Agenda item

To consider motions referred from council assembly 10 July 2013:

 

• Welfare reform
• Drummer Lee Rigby and faith communities in Southwark
• Surrey Docks Brown Brick
• East Dulwich and Rye Lane Crown Post Offices
• Door entry for the Dickens Estate
• ‘Robin Hood Tax’
• Northern Line extension

RESOLVED:

 

Welfare Reform

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, set out below be agreed. Cabinet noted that the second bullet point under recommendation 6 had been implemented.

 

That council assembly:

 

1.  Is gravely concerned by the impact the Tory Liberal Democrat government’s welfare reforms is having on Southwark’s most vulnerable residents.

 

2.  Notes that more than 10% of Southwark’s population are affected by the range of welfare cuts. More than 4,000 by the bedroom tax, over 24,000 by the government’s £2.8m council tax benefit cut (including over 16,000 who are in work), thousands by changes to DLA beginning this year and hundreds more by the benefit cap from later this year.

 

3.  Notes that local advice and support organisations are seeing a steep rise in demand for help. Over 500 people were fed by foodbanks in Southwark in April alone (compared with 100 in April 2012) and the provider estimates 30 tons of food will need to be distributed to meet demand this year. 10% of the recipients are in work. Southwark’s Citizen Advice Bureaux saw a 40% jump in demand for help this year but legal aid cuts mean the loss of the equivalent of 4 full time advisors across Southwark Legal Advice Network.

 

4.  Notes the action taken by the council to deal with these changes including:

 

·  Labour’s £800,000 Hardship Fund; £400k of which is targeted towards local disabled people and carers

·  An extra £400,000 went into helping people downsize homes to avoid the bedroom tax

·  The Social Fund replacement scheme (the Southwark Emergency Support Scheme)

·  More than 700 people have been supported face to face at the partnership events – Southwark’s partnership work is being held up by (national) Citizens Advice as an example of good practice and a model for other councils to adopt.

 

5.  Regrets Simon Hughes’s unequivocal support for the government’s welfare reforms despite claiming the benefits cap would “drive families apart”. It also regrets that Simon Hughes has dismissed reports of a fivefold increase in people claiming discretionary housing payments as “alarmist”. It regrets that he has refused to meet with local organisation such as Cooltan Arts to discuss the impact of the reforms and that he missed the “Frontline Welfare” event despite being specifically asked to attend.

 

6.  Calls on cabinet to:

 

·  Continue to work constructively with advocacy groups in the borough to ensure we are able to continue to support our most vulnerable residents

 

·  Lobby the Department of Work and Pensions for increased funding for discretionary housing payments

 

·  Continue to challenge Simon Hughes and the Liberal Democrats regarding their role in enabling the government’s welfare changes.

 

Drummer Lee Rigby and Faith Communities in Southwark

 

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

 

That Council:

 

·  Registers its abhorrence at the appalling and savage murder of Drummer Lee Rigby on the streets of south-east London on 22 May 2013, and extends sympathy to his family.

 

·  Welcomes the critical response to the murder by UK Islamic organisations including the Southwark Muslim Forum, and the cohesion shown by Londoners in condemning the attack, and rejects the divisive agenda of far-right groups who seek to use the murder for their own political ends.

 

·  Recognises the concern from the Islamic community in Southwark about the reported rise in Islamophobic incidents since the murder, including a number of attacks on mosques across the country.

 

·  Notes the excellent work within the Old Kent Road Mosque and Islamic Cultural Centre in bringing together Muslims of all races, and acting as a meeting place for visiting Nigerian Muslims to London.

 

·  Looks forward to the continued involvement of the mosque within Southwark's Multi-Faith Forum.

 

·  Reasserts its support for the charity Help for Heroes and the work it does to support wounded service men and women and their families.

 

Surrey Docks Brown Brick

 

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

 

That Council:

 

1.  Notes the distinctive brown brick paving in parts of Surrey Docks and Rotherhithe wards and its contribution to the character of the area. Also notes that this style of paving was introduced during the development of the area by the London Docklands Development Corporation (LDDC) in the 1980s, is used extensively in the area and is much valued by local residents.

 

2.  Recognises that many of the roads and pavements in the areas around Greenland Dock, South Dock, Canada Water, Surrey Water, Russia Dock Woodland and the Albion Channel have been adversely affected by subsidence issues due to their construction on land reclaimed from historic docks and waterways in the area, and that this has manifested itself in paving that is often severely disrupted by tree roots and subterranean ironworks.

 

3.  Also recognises that the LDDC's over-zealous tree planting strategy in the 1980s, in which they assumed a much lower survival rate than turned out to be the case, has led to a higher than expected number of London Planes at higher than usual densities in the area, and that the height and root growth network of these trees compounds the paving disruption problems.

 

4.  Acknowledges that the council’s longstanding approach to paving and road repairs in this area has been reactive and ad hoc, and has largely involved removing the brown brickwork and replacing it with red, purple or black tarmac. In many instances, the disruptive tree roots were not shaved or cut, and consequently re-erupt through the tarmac within 18 months of the repair. An alternative approach on Rope Street, funded by Rotherhithe Community Council, levelled the ground and re-laid the original brown brickwork, and maintained the valued character of the street.

 

5.  Welcomes the Greenland Dock Subsidence Feasibility Study, prepared by Mouchel, commissioned by Southwark Council, funded by Rotherhithe Community Council Cleaner Greener Safer fund and proposed by local residents.

 

6.  Also welcomes the site meeting on 7 May 2013 attended by the strategic director of environment and leisure, senior highways officers and residents to discuss the problem.

 

7.  Calls on cabinet to recognise the important character of the area.

 

8.  Welcomes the work being done in partnership with the community council to address these issues.

 

East Dulwich and Rye Lane Crown Post Offices

 

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

 

1.  That council assembly is concerned that the Post Office is planning to downgrade Crown Services at Rye Lane and East Dulwich to retail operators.

 

2.  That council assembly notes that at present the Post Office does not have any retail partners for Rye Lane and East Dulwich Crown Post Offices and is concerned that this move will lead to a relocation of offices, provide an inferior Post Office Service and will have a hugely detrimental impact on the quality of specialist services for local residents. It also believes it will lead to the recruitment of new staff on significantly lower pay, terms and conditions. Moreover the specialist trained and committed services and staff will be lost in these offices.

 

3.  That council assembly offers its support to the campaign to protect the Rye Lane and East Dulwich Post Offices in these locations and calls on cabinet to:

 

·  Work with local councillors to write to the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State with responsibility for Post Offices, informing them of the concerns regarding Rye Lane and East Dulwich Crown Post Offices

 

·  Seek assurances from the Minister that any successful franchisees for Crown Post Offices will be strongly encouraged to pay their staff the London Living Wage.

 

Door Entry for the Dickens Estate

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, as set out below be agreed. The deputy leader and cabinet member for housing management advised that a meeting had taken place with local residents to discuss the door entry programme.

 

1.  That Council is pleased that door entry systems are now being included again in major works plans.

 

2.  That Council recognises that residents of Wade House, Bardell House, Tupman House and Micawber House have experienced serious problems with crime, rough sleepers and vandalism.

 

3.  That Council notes that, as is often the case, while new security works are being installed on one block, ASB does not remain static and will travel from block to block. This is evidenced by the request in 2011 from the then opposition spokesperson for housing for new security intercom systems for Burton House, claiming this was the priorityfor the area.

 

4.  That Council recognises that since this request was made in 2011, incidences of crime and ASB have risen at Tupman House, Bardell House, Micawber House and Wade House.

 

5.  That Council therefore welcomes the commitment made by the cabinet member for housing to meet with residents of the estate to discuss their priorities for security works on the estate.

 

6.  That Council also welcomes the commitment by the cabinet member for housing to allocate extra funding to these blocks which will save money in the long run from crime and anti-social behaviour once those discussions with residents have taken place.

 

Northern Line Extension

 

That the motion referred from council assembly as a recommendation to cabinet, as set out below be agreed. The cabinet member for transport, environment and recycling updated the meeting on the current position.

 

That council assembly:

 

1.  Notes Transport for London’s (TfL’s) plans to extend the Northern Line to Nine Elms and Battersea, and the consultation on the plans that closed on 18 June.

 

2.  Notes with particular concern the plans for a temporary shaft to be constructed on Harmsworth Street and a permanent shaft in Kennington Park, both of which would have a considerable impact on the lives of Southwark residents.

 

3.  Urges TfL to pursue the ‘gallery tunnels’ option for ground treatment work as an alternative to the Harmsworth Street temporary shaft, thereby minimising the disruption to local people.

 

4.  Regrets TfL’s decision to place the permanent shaft in Kennington Park on the site of the much-loved beekeeper’s lodge, and urges TfL to ensure that the relocation plan provides a suitable environment for the bee population and meets the requirements of Bee Urban and concerned local residents.

 

5.  Calls on cabinet to work with colleagues at Lambeth Council, the GLA and TfL to obtain the best deal for Southwark residents affected by the plans.

 

6.  Notes the letter from the cabinet member for transport, environment and recycling to TfL which already addresses the above points.