Agenda and minutes

MOVED by Councillor Alex McKenna, SECONDED by Councillor David Malone and:

RESOLVED:

Paragraph 5: Revenue and Capital Budget 2009/10 – 2013/14

Note: The original motion (the recommendations set out in the budget report) and all amendments on the published agenda are deemed moved and seconded in accordance with Standing Order 16.2.

Speaking rights

(1) That in accordance with Standing Order 23, Standing Orders 14.4 and 16.4 be suspended to the extent necessary to allow this item to be conducted as follows:

·        Five minutes for the lead speaker for each party group (to be nominated by the relevant whip), in the following order:

- Administration

- Liberal Democrat

- Conservative

·        Three minutes for subsequent speakers, with these speaking rights being divided in accordance with proportionality, and speakers called by the Mayor from lists of proposed speakers provided by the Group Whips.

·                                  Five minutes for one speaker for a summation of the debate by a member of each party group (to be nominated by the relevant whip).

- Conservative

- Liberal Democrat

- Administration

Timings

(2) That in accordance with Standing Orders 2 & 23, the following timings for the conduct of this meeting be agreed:

Advice from the Director of Legal and Democratic Services

Paragraph 10(2) of the Members Code of Conduct states that Members do not have a prejudicial interest in any business of the authority where that business relates to the setting of the council tax.

Further advice is also given to any member who has included in their Register of Interests any external organisation that may be in receipt of grant funding following approval of the Council's budget for 2009/10.  There is no need for any such member to declare a personal interest this evening if they had intended to do so solely for that reason, as they will be deemed to have done so by virtue of the entry in their Register of Interests and the receipt of this advice.  In addition, as the setting aside of money in the budget for such an organisation is a function that relates to the setting of Council Tax, the exemption in paragraph 10(2)(c)(vi) of the Members' Code of Conduct applies and members are treated as not having a prejudicial interest.

Members should also note that, by virtue of Part 2 of the Members’ Code of Conduct, they have a personal interest in the approval of the Members Allowance Scheme, which must be declared at the meeting.  However, members should also note that paragraph 10(2)(c)(iv) of the Code provides that a member may regard him or herself as not having a prejudicial interest in the matter.  All Members present will be automatically recorded accordingly.

There were no other declarations of interest.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 28^th January 2009 be approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record of the proceedings.

The Mayor announces with sadness the passing of two people closely connected with the Council and their local communities of Brixton and North Lambeth.

Mrs. Marjorie Porter

Mrs. Marjorie Porter has passed away at the age of 102.  She was a local teacher and head teacher, and still taught music to local people until recently.   Mrs Porter was awarded the M.B.E. in 1999 for ‘services to children and the local community’.  Mrs. Porter served as the Council’s representative on Lambeth Endowed Charities for many years and until 2006.  She was the wife of former Alderman Bill (William H.A.) Porter who served as the Mayor of Lambeth for 1949-50.  Mrs. Porter presented and unveiled windows in the circular first floor hall of Lambeth Town Hall in June 1975 in his memory.  The windows depict Crawford School, where Bill Porter was headmaster from 1951-1963.

Phil Cremin 

Phil Cremin was a local Brixton solicitor, and well known personality in the legal world.  He died at the age of 57.  In response to the attack by a ‘nail bomber’ in Brixton, he raised £10,000 for the victims through the business community, and worked to ensure the erection of the memorial plaque (which was unveiled by the then Mayor of Lambeth, Councillor Clare Whelan on 10 November 2000).  Phil Cremin received a Brixton Civic Award last year for his work within the Brixton community (extraordinary meeting of Council on 26 March 2008; Council minutes 2008-09).

Seal Register

The Chief Executive reports that since the date of the last report (28.01.09), the Common Seal of the Council has been affixed to 14 original documents (plus 8 copies) as detailed on pages 1 – 2 of the Seal Register (dated from 22.01.09 –10.02.09).

Apologies for lateness

In addition to the apologies for absence recorded above, apologies for lateness were received from Councillors Peter Bowyer, Diana Braithwaite, Sally Prentice and Clare Whelan.

Death of David Cameron’s son

Councillors Steve Reed and John Whelan spoke on the behalf of Council and expressed their condolences to David Cameron on the loss of his son.

Deaths of Mrs. Marjorie Porter and Phil Cremin

Councillor Peter Truesdale spoke in tribute to Mrs. Marjorie Porter, and Councillor David Malone spoke on the life of Mr Phil Cremin.  Council stood for a minute’s silence in their memory.

RESOLVED:

That the announcements be received.

None received from the public.

No petitions, public notice questions or deputations had been received.

Legal advice by the Director of Legal and Democratic Services

Members will note that, if the procedural motion set out above is adopted, the amount of time set aside for the budget debate is 2 hours and 45 minutes. Pursuant to Standing Order 9.1, the guillotine will fall at 10.00 pm.  For the avoidance of doubt, the provisions of Standing Order 9.3 do not apply because:

(a) The Council is not statutorily required to reach a decision on the 2009/10 budget and, hence, the level of Council Tax until 11th March 2009; and

(b) In the opinion of the Monitoring Officer, not coming to a decision at tonight's meeting would not lead to undue expenditure and delay, because an adjourned meeting could be called with a minimum of 5 clear days' notice.

Pursuant to Standing Order 15(m), any member present has the right to move a motion, without notice, that Standing Order 9.1 be suspended to enable the meeting to be extended beyond the 10.00 pm stipulated for the fall of the guillotine.  In considering, inter alia, (a) whether such a motion should be moved, or (b) whether an amendment should be moved to such a motion, or (c) voting on such a motion and/or amendment, the attention of members is drawn to the following legal advice:

1. The legal advice set out in the report, particularly the following extract from paragraph 8.4 (page 21 of the agenda):

In reaching decisions on these matters, members are bound by the general principles of administrative law.  Lawful discretions must not be abused or fettered and all relevant considerations must be taken into account.  No irrelevant considerations may be taken into account, and any decision made must not be such that no reasonable authority, properly directing itself, could have reached. 

2. Members are therefore required to satisfy themselves, before voting on the original budget and all amendments thereto, that they have given them adequate consideration.  In this regard, as the full agenda was published on 17th February, members have had a reasonable opportunity to familiarise themselves with the reports and other papers and to seek clarification from Finance officers as they deem necessary.

3. In addition, the setting aside of 2 hours and 45 minutes for the budget debate, as proposed in the procedural motion, will allow for up to 38 members to speak for 3 minutes each, in addition to the proposed 5 minutes for an opening speaker from each party group at the beginning of the debate, and five minutes for summing up from a speaker from each party group.

4. That said, however, members must be clear that there is no fetter on the discretion available to any member under the Council's Standing Orders to seek support for an extension to the guillotine, should they be of the opinion that further debate is necessary before they can make a lawful decision.

Further advice by Director of Legal and Democratic Services

In order to ensure the fair distribution of speaking  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.