Transcript

Please be seated Thank you Good evening everyone and welcome. Assalamu alaikum. I am Councillor Saif Uddin Khaled of Bromley North. I'm the Speaker of the Council and I will be chairing the meeting tonight. I would like to thank everyone for attending including the online participants and members of the public in the gallery and I trust you all will show courtesy. In particular I would like to remind all members of the public that you must not shout out or otherwise disrupt the meeting. If anyone does disrupt the meeting I will have no other option but to ask for them to be removed from this meeting. Thank you. This meeting is being broadcast live via the Council's website. The cameras will be mainly focusing on the Council meeting. In view of this I would remind members that the residents are looking on councillors to act in a professional and respectful manner and to show the borough in its best possible light. I am aware that the Monitoring Officer has written to all members on this subject but in summary I would like to once again remind members to keep all contributions brief and relevant to the subject matter under discussion. To not stand or start to speak until I have called you. To speak through me and do not address comments to other members or the public gallery. To not interrupt each other or make comments whilst other members are speaking and to be respectful to each other at all times. To not criticise officers during the proceedings and most importantly if I stand all members must sit down and be quiet. Although I would only take the action as a last resort I will ask for the removal of any member or visitor should their behaviour become disruptive in the meeting. I will continue to ensure that all sides of the Chamber have a fair opportunity to contribute. To ensure this I have obtained a list of members to speak for the items. Should any other member wish to speak please indicate your wish to do so. I cannot however guarantee that I will accept your request. Please also note that the supplemental information has been published including with the proposed amendments to the motions for debate this evening. Furthermore if the fire alarm rings please follow the instructions of the facility staff who will direct you to the exits. Good evening once again and welcome to the Town Hall and this is the full council meeting. I would like to wish all our residents and the members of staff who have been observing Ramadan and I would like to wish you all Eid Mubarak particularly to my colleagues here in the Chamber. I have been honoured to have been invited to share Iftar with some of our community organisations during the past month for which I wholeheartedly thank them. Since my last update in January I have attended a variety of engagements to support and promote the Bara and its residents. I am always especially pleased when I have an opportunity to chat with our young people and celebrate their achievements and in January I was able to welcome a group of children from Marion, Richardson and Moem Primary Schools to the Town Hall. The children enjoyed a quiz about democracy, a chat about what is involved in being a Counsellor and the tour of the Town Hall learning about its history and heritage. I have also attended the awards evening of the 31 Squadron Air Cadets based in my land and was really proud to hear of the success that they have had. We are liaising with them to reinstate the speakers cadet to help provide them with further opportunities to become involved in the events whenever and where possible. There have been a number of events to celebrate Bangladesh and to remember the struggles in the past and present. I joined guests from across London at the Bangladesh High Commission for Mother's Language Day and took part in a community discussion on the current situation facing students in Bangladesh. In addition to this I was invited as a guest speaker to the reception for a visiting professor from Bangladesh where the topic was that a degree from the University of Dhaka should hold the same value as the degree from the UK. That was an interesting debate. There were a number of other engagements where I was able to meet people and see the work they are doing and to acknowledge this and thank them from the community fundraisers to the competitors and the citizenship ceremonies. Finally, as many of you will be aware that 60 years ago this week was a very important moment in London local government when the new London boroughs, including our town, our own London Borough of Tower Hamlets, formally launched and created. The creation of 32 London boroughs and the Greater London Council greatly expanded the size of London. In Tower Hamlets, three borough councils, particularly, namely Poplar, Bethnal Green and Strapney, were marched to create London Borough of Tower Hamlets on 1st April 1965. The chain you can see me wearing today was originally from Bethnal Green Council and the mace in front of me is from Strapney Council. We still have the mace and the chains from each of the three authorities and they are on display in the Speaker's Parlour. If you visit the Speaker's Parlour, of course, you will be able to view it and see it. In some ways London and the world was a different place in 1965. You would agree with me. No one had yet landed on the moon. There were no mobile phones or internet enabled computers. Marion Faithfull was the number one in the charts and, most importantly, England had only one year yet to win a football World Cup. In other ways, the issues being faced feel remarkably similar. 1965 was the year when the Race Relations Act came into force, which was a very important moment for the communities in East London and elsewhere. To celebrate the creation of Borough Council in Tower Hamlets, I would like to welcome Annity MacKin, Archivist and Richard Wilshire, Archivist, Manager from Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives. Tower Hamlets Local History Library and Archives in Bancroft Road is where the Council's rich archives are preserved and accessible by all. Annity and Richard have brought a special display of original documents and artefacts to mark the 60th anniversary. For example, they have the very first minutes of the Borough Council meeting. Also on display are the earliest records from 1593 relating to Poplar, Clements, Atlee's, Freeman of Stepney entry and the monthly moon newsletters between 1990 and 1992 relating to the Bengali anti-racism movement in the Isle of Dokes. We also have created a souvenir version of today's Agenda prepared in the style of 1965 Agenda and copies are available in the Chamber for you to have it. Please feel free to explore the display later after the meeting has concluded. I would like to now invite Councillor Peter Golds. He wishes to say a few words. Mr Speaker, thank you very much. I suppose one shouldn't declare certain things of probably pending mortality but I actually do remember just about the formation of the London Boroughs. In many ways they were a traumatic experience because people had got used to going to Poplar Town Hall or Bethnal Green Town Hall or Stepney Town Hall and suddenly in came the London Borough of Tower Hamlets. But I believe that the ultimate reorganisation was a success and I actually say to people here, having served on this council for a third of its life, that Tower Hamlets has been a success. Tower Hamlets has done its best to serve the people of this extraordinary borough. There are some incredible archives here because our amazing archivists have found a local government minutes of 1593. Well that is 132 years ago and they're beautifully hand written and at the bottom the person who wrote them has put his name which is Edward Hammond which one can only think of course Edward Hammond is the predecessor to Stephen Halsey. One may wonder if they had anything in common but one wonders if 432 years later Mr Hammond would ever have imagined that here we would be standing in his area discussing him which is an extraordinary effort both for us and for our incredible archivists. But also the minutes of our borough and including what can just be seen over there, the Stepney award of the Freeman of the borough to the greatest council this council has ever had which of course is, as he signed himself, in his traditional modesty, Clement Richard Attlee. And perhaps we should just think of him as Clement Richard Attlee but certainly the greatest person that ever served on this authority and its predecessors. And there he is being awarded the freedom of Stepney in 1948 but if you look at the minutes of Stepney council in 1965 at its very last minute, Major Attlee as he then was had become the mayor of Stepney in 1919. And at the very last meeting of Stepney council they awarded him his past mayor's badge at the very last meeting of council in 1965. So I would say to colleagues just have a look at this. Think of what we can see today but most importantly think of our borough and let us, so as we often don't do, let us think of the best of this borough. The amazing people that have gone before us, probably the amazing people that have come after us and the amazing people that we represent in this incredible London borough of Tower Hamlets. In this, London, the world's greatest city. Thank you. Councillor Abdullah. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. On another occasion I echo and agree with Councillor Gold's on almost everything. I'm not going to make it a habit but on this occasion I want to say just walking in to see the, I've seen one of the archive display, it brings back memory, 25, well many years, I'm not going to give my age away. But anyway, so many years ago the issues of popular, especially Islay Dogs, Derek Beacon, so as much as we are fortunate and humble and it's a privilege and honour to be a councillor, to be elected here. Let's just also remember this council has also had dark days and Derek Beacon was the first ever and hopefully only ever declared racist BNP, or I was going to say reform but they weren't there at that time, elected to this council chamber. It is deeply an honour to represent and serve the people of this borough. And if we look back in history, in the 25 years that I've had some dealings in various capacity of this council, tradition, history is important. So I wanted to ask you, Mr. Speaker, directly that the language that you mentioned is very important to those of us who are bilingual. This council has been a beacon for promoting language. Your absence at the Al Tabali on the night of the 20th, for the 21st, was very notable. May I ask you directly, Mr. Speaker, why that was? Secondly, you echoed and celebrated the joyous month of Ramadan. Your absence at the lighting of the first ever razzmatazz lights in Brick Lane was also absent. And in keeping with tradition, if we go back 300 years in the books of the minutes and agendas of this council, you'll see tradition is important. As the first citizen of this borough, if a royal household, member of the royal family, comes to this borough, you are there with the Lord Lieutenant to receive them. You were absent from, in my ward, St Catherine's in Wapi when Her Majesty the Queen came. Do you have answers for those three questions you speak of? Thank you. Councillor, I will come to you, Councillor Abdullah. Councillor Jahid Choudry? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Actually, I wanted to ask the same question from my colleague, Councillor Abdullah. So, I'll just wait for your reply. Thank you. Anyone else? Councillor Salih Dal. Thank you. To answer your questions, I was advised that this was, in terms of the Language Day event, this was a Tower Hamlets event and the running order was drafted according to the mayor's wish. And it was relayed to me that it was the mayor's power and control where he would put the speaker in the event. I was also advised that when a royal family member comes to the borough and the invitation reaches the council, it's tradition that if this invitation would be forwarded to the speaker's office, on this occasion, unfortunately, it was not reached. And, of course, the Ramadan lighting, the speaker was not invited. I suppose this was also a Tower Hamlet Council's event. This is the view and this is why, probably, I'm just guessing. I have explained everything in my email to all members. I disagreed with the decision in terms of the running, drafting of the running order. And I would say that this is something the council will look into it. I was approached by the chief executive and also the corporate director on the night of 20th February. And I was advised that they will look into it. So, in a nutshell, it was the mayor's wish that I would just have to relay one information, that it was relayed to me that the running order this year is based on the precedent from the past when the mayor was previously executive mayor between 2010 and 2015 and the speaker was not from the same party. Therefore, the order this year is not something new but based on the precedent from the past. In the past two years, the speaker was from the same party of the administration, so the mayor invited the speaker to attend with him, which is within his gift. So, that's all I have to say, although I disagree with that and I believe the council will look into it. The chief executive has promised to me and the corporate director for culture also promised to me that they will look into it to clarify the constitutional provision. However, I would like to make it very clear that the speaker's position is not going to be depending on his political affiliation. Nobody can treat the speaker politically and nobody can put anywhere or wherever they want to put just because of the political opinion. This is not the tradition we are celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Tower Hamlet Council. So, this is my position, that's all I will have to say, unless if you want to say further, of course, probably you can, but of course, this is the end of the matter, I believe. Councillor Hidamat? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I did not want to say anything to tonight's meeting, but obviously, sharing your story reminds me of the struggle we had in the last 20 years in townhouse politics. This is not the reason we actually stood up in 2010, this is not the reason we stood up in 2014, and this is not the reason we fought the last seven years and created an aspire party which is hijacked by some of those beneficiaries, I call them honeybees. Mr. Speaker, when we talk about injustice, when we talk about fairness, one individual continuously, continuously just going out in his way to this controllability, this is not how we want council to run. Mr. Speaker, you are a civic man, this is your right, this is your right to go there, and I just want to say one more thing, I think Mr. Speaker did the right thing, he sent an email saying that he was going to break the protocol, we were going to go there to see who is this man that wants to control everything, but you made the right decision not to go there and break the protocol. All I want to say, this council, we need to have a protocol, Linda, that actually give rights to every individual councillor, give rights to the mayor, and give rights to the speaker as well. We cannot compromise with our own rights. Thank you very much. Thank you very much, Mr. Speaker. I think this is the end of the matter, because we will be here until 10 o'clock and then by then probably the time for the Maghre players will expire. So if we all agree, probably we will have 10 minutes break for the Maghre players very quickly. Linda? And then we'll come back. On the matter of the speaker's protocol, in respect of Al Tabadi Park, the Royal Family Visit and the Ramadan lighting, I think this is the end of the matter, this is an occasion for celebration, and you had, what I had to say, I had to say, and then you, I think some of the members also expressed your views. I think this should be the end of the matter, and then, of course, the chief executive and the other officers will look into it for the future reference. So, Harunwe, shall we have the break now for 10 minutes? Is there not time yet? Okay, Councillor, very quickly. Mr. Speaker, I just wanted to say that in the spirit of celebration, and I think our community would like to see our speaker at civic events, with regard to the chain, the uniform, that all kind of adds the colour and the flavour for the celebration. It's sad that you are not at those events. Can I just make a request to the mayor that in the interest of our community, I think the civic mayor's office should be treated as impartial politically, and I hope the mayor will in the future take that discretion and invite you, or the officers will invite you to community events that the speaker needs to be at, especially Royal Family Visit, so that your office is there to kind of promote the council in its positive light. Anyone from this administration would like to say anything? So, shall we have the break now for 10 minutes? Is it time? What time is it? 39. Okay, thank you. Okay, agenda item number one is the apologies for absence. I've received apologies for absence from Councillor Asma Begum, Councillor Amina Ali, Councillor Amy Lee. I also understand that Councillor Muhammad Chaudhry is joining online. Are members aware of any other apologies? No. Agenda item number two is the declarations of disclosure pecuniary interest. Any member who has a disclosure pecuniary interest to declare in any item on the agenda, please indicate. Councillor Abutama Chaudhry? I don't think it's a DPI, but just for transparency, I think there's a petition on the planning process. I work for a developer, so I just wanted to declare that. I don't think it's a DPI, but I just wanted to, for transparency. Anyone else? Okay, you're done, yeah? Thank you. Yes, thank you, thank you. Agenda item number three is the minute of the previous meeting, the draft unrestricted minutes of the ordinary meeting of the Council held on the 22nd of January, 2025 and the budget council meeting held on 26th January, February, 2025. Thank you, Mr Speaker. A very quick point of order and correction. If we go to 28 of the minutes, on the issue of item number seven, I request that my name be recorded as voting against both the motion and the amendment, and it's not included. I'm sure that will be included on the minutes this evening, and thank you for your forbearance. Thank you. That would be corrected, as you mentioned. Are the draft minutes agreed as a correct record so far? Agreed, thank you. Agenda item number four is to receive announcements. I would like to now call upon Chief Executive Steve Halsey, who has some announcements to make. Thank you, Mr Speaker. First of all, I would like to update you about the latest developments with the best value intervention. Since I last spoke and reported to the Council, we have continued to set up the transformation and assurance board. We held a facilitated session focused on roles, responsibilities and ensuring that the board is set up to provide effective assurance. The meeting was held on the 18th of March. We have held the first meeting of the internal assurance board and identified senior sponsors and senior responsible officers for all priority programs in the continuous improvement plan to ensure that we are mobilizing the organization to deliver the plan and can demonstrate strong grip on risk, delivery and impact. We have agreed with the ministerial envoys that the draft continuous improvement plan for the transformation assurance board to sign off in April will be high level and will continue to work together to develop the program iteratively. We have shared the draft improvement plan, political mentoring program and scoping for cultural change program with the envoys and the TAB leads and worked with them to test and develop the priority programs that will drive our improvement journey. We have also taken overview and scrutiny committee comments into account as we develop the plan via a facilitated session and an update I gave to the committee. We have also progressed recruitment for the improvement lead, the strategic director of change and improvement role required by the ministerial directions. The closing date for applications was yesterday. We have also had the first formal feedback session with the envoys to reflect on their priorities and secured senior peer support from Waltham Forest Council to support robust assurance and peer learning. I know many of you have spoken to the envoys directly in group briefings and various meetings. Over the coming weeks we will ensure that the transformation assurance board is content with the draft plan and programs required by the ministerial directions and that these are signed off by the deadline the minister set. We will also continue to develop and test program delivery plans, risks and success measures and identify and remedy capacity and capability gaps to deliver on the improvement plan. We will also engage staff via a series of pod sessions on improvement plan priorities and develop an all staff survey to be completed in October. I will also bring our first update report to government alongside the continuous improvement plan, political mentoring plan and cultural change program to full council for you to endorse in July. Finally Mr Speaker, the council has been successful in two high profile legal cases recently. The first involved the tragic death of a man at Maddox House. The property was severely overcrowded and the landlords have been brought to justice thanks to our trading standards, housing teams and the legal team. The second last week involved a landlord ripping off potential tenants including people coming from abroad to study. He was jailed for more than three years in what was an incredibly complex investigation and I would like to thank all those involved in that successful prosecution. Thank you Mr Speaker. Thank you Steve. Item number five is to receive petitions. Council has received four petitions, one for debate and three for presentation. But before we go to the petitions to be presented, I think it's time for muggy prayers. So we'll have a very quick 10 minutes break for all the members who would like to pray and then we'll be back at 7.50. Members can you please take your seats quickly because we have already passed the time. We are supposed to come back. Right, thank you. We're going to swiftly go to agenda item number five is to receive the petitions but before we go into the agenda item number five, I would like to say a few words about what took place before, right after my speech. Of course there's one thing I would like to make it very clear. You also know the protocol and the procedures. When the Speaker stands up and says the matter is concluded, of course all the members should sit down. Same goes with the monitoring officer, that when the monitoring officer stands up and wants to say something, of course as the protocol dictates and the procedure dictates that the members should sit down. So for the future reference, I believe the members will make a note of that and observe accordingly. Thank you for listening to me. We're going to now go to agenda item number five is to receive petitions. Council has received four petitions, one for debate and three for presentation. For the first petition, I call on Ms Carrie-Ann Sibilcock and Kambiz Bumla to present the petition regarding the divest the local government pension scheme from companies that are complicit or profit from the violation of Palestinian human rights and for the exploration or processing of fossil fuels. You have up to three minutes to present the petition. The three organisations together are the Tower Hamlets Coalition for Ethical Investment set up to campaign for the divestment of LGPS assets from companies complicit in or profiting from human rights violations of the Palestinians and from fossil fuel companies. We launched this petition in September last year and in total it's received close to 1,600 signatures online and in hard copy form. The goal of the petition was to prompt a 30-minute debate in full council. But obviously we acknowledge that a motion was debated at council in January on this very issue and the outcome was a clear cross party and group majority commitment to divest the staff pension fund from weapons manufacturers and to conduct a full audit. So Mr Speaker, we warmly welcome this important first step by our council but we are here tonight because we believe it is vital that we keep the momentum up on this important issue. I'm going to hand over now to Dr Kambiz Bumla. Mr Mayor, Councillors, I'm Dr Kambiz Bumla representing Tower Hamlets Trades Council which includes doctors, nurses and other healthcare staff in our hospital next door and in our general practices. This morning's newspapers contain the report of a Palestinian ambulance crew found in a shallow grave with bullet wounds in their chest and head executed with their hands already tied. These deaths can be added onto the deaths of over 1,000 healthcare workers killed in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. The dead include 260 nurses, 165 doctors as well as ambulance drivers and many other healthcare staff. 230 were killed while actively saving lives. No Tower Hamlets pensioner should feel that their pension has been funded from supplying arms that continue this slaughter. I am sure this council will do the right thing and I am so proud to live and have worked in this borough. Thank you. Mr Mayor, Speaker and Councillors, I'm Sybil Koch from the local Palestine Solidarity Campaign and the Tower Hamlets Janine Friendship Association. People in this borough have strong links with Janine in the north of the West Bank. Janine's refugee camp has recently been obliterated by the Israeli Defence Forces with many, many casualties. The UK is providing arms to Israel. We welcome the very solid cross party decision to start the divestment process. Tower Hamlets joins a growing list of councils who have made similar decisions, most recently Oxford and Bristol. The actions of Tower Hamlets and also of Wolf and Forest Councils will surely give impetus to the many local campaigns in other boroughs, some of which locally have been dragging their feet on this issue. I thank Tower Hamlets Council from the bottom of my heart and I know that your actions are watched very, very closely by our friends in Palestine. Thank you for the presentation of the petition. There are now four minutes for questions. Does any member wish to put a question? Please remember this is a question session only, so I have a list from Councillor Haroun Amir. Do you have a question? To the petitioner, yes go ahead. Thank you Mr Espiga. Can the petitioners give us some clarity on the role of our local traders who are supporting this petition? Thank you. The role of the local trade union? Thank you. So the Trades Council represents a number of unions, both in the healthcare sector, that's Unite and Unison within the Royal London Hospital, the British Medical Association, but also in schools and in the council. And we have discussed this issue on the postal services and many other trade unions and we've discussed this at a number of meetings of our Trades Council and there is not a single union that is affiliated to the Trades Council that disagrees with the proposition that we're putting forward. So it has the full support of the Trades Council. Can I also add to that? So Tower Hamlets Unison is not just the largest union in this council with members eligible to join the LGPS, but we are in fact the largest NJC union in Greater London with members eligible to join the LGPS. And through our local branch policy and indeed our national policy through the democratic structures of our union, it is both local and national policy for Tower Hamlets Unison to be calling on divestment and ethical investment in its stead. Thank you Councillor. Councillor Nathalie Bianfe. Thank you Mr Speaker, thank you for the petitioners. Could you maybe outline some concrete steps, because the petition is asking for concrete steps that the council can take towards the intention that we set at the last four council meetings to support divestment. Could you maybe give us some, I don't know, suggestions that you might have for concrete steps that we can take? Okay, so I think that's a very good question and I think we're very realistic about what we're calling for. Because untangling millions if not billions of pounds of pulled investments is a very big task. It's something that's going to take years. And I think what we're calling on is a commitment and then work at a pace undertaken in a transparent manner to get to that point. So we understand that there's been a full audit done called on by the pension committee to look at where our pension funds are invested. We understand that's a confidential report at the moment. We hope that is eventually shared. And if complicit investments are identified that the council works with us to come up with a concrete plan to start to divest over a period of time. We're not calling on the council to pay exit penalties to come out of unmatured investments. That's not what we're calling on. We're taking a very considered long term view on what we want to achieve. Is that sufficient? Thank you. Councillor Sabianaka? Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Thank you for the petitioners coming in today. Can I ask the petitioners to name or give us the list of the companies that the council has invested in? We are asking the pensions committee to present a report on what the complicit companies are. But as far as we know there are a number of companies, I can't name them, there are a number of companies that the pension fund does invest in. This information has been gathered by Freedom of Information. It's all available on the Palestine Solidarity Campaign website. That's what we think at the moment. But what we're asking for is a full audit and then steps, as Kerry said, to be taken to divest. Can I just also, Strice, we're also talking about divestment from fossil fuel companies as well. So we don't want to get that lost underneath everything. Thank you. With that, to conclude the discussion, does Councillor Syed Ahmed, cabinet member for resources and cost of living, wish to address the meeting in response to the petition? You have up to two minutes. Thank you for your petition. At the previous council meeting we passed a motion to begin the process of divestment away from companies that enable the unethical purchases of products. As part of this we call for a complete audit of how all pension funds are used and where any funds are invested. The pensions committee has met with council unions and also has called for consultation with members to ensure that any divestment decisions has proper backing. The proposed consultation will be approached from the viewpoint of a long-term financial sustainability for the fund. However, I do not think that colleagues in this chamber would want to make any moral arguments for ongoing investment in chemical weapons, jet fuel and projectiles for the use of offensive bombing campaigns, and that includes in Palestine too. According to experts, over £67 million of fund is currently invested with potential companies complicit in violation of human rights. This is clearly not something that our residents and staff want to tolerate, and it is my hope that the pension members will reach that same conclusion through consultation. I can assure you, however, that there has been extensive discussions in the pensions committee exploring options for divestment, and the committee agreed to explore further on a list to include all companies that have any sort of violation with human rights violation. And with that being in mind, the committee also acknowledged the fund's fiduciary responsibility and the duty to current and future members, and any decision will consider this in full before we come to an agreement. Thank you. Thank you very much. That concludes the item. The petition stands referred to the corporate director for resources for a written response within 28 days. I now call on Sister Christine Mona Ali and Carol Simmons to present the petition regarding Make Poplar High Street Safe. You have up to three minutes to present the petition. Thank you for giving us this opportunity, Mr. Speaker. Thank you, everybody. Our petition is very simple and straightforward. We asked that the 20 mile per hour speed limit on Poplar High Street be observed, be enforced, and that lighting be installed the length of the street. At the moment, there is a 20 mile per hour markings on the street, but one might well put a one in front of the 20 because there is so much speeding on that street, and we don't really want to wait until there's a fatal accident. We have children from a primary school very close by. We have an enormous number of students from New City College, and the area is very used to older people, younger people, is very well populated, so one day there will be an accident and then it will be too late. So we ask, please, that you take notice of us. There was a speed hump in front of the New City College. That was removed, but that did act as a deterrent. It was a very big speed hump. There are two little islands at the bottom of Poplar High Street which have done nothing to slow down the traffic, and there is a bottleneck at the bottom of Poplar High Street. That has not helped. We would like to see some action taken, and our Mayor did respond to one of our letters, one of our several letters, about this and curing us that he would be taking action, but nothing actually has happened. I think, Carol, you want to say? I just want to back up with Sister Christine because I live in Woodstock Terrace. We had speed calming junctions, and the Council came along a year and a half or so ago and didn't get rid of them. They just smoothed them out because the guy said, sorry, we don't want to rip the undercarriage out of any of the cars that are speeding. So we have 20 miles an hour. It's not enforced. There are no cameras. Camden Borough has 135 speed cameras. Tower Hamlets has 25 speed cameras, and I just don't see the point of view putting 20 on the road in white paint when nobody deals with it. Generally, people would travel on Poplar High Road with big cars, small cars, 40 miles an hour, maybe 35 as a general speed, so there's no deterrent. That's it. The Mayor responded to our request by saying, I have also written to the Borough Commander outlining my concerns and have requested that an increase in police patrols in the area is implemented to address the issues. Apparently there are speed guns, but these were removed from the team for some reason. Another team needed them, so we lost them. I think Carol at one point offered her services to have a speed gun and to help deter and identify the people who were breaking the rules. Thank you. There are now four minutes for the questions. I have on the list a question from Kulam Kibrechow, the Councillor. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you, petitioner, for bringing this petition to this chamber. The Council does not have enforcement power when it comes to speed limits. We do own some speed cameras and do joint operation with the police and our crews. With those cameras, would the petitioner be prepared to meet officers from our community, safety team and local police officers to arrange such an operation? Thank you. Did you answer that? Did you not get the question? Was it not a question? Was it a question? Okay. We need action taken. Unless we want to wait for a fatal accident, then what are you going to do? I think the costs would be outweighed by putting cameras there because you could take a lot of fines. Apparently, parking control, I cannot take a picture of a car parked on double yellows or on a pavement and send it to them because my photograph isn't evidence enough. So cameras would actually do that because there would be official cameras. I should bring parking enforcement and tell them that this vehicle number is parked in a street and then they will send a parking enforcement officer, if there's one around, to actually take an official photograph of it and then possibly prosecute. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Mark Francis? Do you have a question? You don't? Okay. Councillor Jemski? Just a quick question. Surely it makes sense for the council to put back the speed bump that was there. Has the council not explained why it removed it officially? Have your requests not been answered as to why it can't be reinstated to tackle this issue? We haven't had an answer as to why it can't be done. That's why we're here. Thank you. Councillor Sabina Khan? Sister Christine and the team. I just want to ask you that the council made significant investment in Poplar High Road and Cotton Street with the view to reduce and calm the traffic and make the pedestrian more child friendly. Has that not worked? Could you comment on that work, please? That has created a brilliant bottleneck and if you're ever around at that time of the day, you can't get through. In fact, the traffic on Poplar High Street at three o'clock and four o'clock in the afternoon extends the whole length of the street while people are trying to get out to the bottom of Cotton Street and it has never been like that before. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Sister Christine, it's always good to see you. I'm sorry to see the bruise in your eyes, but I hear the other person's got worse. The question from both the aspires have kind of given the understanding that not enough has been done. The ward councillor is now asking you to meet. When you've bought a petition here to say there's a problem, as a ward councillor you would have expected more from him. Can you say in one simple word what's the best solution going forward, please? I would say cameras and then active deterrents, active action taken. No use having cameras unless something happens as a result. Thank you. Unfortunately, time is finished. I had on my list councillor Abdul-Mannan, Ahmadineh Kabir, Ahmadir Khan and of course Peter Goldsper. Unfortunately, we don't have time. So, to conclude the discussion, does councillor Abu Talhachaudry, cabinet member for safer communities, wish to address the meeting in response to the petition? You have up to two minutes. Point of order, Mr Speaker. I'll be answering the question. Thank you. Good evening everybody and thank you to the petitioners for bringing this to the council. The 20-mile existing traffic carbon measures in Poplar High Street were implemented in April 2015. Further improvements were made in summer of 2024. Let's be serious, speeding is an offence and it's a criminal offence. I've informed the lead member on the situation and I've asked him to raise with the police and also I encourage, we have safer neighbourhood teams, police, if the residents would engage with that team, it would be very beneficial that we can collect data to ensure that resources are put onto that particular area. The public lighting in storm yard space, open space which is adjacent to the new city college, is considered to be lit to an adequate standard as the rest of Poplar High Street. All street lights recently converted to the new LED, however the space contains many trees reaching maturity and as the growing season develops, new foliage have had an effect on the lighting levels there. Advice will be sought from the council's agricultural team concerning tree maintenance where thinning of the upper canopy may assist in spreading of the light. A further detailed analysis and review will take place to gather information of traffic surveys for Poplar High Street to inform further future schemes. It is duly noted, we will see what we can do. Thank you very much, Mr Speaker. Thank you Councillor, thank you very much. That concludes the item. The petition stands referred to the corporate director for communities for a written response within 28 days. Item number 5.3 is the next petition for debate and requesting the Tarhamlet Council to trust in the Tarhamlet's planning process. The petition has been brought to the council for debate under the petition scheme as it contains over 2,000 signatures from people who live, work or study in the borough. Our call on Saif Usmani, Lucy Rogers and Puru Mia to present the petition requesting the Tarhamlet Council to restore the trust in Tarhamlet's planning process. You have up to three minutes to present the petition. Thank you. Elected representatives and public servants, recent developments like the Bishopsgate Goods Yard, More Light More Power and Stop the Monster campaigns, Norton Folgate, Whitechapel 101 and the Truman Brewery with the Sabre Clean Campaign highlight how planning has repeatedly failed the people of Tarhamlet. In 2017 Tarhamlet's Council were implicated in an alleged £2 million corruption scandal which was referred to the National Crime Agency. Planning directly affects local communities yet many feel disillusioned by an outdated system that benefits a select few while sidelining residents. This is fundamentally unfair. Steve Goodrich from Transparency International can't join us tonight but he asked for the following statement to be read out. Planning is the integral part of local democracy and part of the solution to the UK's housing crisis. It provides an opportunity for communities to shape what gets built, where and how this can best serve local residents. When done well it can develop local economies, deliver much needed homes and help with investment in key infrastructure. However without sufficient safeguards there is a risk that those entrusted with the power to determine planning policy and decisions put their interests and those of their associates above the public's. Tarhamlet should know this only too well. It was a failure of governance in Westminster that almost cost the borough. 50 million in lost revenue over the West Free Printworks development. In planning when things go wrong the price can be high. Millions lost, homes destroyed, communities displaced. To help avoid such situations Transparency International UK has produced a set of recommendations happy to assist in implementation that some within this chamber endorsed ahead of the last election. In some these proposed to increase transparency over councillors engagement with developers and their representatives to prevent the perception of reality of undue influence. Tighten the rules governing the conduct of councillors to protect the planning process from abuse by those looking to exploit them for personal gain and strengthen oversight over councillors conduct to deter behaviour that would bring the integrity of the planning process into question. Many of their more detailed proposals echo and complement similar recommendations from the local government association and the UK government is considering how to make these into law. Just to do some myth busting, I'm a local dad. Basically Transparency International has done an assessment of Tarhamlet's council and found it wanting. Basically on a score of 100 being good practice and 0, Tarhamlet's council comes under 59. So basically the Tarhamlet residents deserve the best and I hope that councillors would accept that. Not a political point because this report was done in July 2020 and we all know straight after that the Save Brick Lane campaign and the Truman Brewery and the subsequent pieces by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism has exposed some wantings in our planning process which many of us are aware of. Including statements made in this chamber about referring matters to the police by Councillor Peter Gold and Peter feel free if you want to elaborate on that in the debate. You know the reference that you made to the complaint you made to the police with regard to the... Thank you. Questions time. Councillor Kobi-Ramid? So I'm the person who's going to be responding but within the debate I'd like to have an opportunity to speak. All right. OK. It's OK. It's probably the list is not accurate. OK. Councillor Amiraman? You don't have a question? Councillor Selugamit? Thank you Mr Speaker. I've got just a question. Just some points to the petition and thank you for bringing up this petition. The petition suggests that we lack public trust and calls from adopting the 10-point recommendations of organisation called Transparency International. The recommendations are important which was drawn up in 2020. The question is the transparency agency you're referring to, Transparency International framework is not at all transparent. Do you recall they are transparent themselves because the public cannot read freely. You don't have direct access to the website that you are referring to. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor if you go to our petition there is a link to the actual report so that is there. So there is transparency around that. And just to point that this is not some kind of special request that the local Steve Goodrich from Transparency International in statement did say that they are in discussion with the local government association and with the current government to get this implemented. And this is an opportunity for Tower Hamlets to get ahead and get that 100% rating to be the best council with the best planning system beyond reproach rather than being second best. Thank you Councillor Kabir Hussain. Thank you Mr Speaker. Thank you petitioners. Do you believe that all councillors regardless of their party affiliation should be held to the same standard of transparency, integrity and accountability? I'm glad Kabir that you've actually asked that because I spoke to a resident of yours where you on two occasions gave misleading information as to why you made the decision. On the first occasion you said that you were called into Brick Lane Mosque to basically vote for a planning commission and on the second occasion you basically misled again. So Kabir Manat resigned and let's have a re-election and let the residents of Bangle Town actually make a decision. So I would like to point out to you when you respond to the councillors question can you kindly look at the speaker when you respond. Thank you. Sorry Mr Speaker just to answer that I did speak to your officer and ask who I addressed and the officer said that I addressed the councillor and she can confirm that. Thank you. Councillor Iqbal Hussain. I don't know why this list is given by you with the you know. Okay. Any other question? No. Okay. We're going to now. Okay. Councillor Maim Talukda. Thank you. Thank you for bringing this petition. I mean we have a robust policy in place and I think we do pretty well. I mean it's an open forum and it's debated and then it's voted by councillors. So my question is if there are any issues with councillors or have anyone reported any issues with any councillors? And if there are I mean there is a policy and procedure in place to report it to the council. Councillor it's not an individual issue there's a structural issue which transparency has found wanting. That's why they've marked Tower Hamlet 59 out of 100 and also that's why the local government association is in discussion with them as well as the current government. Because the issues are structural. It's not individual cases but the issues are structural. For example the revolving door between councillors and developers etcetera which has been brought again and again in the Guardian and that's why the issue is structural and that's why these policies are there to address those structural issues. It's not an individual issue. Mr Speaker could I very urgently say before we get to summing up to stand up and defend our officers here. Our officers do an incredible job in very very difficult circumstances. Officers will frequently try and have to bend over to say where a councillor is not doing something right and I think it is appalling that an officer standing there should be criticised. I know what the officers do. I know what the officers stand here and I know how difficult it must be to manage the public gallery in this council and I'm sorry I would hope the petitioners would apologise to that poor officer there. Because I know how the officers do that. Thank you councillor goals. I fully agree with councillor goals and of course members of the public and of course the members will observe that the officers are respected accordingly because they have been working very hard. The question time finished. You can take part in the debate. You can take part in the debate councillor Ahmed. Right. There is now 15 minutes for the debate. I will look to call as many members as I can and the speeches are 3 minutes as usual. But please keep your contributions brief because you only have 15 minutes. Thank you Mr Speaker. I'm really proud of our planning system. I've served as a member for many years both in the double committee and the studies double committee. The planning system, the petitioners suggest that we lack of public trust that I just mentioned before. So the Transport International works to tackle the corruption in large corruptions and nation states not the transparent realm of tower humblers planning. Our planning decision are made by professional officers and public meeting of our development and strategic development committee where they are rigorously scrutinised and challenged Mr Speaker. The offices and committees operates under clear constitutional rules the development procedure rules and planning code of conduct which given interest interest training and decision making with the highest standard of poverty. Since April 2022 Mr Speaker we have granted planning permission for 12,123 new homes, 3,112 affordable homes with another 812 pending. Our track record is proven. Our TPI awards supreme court endorsement of our committee procedure and national survey of the year 2024 stand as evidence of our excellence Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker the planning process goes through various procedures and various departments of the council and other committees. Public consultation, local heritage, health and safety. I mean it goes to a robust process that I truly cannot understand how this planning is being challenged now that I reject the baseless allegation of corruption in our planning process. Trust in our planning system means trust in decision that benefits our residents. I stand by our proven transparent framework Mr Speaker. Thank you Mr Speaker. Thank you Mr Speaker. I think Mr Purumiya didn't know the facts and figures. Let me give him some facts and figures. I fully support this petition and share the residents call for greater transparency and accountability in the planning process. Our community deserve a system that is fair, open and free for undue influence. However Mr Speaker I must question the timing of focus of this petition particularly why it appears to single out me. I have always acted with integrity and voted on the merits of each application based on what I believe benefits the local community and promotes responsible development. On the Whitechapel High Street scheme Mr Speaker it is a matter of public record that the first Councillor to vote in favour of this application was Councillor Amin Rahman, a member of ASPIRE followed by all three ASPIRE Councillors who together held the majority on the committee. Yet despite this the petition I have chosen to focus on my vote why was this not mentioned. Mr Speaker I have already sought legal advice and will be pursuing legal action against any false or defamatory acquisition. More importantly Mr Speaker I want to raise a deeper concern relating to the Marshall Planning application. When that application was considered ASPIRE also held the majority and despite having sold the site Councillor Amin used his casting vote as a chair to push through this application. Both Councillor Ghulam Kibriya and Councillor Amin made comments to me that suggested the Mayor had instructed them on how to vote. That is a deeply troubling claim which raises serious questions about his political influence over planning decisions. Mr Speaker this can't be allowed. Mr Speaker you need to take control of this council meeting. The names which have been mentioned in the speech of Councillor Kabir has said they will have the right to respond accordingly. And of course I would like to once again remind members kindly not to mention the names in a negative manner so that the environment gets toxic. So I would like to invite now. Do you want to finish very quickly? Thank you Mr Speaker. If we are serious about restoring public trust we must not just adopt transparency international recommendations. We must apply the fairly and without political bias. That includes asking the friends of the petitioners and those who they might support inside and outside this chamber. Thank you Mr Speaker. Thank you. Councillor Kabir Ahmed. Mr Speaker firstly I want to say that this meeting needs to have greater control because allegations, criminal allegations are being subjected and made here which you need to take control of Mr Speaker. Madam Monitoring Officer I will also suggest that we need to have a more robust approach for this because it's unacceptable. We are in the council chamber to debate policies and petitions but name slinging and throwing things about like this is inappropriate. If any individual has issues around any decision making process or any information they have the Monitoring Officer's detail we are supposed to abide by the Nolan principles. I actually was going to give a robust response for this petition however it feels like this has turned into gutter politics once again and the toxicity that is not being managed within this council chamber is not acceptable. Now going back to the point itself I just want to clarify that all ten points that are suggested by this particular organisation, Transparency International are actually embedded within the council's constitution and are already embedded within the planning process that exists within this council. Members who sit on the SDC or the Development Committee should refer back to the constitution before they make diatribe comments. Secondly Mr Speaker I think it's important to acknowledge the good work that our officers do as well as all members do. It's a quasi-judicial body and by planning law itself it's members that decide on the direction of applications and to support or not support applications. Officers give recommendations. This is a pivotal part of the quasi-judicial system that operates both within planning as well as licensing Mr Speaker. Now lastly Mr Speaker I think again and again there seems to be partisan politics played by yourself when opposition members make serious allegations that you continue to allow happen. You will stand up when you feel like it yet when allegations are made against administration members you do not... You are accusing me of playing party politics? Absolutely. I will put that in writing. Mr Mayor do you want to respond? Because you are making comments. Do you want to respond? Please don't interrupt me. You have your time to respond if you want to. If you want to stand up and stop me you can stand up and stop me. That is unacceptable. It is not acceptable. Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker. If you have any specific allegations you need to put it to the monitoring officer and I will respond accordingly. But please do not publicly accuse me of playing politics in the chamber. I am the Speaker. I do not want to open my mouth. I do not want to expand on that so I would invite you and request you to be specific on the petition and conclude your remarks. Thank you. Thank you Mr Speaker. Clearly when the shoe is on the other side it hurts. However just to highlight that the planning process that we have in place in Tower Hamlets allows both those who support applications as well as those who reject applications to have an appropriate approach to this. They can speak in public. They can register their support or discontent for a planning application. It goes through various robust processes before it is presented to committee and then members have the right as elected members, not failed or those who refuse to stand as councillors. If any member of the public feels that they can make decision making processes I welcome for them to stand and get themselves onto that committee and I speak for all members within this chamber. I am not being partisan about Aspire members, Labour members or even Independent members but we must respect the decision making process of all members who sit on quasi-judicial bodies as well as other committee bodies where we make those decisions under the guidance we have within both the planning law as well as what we feel benefits residents of Tower Hamlets. Thank you. Thank you. I believe the time has reached before we move. I saw that the Mayor is very enthusiastic to speak. His name was mentioned in Councillor Kabir Hussain's speech so if you would like to say anything. I am not going to stoop to that level. Thank you. I am beyond that. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I personally support this motion obviously. Restoring trust among politicians in the planning process is very, very important. Mr Speaker, I want to say that I was a lead member for regeneration and at that time we actually developed a policy. I am not just going to give you a little bit of background on what is happening in this council. The planning, all planning committee members, they have to make a decision on the merits of the application. They should not be controlled by anybody. They should not be told what they need to do in the meeting. It is a judiciary panel. Members need to go there with their open minds. They need to read the paper and they need to make a decision. This is how it worked in the past. When I was a lead member for regeneration, one of the policies we introduced was a mixed development, Mr Speaker, and in this council what we said at that time that poor and rich people should live side by side. In recent days I can see a lot of developments happening. We just actually got cash for the development. This should not happen. Again, restoring trust amongst the councillors planning process and the mayor's action is very, very important. I would like to make a comment on a few days ago on my ward. There is a fire broke out on three houses. My condolences go to the family of those. One of those families, they lost everything in the house. The whole house burned down. So you are there as well. It came quite late but you are there as well to see the family that has been affected badly, traumatised. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I would like to make a point on the small statement regarding the petition. Although the petition lacks explicit references, the issue raised by Transparency International highlights the role of elected members in planning decisions. There are important recommendations to be taken seriously by all elected officials. Our current system is both transparent and effective. Electric officials receive comprehensive training on planning, legal and property matters. Our planning code of conduct and register for gifts and financial interests further support accountability. The new planning and infrastructure bill is set to improve efficiency even more. I thank the petitioners and the infrastructure bill is set to improve efficiency more. I would like to thank the petitioners and the work shown to the importance of maintaining and expanding the Transparency International trust. And we should all members should trust our officers. They do rigorously hard work on planning. I have seen in some of the papers as well. It is not an easy task. We should not be blaming each other from the other side. We should be working together on the planning because it is very effective. It affects the people in the Hamlets. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Yes, Mr Speaker, point of order. I just want to have my rights to reply to what Councillor Kabir has said. My name was mentioned. I just want you to know that no one tells me what to do. I don't go to the Mayor for decisions. I make my own decisions. I go with my own open mind. Do not make false allegations. If you have any complaints to make about me, you know where to make it. So don't use my name next time, please. Thank you very much. The time has finished. I would like to now invite Councillor Kabir Ahmad, cabinet member for related generations. If you wish to address the meeting in response to the petition, you have two minutes. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will be quite brief in my response. As I said earlier, I want to highlight that all members here who sit on quasi-judicial committees, and when you are appointed as a Councillor in this Council that former Councillor Puri is very well aware of, that you are supposed to abide by the Nolan principles. In addition to this, the Council has high standards when it comes to the behaviour of Councillors, and if any member of the public has any issues or allegations, or even members have issues or allegations, rather than use this chamber for political backstabbing, I would suggest that they go through the monitoring officer reporting process, and report any allegations so that it could be thoroughly and properly investigated, particularly when issues relate to crime and disorder. Such allegations of member conduct that's been spouted here are serious allegations, and need to be followed with proper due diligence and process. However, it's also important to understand that the planning committee is a quasi-judicial committee, which also provides additional training to members who serve on that committee, that all members here will allude to who have previously sat on the planning committee. Lastly, what I want to highlight is that even in the best value inspection that took place, by government inspectors, they highlighted the transparency and probity that applied within our planning committees, both the Strategic Development Committee as well as the Development Committee. So, in conclusion, I reject the premise behind this petition that suggests that there is a loss of trust in the process and in Councillors sitting in this chamber. Thank you. Thank you very much. That concludes the item. I know that... What is the point of order? My point of order is, first of all, if a member is going to respond to a debate, he shouldn't be participating in a debate and taking up the time of other backbench members that wanted to contribute. But the other point of order that I wanted to make was that during my time as a chair of the planning committee, I heard a number of allegations about alleged corruption, and I referred those on to the relevant teams, but I never heard an allegation as coherent as the one that's been put this evening. So I'm really interested to hear from officers how they will be taking this forward and when they will be reporting back the outcome of their investigation to this Council. I mean, the allegations in that kind of nature is quite damaging, particularly for the Council. So, I mean, this kind of... they are absolutely right. Councillor Capito, I'm absolutely right, isn't it, that if you have that kind of allegations, you should put it to the monitoring officer. You know who you need to put it to. And then, until and unless you do that, you're not going to get an answer. There's no point of just discussing about it in the Chamber. Right, Councillor, I asked my Islam, do you want to very quickly... I know you've been dying to speak, but very quickly. Okay, Mr Speaker, I wasn't planning to speak, but I do want to say something. I've missed the beginning of this picture, but I did come in and grasp a little bit of what was going on. And I want to say that as we celebrated 60 years of this Council earlier on, I think it is really important that language is really important in this Chamber, number one. Secondly, that we maintain the reputation of this Council as well as ourselves. I agree with everything that was said by colleagues on both sides about allegations. No process is perfect. I'm not going to sit here and say these things don't happen. They do. But there's also a process of how you can have these looked into, and that's the process that should be followed. What I want to say, Mr Speaker, please allow me to say this, is for decades and decades and decades, entire Hamlets, what I've seen when it comes to planning is mudslinging. Absolute mudslinging about allegations, allegations upon allegations, and majority of the times they don't get proven, but the damage is left behind. I'm not representing the Hamlets. This is not a good look, and so I want colleagues here in this Chamber, and those who aren't also elected, to support the petition here. It's important that we look at how we represent ourselves, because it's about time we put this right. Thank you. Mr Speaker, there was one other point. Members opposite raised that I spoke two times, just to let you know. I did ask Democratic Services if I was allowed to do that. Can I ask for that? Okay. A Monitoring Officer would like to say something. I know Councillor Jai had showed you would like to say something, but just wait, wait, wait. This is just to remind members that if there are complaints of this nature, then they should either come directly to me, or via the Monitoring Officer email address, and then things can be looked at and investigated properly, rather than just rough allegations, and to remind you that when you are making allegations, that you are required to include the evidence that you're relying on, for those allegations, not to just make open allegations that can't be justified. So just remind you of that. Councillor Jai had showed you, very quickly. I'm so sorry. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I just want to say something, as a, you know, SDC Chair. I've seen my officers, they work really hard, and I've seen when, you know, some of the member, both parties, they agreed with the official recommendation, and sometimes they voted against the official recommendation. So I do not recognise this petition, and I don't know how this organisation has come up to that there is something, one thing or something going on. So I think this petition actually is discouraging to our officers, and not bearing their hard work. So I've seen, I mean, the officers, what they're doing, they're doing an extremely hard, you know, good job, within the hard condition they are facing. So I really want to support my officers for their hard work, and I agree with the members, especially, you know, Councillor Kobi Rahmat, and Sir Luke Rahmat, and other, Councillor Mark Francis as well, and us management as well, because I do not recognise this petition. Thank you very much. Thank you. Councillor Shiraji Listong, what is it? Very quick, Mr Speaker, I think just following on from my colleague Councillor Francis, I think the monitoring officer for the reputation of this Councillor, I think the monitoring officer needs to follow up with the individuals who have made public allegations, to substantiate this allegation to them, because, you know, we need some reassurance, and for the public and for ourselves as well. Yes, as I mentioned before, that monitoring officer made it very clear, that if you had any allegation, put it to the monitoring officer, but of course substantiate it with the evidence, and this is the proper process instead of, of course, making it public in the council chamber. But that's it, thank you very much, that concludes the item. The petition stands referred to the corporate director for housing and regeneration for a written response within 28 days. We need to check whether this one is going ahead. The fourth petition is on fully restoring food bank funding. I understand that the petitioners have requested to withdraw the petition. If this is the case, that would be the conclusion of the matter. It seems that it has been withdrawn. Now, agenda item number six is the mayor's report. I call upon Mayor Luthu Rahman to give his report to the council. You have six minutes, Mr. Mayor. Thank you. Thank you. Assalamu alaikum warahmatullahi wabarakatuh. Eid Mubarak and greetings of peace to each and every one of you. I would like to begin by thanking the lead member for education, for bringing the excellent motion, that is why we'll be presenting today, concerning SEND support and provision in Tawa homeless. I was shocked to learn how this disproportionately impacted children from BME, and particularly South Asian backgrounds are with SEND issues. Indeed, Bangladesh children are over-represented in autistic spectrum disorder, and speech and communication EHC plans. In Barra, 57.8% and 68.1% of these respective plans are designed for children of Bangladeshi descent. Many of the issues they face are preventable, and I am grateful to the corporate director for children's services and his team for their hard work in creating a SEND inclusion strategy. This will help identify and accelerate diagnosis and support for these children. I come across many parents who are very worried for their children and their future. Early diagnosis can give them the assurance that they need, that their children can have access to the same opportunities as other children, and that they can be given the support they may require in dealing with a SEND child. This has been supported by an additional £500,000 investment by our administration to strengthen our broader SEND services. We also feel that more can be done to support those SEND children transitioning to adulthood. There is not enough support to get these young people with SEND needs into work or onto universities, nor is there sufficient support for their families as they leave childhood. That is why we have invested a further £1 million into SEND transition policies to ensure that SEND young adults and their families are supported. We believe that this will go a long way to ensuring that SEND young people can be supported post 18-2, and I call on all members to support our motion tonight. I must also address the cuts that have been announced to the national benefits system that will save some £5 billion a year removed from the budget by 2030. After 14 years of austerity, people voted for what they hoped would be change. A change in the way that government approaches frontline services, the cost of living crisis and protecting the most vulnerable in our communities. However, it appears that this change will not be forthcoming. It appears that the cruelty of austerity will persist simply under a different party logo, ladies and gentlemen. The message from the Chancellor of the Exchequer appears to be, do not be disabled, do not be old, do not be mentally ill, and do not certainly be poor. 1.2 million people could lose out on much needed support throughout the country, the majority of whom will already be living in poverty, which will also directly impact the residents of our borough. It will also plunge up to 250,000 people further into poverty. This announcement comes at the same time as household bills continue to soar. The annual energy bill for a household using a typical amount of gas and electricity will go up by £111 a year. This is the sort of figure that can drive the poorest to choose between heating and eating. All while defence spending by this government is to rise by some £13.4 billion a year from 2027. The great Tony Benn once said, if you can't find the money to kill, you can find the money to help them too. Unfortunately, it seems that this is not a view shared by our national government. The administration can never be accused of removing support for the most vulnerable in our borough. This is a policy that the government should also be adopting. We have demonstrated that fiscal prudency and service delivery are not mutually exclusive or political choices. Both can be delivered at the same time. It seems however that these cuts are a political choice. They do not have to be this way. An alternative is possible. It can be done, it has been done in Tata Hamlets, it can be done across the country. I urge the government to reconsider these cruel cuts before serious damage is done to those who need our help and support the most. Finally, I must address the ongoing atrocities taking place across Palestinian territories. I recently spoke to the chair of the Al Khair Foundation, an active charity, ladies and gentlemen in Tata Hamlets, to send my condolences regarding several volunteers who were killed in an attack on Gaza. Similarly, several volunteers from the Red Crescent charity have been killed, killed trying to help innocent women, children and men. Since the ceasefire began and ended on the 19th of January, 1,270 people have been killed, 306 are children, 176 are women. In the West Bank alone, 89 people have been killed, 14 of whom were children. On the day of it, what we were celebrating, 22 people were killed, 11 of whom were children. Since October 7, 2024, 50,144 people have already been killed. This cannot continue. In a small way, we are trying to show our support and solidarity by initiating the process of divesting all pension monies from being invested in arms trade and other unethical practices. I am grateful. We are grateful to those who have brought their petition to raise awareness of the issues to hold Council this evening. Thank you, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you very much. I would like to thank the Mayor for his report and warmly welcome the administration's motion table this evening. Labour Group will be supporting this motion. We are delighted to see the practices of this motion. We are very grateful to the members of the Council for their support. We are very grateful to the members of the Council for their support. Labour Group will be supporting this motion. We are delighted to see the practices taken to support families with special education needs and disabilities in families. We have tabled a friendly amendment tonight because we believe we can and should strive to improve the outcomes of some families every stage of their journey from securing EHCPs swiftly to ensuring children can access the very best education and support right here in our borough. This means, Mr Speaker, maximising this investment approved in the recent budget meeting to reduce EHCP waiting time. It also means working closely with our schools, conducting surveys and actively listening to ensure they have the resources, space and capacity needed to care for every child. This work is made even stronger by the Labour Government's commitment to investing £740 million nationally which will create new places, special schools, expand special units within mainstream schools and deliver a crucial adaptation. Together this will enable many more children to succeed at a school near their home, close to their families and communities. Our Labour Group's own motion this evening highlights another critical issue, the rise of intimidation and harassment faced by women candidates in recent elections. Just this week the House of Commons published findings revealing that a shocking 73% of Councillors elected 2024 faced some form of intimidation and abuse. Mr Speaker, this is simply unacceptable. Tonight we hope that Members from across the entire Chamber would unite rejecting this behaviour equivocally and instead committing ourselves to create a kinder, more respectful and cooperative borough regarding our political differences. Finally Mr Speaker, I just want to touch on the fact that whilst I am sure that we have heard blessed Ramadan and were able to celebrate either of our close ones, those in Palestine were not able to do the same. Just today Israel launched a second invasion on the Gaza Strip and the aim of seizing land. I am sure all of us in this Chamber united in our position to any form of displacement of ethnic cleansing. This will not safely return the remaining hostages and will result only in more death and destruction. Thank you. Thank you Councillor Islam. Mayor Rahman, would you like to respond? You have two minutes. Thank you. The SEND investment, the £1.5 million further investment will include, but it's not limited to, free SEND swimming sessions. Building on the Council's recent offer guaranteeing all women over the age of 16 and all senior men over the age of 55 free swimming session. This will see, our further investment will see, a further roll out to include all SEND children and young adults up to the age of 30 and their carers eligible for this free swimming session due. It will also extend day care and weekend respite provisions for SEND young adults from 18 to 30 years of age. We will invest in more SEND and transitional care plans with psychologists in the assessment process to ensure that bespoke care packages can be designed for SEND 18 to 30 old young adults. And we will increase investment in SEND challenging behaviour specialists and speech and language therapists. That is our commitment to the people of this borough ladies and gentlemen. Thank you. APPLAUSE Thank you. Before we go to agenda item number 7 I would like to invite Head of the Democratic Services Matthew Manion to give you a quick briefing in terms of the timing of the meeting. Thank you Mr Speaker. Just to let everyone know, the meeting started at 7 minutes past 7. We had a 15 minute agenda for prayers so the scheduled end time is now 22 minutes past 10. Agenda item number 7 is the motion for debate submitted by the administration. The debate will follow the rules of the debate at the Council procedure rule 13 and will last no more than 30 minutes. I would like to call upon Councillor Sabina Khan. Can you please move your motion as set out in the agenda and amendments set out in the table papers. You have 4 minutes. Mr Speaker, I am pleased to be proposing this motion which supports children and young adults with autism, special education needs and disabilities. 6.8% of star 100 people have education, health and care plan also known as EHC. Mr Speaker, I want to tell you this. If you are autistic or special need or disabled young adult we are unfortunately failing them. For those who are not yet prepared to enter workforce or university but who wants to continue education or personal development, Council has almost nothing to offer them. I am really glad this administration has committed an additional 1.5 million investment. 1 million has been specifically earmarked for those children, those young adults who have transitioned to adulthood and 500 has been provisioned for general stand improvement which will go to speech therapy and other help. Mr Speaker, this investment builds on administration's adaptation of newly approved Sen Inclusion Strategy. Mr Speaker, this motion has funding and strategy and leadership and this Council is a strong Council now more than ever and will be able to deliver it. But what we need is support from everyone to support this motion. Mr Speaker, this motion requests practical operational support from corporate directors in which the Council can improve screening and diagnostic work to understand level of needs and response among ethnic groups, BAME sent children and young people and be prepared how we can deliver service for them and to bring it to the Council's Cabinet Next Meeting. Mr Speaker, this administration is committed to improving the quality of life for all residents. Mr Speaker, this motion includes cultural and life skills programme and capital investment for our special needs and autistic children's services. Our gyms will have capital investment to have wheelchair friendly facilities and coaches who will be specialised in autistic and SEND cases to help them have sports sessions. We want to expand our youth centres and our community services to have adopted cooking facilities, musing, gardening, pottery programmes for our autistic and SEND children and adults. Mr Speaker, this motion asks for Council to explore the development of new offers with other universities and sixth form entire Hamlets as well as open a post 16 school on the mask maker site in Docklands so that we can cater to a wide range of needs of our special educational needs and autistic children and young adults. This school will offer 100 places for school children between age 5 and 19. Mr Speaker, we are committed to excellence and we have built up the financial stability to strive for excellent services for our SEND families. Mr Speaker, being able to meet the need of vulnerable residents is what we have been elected to do. Some Council finance will make it possible to support children and families. Mr Speaker, there is a national recognition that parents are struggling with SEND facilities when they are transitioning post 16 services in the Council. So what I'm saying is this, this motion is timely and we have the leadership and the funding and we are committed to deliver for our Hamlet residents and everyone. Thank you. Thank you. I call upon Councillor Sabina Akta to second the motion. You have three minutes or you may reserve your right to speak later. Mr Speaker, I rise to second this motion. We are committed to transforming lives and building an inclusive future. Over 1.1 million in extra funding will expand specialist support to deliver tangible benefits. New specialist units will offer fiscal assistance for children facing the challenges of autism, communication, interaction needs and social, emotional and mental health concerns. This initiative builds on our policies that every child is concerned, ensuring they receive the support they need to flourish. Moreover, we have allocated an additional £900,000 for post 16 support to help young people transition into adulthood. This vital funding supports vocational education and transitional care for 18 to 25 year olds, equipping young people with the skills and resilience they need to succeed in the world. Our digital dashboards track SEND outcomes in real time. Every metric reinforces our commitment and drives our ambition. Early results are promising, yet our work remains far from complete. We are forging robust partnerships with health services, schools and community groups. This collaborative approach creates a network of care and expertise that is both innovative and compassionate. Our expanded provisions include extended daycare, weekend respite and holiday care for SEND young adults aged 18 to 30 years old. A notable example of our commitment, as the Mayor mentioned earlier on his speech, is the introduction of the free SEND swimming sessions. This initiative not only makes exercise but also builds confidence and resilience among children, young adults and even their carers. So let us move forward, turning promise into progress. Our actions empower every individual, value every community member and secure opportunities for all. So today we reaffirm our commitment to support young people with and adults struggling with SEND so that they may live enriched lives. So today our commitment stands firm under the Mayor's support and I urge every member to support this. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Akter. I call upon Councillor Sridharji Lislan, Leader of the Labour Party Group. Can you please move your amendment? You have three minutes. Thank you, Mr Speaker, for allowing me to move the Labour Group's amendment to the administration motion. I can also thank Councillor Khan and Councillor Akter for bringing this motion to Council. We are very pleased to see the proactive steps being taken to support families with special education needs and disabilities in this borough. I have first had experience of how difficult it is for parents who care for children with special needs. We of course welcome the Council's investment of £1.5 million towards improving the number of EHCPs completed within the statutory framework. We equally should welcome this Labour Government's investment of £740 million towards 10,000 extra school places for children with SEND in both mainstream and specialist schools. We must have the same commitment towards educational attainment of children with special needs as with any child in this borough. All SEND children deserve a quality education tailored to their needs as close to their home as possible. Mr Speaker, I am aware that Phoenix School is facing some challenges of accommodating demand and therefore they are speaking to the Council about expansion. I am aware many parents must find places in specialist schools outside the borough due to capacity issues. We hope the Council will be able to support Phoenix School to expand in order to meet the growing demand. We will be supporting this administration motion and our friendly motion I understand has been accepted so I look forward to supporting this motion. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you. Mr Speaker, I would like to reserve the right to speak. Are you formally seconding the amendment? Yes, I am formally seconding the amendment. Okay, and then you are going to speak later. Thank you. Right, I am calling upon Councillor Iqbal Hussain. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, I am great to belong to this administration that seeks invest rather than cut. Mr Speaker, the budget you passed at the last Council meeting set the foundation for the hard work needed to improve the lives of our SEND families. Mr Speaker, the number of children classified as SEND has been increased from 16.3 to 18.4 over the last few years. I am very pleased with this SEND motion which aims to provide essential help to our SEND families and children and their families. Mr Speaker, a month ago a single mother outside of my ward walked into my advisory and she burst into tears. She has a 22-year-old child who fell through the system, no assessment has been done on him. She fell, she is stuck with her child. She is 22 years old but her mental ability and intellectuality, she is not up to that level. She is an excellent six or seven-year-old child. Although she is on the verge of having a nervous breakdown, she is more so worried about the future of her child. It is timely, this amendment, this motion is a timely motion to support our SEND families who have the right to live with skill and the ability they need. This motion informs Council that it will help to bridge the gap in services and take the strength of the families. Mr Speaker, children services and adults have different criteria and this may mean that SEND children transforming into childhood may loss essential services, which I cited as an example. Children services are exploring options to increase support to our vulnerable young people with SEND during the critical transition period from adulthood. It is exciting to think of investors rather than cards. The first to provide universal free school meals, the wisdom of that investment has been recognised by the GLA which has funded across London. Mr Speaker, I urge the Council to support this motion to empower our SEND families, young adults and their families. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Iqbalasen. Councillor Rebecca Sultana. Thank you, Mr Speaker. As someone who has worked in the education sector for the past 20 years, I have seen firsthand the life changing impact that proper care and support have on children and young adults with SEND. When the right resources are in place, these young people do well, achieve and contribute to our community. But when support is lacking, it leaves families struggling and opportunities wasted. This is a step in the right direction. The £1.5 million investment is welcome and the expansion of post-16 education and care is much needed, but funding alone is not enough. We must ensure it reaches the right places. It is disappointing that some local organisations which have run SEND holiday programmes for many years have not been granted funding this time around. As a result, many half-term sessions will not go ahead, leaving families without vital support and children without essential opportunities. This is hugely disappointing and we must do more to support and fund these grassroots groups which are trusted by families and understand the needs of these children best. As elected members, voted in by our constituents, it is right that we always ensure money is used wisely. It must definitely be spent in a way that enhances opportunities, education, health and wellbeing for all communities, not just one. Every child with a SEND, regardless of background, deserves the best possible start in life and we can make that happen. Let's remember why we are here. We have a responsibility to make sure no child is left behind, not because it looks good on paper, but because it is simply the right thing to do. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you for calling me to speak on these important topics. Special education needs and disabilities represent a rising need in the borough. When families are already under stress because of the cost of living crisis, meeting the additional needs of a SEND, children or young adults can put a strain on families. Mr Speaker, I welcome the Council investing generously to address these needs and looking at ways to support families and their SEND dependent. Mr Speaker, our attention is being drawn to a gap in services and our complicity of proper diagnosis. Health inequality is an issue for those population and there are some evidence that obesity might be higher. Mr Speaker, I welcome this plan to introduce free SEND swimming sessions, introducing daycare and weekend respite to SEND young adults who provide much-needed support for families. Mr Speaker, greater support for SEND children shifting to adulthood would take the strain on families and improve their quality of life. Mr Speaker, I support this motion to empower SEND children and young adults, which is possible because of the prudent management of finances. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Councillor Mannan. Councillor Mufi-Dabas. Thank you, Mr Speaker and Eid Mubarak to everybody. I celebrated Eid on Sunday with my family and after seven or eight hoppings of biryani, you know what I mean, my daughter was starting to get a bit restless and she demanded a game of tag in my dad's small garden. So I hoisted myself out of my chair and very slowly started to chase my daughter around the garden and slowly my nephew started to join in, playing to his own rules but shrieking with joy and giggling as I gently sort of tapped him on the back. He then said two words to me, which was chase and run, and these were the first two words that he had ever said to me. Being non-verbal. This hadn't happened by luck but by the hard work, time, energy and fortitude of my brother and sister-in-law, fighting for his rights to education, demanding EHCPs are followed and spending their own money on speech therapists, tutors and advocates. They don't live in Tower Hamlets but their story is common. Next to housing, SCN children are my biggest source of casework. Parents distraught at the lack of support from the council and schools with nowhere left to turn. And I say to these residents two things. I say be prepared to fight for your child's rights for the rest of their school life. And if they can afford it, to get a lawyer. Because the truth is, in this council, even councillors' power to influence and advocate for their residents on this topic has declined. For example, I have one resident whose child started secondary school in September with an EHCP that wasn't implemented. He was then unlawfully excluded in December with no educational provision. Email after email went unanswered, enquiries mysteriously withdrawn, an SCN action plan not implemented, a limited assurance audit report and a child missing out on education and a mother at the brink of breakdown. Quite frankly, free swimming just ain't gonna cut it. And whilst there's nothing in this motion that I don't agree with, there's a whole host of activity that needs to be implemented. Otherwise, the opportunities for children with SCN will become a two-tier system based on those who can afford legal advocates and those who can't. Thank you. Councilor Seyd Ahmed? Thank you, Mr Speaker. It is vital that every young person with special education needs gets the high-quality support that they require. However, government funding does not go far enough to enable councils across the country to meet the increasing pressure associated with SCN. Our additional investment of £1.5 million will enable us to increase the opportunities that young people with SCN have for activities and outreach support, ensuring that young people and their families are supported through critical stages in their lives, empowering them to reach their full potential. Importantly, this programme will aim towards both young people who are still in education as well as those who have left schools and colleges. This investment will also allow us to expand the support that we can provide to young people with complex learning disabilities and autism. By offering a day provision, we want to help families support their children into adulthood by providing a range of activities within the community, from IT sessions, sports to art classes. These programmes will be supplemented by an initiative to fund free swimming for all SCN children and young adults up to the age of 30, and making sure that these young people have access to opportunities that promote health and wellbeing is an essential part of this strategy. And we will also be exploring how our Be Well centres can enhance the access and involvement across the board. Mr Speaker, this is politics, so I want to highlight it is once again that it is this administration that is coming up with pioneering initiatives that will make real life changes to the lives of our residents. Rather than the cuts faced by the Labour administration and now the recent national cuts proposed by the Labour government. It is this mayor and it is this party that our residents can rely on at times of difficult needs. Thank you. Thank you. I think I have eight minutes, but I have a request from Abu Talha Chaudhry, Mushtaq Ahmed, Asma Islam, Badrul Chaudhry, Mayim Talukda, Kabir Ahmad and Mohammad Chaudhry online. And the mayor as well. So I would like to request everyone of you, if you can, make it very short so that I can accommodate everyone. And of course this is a fantastic motion everyone would like to, and the amendments of course, I would like to contribute. I'm going to Councillor Badrul Chaudhry. Thank you, thank you Mr Speaker. I stand here today to second this very important motion. A motion that matters deeply to our community, particularly for our young children and adults with special needs. In terror helmets, the same children are not simply figures on a register. They are the future of this power. Families are facing hardships that we cannot ignore. As you said, you have eight minutes, so I will make it short. It is built on six pillars Mr Speaker. Number one, swift intervention, user friendly access, an inclusive future, strong partnerships, enhanced capacity and ongoing evaluation. As you said we have less time, so I'll cut it short. I call on all members, regardless of party politics, to join in this collective effort. Let us come together to build a future defined by prompt support, accessible services and true inclusion. Thank you very much Mr Speaker, thank you. Thank you Councillor Asma Islam. Thank you Mr Speaker. As a Councillor in opposition, it is quite rare that we stand in support of the administration motion, which has become quite a cross party effort. Because we share the fundamental belief that every child deserves every chance in education and in life, I want to be able to raise my children in a world where education and opportunity for all young people are limitless, regardless of the barriers that might exist for them. In Taqam, nearly 18.2% of our pupils require special educational support, many of whom face complex challenges such as autism, spectrum disorder or speech and language difficulties. But we must acknowledge that it is not the norm for young people to have to create survival skills in response to these barriers. These barriers are real barriers in education, in social services and especially in critical transition into adulthood. As elected officials, it is our responsibility to find solutions to those barriers so that young people with SEND can thrive and not just survive. This motion presents this administration with the opportunity to make meaningful change. The £1.5 million investment will help fund essential resources like free swimming, respite care and expanded educational opportunities for young adults. But I do have to say, my colleague has mentioned that there was some funding gap in the holiday activities and I think this administration should look at that. By doing so, they can break down the barriers that prevent these young people from fully participating in society and which prevents them from building the future that they deserve. I also want to take a moment to thank the parents of SEND children for everything they do to support their children, often under incredibly challenging circumstances like your brother and sister in Loma Frida. Their love, dedication and resilience are unmatched. I also want to thank the teachers and schools who are doing everything in their power to support these young people, often under tremendous pressure. They are the backbone of the support system and your efforts do not go unnoticed. However, it is important to add that this must be a commitment for ongoing improvement. Like my colleague Mufida mentioned, there are still things that we can do and this administration should do. The challenges faced by young people today are not the same as those many of us experience in our own school days. We must always listen to our children and young people. They should be empowered to tell us what more needs to be done to support them. As they start together through this motion, we can work towards a future where all young people with SEND in town homeless are given the tools, opportunities and respect they need to live fulfilling lives. This is not just an investment in education, it is an investment in our community's future. Thank you. This is an area to our heart, for all of us, it is very dear to our heart. All of us and I do come across many parents who do have children with learning difficulties, who do have children, family members I have. You have children who suffer from SEND spectrum and I am grateful to the opposition and councillors for agreeing and agreeing our amendments, further amendments to the amendments that we are going to have a clear line together as a house, as a chamber today on this motion. I am very grateful. As an administration, as a council over the last three years we have invested some £26 million in young people alone. They are the future, they matter to us. But as Councillor Murphy de Busting said, we do have some shortcomings to the chief executive. We do in terms of customer services, in terms of some of the relationships with members who are residents. Some of the parents are very traumatised when they see the state their children is. I regularly talk to the corporate director for student services and to a lead member about the number of weeks it takes to get an EHC plan sorted. That is a waiting list, it has come down but still for me it is not good enough. When I go before the ONS committee I feel quite embarrassed that I am defending a position where in performance we are still red but not embarrassed because it is red, because it is about humans, it is about our kids, it is about our kids' future. I know we are on the right trajectory but given the investment that this council has put in over the last two or three years, that target needs to be met very quickly as possible. I have been given reassurance by the corporate director that it is going to be met very soon, I want to see that. But my request to the chief executive, we need to have a review in the same services to look at what further, if there is more things we need to do, if customer services needs to be improved, because our residents come first and those vulnerable kids come first. That is my request to you. And also I will request that, can you look at and see whether there is anything more we can do and if we are getting, we will get value for money given the investment that we have put into this service. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Mayor. I think he is summed up on behalf of the Aspire Group. I am so sorry that I wouldn't be able to probably give opportunity to Councillor Abutul Hachhoudry, Mushtaq Ahmed, Maim Talukdar, Kabir Ahmed. Because the time has finished, I am going to go to now Councillor Shubha Hussain. He resolved his right to speak later. Councillor Shubha Hussain. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I am proud to speak in support of this important amendment to empower our sent children and young adults. This amendment demonstrates this Council's commitment to creating a genuinely inclusive borough where every child and young adult has the opportunity to thrive, irrespective of their needs. Tahems faces significant challenges with one of London's highest percentages of sent people. The targeted investment of 1.5 million demonstrates that across the whole chamber we understand the urgency and importance of improving outcomes for our sent children. We must tackle the challenges of delivering EHCPs on time so that our children can thrive at school. The introduction of free swimming sessions, enhanced daycare, weakened respite services and increased specialist support are practical steps that will make a tangible difference to families and individuals. This amendment reflects our belief in being proactive and compassionate by Council. By embracing this, we can bridge gaps in support, address health inequalities, deliver an equal chance in life to our sent children. Together, let's ensure Tahems leads by example, creating a borough where sent children and young adults are not merely supported, but celebrated and empowered to reach their fullest potential. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you, Councillor Sain. Councillor Sabina Khan, do you wish to exercise your right to reply? Yes, Mr Speaker. Once again, I want to reiterate how important this motion is and especially the free swimming session for our sent and autistic children and young adults because the autistic children are 30% more likely... Councillor Khan, also during your speech, can you also confirm whether you accept the amendments made by the level group? Yes, I do accept the amendments made by them. So I'm really glad that we will be introducing health in this motion, in the funding as well. So I don't want autistic children, just because they're autistic, not having access to sports facilities to be obese, so that we will be able to improve that. But you can tell about a society by the way they treat the most vulnerable and you can tell about a Council and an administration, the way they want to and the focus and attention and the leadership they give to their sent and autistic services. So I want to thank the lead member, the Mayor and all Councillors for supporting this motion. I want to say this, we in this administration, in our core, in our operation and how we deliver practical, tangible support for our disabled and autistic children. All children, whether it's free school meals for secondary school children, whether it's winter fuel allowance, whether it's all other services, this is in our DNA. This is what we want to do. So I want to reassure you, I will be there, I will be nagging everyone to make sure they deliver this. So thank you for your support. Thank you. Thank you. We will now vote on the motion moved by Councillor Sabine Khan, including the friendly amendment put forward by Labour group. Can those in favour please? And of course to her amendment as well, Councillor Khan's amendment. So can those in favour please show? Mr Speaker, are we voting on the whole thing? Yes. Oh, great. Thank you. I think it's unanimous. Unless I missed it. All those against? Any abstentions? So I think the motion is unanimously carried. Thank you. Thank you. Moving to agenda item number 8 is the opposition motion for debate. The debate will of course follow the debate rules. Rule 13 will not last more than 30 minutes. If we have 30 minutes. Proposed amendments to this motion have been published as supplementary fact. I would like to call upon Councillor Muffin. Can you please move your motion? You have 4 minutes. 4 minutes. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I thought I'd read out some of the abuse I've received recently. Just to lighten the mood in the chamber. This woman makes everything worse and has to go. You're in the wrong job. Wayfully inadequate. She cannot be trusted. This woman has to go. It's now my new life's mission. She looks like an angry clown as my late mum would say. She's a chocolate teapot. These are just a handful of the comments made to me or about me on social media in the last year. I've not repeated the racial slurs. 9 out of 10 times the person behind this abuse is a man. I've no doubt that every single member in this chamber has received similar abuse. Regardless of gender or regardless of race. And quite frankly we've seen this evening a live demonstration of that abuse. But I've also no doubt that the women councillors receive more abuse than men. And I've also no doubt that my Bangladeshi female colleagues on both sides of the chamber will receive the worst of it. I'm sure we are all aware of the abuse and violent threats received by Roshanara Ali MP during the July general election that resulted in her needing police protection. I know there are things that I can say and do in this chamber and externally that my female Bangladeshi colleagues cannot do without some kind of verbal reprisal on social media or WhatsApp. And all that does is restrict, debate and reduce women's voices. The reality is that for women councillors in this chamber there is little that can be done to prevent these misogynistic and racist attacks. The council support, whilst kind, is limited. It is up to us as members to uphold our own values and standards, call out and not tolerate behaviours. And whilst the Labour Party isn't perfect, it is improving and will immediately suspend party members who are found to be harassing women. This motion was originally about political violence and, thanks to the friendly amendment, has been extended to include four. And whilst we, the Labour group, are happy to accept the friendly amendment, there are some things to highlight. It's easy to talk the talk on women's voices and women's safety. It's much harder to walk the walk. We talk about the Women's Commission and the role it has in promoting and protecting women's voices in the political arena. Yet it was only last month that just one woman councillor from the Labour group was invited to join the commission. And we talk about strategies and about more robust responses to harassment. And yet not every party in this chamber has a zero tolerance approach to the harassment of female residents. And I would like to end with a quote from the BVI report. We are also aware of specific examples of poor treatment of female officers in public meetings. There was a feeling among some interviewees that such poor behaviour was more likely to be directed to female officers of colour. The number of issues raised about the culture and behaviours and their impact on women, in particular, is deeply concerning. It was not how you would expect women in a modern, progressive organisation to feel in the workplace. Let's work together to get our own house in order. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Peter Beston. I call upon Councillor Maysha Begum to second the motion. You have three minutes. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I will be seconding this motion. Tower Hamlets has had a long history of political engagement. Our boroughs are home to a diverse and passionate community that cares deeply about its future generations, our future women to come, future leaders and our future male leaders as well. But I say this with a heavy heart. Political campaigning also comes with its challenges, intimidation, harassment and an atmosphere that discourages free and fair democratic participation. Campaigners and candidates facing threats, undue pressure on voters and an environment where fear was used as a political tool. This is not democracy. This is not the Tower Hamlets we stand for. Elections should be a contest of ideas, policies and a vision, not a background of intimidation. When political debate turns into hostility, like we saw today unfortunately, when people feel unsafe expressing their views and when voters are coerced rather than empowered, we all lose. It undermines trust in our democratic institutions and discourages good people from stepping forward to represent their communities. During the recent general election we witnessed unacceptable tactics. The best value inspection report noted the level of negative abuse of candidates in our view was unacceptable. Furthermore, research from Madness International found that women in politics are 27 times more likely to face online abuse compared to their male counterparts. Female politicians have experienced explicit abuse and discrimination not only in person but also online spaces. Another alarming threat to raising awareness is the increase in image-based abuse. It encompasses a wide range of violations and we as a borrower should not fall short to propose solutions that will protect and safeguard. Social media companies should also be held to account. This isn't just a discussion to be had within the Women's Commission but a broader framework for the Council itself, a cross-party conversation needs to take place. This is a fight not just for politicians but for all of us. Tower Hamlets deserves better and we must work together to ensure that no election, local or national, ever compromises the fundamentals of a free democratic process. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Begum. Councillor Abut Al-Hajjoudi, can you move your amendment? You have three minutes. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I have four young sisters, a wife, a mother and countless aunts who support my political campaigning. Needless to say, if any one of them campaigned for office, I would do the same, with the expectation that none of them would be intimidated, harassed or abused. Party politics aside, I feel our amendments strengthen the motion by referencing our commitments in the new Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, the ongoing work of the Women's Commission and to consider deploying additional Tower Hamlets enforcement officers to protect and promote women in politics during election campaigns. This is all added with the best value report reference that all parties, yes, all parties need to take responsibility and not just one group. To reiterate, my message as lead member for Community Safety is clear. Intimidation, harassment and any threat of violence or hate crime will not be tolerated in this borough and we will work closely with our police colleagues to ensure any incidents are fully investigated and victims supported. Now, we knew much of the local campaign was around Labour leadership's position on the war in Gaza. So, in response, the Police Council's Community Safety Team, Health and Safety and Democratic Services worked together to offer security briefings to all members on the 13th of November, 17th of November and 6th of December, 2023. Sadly, only 10 members attended. Majority aspire with most members being unavailable including the proposer of this motion and the majority of her group. Security briefings are so important and much of the reassurance could have been provided at those meetings. Not only was police intelligence shared, but colleagues provided advice, reassurance and support to individual counsellors. This was followed by a letter to all members from the Deputy Assistant Commissioner of the Met Police on the 24th of November, 2023. Fast forward six months and during May and July last year, 194 crimes of political violence were recorded in the country. With the top three offences being 49 cases of malicious communications, 23 harassment cases and 21 cases of public fear, alarm and distress. Every single offence from the 194 should not have happened, especially the 69 who were women. With context data and my amendments to this motion clear, I am confident a new vogue and women's safety strategy will help make women feel safer campaigning in the borough. We know political harassment based on religion, gender and race has affected politicians on both sides of this chamber and there is no doubt that ethnic minority women have been affected worse than anyone else. However, we must also recognise that all forms of political violence, including the ones suffered by a previous aspire candidate, Abdullah al-Mamoun, who had his head split by an iron bar whilst campaigning in 2018, is unacceptable and should be condemned. Again, moving forward, as we move closer to the next election, I believe that this amended motion, along with the number of ongoing reforms in our community safety service and the promotion of the Be A Counsellor campaign, will go a long way to ensuring that democracy and people who participate in it are protected from big attacks. Thank you. Call upon Councillor Sabina Khan to second the amendment. You have three minutes. Can I reserve my right to reply later? Thank you. Do you second the amendment? Thank you. Call upon Councillor Gulam Kibriya Choudhary. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, no woman should even feel intimidated or discouraged from participating in politics. This administration is fully committed to fostering an inclusive and supportive political environment where women can engage freely, contribute their perspectives and take on leadership roles without fear and discrimination. Mr Speaker, it is no secret that there are rampant inequalities facing women in Tower Hamlets, particularly Bangladeshi women. To address this issue, this administration has taken major steps. Mr Speaker, this administration has laid out a variety of steps that this council must take and has already taken that will make Tower Hamlets a safer environment for women. In particular, I believe efforts such as Women's Commission and the Become a Councillor campaign stand to make a huge impact in this area. Please join me in supporting this amendment motion. Thank you. Thank you, Councillor Choudhary, Councillor Asma Islam. You're not going to speak? Oh, sorry, Councillor Shri Rajan Islam. I'm so sorry, yeah. Thank you, Mr Speaker. So I rise to wholeheartedly support this important motion and we must be absolutely clear, intimidation, harassment, violence against political candidates and elected representatives are completely unacceptable and profoundly undemocratic. In recent years, the political climate has become increasingly toxic with far-right rhetoric outside our borough, fueling division and hatred. Women, and particularly women of colour, have borne the brunt of this abuse, sexual threats, harassment, intimidation, simply for standing up to serve their communities. Right here in Tower Hamlets, we've seen appalling abuse directed towards our MPs and electoral candidates, all of whom deserve respect for taking the decision to put themselves forward for the democratic process. Mr Speaker, the best value inspection of 2024 highlighted a alarming rise in hostile, intimidating behaviour during the general election. This should serve as a wake-up call for every one of us to act decisively as we move towards local election 2026. With intimidation thrives, democracy suffers and the willingness of diverse candidates, especially women, to participate diminishes. I welcome the support the practical steps outlined in this motion adopted the LGA's debate, not hate campaign, stretching the Council's women's safety strategy and improving our cooperation with the Metropolitan Police and local enforcement to ensure women's safety during election campaigns. I know Councillor Gold's has been taking part in a research with the LGA on this matter and I do hope that he can share some insight with us this evening. As Councillors, we must lead by example, calling out hate and abusive behaviour whenever we see it and champion a culture of respect and safety. Social media companies must also be held accountable. They cannot continue profit while failing to adequately tackle abuse on their platform. Tonight, let us send a united message from this chamber. Hated and intimidation has no place in our democracy. By passing this motion, we commit ourselves to protecting the right of everyone to participate safely and freely in political life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Councillor Sabine Akter. Thank you colleagues for bringing up this important motion. We must not allow negativity or divisive rhetoric to divide our political landscape. We seek to uplift our community rather than tear it down. Political campaigns are at the heart of our democracy. They inform voters, inspire civic participation and determine the future of our community. Yet today, we face significant obstacles, voter intimidation and the spread of misinformation. It is our duty as elected representatives to ensure that our residents are free to choose how they want to exercise their freedom of speech, exercise their right to vote and run for office and, most importantly, free from intimidation. I speak from both professional and personal experience. I remember when I first stood for Council for the first time, it wasn't easy. I had to deal with a lot of disrespect, especially from online or social media. So I have faced intimidation through my role as a Councillor and I have learned that it is leaders who must set the examples that voters tend to follow. For example, when the Labour leader, Keith Salma, made insensitive comments targeting the Bangladeshi community across the country, and especially in the entire Hamlets, where the Bangladeshi community makes up a large proportion of our community and our population, people felt attacked, insulted, hurt. When leaders make such comments, they demean and marginalise. They create a hostile political environment that is unacceptable. We must call it out. Leaders have a responsibility to be mindful of the words they use. Another important issue, Mr Speaker, is the issue of misinformation, especially on social media. So I was pleased to learn that the entire Hamlets Council has dedicated resources to educate at schools and across the borough, to teach young people to think critically about the media they consume. These initiatives should continue and expand. Lastly, Mr Speaker, I want to address the issue of intimidation against women. We know that women in politics are more likely to experience hatred or intimidation than their male colleagues. In this chamber, we have heard from members about examples of women politicians being mistreated, and that is totally unacceptable. So I want to take this opportunity to speak directly to the women of the entire Hamlets. Do not let any negativity distract you from your dreams. To all the women and girls out there, it is absolutely okay to dream and to aspire to achieve your dreams. And today I call all members to join and support this amended motion. And let's rebuild our Hamlets where every voice counts and that every resident feels safe, valued and empowered. Thank you. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Can I be quick? Okay, I'll try and be quick. Mr Speaker, this is a really important issue and I'm glad colleagues on both sides seem to have a common ground on what needs to happen and the fact that we shouldn't accept some of the things that we have had to see over the years, especially in entire Hamlets. I do want to correct some colleagues on the other side. Councillor Acton, a beautiful speech as it is, you talked about language and you're right, language is important not just for colleagues on that side but for ourselves as well and I think we need to lead by examples. What I got to see from this side, from Councillor Chaudry, when you talked about safety training, you're right, we should attend safety training. Was it the right time and the right tone? Maybe not, because what that does is you weaponise a subject to take political points. What you could have said is colleagues, female colleagues on both sides, this is an opportunity, I would like to encourage you to turn up. Actually I did see that and I did miss that, I was one of those colleagues and I have actually accepted the invite for the one that's coming up. So thank you for highlighting that, I do think your tone should have been different. Then you took another example, a whopping incident, I wasn't around at the time, I am aware of that incident. It is definitely an example of political violence and everyone in this chamber I know don't accept that. But was that the right time to bring that up? When I sat here and you put pictures up, why did you not give an example of a woman that's gone through? A really bad example of what a woman female politician in public life had to go through, maybe through an election or some, anyone, it didn't have to be labour. You've overtaken a subject that belonged to us, allow us to speak for ourselves. I have so much to say, but do you know what I don't want it to become? I don't want it to become a political bashing between two groups and I don't want it to become gender bashing either. Because do you know what, I get support and I have had support from colleagues on both sides, like male colleagues on both sides. There are good people in the chamber and I want to truly believe everyone comes into this to be able to do the right thing by our community and our borough and the residents we represent. But language is so important and I've seen too many examples of it and I think people should start leading by examples. Thank you very much. Councillor Peter Golds. Before we begin the motion this evening, such is the influence of Tower Hamlets, that Scarcea's Councillor Buston sat down and Donald Trump sacks Elon Musk. So obviously our motions percolate through somewhere. Mr Speaker, I've served on this board of the Local Government Association regarding intimidation. I'm actually the only male on it and this is where it's important because it's cross party. December 2023 we had a meeting at the Home Office to meet officials of the Home Office, senior officials. We were due to arrive at two o'clock, we arrived at two o'clock and we were told we would have an hour and a half, that means half past three. At half past five, two hours after we should have finished, the officials said do you still wish to carry on? And such was the story, so what did we have? We have the Councillor whose husband brought her a Christmas present of a purple coat. She was accused of being a member of the Illuminati. The person who tweeted it, her husband Julie said she's not going to be the Illuminati, it's a Christmas present. The person who'd done the tweet looked him up on GOV.UK, he's a school governor, a director of a company and then tweeted that he was a pedophile. Can you just imagine within hours that Councillor's family had a demonstration outside their front door because she wore a purple coat? Or the Councillor in a rural district who has an order against a stalker, he's not allowed to go near her home, he's not allowed to go near where she works, but they can't stop her at the Civic Centre. So when there's a council meeting he stands by the door and as she walks through he walks alongside her to the council chamber, then walks in to take a seat and stares at her through all council meetings. Or the woman, the woman Councillor, a brilliant Labour Councillor sitting there, rows through the ranks of the Labour Party, becomes a Councillor, rises through the ranks, becomes deputy leader. She was expected to become leader of Warrington Borough Council in May of last year, instead she stood down because she could not bear the pressure on her husband and children from outside people. And what sort of people are we talking about? Because of course before the days of social media they were the ones who wrote letters in green ink that were ignored to newspaper editors and members of parliament. Or quietly went to a public lavatory with a piece of chalk and wrote something on the wall. Now they have the world of social media, they have Twitter and Facebook and they destroy people's lives. And it is particularly women, it's women we know here, it's Rushnara Ali, people may agree or disagree with her politics but she's a decent human being trying to do a job. And that is before you get me on the subject of Diane Abbott, who I doubt has had a political decision in her life I've ever agreed with, but has been an outstanding politician and parliamentarian for 36 years. And that woman deserves better than what she has had to do. So ladies and gentlemen, colleagues, I have one quick finish. I've sat on the panel, we authorised the release of the documentation of our board on Monday of this week, I circulated it round. We have got to take action, let's sit across Tower Hamlets and say we will take the lead in defending our people and stop intimidation. Thank you Councillor Colle. Councillor Abutul Hachoudry, very quickly. Thank you Mr Speaker. I just want to quickly clarify, my intention wasn't to weaponise the discussion or affect the Councillor the way she felt. I think my point and my position was quite clear, as in violence, intimidation and harassment won't be tolerated at all. It's probably not clear to us, this is your opportunity. Hopefully it's clear now and the reason why we showed the picture is because it just felt, when it came to political violence, it's just something that struck a chord with us and we thought we'd share it. It wasn't anything to do with a man, woman, it was a victim of someone who was intimidated. Thank you. Councillor Mushtaq Ahmed. Thank you Mr Speaker. I want to express my support for this motion and our friendly amendment because no one, Mr Speaker, man or woman, should ever feel intimidated or excluded from the realm of politics. And yet, in the recent general election we saw exactly that. Candidates across the country and particularly here in Tau Hamlets faced unacceptable levels of harassment with women of colour disproportionately affected. The intimidation, Mr Speaker, faced by the participants in politics is not just an attack on them as individuals, it is an attack on democracy itself. When politicians are targeted, require police protection just to do their jobs, we are sending a dangerous message. A message that power belongs only to those who can withstand harassment rather than to those who have the best ideas or the strongest commitment to public service. This is not just about individual incidents, Mr Speaker, it is about a growing climate of hostility in our politics. The rise of far-right rhetoric, the amplification of hate speech on social media and the deliberate spread of misinformation are eroding the very foundations of democratic debate. But we in Tau Hamlets are not powerless to act. This administration, through initiatives like Violence Against Women and Girls Strategy, the Women's Commission and Become a Councillor campaign, is taking concrete steps to make politics more inclusive, not more dangerous. This motion, Mr Speaker, means calling out abuse wherever we see it. This motion means ensuring robust protections for candidates, counsellors and campaigners. And it means demanding that social media companies take reelection to curb online harassment, because abuse, whether online or in person, is not just toxic, but it is anti-democratic. Today we reaffirm, Mr Speaker, our commitment to your politics based on respect, not fear, because if we do not, we risk allowing the most aggressive voices to silence the most important one. Thank you, Mr Speaker. Thank you. This is again, this is an important motion, and the amendments as well, and everybody wishes to speak. I have requests from many members. So I'm going to go to Councillor Kabir Ahmad very quickly, and then we'll go to Councillor Nathalie Bianfeit, Badril Chaudhry and Kamrula Senaga. Councillor Kabir Ahmad, kindly be kind to me, if you can. Thank you. I'm happy for Nathalie to speak before I do, as a female... Thank you, Mr Speaker. I'll be very brief. I think it's really important to acknowledge and understand the pressures of being an elected member, but particularly our female colleagues, and kudos to them for standing up and getting themselves elected and representing the people of Tower Hamlets, but also all female politicians who have come into office. On the flip side of it, a few people, most people may not know, but when I first got elected, as a naive young Councillor, I had death threats, which fortunately the police investigated and had arrested the individuals on another offence, and was already in prison by the time they got caught, sorry, they worked out who that individual was. So it's something that happens on a regular basis, and I think the types of attacks we face on a regular basis, a lot of times we shrug our shoulders and forget about it, but the consequences are dire and severe, and we know about Joe Cox, as well as other MPs, Stephen Timms was stabbed as well. So these are realities, and I think it's also important that we highlight when we're doing surgeries, we follow the Council's safety protocols that are in place in order to support ourselves. But most importantly, our families also take a huge pressure, and I remember a time when my wife, who hates public life, had journalists at her school who wanted to get interviews because of my actions as a Councillor in Tower Hamlets. So with that, I'll keep it brief and short, but it's important that all people in public life get that protection and support in order to do their civic responsibilities. Thank you. Councillor James King, very quickly. Happy to defer? OK. Councillor Natalie Bienvenu. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Apologies to the Councillors. I didn't submit a request in advance to speak because I'm very tired this evening, but I was asked to speak by Councillor Shubha Hussain, so I agreed to. This is fundamentally an important issue, and it's fundamentally an issue of misogyny, and I want to just say that word in the Chamber because that's at the basis of what the motion is. It's an extremely important concept to understand, and I just want to say, and of course I support the motion, I support everything that's been said. And I would maybe ask the Aspire Councillors who have maybe made a few comments, the abuse faced by men is very important, and I don't want to minimise it. Councillors have shared stories which are really moving, but this motion is about the abuse that's faced by women, and I want to just remind the Chamber about that. Sorry? OK. And yes, I support the motion. Thank you. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I'll be very brief. I'll be supporting this motion tonight, but it is very important. This is very important that we actually, in this borough, we just maintain the ethical politics, because there are a lot of times you can have a disagreement. When you have a disagreement, you don't deserve any kinds of intimidation. It's very sad to see our own MP actually work with security staff in this borough, and we did not work for this kind of environment in this borough. I myself, obviously, I worked hard, I just believed in something, I fought for the last seven years, and then I had a disagreement and I had a threat. And this is the environment we are facing in this borough, and I got a threat from my own person. So intimidation is something you cannot exclude from your life, but we just need to make sure that we behave in a way, we teach our young people. When we are a leader, we have a responsibility to teach our young people to behave in a manner that they don't actually harass anybody, they don't intimidate anyone on the street, and they make sure, particularly at the election time, they behave in a good manner. This is the basic things you learn from a good family. This is the basic things your parents teach you, but if you actually abuse your power, and if you try to attack people, remember, this will turn back on you. Thank you. Thank you. I only have seven minutes. I have two other items to deal with, 10.1 and 10.2, so those who have the right to reply and exercise your right to speak later, please be kind to me. Councillor Sabina Khan, if you don't want to say, I will appreciate it. I'm going to be very quick. I've lost my speech as well. I just want to talk about that. 5 May 2022, the day we all got elected in this chamber, was the 28th anniversary of the day the BNP party didn't get elected. So, 28 years back, Derek Beacon was elected. So, I just want to give an example from a group of Bangladeshi women from Sumida State gathered together, and they walked to Blackwell and Cupid Town School to cast their votes. When they were walking, some church leaders and community leaders who were trying to control tensions between the BNP and the community, they were there to support. They asked them to come, and I just want us to remember that these are the women who have put the foundation, and we need to remember them, and I support this motion. Thank you. I'll truncate what I was going to say. I just want to reflect on a conversation I had with my wife a few days ago, reminiscing, as it were, about the 2014 election count, if you can call it that. I suppose others have perhaps more positive memories of it, but it went on for five days, and again, I think what we have to be aware of as part of this conversation is that there are different forms of political violence, and lower level misogyny, disrespect, have a great effect on people progressing throughout their lives, and frankly, my wife is reflecting to me how the disrespect she felt, the intimidation there was. As a young activist, then, basically pushed her out of the path of politics, which is the path many go on to elected politics. So, we speak about the extreme forms of political violence, we speak about the result on councillors, those elected and seeking office, but actually, it goes all the way through our political life, terms of debate at election time. So, I think we can all reflect on that as well. Thank you. Thank you. Apologies to Councillor Badril Chaudhary, Councillor Kamril Hussain and Councillor Mohammed Chaudhary, he wanted to speak online, but I have all the time I had. The time is finished. So, Councillor Mufida Bastin, your right to reply. Thank you, Mr Speaker. And while you would be speaking, can you just confirm whether you accept the amendment put forward by Councillor Sabina Khan as well, and please, be quick if you can. I will be, I appreciate it's late and I can see people packing up and are eager to go home, as am I. I'm quite shocked about this debate and whilst I appreciate support from both sides of the chamber, I'm a little bit surprised that women have been blamed for not attending security briefings. I would suggest to the councillor that if female councillors are not attending security briefings, that the problem is with the security briefing and not with the women councillors. Similarly, in a debate about violence against women, I think it's incredibly demoralising and reductive to bring forward six pictures of a man. For anyone who didn't see that in the public gallery or online, we were talking about women, violence against women in politics and the front bench of Aspire held up pictures of a man. I would say, Mr Speaker, that whilst I am, on behalf of the group, happy to accept the friendly amendment, that deep down I feel very sad and afraid for the women of Tower Hamlets. If this is the approach and the tone and the language and the values that we are seeing from the administration, then I do fear for the future of women in Tower Hamlets. And I would say, Mr Speaker, in just wrapping up, that there is plenty of training out there on intersectional feminism, there is plenty of training on being an ally. I would suggest that this council, based on tonight's debate, really looks to implement that and roll it out and make sure that that's attended by our male colleagues. Thank you. Thank you. The time is finished. We will now vote on the substantive motion put forward by Councillor Mufi, the amendment put forward by Councillor Sabina Khan. Can those in favour please show? All those against? Any abstentions? Any abstentions? The motion is carried. Thank you. I probably have one minute. Other businesses, item 10.1 is the calendar of the council committee meetings, 2025-26. Please note that there is an updated appendix which has been circulated. I would also like to propose that the July council meeting is moved to Wednesday 16th of July as this better fits in the timetable for reporting the best value improvement plan to the government. I have also received a request to move the October council meeting. Officers are looking to propose moving that to Wednesday 24th of September but will need to confirm the consequential changes and will therefore report on that when the calendar returns to the annual meeting in May. Can Councillor Mayim Talukda introduce the report? Thank you, Mr Speaker. Mr Speaker, due to time, I formally tabled the report but just one change, 25th of February 2026, the meeting will be, it's a budget meeting, it will be during daytime. So due to Ramadan. So it's just for noting most of the time. Thank you. We can discuss that in the meantime. That amendment will have to be accommodated. Thank you. Councillor Kabir Ahmed, the second report. Formally seconded report. Thank you. Does full council agree to approve the proposed calendar of the meetings for the municipal year 2025-26 as set out in Appendix 1 and to delegate to the monitoring officer the authority to agree meeting dates for any new committee or panels that are set up subsequent to this report being presented to council subject to appropriate consultation with members? Agreed. Agenda item number 10.2 is the designation of the monitoring officer role. Can Councillor Mayim Talukda introduce the report? Thank you, Mr Speaker. Report formally tabled. But before I, I would like to welcome Shipriya Iqbal and thanks Linda Walker for her service, for her support. She has joined us during very difficult times and I think you've provided us a hell of a lot of support as a whole council. So thank you very much for your support, your contribution and advise everything you've done for this council. Thank you. Thank you. I call upon Councillor Kabir Ahmed to second the report. I formally second it and would like to take the opportunity to thank Linda for the work she's done in Tower Hamlets and I would like to formally welcome Shipriya as the new monitoring officer. Thank you, Mr Speaker equally can I also thank Linda Walker for all her hard work and support, bringing stability to this council. So we're grateful to you, Linda. Thank you so much and likewise we welcome our new monitoring officer Ms Iqbal to this council and we look forward to working with you. So you're very welcome. Thank you. I would like to take this opportunity also, Councillor Peter Gould. From the far back benches, may I say to Linda, she came here and drew a short trawl to Tower Hamlets is a very difficult place and I can only say that you leave with as much respect as you had when you arrived and I think from all of us thank you very, very much. And we welcome our new monitoring officer and look forward to working with you but thank you, Linda, for everything. Thank you. I would like to also on behalf of the council as the Speaker, I would like to take this opportunity to thank Linda for giving me the advice and of course being a strength in the council chambers. So wholehearted best wishes, good wishes for her. Give her a big round of applause. Thank you. Does full council agree to endorse, can you not let me finish, endorse the designation of Shupriya Equal Director of Legal, the council's monitoring officer from Wednesday, 23rd of April, 2025 to formally thank Linda Walker for her support as monitoring officer over the past year. Agreed? Page 69. Hold on, gentlemen. The time limit for this meeting has now been reached. Any motions not taken will fall. We will now put the remaining reports to vote. No contributions will be accepted. Only a minute. Okay. The time for the meeting has now been reached. Any motion not taken will fall. Thank you for the contributions. And with that, I formally conclude the meeting. Please of course note that the members must wait for the mace to be removed before they leave the meeting. Thank you very much, everyone.