Agenda item

To consider motions referred from council assembly 26 January 2016 as follows:

 

·  Environment, public realm and regeneration

·  Transport in Rotherhithe

·  The power to set a real living wage

·  Blacklisting.

The supplemental documentation for this item had not been circulated five clear days in advance because the overview and scrutiny committee meeting which produced the additional recommendation was held on 10 March 2016.

 

RESOLVED:

 

ENVIRONMENT, PUBLIC REALM AND REGENERATION

 

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

 

Regeneration

 

1.  That council assembly recognises that Southwark is one of the most exciting boroughs in the country in terms of regeneration, with significant investment in the borough delivering new affordable homes, jobs and community benefits.

 

2.  That council assembly commends this administration’s approach to regeneration, which has secured the second highest level of affordable house-building in the country, with 3,760 new affordable homes built in Southwark between 2010-11 and 2014-15.

 

3.  That council assembly welcomes this administration’s commitment to ensuring regeneration benefits local people by delivering affordable homes to rent and for low cost home ownership, building new community facilities and creating jobs and opportunities for Southwark residents.

 

4.  That council assembly notes that Southwark also has the most ambitious council house building programme in the country - 11,000 new council homes built by 2043, with the first 1,500 by 2018, with every one of the new homes available to Southwark residents at council rents.

 

5.  That council assembly calls on other London boroughs to play their part in solving London’s housing crisis by following Southwark’s lead and building new affordable homes.

 

6.  That council assembly condemns the previous Liberal Democrat and Conservative Coalition government’s cut to the affordable housing grant, which has made it more difficult for local authorities to build new council homes.

 

7.  That council assembly also condemns the government’s proposals to limit new affordable housing and to force the sell off of council homes through the Housing and Planning Bill, which will significantly reduce council housing in Southwark, damage our ability to build much needed new homes and lead to an increase in homelessness and overcrowding.

 

8.  That council assembly calls on the cabinet to:

 

·  Work with partners across the borough to increase local employment in construction so that Southwark residents are able to take advantage of opportunities from regeneration programmes.

·  Lobby the government to reconsider it’s disastrous proposals on the forced sale of council homes.

·  Lobby the government for an exemption for local authorities on council house building programmes from ‘starter home’ quotas, which will be unaffordable for the majority of Southwark residents, to ensure new homes in the borough are genuinely affordable to households on lower incomes.

 

Environment and public realm

 

9.  That council assembly recognises the importance of ensuring development in our borough is sustainable and welcomes this administration’s commitment to the environment, including:

 

·  Reducing the amount of waste sent to landfill to less than 1%, with Southwark now the best recycling borough in inner city London.

·  Committing to run entirely on green energy by 2050.

·  Delivering a new energy hub that will deliver zero-carbon, affordable heat and hot water to residents and businesses across Elephant Park.

 

10.  That council assembly recognises that poor air quality is a significant problem for Southwark and that 28,800 children in our borough breathe poor air and approximately 110 people die in Southwark prematurely every year from poor air quality. Council assembly therefore calls on Transport for London (TfL) to take action on air quality and to extend the ultra low emissions zone to cover the whole borough and the rest of inner London.

 

11.  That council assembly reaffirms the council’s formal objection to TfL’s plans for the new Silvertown Tunnel due to the negative impact increased congestion will have on air pollution levels in Southwark, particularly on approaches to the Rotherhithe tunnel, and calls on TfL to address the council’s concerns and recommendations in its proposals.

 

12.  That council assembly welcomes this administration’s commitment to sustainable transport, to promote active journeys, minimise the environmental impact of transport and improve the public realm to make the borough a safer, cleaner and healthier place to live and work.

 

13.  That council assembly welcomes the 2.7 miles of quietways that have already been introduced in the borough and the commitment to deliver 21.26 more miles, as well as the introduction of the Southwark Spine, which will improve cycling in the borough and help increase the number of people choosing to cycle.

 

14.  That council assembly welcomes the steps being taken to improve the public realm, including at Canada Water, Peckham and the Aylesbury, to clean up the borough’s high streets, such as Rye Lane and Walworth Road, and to invest in the social infrastructure of our borough, including new libraries, a new leisure centre and new parks, such as the new Camberwell library, the new Castle leisure centre and a £6m investment in 6 parks around Elephant and Castle.

 

TRANSPORT IN ROTHERHITHE

 

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

 

1.  That council assembly recognises that there are significant traffic problems on the Rotherhithe peninsula, with the high demand for river crossings making the Rotherhithe area particularly susceptible to congestion from tunnel related traffic, which is detrimental to the local environment, particularly air quality, and can make local trips difficult.

 

2.  That council assembly further recognises that the significant growth planned in the Canada Water area, including an increase in new homes and job opportunities, will require a significant investment in transport infrastructure.

 

3.  That council assembly therefore calls on Transport for London and the Mayor of London to:

 

·  Upgrade the existing public transport network, including increasing capacity on the overground, tube and buses

 

·  Take action to tackle congestion on Jamaica Road

 

·  Enhance pedestrian and cycle links and bring forward plans for a pedestrian and cycling bridge from Rotherhithe to Canary Wharf to alleviate congestion

 

·  Extend the cycle hire scheme to Rotherhithe

 

·  Explore means of integrating river transport into the network to make sure that residents in Rotherhithe get the full benefit from the river as a mode of transport

 

·  Address in a full and proper manner the concerns and recommendations raised by the council in relation to the proposals for the new Silvertown Tunnel, which will impact negatively on the quality of life of a vast number of people who live and work in the borough.

 

THE POWER TO SET A REAL LIVING WAGE

 

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

 

1.  That council assembly welcomes the cross-party support for the London Living Wage since the motion agreed by council in November 2008 and the steps taken in Southwark in 2012 to introduce the London Living Wage for all staff, including contractors as well as the council’s directly employed staff.

 

2.  That council assembly notes the progress in implementing the London Living Wage policy in Southwark and the proposal for a Living Wage Zone as part of the Canada Water regeneration area.

 

3.  That council assembly welcomes the council’s on-going work to support the Living Wage, including:

 

•  Celebrating employers who are promoting and encouraging the practice of paying the Living Wage to apprentices through our Southwark apprenticeship standards.

 

•  Working with organisations across London to inform the development of new policy and activities relating to Living Wage through the upcoming Living Wage Symposium.

 

•  Supporting the creation of a London Living Wage zone at More London.

 

4.  That council assembly further notes that Preston City Council in partnership with 'Unlock Democracy' is considering submitting the following proposal to government under the Sustainable Communities Act:

 

'To delegate power to local authorities to compel all private and public sector employers within their area to pay the Living Wage. The rate of the Living Wage to be determined in accordance with the rates set by the Living Wage Foundation for London and outside London.'

 

5.  That council assembly believes that this power could reduce in-work poverty in Southwark and benefit the local economy through a multiplier effect in each local authority area it is introduced.

 

6.  That council assembly further believes that as part of the negotiating process with the relevant Secretary of State, all or some of the benefits to government through increased income tax revenue and reduced welfare spending be used to enforce the new power and help local businesses which may struggle to move to the new rate. The case should also be strongly made for additional resources, so that councils can enforce the Living Wage effectively.

 

7.  That council assembly therefore calls on the cabinet to express its interest in joining Preston City Council in any collective submission to the government under the Sustainable Communities Act, and to work together with the Unlock Democracy campaign to gain support for the proposal from other councils in London and across the country.

 

BLACKLISTING

 

That the motion referred from council assembly, set out at paragraphs 1-5 below, and the recommendation from overview and scrutiny committee on 10 March 2016, set out at paragraph 6 below, be noted.

 

That it be agreed that officers consider the policy implications of the motion and recommendation from the overview and scrutiny committee and bring a report back to cabinet.

 

1.  That council assembly is aware of the destructive practice of blacklisting that occurred for decades in the UK construction industry and the disastrous effects it had on many of the workers that were included on the blacklist.

 

2.  That council assembly notes that most of the workers on the blacklist of The Consulting Association were trade unionists, many of them were blacklisted for raising legitimate health and safety concerns with their employer.

 

3.  That council assembly recognise that because of this administration’s commitment to new affordable housing, lots of new homes are being built in Southwark, which is also providing opportunities for local people in construction work. We take the safety of our residents, staff and contractors very seriously and believe strongly that people who raise health and safety concerns should not be blighted for their working life through blacklisting.

 

4.  That council assembly notes that the council already has a process in place for Major Works contracts to identify any companies that have made use of the blacklist in the past to ensure that they have put in place actions to prevent such behaviour recurring and to compensate those victimised by the practice. Council assembly believes that this good practice should be adopted in its other contracts.

 

5.  That this council is determined that blacklisting should never occur again and calls on cabinet to:

 

·  Make provision in Southwark Council’s public tendering procedures to exclude blacklisters from public contracts if they are either still blacklisting or have not put into place genuine actions agreed by the blacklisted workers or their representatives concerning past blacklisting activities

 

·  Make provision in the council’s terms and conditions for public works that provide for the termination of the contract if a supplier is found to engage in blacklisting activities during the course of that contract

 

·  Make provision to include blacklisting and trade union membership in the pre-qualification questionnaire for new construction contracts.

 

6.  That any policy developed to implement the council motion on blacklisting should include provision to examine the actions of parent and subsidiary companies.