Agenda item

To consider motions referred from the 6 July 2011 council assembly on the following:

 

·  Motion on themed debate: achievements of Southwark’s young people

·  Homes for families

·  Southwark’s housing investment programme

·  Protecting Southwark Park

 

 

Motion on Themed Debate: Achievements of Southwark’s Young People

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below in italics be noted and agreed.

 

1.That council assembly recognises and celebrates the achievements of Southwark’s children and young people; their sporting achievements; their improving attainment including record GCSE results; their contribution to the arts especially music and drama and their contribution to our communities.

 

2.That it be noted that this administration’s support for young people includes free healthy school meals for primary school children, keeping all our children's centres open, setting up a £3 million Youth Fund and setting up a Teenage Pregnancy Commission.  This council also notes the investment put into our leisure centres and this administration’s commitment to a leisure centre at the Elephant and Castle and to a continuation of community games despite financial constraints.

 

3.That council assembly believes that sports can make a significant difference to the lives of young people and that it delivers a wide range of benefits, from improving young people’s health to encouraging team working and embedding discipline.  It is a core offer for all our young people, as well as an important element of our targeted interventions for vulnerable young people.

 

4.That council assembly notes the significant reductions in funding for sports made by government:

 

·  Withdrawal of free school swimming

·  Withdrawal of funding to the School Sports Partnership

·  Withdrawal of funding available to the council and to national sporting bodies to support community led sport.

 

5.  That council assembly believes that despite these cuts it is vitally important that the council continues to ensure that young people in Southwark have access to sport and sporting opportunities.

 

6.  That council assembly notes the focus of the debate as outlined to all councillors in advance:

 

·  Showcasing the talents and potential of young people in Southwark

·  What sport means to young people, and the capacity of sport to open pathways to broader opportunities and achievements

·  How different sectors and partners can work together at a time when budgets are tight to maximise provision and access to sport for young people.

 

7.  That council assembly believes that securing future sporting opportunities in Southwark require the following questions to be discussed:

 

·  How can the council continue to ensure that young people have access to sport and sporting opportunities, with little direct funding, by working with the voluntary, community, educational and private sectors?

·  How can the council work to make sure that all resources available for sport, both facilities and available funding, are maximised across all departments and communities?

·  What are the most effective ways that the council can use its limited resources to encourage young people to get involved in sport?

 

8.  That council assembly calls on the cabinet to note the content of the debate and points raised to feed into a review of the council’s sports strategy which runs to 2013.

 

Homes for Families

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below in italics be agreed.

 

1.  That council agrees that good quality housing can play an important role in shaping the future, health and well-being of young people in our borough.

 

2.  That council therefore regrets the actions of the Tory Liberal Democrat government to threaten Southwark tenants security of tenure, cut Southwark’s housing revenue account, halve the amount of decent homes funding Southwark is to receive, cap housing benefit and introduce rents of up to 80% of market value, making many properties unaffordable to people living in the borough – all of which will impact upon the future health, happiness and well-being of young people in our borough.

 

3.  That council also regrets the failure of the previous Liberal Democrat administration to set out a coherent housing programme that addressed the needs of people in Southwark and was based on spending money that was not available to the council at the time.

 

4.  That council welcomes the current administration’s pledges to; make every council home warm, dry and safe by 2014/15, and believes the new housing investment programme will help to secure a better future for our young people by bringing every Southwark home up to a decent standard, by letting tenants know when they can expect improvements and by being based on funding available to the council to ensure that it is actually delivered unlike the previous Liberal Democrat administration’s disastrous programme.

 

Southwark’s Housing Investment Programme

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below in italics be agreed.

1.  That council assembly welcomes the council’s key pledge to make every home in Southwark warm, dry and safe by 2014-2015.

 

2.  That council assembly also welcomes the council’s proposed new housing investment programme of major works to the value of £326.5m over the next 5 years which will ensure that the council’s homes meet the government’s decent homes standard and the reestablishment of a separate housing department.

 

3.  That council assembly regrets the previous administration’s wasteful and inefficient housing programme which created uncertainty among tenants and leaseholders about when their decent homes works would be done; was based on a commitment that could never be delivered within the funding available to the council and did not offer a solution for all of the council’s housing stock or meet central government requirements.

 

4.  That council assembly also regrets that the Conservative/Liberal Democrat government has cut Southwark’s housing revenue account by nearly £7 million this year, has only provided half the amount of decent homes funding that was bid for and that the allocation is back-ended in the final two years.

 

5.  That council assembly notes that Southwark’s housing revenue account will face a deficit as a result of Conservative/Liberal Democrat government cuts.

 

6.  That council assembly calls on the cabinet and relevant cabinet members:

 

a)  To ensure that all of the council’s homes are made warm, dry and safe by 2014-15.

 

b)  To develop a longer-term sustainable strategy for our housing stock.

 

c)  To look at ways to maximise the level of resources available for investment, including savings through new major works contracts, limited disposal of voids, external funding sources and self-financing regeneration options.

 

Protecting Southwark Park

 

RESOLVED:

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below in italics be agreed:

 

1.That council assembly emphasises the significant environmental, social and community value of the green spaces in our borough.

 

2.That council assembly notes with regret and concern the suggestions over the last year for tunnels, holes and pipes in Southwark Park.

 

3.That council assembly and the cabinet clearly state to UK Power Networks that Southwark Park is not a suitable site for their proposals.

 

4.That councillors and the cabinet work with UK Power Networks to find an alternative brownfield site for their proposals.