Agenda item

To consider the following motions:

 

·  A fair deal for tenants and leaseholders

·  Campaign against high stake gambling machines

·  Towns against tax dodging.

MOTION 1 – A FAIR DEAL FOR TENANTS AND LEASEHOLDERS (See page 12 of the main agenda)

 

The following members, who had declared adisclosable pecuniary interest in this item left the assembly hall at this point and returned after the debate and vote had concluded: Councillors Lorraine Lauder, Evelyn Akoto, Martin Seaton, Kieron Williams, Lucas Green, Eliza Mann and Damian O’Brien.

 

This motion was considered prior to the guillotine having fallen.

 

Councillor Hamish McCallum, seconded by Councillor James Okosun, moved the motion.

 

Councillors Paul Fleming and Anne Kirby moved and seconded Amendment B.

 

Following debate (Councillors Anood Al-Samerai, Richard Livingstone, Rosie Shimell, Ian Wingfield and Dan Garfield), Councillors Anood Al-Samerai and Dan Garfield made points of personal explanation.  At 10.00pm, the Mayor announced that the guillotine had fallen.

 

Amendment B was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

The substantive motion was put the to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.  That council assembly notes that:

 

  i)  This administration wants to make Southwark a place we can all be proud of. The council is committed to tackling the borough’s biggest problems and making a real difference to the quality of life of local people. As the largest local authority landlord in London, our housing department has a key role in achieving this aim.

 

  ii)  The council provides a range of housing services to help make our residents’ homes cleaner, safer and more modern and to keep neighbourhoods clean and safe. Estate cleaning and grounds maintenance is inspected every 6 weeks by housing officers and tenant representatives and performance is consistently good.

 

  iii)  Last year the council carried out 3,149 estate inspections, to ensure services are being provided to a good standard. 97% of estates were rated good or excellent. 99.98% of bin collections are done on time and in the last year the council carried out:

 

·  99.6% of grafitti removals within 24 hours

·  99.6% of fly tipping removals within 24 hours

·  99.8% of dog fouling removals within 48 hours.

 

  iv)  This administration has driven up standards in repairs and is taking innovative steps to improve the quality of our services. Since 2010 satisfaction with repairs has increased from 72% to 82% and 82% of repairs are now completed right first time, 14% higher than 2010.

 

  v)  This administration wants to go even further than this to ensure high quality service. Council assembly welcomes the cabinet’s commitment in the draft Council Plan to:

 

·  Introduce resident inspectors - putting residents in control of repair quality

·  Introduce deep cleaning of estates, to remove built up dirt and keep estates clean

·  Introduce an independent leaseholder management company to empower the local community to hold the council properly to account and ensure leaseholders know they are getting a fair deal.

 

  vi)  The council’s vision is to make Southwark’s homes and neighbourhoods great places to live, where good quality services are delivered right first time. In many areas of the service the council does just that, but this administration is always looking for ways to improve the services that the council provides to our residents. When things go wrong the council will look at compensation on a case by case basis.

 

2.  That council assembly believes that the council should continue to work with residents to improve services, rather than expecting residents to put up with poorer quality homes in exchange for compensation.

 

3.  That council assembly calls on the cabinet to prioritise getting things right first time and to continue to invest in improvements to ensure a high quality service is delivered to all residents.

 

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the cabinet for consideration.

 

MOTION 2 – CAMPAIGAN AGAINST HIGH STAKE GAMBLING MACHINES (See pages 12 - 13 of the main agenda)

 

Councillor Leo Pollak, who had declared adisclosable pecuniary interest in this item, left the assembly hall at this point and returned after the debate and vote had concluded.

 

The guillotine having fallen, Councillors Neil Coyle and Stephanie Cryan formally moved and seconded the motion.

 

Councillors Adele Morris and David Hubber formally moved and seconded Amendment C.

 

Amendment C was put to the vote and declared to be lost.

 

The substantive motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.  That council assembly reiterates its concern about the proliferation of high street betting outlets in Southwark which, like for many other London boroughs, is an issue of grave concern to the council and local residents.

 

2.  That council assembly notes that there are more than twice as many betting shops in the poorest 55 boroughs compared with the most affluent 115, equivalent by population. Council assembly also notes the concerns of the Gambling Commission that fixed odds betting terminals (FOBTs) present a high inherent money laundering risk.

 

3.  That council assembly regrets that despite this evidence that the most vulnerable are being targeted, the government has refused to act.

 

4.  That council assembly condemns Liberal Democrat and Tory MPs, including government minister and local MP Simon Hughes, for voting against Labour’s motion calling for local authorities to be given new powers to restrict the growth of FOBTs, despite publicly backing campaigns to curb high stakes gambling machines.

 

5.  That council assembly notes that Labour’s proposal have been welcomed by the Campaign for Fairer Gambling, which praised Labour for ‘putting pressure on the government to take action sooner rather than later’.

 

6.  That council assembly calls on the government to back Labour’s proposals to enable local authorities to curb the growth of FOBTs and to establish a separate planning class for betting shops.

 

7.  That council assembly calls on cabinet to work with The London Borough of Newham and other London councils to make a submission to the government under the Sustainable Communities Act 2007 to reduce the maximum bet per spin on FOBTs in on street betting shops from £100 to £2, bringing them in line with other gambling machines.

 

8.  That council assembly calls on Liberal Democat MPs and government ministers, including Simon Hughes MP, to demonstrate their support for the campaign against high stake gambling machines by backing Labour councils’ submission to reduce the maximum bet per spin on FOBTs and to introduce a separate use class for betting shops, instead of simply voting on the issue at an party conference that no one cares about.

 

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the cabinet for consideration.

 

MOTION 3 – TOWNS AGAINST TAX DODGING (See pages 13 - 14 of the main agenda)

 

The guillotine having fallen, Councillors Karl Eastham and Sarah King formally moved and seconded the motion.

 

Councillors Michael Mitchell and Jane Lyons formally moved and seconded Amendment D.

 

Councillors Ben Johnson and James Barber formally moved and seconded Amendment E.

 

Amendment D was put to the vote and declared to be lost.

 

Amendment E was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

The substantive motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

RESOLVED:

 

1.  That council assembly believes:

 

  i.  Southwark as a local authority has a duty to provide the best possible public services.

 

  ii.  The council’s ability to provide quality local services would be significantly enhanced by the increased revenues from the government tackling tax dodging.

 

  iii.  Allwho benefit from public spending should contribute their fair share.

 

  iv.  The UK must take a lead role in creating a fairer tax system and combating tax dodging 

 

2.  That council assembly notes:

 

  i.  It has been estimated that the UK Treasury loses as much as £12 billion to tax dodging by multinational companies every year. Developing countries lose three times more to tax dodging than they receive in aid each year - enough to give a basic education to the 57 million children currently missing out.

 

  ii.  The UK has a particular responsibility to end tax dodging, as it is responsible for 1 in 5 of the world’s tax havens in the British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies.

 

  iii.  The use of tax havens by UK companies is rife, with 98 of the FTSE 100 companies routinely using tax havens.

 

  iv.  Large multinational companies pay as little as 5% in corporate taxes globally, while smaller businesses pay up to 30%.

 

3.  That therefore council assembly calls on cabinet to support ActionAid’s Towns Against Tax Dodging campaign and to support the motion:

 

“While many ordinary people face falling household income and rising costs of living, some multinational companies are avoiding billions of pounds of tax from a tax system that fails to make them pay their fair share. Local governments in developing countries and the UK alike would benefit from a fairer tax system where multinational companies pay their fair share, enabling authorities around the world to provide quality public services. The UK government must listen to the strength of public feeling and act to end the injustice of tax dodging by large multinational companies, in developing countries and the UK.”

 

4.  That council assembly notes the work of all parties in governmentto start to tackle tax avoidance since 2004.

 

5.  That council assembly acknowledges that government action since 2010 has helped HMRC collect considerable additional tax revenue by:

 

·  Increasing the number of prosecutions for tax crimes

·  Closing tax loopholes

·  Improving tax data systems to reduce fraud

·  Collecting tax through deals with tax havens like Switzerland, Liechtenstein and the Channel Islands.

 

6.  That council assembly agrees that because of the increasingly global nature of trading operations and finance, tax avoidance should most effectively be tackled at a national and international level.

 

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the cabinet for consideration.