Agenda item

To consider the motions referred from the July 8 2009 Council Assembly meeting in respect of:

• Fire at Lakanal House
• Regeneration of the Elephant & Castle
• Primary School Places in Dulwich
• One Hour Bus Ticket Proposal

Fire at Lakanal House

RESOLVED:

1.  The executive notes, with deep sadness, the awful events at Lakanal House in Camberwell on July 3, which led to the death of 6 people and a number of injuries.

2.  The executive expresses sympathy and condolences to the families and friends of those who lost their lives.  Executive shares the deep sense of loss, bereavement and disbelief that is felt by the whole community as a result of these terrible events.

3.  The executive also extends its sympathies to the numerous residents of Lakanal House who have been made homeless as a result of the fire.  The executive agrees to work with maximum speed and commitment to ensure that these residents are satisfactorily and comfortably housed in the shortest possible time.

4.  The executive pays tribute to the bravery demonstrated by the emergency services on July 3, whose work undoubtedly saved many lives and also expresses its gratitude and sincere thanks to the professionalism and dedication shown by Southwark council officers across many departments who, since July 3, have worked tirelessly to assist those affected by this tragedy.

5.  The executive believes that there may be serious lessons to be learnt from these tragic events, which will be relevant to similar buildings in Southwark and those owned by other local authorities and housing bodies across the country and notes that a high court judge has been appointed to conduct a full and independent inquest and welcomes this development.

6.  The executive welcomes the decision by the Secretary of State to instruct Sir Ken Knight the government’s chief fire and rescue advisor to report back to him on the various investigations into the fire and notes that the information gathered by Sir Ken Knight has been shared with other local authorities.

Regeneration of Elephant & Castle

RESOLVED:

That the motion and the comments of the deputy chief executive be noted.

Primary school places in Dulwich

RESOLVED:

That it be noted that a report on the issue will be brought to the November 2009 executive meeting.

One hour bus ticket proposal

RESOLVED:

1.  That this executive believes in affordable public transport and in the need to ensure that passengers who use “Pay As You Go” Oyster cards have a fair deal.

2.  The executive notes that in other European capital cities bus passengers have the benefit of a time-limited bus ticket which enables them to use two or three buses within a set time without having to pay again.

3.  The executive notes that almost a million car journeys every day in London are less than one mile in length, and supports effective ways of encouraging modal shift to public transport.

4.  The executive views with concern at this time of economic recession that even short journeys in London may involve using two or three buses and can cost up to £3.00 if more than one bus is needed.

5.  The executive notes that the average bus journey length is 3.54 km (2.2 miles, 9 stops), and that Transport for London estimate that 16% of bus journeys on Oyster ‘Pay As You Go’ involve using a second bus within 60 minutes of the first.

6.  The executive commends the proposal for a One Hour Bus Ticket to be available on “Pay As You Go” Oyster card, enabling passengers to use more than one bus during a 60-minute period without paying more than £1.00.

7.  That the leader of the council and the lead executive member for transport  write to the Mayor of London promoting the One Hour Bus Ticket proposal; and to ask the Mayor of London to request that Transport for London investigates the practicalities of implementing such a scheme.

8.  The executive notes the extremely low take-up of the income support and job seeker allowance half price fares scheme in Southwark. It notes that take-up for those on job seekers allowance is 3.14% in Southwark and for income support is 2.02%.

9.  The executive agrees to explore ways to promote this scheme more widely, for instance by including an article in Southwark Life, Southwark Housing News and other council publications and ensuring information is available in One Stop Shops, housing offices, libraries and leisure centres.