The  Mayor explained that her charity AHC differs from some others in that it requires donations both in cash and in kind. There were a number of activities she was involved in:

• Working with the Met film school  based in Ealing studios to make a Documentary film the charity can use to highlight its work and educate the public about homelessness
• Organising Clothes bank and Christmas present donations from students at UWL
• Similarly unwanted Christmas gifts from Council employees. She thanked the Chief Executive for his engagement and staff who plan to make this a regular feature
• Recruitment of volunteers through UWL Careers service – students to gain credit towards their degree by community engagement projects (like AHC)
• Possibility of grants to volunteering projects under auspices of DL Richard Korniki and the Queens award for voluntary service.

In terms of cash donations  there are a number of events with proposed dates still at planning stage; details will follow and she thanked Council in anticipation of members’support for the events.

The Mayor also announced that she had  been asked by the Benedictine Institute to give the first lecture in the Virtus Lecture series. The theme is Resilience and they want her to talk about Homelessness. Any money collected either by ticket or donations not only for her  lecture but for the whole lecture series will be donated to the Mayor’s charity.

The Mayor thanked  Evelyn Gloyn for her donations raised from her London cycle challenge and cake sale  and congratulated Councillor  Malcolm for his Mont Blanc and Himalayan odyssey in support of DEC

On behalf of the whole Council she gave her warmest wishes and congratulations to Councillor  Ball on the birth of his little son and wished  mother and child well.

She also congratulated Councillor Seema Kumar Kumar on birth of her first grandchild and to Ealing for success in London in Bloom

Finally,on a sad note, she  remembered David Eales (cyclist) who died in the summer after a short illness. He was the heart and soul of the cycling community in Ealing and pointed members to the poignant tribute on  Ealingcycling.org

a) Mr Duncan Campbell from Graham Road W4 presented a petition stating

“Strong concern has been raised by many local residents of the safety of children/ other pedestrians commuting through the Acton Lane underpass. This has been heightened with the opening of ARK Priory academy and the increase in usage by young school children and their parents with additional toddlers/ siblings.

We the undersigned are concerned citizens who urge Ealing Council to act now to improve road safety for pedestrians. We call on the Council to remove the wall and re-orientate the pedestrian journey in this entire section of pavement.”

Councillor Mahfouz responded

Thank you for collecting this petition on this critically important issue of road safety.

I understand from ward councillors that it has been an issue for some years and whilst we have taken action as a council in order to improve the paving, widening it, adding lighting and improving the layout as much as possible, there is a sticking point in regards to some private land and the owner not showing willing to assist in the matter.

When it comes to road safety however, we have as a council shown a never give up attitude and have re-engaged with the owner to seek a resolution to this section of the pavement.

My understanding that he is now engaging positively with us and we will of course, continue to seek the resolution we all want.

Should we be able to successfully convince the owner of the changes needed, the costs will come back to the ward forum for consideration.

Mr Campbell commented on the response.

b Mr Jamie Powell of Fordhook Avenue W5 presented a petition stating

Stop the fly tipping and dumping of rubbish in Byron and Fordhook Avenue

Councillor Mahfouz responded

There has been an intermittent flytipping problem at Fordhook Avenue for a number of years. I know that your ward councillors have been working hard for you, with me and the envirocrime team in order to tackle the issue.

Additional resources have recently been deployed to address issues here. All residents of flats above shops in the area have been written to twice since July and reminded of the official collection waste collection arrangements. Subsequent daily inspections and investigations have resulted in the issuing of 7 fixed penalty notices for flytipping to residents of Byron Road and the flats. Officers are investigating the feasibility of installing communal waste containers here to assist but daily enforcement action will continue until the unauthorised storage of waste on the pavement at Fordhook is eradicated.

Mr Powell commented on the response

Mr Michael Schwaabe of Northcroft Avenue W13 presented a petition stating

The recent introduction of wheelie bins and associated change to a two week rubbish collection cycle has seen a dramatic increase in fly-tipping of household waste around the borough of Ealing. While the wheelie bins provide residents living in houses with a place to store their waste outside their home, no equivalent solution has been put in place for residents living in flats that don't have front gardens. When their bin fills up, they have nowhere outside their homes to put the rubbish. 

Making matters worse, bins may not be stored permanently on the street, so residents of flats simply cannot put their rubbish in an outside location. Yet this is not an insurmountable problem - for example: communal household waste storage systems exist in many countries where people live in flats, and these can be an effective and sanitary solution to the problem of fly-tipping.

We the undersigned call upon Ealing Council to take the necessary action to work together with Ealing's residents living in flats that cannot currently have wheelie bins, and develop a better system of storing household waste in a safe and sanitary manner until it can be collected.

Councillor Mahfouz responded

The storage of waste emanating from flats above shops is a challenge faced by all London all London Boroughs, all take different approaches and there is no one size fit all fix. It is recognised that in many cases there is no space in proximity to individual properties for the safe storage of waste and recycling. This is indeed the case at several locations across the borough and there are a range of solutions including.

•          Provision of communal containers

•          Provision of wheelie bins (where possible)

•          Improved recycling provision (including food waste where possible)

•          Increased enforcement where there is non-compliance with agreed arrangement

Officers are working through a schedule of flats above shops locations for intervention working with residents, managing agents, landlords, land owners and businesses to discuss options and agree the most appropriate solutions on a case by case basis. The desired outcome and default position will be for all waste to be stored in containers.

Mr Schwaabe commented on the response.

1. Ms Hannah Norris of Cramner Avenue W13  asked Councillor Mahfouz

In May-July 2016, the Council delivered two new 240L bins (blue for recycling, black for refuse) to all Ealing residents, irrespective of households’ needs and circumstances. The Council then exchanged some of these bins, delivering small (140L and 120L) bins to some residents, and large 360L bins to other residents.   Please would the Councillor provide an account, quantifying the number of households that have had a bin-exchange (by bin-size; 360L bin, 240L bin, 140L bin, and 120L bin), and quantifying the costs involved in bin-exchanges (by customer-service costs and operational-delivery costs).

Councillor Mahfouz  responded

In advance of the introduction of the new waste collection service in June, we undertook a survey of every property in the borough to ensure wheelie bins were suitable.

Residents were also given the opportunity to select the size of wheelie bin scheduled for delivery to their home. Large bins were available for recycling and smaller for refuse.

In certain areas where residents had engaged with us, they decided that they needed smaller wheelie bins or a different system given their conservation area status.  These wheelie bins were paid for by the residents themselves.

We could have decided that residents who applied for a different sized wheelie bin after our deadline to request one would be left, however we continued to take orders and exchanged wheelie bins wherever possible on the preferences that residents provided.

In total, there have been 3,164 exchanges made.

10 x 120l

2030 x 140

406 x 240l

718 x 360l

These have been delivered at a cost of approximately £88k

Ms Norris asked a supplementary question.

Question 1

Councillor A. Stafford asked the portfolio holder for Transport, Environment & Leisure

“How much is the Council currently spending on the fly tipping service and can you provide the amount for each of the last 5 financial years?”

Councillor Mahfouz responded

As the councillor will be aware, fly-tipping has increased across London and the country over recent years and in particular in recent months.  As confirmed when I met my west London counterparts and discussed the issue.

The costs are as follows:

      April-August 2016                       £129,095

As he will be aware, this administration, through the changes we brought about last year working with Kingdom Securities, has a partnership that now fines residents who litter, but also issuing FPNs to those who fly-tip in our borough.

That partnership was opposed by members on the Tory benches in this council when we first introduced it.

The difference between the Tories and Labour is clear on this.  Whilst the Tories encourage people to fly-tip in our borough and talk it down; we have put the resources to tackle the issue – resources that other London boroughs look at us with envy and want to follow suit.

In the first few weeks of the fly-tip enforcement crews being on the road, over 1,000 FPNs will be dropping onto the doormats.  Under a Tory administration, we would have seen an increase in fly-tipping but no action.

The value of fixed penalty notices is likely to exceed £150k

The clear message to those who wish to fly-tip on our streets is: we will find you and we will fine you!

Councillors A. Stafford and R. Wall asked supplementary questions.

Question 2

Councillor Nagpal asked the portfolio holder for Children and Young People

“Does the portfolio holder agree that the results of recent Ofsted inspection of Ealing’s Children’s Services shows that this local authority is quite capable of providing for our young people and does not need divisive and unnecessary Grammar Schools foisted on us by central government?”

Councillor Rai replied

“This Ofsted result puts Ealing in the top 10% nationally, in fact it is the 9th strongest performing children’s services department in the country.

Not only did Ofsted recognise our outcomes for children, including the education of looked-after children, but it also recognised that we have a strong and aspirational leadership for our children’s services of which I am very proud.

The introduction of Grammar Schools is a red herring that we can do without. In fact, in terms of education we have already demonstrated success through the current system with 100% of our high schools and special schools achieving a good or outstanding result.”

Councillors Nagpal and Millican asked supplementary questions. 

Question 3  

Councillor Theresa Mullins asked the portfolio holder for Transport, Environment & Leisure

Exactly how does less street cleaning lead to cleaner streets?

Councillor Mahfouz replied

One of the issues that people raised with time and time again Cllr Mullins was that too many people put out their black bags too early and/or with food waste in it.  This, as she will remember, led to black bags being ripped open and rubbish strewn across our streets.

With the move to wheelie bins, there is obviously an opportunity to move away from that old system to a far cleaner operation.

In fact, we’ve heard tonight how more people, not less, want to have containerised rubbish and recycling.

Where it has worked well, we have seen massive uptake in recycling, in particular of food waste and streets clean of the contents of ripped black bags.

We have put in a trial street cleansing system alongside it to see what is the appropriate level of street cleaning for each street across the borough. 

We continue to monitor to ensure that we have the correct frequencies going forward, but what has been evident is that for three quarters of streets – a clean every three weeks is sufficient to maintain acceptable standards.

Councillors Theresa Mullins and Summers  asked supplementary questions. 

Question 4

Councillor Conlan asked the Leader of the Council

Will the portfolio holder report on progress to develop a cinema on Ealing Broadway?

 Councillor Bell replied

 Following a four year development relationship between the Council and Land Securities; the ownership of Filmworks and the former Empire cinema site has now transferred to St George.   

The Compulsory Purchase Order was approved in 2015 and all land required for the scheme can be acquired. Planning consent has already been secured for the site which will offer 161 new homes, a mixture of restaurants, shops, cafes, a ‘Picture house’ multiscreen cinema, and a landscaped public space. The development will further enhance the retail and entertainment offer in Ealing Town Centre.

St George has already transformed a key area within W5 and their continued dedication to invest in Ealing means we are confident that construction works will commence as scheduled before Christmas 2016, providing jobs, housing and will create an exciting new cultural quarter for the area.   

Councillors  Conlan and Roz Reece asked supplementary questions. 

Question 5

Councillor Conti asked the portfolio holder for  Finance & Performance

What average length of time does it take for the Council to respond to emails from residents?

Councillor Johnson replied

The council standard for responding to emails   is to acknowledge within 2 working days and respond in full in 10 working days.

For more complex complaints, the aim is to respond within 20 workings days to allow for matters to be fully investigated.   There are some complaints and enquiries for which the response times are specified in legislation.

The latest performance (August) figures show that 97% of complaints were responded to within the published standards with the year to date figure being just over 96%.”

It is up to individual services to monitor performance, although this is currently difficult due to constraints in technology.

The council is moving further forward with customers submitting enquiries via e forms which are a more efficient way of dealing with contacts online as they collect the information required to fulfil the service request and are often integrated with council systems enabling immediate transfer of the data required for fulfilment.

With new technology being implemented in the new year there will be an opportunity to monitor and report on a wider range of customer contacts received by the council.

Councillors  Conti and Raza asked supplementary questions. 

Question 6

Councillor Ball asked the Leader of the Council

“ What will be the total annual business rate revenue from the retail units in Dickens Yard and how much has St George paid so far?”

Answer:

In relation to the ‘total annual business rate revenue from the retail units in Dickens Yard and how much has St George paid so far’ there are two elements to consider (a & b).

1. The first are those premises for which St Georges West London Ltd are responsible. The Council has 3 assessments that have been brought in by the Valuation Office Agency as follows:

    

   1) 1st Floor, The Old Fire Station, Dickens Yard. It has a Rateable Value of £12,750. It is currently empty exempt as a listed building status. The annual charge would be £6,336.75 if occupied.

   2) Upper Ground Floor, The Old Fire Station, Dickens Yard. It has a Rateable Value of £13,000. The annual charge  for 2016-2017 is £3,752.69. 

   3) Sales & Marketing Suite, 2 New Broadway. It has a Rateable Value of £74,000. The annual charge for 2016/2017 is £38,258.00.

   The second part are those premises in Dickens Yard for which St George Wet London Ltd are not responsible. There are 2 assessments that have been brought in by the Valuation Office Agency as follows:

1)         Charlotte's W5, Unit 1, Dickens Yard, Longfield Avenue, London, W5 2TD. Rateable Value £203,000 (restaurant)

2)         2 Dickens Yard, Longfield Avenue, London, W5 2TD. Rateable Value £23,500 (letting agent)

The total rateable value is £326,500.

Councillors  Ball and Ahmed-Shaikh asked supplementary questions.

Question 7

Councillor Camadoo asked the portfolio holder for Health and Adult Services

Will the portfolio holder reaffirm Ealing Council’s commitment to Ealing hospital, Charing Cross hospital and the ‘Save our Hospitals’ campaign in light of the Sustainability and Transformation Plan?

Councillor Tailor replied

In a word, yes. It is important to stress at this stage that this campaign was in opposition to the SaHF proposals across four hospital sites imposing downgrading and closing hospital services, including Ealing and Charing Cross.

Disgracefully we have lost A&E units at both Central Middlesex and Hammersmith hospitals and the government has refused to intervene on the closure both the maternity and childrens’ units at Ealing hostpital.

In the months ahead we will see A&E units continue to mount as we approach the winter. Northwick Park already cannot cope due to the closure of the other hospital services.

This Council remains opposed to the loss of services without adequate replacements in place.

Councillors Camadoo and Joy Morrissey  asked supplementary questions. 

Councillor G. Stafford moved the motion and accepted Councillor Steed’s amendment. The motion, as amended, is shown below. The additions are shown in Bold.

 “This Council notes with concern that in the three months since the introduction of an alternate weekly collection service and reduction in deep street cleaning to every 6 weeks, fly tipping has increased by a staggering 216%.  “and thousands of residents are justifiably angry at how dirty their streets have become.”

This Council further notes the total absence of any communication to residents regarding the reduction in street cleansing standards.”

 This Council believes this increase in fly tipping demonstrates how misguided and devastating Labour’s changes to the waste and refuse collection services are and serves as yet another visible example of Labour not listening, not hearing and not delivering for Ealing's residents.

 In the interest of good environmental stewardship, this Council therefore calls on the Labour Cabinet to reverse these changes and reinstate weekly street cleaning".

Councillor Sumner seconded the motion

Councillor Steed responded

Councillor Mahfouz responded

Councillor Sumner responded

At this point Councillor Stafford rose on a point of personal explanation and explained that he and his entire group condemned fly tipping and supported all actions to prosecute fly tippers.

Councillor Conti responded

Councillor Johnson responded

Councillor Ball responded

Councillor Bell responded

Councillor Roz Reece responded

Councillor G. Stafford summed up

After a vote the motion was lost.

Councillor Bell moved the motion.

Councillor Rai seconded the motion

Councillor Millican moved an amendment to the motion (Additions in Bold, deletions in strike out

“This Council notes with extreme concern that there are approximately 1,000 unaccompanied children trapped within the so-called ‘Calais jungle’ refugee camp.

 This Council will do all it can, in conjunction with other local authorities, by committing to full participation in the national UASC transfer scheme with immediate effect, to see that the ‘Dubs Amendment’ is implemented in full, in parallel with Britain’s obligations under the Dublin Convention, and that as many unaccompanied children as possible can be brought to safety in the UK. To this end, we also resolve to sign Ealing Council up to the ‘Liberty Pledge’ which states:

 We welcome the Government’s commitment to create a resettlement scheme to bring unaccompanied refugee children in Europe to safety in the UK. We recognise and support the vital role that local councils can and should play in caring for children seeking sanctuary.

We urge central government to provide funding to build the essential regional infrastructure necessary to secure the placement and support of children across the country and help us build them a brighter, safer future.”

“Council resolve to sign up to the Liberty Pledge.”

 Council further notes that in the vast majority of cases, the interests of children can be best safeguarded by the authorities where they are resident rather than by transfer to the UK.

Council welcomes the funding from government agreed in partnership with the LGA to support the creation of additional capacity for refugee children in the UK, and instructs the cabinet member to ensure that Ealing fulfils its responsibilities in full in line with the commitment given by the Leader of the Council by immediately making available places for children currently in the UK who need to move from a port of entry authority in order that new arrivals can be helped."

Councillor Joy Morrissey responded

At this point the Mayor reminded Council of the time

Members rose to extend the guillotine by 30 minutes.

Councillor Malcom responded

Councillor Anand responded

Councillor Proud responded

Councillor Hynes responded

Councillor Manro responded

Councillor Blacker responded

Councillor Roz Reece responded

Councillor Millican summed up

Councillor Bell summed up.

After a vote the amendment was lost

After a vote the motion was agreed unanimously.

Councillor Johnson moved the report

Councillor G. Stafford seconded the report.

After a vote Council agreed

1. To note the Efficiency Plan attached at Appendix 1, which is in line with the medium term financial strategy approved by the Council in February 2016.
2. To accept the government’s offer of a multi-year settlement

Councillor Johnson moved the report

Councillor G. Stafford seconded the report.

After a vote members agreed to

1. Note the Treasury Management activities and performance against targets for the 12 months to 31 March 2016.
2. Note the council’s governance and reporting arrangements which is in line with CIPFA’s best practice recommendations, as set out in paragraph 7.
3. Note the council’s investments in other Local Authorities as at 31 March 2016 (set out in Appendix 1).
4. Note the Prudential indicators outturn for 2015/16 (set out in Appendix 2).
5. Note the council’s current lending list (set out in confidential Appendix 3).
6. Note that the council continues to operate a dual Treasury Management strategy for managing the General Fund (GF) and the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) debt.
7. Note the position on Pension Fund investments, since Pension Fund cash is being invested separately from the council.

Councillor Gordon moved that Councillor G.Stafford be appointed to Audit Committee, replacing Councillor Seema Kumar and that Councillor Roz Reece be appointed to the Freedom of the Borough Committee.

Councillor Roz Reece seconded the appointment.