Decision details
Motions
Decision Maker: Council
Decision status: Recommendations Approved
Is Key decision?: No
Is subject to call in?: No
Decision:
(1) The following motion submitted by the Conservative Group was rejected:
Management of Transport for London (TfL) funding
This Council is seriously concerned about the massive waste of Brent and Londoners’ hard earned money by TfL and Sadiq Khan and therefore calls for his resignation.
Through mismanagement and incompetence, TfL is virtually bankrupt. Twice Sadiq Khan has gone to the Government cap in hand begging for bailouts, and the UK taxpayer has already given him £3.3bn in bailouts this year so far.
Since Sadiq Khan won the Mayoralty in 2016, TfL’s debts have gone from bad to worse, rising to £11.7bn, and this was pre-covid!
These include:
· £640m to subsidise tourist travel;
· £1.59Bn debt interest;
· £5.25Bn due to Crossrail delays;
· £45m spent on service contracts including £24m to provide taxis for TFL staff. I thought the mayor was encouraging people to walk, cycle or take buses and trains;
· £828m spent on pension overpayments;
· Over 100 extra staff being paid over £100,000 per annum.
In order to attempt to recoup this wasted money, Sadiq Khan has increased the Congestion Charge to £15 per day every day until 10pm, hitting thousands of people and businesses, including those in Brent, very hard.
Sadiq Khan tells us that he’s managed to resist the Government’s demands to extend the Congestion Charge to the North and South Circular Roads, but fails to tell people that the Government never made those demands in the first place.
Of course he does not want an extension to the Congestion Charge. There is an election next year.
But make no mistake; if Sadiq Khan is re-elected, then it is very likely that he WILL extend the Congestion Charge. He needs the money to fund his incompetence and his main source of income is milking the poor hapless motorist.
Sadiq Khan blames Covid for the loss of revenue but conveniently fails to inform people that the Government would cover that loss. What the Government will not cover is money lost through waste and incompetence.
This Council therefore believes that Sadiq Khan is not a fit and proper person to be in charge of London’s Transport network and calls on him not only to resign but also to stop using motorists, including those from within Brent, to fund TfL.
Councillors Colwill, Kansagra and Maurice voted in favour of the above motion.
Councillor Georgiou abstained and all other members present at the meeting voted against the above motion.
(2) Having rejected an amendment moved by the Conservative Group at the meeting, the following Motion submitted by the Labour Group was approved:
Green Economic Recovery
The Council Notes:
· That in Brentwe face a looming jobs and climate emergency.
· That unemployment in Brent has increased by at least 3,000 people in the period between June 2019 and 2020.
· Nationally there has been over a million jobs lost due to Covid-19; with the Bank of England estimating this will rise to 2.6 million people out of work.
· Earlier this year in Brent Central, nearly half of all our workers were furloughed – the highest proportion in the United Kingdom.
· That before the pandemic, the poverty rate in Brent was 33% higher than the average; with an unemployment rate 6% higher than the national average.
· The work of the Poverty Commission in Brent has highlighted that far too many of our constituents are reliant upon informal and unstable employment – compounded now by a looming jobs crisis.
· The latest U-turn by the Government to extend the furlough scheme until Marchwill come too little too late for many of our residents now out of work.
The Council welcomes this Labour administration’s continued commitment to:
· Support our existing and new businesses to survive in the short term and adapt and thrive in the new post-Covid economy.
· Support residents into employment pathways, through an award-winning council-run jobs brokerage service, Brent Works; aiding over 1,000 residents with employment advice, since lockdown began.
· Enable our residents to unlock their potential through upskilling, reskilling, training provision and apprenticeships through our very own adult education college, Brent Start which regularly provides education and training to around 2,500 learners a year.
· Create a skills system responsive to the needs of the future by expanding the range of courses offered by Brent Start, through a £43m investment at Morland Gardens to develop a state-of-the-art education centre, council homes and affordable workspace.
· Working in partnership with our anchor institutions and major employers to use our supply chains and spending power to unlock social value in our procurement processes.
· End low pay - as a big local employer we’ve led by example and have been accredited as a London Living Wage Employer for seven years in a row since 2013.
This Council believes in a Green economic recovery:
· Brent and its residents have powered London’s success story as a global city for decades – our borough is home to people with aspiration, ambition and the ideal that if you work hard, your children will have a better future.
· The Government must provide support to Brent to help us rebuild our local economy and help tackle the climate emergency.
· An international comparison of green stimulus packages suggests that the UK has fallen behind many other advanced economies, which are taking the climate and ecological challenge more seriously.
· The Government’s own advisory body, the Committee on Climate Change, has made clear, we are not on track to meet our net zero 2050 target.
· Many manufacturers and construction businesses have been at the forefront of the transition to the low-carbon, green economy of the future; and others are keen to engage in that transition, but currently lack the levers to do so. It has been estimated that to meet the net zero target, sectors such as steel and cement will need to reduce emissions by 94% and 93% respectively, by 2040.
· It's time for a bold and ambitious plan to deliver thousands of jobs in Brent which can also tackle the climate crisis. We can harness the opportunities for green growth and the technologies of the future – but only if the Government makes the right decisions and works with Brent to recover jobs, retrain workers and rebuild businesses.
· With looming unemployment, the right thing to do for our economy is to invest in the jobs of the future now.
This Council Resolves:
· To call on the government to support a green economic recovery and with the help of British industry, accelerate energy retrofitting programmes - creating jobs, making homes warmer, reducing bills, and driving down emissions.
· To call on the government to fund a green economic recovery that would leave no worker behind, supporting them to build on their skills through existing programmes like Brent Start and equip our workers with the skills for our future economy.
· To reaffirm our commitment to the interlinked efforts of the council, aimed at improving the prosperity of our communities; from the work of Poverty Commission, the Brent Black Community Action Plan, the Climate Emergency strategy and the Keep Brent Working campaign.
· To request that the Cabinet Member for Education, Employment and Skills write to Government to call for:
Ø A commitment to a major investment package in employment and skills support alongside the furlough scheme; and raise the wage floor for furloughed workers so nobody is left facing poverty during this difficult period.
Ø An urgent re-think on plans to withdraw the £20 per week boost to Universal Credit, which has been a lifeline to many Brent residents out of work during the pandemic.
Councillors Colwill, Kansagra and Maurice abstained from voting on the above motion.
(3) Having rejected an amendment moved by the Conservative Group at the meeting, the following Motion submitted by the Labour Group was approved:
Thank you to our Keyworkers
This Council celebrates:
· The resilience and resourcefulness of Brent Council staff in responding to the challenges posed by a global pandemic, stepping in as the fourth emergency service to support the most vulnerable in our communities.
· That testament to the tireless work of our staff both before and during this pandemic, the Local Government Chronicle awarded this organisation ‘Council of the Year for 2020 – highlighting the council’s ability to ‘convene communities’ as ‘an antidote to today’s fractured society’.
· The enormous and continuing contribution of our entire family of essential keyworkers either employed or residing in Brent.
· That keyworkers on the frontline – from NHS colleagues, our social care heroes, Transport for London staff, our school teams, council officers, contractors, emergency services, refuse collectors, parking officers, and our retail workers keeping essential services open – have all made personal sacrifices without parallel; for the betterment of our borough.
· That communities across Brent have come together in a rousing display of solidarity to support their fellow residents. This network of mutual aid groups, our voluntary organisations, foodbanks, local businesses and faith groups – they have shown true leadership when it has been found wanting in the corridors of power.
This Council believes:
We join the Labour Party leader Sir Keir Starmer in his declaration that:
· We can see so clearly now who the key workers really are.
· When we get through this it will be because of the hard work and bravery of every key worker as they took on this virus and kept our country going.
· For too long they have been taken for granted and poorly paid. They were last and now they should be first.
· In their courage and their sacrifice and their bravery, we can see a better future.
This Council resolves:
· To convey this Chamber’s collectivedebt of gratitude to all of our keyworkers and recognise the personal sacrifices made in our borough’s hour of need.
· To do all we can to stand up and speak up for our key workers throughout the continuing pandemic.
· To call on the Government to recognise this moment of opportunity to thank all workers across the public sector, in deeds and not just words – by committing to a sector wide pay rise, acknowledging the vital services that keyworkers sustain and accounting for the decade of real-terms pay cuts since austerity began in 2010.
· To call on the Government to commit to giving the councils a funding package at the Spending Review that puts our essential services on long-term sustainable financial footing. This includes the urgent need for the Government to make good on the promise of the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to fund the cost of ‘whatever it takes’ to tackle the pandemic.
Councillors Colwill, Kansagra and Maurice abstained from voting on the above motion.
Publication date: 27/11/2020
Date of decision: 23/11/2020
Decided at meeting: 23/11/2020 - Council
Accompanying Documents: