Agenda and decisions

Members are requested to confirm as an accurate record the Minutes of the meeting held on 29 January 2025 and the Special Meeting of Council held on 26 February 2025.

No motion or discussion may take place upon the Minutes except as to their accuracy, and any question on this point will be determined by a majority of the Members of the body attending who were present when the matter in question was decided. Once confirmed, with or without amendment, the person presiding will sign the Minutes

Members to declare any personal and financial interests in items on the agenda. Attention is drawn to the Council’s Constitution; the Council’s Code of Conduct and associated advice.

Presentation to the Council of petitions for consideration

Up to half an hour will be allowed for questions by Members of the Public.

Questions will be taken in the order notices are received by the Chief Executive.  Each question to have no more than one part.  No member of the public shall ask more than 2 questions at a meeting.

a.      To receive written responses to questions submitted by Members in line with procedure Rule A1.38.

b.      Up to 10 minutes will be allowed for Members’ oral questions in line with procedure Rule A1.43.

Each political party may select an item of business, from the list of items on the agenda, for early debate. 

Noted the 2023/24 Annual Audit Report.

Noted the comments on the 2023/24 Annual Audit Report from the Audit and Risk Management Panel meeting on 19 March 2025, that they ‘Noted the audit fees with concerns largely explained, but welcomed the assurance about the reduction in additional fees next year.’

Noted the report on the work of Children’s Services in relation to children in our care and care leavers during 2023-2024 and on the priority areas identified for further action in 2024-2025 at section 6.2 of the report.

Noted the report on the matters within the remit of the Standards Committee for the period 2023/24 and the work done by the Council’s Monitoring Officer during the period to promote and maintain high standards of conduct by Members.

Agreed the addition of the Cabinet Member for Housing Management, Neighbourhoods and Homelessness as a voting member of the Health and Wellbeing Board and the Director of Housing and Safer Communities as a non-voting member of the Health and Wellbeing Board.

Agreed to adopt the Pay Policy Statement for 2025/2026 as outlined at Appendix A of the report and agreed to its publication on the Council’s web site.

Noted that all Councils are required to make an annual scheme for the payment of allowances to Councillors and the scheme must include a Basic Allowance payable equally to all Councillors and may include provision for Special Responsibility Allowances (SRAs).

Noted that historically, the Councillors scheme of allowances has been frozen over several years, which in turn has meant that the current allowances are below the recommended levels in the London Councils’ Independent Remuneration Panel Report (Section 5 and Appendix A).

Noted that the Basic Allowance was increased in 2024/25 in line with the headline figure of the annual local government pay settlement but there was no increase in the rate of SRAs.

Noted that at the meeting of Council on 16 March 2022, it was agreed to re-adopt the London Councils’ Independent Remuneration Panel for the purposes of advising the Royal Borough of Greenwich in formulating its Members’ Allowances Scheme for the next four municipal years (2022/23–2025/26) as each authority must have regard to the recommendations of such an independent panel.

Noted that the Independent Remuneration Panel recommends that all allowances should be increased annually in accordance with the headline figure of the annual local government pay settlement.

Noted that the Independent Remuneration Panel report published in December 2023, recommends that the rate of Basic Allowance be set at £15,960 following a more detailed review post its scheduled review in 2022 (the next review will be published in 2026 in preparation for the London local elections and the start of new administrations in May 2026).

Agreed to increase the rate of the Basic Allowance for 2025/26 in line with the fixed percentage increase applied to allowances in the Local Government Pay Settlement

Agreed to increase the Special Responsibility Allowances in line with the fixed percentage increase applied to allowances in the Local Government Pay Settlement.

Agreed to increase the rate of Childcare and Dependent Carers’ Allowance to £13.85 to match the rate of the London Living Wage

Agreed to amend the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2025/26 as attached at Appendix B and agree that Part 6 of the Council’s Constitution be updated accordingly.

Noted that, in the decision taken by Full Council in March 2024, the Special Responsibility Allowances for the Mayor and Deputy Mayor were removed from the Members’ Allowances Scheme 2024-25, as per Schedule 2 paragraph 2 (4) and Schedule 2 paragraph 5 (4) of the Local Government Act 1972.

Noted that the Scheme will be kept under review and updated as necessary. 

Note the changes made to the executive functions scheme of delegation.

This council supports cycling and sees dockless cycle hire as a positive and fundamental step forward in increasing cycling and cutting air pollution. As a borough which has not been included in the TfL cycle hire scheme, dockless cycle hire is a welcome and carbon friendly alternative mode of transport for our residents. We know dockless cycles, if regulated appropriately and well-managed, can be an environmentally friendly form of transport and popularly used.  They can positively contribute towards the council’s aims to promote cycling as described in our Transport Strategy and reduce air pollution.

We appreciate the work the council is doing with Transport for London, London Councils and with dockless cycle companies to regulate their use, which is in the interests of everyone. We were encouraged by the proposal to implement a phased scheme to trial mandatory dockless cycle parking bays across the borough.

However, we were dismayed to learn in August that the most prominent dockless cycle hire company, already present in the borough, now appears to be unwilling to support mandatory parking bays. If we are to ensure the shift towards sustainable travel, we need to make sure that dockless cycle operators listen and take action against users that park obstructively on footpaths and engage in anti-social behaviour – an issue that is of particular concern for those residents with mobility issues and visual impairments.

Dockless cycle hire companies must take responsibility for both their cycles and their riders – the status quo isn’t good enough. The Council receives multiple and regular complaints about the location and position in which dockless cycles are. From cycles being parked across pavements or footpaths, being left in the middle of pedestrian crossings, to being discarded outside entrances to shops and homes. Pedestrians and other road users have been inconvenienced and injured by carelessly parked dockless cycles. Dockless cycle operators must work with the council to ensure that any anti-social behaviour by their riders is tackled and that rules are adhered to.

We welcome the fact the government has announced legislation through the Devolutions Bill that will end the Wild West model for dockless cycle regulation and give local authorities the enforcement powers they need to tackle irresponsible behaviour and rogue operators.

·        We call upon the Council to work with dockless cycle operators to create dedicated parking bays throughout the borough.

·        We call upon dockless cycle companies to substantially increase fines for antisocial use to a level which acts as an effective deterrent.

·        We call upon dockless cycle operators to provide the council with full access to relevant data, including operational activities and fleet numbers in the borough.

·        We call upon dockless cycle companies to implement a user-friendly way for residents to report issues and to react to them quickly, with a service-level agreement.

·        We call upon the Council to consider banning dockless cycle hire companies from the borough who have not signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Council to enforce the use of mandatory parking bays by Summer 2025.  ...  view the full decision text for item 19.

This Council:

1.1  - Notes that at its meeting on 17 October 2024, Cabinet agreed in principle to sell the Old Dover Road Car Park in Blackheath Standard, the Charlton Village Car Park, and the Abery Streetcar Park in Plumstead, as part of the first phase of the council’s Asset Review. 

1.2  - Notes that we are a well-managed council, but to remain financially stable, so we can continue to provide the frontline services that residents deserve, we must make the best use of the land and the properties that we own. Our priority is to ensure we get the best possible results we can under market conditions and deliver good value for money to benefit all our residents across the entire borough.

1.3  - Notes that the last Conservative government cut core funding to the bone for councils for 14 years with funding for Greenwich cut by 53% in real terms compared to 2010 – those cuts equate to £517 less for us to spend on council services per person. 14 years of Conservative austerity has meant we have had to constantly do more with less.

1.4  - Notes that this in turn has resulted in Greenwich council having to take tough decisions to balance its books. That after 14 years of underfunding by the previous Conservative government, spiralling costs, and fast-rising demand for services from residents in need, the strain on current borough budgets is enormous.

1.5 - Notes that while we are in a relatively strong and stable fiscal position compared to other boroughs, that is only because we have taken the tough but financially sound decisions that were necessary to keep the council solvent. Councils all around London are facing a financial tsunami of slashed income, rising costs, increasing demand for adult and children’s social care and ever-growing costs for temporary housing. We will do everything we need to ensure that frontline services that residents rely on are protected and that includes ensuring we make the best possible use of the land and properties that we own.

1.6  - Notes that the plans of disposal of assets cited are the inevitable results of decisions made by the previous Conservative government’s 14 years in power, including:

·        That the policy allowing Councils to raise revenue for frontline services by disposing of surplus assets was implemented by the former Conservative Chancellor George Osborne

·        That research by the IPPR found that between 2010 –2023 around 75,000 public assets, worth about £15bn, have been sold by English councils in order to plug holes in their budgets, – and that’s due to decisions made by successive Conservative governments that deliberately under-funded and under-financed local government.

1.7 – Notes that:

·        All of the car parks on the asset disposal list mentioned will remain in use until they are sold and the outcome of any disposal may not result in a change of use of the car parks.

·        The council has a track record of this activity as it has undertaken similar initiatives at  ...  view the full decision text for item 20.