Councillor Peter Graham

Agenda

The meeting began with a recitation of the Quran by the Mayor's Faith Leader, Ali Jafri. The Council then approved an update to the council's capital spending plans, despite some abstentions from Conservative councillors. Two motions were then considered. The first, proposed by the Labour administration, was a general statement in support of children's safety and wellbeing and was passed despite opposition from the Conservative group. The second, proposed by the Conservatives, expressed concern at the loss of winter fuel payments for many pensioners and called on the Council to take steps to provide for those affected. This motion was defeated, with the Conservatives voting in favour and Labour against. The meeting concluded with the reception of reports from several committees.

Agenda and decisions

The Finance Overview and Scrutiny Committee met to discuss a range of financial matters. The Committee noted the contents of the Quarter 1 monitoring report and the Cost of Living Support Update. The Committee also considered and approved the latest round of budget variations.

Agenda

The meeting noted the independent review into the Putney Constituency general election count, and accepted all of the recommendations that were made in it. It also noted the progress of the Democracy Review and that a task and finish group would be established to develop proposals based on the recommendations made by the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny.

Agenda

The Council meeting began with tributes to recently deceased former Councillors Neville Daniels, Shawn Creighton, Lois Lee, and tributes were also read out on behalf of Councillor Ravi Govindia who could not be present. Councillor Peter Graham proposed an adjournment to highlight the Alton Renewal Plan, which the Council voted for. The Conservative group proposed a motion of no confidence in the Labour administration, arguing that it was incompetent, secretive, and unresponsive to residents’ concerns, particularly regarding waste collection and alleged changes to the constitution to avoid scrutiny. This motion was defeated. Councillor Cassidy proposed a second adjournment, this time to highlight the impact of the closure of Hammersmith Bridge. This motion was defeated too. The Council voted to approve changes to the constitution, and to approve the Housing and Annual Resources report. Finally, a Labour group motion stating that the Council will work with the national government to deliver on shared policy objectives was passed.

Agenda and decisions

At the meeting, the Finance Committee agreed to a request to delegate all decisions relating to the London Borough of Culture 2025 to the Executive Director of Children's Services, Anna Popovici, who will act as Senior Responsible Officer in delivering the bid. A total funding envelope of £5.7 million was also agreed for the project, with £2.8 million coming from secured grant funding, and the remainder to be raised through fundraising.