Council - Wednesday 5 March 2025, 7:30pm - Wandsworth Council Webcasting

Council
Wednesday, 5th March 2025 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.

Thank you.

Please be seated.

Good.

Good evening, Councillors. Before the commencement of business, I would like to start the Council

to say a few words.

A reflection.

In 2002, the late Kofi Annan, who was a good friend of mine,

advised the United Nations, in particular countries in the Middle East,

of a letter which was written by an individual living 1400 years ago by the name of Imam Ali.

Imam Ali was the fourth caliph and the first Imam of the Shia community.

And you know the Shia community because a number of weeks ago the Aga Khan passed away

who takes his lineage as well from Imam Ali.

Five points I'd like to raise in this reflection

in terms of leadership.

He wrote a letter and he wrote it to one of his governors

in Egypt.

Five points are as follows.

He says to his governor 1400 years ago,

he says leadership is a trust and not a privilege.

Based on this, in the same way that Jesus taught leadership,

that one is a servant of the community and there's a need to be a servant of

the community because governance is rooted in humility and duty. He then

continues on this first point to warn against arrogance and to be connected to

the public so that one is able to serve with humility the community. The second

point which I'd like to raise is in regards to justice and fairness, regardless of a person's

background, ethnicity, orientation, race, or so forth. Imam Aliya teaches his governor,

be equitable at all times and deal with humanity as one brotherhood. And so the famous lines

of his were either a person as a brother or a sister in faith or a brother or a sister

in humanity. The third point on reflection is compassionate leadership, allyship. Compassion

as a leader is very important and he emphasizes this. He says when you go to Egypt, you'll

see people not of the Muslim faith. So be compassionate to people and through this compassion

lift up those people who are underprivileged in a community. For each

one of us are limbs as a body, one body in a community. If the finger hurts, the

whole body hurts. So the third point is compassion. The fourth point that he

raises is accountability and that's something he said is very important. One

is accountable to the people so be very transparent. The final fifth point really

is this. He says trust build. Politicians or leaders will see ups and downs.

They'll have to make decisions which people may not like. So the most

important thing is trust build. And how does one do that he says? He says

integrity and service. The more compassion you show, the more service you show people,

you manage to trust -build. And when that takes place, even when a person makes a difficult

decision, one is then able to satisfy or assure their communities. In conclusion, the final

perspective into faith dialogue is important. A number of weeks ago, at least

on the 11th of February, you saw an accord which was signed, the Dromlandrige

Accord, which I wrote and for the first time in history six denominations of

Judaism and five denominations of Islam came together to sign and then it was

presented by myself to His Majesty the King. This was the first time in European

history that 11 denominations have come together in the midst of what you're

seeing in the Middle East but it wouldn't have been possible if there

wasn't an opportunity for us to talk and to listen to one another. So in times of

conflict it is important firstly to listen and secondly to be

compassionate. Thank you very much.

Thank you very much, Dr. Sayed Ali Abbas Razavi, for your words of prayer and inspiration.

I'm really grateful for you coming today and thank you again.

So, apologies have been received from Councillor Cook, Councillor de la Sousaouge and Councillor

Hamilton.

Are there any other apologies?

Moving on to item number one, the minutes of the meeting held on 3rd February have been

circulated.

Are there any objections or abstentions to me signing the minutes as a correct record?

Thank you.

In the absence of any objections or abstentions, I would take that as agreed.

Item number two is mayor's announcements.

Good evening and welcome to this council meeting.

Members may be aware that it is my sad duty to inform you that former Councillor Charles

McNorr -Davis has passed away.

Can I ask members to stand for a minute's silence before Councillors Mrs Graham and

Cooper pay tribute to former Councillor McNaught Davies.

Thank you Councillors, you may see it.

Councillor Angela Graham.

Thank you Madam Mayor.

In remembrance of Charles, it was with great sadness to hear he had passed

away at Christmas.

As a colleague, he was a gentleman, very courteous,

principled, and committed to the Ersfield board in his time.

But for those who did not know him,

Charles was born to a military family in the 1970s.

He read engineering at Cambridge,

and on graduation worked as an engineer in Greece,

but then returned to work for British Rail.

And one of the, so true to him,

Charles really caused eruptions when working British Rail,

for the men went on strike

as he refused to join the railway union.

truly his own man, and standing up for what he believed in.

He was also very proud of his great -great -grandfather,

Sir George Finlay, who was knighted by the Queen Victoria

in the 1890s for building the Northwestern Railway.

But to continue, he joined the Army as an officer

going to Northern Ireland.

He became a commander of the Bomb Disposal Unit,

and following on, he joined the Missiles Division

of British Aerospace in the design and selling

of naval surface -to -air missiles.

Charles was a true conservative, and meeting him

in New Old York Road in that time,

when I had York's restaurant, he was

delighted when he joined me as a fellow conservative Councillor

in 1998 when we won the Old Earl's Field, which

until he stepped down in 2014.

His council life was busy.

And prior to the leader and cabinet system,

he served in social services, education, planning,

regeneration and being chair of transport.

Now after the implementation of the cabinet system,

he served on health, corporate resources,

adult children's services and standards.

And also being deputy mayor in 2001 -2,

becoming an honorary alderman in 2014.

Charles and I fought many a battle on behalf of our residents in Earl's Field at that time.

As we put it into context, not forgetting the Greyhound Stadium

and the AFC Middleton and Springfield and more.

It's a pleasure but a sadness to speak tonight.

but Madam Mayor, Charles Maynard Davies was most certainly served his country and most

certainly served our Earlsfield and residents in Wandsworth and I say rest in peace Charles

and it's a pleasure to speak.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor.

That was a very moving tribute.

Councillor Cooper.

Thank you very much, Madam Mayor.

I'm sure we all feel slightly strange

when we hear eulogies and tributes in this chamber

because it reminds us all that at some point in the future

somebody is probably going to be doing this for us.

And with Charles McNaught Davis, if I'd had to invent an archetypal conservative from

the point of view of someone Labour, I mean I would imagine that some people in this chamber

if you had to invent an archetypal Labour woman you might say Angela Rayner, but Charles

McNaught Davis would have been that sort of archetypal conservative.

Double Barrel Surname, quite a nice posh accent, incredibly polite, always, I always, whenever

I saw him well dressed.

And of course I stood against him in 2002 and Julie lost.

Actually it's quite funny listening to

Councillor Angela Graham talking about Charles

because she crushed him four times in elections, frankly.

Just as he crushed me in 2002.

But Charles won every time he stood

but he always came bottom.

Didn't matter whether it was just him

and Angela standing in 98

or whether somebody else was introduced onto the ticket,

he was always the one who came bottom.

What I remember particularly about him though,

is when we were standing and we were opponents,

and then he crushed me in 2002,

I came onto the council in 2006.

He was really, really nice during the election campaign,

even though we were opponents.

He was absolutely lovely when I was elected to this council.

And the other reason why it's strange doing a tribute

to Charles Macnaught Davis who was so polite and so friendly and so cross -party is that this

chamber can be very tribal, this chamber has been very tribal, quite oppositional of late,

in fact it's good to see everybody in the chamber, I'm hoping it's going to stay like that for the

whole of the evening and I think as a tribute to Charles it would be nice if we could all be

more courteous and polite. I'm not going to rehearse his many committees that he's sat

on because I thought that Angela Graham would do that very adequately. But he was a colleague

who I appreciated and I think everyone that served with him appreciated him too. Charles

Thank you, Councillor Cooper.

Is he okay? Okay.

So, as we move on from the tributes, firstly I would like to wish all those observing Ramadan

a blessed Ramadan. As you will know, this will be my last Fall Council meeting in these

challenging part of my mayoral duties has been in this room.

But I've always strived to do my best for the people of Wandsworth.

Being the first Muslim mayor and the first South Asian mayor of this borough

has been an incredible privilege. The warmth and support I've received

from so many people is a testament to what makes Wandsworth such a fantastic

place. Truly, it has been an honour.

Alongside me, this will also be Mr Riley's last full council meeting as interim chief

executive.

On behalf of Wandsworth Council, I want to sincerely thank you, Mr Riley, for your service

to the borough.

You have been a tremendous asset to Wandsworth and you will be missed.

So, I want to pay tribute to all our hard -working councillors. Your dedication and service makes

a real difference and as we approach International Women's Day on the 8th of March, I want to

take a moment to recognise the significant role women play in our society. To all the

women here tonight, as well as Fleur Anderson, Marsha Dikordova and Rosanna Allen -Khan, the

three incredible women MPs representing our borough. Thank you for being the best versions

of yourself and for everything you do. And while I'm giving my tributes, I cannot forget

the most important women in my life, my mother. Her unwavering love, support and prayers have

been the foundation of everything I have achieved in my life. I would not be sitting here today

without her. On tonight's agenda, can members please note that a number of supplementary

items have been circulated and these are required to be considered as a matter of urgency. The

reasons are set out in full at the top of those items. Is that agreed?

Please, could all speakers keep to time and wind up your speeches when the red light comes

on.

When the red light comes on, you will have 30 seconds remaining to wind up.

This is to allow as many as possible of all councillors to participate.

Before I finish, I would just like to explain the order of the meeting to any members of

the public watching.

We will be considering items mostly in the order in which they appear on the published

agenda.

However, you will see there are two instances on the agenda at items 6 and 10 where we have

matters brought forward.

At these points, we will be considering two of the three motions we have on the agenda.

Our traditional approach, which we will continue to follow, has been for the two groups to

take it into turn to have their motion debated first.

This means that it will be the Labour motion to be debated at item 6 and the Conservative

motion on protecting parks and commons at item 10.

Thank you.

the

The next item is the

declaration of

disclosure of all other

registrable interests or any

non -registrable interests relevant to any matters to be

considered at the meeting.

in the city of London.

So I think that's the point of the

Councillor Cooper.

Just in case anything relevant to the greater London authority,

Transport for London, MOPAC, the fire brigade, the police, any of

those areas, just to have it recorded that I am the London

assembly member for Merton and Wandsworth. I'm hoping we can't

imagine it would be any peculiar interest, so just for

Thank you. Moving on to item number four.

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

Once I have 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 Hedges. Thank you Madam Mayor. I have a petition on behalf of residents

on Nightingale Lane in Ballam Ward requesting an urgent review of practical

measures to reduce speeding and improve safety along this road from Wandsworth

Common all the way up to Clapham Common. This petition is signed by 600

residents in response to many complaints from residents over the past few years

and upon suggestion from transport officers.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Hedges.

Councillor Locker.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I have a petition signed by 216 residents from Putney

expressing concerns about the recent works to Putney Bridge

and High Street junctions, resulting in increased traffic

and congestion in the local area.

Thank you, Councillor Locker.

Any other petitions?

Thank you.

Item 5 is leaders' questions.

Before we begin, questions may remind all members that the overall period for members'

questions to the leader and cabinet members is 45 minutes, with 20 minutes for leaders'

questions and 25 minutes for cabinet member questions.

However, if the leaders' questions overrun, this time is taken off the cabinet member

questions.

Question number one.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I'll summarize the question.

Thank you. Which of the various changes to our rules

that are listed on page 5 of the written questions that have had the effect of reducing challenge

and scrutiny in this chamber is Councillor Hogg most proud of?

Councillor Hogg. Thank you for that question. As part of our

mission to become a more open listening council, we have taken a number of steps to focus on

resident voices.

Our popular new seven rings, seven days guarantee

has seen thousands of residents serve faster

than ever before.

We now have one central phone number,

one central email address to make it easier

to get in touch and tell us your issues.

We are putting local people front and center

and the democracy review is an absolutely core part

of that listening council work.

The starting point is our current system is broken

and I think people across the chamber recognize that.

It doesn't work for staff, it doesn't work for councillors and most importantly, it doesn't

work for residents.

All of the proposed changes are about making sure the councillors are a modern, open, accountable

organisation.

For instance, I think it would be, despite your valiant efforts Madam Mayor, I think

it would be completely unclear to a member of the public trying to follow this meeting,

what is happening from the agenda.

And that is something that we will need to look at in the future.

Our democracy is not as accessible as it should be.

We've already updated our cabinet meetings and our cabinet members answer public questions

on our website each week.

Next we're enhancing the scrutiny function that our committees can do.

Committees will no longer be about this last -minute, eleventh -hour scrutiny, which is frankly better

at producing arguments than it is at improving policy.

They'll look much more like parliamentary select committees with the ability to control

their work plans and agenda, and they'll take that long -term approach.

and of course all our public meetings will be live streamed

so people can see us doing their business in the daylight.

We've worked with the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny

for over a year to understand what an appropriate model looks like

for modern day scrutiny, and that's what we're going to use

to transform the way we work.

This will have the effect of opening up the Council to more public scrutiny

and listening to more voices, particularly those seldom heard voices.

And like all high functioning organisations,

we will have a relentless focus on listening and delivering what people want.

Thank you.

Supplementary?

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

The leader of the council talks about letting in the sunlight.

Doesn't he accept that many of the bad decisions that his administration has been taking

have only come to light because of the work that opposition councillors have been doing

and the rights that opposition councillors have

to get information to call debates and ask questions,

all of the rights that his administration

has been curtailing.

I want to ask a specific question though

about Bradstow School,

which members know is very important to me

and was the reason why we walked out

of the last council meeting.

It was only because opposition councillors

used our legal rights under regulation

to uncover the council's asset management plan,

which first proposed selling off Bradstow School.

When we surfaced that plan,

the leader of the council completely disowned it

and said it was an internal office of paper

and wasn't the council's policy.

Months later, the council then opened the consultation

into closing Bradstow School.

So can you answer me this?

If you won't tell me which of the anti -democratic measures

I listed earlier he's most proud of,

will he say if he's proud,

if he ends up closing Bradstow School?

And will he say he'll be proud

if he closes any of the other assets

that were listed in the asset management program,

including the Doddington Activity Centre,

the Roehampton Youth Club,

or York Gardens Children's Centre?

Councillor Hopp.

Thank you for those questions.

By the way, nice that you've stayed around this time

to actually ask them to hear the answers.

We got through stacks of questions last time

when you weren't here, so let's see how many we get through this time.

First off, we do not need lectures from the party that presided over this system.

You had 44 years to change this system, but you preferred to keep the system we had.

We do welcome scrutiny.

We do realise your point, which we recognise from opposition as well, that error correction

is hugely important.

It does improve policies.

Councillor Belton will tell you he spent decades knocking the rough edges off Conservative

policies and maybe that didn't work out in the very long run, but that is 100 % a feature

of democracy and it's what works very well.

Wandsworth Council was a pre -internet dinosaur of governance when we took over, one that

valued the thickness of agendas and technical appendices over the quality of scrutiny and

public accountability.

We are changing that and we are becoming a modern council, which is just bringing us

into line with best practice for the sector.

The constitutional relics that you are clinging to now play almost no role in the high -performing councils everywhere else across the country.

As I was saying, our current system is broken. The Centre for Governance and Scrutiny told us that at present committees are busy and challenging, but not necessarily making much difference.

They debate and vote, but they are unable to influence at the conclusion.

And I served in this system that you created for 12 years in opposition.

I know it's a bad system and I want to change it and we can move forward.

Again, it's a bit rich lecturing on Bradstow School.

While we were here at last council meeting talking about Bradstow School,

you were in the pub taking selfies.

You cannot raise issues about a lack of democracy.

You lost a vote and you walked out. It's unacceptable. The public want to know how we're spending their money

To make their lives better

One's worth will be an open listening council that makes clear and fair decisions

Councilor Mayorkas

I'm sensing a common theme in the contributions from this side of the chamber

but I too share the curiosity as to how long members opposite will stay in the chamber.

Because nothing truly says democracy like prioritizing a cheap photo opportunity over

fulfilling our civic duty at the expense of our residents.

So in a more positive note, in a more positive note, you wonder why you don't get to speak

and it's because you spend so much time wasting everyone's time.

Can the leader tell us...

Can the leader ask for my six minutes?

Madam Mayor, I'll wait to finish my question

whilst they carry on talking, if that's all right.

Finished?

Questions or two, please?

So, on a more positive note, can the leader tell us a bit about

some of the ways that we're opening up access for residents

to engage with the town hall?

Councillor Hogg.

Thank you for that question.

This is the People's Town Hall.

It is for everyone.

We're physically getting more people into the Town Hall more often.

I'd like to thank the Mayor for hosting children who come in every week.

It was great to see recently young people from All Fathings and Aans, Park Gate House

and Honeywell.

We get brilliant feedback from those children who do a treasure hunt.

They do mock debates in this chamber.

We've opened up a whole wing of the Town Hall for the voluntary sector.

There's dozens of workspaces there.

there's meeting rooms so we can work creatively together.

Thanks to our access rule scheme,

low -income residents can now get married

for half price in the town hall.

It's lovely to see people here having

the nicest day of their life.

You sometimes get to be an impromptu photographer,

but I've been asked to say,

please don't throw confetti inside the building.

But you are very welcome to come here for your wedding.

We're opening up cabinet meetings

and we're talking about issues raised to us with residents

and we're making them easier to find online.

I've covered almost every ward in the borough

with my monthly leaders drop -ins.

It's brilliant to get out into the heart of the community.

The people we represent, I know councillors,

have got just as engaged as residents.

And again, decent sandwiches

and really helpful council officers help with that,

so those have been really positive.

So this is what happens when we focus on residents.

And I agree, it is unfortunate,

the increasingly bizarre behavior of Tory councillors

as with these walkouts, it's the party of Beresford

and Lister and Heaster just reduced to student politics.

And the truth is, to be a serious opposition,

they have to come to terms with being in opposition.

I'd like to thank you, Madam Mayor,

for your diligent and dignified service this year.

And I think their behavior towards you in the past year

has been nothing short of disgraceful.

It's unacceptable to repeatedly ignore your rulings

and to disrespect this council.

They owe you an apology for their unprofessional

and disgraceful behavior.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Hogg.

May I remind members, although I have two ears,

I mean, I can only listen to one person at a time,

so let's be respectful, and please,

when somebody is talking, let them finish,

and then you can have your little laugh.

Thank you.

Moving on to question number two.

Thank you Madam Mayor. I think some of those comments will age very poorly when Bradstow

School is shut by this Council. I'll summarise the next question again. Question number two

to the Leader. With the Council now raiding the reserves to fund day -to -day expenditure

and proposing borrowing of 1 .9 billion, how can he say with a straight face this is sound

financial management?

Councillor Loughlin. I'm very proud of this Council's record of

sound financial management. Wandsworth Labour is freezing your Council tax this year for

the third year in a row. You will continue to pay the lowest Council tax in the country

and sound financial management is at the heart of everything we do. Wandsworth has one of

the lowest levels of debt and some of the highest financial reserves in London, allowing

us to freeze council tax and invest in what matters to residents.

We did inherit housing revenue account debt of £52 million from the previous administration

when we took the council in 2022. Thanks to that sound financial management, we've paid

down £43 million of that debt, so we have one of the lowest debt levels in London.

The potential future debt he mentions relates to new housing investment. These plans are

costed and affordable. They're going to build a thousand new council homes for local people

and their sons and daughters and that investment will of course repay itself through rental

income and will also help avoid the very significant costs of temporary accommodation for homeless

families we're seeing. As I hope, the party opposite is still aware. Housing funds are

legally separate to the general fund which is for other day -to -day spending. And just

Just to put it in perspective, the potential future debt repayments over the HRA Business

Plan are equivalent to £85 per person. The potential future debt payments for the Approved

Capital Programme is equivalent to about £12 per person per year.

We have robust financial controls. There will be no borrowing to fund day -to -day spending.

We have significantly increased investment in frontline services next year. Our Council

Council remains in a strong and stable financial position.

The leader refers to the interest that is accompanying the debt that he wants to take

out. We have had to drag those figures out of the administration. The HRA alone is going

to take on 885 million pounds just of interest payments.

So the interest is going to cost more than the principal.

For the capital program, that's 81 million.

The leader referred to it in his written answer,

but he referred to it in his oral answer as well,

that the future debt repayments for the HRA

are 85 pounds per person per year,

and then for the capital program, it's 12 pounds per year.

With the figures that the finance committee heard,

I can't get to those calculations.

So could the leader tell this chamber

what the calculations are

that get to the 85 per person figure

and the 12 pound per person figure?

Or to save time, can he just tell us where

in the council papers tonight that calculation is?

Councilor Hogg.

I think I'll have to get back to him with his slightly baffling question.

I didn't refer to interest. I think he was doing a bit of a chemi -badenock.

He was just reading out the thing he wanted to say anyway.

But I want to come back to the core of the question.

We find ourselves once again having to school the Wandsworth Tories.

Can you let him answer the question?

Revenue and capital, the difference between the housing revenue account and the general fund.

there is no possibility, you know, you can't mix them, you legally can't, well you may attempt to, good luck,

but our housing programme has not added a penny to your council tax, nor will it in future.

This housing revenue account borrowing is a smart investment, it will be paid back through rental income,

plus we will save money on temporary accommodation.

Councillors, we are not having a debate. It is leaders' question still.

Carry on, Councillor Hogg. Thank you, Madam Mayor.

This fantastic investment in affordable homes we are making will long outlast the repayment

period. They will be available for generations to come.

We know Wandsworth Torries opposed this affordable house building. They have been clear about

that but we will never apologise for investing in genuinely affordable homes

for local people to fight this terrible housing crisis that we have.

Thank You Madam Mayor. In my ward in Wandor I have seen the investment in the

Hemingway Prince Estate Club room also across the borough I've noticed pavement

and road improvements. Can you tell me how we have been able to invest in

was still maintaining Sound Financial Management.

Councillor Hogg.

Yeah, that's a good question, how do we do it?

And first to pay tribute to your excellent work

as a ward councillor and you will see

not just the extra housing at the Atherton there,

not just the club room and the playground

and the sports pitch at the Henry Prince Estate,

but roads and pavements throughout Wanda Ward

will be improved by a decade of renewal as well.

And I am proud of our cast iron commitment

to sound financial management as we deliver an even better ones worth.

Just to break it down, our innovative better services partnership saves around £10 million

a year. The new change programme will deliver efficiencies of up to £9 million and thanks

to our smart investment decisions we will earn £32 million this year alone.

The reality is that residents suffered decline under the Tories but we're now seeing investment

under this Labour administration.

We're delivering a thousand new council homes.

We have the biggest cost of living fund in London

and are a dedicated borough of sanctuary for refugees.

We've set up an ambitious access for all program,

have our new seven rings, seven days commitment,

your two free bulky waste collections,

and now the launch of our borough of culture.

These are all services that residents did not see

under the Tories, every single one of them,

and they have refused to support our ambitious agenda at every single turn.

I think voters understand that all of that progress is at risk at the next election.

We are building the future and they want to take us back to the past.

Thank you. Question number three.

Question number three to the Leader.

Councillor Lough.

Thank you, Councillor Warrell, for that question. We all know Wandsworth is a fantastic place

to live, to work, to do business, but we know there's more we can do to give our residents

the best possible service. That's why we're becoming a listening council, to listen to

residents and to deliver on their priorities. We understand that dreadful frustration of

being left on hold for 20 minutes when you're trying to get through to the council, so we

change this with our new seven rings guarantee, call our dedicated helpline, council staff

will pick up in seven rings. You no longer need to know the extension number or the direct

dial for every service and a new email address, hello at wandsworth .gov .uk is there to make

it even easier for residents to get in touch with us. We also recognise that good customer

service is not going to be everything without swift action to resolve the issues that people

have actually brought up and we understand how important pride in your neighbourhoods

So, if you report graffiti or a dangerous pothole or a broken street sign, we will fix

it in seven days.

To deliver cleaner streets, every household now gets those two free bulky waste collections

a year.

Fully 2 ,000 people have booked free bulky waste collections since we launched it a month

ago.

It's been hugely popular.

I'd finish by saying it's about ensuring every action we take is grounded in our residents'

priorities.

we will always put them at the forefront because we are a council that is truly

at the service of our residents. Thank you.

Thank you Madam Mayor. On a recent walkabout with Councillor Apps and the

Savannah Estate residents actually were commenting on our new initiative the

Seven Rings and how much easier we made it for them to contact the council so a

big thanks from the residents of the Savona Estates for what we were actually doing. It

was really great to hear that. However, it's now been a month since the initiative was

actually put into place. And as with any new service, not all the KPIs have actually been

met and in your written answer you actually acknowledge this. I was wondering, could the

leader comment what mechanisms and processes are actually being put in place in order to

meet these pledges in the future.

Thank you.

Councillor Hoag.

Yeah, thank you, that's a good question.

So I'd say, yep, the launch has generally been

really well received by our residents and partners

to show our performance.

Weekly statistics are published,

which I think you're quoting on the

Seven Rings, Seven Days guarantee,

together with monthly updates on actions

we're taking to get up to 100 % success rate.

In our first month, we achieved 100 % success

on graffiti, fixing broken street signs and dangerous potholes within seven days and just

to say we're really keen to add other council services into that seven days guarantee.

Watch this space because residents should always be given a time frame for seeing action

when they raise an issue with us.

Seven Rings was our most ambitious target and we have set up a really good new multi -discipline

customer service team and we've implemented new technology to identify those areas of

Council with higher call waiting times.

It's been really good to visit those teams and to hear from residents who are being helped

quicker than ever.

At the end of month one, I think it was 37 ,000 calls, which seems like a lot for a month,

but that's what it says.

Sixty -six percent were answered within seven rings.

Clearly we're not there yet and there's work to do.

This is a big improvement compared to the two -minute wait average time that we had in

summer last year.

Before we started this program, there was a 45 % answer rate.

So already we're driving internal change as well as external delivery,

and we know our residents deserve better.

So that's why we're working with services such as housing to reduce wait times

and make more staff available to answer more calls.

We've hired some fantastic new staff, and we are learning important lessons

about where our services can be redesigned or improved.

and we'll keep going, you know, and keep in mind this is part of a wider culture

shift to make sure residents receive excellent service across the board.

Thank you. Councillor Corning. Thank you. I second supplementary, Madam Mayor. The

council leader has just set out in response to this question that 34 % of

calls are not currently answered within seven rings. However, this hasn't stopped

the council spending £19 ,490 on a leaflet to all residents in the borough promising

that their calls would be answered within seven rings. Why did the council leader think

it was appropriate to spend that taxpayer's money advertising a service that he had not

bothered to check that the organisation could actually deliver on? And why did he not wait

to confirm that the council could deliver on it before sending out that communication.

Councillor Hoak.

Thanks very much for the question. I think it is really important because it shows the difference

here. The old Wandsworth would have waited two or three years until it was perfect and then you

would have mentioned in Brightside that you were trying to do it. What you actually did was set up

a load of phone loops that people could not get out of to try and deflect people from contacting

the Council. It's a new world. We test and learn, we move forward, we bring the public

in, their user testing is absolutely essential to this, and we are absolutely transparent

and accountable and open that we're not there yet. We are trying, but you don't wait until

something's perfect and say, it's perfect, there you go. We constantly listen. There

is no done. It's never finished. We're going to keep moving forward and trying to improve

it.

Thank you, Councillor Hoag. The time for leaders' questions has now finished.

The Whips have agreed that item 18, the motion on lowest council tax and record investment

for Wandsworth residents will be taken next. Can I ask Councillor Hoag to move and Councillor

Thank you. An amendment to the motion has also been circulated. May I ask councillors Peter Graham and Richard Jones to move and second the amendment.

Formally moved.

Seconded.

Thank you. Could I ask Councillor Hogg to...

You can start your speech.

Wandsworth Labour is freezing your council tax for the third year in a row.

You will continue to pay the lowest council tax in the country.

Sound financial management is at the heart of everything we do.

Wandsworth has one of the lowest levels of debt and some of the highest financial reserves

in London, allowing us to freeze council tax and invest in what matters to you.

I'll highlight three areas quickly.

our seven rings seven days guarantee call us on 0208 871 6000 and we'll answer in seven rings

report graffiti

Dangerous pothole or a broken street sign and we'll fix it for you in seven days

Second cleaner streets every household now gets two free bulky waste collections a year

we're expanding our fantastic mega skip scheme and guarantee to keep your weekly waste and recycling collections and

And third, safer neighbourhoods. We have a network of over 1 ,200 CCTV cameras to

monitor the borough 24 hours a day, 365 days a year and we're investing in our

parks, town centres and public spaces to make them safer and more welcoming for

everyone. Looking after our most vulnerable residents is crucial. We will

continue to provide excellent care for older residents and to support our NHS.

An increase of 2 % in the Adult Social Care preset this year will help to fund this vital work.

Wandsworth is London's borough of culture 2025 and we're inviting everyone to take part.

We had a wonderful launch event last week at Battersea Arts Centre with 400 guests

and kicking off in April there will be big cultural moments throughout the year

plus community led events all over the borough for you to enjoy.

This Council Tax Freeze is a great result for local people in a really difficult year for local government.

Almost all London boroughs will increase their Council Tax by the maximum amount and many are having to make tough decisions about services.

We will continue to invest strongly in frontline services and I'd like to thank Councillor Ireland, Mrs Mary and all the Finance team for their excellent work in this area.

It's been lovely to get out and share our council tax news with local people.

Residents have told us they've experienced council tax being double the rate in other

boroughs and that Labour's low council tax helps, especially hearing this from people

with young children, which is very rewarding.

Many residents say that the first thing people mention when talking about Wandsworth is its

low council tax.

We have made changes to make council tax more fair.

From next month, second homes in Wandsworth will be charged double their usual council tax.

This is because we want homes in Wandsworth, wherever possible, to be lived in and enjoyed by our residents.

We have informed residents with leaflets to all households.

We've got more than half a million impressions on social media and council tax bills will start arriving with you next week.

We always seek to communicate with residents when we're introducing new services or taking big decisions on their behalf.

But freezing council tax does not mean we're standing still.

We have reversed the years of declining services and underinvestment.

A thousand new council homes, the biggest cost -of -living fund in London,

doubled investment in our roads and pavements, the wonderful new access for all program,

that seven days, seven rings guarantee, monthly mega skips

and now free bulky waste collections. Labour is delivering a fairer,

more compassionate, more sustainable council.

We're taking care of the things that matter to you

so that together we can keep Wandsworth special.

Thank you, Councillor Hogg.

Councillor Richard Jones.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Wandsworth Conservatives support low tax.

We, for decades, set the UK's lowest council tax

at Wandsworth.

if we made this borough famous for low council tax.

But the secret to our success over the decades

was sustainable, sound finance

so that we could keep the council tax low in the long term.

This budget tonight is a radical departure from that.

This year alone, there is an 11 million pound hole

in the budget.

It's only because of the reserves

that Councillor Hogg inherited

from the last Conservative administration.

That means he can plug that hole tonight.

But if he didn't have those Conservative reserves,

he would need to find a 15 % increase in the council tax

to plug his budget hole.

Spending is now out of control in this council.

Last year, an extra £16 million budget uplift

was added to the budgets above and beyond inflation.

An extra £4 million was then added as a contingency.

and even then this month's Finance Committee reported an additional four

million pounds of overspent and there is not a whiff of a plan as to how to get

that overspending under control. In fact the council finances to conceal the fact

that there's trouble down the road actually models real terms decreases in

expenditure in years to come. That is absolutely fanciful madame. When the

The Council Leader talks about sound financial management.

We really are in Alice in Wonderland territory.

This Council is now raiding its savings

to pay for day -to -day expenditure.

That is the opposite of sound financial management.

They are burning through the reserves.

By May, 2026, 90 million of the reserves they inherited

will be depleted with total plans

to spend 150 million of the reserves.

The Council Leader doesn't understand

how the reserves are being used.

He said a moment ago that there was no use of revenue reserves

for the housing revenue account.

That is not true.

You are tying up 50 million of the reserves

in internal borrowing for the housing revenue account.

And on that subject, the real horror show here,

quite apart from the depletion of the reserves,

is the debt that this council is taking on.

The numbers are staggering and they are unprecedented.

The housing revenue account will take on 780 million.

plus an extra 885 million.

The council leader was wrong to say

that that will be paid back in council rents.

A good chunk of it is going on simply getting our stock

up to scratch from existing stock.

The rest of it is going towards a housing program

that doesn't add a single new house to the borough

above and beyond the plan he inherited

from the last Conservative administration.

The capital programme is now out of control.

There's 185 million of borrowing with 81 million pounds of debt, all for projects that Sill

could cover if he hadn't diligently been posturing ideologically and letting his cabinet members

run wild, driving private investment out of this borough and shrinking Sill receipts.

That is in total 1 .9 billion pounds of reserves.

Rachel Reeves, when she gleefully axed the winter fuel allowance from the majority of our pensioners,

said if we can't afford it, we can't do it. Well, what would she even make of this budget?

This Labour administration are prisoners of their own ideology. An ideology that puts

borrowing above private investment, puts vibes over proper financial controls and management,

and prioritises headlines over the hard yards of proper local government work

and looking after our finances so we can look after the vulnerable in our borough.

This is a travesty of a budget. It's a car crash with an inbuilt time delay

because if it carries on like this, council tax rises are coming and they are coming big.

There is still time to get this under control, to rein in spending,

to cancel the debt and to properly rationalize these programs. But that

change will only come with a change of political control of this council in May

2026.

Thank you. Councillor Vathraj. Thank you Madam Mayor. Wandsworth Council is a

white -ribbon accredited organization and as a woman councillor I am pleased this

Council is doubling its investment to support victims of domestic abuse as part of our strategy

to tackle violence against women and girls.

2025's International Women's Day will be marked at a time of unparalleled crisis at every

front. The climate disaster, the economic turmoil, the aftermath of the pandemic and

the multiple conflicts raging around the world.

During these times of austerity, we witness the resilience, determination and strength of women

as they keep families and communities together.

In Wandsworth and across the country, women are breaking barriers, challenging norms and leading

in ways that were thought to be impossible when the suffragettes started campaigning

for women's rights to vote.

The 8th of March is a time to celebrate the incredible achievements of women

in both public and private sectors, the powerful women in this chamber and the women across

our borough. From the women pioneers who break barriers in science, politics, arts and business,

to women who are at the forefront of progress, and the women whose stories are untold. As

we celebrate these victories, we must recognise the ongoing struggles every woman continues

to face. The fight for gender equality is far from over. I want you all to think about

the women who have shaped your lives, your mothers, sisters, daughters, partners and

friends. What kind of a future do you want for them? I see a future for women free from

discrimination and fear, equal rights and equal pay, for every woman to live in society

where they are valued, respected and empowered. But what kind of a world are women living

in today? A world where one in three women will suffer physical or sexual violence in

their lifetime, a world where women are not paid equally to their male counterparts, and

a world with limited access to healthcare, education and opportunities for women. But

in Wandsworth, our women are leading the way. With employment rates of 76%, which is higher

than the London and national average, women in our borough have a higher life expectancy

of 70 years compared to the national average of 64 years. And in education, women in Wandsworth

have achieved remarkable success with 70 % holding a degree

or equivalent qualification completing higher education.

As women, we get told break the glass ceilings,

but we should be dismantling those ceilings

that exist in the first place in our political system,

in our work spaces and in our daily lives.

As a woman of South Asian heritage and politics,

I understand firsthand how deep rooted

systemic inequalities affect women of diverse backgrounds.

It is women from marginalized communities

that are often not at the table

when decisions are made that shape their future.

Their voices are silenced and their needs are overlooked.

It is important that we continue to work

towards representation that reflects the diversity

of our society and to be inclusive

in the conversations we have.

I am proud Wandsworth has three women MPs

who represent the diversity of our borough. We are fighting for half of the

world population so gender equality can't be achieved without men being an

ally to women. Men have a duty to stop the centuries of misogyny, stop the

normalization of hate against women and stop the silencing of women voices. We

need policies that foster environments for women to

This council is deeply committed to preventing violence against women and girls and providing support to domestic abuse victims.

Our Violence Against Women and Girls strategy was developed by listening to the voices of survivors.

We are committed to making our streets safer and providing training for residents to become an active bystander.

The council runs the Safe Space Clapham Junction in partnership with the police,

giving women a safe space to go late on a Friday night for support and advice.

Our weekly drop -ins at Wandsworth's one -stop shop in Battersea in

Southampton offer free and discreet support. We also have a community forum

to bring together organisations and individuals. We stand to honour every

victim and remember all of the lives lost because of violence perpetrated against women and girls.

Let us all continue to create a Wandsworth where our future reflects the needs, aspirations and

dreams of all women. Thank you, Madam Mayor. Thank you, Councillor Batherage. A really,

really inspirational speech. Thank you. Councillor Grimston.

the right direction.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. If my voice gives out halfway through, it is not

the microphone, it is the voice. There is a lot of good stuff in this

motion. I congratulate the majority group for it. I felt for some time

we were in real danger of leaving behind those who were not savvy with

the internet when it came to contacting the Council and being able to

actually get to talk to an individual on the phone, I think is a move

in the right direction, one of the examples I would suggest

where going back to the past is no really bad thing

because there was an age when of course that's the way

most of the council's business was done.

Nonetheless, and reflecting on the words of the Imam

at the start about trust and the idea about open

and listening, there is one thing which has bugged me

for a long time and it bugged me when the previous

government was in control, it bugged me when the present

opposition was in control.

We are not freezing the council tax.

It's entirely and absolutely indefensible to say

that the council tax is being frozen.

It's there on page 13 of the main report here

where it says in very clear,

annual band D bill Fort Wandsworth charges

is going up by nine pound 95 a month.

And the idea that there's some difference

in this distinction about the social services precept

as opposed to the rest.

It's rather like someone going into a Starbucks

and asking for a black coffee and being told,

well, we put black coffee at the bottom,

sorry, we put milk in at the bottom,

we fill the rest up with black coffee,

but nonetheless, most of this cup is black coffee.

Most of it is there.

But the same concept there,

that for those who will look at their council tax bills,

as many will, they will see that the Wandsworth proportion

has gone up by 2%.

Or to put it another way,

Wandsworth could have chosen genuinely

to freeze its proportion of the bill.

It could have chosen to retain it

at the level of £489 .74 as it was last year.

They chose not to, we're at full discretion.

I agree with the decision

because I think that money has to be raised.

But what does this social care precept actually mean anyway?

It's there at a figure of 89 .89 for this coming year.

If my back of envelope calculations are right,

that means that it will raise 13 .4 million pounds.

We're genuinely saying to our residents

that we spend only 13 .4 million pounds on social care,

the single biggest item in the multi -billion pound budget

of Wandsworth.

It's ridiculous and it is misleading

and I would suggest it's the very opposite

of treating people, I would be tempted to say actually,

of treating people as grownups within this.

And the thing that I just don't understand is,

it is actually a very good message.

As the leader rightly said,

compared to many authorities around the country,

to only be raising the want of proportion by 2 %

below inflation is a good story.

And I don't see why you can't go out

and sell that story in a truthful way.

I was instead, the good people of our borough

have had the pleasure of paying for a leaflet,

coming into every home telling them the untrue statement

that Wandsworth is freezing its proportion of the council tax.

And it's not even true, let alone whether that's a good use of the money that residents are saying.

So I really would say, if you're serious about this, and I entirely agree with the leader,

going out and saying this is what we're going to do before doing it,

and giving people a chance to come back and say it's not working,

I think that's good governance.

I think it's brave, I disagree with the point that was made earlier, that you shouldn't

do it until you're absolutely right, you're going to get everything right, because frankly

we very rarely get into that position.

So there are many things in here going right, but what I for the life of me can't understand

is why you stick to this fiction which was introduced by the previous governments and

exploited by the previous administration, but why you stick to this fiction about freezing

council tax.

It doesn't look serious.

It doesn't look like you're actually trying to level

with the residents of the borough.

And ultimately, the damage that will do,

I suspect, to relations between the council

and the residents will much outweigh

any short -term benefit that might accrue

from this fiction that council tax is being frozen.

Thank you, Councillor Grimston.

Councillor Hedges.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I had some feedback last week from a well -respected member of

the Labour administration who shall remain anonymous that you don't hear enough from

me, so here goes. I do believe we're all here for the same reason, to serve our residents

and to make a positive difference to our community. Where our sides dramatically differ isn't

just on our political ideologies and policies, but on our interpretation of what sound financial

management means.

The Labour administration would have residents

believe sound financial management is at the heart

of everything they do.

When in reality, behind Labour's shiny new pink leaflet

stating Wandsworth council is freezing your council

tax for a third year in a row is a budget deficit of $13 .3

million paid for out of the reserves.

Overspending of $13 million last year and $9 million this year,

and not forgetting the council's new logo costing nearly

20 ,000 pounds, also on the new shiny leaflet.

In the year I was born, in 1978, the Conservatives

won Wandsworth Council.

From then on, for the next 44 years,

the Conservatives successfully led Wandsworth Council

by controlling spending, by not ratcheting up debt,

cutting council tax where possible,

evidence, and sound financial management.

This is a stark difference to that of the current Labour

administration, where we're seeing excessive spending,

unprecedented borrowing, and running down

of the council's reserves.

This strategy is short -sighted and at worst, disastrous.

As we all know, reserves can only be spent once.

So this can never be an answer to long -term funding problems.

Madam Mayor, it's important to acknowledge

a pattern of failing labor councils across the country.

Nottingham City Council, for instance, recently issued a section 114 notice

effectively declaring itself bankrupt. This is not an isolated incident.

Other Labour councils such as Croydon bankrupted by Labour three times for toxic

financial mistakes. Liverpool City Council has faced significant financial

challenges. Sloughborough Council issued a section 114 notice as a result of

of financial mismanagement, which led to a significant budget deficit, Birmingham City Council bankrupted by Labour's financial mismanagement.

These Labour -run councils have all faced similar financial crises. The root cause of these financial woes lie not in the lack of funding, but in poor governance and financial mismanagement.

The failures we have witnessed are primarily attributable to failures in management, governance, debt and excessive spending.

This is an important reminder to my colleagues on the other side that sound financial management is crucial for the effective functioning of Wandsworth Council or any council for that matter.

The unsound financial management of Wandsworth Labour Council will have far reaching consequences for the diverse community it serves.

We will continue to challenge financial decisions

and lobby for the adoption of sound financial practices,

even when we are deliberately shut down and silenced.

Only then can we hope to restore trust

in our local governance and ensure the effective delivery

of vital services to our community.

Worryingly, I had a resident in Ballum say to me recently,

it's depressing as it looks like Labour have a plan

to deplete the reserves and borrow millions.

As a resident and taxpayer, the Labour administration's management of our cash is economically illiterate.

It is hard to believe that Wandsworth will potentially go from being one of the few councils with no debt to then borrowing millions due to Labour's spending plans.

If the Council's finances continue on this trajectory, this will inevitably be the end of Wandsworth Labour's administration and indeed the end of the reserves. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Fraser. Thank you, Madam Mayor. I'm delighted to speak

in this debate tonight and ahead of International Women's Day to follow women councillors on

both sides of the chamber this evening. I'm going to highlight just some of the things

that Wandsworth Council is delivering for its residents, all whilst delivering the lowest

council tax in London. Five years on from the start of the COVID -19 pandemic, life and

the needs of those who live in Wandsworth looks different for many. This may mean that

people are looking for help in any number of areas, including support with mental and

physical health needs or financial assistance to cope with the ongoing cost of living crisis.

It's right, therefore, that Wandsworth Council has sought to change and pivot the way that

we support our residents, especially those most in need of our assistance, whether that

be through London's largest cost of living support fund or through supporting our vital,

voluntary and community sector who do amazing work ranging from providing food and warm

spaces right the way through to providing advice and guidance, community outreach, the

council is ensuring that those most vulnerable in our borough are not left isolated. It's

not just the low council tax though which is helping the finances of our residents.

Through the hard work of our offices and further investment in the low income family tracker,

we're also now more precisely able to reach residents who aren't aware of the support

they're entitled to, ensuring they receive the grants and dispensations that are available

to them. Through investments in upgrading our leisure centres, including vital works

at Balham and Putney Leisure Centres, we're supporting our residents to stay healthy.

To provide further support to those most needed, our Access for All scheme allows free access

to these facilities, ensuring that there are no barriers for those who wish to use our

leisure centres. And as a proud counsellor in South Balham, how could I not give a mention

to the Lido and as a proud member of the South London Swim Club. Through significant investment

by this council, we've ensured the Lido is able to be enjoyed by thousands of people

all year round, allowing them to feel the health benefits of cold water swimming. I

was also delighted to see last summer that Access4All was extended to the Lido, enabling

residents to enjoy the best of a summer swim at the UK's largest outdoor Lido on their

doorstep in Tooting. But it's not just investment in Access4All and leisure services, we're

We're also mindful of getting the basics right,

and I'm delighted to see that Transport,

under the leadership of Councillor Jenny Yates,

deliver the biggest financial investment

of upgrades to roads and pavements this year

that Wandsworth has seen.

This 10 .25 million investment

corrects decades of underinvestment,

meaning that regardless of how residents

travel across our borough,

and regardless of whether that road is on an estate or not,

we've broken down those barriers

to see roads and pavements across the borough

upgraded in the year ahead.

Residents in my ward were delighted that Elmfield Road, which has Ravenstone School at one end

and a popular doctor's surgery at the other, will now have its pavements upgraded in the

coming year, as will the Ride Vail Estate. Regardless of whether you walk or wheel, this

will now be done on safer, smoother roads and pavements and supported by a forward plan

of investment totalling £40 million for Wandsworth Walk -in and cycling strategy.

I could go on if time allowed, but I'll end by saying that a time of unprecedented demand

on Council services. Wandsworth Council and Wandsworth Labour are supporting our residents

through high quality services and all delivered with sound financial management by Councillor

Ireland. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Fraser. The matter now before the Council is the amendment moved

by Councillor Peter Graham and seconded by Councillor Richard Jones. All those in favour

of the amendment.

Those against?

Next.

Any abstentions?

Thank you.

the motion is carried.

The amendment is carried.

18 in favour, 33 against.

The motion is not carried.

As amended.

substantive motion. All those in favour of the substantive motion.

Those against?

Any abstentions?

So 33 in favour, 20 abstentions.

The substantive motion is carried.

Moving on.

Questions to the cabinet members will now be taken.

So we're going to start with question number 10.

Councillor Brooks.

Okay, thank you. So the question for people that haven't got it in front of them, it relates to the license application for events in our parks and the events policy.

Unfortunately, the question seems to conflate the two

into one issue, and actually they are two

separately related issues.

So I'll just explain that first

so that we know what we're talking about.

So we've got Wandsworth Borough of Culture this year.

It's gonna be fantastic.

We want to put some amazing events on

for the community, with the community, by the community.

Unfortunately, only Battersea Park has a license

to put on live events.

So anything from singing, dancing, Shakespeare,

any choirs, anything you can think of,

needs to have a license.

So our other spaces, in particular,

Wandsworth Common, Tooting Common, King George's Park,

we can't currently put anything on.

So our partner, Enable, started applying for a license.

And they used the existing events policy for guidance.

So the existing events policy,

brought in by your administration,

with I believe the consultation with the Friends groups

at the time, brought in this policy,

and it is currently very wide ranging.

There is the possibility to have lots of large events,

but that has never been abused to my knowledge.

So enable use that for guidance.

And unfortunately, it very much scared

and concerned residents,

because I guess people didn't know

how wide ranging that existing policy was.

So we heard loud and clear from residents,

they were really, really concerned

about the possibility of long events,

late events, large events.

We heard that very, very clearly.

We asked and able to withdraw

that blanket license application, of course,

because it was scaring, concerning, worrying people.

So now they have just two license applications

in at the moment, one for a lovely dance event

in Battersea Park and one for a country music festival

on Tooting Common just for a weekend

and it would be very similar to an event that was run

on that common was very, very popular.

So those two applications are in,

but they are for consultation.

A part of the licensing process involves consultation.

Residents can write in, or write in to me,

write in to the licensing committee with their views.

The licensing committee will then decide

in whatever way they decide.

We are listening to what residents are concerned about.

So then related to that, but not exactly the same issue,

is that we are also revising, updating the events policy.

It was brought in 2014, it's a long time ago.

Best practices moved on.

So our offices have drafted a new policy for guidance.

We discussed it at Environment Committee a week or two ago.

Again, it became clear that residents were concerned

about some of the language in the new policy.

Actually, the new policy is designed to be tighter

on the issues that people care about.

So better protection of biodiversity and green spaces

and nature, better, more stringent controls on noise

so that the locals don't get disturbed.

So actually, our aim was to tighten our controls

on the events that we run.

The language perhaps didn't reflect that.

We've heard that.

We've met with the friends and max groups.

We've heard their concerns.

There was a big debate at the environment committee.

We've heard that residents should be consulted.

We are consulting.

So there is now a new draft events policy that will go out for consultation.

We will listen to our residents.

So that is where we're at.

And I don't accept any of the other premises of the question.

We are listening.

We are consulting.

We will work with residents to have the best possible events policy, the best possible

events in our open spaces.

Thank you, Councillor Gasper.

Supplementary?

Yes, please.

Thank you.

Well, it's a joy to hear so much from you.

I think that was a longer answer than all of your remarks in every single Environment

Committee we've had so far.

So, wonderful to hear from you.

I think you've been a bit glib, to be honest, about the changes to the Open Spaces events

policy.

It's not an update.

It's a gutting of all the protections that were there before of

sports pitches grass areas in the winter time

late night cutoffs

Set up and takedown periods events on the same ground weekend to weekend and you took out the decibel limit without putting a new one

The only reason to change the policy as you have as you have done is to facilitate the types of events that were

described in the licensing applications in January.

What happens is you got your comm sequencing wrong

and got caught.

How is damaging the landscape, ruining sports pitches,

and closing sections of the parks off to the public

in any way a celebration of the borough's culture?

So I'm afraid you're deliberately misconstruing

what our intention was and stirring up worry

and concern to our residents because that is not the case.

So, on noise, the noise controls will be more stringent.

It will be done on the distance from the houses.

So, just a decibel level on the common

is gonna affect somebody closer

much more than somebody further away.

It's each house, it's a decibel level at the house.

That's my understanding of it.

I'm not an expert, but it's to be tighter.

It's more stringent, more stringent.

On, what are you talking about?

The green spaces and the football pitches.

We will only ever allow events on there

when the football pitches or whatever pitch or green area

is in the right condition.

It just gives us a little bit of leeway,

our suggestion and it is from consultation,

a little bit of leeway so that the pitches

could be used off season if they're in a good enough position

and why would I want to ruin our sports pitches?

I'm passionate about sport and I'm passionate,

well we'll come onto the money in a minute if you like,

but so you know that I'm passionate about biodiversity.

We have agreed on advice of the Friends to change the wording around the biodiversity

so we won't be having events in biodiversity rich areas or even areas adjacent to biodiversity

rich areas.

So we have taken on board all of the Friends and the Max comments and we look forward to

taking on board other people's comments across the borough.

It's not about money.

We were not the party that brought in Formula E to Battersea Park to raise money, which

which was hated by everybody and you had to get rid of it.

We were not the party that outsourced the whole of the Leisure and Culture Directorate

to make money, to get them to generate money.

We were not the party that was you who privatized the one o 'clock club,

the children's zoo, the adventure playground.

That was your party that worries about money.

We do not need to raise any more money from that.

We are putting on free events.

You know what?

We're putting on a free Battersea Park run.

We put on free weekend activities for families this weekend.

There's a free five -day taste imposter at the moment going on.

We've got free access for all.

We've got free swimming in the Lido.

We are providing free residence, free activities for our residents when needed.

This is not about money.

This is about providing the best possible activities and events for our residents, with our residents.

Thanks.

Councillor Wight.

Thanks, Mr. Secretary.

Since at least the middle of the 18th century, ones with commons have had holiday fairs,

often attracting big crowds.

I hope this tradition of holding events on the common, very popular amongst a wide range

of people, will not be stopped.

Well, no, this is what the borough of culture and beyond is all about, actually.

We want to have lovely community family events, but we want them to be controlled by us and

the events policy and actually the licensing restrictions as well can control how those

events are.

They mustn't be too noisy.

They mustn't ruin our areas.

They must be family friendly.

We don't want late nights.

We don't want booze ups.

We certainly don't want anything like we've seen on Clapham Common, which is the scare

that's going around over my dead body will we have clap and tom and types

events it's not about that it's about family community events for and by and

with our communities

Thank You councillor question number 11 councillor Lambash question number 11 on

the London Borough culture launch

Councillor Akinola. Twins, that's great. Yes, thank you, Councillor

Ambat for your question about the launch. First of all, I want to start by saying thank

you to all of the officers, the performers that worked so hard to put on what was just

such an incredible very early Tuesday morning and thank you to everybody that attended.

I'm sure that you all had a really wonderful time.

It was great.

Bacon sandwiches, dancing, music,

three people standing on top of each other.

It was really great.

And as you have all heard, over 400 people attended,

but what you may not have heard

is one of my all -time greatest, goats,

I think it's, as the young people say,

Romeo from So Solid was there.

That was amazing.

So it really did give a really nice flavour of what is to come over this following year.

And it also inspired a lot of the voluntary sector organisations who may not have thought

that they had anything to offer for the borough of Colchia, inspired them to think about what

in addition they will be able to do.

So I've had loads of emails and conversations with people about things that they do normally,

things that they want to celebrate over the year and how they can really be involved in

it. So the other thing that the event actually launched apart from Inspiration and the media

launch was also at the programme. So I encourage everybody here to go onto the website, welcome

to Wandsworth .com and look at some of the main activities that will be happening across

the year and also the other thing is that organisations, charities, anyone really can

submit new ideas that they would like to be included in the programme subject to fitting

the criteria of the year about connection, networking and ultimately improving health

for everyone across the borough. So I imagine that the programme that you can see on the

to wait for the borough of culture to start because indeed this Saturday we have the Southfields

Arts Festival, so that's worth going to. Wandsworth Makes Music will be happening on the 31st

of March and there's also the Oxford Cambridge Race which will, with a bit of added spice,

which will all be revealed closer to the time which is happening in the middle of April.

So that's going to be really wonderful.

But what you actually asked me was what is happening?

26th of April, everyone put this in your diaries.

If you could put the 26th of April in your diaries,

it would be wonderful to see you all there doing the dance.

And I don't know if, Maya, you can make it mandatory

that everybody turns up and actually takes part,

but that would be wonderful.

But I really think we should all try and attend.

and I was speaking to one of the opposition earlier today, and it really is, it's a cross -party

project that we all agree to, there is no reason for any of you not to come, we should

all be really proud that this is what's happening in our borough, so I really hope that you

will all turn up, you'll be welcomed by not just us but everybody else that's there, everyone

likes to see councillors actually take part in activities and events that they're putting

forward. The other thing that's happening is also the Wimbledon Art Fair, which is actually

in Teuting, even though it says Wimbledon, it's actually in Teuting. That's happening

in the middle of May as well. And we will also, and I think this is in the written answer,

you'll also get a bit of a flavor about the Wandsworth way,

which is the Riverside Studios,

telly radio drama that you can also take part in,

if you want, I'm gonna be in it,

it's gonna be exciting.

And so that will be really wonderful.

So I hopefully that gave you a bit of a flavor,

Councilor Ambash, I love that you're repping as well.

First supplementary.

Councilor Ambash.

Thank you.

Could I just congratulate Councillor Jaffray on your brilliant year as mayor first before

I ask the supplementary. You've represented the borough as a great ambassador and thank

you for all you've done with poise and dignity throughout the year.

The supplementary on borough of culture is how are we promoting the arts and culture

over the year to reach all our diverse communities

throughout the borough.

Council Acanola.

Thank you.

Well, that quality and diversity is always

at the forefront of my mind.

And some of the things that actually happen

along across the year are specifically targeting

quality and diversity.

We have the Liberty Festival,

which is a disability -led festival.

It's going to be run or curated by a disability -led organization called Cryptic Arts, which is

super important.

I think in May, the Bait Bean Company are producing a show called The Things We Lost,

which I'm quite excited to go and see.

That's at the Royal Academy of Dance.

We have Access -able, those Access -able guides.

I've spoken about this before, but it's a group of people with a variety of disabilities

who've gone out and surveyed our buildings, buildings that we might use for the borough

of culture, including council buildings actually as well, and see how accessible they are and

then actually it will show people how they can maneuver their way through them or how

they can be used and for example Battersea Arts Centre do some, what's the word, what's

the word, they do special screening, they do special shows, thank you, they do relaxed

performances for people that might not be able to cope with a lot of noise or a lot

of lights and these guides will be coming out end of April but before we launch the

of Culture on the 26th, so that will be very useful. In terms of ensuring that we are keeping

these things in the forefront of our mind, the Liberty Festival has a steering group

made up of people with disabilities from across the borough who make sure that we're on track,

make sure we're thinking about all the different kinds of disabilities through experience themselves

or because they have family that they've looked after or organisations that they run that

support a variety of different disabilities.

We also have the London Borough of Culture champions.

We have the London Borough of Culture champions

who are from a variety of backgrounds

who ensure that equality is on the forefront of our mind.

In terms of grants, there's more to come.

In terms of grants, we have the South Asian

South Asian Month Fund that,

again, our mayor actually instigated.

many a couple of years ago and we also have the Black History 365 grant specifically for

arts and culture although if anyone wants to apply for them they need to do that soon

because those dates are closing and yeah this these are these are some of the many things

that we're doing but I think we'll see you'll see from the program the variety of different

activities, cultural events across the borough from a wide range of people.

Thank you Councillor Laconola.

Councillor Corner.

Thank you Madam Mayor.

One of the many things that the council should make sure that it's doing as we approach the

London Borough of Culture year is making sure that the walk routes into the borough are open

and safe and welcoming and that cultural sites that have previously hosted events

during the popular Wandsworth art fringe in recent years are also available for

events. Sadly this is not the case at Riverside Walk in Nine Elms where the

Nine Elms pavilion has been occupied by a long -running seemingly never -ending

protest that has caused huge disruption to residents, blocked a walkway into the borough

and shows no sign of ending, despite the representations that residents themselves have made in this

town hall, most notably at the December meeting.

Now, since that meeting in December, it has emerged that there are many, many actions

that the Council—

Madam Mayor, could we ask that he comes to a question, please?

Sorry, I think people's patience is being tried.

If you stop talking, I'll come to the question.

There are many things the Council could be doing to take action against this protest

that has more than passed its end by date, including passing a by -law about protests

in the area and also engaging more with protest planners.

What is the cabinet member going to do to make sure that all cultural sites and areas

in the borough are available for the Wandsworth borough of culture events, including the Nine

Pavilion and will she commit to taking action to make sure these these sites

are renovated, made to look lovely for the year and most importantly actually

available to use.

Councillor Acunola.

Thank you for your question. I think it's very true to say that a lot of our

organizations and I think not just in Wandsworth but those across the whole of London, the

cultural organizations are really suffering from a lack of funding and support.

So I would ask that Councillor Corner, maybe you would be able to go to as many of the

borough of culture events as you can, show your support for these cultural organizations,

maybe pay for a couple of them as well because every penny really does count into ensuring

that they stay open and that they're useful for many years to come. Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Akinola. Before I move on to the next question I'd just like to

say thank you to Councillor Ambash for his kind words and also I would like to

congratulate Wandsworth for becoming London Borough of Culture 2025 and well

Well done to Councillor Akinola for all your hard work.

I can feel your passion for the borough of culture.

At the launch I did actually meet lots of excited residents and people who were really

forthcoming with the idea.

So well done for all your hard work.

Moving on to question number 13.

Councillor McLeod.

12, sorry.

Councillor Austin.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Number 12.

Yes, to Councillor Belton, sorry, thank you.

Thank you.

Can I say, first of all, Councillor Austan asked how many times a standing order procedure

was used to stop planning applications since the year 2000.

The answer is 13.

there were also three of the last council meeting

that didn't actually get put

because of the somewhat unusual situation

of the minority party walking out,

depriving Councilor Austin of the chance

of making about three speeches, I think.

I feel sorry for him.

One of the problems that I faced

in minority for many years,

let me just mention this to the minority party in general,

was that if you played your cards too powerfully,

then the majority party changed the standing orders.

Now, the leader of the opposition said,

we never did that to you.

Does he really want a lesson from me?

I could list a dozen without even trying to think of it,

the number of standing orders that you changed.

That will be at a later date, however.

Thank you very much.

The point really of the question is though

to highlight what Councillor Austan talks about

as the undemocratic nature of it.

In fact, he ought to have thought a little bit further

about how he could be flexible, as I used to have to do.

And in fact, you will find in the agenda tonight,

under the planning applications report,

report number three, specific mention

about the applications in Wittenhall way

that he wanted to talk about.

And if he could have persuaded his colleagues

to take a debate on them as being sufficiently important,

he could have discussed them.

It is not true, whatever he may think,

it is not true that this majority party

prevented that happening.

What the majority, it is not true,

you could have raised it there.

What the majority party has done,

what the majority party has done

is to get rid of an obsolete standing order.

and I say obsolete, you will notice, you will notice,

you will notice that the last time it was used was 2013.

And that is because since 2013,

the regulations about the planning committee have changed,

and it is now an executive committee in its own right,

like the licensing committee.

You cannot stop a licensing committee decision,

you never have been able to,

and actually you can't really stop

a planning committee decision

because to take part in a planning meeting discussion

and decision you've had to have had training

in planning applications law

and most of the members of this council have not had that.

However, you could if you wanted move a motion

on the item that I mentioned,

a vote of no confidence in the planning application members.

You could do that, I'll just give you a tip

for future reference.

I doubt whether you'll win it,

but you could in fact move it.

We did not do that, and we have not stopped discussion.

The answer is 13, and I reject the accusation

that it's been in any way undemocratic.

What we have done is abolish a procedure

which wasted time in the planning process.

And I thought your party was as

as keen on stopping the waste of time

through the planning law as our party was.

I've obviously mistaken you want to delay things

just for the fun of delaying it.

I think that's it.

Councillor Osten, supplementary,

but please kind of keep it swift

because we've passed the time.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Firstly, I'd just like to thank the chairman

of the Planning Applications Committee for being the only member of the Administration

to give a straight answer to a question. With the Whitnall Way planning application taking

393 days to come to committee, I don't think that Councillor Belton can blame stop -nosis

for delaying the process. I also mentioned that the planning applications are for note

the individual, not for decision and therefore a motion can't be moved against them. So can

I asked what is he so afraid of?

Councillor Belton.

I beg your pardon, what was that last phrase?

I really didn't catch it.

What's?

What are you so afraid of?

Stop it.

Councillor Austin, I am not in the least bit afraid.

But, but can I just suggest to you

that there are no planning grounds at all

for your position on this particular application.

and the only ones that you could conceivably have had

in terms of densities or bad planning grounds

did not I notice apply to five applications

made by the previous council which infilled on estates

at much higher densities than this

and if you doubt me, try round or close

which as I got the figure is slightly wrong

in the committee but actually, actually six times

over the density we're talking about here.

So it's not in the same order.

Randall Close, Gideon Road, I beg your pardon,

Madam Mayor, Pat Moore, I can't quite see it,

Lytton Road and Platt Stemsmead.

You actually passed five major infill applications

and I commend you for it and I voted for them.

The only difference with this one,

which is addressing a need that we all recognize,

is that this was about council housing.

That was the only difference.

And if you were to take on an argument with me

or with any member of the labor group

about the worthiness of council housing in public

in any ordinance you like, I'm game for it any day.

committee.

JudgeUSB turn quickly, what's your right of

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Councillor Boswell.

Our second supplementary madam mayor.

I thought you said we'd gone past the time.

Thank you, Chair and planning committee,

Councillor best, for your wonderful and

the history of planning applications. Can you see any reason why these particular stop

notices, these three, have been stopped? Is there any connection between them? Because

they're not particularly contentious.

Thank you, Councillor Boswell.

I should say they're not particularly contentious

except for Councillor Austin

and the people he managed to persuade in a violation.

Let's be honest and straightforward about it.

And let's be straightforward about it.

And Councillor Dickerton went to extraordinary lengths

talking them through it, and so the case is.

and anyone who doesn't know the pushing forward

planning applications almost anywhere

has its level of unpopularity.

Nonetheless, we supported you.

To answer the specifics of Councilor Buswell,

I kind of answered it before.

There were no planning grounds.

The development review panel said it was a good application,

well designed, it is actually in just about

the least dense estate in the borough,

it's one of the greenest places in the borough,

it is very open and accessible,

one of the main complaints actually lives

about 100 yards away and is background to the Putney Heath,

I mean it is absolutely a beautiful environment

and the one thing this council does not want to do

and I know this is true of Council of Decadent

does not want to spoil the environment

of these delightful estates.

We value them and protect them

but we also recognize there's a housing shortage

in this borough, there's a housing shortage in London

and the one and only thing that identifies these three

as being worthy of you stopping it,

is it's because it's for council talents

of the people in housing need.

And round or close, in my ward, six times the density

you're going to make available for private sale.

We flipped it and they're now council housing

and I'm approve of that too.

If that's the platform you want to stand on,

then stand on it next year and you'll lose again.

the

recommendations of the Council.

Thank you, Councillors.

That was the end of question time. We now turn to report

number 1, items for decision. I move reception of that report

and will ask the Council whether they approve the recommendations

in paragraph 1.

year 2021. Proposed pay policy for 2025 to 26.

Paper number 25 to 93. Other recommendations approved?

Unanimously? Yeah. Paragraph 2.

I just want to encourage our

indicate for against or abstain when your name is called

council Acanola for council ambush for council Anan the council apps

council Austin abstain council airs for councilor Belton

councilor Burchill councilor Boswell councilor Brooks

Councillor Caddy. Abstain.

Councillor Colkley. For.

Councillor Cooper. For.

Councillor Corner. Abstain.

Councillor Critchard. For.

Councillor Crivelli. Abstain.

Councillor Davies. For.

Councillor Dickardam. For.

Councillor Dobres. For.

Councillor French. For.

Councillor Fraser. For.

Councillor Gasser. For.

Councillor Gossein. Councillor Govindia. Councillor Mrs Graham.

Abstain. Councillor Graham. Councillor Grimston. Against.

Councillor Hedges. Abstain. Councillor Henderson. For.

Councillor Hogg. Councillor Humphreys. Councillor Ireland.

Councillor Jeffries. Councillor Justin. Councillor Lawless.

Councillor Lue, Councillor Locker, Councillor Marshall, Councillor Mayocres, Councillor

McLeod, Councillor Osbourne, Councillor Owens, Councillor Paul, Councillor Pridham, Councillor

Jones abstain councillor Rigby for councillor stock councillor Sutter's

abstain councillor sweet councillor tiller for councillor vera

for Councillor White for Councillor Worrell for and Councillor Yates for

The recommendations have been approved, 33 for, one against and 20 abstentions.

Moving on to paragraph three, proposed additions.

I am under strict instructions not to do this, but I cannot help in circumstances.

As the minority party have chosen to abstain on the most important decision of the year,

do you think we can dispense with them and ask them to leave every meeting?

We will gladly accept Councillor Grimston as a much more honourable and worthy opposition.

Sorry, Councillor Belton, I cannot do that.

Moving on to paragraph number three,

proposed additions to the general fund capital program.

Paper number 25 to 84, are there recommendations approved?

Are we going for a vote?

Okay, all those for?

All those against?

Any abstentions?

The recommendations have been approved, 33 -4, 0 against and 21 abstentions.

moving on to paragraph 4, Council's Treasury policy for 2025 to 26 paper

number 25 to 86 are the recommendations approved

all agreed

so the recommendations have been aggrieved agrees agreed sorry moving on

Paragraph number five, the Democracy Review, paper number 25 to 104.

Could I invite Councillor Apps to speak?

Thank you very much, Madam Mayor.

Thank you very much for the privilege of speaking on our democratic renewal of the Council.

This debate was requested by the opposition, but I'm very pleased to discuss our plans

that we are very proud of and we are ambitious to continue reform.

Can I also say thank you to my husband for being here tonight.

Just like our council, he's always prepared to listen.

Many councillors across the country admire, envy even, our low council tax, our sound

financial management, our green spaces, our sense of community, our weekly bin collection,

our food waste collection, our free bulky waste, but they don't admire our governance

system. Our committees have been described by experts as unclear, of questionable value,

our council like a sixth form debating society. We've had a thumbs down from the LGA peer

review from the Centre for Scrutiny, Governance and Scrutiny and from many councillors and

some public. Wandsworth's unique style of governance does not have many fans, but I'm

very pleased to see them all here tonight. As a new councillor in 2022, it's taken me

to now to really assess the governance system. It's really antiquated. It was a retro system

and when it actually was introduced in 2020,

pretending to be something else.

It's opaque, it's unclear in its decision making,

it's flat out with officers and counselors

in an endless treadmill of paper

with insufficient time to even look up,

as counselor Grimston often reminds us.

For decades, what overview and scrutiny committees have done

has been dictated by the cabinet and by officers.

They've been asked to approve decisions just weeks or even days before decisions were due

to be made anyway. It's like asking what you think of your present on Christmas morning.

Soon, Overview and Scrutiny Committee members, our backbenchers, will decide which decisions

are really important to look at. They will give their ideas and recommend at a time when

cabinet can still listen. They can help with policy development. They can be more strategic.

In other words, they can give value to the work of backbenchers.

The second proposal is to define key decisions. Wandsworth's unusual that it hasn't defined

key decisions and it can help both in sort of looking at the financial threshold and

also looking at the number of wards and so forth that are affected. What that allows

cabinet and also scrutiny committees and scrutiny members to do is to clearly

identify some of the big decisions. They can also look at some of the others but

it helps them to define their scope. And we are also reforming call -in. Currently

our call -in system is not fit for purpose it's simply 24 hours for

councillors to call in with no guidance. We will now in common with almost all

other councils extend the deadline so councils have longer to ask for things

to be called in and have a committee that is designed

to consider the serious requests that are made.

Tonight, I suspect that we'll be told

that we haven't considered this properly,

that we haven't given ample time,

that we need to look at all this again.

But actually, if you actually look at it,

the Democracy Review has had more time on the clock

for consultation than practically any other policy

that this council's looked at.

We started off with the LGA peer review,

We then had in -depth consultation meetings

with many councils meeting with the

Centre for Governance and Scrutiny,

both separately and also together.

We've had a task and finish group,

one of the first that our councils had,

that has looked over these very issues

that we're taking through tonight

and discussed them at length.

We've also had reports on the Democracy Review

going many times to the General Purposes Committee.

And finally, the ultimate arbiter tonight

is full council itself.

These proposals are enabling.

They're about bringing us into line

with practically every other council in the country.

But now the real work starts.

We're a listening council.

We want you as well to help us shape these policies.

Let's consider now together,

and we've got a whole program of meetings to consider,

how we give the public more real say in our decisions.

how we get better at cross -cutting issues,

and how we move from a culture of political posturing

to being reflective and robust.

We need all councillors to help shape that work.

We urge you to support these proposals

and to make the most of a new system

designed to allow all councillors

to contribute to the effective running of our council.

Thanks very much.

Thank you, Councillor Apse.

Councillor Peter Graham.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Tonight, the paper and Councillor Apse have spoken about CFGS, the Centre for Governance

and Scrutiny.

This is what they say about changing the constitution.

Changes should be considered by a working group and then go to a formal council committee

like audit or general purposes before being submitted for final approval at council.

Most of the changes before us tonight went straight to the Executive, which is not a

formal council committee and excludes the opposition, it excludes backbenchers and it

even excludes Councillor Apps.

At Monday's meeting, the Leader of the Council spoke in generalities.

There were no comments or questions, and the changes were nodded through in under two minutes.

The final approval tonight is our first sight of these changes and the only debate.

Because this is an item for decision, we have no ability to ask questions, no ability to

move amendments, and no ability to respond point by point.

We just have a speech.

Repeatedly, in private and in public,

we have stressed to Councillor Apps and others

our willingness to engage on change.

We are not against change,

but our offer has been repeatedly ignored.

The working group has never met in person.

It's only met twice virtually.

It's never discussed a work plan.

And rather than agreeing options,

was presented with pre -written ones.

It didn't even support those as the notes from officers proof.

Tonight's papers say that the subject matter of the proposals was considered at general

purposes.

That isn't true either.

The following changes have never been considered before tonight.

Creating a new general overview and scrutiny committee.

Not allowing for council to select its chair.

Only having two opposition members on it and removing the need to consult them about when

it meets. Removing every OSC's ability to produce a report that's relevant to the

borough if it doesn't relate to specific council function. Removing the ability of

OSC chairs, your chairs, to call in a decision. Removing their ability and

ours to refer papers up to council. Removing every single member's right to

get an SO83A notice scrutinized by an OSC. Putting such limiting

on restrictions on call -in that it can barely be used at all, contrary to the law and statutory

guidance. Introducing a new six months exemption for related decisions which are left completely

undefined. Imposing a blackout on officer decisions worth up to a million pounds if

they relate to a non -executive function. Ending advance publicity for all decisions under

1 million and any requirement for those decisions to be taken in public and removing documentation

and recorded reasons if the decision is below £214 ,000. That is 14 unconsidered changes,

changes we didn't see and I could go on. The threshold for key decisions will be double

what is dubiously asserted as the average in London and at least five times what applies

now. It is a blatant power grab. For any papers that still get written after tonight, you're

removing the requirement for them to come to committee with no replacement system agreed

or even outlined. Your call -in threshold requires us to prove not only that an action breaches

the policy framework or budget, but that it breaches the principles of decision -making

as well. Nothing could be a greater breach of those principles than tonight's paper.

Yet we find the opposite of intervention. And you will whip these changes through as

one by one rules are removed or become meaningless, swept aside in a slew of arbitrary rulings.

We can't get our rights upheld now. We can't even get basic answers. As councillors, we are democratically elected, but this council has ceased to operate democratically.

Tonight's procedure is a farce. And once these changes are passed, we will have to resort to rifling through papers in Richmond to find out what's happening in our own borough.

In its consistent contempt for the rights of members,

the Executive is showing contempt,

not just for its own backbenchers,

and not just for opposition councillors.

We are representatives.

Your contempt is contempt for the residents who elected us.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Osbourne.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

I think what has brought many of these comments

to the surface is a basic problem

with the way the council operates

and the trap in which we all find ourselves

of a timetable and a structure which is outmoded.

And what these papers before you tonight offering

is a blueprint for something different.

Yes, it is moving forward at pace, and we have paid a bit of a price in the level of

consultation we would have liked.

Although what we have done is we have inserted in the future an extra meeting of the General

Purposes Committee for looking at some of this stuff.

We have also created a series of visits to other councils which will take a much more

discursive form in their structure and their examination of what happens in other boroughs

in London and other systems we are trying to build into the process to make sure that

people from all sides of the Chamber are able to examine, interrogate and move forward.

Are you asking me to…

I will give way.

Can I ask Councillor Osborne one simple question?

Does he accept that none of those 14 changes I listed ever came near the working group

that he leads or the general purposes committee?

I'm not putting that on him, but does he accept those 14 changes that we want to pass tonight,

or he wants to pass tonight, we never got to examine those.

We've never seen them and this is the first time they're being discussed.

Actually, I don't fully accept that at all.

No, I don't, because in the meetings that we had, we went as deep as we possibly could.

And I accept, by the way, there were genuine disagreements in the informal meetings that

took place. For example, there was a disagreement about where the locus of decision -making should

be on much of this. The Executive or General Purposes Committee, a genuine disagreement.

We took advice from the CFGS on which was most important. They said to us, look, your

General Purposes Committee may be the parent body for your discussion, but the decision -making

place must be the executive. We took that advice and that was the advice they gave in

a meeting at this town hall. A live meeting, not one of the informal meetings, but a live

meeting face to face. I take the point about the need for a greater number of face to face

meetings. The point here is this. I think that the position we are offering up, is it

It is not partisan. It is relying entirely on advice, procedure, practice, good practice,

expertise beyond the boroughs of this Council. Are you surely not asking me to give away

one more time?

Very briefly then.

Thank you to Councillor Osborne. If you do really want to seek a cross -party consensus,

and you have already admitted in your speech that we do need to look at this again at a

future meeting of the general purposes committee that is specially be called, how on earth

can you endorse this vote to the Council today?

Okay, as I said, we must move forward at pace, wholesale and with a new style of work. That

is precisely what we are going to do. The question, the objectives which we have set

out for this Council are greater and better decision making, more cross -cutting, more

strategic decision -making, the kind of things which is going to give better decision -making

in the interests of the people of this borough, the residents of Wandsworth.

Look at what you think they might want from us.

They will want, yes, they will want a party system where an alternative view is put.

Of course they do, but they do not want the kind of barracking and bickering and hostility

and suspicion that has been dominating this council for months now. They want us to move

forward with something quite different, and we are offering up something quite different.

Is it going to be palatable for all? No, it is not. I understand that. I understand that

there are going to be disagreements with it. Let me put on record that I deeply regret

The fact that so much of this work has boiled down to majority decision -making when I would

have preferred consensus, and I passionately hope that in future, as we go forward with

greater consensus, greater consultation, we will be able to move forward in a more collegiate

way on these decisions.

And I am committed to making sure that that is what hangs on these papers.

I am saying to you tonight that we must move forward at pace, we must move forward wholesale

and we must move forward with a new style of working because it is a new beginning for

this borough and it is in the interest of the residents of Wandsworth Council.

Thank you, Councillor Osborne. Are the recommendations approved? All those in favour?

All those in favour?

all those against

So the recommendations have been approved.

28 in favour and 21 against.

Moving on to item 9 is the matters of local or topical interest.

We have received notice of two matters to consider this evening.

Councillor Gossain, you have up to three minutes to speak on the matter being raised by the

Conservative group, which is poor report from the independent regulator of social housing.

Would you like to start?

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Madam Mayor, I've lived in social housing all my life.

I know how much it matters when a council gets housing right.

And I know first hand as a husband and father the cost when they get it wrong.

That's why I ran for office to make housing safer, better and fairer.

Labour ran on that promise too.

And now three years into their four year term, it's official.

They haven't just failed to deliver change, they've delivered failure itself.

Large scale, deep rooted, institutionally entrenched failure.

Last week, the Independent Regulator for Social Housing confirmed what residents already know.

Labour's housing policy isn't just failing, it's failing on a catastrophic scale.

80 % of communal areas and 40 % of homes had no electrical safety test.

1 ,800 overdue fast safety remedial actions all over a year late.

Only 6 .5 % of homes surveyed.

This isn't just mismanagement, it's negligence. And when the stamming report landed on their

desks, did they act? Did they own up? No, they sat on it. For three weeks they concealed it,

scrambling for an excuse. Let's be clear, this isn't about a problem they inherited,

it's about a manifesto promise they made and now it's about a promise they've broken.

them. Labour promised safer better maintained housing. Instead they neglected it. Labour

promised to listen to residents instead they ignored them. Labour promised to fix social

housing instead they're breaking it. So what's the reality after three years of Labour? Neglected

safety tests, ignored fire hazards, incomplete and outdated housing records, residents locked

out of decision -making. Yet they always find the money for something else. Millions funneled

into grand projects but not into fire safety. Master plans for future developments while

homes people live in now go neglected. Running up a six million overspend while failing to

carry out basic inspections. This council is taken out alone with a lifetime cost of

one and a half billion. Debt residents will repay for decades. A lifetime's burden signed,

sealed, delivered without hesitation.

And yet when it comes to the most basic safeguards,

the inspections, repairs, far safety measures

that protect lives, suddenly there's hesitation.

Suddenly there's delay.

Suddenly there's just not enough.

And while labor dithers, families and children,

just like my own, are left in unsafe homes.

The message to residents is clear.

Labor will mortgage your future for its ideology,

but when it comes to what you need now, you're just an afterthought.

Madam Mayor, no amount of spin, no desktop review, no last -minute recovery plan can change

the facts.

Labour has failed its residents and failures this serious cannot go unanswered.

When policy fails this comprehensively, when people are left in unsafe homes and unheard,

they deserve more than excuses.

As the Imam said this evening, they deserve accountability.

Residents aren't fooled by Labour.

They see through Labour's excuses and they will remember Labour's broken promises.

Thank you, Councillor.

Councillor Dickerton, you have three minutes.

Would you wish to respond?

Thank you.

We're very disappointed with this result.

We accept the recommendations of the Regulative Social Housing fully.

And, you know, honestly, it's a disappointment.

We were, you know, we were upset.

And I think the most important thing, and the thing that I'm slightly frustrated with this speech that was just given,

is we need to commit to residents right now on record about the safety concerns that were raised in that report.

Because I think it's really important that residents feel safe in their homes.

That's something I'm completely committed to.

And it's something that is deeply important to us.

You'll be aware that there are four different categories

that the regulator for social housing measures on.

Safety and quality, transparency, neighborhood

and community and tenancy.

And the reasons we think we got to C3,

so just for the general public, there's C1 down to C4.

And we got to C3, which is needs improvement.

It was not on transparency, neighborhood, or tenancy,

but on those safety and quality standards.

And there are three things that stood out in the report.

The first mentioned was electrical safety certificates.

Now, they had not been a legal requirement

previous to the Regulator for Social Housing.

In 2021, the previous Conservative administration

recognized that that was the direction

that things were going in.

And we entered into a contract

to do those safety certificates.

And we didn't manage that contract properly.

And that contract, as of the publication date of the review,

shows that we are now up to 75 % and 70 in those units.

So for anyone who's watching at home,

I want them to know that they can feel safe

when it comes to those safety requirements.

Now, the second one was to do with fire safety.

And again, that is very emotive.

And I was hoping you weren't going to try

and scare residents because you've got to put those 1800

in the context of the 38 ,000 high risk fire remedial actions

that we had completed.

Those 1800, they're administration things

that we need to get done that we haven't done fast enough.

But they were basically, I'm going to use a word that's, I don't mean this word in the

way that it's understood, but it's a kind of technical term by the FRAs, the fire risk

assessment.

These are what we describe as trivial remedial actions.

So this is things like no smoking signs in corridors, not things that are the major safety

concerns with fire safety.

Now it's not acceptable that some of those have been waiting for a year or so to be done.

That's not good.

Within the next two weeks, 700 of them will have been.

But part of the reason that we have these 1800 left over

is because we focused very specifically

on the very high risk ones and got through 38 ,000.

You've got to understand in Wandsworth,

we have a much higher number of tower blocks

and buildings with severe kind of fire safety

assessment needs and so we have a workload issue.

But that's not an excuse, safety comes first.

But I have to echo this publicly

so residents feel safe in their homes

because those two criteria are not criteria that I would argue

and make our homes unsafe.

And then the final one is to do the stock condition survey.

And this is where I really agree with the regulator.

And I don't want to bash the administration that

came before me too much, but we kind of inherited

your methodology, and we stuck with your methodology.

So in 2003, the council did a 1 % sample of its stock.

That was the usual RICS industry guidance

that most councils did. In 2012, you did about 5 % of the stock in a stock condition survey.

And in 2022, we inherited the stock condition survey that was meant to be of 10%. We got

access to 6 .5%. And obviously, that doesn't mean that we don't enter more than 6 .5 % of

our homes. The argument of the old RIC's guidance was that you did a sample survey. And you

know, Ravi's sitting here. Ravi, you know that part of the reason the sample survey

was successful for this council was it allowed you to hold a hundred percent

decency rate because you had quite a small sample. Now we inherited that

methodology, okay. I've never heard any of you come and argue against using that

methodology. I think the regular rate for social housing is correct to say that

that methodology is out of fashion, it doesn't work anymore.

The reason it doesn't work is because the basis is that lots of people are

making, and I might go a bit over because I think it's a really serious issue and

and I want to make sure that the opposition.

You've got other motions to get to.

Okay, okay, okay.

But I just, on stock condition,

we obviously go and inspect many properties through repairs.

So residents call up,

so we're going in and out of properties all the time.

This is just the methodological separate exercise

that we do for stock condition survey.

But big housing associations have seen

that sometimes an older lady, a little old lady,

might not call in that repair.

And so we are moving, for the first time,

you know, this has never happened before,

we're the ones doing it as an administration,

to 100 % rolling stock condition survey.

You can end up with guillotine later.

Okay, you don't want me to talk about this.

I wanted to be open and transparent on an issue

that you think I should resign over.

I want to stay stuck in his timing.

Yeah, okay, fine.

So, I'm happy to take further written questions on this,

but I just want to say that we are going to be meeting

with the regulator every month,

and we're going to make sure that all of the things

that have been picked up are addressed in the coming weeks,

and we'll give regular updates to the leader

on the issues of social housing in this part.

Thank you, Councillor Dickerton, for the reassurance.

Moving on to the second matter of local or topical interest,

could I ask Councillor Worrall to speak on the issue being

raised by the Labour group, which is delivering on Wandsworth

Council's commitment to strengthening the voluntary

they often think of small groups of people doing good around the borough.

In reality, however, the VCS is a rich and diverse collection of organisations, skills

and people which actually brings in over £18 billion to the UK economy every year.

And here in Wandsworth, we have cause to celebrate.

We have over 800 amazing organisations.

You only have to think about Batsy Dogs Home, Wandsworth Carers Centre, The Rotary Club,

Catherine Lowe Centre, Fersdowne Project or the Southwest London Law Centres just to name a few.

The VCS or the Von Dijk and Community Sector underpins our social infrastructure.

It helps deliver public services, meets needs, connects communities and individuals

and helps address systemic inequality in our society.

The sector has a deep rooted trust with those who are often not heard in our communities

and helps provide solutions, mobilization, development, and empowers both communities and individuals.

By the nature of the sector, they are the public voice. They challenge us, they hold us through account,

and importantly, they are also our critical friend and our partners.

The VCS often has the ability to be more flexible and innovative in developing solutions to complex problems

as was shown by the COVID pandemic.

In comparison, bureaucratic organizations were often slow to mobilize and to respond.

However, the sector is not without its challenges. High demand with limited resources,

often complex and difficult monitoring processes, small organizational structures, often one or two people,

and of course being dependent on a large number of volunteers who give their time, their experience,

and yet have lives outside of volunteering.

In the last general election,

the Von Trieu sector manifested,

the Von Trieu sector isn't nice to have,

it doesn't exist for handouts.

And here in Wandsworth we understand this.

We recognize the richness and experience of the sector

and what it actually brings to us.

And as a listening council,

we are committed to resourcing and working in partnership.

I believe this strategy will strengthen the sector's

influence our decision -making processes, help break down style of working, contribute to

local democracy, and most importantly, provide the places and spaces that people trust, and

so help bring us together across our divides.

This document is a collaboration and also is a trust -building in action.

It is our commitment to shared values and working, and it is also a journey that all

of us as councillors have a part to play in a partnership in making one's worth fairer,

safer and sustainable. And finally, I'd like to say a big thank you to the officers, to

the volunteers, to the council staff who gave their time, their insight and most of all

their commitment in taking this initiative forward. A big thank you to you all.

and I think that's a really important part of the strategy.

Thank you, Councillor.

Councillor Akalola, you have three minutes if you wish to

respond. Thank you so much, Councillor.

I think the words are absolutely excellent and that's exactly how

I feel about the voluntary sector.

and I do believe that this strategy does represent a new era for how we, Wandsworth Council,

do work with the voluntary sector. I think we've come quite a long way in the past two

and a half years. Before 2022, the voluntary sector had no relationship with the council

and so we set about getting an organisation, Rocket Science, to write a report about our relationship with them.

So now, in 2025, we are actively listening to them, we're investing in them and we're working alongside them,

which I think we can all agree is a huge improvement.

It's a big shift from the Wandsworth way, and I'm not talking about the radio show that we'll all be listening to

in a couple of weeks.

But it's a shift to place -based relationships

focused on equitable and inclusive local growth.

The report that Rocket Science commissioned,

if you all didn't read it, it was quite a few pages,

did say that it identified quite a few barriers.

Number one, that there was no strategic vision

between Wandsworth Council and the voluntary sector.

Two, that there was inconsistent,

and I would say non -existent data sharing between both organisations and this helped

to make the voluntary sector feel very unappreciated. Three, there was an on -resourcing of marginalised

communities which meant that they had no voice and they had no influence despite, as Councillor

Warrall has said, actually delivering a lot of the services that we need. And four, there

was limited and no access to community buildings, including council buildings. So this new strategy

does reset the relationship and these issues. So we have allocated, as everyone knows, or

everyone has heard today, space in the council, VCS hub, so that they, so the voluntary sector

are in the heart of our community. So this is providing them with space within the council

building. We've approved hundreds of thousands of pounds for capacity building for these

organisations to help with infrastructure and innovation and these are all key to placemaking.

The VCS strategy of course is not stagnant, this is a working document. It's a road map

for long -term change with them which was created obviously through two years of co -production

ensuring that small groups and grassroots organizations, as well as well -known organizations, were heard.

This creates a clear process for the sector to shape priorities and the KPI so we can hold ourselves and them to account.

So finally, yeah, anyway, so this is just the start.

This strategy is about creating a sector that thrives.

That was the end.

Moving on, the Whips have agreed that item 19 will be taken next.

Item 19 is a motion on protecting one's worths parks and commons

Can I ask councillor Brooks to move and councillor Caddy to second the motion in their names? I move the motion. Thank you seconded

Thank you. An amendment to the motion has also been circulated

May I ask councillor Gasser and councillor Calcullo to move and second the amendment?

Thank you

Can I invite Councillor Cady to give her motion.

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

When I listen to residents talk about why they love

living in Wandsworth, one theme consistently comes up

again and again.

We have beautiful, well -managed parks and commons.

Whether you're a teenager wanting to kick a ball around,

or hang out somewhere green and relaxing with your mates,

a mum with kids going for a walk or to feed the ducks,

a dog walker, a runner or just a nature lover, our parks genuinely enhance everyday life

for tens of thousands of people and they're also a truly universal provision. Anyone can

access them pretty much any time and they're completely free. So this tells me that whatever

changes we make to the stewardship of these wonderful assets should be incredibly carefully

scrutinized and considered. The principle of if it ain't broke don't fix it should

probably largely apply. So it was with some trepidation that I saw the changes

to the events policy were included in our environment papers. To be honest, given

the really positive rhetoric from the opposition on our open spaces, I was

fairly confident that they would want to protect them as much as I do, so I was

really surprised and disappointed to see the suggestions being made. I guess one

One of my questions was initially whether the cabinet member, and subsequently the cabinet

more widely, even read the proposed changes, because to me they seemed so damaging to the

governance of our open spaces. Perhaps a hint at the answer to that came when the opposition

immediately agreed to the Wandsworth, Max's excellent proposal to reinstate the consultation

requirement for Friends groups, also on our list of suggested amendments. Why on earth

would the cabinet member propose such a change? Surely, surely she values the input of these

groups and can see that they offer value when they are consulted in advance as well as rather

than just retrospectively. These proposals may be only going for consultation, as the

committee kept reminding us, but they are the suggested changes, the positive choice

of this administration. Why are they watering down the policy that exists to protect our

commons and parks from overuse and damage from events. I was slightly concerned that

it was financial, although again the cabinet member denies this, and without re -running

the finance debate, clearly the council is in dire financial straits. But to govern is

to choose, and there are other savings that should be chosen before compromising our parks

and commons.

On the specifics of the changes, just picking out the most egregious examples, taking out

requirement not to damage sports pitches. Wandsworth is already one of the worst places

for children's sport being cancelled due to poor pitches. Kids who want to get outside

and play rugby or football at the weekend will have even more sessions compromised.

Removing the 10pm time limit. No one wants events disturbing the peace late at night

or have noisy crowds leaving late through residential streets.

Removing the consecutive weekends rule. Give the grass and the residents a rest at least

every other week. Some people only get to use the Commons at weekends.

And then finally, taking away the formal noise limit in decibels. I just can't understand

why anyone would want to water this down. There's been a suggestion that another part

of the proposal on noise strengthens the rules. Well, great, but don't remove the decibel

limit which gives events a clear maximum to have to adhere to.

To be perfectly honest, the only complaints that I've really heard about open spaces in

on Wandsworth are where events have gone wrong, such as the fairground on Wandsworth Common.

That would of course imply that tighter regulation is needed rather than more flexibility. Far

and away the biggest complaints that I hear about events are those based in Merton and

Lambeth, which is why I was truly horrified at committee to hear that one of the reasons

being given to change our policy was to bring it in line with neighbouring boroughs. I think

we can safely say that that is the last thing our residents want. And if you are in any

doubt go and have a five minute conversation with anyone who lives near Clapham Common.

So for goodness sake do the right thing, let's have a cross party rethink of this and make

proposals for changes that actually enhance our parks.

Thank you, Councillor Caddy. Councillor Colclay.

Thank you Madam Mayor. To members of the public who are watching you may be concerned about what

the opposition party has said so I want to provide a bit of reassurance. Yes we're making changes to

the events policy because we want to see more events happening in our parks and open spaces

but we will also strengthen protections in several areas such as consultation with residents and

protecting areas of ecological importance such as Councillor Gasser had highlighted earlier. At the

At the Environment Committee meeting where we discussed this paper, the Tories came up with a bunch of points that they didn't like about the policy and wanted to amend.

They had the option to give us the amendments before the meeting. That way we could have an informed discussion on each point and maybe use some of them.

But did they do that? No. They tried to amend the paper even though none of us had read their amendment, meaning that none of us could support it.

Why do they do this? So they can put on their leaflets, so they can post about it on social media, so they can collect email addresses with their unnecessary petition.

And then what do you know they brought it up twice here in full counter to just because they think it's a nice juicy topic

To use to wag on the administration

It's all about their political gain and trying to win the next election

By worrying residents that we're going to host horrible events in their parks and open spaces

Even though the ones who have Tories are the party that tried to bring Formula E to Bassey Park

So we won't take any lectures from them about cash grabbing

and the most ludicrous thing about this motion is that

the paper, the policy, is a draft paper.

This is only the first step,

and we're now going to consult with our dedicated friends

and residents groups, our volunteer groups,

to make sure it works well for everyone.

So please withhold your judgment

until we see the final paper,

and stop trying to whip up fear among our residents.

So I'll say again, what my colleagues and I said

at the committee, we are committed

to protecting our green spaces.

We're just updating our policy

so we can get more out of our parks.

And no, that doesn't mean we're going to be hosting a drum and bass rave on Wandsworth

Common or Formula E on Battersea Park because we care about what happens in our parks and

we want to help all users from all backgrounds, as Councillor Kelly said, enjoy them to their

fullest.

For that reason, we've proposed an amendment to the motion reaffirming the Councillor's

commitment to taking care of our parks and open spaces, but leaving out the politicised

messaging that the Tories put in it.

And I say again to my colleagues opposite

on the environment committee, next time,

please give us notice, collaborate with us,

and that way you'll have to have a chance

to have a positive influence on policy

instead of just trying to get some zingers

to put on your leaf alerts.

Thank you.

Thank you, Councillor Caulkley.

Councillor Abbs.

Thank you. Madam Mayor, it has been a very enjoyable debate and I am sorry not to hear

from other colleagues. The Council has now sat for more than two and a half hours and

we have a lot more to do. I move that the remaining business of the Council on the agenda

is disposed of under the procedure in Standing Order 32.

Do we have a seconder?

As the Council has said for more than two and a half hours, it has been moved and seconded

that the remaining items of business on tonight's agenda be disposed of in accordance with the

provisions of Standing Order Number 32, which means that the necessary motions to deal with

reports for decisions shall be formally moved and seconded and immediately voted on without

debate.

Is the motion to deal with the remaining business in this way agreed?

All those in favour?

All those against?

Any abstentions?

The motion has been moved with 31 in favour, 20 against and zero abstentions.

So now we are going to be voting on the motion itself.

So all those in favour of the amendment.

The amendment of item 19.

And those against?

Any abstentions?

So the motion is carried with 31 in four.

The amendment is carried.

Sorry, the amendment is carried.

So there's a 31 in favour, 19 against and one abstention.

motion.

As the amendment is carried, we are going to go now to the vote of the substantive motion.

So all those in favour?

As amended. All those in favour?

All those against? Any abstentions?

No abstentions. Okay. The motion is carried with 31 in favour,

20 against and zero abstentions. Moving on to Item No. 11 is the paper on the

interim senior management arrangements. Are those recommendations agreed?

So I look forward to welcoming Mr. Travis.

We now turn to Executive Report No. 2.

I move reception of the report.

Can paragraphs 1 to 13 and paragraphs 14 in the supplementary paper be received for information?

Thank you.

Item 12 is from the Planning Applications Committee, Report No. 3.

Councillor Belton, would you like to move it?

I move the report of the Planning Applications Committee.

Thank you.

Moving on to item number 14 is from the Joint Staffing Committee.

The report from this meeting has been considered under report number 1, items for decision

and in item 11, interim senior management arrangements.

Is that for information?

That's it.

Item 15 is from the Health and Wellbeing Board, report No. 5, Councillor Henderson.

Madam Mayor, thank you.

Thank you for your excellent chairing of this Council over the past year.

Paragraphs 1 to 6 for information.

Thank you, Councillor Henderson.

Item 16 is the revisions to Committee memberships paper numbers 25 -106 and 25 -106A.

Are the recommendations approved?

Thank you.

For Item 17, I ask the Council to appoint a Chair for the Item.

Thank you. Can I please propose after some delay, Councillor

Belton for chair. Seconded, Madam Mayor.

Thank you, Councillor Belton, you are now the chair.

Thank you, Madam Mayor. I meant to keep this very short, but my only ever chance of chairing

meeting of this council.

I'm gonna tell you all to behave

and you'll have real trouble from me.

So let me start the evening by asking

Councilor Hogg to move the motion in his name

and Councilor Rich Jones to second.

Moved.

Seconded.

Thank you.

Any other, any amendments?

No amendments, good.

All those in favor?

And any against? Any abstentions? I declare the motion moved anonymously on the end of

my reign. Thank you, Councillor Felton. The motion has

been moved. Item 20 is the motion on the £11 million hole in the budget. Can I ask Councillor

Peter Graham to move and Councillor Hedges to second the motion in their name.

Forming vote.

Seconded, thank you.

All those in favour of the motion.

20.

And those against.

Any abstentions?

The substantive motion is not carried.

So, 20 in favour and 31 against. Thank you, Councillors.

That concludes the business of this meeting for this evening.

But before we leave, I know colleagues would like to say a few words of appreciation for

Mr Riley on his last Council meetings. Councillor Richard Jones.

Thank you Madam Mayor and thank you for allowing me to say a few brief remarks about Mr Riley,

who we will miss dearly when he leaves after this Council meeting. When I was first elected

a Councillor in 2018, I was told by the first of my colleagues who I met, or who met me

when I first came into this town hall, that Mr Riley was a member of the gilded circle

of officers that were held in really, really high regard

by both groups in the council.

And my experience with him since then,

although we never worked directly,

other than on some Northcott issues,

it has been nothing but positive.

You were a director of an extremely important department

in the council.

I was always struck that this council

had always retained its council housing

and unlike other councils where often council housing

is sold off to a social housing provider.

Wandsworth never did that.

Wandsworth always took its obligations

to its housing tenants extremely seriously,

and that's why we kept council housing in -house.

As it was only appropriate that an officer

of your quality and ability oversaw that department.

You joined us in 2001.

Thereafter, we became the first council

to reach the Labour government's decent home standards.

and you were held highly in regard,

not just by members, but also by officers.

And I know it was the courage, the leadership,

the collegiality, and also the sense of humor

that you displayed in your time here.

Those are the qualities that meant

you became our interim chief executive,

and before that, the deputy chief executive.

It's been an interesting time in your brief

but memorable period as our interim chief executive,

and you've needed that sense of humor, I think,

perhaps more than any other time in your time at Wandsworth.

I'm sure you'll miss these meetings in particular,

but they are on the webcast.

I'm sure you'll tune in from a suitable location

in the Caribbean.

And let's hope it's not goodbye, it's just au revoir.

Don't be a stranger, come back and see us.

Thank you.

Well said, Councillor Richard Jones.

Councillor Grimston, would you like to say a few words?

Thank you, Madam Mayor.

Housing has always been very, very dear to my heart since I spent my single year chairing

the old housing committee in 97, 98,

under Mr. Ali's distinguished predecessor, Dick Shepherd,

who sadly left us recently.

But I think we've been extremely lucky

throughout my time on the council

with the quality of the leadership

that we've had from the housing department.

And as Councilor Richard Jones said,

it wasn't just that we held,

that we kept social housing in house,

it was that 93%, if I remember the figure being right,

of the residents voted to keep the housing in house,

something which I think would have been the envy

of pretty much any council in the country.

And of course, you don't get to that position

without extremely good leadership,

I would say on both political and managerial

sides of the equation.

And I think Mr. Riley and I have had

an interesting relationship through the time.

Clearly, I think the time when we've interacted most

in more recent years was over the issue of sprinklers

in our high rise buildings four or five years ago.

When he and I took different views,

I think on both sides for honorable reasons I would argue.

But it did bring out to me how the difference there

fundamentally of our role as members,

which ultimately is to reflect the view of the residents

in front of us and the role of officers

whose view it is, whose position it is

to reflect council policy and to reflect

their own professional agreement.

I think, I like to think that we came through that time

remaining respectful of each other.

I certainly maintain my respect for Mr.

right the way through the time there

of those interesting days.

And I think it's a further tribute to him

that when the political control of the council did change,

he was able to make that change

and develop a relationship of trust

with the new administration,

which he had developed with the previous one.

And that's always a very good sign

of an effective professional officer

that they genuinely will work with the politically elected

council of the day to put those policies into account

in the best way that they can without carrying their own

views into that chamber.

And I think Mr. Riley has been an absolute model of that.

So yeah, I will certainly miss him.

I think his time as chief exec has been admirable

as his time in all his other roles at the council.

But as Councillor Richard Jones says,

I hope this is far from being the last that we see of you.

and we look forward to seeing you around.

Thank you, Councillor Grimston.

Councillor Dickerton.

Yeah, I always like to say,

I work with a giant of the housing movement

and local government,

both kind of existentially and literally.

Brian, the kind of,

to be honest, the first time I joined the council,

I thought all the officers were Conservative Party members.

That's how I thought it worked.

So when I was at my first committee,

I was probably quite aggressive.

I think I probably shouted about Taylor Wimpy at you,

about selling homes, about council housing.

But I quickly learned that there are few people

that I've ever met in my life who have such a dedication

to delivering genuinely quality housing

for working class people and for protecting

some of the most vulnerable residents in Monsworth.

And also who believe in the principles of council housing,

which I'm really glad you raised the issue

of keeping it in house, because I think that was a really, really important decision and

one that has stood the test of time and has left ones within a really good position in

trying to build that idea of public and municipal housing out.

Some of my best memories are, you dragged me off to Manchester Housing Conference the

day after Glastonbury with all of you on the train.

I was just barely holding it together.

I got to see you without a suit, which was incredible.

You have a similar silver chain.

I really like that.

I was like, this is my bro.

You know, learn all about your music tastes.

Whenever there's an emergency, whenever something serious is happening on our blocks, you can

always call Brian.

Brian will know what's going on, he'll know who's on the ground, there will be an action

plan.

We are so lucky to have someone who is in control of the department when things go wrong.

And you've really smashed the chief executive job.

I feel like you were a natural at it.

You've already got the car to kind of drive around in your kind of gangster mobile, you've

You've got your own fiefdom in Reid House.

I mean, you were born to be a chief executive.

There are some of the most knotty problems

that we have a council that you've just got in

and got your hands in and you fixed them in such a way

that is a testament to how skillful you are

as a local officer.

You will be really, really deeply missed.

I'm gonna keep calling you and asking you for advice

when I need to, but it's been an absolute pleasure

to come up through the ranks and work alongside you.

So thank you so much Brian.

Thank you.

Good evening, everyone.

Sorry, good night.

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Council - Wednesday 5 March 2025, 7:30pm - Wandsworth Council Webcasting

CouncilWednesday, 5th March 2025 at 7:30pm

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Wednesday, 5th March 2025 at 7:30pm