Council - Wednesday 4 February 2026, 7:30pm - Wandsworth Council Webcasting

Council
Wednesday, 4th February 2026 at 7:30pm

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Disclaimer: This transcript was automatically generated, so it may contain errors. Please view the webcast to confirm whether the content is accurate.

Good evening.

Councillors, officers and members of the public.

I'm delighted to welcome Rabbi Adrian Schnell

from the Wimbledon synagogue, which I'm proud to say

is based within the borough, to inspire us with a few words.

I and other Councillors have been warmly welcomed in the synagogue.

I've been honoured to speak at the Civic Shavat and the Holocaust Remembrance events.

Rabbi Adrian has been a spiritual leader at the synagogue since November 2020, having

previously worked in Germany and South Africa.

He has a deep commitment to inclusivity within the synagogue and in developing the interfaith

dialogue and actions.

The Wandsworth Interfaith Leaders Group have benefited from his helpful leadership.

Adrian, we look forward to hearing what you have to say.

Thank you.

Dear Mr. Mayor, dear distinguished members of the Council, thank you for inviting me

to open this meeting tonight.

You carry a heavy trust.

People in Wandsworth look to you not only for policies

and budgets, but for the conditions that allow them

to build a life.

Housing is at the heart of that trust.

Secure homes is often the difference between coping

and crisis, between being able to participate in community

and standing at its edges.

In my own tradition, when the Ten Commandments were given, seven of the ten were given in the form of defining boundaries.

The Ten Commandments are a series of clear noes.

These noes are not meant to crush human possibility.

they are there to so that the vulnerable can take their first free breath by

saying no to violence, no to exploitation, no to falsehood, we carve out the space

in which every person can stand without fear. The philosopher Emmanuel Levinas

spoke of the face of the other as bearing a silent command,

though shall not kill, or in other words, do not kill me.

That simple limit is the beginning of every serious ethics.

Once we accept that there are things we may not do

to one another, we move from a collection

of competing interests towards a shared sense

of responsibility.

Public life stops being a battleground for the strongest

and becomes a place where the weakest are seen

and protected.

And council work, as it best,

turns that ethical insight into concrete reality.

A planning decision, a housing allocation,

an enforcement policy can say a quiet but firm no

to exploitation, to neglect,

to the idea that some lives count less than others.

Each no creates a small area of safety.

Joined together, they become a landscape

in which people can put down own roots,

raise children, care for ageing parents,

and feel that they belong.

No council can do this alone.

The responsibility is shared with landlords and tenants,

faith groups and community organisations,

business and neighbours.

Yet you have a unique role in setting the tone

and the boundaries.

When you refuse to tolerate demeaning language,

when you insist on fairness and produce,

when you prioritise those who are most at risk,

you invite the rest of us to lift up our standards too.

So my prayer tonight is what once worth will continue

to grow as a borough where limits are used wisely

and courageously, a place where no one is left

without shelter and no one is left without dignity.

Eternal God, sovereign of the universe,

bless this council and allow all who advise and support it.

May their deliberations be guided by wisdom,

their decisions shaped by fairness,

and their words spoken with respect and an open mind.

May this chamber be a place where integrity prevails,

where every decision is made for the well -being of all,

and where every voice, especially those too often unheard,

is valued.

May those who dwell in the one's worth find shelter,

justice, and peace.

Amen.

Thank you.

Thank you, Rabbi Hadron.

So apologies have been received from Councillors

Cook, Fraser, Justin, Locker, Owens, Worrell,

French, Pridham, Lee, Hall, Angela, Glaim,

and for lateness, Councillors Critchard and Annan.

Are there any more apologies?

I'm not covered.

Thank you, councillors.

We're on to item one, which is mayor's announcements.

Welcome everyone to this special meeting of the council that has been convened for us

to consider the housing revenue account, including council's housing rents and charges and

housing capital programme and the overall HRA budget framework.

The budget and the council tax setting

are not due to be discussed at this meeting.

These are due to be discussed at the February Finance Overview

and Scrutiny Committee and the February Cabinet

meeting before coming to the March council meeting

for debate and decision.

I hope that you had a good Christmas break

and over Christmas and New Year.

I'm adapting to using excellent NHS hearing aids

as I'm losing my ability to hear particularly

on the higher frequencies.

Please would counsellors with higher -pitched voices

help me by talking strongly to hear you

and make your contributions to the meeting.

I have to report the sad news that former Councillor Martin Johnson, MBE, died before

Christmas.

Martin served on this council for 47 years between 1968 and 2018 when he became an honorary

alderman.

He was twice mayor.

He overlapped in his last term on the council from 2014 -2018 with me.

And as a new councillor, he was most helpful and welcoming to me as a new councillor.

I would like to invite members for a minute's silence to remember Martin Johnson.

Thank you.

Thank you, members.

I now invite Councillor Govindia, Richards, Jones, and Belton to pay tribute.

Councillor Govindia.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

I struggled with this.

How do you, in five minutes, capture 44 years of service to this Council?

and I went through various things and I'll hopefully share the breadth of Martin's contribution

to this council.

But let me start with the character of the man.

Martin was an absolute party man.

He was a complete conservative party person.

But he was not a party animal, exotic or otherwise.

It was rare for Martin to go across the road for a beer after meetings.

It was in fact quite rare for him to linger in the lobbies and so on after meetings.

He'd done the business, he was home to prepare for his next assignment.

So there is something about Martin which is about dedication.

I'm sorry, I'm having some difficulties with my sight at the moment so I'm going to have

to read quite carefully unless I get things wrong.

Martin as a,

as a Councillor set a gold standard of public life

and public service just at a time when public service

is under huge attack and distrust.

Martin's example is very much that gold standard.

He was first elected Councillor for Northgate Ward in 74,

and the following 10 elections,

he was returned as a Councillor for Northgate Ward.

This, I am told, and I have checked,

is a record for the same person

representing the same ward for the longest period.

Certainly, in this council, it is a record.

What I discovered at the funeral,

which many of us in this room attended on Friday,

that this quintessentially Battersea and Northcote man

was actually not born in Battersea or Northcote.

He was born in Chelsea,

one of the early Chelseaites to come and live in Battersea,

I guess.

But in the 44 years Martin brought to this council

some really good old -fashioned values of public service

and enlightened our civic life with it.

The duty, the dedication, the diligence,

and the incredible attention to detail.

Our officers here, many served with him,

or I think none of them served with him,

but Friday evenings was not a free time for them or him

if he was their chairman.

He would sit down and say,

well, let's go through the agenda.

So that diligence had its downside too.

In 1982, when I was first elected to this council, I was Martin's vice chairman on

the technical services committee, and I discovered this duty and diligence bit of it.

We were charged with delivering the completion of the Kambala estate, which was in the hands

of the direct labour force.

This was their last job before they were to be wound up, and no doubt the job was dragging

on and on.

Martin took it upon himself to become an extra clerk of works

and every two weeks he, the deputy chairman

and the vice chairman rolled up to Kambala.

Martin's notebook would come out and cheque the jobs

that were promised to have been done last time around

and then see why, look for an explanation

why it wasn't to be done, hadn't been done.

He would then list out the next set of jobs to be done.

And to be fair, the job was completed relatively quickly

after that exercise.

But this unorthodox style of working as a member

was something that I learned a bit from.

He continued in this unorthodox style

when he became in charge of various traffic schemes.

He would never go through, allow a traffic scheme

to be implemented without him actually tearing it apart

several times, walking it, driving around it,

and then saying, okay, that might work.

So that kind of diligence is what saved this borough

for many years from the kind of mayhem we see

at Patni Bridge or Batsy Bridge.

It was Martin's diligence and the willingness

to actually test it out before inflicting on people.

Of course, Batsy Fowl Station was a big part of his youth,

and so it must have been a great pleasure for him

to be the only local person to sit on a committee

to determine its fate.

Well, he got for it a fruit bowl, we're told,

of which he was proud, and there were several anecdotes,

which is sometimes amusing, but generally

was kind of about his frustration with it.

In 1989, this borough faced several traffic schemes

dreamt up by the Department of Transport.

If they had been implemented, we would have had

more than the North Circular equivalent

running through the borough.

It would have crisscrossed across the borough

and destroyed many communities.

So Martin, that details man, took it upon himself to challenge it.

And so was born the ones with alternative.

That Mr. Mayor, I would say, is perhaps Martin's greatest contribution and gift to this council

and its future generations.

We don't have those four lane motorways running through our borough, thanks to Martin.

That success came with acrimony and difficulty.

Not long after that success of that Wandsworth alternative,

Martin suffered from Paul Beresford's Night of Long Knives.

He left the leader's group with four other people,

including me.

It was an interesting experience to be in the same camp

as Martin on that occasion.

Change of leader and Martin returned.

and was back in favour and his next big job was housing.

Interesting, we're going to be discussing housing

later on today, but his first contribution to housing

was to lift the spirits of a department

which had suffered many short -term appointments.

His second was to get drive through the kind of idea

of genuine proper management of the council stock.

eliminating, squatting, reducing unauthorised occupancy,

but also delivering proper, proper services

for the residents of this borough.

Of course, it was under his time that this borough achieved,

was the first to achieve decent housing,

decent home standard for all its stock.

He also brought to the housing department

this imagination to find solutions to problems.

And there was born the idea of hidden homes,

which continues across this baranar

and of course has been adopted by many councils across.

Let me end with an anecdote.

Martin detested graffiti.

The graffiti removal service was something

that he dreamt of and he was very, very proud of.

His great nightmare was what if Banksy were to come to this borough and put one of his

graffiti, as he would call it, in the borough.

He never thought graffiti was art.

So he asked the then director to write a letter or draught a letter for him to be sent to Banksy

about saying please avoid Wandsworth.

I doubt very much whether the letter went

because nobody knew who it was or where he lived.

But it was that kind of Martinism really

that what he didn't like he felt was unacceptable

and therefore he was going to do something about it.

Mr. Mayor, I'm enormously proud to have been a friend of his

and have served this council with him.

I sometimes think that its style of being a Councillor

is so much, you won't see it again here or elsewhere.

I think Martin was just one of those one -offs.

Proud to have known him and I think Barrow is richer

for having him as its Councillor.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, for letting me add some words of tribute myself. I was Martin's successor

in Northcote Ward, and I'd like to spend a few moments just sharing some reminiscences

of mine, of Martin, from our time together in Northcote, perhaps as another quintessential

Battersea man and quintessential Northcote man that wasn't born in Northcote or Battersea.

Councillor Belton described Martin Johnson in his e -newsletter this month as the wettest

of wet Tories.

Perhaps we could say one nation conservative might be more apt.

But certainly the Martin that I knew and the Martin that I saw in practise really had compassionate

conservative values.

And no more was that evident in the concern that he paid towards people in the council's

care, and in particular those to whom the council owed duty to provide housing.

And it's already been referenced that Martin was the cabinet member when Wandsworth became

the first council to meet the Blair government's decent homes standard.

And he was immensely proud of that, but he was also the architect of the council's hidden

homes programme.

In fact, such is the range of Martin's innovation

and achievements as a counsellor.

Actually, none of us are quite sure

for what it was that he achieved his MBE,

but it could have been anything

from a list of proud achievements.

He was proud of those schemes,

but the way in which those were brought about

leads me to a second attribute of Martin's.

Martin was obsessive about detail

and obsessive about getting that right.

And it was said of Martin actually,

when he was the cabinet member for housing,

that he had done more hours in the town hall

than the then acting executive director for housing,

such that it was that he really wanted to get things right.

And I remember as his ward chairman at the time,

as a naive and uneducated party activist,

often being at the end of Martin's questions

for more information, more detail.

I think at one stage I described him to his face

as cantankerous, to which he said he was quite proud

of that label, actually, and he was glad

that he got that rise out of me.

Now I recall as well that one of my rewards

for getting involved in Northgate Conservatives

around 2016, 2017, was to be taken on a ward round

with Martin, and that was both exhaustive

and exhausting. It was a three hour walk around the ward with Martin where not a single cracked

pavement, rocking paving stone, faulty lighting didn't go undocumented by Martin for what

was a tome that was then sent into offices the next day for repair. He really was a local

man and he really did love this borough. Councillor Covington has already made reference to his

role as a member of the battery power station competition

panel, which heard the first draught of weird and wacky ideas

about what the borough might do with that building.

But years later, Martin told the journalist Peter Watts,

that at the time he felt he was the only member of the panel

that didn't have a title.

He wasn't a Lord or a sir.

And he received no remuneration for the hours he spent on

that panel, but he did get this commemorative fruit bowl.

But he said that it was the local voice

that he felt he was there to capture.

And as well as the local voice,

if you read Peter Watts's sort of writings about that time,

Martin brings his reliably sceptical views

to every single scheme that came, phoned up

and then floundered about the power station.

It really was a privilege to attend Martin's funeral

on Friday with you, Mr. Mayor,

with Councillors Belton, Govindia and Humphreys.

And it was clear from the brilliant words of the celebrant

that there were two real sources of joy

and inspiration in Martin's life.

They were being a counsellor and they were being a father.

And it was very moving to hear the words

of his daughter, Lauren, that Laura,

that despite the demands and the tolls

for those tumultuous 44 years on the council.

He never missed a school pickup.

He never missed a parents evening

and he never missed a school performance.

They had an immensely strong bond

that was very humbling to hear.

But life like politics, it can be cruel

and it can be capricious.

And many of us here know that towards the end of his life,

Martin was not a well man.

And indeed in his final years,

he was for most of the time housebound.

But he still followed our proceedings.

He still watched the broadcasts.

And I remember when I was elected in 2018,

he sent me an email to say that my name

had been spelled wrongly on the council website.

Easy mistake happens a lot.

And then when I was elected group leader two years ago,

he sent me a message to say that,

I should know that this was the first time

a Northcote Councillor had ever been elected

to lead the group.

Perhaps memories of Beresford's Night of Long Lives

were perhaps playing a factor there.

But it was good to know and it was comforting to know

that through the broadcasts,

that this council still plays an important role

in Martin's life right to the end.

I'm very sure that he is still watching us tonight on the broadcast.

Thank you.

Councillor Belton.

Mr. Mayor, I associate myself with all those words that I might just have a slight aside

about one of them or two.

I frequently, when I was much younger,

used to think we spent too much time on this sort of thing,

and occasionally do.

But on this occasion, we're talking about someone

who is a very dominant character,

but never behaved like one on this council.

He actually started in 1968, before he went to Northcote.

but he started in 1968, which I know

Shore Council of India knows in St. John's Ward.

And I have a happy record of beating him

in 74 in Northscote, that's why he wasn't from 74.

And by the way, there was another Northscote council

who was leader of the council,

though not quite at the same time,

if you see what I mean.

But that aside, I'm sorry if my words

in my newsletter are misunderstood.

Martin was the wettest of wet Tories,

there's no question about that,

in Mrs. Thatcher's kind of terms.

And he was absolutely a Tory, I do agree with you,

there was no way that he was going to be sympathetic

to the Labour positions at all,

but he was also a very concerned and considerate person.

And he was wet because he was so caring

in a council which was actually, when we look back on it,

fairly brutal in quite a lot of its attitudes.

So he was wet and much, but also he wasn't

a very dominant person.

He didn't stand up and command the chamber

or anything like that, not like a Beresford

or even a Chope or even some others.

So I think we've always underrated him a bit.

And in going through my feelings about him, I can think of lots of things where he had

an immense impact on Wandsworth.

And Revy and actually, Aled, have actually referred to a couple of them.

And I'd like to refer to them as well.

On Friday, there were senior officers, I think, of the planning department, the housing department,

the finance department, one more I'm sure,

transport, all their equivalents at the time,

and a chief executive from 20, 30 years ago,

which I think says just a bit about

what the senior officers felt about it.

The housing department director said to me,

you know, when Martin became housing chair,

chair in modern language cabinet member.

When he became housing chair, the morale in the department was rock bottom.

We'd been selling council houses as fast as we could

and Martin continued to support that policy by the way,

don't get me wrong, but we'd been selling council houses like crazy.

there was no value associated to them,

and the morale was rock bottom.

Within weeks of him taking over,

the morale had completely changed.

His consideration for the staff,

he recognised why the staff were in public housing,

and he acted accordingly.

He came up with a theory of hidden homes,

which the director at the time, on Friday,

told me that all the officers opposed.

He didn't have support for it at all

as being a kind of wacky idea.

And he didn't get much support from it

for it in his own group, I think,

because of course building council houses

was not exactly the thing that Councillors Chope

and Beresford wanted to be famous for.

But he nonetheless built the hidden homes

and there's about 200 of them now.

It's the smallest, effectively.

and he didn't get much support from our side either.

I think I gave him a little bit of support

because I thought it was quite a good idea.

And I think it's improved the estates

where they've taken place.

That was a great achievement in fact in a small way.

He also famously, slightly more jocularly,

when he was mayor,

was mayor in a council meeting we had in Battersea Town Hall.

It wasn't an official council meeting,

it was one that he called on the 50th anniversary

of the creation of Wandsworth as it is today.

50th creation, that can't be right,

it must be the 30th anniversary of it, 1994 I think it was,

when he was mayor and we had a resolution

at Battersea Town Hall that Battersea should go independent from Wandsworth.

And it was taken terribly seriously and every Battersea Councillor who has ever been a Battersea

Councillor and was still alive was invited.

I remember sitting next to a lady who was a Liberal Councillor in 1910 or something,

years and years back.

And all these people were invited to stand up and tell storeys about Battersea and why

we should go independent.

Funnily enough, of course, it went through by a massive majority, but actually had no

legal status.

But Martin, as he would of course, as Ravi would know, and as Alan would know, took it

with the utmost seriousness, conducted it like a full council meeting, no heckling,

no humour.

It was humorous because it was taken so seriously, but he took it seriously.

So, those are a couple of bits, but I think the major point

Ravi's already mentioned is roads.

The first time that I came across roads being

absolutely essential for the future of London and Britain,

just look at Los Angeles.

How this is the future, we cannot possibly live

with this mediaeval road structure.

We must do something about it.

goes back to the 1960s and the fact that it was

fought off in this borough, largely in this borough,

by Douglas Jay and the labour council at that time

was a great victory.

But 20 years later it came back.

It came back under a Tory banner and it was pushed

by two local ministers of housing,

local because they lived in Battersea.

One was Bottomley, and another one was Cecil Parkinson.

And if you study the background of it,

you can't imagine the depths of deceit

that central government, either through the civil service

or the politicians, went through.

They were quite clearly treating other idiots.

They put forward a plan at the last minute

when they knew they were losing.

they put forward a plan which included an underpass

under the Thames and Clapham Common, everywhere else,

and a railway, a tube line from Hammersmith and Fulham

to Roehampton.

We later discovered there was no interest in any of these

plans, no costings, and nothing, just an attempt

to beat Wandsworth.

I see the mayor's getting itchy,

let's carry on a little bit.

Martin had put together a union of four councils,

two labour held, Lambeth and Hammersmith and Fulham,

one liberal dem, Richmond, and this one, Wandsworth,

to defeat the plan.

And I remember he had a big fight with Brown about

whether he was going to be booted out

before he was actually booted out.

And it was in all the local newspapers,

as Wandsworth Baron Hughes,

and it was a time when he had a majority of one

in this council, so his defection

would be somewhat significant.

He later told me,

his case was when he came up with the idea

to call it, rather than the people's plan,

which he had called it,

he changed it to the Wandsworth alternative.

And of course, for Beresford,

and for Mrs. Thatcher who was very keen on the roads,

business, people's plan meant something

relevant of the Soviet Union,

but the Wandsworth alternative was totally acceptable.

So well done Martin for that amongst other things.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillors.

The Mayoral Events and Visits Programme,

since the last meeting, the Deputy Mayor,

Councillor Rosemary Burchell and I

are enjoying all the community engagements

that we're involved in, and we're up for whatever

gets thrown at us within reason through to the end of May.

More about the Borough of Culture.

Last week we celebrated the 125th birthday

of the Clapham Grand with a fabulous

and diverse lineup of performers.

As I grew up through my adolescent years

with Elvis and the Beatles in the 1960s,

I enjoyed putting on my blue suede shoes at the late disco

and my best jiving and rock and roll dancing steps

with counsellor Kemi Akinola and Anna Popovici,

the deputy chief executive.

It was quite a night.

More seriously, I'm a late convert to radio soap opera

with the Wandsworth Way every Sunday afternoon

at five o 'clock.

I love the line in the episode when Mike and Tash broke up,

take the girl out of Wandsworth,

but you can't take Wandsworth out the girl.

It reminded me of some of you counsellors here.

Counsellors, do tune in on Sunday evening

to relax after the exigencies of canvassing and campaigning.

Please continue to support and enjoy our fantastic

London Borough of Culture events in February and in March,

and ongoing with a cultural legacy throughout 2026.

A little bit about fundraising,

I'm planning with my charities a Mayoral Quiz Evening

to raise money for the three mayoral charities,

Mind Works, Wandsworth Oasis,

and Wandsworth Welcomes Refugees.

I hope that many of you can make it for an enjoyable evening,

particularly as I've asked for some easy questions

on the quiz.

The date is Wednesday the 25th of March for your diaries.

At tonight's meeting, on tonight's agenda,

Members, please note that a supplementary item has been circulated, which is required

to be considered as a matter of urgency.

The reasons for this is set out in full at the top of the item.

Is that agreed, members?

Thank you.

Please remember to speak through the chair.

This is to ensure that we don't have two or three people speaking at the same time.

So I choose the speaker when you catch my eye.

I will do my best to do this in a fair and impartial way.

Please could all speakers keep to time

and wind up your speeches when the red light comes on.

Yeah, we didn't have red lights,

Councillor Belton, for the earlier speeches.

When red lights comes on,

you will have 30 seconds remaining to wind up.

This is to allow as many people as possible,

councillors, to participate.

Thank you. So item 2 on the agenda, are there any members who have a declaration of disposable

pecuniary interests, other registrable interests or any non -registrable interests relevant

to any matter to be considered at the meeting? Yes, Councillor Cooper.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. Just in case it gets covered and obviously the GLA is the source

from the government via the GLA of housing funding

and that is an item for tonight's agenda

just to record a non -pecuniary interest

in the sense that I am the London Assembly member

from Merton and Wandsworth.

Thank you.

I'm Sir Dickerdon.

Yeah, I'm a member of the London Renters Union.

It's a non -pecuniary interest

but it's worth mentioning on a housing paper.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

From the supply of the ridiculous,

I'm a renter of a lock -up garage by the council, very small pecuniary interest but not at all

anything of interest tonight.

Thank you Councillor Humphries.

Me too.

Mr Caddy.

Another garage.

Okay.

Sorry.

Councillor McLeod.

Yes, sorry.

Maurice.

Hello.

I'm a council tenant, wouldn't normally announce it here but seeing as we're talking about

housing it's relevant.

I've got you all.

Thank you very much.

Good we're on to item three.

Members please raise your hand to indicate you have a petition in hand.

Once I've called your name, please announce the subject title of the petition and who

you are presenting it on behalf of.

Please then come forward and hand your petition to Mr. Kelly.

Are there any petitions?

Councillor Burchill.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. I have a petition from the residents of Flasmid Estate asking the Council to take immediate action to fix the persistent damp in their homes.

For years families have lived with mould, cold and damp, putting their health at risk.

This is not a condensation problem, this is a damp problem.

And I have another petition from the residents of Old Hospital Close who are suffering from

persistent fly tipping which has been ignored for years.

rubbish is dumped daily, creating health risk and making residents feel ashamed of where they live.

The council and the housing association know about this problem, yet action remains slow and inefficient.

Okay, do bring up Councillor Burchill.

Councillor Humphries.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

I was about to hand in a petition on behalf of approximately 800 members of the Giving

Place Foundation for their community centre at Open Door, which is under threat of closure

from the council.

We're very grateful, the community and myself and fellow councillors that there's been a

last minute reprieve to give them an extension to last, the Festival of Ramadan, but I'd

appeal to officers and relevant cabinet members to use that intervening space to try to find

to find a more permanent home

and a permanent solution to the problem

over the coming weeks we have still left available.

Thank you, Councillor Humphries.

Yep, any more petitions?

Okay, thank you very much.

We're on to item four, which is leaders questions.

Before we begin questions, may...

Point of order, Mr. Mayor.

Thank you.

And first of all, I'd just like to say I do have hearing aids are serving you well.

I know it's not easy to get used to them, but I will do my best to enunciate properly.

Mr. Mayor, I've been a Councillor for 16 years, and every year without fail at this special

meeting we have discussed the budget.

And I'm a little bit shocked tonight to find that we are only discussing the HRA.

I further understand we were not consulted on this substantive omission from the agenda

and our later request to include the budget was denied.

Could you tell us why it was denied, given the extent of the government cuts?

Forty percent of our core funding.

This is extremely concerning and deserves Council's close attention.

Whilst I understand as your announcement that the Budget will come to the March meeting,

I do feel we need a further explanation as to why this has happened

and an assurance that the March meeting will indeed go ahead.

There will be no further delays. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Stutters.

Councillor Stutters, I hear what you say.

Historically, we have had the general fund budget as an information item at the February

meeting.

This year, however, I understand that the budget scrutiny process developed by the Finance

Overview and Scrutiny Committee as part of their work programme means that we will consider

the General Fund budget paper and the proposal for council tax at the March meeting. That

is after these have been considered by the forthcoming Finance OSC and the Cabinet meeting.

That was flagged up and that was part of the work programme for the Finance Committee and

will have been available to opposition members as well as the administration members.

Point of order, Mr. Mayor.

Where was I?

Point of order, Mr. Mayor.

Another point of order?

We never agreed that funding wouldn't be discussed at this meeting.

Why would we?

It will have the most significant financial impact to this Council,

and therefore our residents, that anyone has seen in 50 years of this Council.

It was important enough for the Executive Director of Finance to put on a special briefing in January,

but so far other councillors and our residents haven't heard the full council discuss or debate this information.

The briefing said that there would be cuts to our funding of nearly 40 % by 2029

and that the Labour Government wants this council to raise council tax by 86%.

We can discuss this tonight and we absolutely should.

It's an absolute disgrace that this is being covered up.

Take it as the same point of order from Councillor suffers and I understand

From officers that this was flagged up to your leading members and members of the finance overview and scrutiny committee

But I thank you for raising it

Determinations and points of orders are for the mayor and I've listened to what you have had to say. Can I finish please?

Can I finish please?

Listen to what you have had to say and have given my ruling.

Now let us return to the agenda before us tonight.

On a point of order, Mr. Mayor, you've suggested that this was flagged to opposition councillors.

What was flagged to opposition councillors was the taking the budget information to the next meeting of the council in March.

That was flagged and agreed.

At no stage was this special meeting or what was to take

place at this meeting of the Council discussed or agreed.

And in fact, contrary to what you've just said,

I proactively raised it with officers some weeks ago and made

it very clear that if there were not,

if it was not the case that the budget papers were not coming to

this meeting, it would be unacceptable to have us all here

simply to discuss the HRA and that this should be made an

an ordinary meeting, an ordinary full council meeting

so that other matters could be discussed,

including fair funding.

So what you've said is factually wrong.

Thank you, Councillor Graham.

I've said what I've said.

We're not debating the merits of whatever the decision is.

I've made a ruling in terms of what,

explain why and the fact that matters can't be discussed

other than the housing revenue account.

I would like to proceed with the meeting

rather than you keep rating the same points of order

several times, you know.

Point of order, Mr. Mayor.

Is that a different point of order, Councillor Humphries?

It is a different point of order,

but it's on the same theme.

I fail to understand, Mr. Mayor.

Councillor Humphries, my ruling is final on this matter,

but if you want to raise a different aspect

to the point of order I can't stop you.

Mr. Mayor, you're right to that,

but you have to hear what my point of order is

before you can overrule it.

The point of order I'd like to raise in particular

is I still fail to understand how,

despite numerous conversations between ourselves

over the last few days, we're still in a situation

where we've made formal requests through the council

and the council appears to be making every effort

it possibly can to stultify and nullify

and not let us have this debate.

When the whole point of this council administration's effort

is about transparency and listening,

it just makes a mockery of the whole thing.

When all we're doing is we can't talk about certain things,

particularly an issue which is fundamentally key

to the future of this borough.

Look, I know there are strong feelings

on this, Councillor Humphries, but it's not a new issue.

I've made a ruling on this, and that's the ruling,

and I want to proceed with the meeting

rather than have the meeting disrupted.

Point of order, Mr. Mayor.

Is this a new point of order?

It's about the procedure here.

We understand, Mr. Mayor, that you have...

Is it a new point?

Yes, it is, Mr. Mayor.

Yeah, OK.

We understand, Mr. Mayor, that you have indeed granted

the ability for this issue to be discussed at a later date,

but that only came following a request from the Conservative group.

Is it possible that you could clarify,

and us on the Conservative benches have the maximum respect for you

as an impartial mayor,

that you have not received undue pressure

from the Labour administration

to delay the discussion this evening?

I'm afraid that's not a point of order.

I do want to proceed with the meeting,

but I do hear the strong feelings,

and I'm available outside the meeting

to have further discussions on how this proceeds.

But you're right, I have agreed, what's the wording?

I read the recognition for a special meeting.

the

Setting up of a special meeting on them on the matters that you've raised broadly not not all of them, but

Can we proceed with the meeting please another point of order this time regarding the leaders questions and cabinet questions

Thank You councillor Brooks. Yeah your point of order. Thank you very much

It's in relation to standing order 32 and

40 % of Wandsworth's funding is being cut by the Labour government

and there are serious questions for the cabinet member for finance to answer

to Putney residents about its impact on council tax and the services on which they depend.

Why aren't we having that debate and discussion here tonight?

This is not a new point of order you're just reiterating and delaying the meeting proceeding

I'm afraid. Please, can we go to item four?

Point of order, Mr. Mayor.

Leader's questions.

Point of order, Mr. Mayor.

Is this a new point of order?

Yes, it is, but as you can probably tell, it is going to be on the similar...

It's not been raised already. Okay, Councillor Corner.

It is a different point of order.

Look, every single year this council meets in February to discuss housing and finance.

There needs to be a justification for why that isn't happening now, especially as the

has announced the biggest changes to this council's finance and funding in a generation,

if not since this council was founded. You must set out why that change was made. And

you said that members of the finance OSC were kind of informed or consulted on that. Well,

I'm on the finance OSC and I remember no such conversation. So can you please give a full

justification to this council and the residents outside who are concerned about what the government

announcement means for this council as to why we cannot discuss clearly one of

the most important issues this council has ever faced here tonight. It's not for

me to give a full justification I've just explained the decision that has

been made and has been flagged up you will have a chance to raise all those

issues at the Finance OSC Councillor corner please I don't think new

issues are being raised, but Councillor Boudin,

have you got a point of order?

It's probably a point of clarification

rather than a point of order,

but I think I heard you say that you've agreed

to another meeting where this matter will be discussed.

Correct.

If that is the case, are you able to tell us

when that will be, because we can all

plan our diaries accordingly.

In accordance with Standing Order Three,

I can't tell you when that's gonna be.

You need to read Standing Order Three,

which gives that responsibility for a discussion

between the chief exec and the leader of the council.

But do read your staff.

Standing orders.

I can't give you a.

Well no, I appreciate your advice

about standing order three,

but given that you've made the decision

to agree to a meeting,

I was assuming that you, in agreeing,

you also freed up your availability to chair that meeting,

and therefore you should share with us that information.

That's all I'm seeking, really.

No, I will fit in with when the meeting is determined between the Chief Exec and the

Leader of the Council.

Can we please proceed to item 4?

I've agreed that the meeting can go ahead, Councillor Govindia, but it's not for me to

take that further.

Is this a new point of order, Councillor Burchill?

I'm sorry, Mr Mayor, but I do agree with all of my colleagues.

I know, but that's not the point of…

dire, dire financial situation that we're in,

and our residents deserve to understand it.

Yeah, yeah, okay.

I have four leaders' questions.

Before we begin questions, may I remind all members,

I'm sorry, I'm gonna pursue you.

You haven't heard my point of order.

I just, a very brief one.

Is it a new point of order?

It is a new point of order, Mr. Mayor.

You've made it clear in your answers

that part of your decisions tonight

and your rulings tonight were on the basis

that you were informed that the opposition had consented

to this meeting being sent up in this way.

I would like to ask you very simply

who it was that told you that the opposition

had been consulted and had consented

because that is not true.

I didn't say anyone had consented.

I said they're being consulted, Councillor Graham.

Who told you that, Mr. Mayor?

Who told you that?

I've talked to a number of officers, but I'm sorry.

I don't think it's a valid point of order.

I would really like to continue the meeting.

Item four, leaders' questions.

Before we begin the questions, may I remind all members

that overall period of members' questions

for the leader and the cabinet member is 45 minutes,

with 20 minutes for leaders' questions

and 25 minutes for the cabinet members' questions.

However, if the leaders' questions overrun this time

is taken off the cabinet members' questions,

Can I also advise those watching that this is a special meeting of the Council, the questions

that may be asked to the Leader and the Cabinet members must relate to items of business on

the agenda.

Question number one, Labour's plan to fix Council's failing, in quotes, housing services.

Councillor Richard Jones.

Question one to the Leader, and the failing in quotes, of course, is from the regulator

of social housing that deemed the council's housing service to be failing?

Thank you, Councillor Richard Jones.

Yeah, leader.

Thank the Councillor for that question.

Yeah, everyone deserves a safe, warm, affordable place to call home and housing is my political

passion and I'm very grateful to have a cabinet member who absolutely shares that drive.

Whether you rent or own and whoever your landlord is, we want the same high standards and deep

Recency for all residents in Wandsworth and the council takes its responsibility as a landlord very seriously

I'm glad we're having a special meeting of this type where we can focus on housing

I'm pleased for having debates on housing later this evening

and I'd also welcome and thank members of the housing overview and scrutiny committee for

Their oversight and detailed attention on the issue as well

I acknowledge the issues raised by the regulator and we grab with both hands the opportunity

to improve our housing services.

He asks for specifics in the question.

The housing improvement plan is clear about what has to change and by when.

As the regulator correctly identified, the old way of undertaking only a few percent

of stock condition surveys is not enough.

That's why we have expanded to 100 % of properties to be surveyed.

That will be completed by December in this year.

The C3 rating was in large part due to unaddressed fire remediation measures which numbered 1 ,800

at the time of inspection.

That had to change.

They are now down to 285 and will be actioned in their entirety by December this year again.

Water risk assessments, 17 % compliance at the time of the inspection, that's now up to 99%.

And we're developing a new compliance team to drive this work forward, and that will be up and running by September this year.

So we are ambitious for all of our residents to have great housing.

And I want people to be able to walk from one side of the borough to the other and not know which bits are public housing,

which bits of private housing because every neighbourhood should have the same high standards

of cleaning, of safety and of beautiful public spaces.

Thank you Madam Mr Mayor. The specific question I had to the leader was when will the Council's

rating from the social housing regulator, which is currently the second lowest, when

will that be improved? And I didn't get an answer to that. But what supplementary is

is this, the papers in the council agenda tonight

show that a substantial portion of the budget for repairs,

which will go some way to addressing

the social housing regulators concerns,

are being moved to the administration's regeneration schemes

to compensate for the gap, therefore,

in the repairs budget will be substantial borrowing

on the housing revenue account.

Isn't this a reckless mortgaging by the administration on some of the basic duties

that the administration owns to its current housing tenants, which was the subject of

such criticism from the regulator of social housing?

Councillor Hogg.

I thank the Councillor for that question.

It's all quite confused.

Obviously, Councillor de Kedem will be able to explain precisely what's happened later,

but plainly we're not moving money around in that way.

Council rents are incredibly good value for money

and they're incredibly fair

because everyone pays into the pot and everyone benefits.

And that allows the council to invest

in our largest ever capital programme.

We are literally fixing the roof while the sun shines.

And we're not particularly gonna take any lectures

on that topic from the party

that sold off literally half of our council housing

and created the culture which we're trying to fix.

Thanks.

Councillor Dobre.

Second supplementary.

So the improvement plan talks a lot about

how we can improve the way we communicate

with our residents, and I know in my ward

some of the existing processes can be a bit clunky

for communicating with the council.

Could you talk a bit about what that improvement plan's

gonna change and when residents can expect

to see some of those changes?

Absolutely. As a listening council, we want to improve all the time how we communicate

with residents, but also how they can contact us. You'll see we started picking up the

telephone. We're now at almost 90 per cent answering within seven rings. And the exciting

thing that hopefully you've seen today is you can now report seven days things via WhatsApp.

So it's interesting, someone mentioned it was the late Martin Johnson's brainchild

and I want to pay tribute to him because we have an incredible graffiti service in the

borough.

You go to neighbouring boroughs, there's graffiti, there isn't in Wandsworth.

So if you go on WhatsApp today, we've launched it, just send a picture of some graffiti to

the council on WhatsApp and say, well I did it today, this is Lockinvar Road in Ballum,

can you please remove it?

and they'll get straight back to you and say,

yeah, we're on it, we'll do it,

and that graffiti will be removed within seven days.

But that WhatsApp reporting is for all of our seven days

things, so it's not just dangerous potholes

or broken street signs, it's fly posting,

faulty street lights.

Just hop on WhatsApp, which all of us use every day,

I can see some of us are using it during the meeting,

report it to the council in a way that works for you,

and we'll listen.

Question number two.

The matter of information please, Mr Mayor.

Point of information.

What information?

Which standing order is this?

It's in response to something that the leader of the council just said.

Is it personal explanation?

It is.

Not just for general information.

No, no.

Point of personal information please.

There wasn't anything personal.

I just wanted to refer, I can't stand in order 16, I'd just like to refer to something that

the leader just said about the seven day service, which sounds...

I'm sorry, that's not a personal explanation.

I'm sorry.

It's a point of order then in that case.

A point of order, under which standing order is the point of order?

16.

What's the breach?

The fact that something the leader said was factually incorrect.

That's not a point of order.

Really? The leader says something that I believe is factually correct and I can't challenge that.

Is he really saying that? Is that seriously what you're saying?

I'm not accepting that, Councillor Humphries. We're on to question two.

I think that says it all, ladies and gentlemen, when the leader won't actually take a question on points of factual information.

There you go. It says it all, thank you very much.

Look, I know tempers are running a bit high, but let's just get on with the meeting.

Question number two, soaring council house rent arrears, Councillor Richard Jones, your

question number two.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

In seven years as a Councillor, I've never raised a point of personal explanation, but

I will do this evening.

The leader just said in answer to my first question.

Sorry, are you putting question two?

No, no, I'm making a point of personal information.

The leader said, he got quite abusive in his answer to my question.

Just a second.

Was a personal comment made in your direction?

Yeah, okay.

All right.

You can address that.

Thank you.

I've never made this point before,

but I've kind of had enough of this.

The leader disputed my characterization

of where the money is going.

He said my account was wrong.

I said it was in the council papers.

Everyone in this room can look at it tonight.

It's page 20, paragraph 4 .44, sub paragraph G.

That is the borrowing that is going on the repairs account.

That is the mortgaging of the council's basic duties.

That's precisely what I said.

I can now move on to question two.

Question two.

Would you like to put it?

I've already titled it.

Question two on soaring

rent -a -ways.

Councillor Hogg.

Thank you for that question.

The Councillor is right.

The question is right.

Wonsworth has one of the most generous offers for those

residents who are unfortunately struggling to pay their rents.

We are committed to working with people who are in financial difficulty as a fair and

compassionate council.

We're investing in early intervention and supporting tenants with personalised money

workshops.

Our officers help set up plans that stop arrears getting bigger and support residents who are

struggling.

Wandsworth has the biggest cost of living response in London, supporting families and

their children with free school uniforms, lunches, free gym and swim thanks to Britain's

best concessionary scheme, Access for All.

Great use of data really helps.

I think many of you know about the Lyft platform, the Lyft tracker, which utilises data in a

novel way to ensure that those low -income families receive the benefits they're eligible

for to date.

This has given Wandsworth residents £4 .5 million extra, including £1 .7 million in pension credits.

After the changes in April, Wandsworth Council rents will remain, on average, 36 % of median private rents in the borough.

This is excellent value and we're also passing on reductions in the cost of fuel by reducing the fuel element of residents' bills wherever possible.

However, prevention is always better than a cure and where tenants are struggling, please

get in touch.

We have one of the most generous and compassionate rent repayment offers in London.

Second supplementary.

Mr Mayor.

Have you done the first supplementary?

No.

Sorry.

I'm ahead of myself.

Carry on.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

The leader of the council has just listed off a range of measures that he says is supposed

to help people during the cost of living crisis.

So why then is he raising council rents

by the statutory maximum this year?

Does he not accept that that is inevitably

going to increase rent arrears?

And doesn't he also accept that that's going

to put further pressure housing revenue account?

His administration has already projected

to borrow at a cost of over 2 billion,

which is an unprecedented amount for this council

that borrow on the housing revenue account. Doesn't charging council tenants the maximum

statutory rent increase at a time when the local housing allowance isn't rising this year is

inevitably going to put more families in arrears and it's going to put more pressure on the housing

revenue account? Councillor Hogg. Thank him for the question. These are difficult issues. I'm afraid

his interest in housing is clearly quite a new thing judging from some of his observations today

but the HRA is a ring fenced account, meaning it exists separately to council tax and to

the general fund, but to ensure that we can fulfil the requirements that we have as a

social landlord, we will continue to invest in the housing stock and we will grow the

capacity that was sold off by you in previous decades.

So in line with other London boroughs, pretty much everyone I'm aware of, we are increasing

rents in line with inflation plus 1%.

This reflects the increased cost and the need for structural improvements and maintenance

to the housing stock.

Because the sustainability of our housing stock is absolutely critical.

We have an ageing stock, we have more tower blocks than anywhere else apart from Birmingham

and Glasgow and the Home for Wandsworth programme and the additional 1000 homes being built

Won't actually catch up in time and be able to modernise that stock

But what I can tell you is that labour will continue to invest strongly in housing in Wandsworth

second supplementary

Council, I'm sorry mr.

Mayor standing on 11 sorry the leader keeps in this point the housing budget is borrowing from the general fund

So it is borrowing from council taxpayers money. He knows this he trusts conflict the two draw will he correct the record?

Yeah

Councillor caught

Councillor cokely second supplementary

Thank You mr. Mayor

I'm a private renter and

Recently my famites and I felt lucky when our landlord was generous enough to only increase our rent by 150 pounds a month

How does this compare with the average increase of a council rented property and what extra support do our counter tenants get that private tenants don't?

Councillor hog

So, look, I'm sorry to hear about that. I think it's true to say if you're facing

£150 a month increase, the changes we're making to rents would be £28 a month for

the average council tenant. So again, it's fantastic value. What benefits do they get

for that? They get to live in the best borough of the greatest city on earth. And I'm very

with the national government standing up for renters,

but also Wandsworth Council too.

So locally, you'll know we are standing up for renters.

We are rolling out landlord licencing.

We're going to drive up standards,

and we're going to drive out that minority of road

landlords.

Nationally, this year we'll see the biggest changes

to private renting in decades.

You know there'll be no more no -fault evictions.

There'll be no more bidding wars, no more than one month's

rent asked for up front, more rights to have a pet,

and your landlord must give at least four months notice

when ending a tenancy to sell the house.

Real action for renters,

that's the difference Labour Empower makes.

Question number three, Wandsworth Growth Plan.

Councillor Retherage.

Question three to the leader.

Councillor Hogg.

Thank you very much.

The Wandsworth Growth Plan is indeed an exciting document.

It's our blueprint for how we'll grow the economy

for the benefit of all our residents.

It also sets out how we'll support the London growth plan

because we know how important London's economy is

to the country and I was really pleased to welcome

Deputy Mayor for London Howard Dorber to Wandsworth

to launch our growth plan in Wandsworth town.

Much of our work centres around the Wandsworth

growth corridor which has been very well received

and it cements our place -based approach

to growth in the borough.

You can imagine it runs from Nine Elms

through Clapham Junction on here to Wandsworth town

where there's hugely exciting opportunities at every stop.

Because growth must work for all our residents.

And that's why our move towards place is so important.

We recently created a new growth and place directorate

which will bring teams together

and drive this agenda forwards.

More jobs, more affordable homes for local people

and better transport infrastructure.

This administration is clear that growth should always work for local people.

That's why we un -ringfenced £100 million in property developer taxes from 9 Elms

and that is currently being spent in every neighbourhood in the borough.

This inclusive placemaking is the opposite of the Conservative approach and it's hugely popular.

Our ambitious and broad Alton Renewal Plan was opposed by the Conservatives

and supported by a whopping 82 % of the community.

First supplementary, Councillor Varetha Raj. Thank you. Transport plays a key role

in facilitating more housing, so can you tell us what actions this administration

is taking to improving transport links along the growth corridor?

Councillor Hogg. Thank you for that question. Yeah, I mean our growth plan is a

future -focused plan for the long term that unlocks housing,

it drives inclusive growth, and it will ensure

that all residents benefit from development,

and as Councillor Verathi Raj says,

transport is an absolutely critical part of the plan.

So a few examples, we're working with Network Rail

and other partners to support regeneration

around Clapham Junction, London's gateway to the southwest.

A few months ago, I was at the opening

of the second entrance to Battersea Power Station

tube station and we're working with TfL to make that more accessible for residents on

the Savona and Patmore estates with a new underpass.

In Wandsworth Town, construction starts soon on the second entrance to the railway station

alongside Step Free Access so more people can use this popular station.

And alongside those transport links, our decade of renewal has seen us double our investment

in roads and pavements and launch Britain's biggest bike hangar roll -out.

So all of this helps unlock housing while also giving our residents real benefits from growth.

And best of all, we're making sure that developers are paying for these works so the costs do not

land on existing residents. That's what a strategic focus on unlocking inclusive growth looks like.

A prosperous neighbourhood where everyone benefits.

Second supplementary. Councillor Govindia.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor. Has the leader by any chance had a chance to look at the latest BBC Verify,

which says that this borough's annual target of building over 4 ,000 homes is actually poorly performing

because it's building less than 50 % of that. What does he have to say about that?

I thank Councillor Covington for that question. I haven't seen the report he's talking about,

but I will seek it out. Obviously these are challenging times across London, but we continue

to build and not least our own thousand homes and our two ambitious estate regeneration

projects at Winstanley and Alton.

Maybe Mr Mayor I could help the leader with that. The BBC verifies that this borough's

annual target for 25 was 4 ,383, and performance against that target was 2 ,125.

So it's perhaps as leader, you ought to actually keep on top of what this borough is failing

to do as much as he's talking about what he wants to do.

I was trying very hard to get in question number four, but we will briefly.

Question number four, parking permits in eligible properties, Councillor Corner.

Thank you. Question four to the leader.

Thank you, Councillor Corner, for raising this issue.

Most new developments are built and advertised as car -free,

obviously excluding the disabled parking provision.

Our planning policies encourage this to protect local people's existing car parking

and to boost sustainable modes of transport.

As a busy inner London borough, the reality is there simply can't be a space for every resident

you know, to have a parking space outside these large new blocks, but I'm very happy to look into the case

he raises if he'll send me the specific details.

That's supplementary. Councillor Cornyn.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor, and I thank the leader for his commitment to look at these cases.

There are multiple of them that I'm aware of and there are probably many more across the borough.

This is nothing about

everyone having a right to have a space immediately outside a building. It's about

really quite disadvantaged residents,

residents who are disabled have accessibility needs

being able to park where they live.

I've been working with residents who have had the need

to drive to other boroughs to charge their cars.

And some of these residents are disabled residents

and that's an unacceptable position for us to be in.

I've also spoken to residents.

Is there a question, Councillor Corner?

There is.

Yeah, you'll hear it, you'll hear it.

There are also residents who need to drive for work,

not to work, for work, who are being denied parking.

These are cases where the council could just intervene

to make people's lives a lot easier,

by exception, where necessary.

So will the leader give his commitment that he will,

if necessary,

but it's really been to be

able to

help these people

can live their lives

the way they

behave.

Councillor Hogg.

Thanks for more detail

and I can give that commitment

and there have been cases

where emergency service workers

have been able to describe

situations to us

and of course

we've made exceptions.

You mentioned EV charges,

really keen,

particularly in our

newer neighbourhoods

to roll out EV charging

and yeah,

those who need to

travel for work

that's a huge problem

because you know, Councillor Corner is fundamentally right.

Finding space in...

Wait for it.

Councillor Corner's fundamentally right.

Finding space in Nine Elms can be hard.

I know Councillor Justin was concerned to find recently

that his space in Nine Elms

had been taken by Councillor Sweet.

Second, Councillor Davies.

Yes, supplementary. So cases like this, they highlight how important the transport choice

is, and the amazing work of organisations like the Wandsworth Community Transport do

to help people get about our borough. So I'd like to know if the leader agrees that we

should continue these organisations to ensure these organisations are supported into the

future.

Absolutely. We love Wandsworth Community Transport. They've been an absolute lifeline. We've worked

with them at the council, most recently with the Roehampton bus. I know they sort of take

older people to the Sainsbury's in York Ward as well where they can have time and space to shop.

Also when we were doing access for all and we said, well you know you can have half price tickets to

the fireworks, some families said well we can't afford the transport there. So Wandsworth Community

Transport helped to lay that on as well.

Manuel Button has led Wandsworth Community Transport

since 1995, transforming it from a small grassroots initiative

with a single vehicle into the incredible borough -wide service

we know today.

They operate 25 accessible minibusses,

employ 40 staff, coordinating 100 volunteers.

He is leaving the role soon, and I

want to put on record that his leadership has significantly

improve the lives of older, disabled and vulnerable residents by promoting

independence and dignity and social inclusion. I just note he played a

founding role in the creation of Wandsworth Dial -a -Ride which in turn

influenced the development of Transport for London's pan -london dial -a -ride

model and in fact similar schemes nationwide. He served as chair of the

mobility forum for many years and worked very closely with the council and on

half a residence and I'm sure we would agree that he has become a pillar of the community.

I know Mr Mayor that you're organising some drinks for him and I hope members can get

in touch with you if they'd like more details. But thank you very much Manuel.

Thank you. The time for leaders questions is now finished. We will go on to questions

for cabinet members which will now be taken. Item 5 on the agenda. We're on to question

Question number 10, the number of properties and block surveys following the CS grading

by the regulator and the associated costs.

Councillor Govindia.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

I think that must be a typing mistake.

C S rating should read C3 rating.

C3 rating.

I'm sorry.

Thank you, Councillor Govindia.

Can I suggest that the minutes be corrected when they come out?

Yes.

I ask question 10 of the cabinet member for housing.

Thank you, Councillor Gabinier.

We will correct.

Cabinet member, Councillor Dickard.

Yeah, so this talks about stock condition surveys

and for those at home watching or those in the gallery,

stock condition surveys, when the council goes into

and investigates a council -tenanted property,

part of the reason that the regulator gave us a C3 grade

was because our stock condition surveys were very low.

We had historically done around 1 %

and then that was increased tenfold in 2022 to 10%,

but now the kind of modern standard is to do a much higher percentage.

So we agreed to do 100 % stock condition survey

for the first time the council's ever done that,

which is going into every property and checking for hazards and things like that.

We've now got to 3 ,000 stock condition surveys,

which is the most this council has ever done,

but that process will go all the way up until we've got into 100%.

The cost of that work I think is well worth the value for money, just under a million

pounds, but it gives us a proper understanding of our stock.

First supplementary.

Councillor Gavino.

Mr Mayor, I thank the cabinet member for his answer.

Can I ask now that a survey has been done, when does the tenant whose house has been

surveyed find out the result of that survey?

Does the tenant then get a timed programme of works that the council will undertake to put

right the defects identified in the survey?

And will, in fact, that be reported to the Housing, Overview and Scrutiny Committee as

a kind of progress on the work arising out of the stock condition surveys?

Councillor Dickard, let me...

Yeah, so it totally depends on what happens in the inspection.

So if a category one hazard is found and that is a serious hazard and that will be logged back to the area teams

And then a repair order we put in and the resident is made aware of that

So the process is an ongoing one

This is the first time what we have gone into the stock like this, you know

We heard a bit of a historical narrative earlier in this meeting about the management of stock

Well, actually this is what modern management of stock looks like so there are going to be

There are going to be things we find behind doors that we have not been in for decades

And that is really part of why this discussion about housing and finance is so important,

because then we can build in a logical long -term programmatic maintenance rather than the patchwork

of maintenance that historically is what the administration previous to us relied on.

So residents will be kept acutely aware, but this is the first time this has happened in

the history of the council.

And so there will be some things that you'll be able to individually solve, and there'll

be some things which will be booked into a longer -term programme of works.

And that is a reasonable response to any kind of maintenance inspection.

Second supplementary.

Councillor Stark.

Thank you.

Second supplementary.

As the Rabbi in fact said earlier, a secure and safe home is the difference between coping

and crisis.

And for that reason, it is absolutely right that this Labour Council is surveying 100 %

of homes by the end of this year.

And I really welcome that, as do other councillors.

But that really does stand in extreme contrast to the 1 % of homes, as the cabinet member

said, surveyed under the Conservative -run Council in 2022. Literally we are talking

about poles apart. And that's just 175 homes of our over 17 ,000 homes. No sample at all

to rely on to claim that we have 100 % decent homes. But gathering data isn't enough. Data

must drive action going forward. So can the cabinet member outline how the Council will

move from identifying hazards to resolving them.

That's what residents and tenants want,

resolving any hazards quickly, transparently,

and in partnership with our tenants.

Councillor Dickerton.

Yeah, this is about modernising the department.

And I think it's really important

that we welcome the grading from the regulator

because it means that this work and these things that

are behind the bonnet get exposed,

and then you can go and fix them.

And I think that's what good governance looks like.

The data element will be absolutely essential

because we need to monitor.

But you've got to understand, 95 % of our stock

was built in the last century.

Some buildings are going to have very specific issues compared

to other buildings.

And so you need to have a totally holistic understanding

so you can book in proper systematic major works.

You know, you hear about issues of mould and damp.

You need to understand if that's specific to that unit

or something to do more structural.

And that's where the data comes in.

But you can only gather that data

if you understand the stock.

And that data collection is absolutely essential.

And it's absolutely baked into our housing improvement plan, which we'll be passing tonight

Question number 11 from councillor lawless supporting all renters council lawless

Yes, this is another example of the state stepping in to try and support people and not leave them up just to the free market

right that licencing scheme which was opposed by the Conservatives is

is transforming people's lives already in Tooting.

We have examples of tenants who are living in properties

where the regulation of their rooms were tiny

to the point at which it was illegal.

We've got people who didn't have escape exits.

We've got people who have been given unfair rent rises

when they didn't even have a licence in place

in the first place and we can get rent rebates.

So we are stepping in where before there was no regulation,

a light touch approach, and the third of our borough

that were renters didn't have protections.

Tooting is in some ways a test case and we're already seeing the transformation in people's lives there

First supplementary councillor lawless. Thank you

Actually a case that I raised I went to visit that lady

I was really pleased with a Swiss response because she was being exploited by her landlord on what was actually a newly

refurbished property and there are lots of tenants to have similar issues across

Tooting and probably the borough. I've had cases of a boiler fault that caused

a co2 leak of a family that had a young baby. I've seen mould, damp, cracks in walls,

water leaks like you'll never see and renters are often paying thousands of

pounds for this privilege and landlords will tell them that they're getting a

great deal. I myself have had my own issues with my own landlord because I'm

renter and I think the land on licencing scheme is a great example but what can

tenants expect from the licencing team when they do raise these issues?

Councillor Dickenham. Yeah so you'll understand that the licencing scheme is

quite new it came in in July 1st in the summer it's the first one of its kind in

Wandsworth and what it does is it means that now category one hazards can be

inspected and your licence can be revoked you can be taken to court and

and tenants can be given rent repayments backdated

based on the issues that they find.

Those are the really extreme cases

with a really, really bad landlord.

But there are smaller things as well,

which is like the soft power of the council intervening

when deposits aren't paid.

When landlords try and do things at the end of a short tenancy

before the renters right bill kicks in,

we can step in and inspect a property

and also cheque out whether the landlord is actually

a good and proper landlord.

The way that the service is going is that

we're gonna have a single point of entry.

So anyone who's within that first

selective licencing scheme can contact directly

to a council employee, name their problem,

and it will operate like a casework system

similar to we have in the housing department

for our tenanted properties.

And the kind of crucial element is that

it's renters not feeling like they're alone,

that they have to do it by themselves,

that they have to go off to some difficult advisory

type ombudsman or website where there's hoops to jump through, it's the council

actively being on their side to protect them and that's the distinction between

this new licencing scheme and the kind of laissez -faire attitude that existed

in the past.

Is there a second supplementary? Yes, Councillor Hamilton.

Second supplementary, Mr Mayor. The cabinet member will be aware that the Renters Rights Act will soon be fully in force and it does of course place

significant extra obligations onto landlords, many of which the

administration have campaigned for. I would just ask, has there been any kind

of assessment done about the implications of the Renters Rights Act

coupled with landlord licencing just to ensure that it's not having a

compounding effect that will drive up rents on those who are renting

properties in the borough?

So we really tested, looking at examples

previously in London, to see where the licencing ends up increasing rents and

the overwhelming evidence is that it doesn't because the cost of the licence

to a landlord, which is a five -year licence, is incredibly low relative to what an average

monthly rent would be.

And the costs that are on the landlord are often to do with the adaptations to make the

property safe.

So it's the landlords that haven't made their property safe that are the ones that are at

risk.

Licencing goes hand in hand very well with the Renter's Rights Bill because of course

the Renter's Rights Bill adds a layer of protection that was stolen in the 1988 Housing Act.

short holds assured tenancies, if any of you have been on them, are miserable because it means every single year

the landlord can just whack up your rents or threaten you with, you know, a section 21 fault eviction.

So in some ways what the renters rights bill is doing is helping us on the

protection to the tenant within the tenancy and what the licencing does is to look after the standards.

So they kind of work really well together and there's a kind of symbiosis there.

Thank you. We're on to question number 12, HRA Reliance on Optimistic Projected Surpluses.

Councillor Corner.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. Question 12 to you, Member Fajas.

Councillor Dickard again.

Yeah, it's going to be like this a lot. I thought this was an interesting one because

of course our Thousand Homes programme is a very clear public council housing building

programme in which we are the contractor, whereas your previous scheme was a speculative

one in which you had to bet on the market cost of homes before you sold them off.

So actually when it comes to optimistic surpluses, I think it was your schemes that relied on

speculation and ours that have a very clear set of borrowing and set of outcomes.

Councillor Corner.

Thank you very much, Mr Mayor.

Look, the schemes that the previous administration pursued

were actually ones that involved a reduction in the risk

that the council was running because they shared risk

with partners, obviously organisations

which were very well versed and experienced

in building social housing.

Now all that risk is being borne by the council

and by extension council tenants

and indirectly leaseholders.

The question that the quote from the budget paper talks about a choice effectively that this council will

Administration's plans will it choose additional borrowing higher rents or reduced service provision could the

cabinet member

Prioritise those which of those would he prefer and which will be his first option to inflict on rate sermons

Councillor Dickerton. Well, I see you completely dodged the actual point that I made

Let's look at the Northcote Road scheme, which is where you wanted to sell market flats in order to pay for the rebuilding of the library.

That was actually an incredibly risky scheme. The money wasn't clawed back, it took a long time to sell.

And if we were halfway through your build programme right now, we'd be struggling with the high interest rates, difficult mortgage area, and the fall in house prices.

So our scheme is actually much more steady, much more stable. And we have control of it because it's about council housing, it's about council build.

Now there are some elements in the regeneration which are to do with the market and that is the element of risk

So I'm happy to talk honestly and openly about that, but you're you're dodging the hard questions

I'm answering them and we've got a strong financial record and we can cover our cost because HRA is in a good position

And there are going to be questions about that later on so I'm going to speak fast and get to them

second supplementary

counsellor as

the strength of our HRA

is that it does not rely on selling off our housing.

It's not based on a speculist endeavour.

So it's much less of a hostage to economic fluctuations

than it might have been.

So what assurances can you give to residents

that the HRA is in a good position?

Councillor Nickadam.

Yeah, so the HRA and our ambitious plans for the HRA

are pushing the HRA to what we think

is the most ambitious that we can be.

And you wouldn't expect anything less from a new Labour council that wants to deliver

council housing from the borough that sold it all off.

It is a balancing act and we have to be aware of market forces and the headwinds that are

going on.

But that again is why municipal power is important because we are in control.

We can pause things.

We can slow things down.

We're not super reliant on cross subsidy from selling homes and that means that the

borrowing that we've done is baked in.

We're on to question number 13.

Springfield Village Estate.

Councillor Boswell.

Question 13 to the cabinet member for health.

Councillor Henderson.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Boswell, for asking this very important question in relation to

shelterhood and supporting living accommodation, which is very often forgotten about in the

entire context of housing.

It provides specialist need, but it is absolutely vital.

Councillors may remember that we contracted to acquire a block on the Springfield Village

estate, really beneficial terms, really excellent business for the council, acquiring 56 new

homes at a much reduced cost than would normally have been the case.

I'm delighted to say that this project, and it really is quite impressive, I recommend

people go to Springfield Village, have a look at it.

This project is moving ahead of pace.

It should be entirely complete in December 2026,

well ahead of its original forecast in Spring 2027.

We hope to appoint care providers by August 26

with some residents moving in shortly after that.

Thanks.

First supplementary.

Councillor Boswell.

Thank you. I thank the cabinet member for the answer, that really rather unique housing example that we have at Springfield Park.

What action has the council taken since 2022 to support people in care and the carers who give their time freely?

Councillor Henderson.

Again, thank you for the supplementary.

Councillors will recall that the EECC actually rated

adult social services as good and highlighted

the strong person -centred practise,

robust prevention framework,

and effective community partnerships.

Last financial year, we supported more than 4 ,900 residents

who draw on care and support an over 1000 unpaid parents.

Our performance continues to be exceptionally strong

with Wandsworth Bank top in London

for people who use services,

reporting they have as much social contact

as they would like,

Joint Top is 100 % of care users receiving support

through a personal budget,

and Joint Top for the proportion

of residential care providers rated good or outstanding.

Also significantly, we are leading innovation

through a pilot of an AI -powered online care assessment

platform to get assistance to carers much more quickly

and to identify many more carers.

Thank you.

Is there a second supplementary?

Second supplementary, Mr. Mayor.

Axel, Councillor Burchill first.

Open the door.

Yeah.

Councillor Burchill. Thank you very much. We are very much in support

of this development, but it's such a shame that this council refused to buy the park

for a pound. It's owned by the developers, but you call it a public park. It would be

much better if you could find that pound and buy it for our residents.

Councillor Henderson.

You will appreciate, Mr Mayor, this is actually my portfolio, but scouring my mind, my understanding

was that Springfield would have effectively covered the costs of the new path for something

like five years thereafter, all the other unions

would have fallen in continuum to the council.

And I think that was one of the reasons why,

although in the face of it, one pound,

buying anything for a pound is good,

but any money follows football.

That is, if you buy a football club for a pound,

you end up spending millions on it.

Thank you.

14 the HRA exposure to interest rates Councillor P Graham

14 to the cabinet

Councillor Dickerton. Yeah, I welcome this question because I do think it is the key question

The key question is when is the perfect time to borrow in order to fund you know, and and people, you know

There's a lot of misinformality the borrowing programme

This is like a mortgage and a mortgage is a good thing because you get an asset and you get home out of it

And at the end of that asset particularly when it comes to council housing you get a stable rent increase and you can you know

You pay off the mortgage on the house and you've got something that pays for itself

and looks after itself and delivers a home.

So the anxiety around borrowing is, I think, not particularly financially sound.

But on the interest rates, it is important that we get the right rate.

Part of the benefit at the moment is that we can internally borrow to try and wait for

the perfect moment.

Now, if things change drastically, we've got to be flexible.

We've got to move around.

We're not totally dogmatic, we're not going to charge into a financial headstorm,

but the importance is to maintain an ambitious council house building programme that is financially

viable under the conditions of the HRA, under the same business plan and long -term thinking

that the previous administration held, and of course be mindful about interest rates

and look for the perfect time to get the lowest deal possible.

Councillor Graham, first supplementary.

First supplementary, if you borrow, you no longer have a choice about borrowing and you

then have to deal with the consequences.

From that answer it's clear there has been no stress testing and no scenario planning,

or at least he's not referred to it despite that's what he was asked.

Given he has increased rents by the maximum possible for council tenants every single

year, any difference will fall on general upgrades, repairs and service levels.

Furthermore, the internal borrowing he talks about isn't free.

There is a cost.

And does he accept that if the council continues to run down general fund reserves, that that

internal borrowing will be flushed out as external borrowing and precisely the consequences

that he's saying we'd have to see and there's never a perfect moment, they would fall immediately

in his area?

Councillor Dickerton.

So there's three questions in one there, so I'm going to try and tackle them all.

The first on the stress testing, of course we have.

I mean, you probably were on the OSC

when we were going through all the different.

That's what the question was.

Yeah, yeah.

I am answering it because this is the thing about the moment.

We've got the Public Works Loan Board,

which is borrowing from the government that

does a special rate for those who

want to build council housing because building council housing

is a good and smart asset.

So that's where we'll be borrowing from.

You wait.

You wait for the perfect moment.

If rates stay as they are, and they have been dropping,

so we have been making the right decision.

It's been a smart move by us as rates fall, but there will be a point where we have to

start externally borrowing.

And like I say, I'm more than happy to defend that because that is exactly what Council

should be doing, borrowing money to build assets that deliver secure homes and a rental

income.

It's what this country should have been doing for decades.

It's a scandal that we haven't.

So I'm more than happy to defend the principle of the borrowing on it.

Now, if there are external shocks and you think we're going to take it all out in one

go, you know that that's not what's going to happen.

and it's going to happen over a staged approach.

But if the circumstances change, then there

are things in the capital programme and in the HRA

which go on for 30 years.

Now, neither me and you will be there in 30 years' time.

So there are schemes.

Well, I mean, God forbid.

There will be schemes that go on for a much longer time,

and there will be things that happen that we can't predict.

But the idea that in this moment now, we would stop building

and we would stop delivering, given the strength of the HRA

and given the need within our borough,

that would be a massive mistake, massive, massive mistake.

And it would be our residents that pay for it.

And on the rents issue,

we're gonna 100 % come back to rents

because we're not gonna play politics on rents

like you did.

I'm gonna save my answers on rents for another question

because it's gonna come up.

Second.

Secretary of Environment.

Councillor Risby.

Rigby, thank you.

So the decade before we took control,

borrowing to build council housing interest rates

was less than 1%. Is it fair to say that the Conservatives mis -served ones with residents

by failing to capitalise on this? Yeah, I sat in opposition and I, for seven years on that

committee, I absolutely begged and begged for the Tory party to use that golden decade of low

interest rates to borrow to build council housing and for other infrastructure, public infrastructure,

It was the historic opportunity.

Historians will look back on that, not just this council,

but the government.

All the things with Thames Water,

all the problems with our national infrastructure,

that was the historic moment.

And we were in the unlucky position

that we happened to have George Osborne cutting back

when we should have.

It was the perfect moment to do a massive decade of renewal.

Now, we costed the original Thousand Homes

programme over a 20 -year borrowing and payback period.

and that was absolutely torpedoed by Liz Truss's kamikaze budget,

which saw the economy fall out and interest rates spike up

and we are living in that world that was created from that disaster.

But that absolutely did not mean that we were going to just cartel

and stop with our ambitious programme to deliver for residents,

because we have a waiting list of thousands,

we have people in temporary accommodation, we've got overcrowded families,

they need that new build council housing delivered

and we couldn't sit back and let it happen.

So we made the right financial decisions, we extended the borrowing period, and at the

moment we maintain a healthy, viable HRA, which to be frank is the envy of lots of councillors

across London.

Could the time for cabinet members' questions have been completed?

Thank you, members.

We're moving on to item 6, reports for decision.

On a point of order, Mr Mayor, in relation to Standing Order 11.

So, understanding order, we would note from the agenda

that those questions for leader and cabinet members

were held under Standing Order 11.

Standing Order 11 states, as you will know,

that questions of this kind, understanding Order 11,

are only allowed at special meetings in accordance

with 11, paragraph 11A10.

That would involve you deeming every question

that we have just heard to be an urgent notice question.

So can I ask why it is that the agenda,

and indeed all the materials we have,

do not state that these were urgent notice questions,

whether you found them to be urgent notice questions,

and if so, where a record exists of your decision

to make them more urgent notice questions.

I'll need to take a little bit of advice,

so just give me a moment.

Yep.

Thank you.

Can I ask the Monitoring Officer to give advice to the meeting on that standing order?

Yes, Mr Chaudhry.

Thank you, Mr Mayor. Members, the standing order that Councillor Graham has referred

to is standing order 11A10, which states that the Mayor may at an ordinary or a special

meeting...

Mr Chaudhry, could you speak into the microphone, because you're very indistinct. Thank you

so much.

I will do, of course. Members, the standing order that Councillor Graham has referred

to is standing order 10A10, which states that the Mayor may at an ordinary or special meeting

of the Council permit an urgent notice question to be asked on the application of a member

of the Council. She is satisfied that the question raises a matter of importance and

urgency which could not reasonably have been given earlier. Whilst that would apply to,

if a member in the chamber wish to ask an urgent question

that they had not given notice of earlier.

The purpose of special meetings of which this is one

is to focus the debate and matters for discussion

entirely on the agenda items.

It is on that basis that the questions have been permitted

not on the basis of standing order 11A10

that Councillor Graham has referenced.

I'm gonna point to a further point of order, Mr. Mayor.

I would draw the council and the monitoring officer's

attention to standing order 11A,

which specifically says that all questions,

whether ordinary or special meetings,

this is the following, is what it says,

may be asked by members of the council

at any ordinary meeting of the council

or were specifically provided for in paragraph A10

at a special meeting of the council.

In other words, the only questions permitted

at a special meeting of the Council

in relation to standing order 11

are urgent notice questions.

The agenda says that these questions were held

in conformity with standing order 11,

not on another basis.

Therefore, they must be urgent notice questions

or they were all out of order.

And yet, Mr. Chaudry has just said

that they were not urgent notice questions.

Therefore, all of the preceding questions

we have just heard were out of order, were they not?

Councillor.

Would you like to respond, Mr Choudry?

I'm happy to respond.

I'm sorry, Councillor Graham, which was the additional provision that you referenced?

The text in Standing Order 11A, which specifically restricts questions at special meetings of

the Council, understanding Order 11 to urgent notice questions.

11A.

He's saying 11A.

So, Councillor Graham, Standing Order 11A

contains a number of additional paragraphs.

Which sub -paragraph additionally are you referencing?

You initially referenced -

It is not the sub -paragraph,

it is the main paragraph A

before those sub -paragraphs are reached.

The last sentence thereof in the parentheses.

I am struggling. I'm sorry, Councillor Graham.

Would you like me to read the whole of Standing Order 11A? It's only one paragraph.

Can you please wait while we receive the advice?

Okay, thank you, Councillor Graham. I will look at it in a moment and give you my advice.

Sorry, I couldn't hear that answer, but it didn't appear to be an answer either.

Hang on, Councillor Graham. We're going to come back to you when...

Councillor Graham, give me a moment. Let me read it and I'll come back to you.

Thank you.

Thank you Councillors and thank you Councillor Graham for referring to standing order 11A.

My advice to members is that that provision whilst on the face of it may be interpreted

in the way that Councillor Graham has sought to do.

That isn't the interpretation that I place upon it.

I place upon that provision the interpretation that I have given earlier which is that the

focus of this meeting, the special meetings is to deal with the matters that are before

the Council on the agenda and questions relating to those items on the agenda are permitted.

But additionally, if notice has not been given of a question, there is provision under Standing

Order 11A10 for also an urgent notice question to be given at an ordinary meeting and also

had a special meeting.

Mr. Mayor, I don't intend to prolong this debate.

I'm sure it's already...

I'm sure...

I know they don't like detail.

I'm so glad to hear that.

They don't like detail.

They don't even read the reports that go to committees.

So of course they don't like detail.

I don't miss to prolong this debate,

but I have to say, it doesn't say that on the face of it.

That's what it says.

And if we're going to accept that as an interpretation,

then we might as well stand on our heads the entire evening

and allow anything.

It is not acceptable for things to be interpreted

against the clear intent of those powers.

Thank you, Councillor Graham.

I'm accepting the advice from the Monitoring Officer

in relation to the debate about our very interesting standing orders.

Let's move on. Item 6 is Reports for Decision.

I move reception of that report and after we have heard from the speakers,

I will ask the Council whether they approve the recommendations

in Report No. 1, Housing Revenue Account Budget,

including rents and other charges for council dwellings,

paper number 26 -7.

So can we go to speakers on all those recommendations?

So the first speaker is Councillor Davies, please.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr. Mayor.

A key element of policy formation is listening attentively to people and responding to what

we see and hear on the ground. This is why Fleur Anderson MP successfully introduced

an amendment to extend our herbs law to the private rented sector after seeing and hearing

from people about their dampen mould. I represent the wards of Wandsworth town and regularly

speak with residents. I know their challenges and I do my very best to improve their daily

lives.

Leaseholders appreciate the offer of this Labour administration to give them four years

interest -free loan for major works over £3 ,000, whereas the offer from the Conservatives beforehand

was a measly ten months.

There is always hot air in the filibuster about the need to pay heat to leaseholders,

but what little did the other side do over 44 years?

The government is securing additional protections and securities for leaseholders, and I know

that these will be popular for my conversations with those in Maple

Twin Crescent, Bridge Park, those who are in the borough

residence forum.

Some have staggeringly high service charges and very poor

property management.

I have seen rents double overnight

for some in the private rented sector from £1 ,500

for a modest two -bed flat.

I was surprised that Conservative members didn't

have a notion of the very high rents in our borough

at the last committee.

But basic right of having a roof over your head

has become a luxury for no reason other than the greed of landlords who are raising rents before new legislation is introduced.

For others, their rent has risen and they have questioned this given the poor maintenance of their flat.

The landlord has harassed, intimidated and threatened them and then evicted them, leaving them no choice other than to present themselves as homeless to the council.

It is very good that we have introduced land licencing in Wandsworth and that our government

is introducing rights and protections for renters.

I've always had good conversations with the friendly, gentle, warm and dignified council

tenants in Neville Gill Close, Wentworth and Elliot Court, Sudbury House and elsewhere

in Wandsworth town.

I spoke about the historic neglect in my first speech and since then we've seen new kitchens

and bathrooms installed, the broken CCTV is repaired, the two -tier approach to waste is

removed and a considerable investment for the other blocks is signed off ready to go.

Certainly, more does need to be done as testified in the root cause analysis of the social housing

regulator report to act against historic inactivity and inability to ensure compliance. But the

point is that with labour in Wandsworth there is a desire to do this with decency, equity

and fairness. The social housing improvement task and finish

group of which I was a part recognised that a culture shift is required in the department

to be innovative, responsive and people focused. It made nine recommendations including to

have new channels to hear tenant experiences and views to learn, adapt, improve. And I'm

looking forward to seeing how this bears fruit. Listening to people works.

Thank you, Mr Mayor.

Just in response to Councillor Davies, the social housing regulator explicitly criticised

this council just last year for failing to raise them.

And just last month, literally this year, only in February, we had national media and newspapers reporting on examples of residents struggling with roof leaks, lifts, overflowing bins, antisocial behaviour.

And when they contacted this council, no one listened to them.

Look, our central point in this debate is simple.

After four years of this administration, council tenants and leaseholders, and indeed residents in all types of housing,

are facing in general higher rents, higher borrowing and poorer service quality.

When this administration took office in 2022, they said there would be a lot of changes.

Now, though we are working with the

instead of our existing council homes,

this administration is focused on spending 10 minutes.

Mr. Mayor, this is terrible.

We can't hear what Councillor Corner is saying

because his microphone is defective.

Could you switch?

I mean, okay, so some colleagues may not want to hear

what Councillor Corner is saying,

but I do think that's a bit rude.

Could we please ask him to switch with

Councillor Graham's microphone,

certainly seem to be working earlier. Could you switch? Perhaps too well, yes, as someone

has said. Would you mind switching, because it's just a crackle?

Great, yeah, I'd be happy to.

Can you stand there?

Can you try that one, Councillor Corner?

Thank you Councillor Cooper, I appreciate that.

I would hate to not be heard properly.

Instead of focusing on managing existing council homes, this administration has focused on

spending tenants' rents and driving up borrowing to deliver new housing, which is

needed but in the most expensive and often lowest quality way possible.

Partnerships with developers as previous council leadership pursued could have delivered more

homes, better homes at a lower cost per unit without sacrificing service standards.

We now face a clear choice.

We can either continue borrowing heavily and using rents to fund inefficient high -cost

building programmes, or we can focus spending on what residents actually need, which is

better repairs, better quality maintenance, and a strong partnership -led approach to delivering

new homes that our diverse borough needs.

So the Council should be prioritising the management of the 33 ,000 properties under

its management, and on behalf of those who depend on those properties.

Now this paper proposes a 4 .8 % rent rise, which is the maximum possible, and this is

at a time of rising costs.

Now, because of the impact of inflation

and regulatory pressures, it's completely understandable

to argue that that rise is necessary.

But the uncomfortable truth is that much of this money

will not improve residents' homes.

It will instead subsidise an ideological and inefficient

approach to building more social housing at lower quality.

The administration repeatedly claims

to have made the cost of living a priority.

Yet when asked how tenants will be supported with this rent rise, the cabinet member's

response to the housing committee was simply that three quarters of tenants receive housing

benefit or universal credit.

Of course that means that one in four do not and whilst the council has introduced concessionary

schemes I'm not sure that half price sports access or free tickets to events as nice as

they are will help a lot of these residents pay their rent.

Residents are being asked to pay more and they will get less for their money.

Across the borough, residents face the same issues.

We've heard about them in the national press, mould, damp, broken lifts, fire risks, anti -social behaviour,

repairs that are delayed or inadequate, regardless of whether they live in council or private housing.

There's a £9 million overspend on repairs, yet residents are not seeing improvements on the ground.

The paper even admits that the current high level of spend on repairs is not sustainable without reprioritising commitments

and yet we have not heard a plan from the cabinet member on what he will do to address that.

Last year the National Regulator for Social Housing delivered a damming verdict.

There are serious failings in the Council's management of housing.

The response has been a restructure that merges departments into this new Residence Services Super Department.

But if you look at the organisation chart, residents will see that there are fewer senior

offices dedicated to housing management than they were previously, which I do not think

will give much comfort that the issues with the council housing stock will be addressed.

The borough now faces £60 million in temporary accommodation costs.

we have the second highest homelessness rate in London.

If the council were serious about tackling homelessness,

it would partner with organisations able to deliver homes at scale

and with quality rather than rely on expensive, slow and uncertain in -house projects.

Now the council has received funding through the local authority housing fund.

It's not provided a clear plan on where those homes will be located

or how they will help the thousands on our waiting list

who have been living in this borough for years.

Wandsworth Conservatives are clear.

New council homes must go to local Wandsworth families

and will oppose attempts to use properties

in a way that undermine community safety

and do not support those who have been waiting

on the waiting list for years.

The council plans to borrow 884 million

over the next decade.

Only one quarter of those funds will fund repairs

and improvements for existing residents.

The rest will be spent on new developments,

even as major regeneration schemes like, for example,

the Alton have actually been delayed

and had original plans that were ready to go torn up years ago.

The debt that is being used to fund all this

is being loaded onto the backs of some of the borough's most

vulnerable residents.

It means less money for services,

more money spent on borrowing and interest,

and a growing risk that Wandsworth will end up

resembling Lambeth, a borough where debt

has actually squeezed out and reduced the quality

of frontline services over decades.

Now the acquisition of the council's much -heralded project

for delivering new homes at Battersea Power Station

is just the latest example of where there isn't

a sufficient scrutiny over how best

to deliver council homes.

It's a very expensive way to deliver council housing.

It's not on council -owned land, and it costs a lot more

than you could otherwise deliver those homes.

GLA support will be available if the homes were built elsewhere,

for example, and there were potentially opportunities

for the council to deliver more units with that money.

But we were not able to see those options

because the work wasn't done and the council have pushed forward with this

scheme without scrutiny. Residents need safe and well maintained homes. They need

better services. They deserve a council that uses their rent responsibly, not to

subsidise inefficient building schemes without adequate scrutiny. It's time to

get back to basics. Let's fix existing homes, get better at repairs and

maintenance, manage stock well and deliver new homes through genuine

partnership not through reckless borrowing and ideologically driven low

value schemes thank you

Councillor McLeod

thank you thank you mr. mayor I've bored members often enough about how being

allocated our first council flat in Battersea when I was four felt like

winning the lottery, but the second life shaping,

probably even more unlikely miracle was being allocated

a flat of my own after university.

It was the early 90s and I'd done what we tell

young people to do, moved out, tried to make my way

in the world, but after uni I knew how brutally hard

it was gonna be to find somewhere to live

that I could afford anywhere near my family

here in Wandsworth.

I put my name down on a council waiting list,

Council - Wednesday 4 February 2026, 7:30pm - Wandsworth Council Webcasting

CouncilWednesday, 4th February 2026 at 7:30pm

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Wednesday, 4th February 2026 at 7:30pm