenant to compensate them for the distress and inconvenience caused by the delays. The report set out a number of recommendations to prevent similar situations from arising in future, including:

The importance of establishing escalation procedures when residents raise concerns about issues related to our compliancy obligations. In this case, a vulnerable resident was concerned about their electrics.

Members' Allowances Scheme 2025/26

This report concerned the way in which Councillors are paid their basic allowance. It provided details of the proposed Members' Allowances Scheme for 2025/26, and asked the committee to recommend to the full council that the new scheme be adopted. The report explained that the council was required to adopt a Members' Allowances Scheme each year, and that in doing so it must have regard to the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel convened by London Councils. The report set out the various allowances that Councillors are entitled to claim, including a basic allowance, special responsibility allowances for those holding certain positions, and travel and subsistence allowances. It proposed a number of changes to the scheme, such as the introduction of a new allowance for Members of the Pension Fund Committee, and an increase in the basic allowance and special responsibility allowances for all Councillors.