Councillor Val Duschinsky

Council - Tuesday 28th January, 2025 7.00 pm

The Council of Barnet Council met on Tuesday 28 January 2025. The meeting started with tributes to Councillor Eva Greenspan, and former Councillors Usha Chopra and Joe Lee who had all sadly passed away. The council then adopted the [Joint Report of the Monitoring Officer and Chief Finance Officer (section 151 Officer)][Council cover report 28 January 2025], which detailed unlawful payments that had been made to, and from the Barnet Pension Fund. The Council delegated to the Pension Fund and Governance, Audit, Risk Management and Standards Committees the task of establishing the best way to rectify these unlawful payments, and delegated authority to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Monitoring Officer and Chief Finance Officer, to put those steps into effect. The council also noted the appointment of Alexa, Alina, Zahra, and Shama from Copthall Girls School to speak about the 60th anniversary of the London Borough of Barnet.

North Area Committee - Thursday 16th January, 2025 7.00 pm

The meeting noted updates to the Neighbourhood Community Infrastructure Levy (NCIL) and Road Safety and Parking (RSP) budgets. The committee also approved three NCIL funding applications, from Incredible Edible, St. John's Church, and Medium Wellbeing.

Planning Committee - Wednesday 20th November, 2024 7.00 pm

The meeting considered four planning applications. The committee voted to grant planning permission for all of the applications with the exception of 112D Park Road, Barnet, which was deferred to allow for additional objections and conditions to be made.

Licensing and General Purposes Committee - Thursday 7th November, 2024 7.00 pm

The Licensing and General Purposes Committee approved a revised Licensing Policy [^1] for the period 2025 to 2030, and recommended that it be adopted at the next full meeting of the council. The committee noted that public consultation had taken place and that 24 responses had been received. Concerns were raised about a perceived increase in male-dominated cafés, with members citing businesses such as the Toscana, Cafe 01, Tirana, and Pizreni on Vivian Avenue in Hendon. Some respondents believed these venues were intimidating to women, with one resident stating:

the Licensing and General Purposes Committee of Barnet Council