Agenda and decisions

Deputation – Excessive Speed of Vehicles travelling down Blurton Road

Residents want to express their concern at the excessive speeds of vehicles travelling down Blurton Rd and ask that the Council work with them to address this issue.

The deputation will be introduced by Cllr Rebecca Rennison

The deputation spokesperson is William Oates

6.1  Question from Ms Bea Pitel to Chair of Pensions Committee

  How and why does the Pension Committee believe that “engagement” via their investments can be used to get the entire oil industry to put itself on a pathway of managed decline away from Fossil Fuels, and what changes have you already achieved through engagement?

6.2  Question from Mr Christopher Sills to the Mayor

  At the corner of Lordship Park and Lordship Road N.16, there is a derelict building, which is I believe is listed.  What steps are the Council taking to encourage the owners to bring this site into productive use as it is currently an eyesore?

7.1  Question from Cllr Bell to the Lead Member for the Lead Member for Community Safety, Policy and Voluntary Sector

  Could the Lead Member update the Council as to the attempted challenge brought against the new Licensing policy, approved last year?

7.2  Question from Cllr Penny Wrout to the Cabinet Member for Housing Services

  No doubt the Cabinet Member responsible for Council housing is aware that July 31st is the centenary of the Addison Act, which first awarded boroughs like Hackney money to build their own Council homes.  Christopher Addison, the first health minister was the MP for Shoreditch, and the Act he introduced produced what are known as the Homes fit for Heroes, following World War One.   In light of our local connection, is the Council planning to celebrate the centenary, using it as an opportunity to draw attention to the dire need for more government money to build Council houses today

7.3  Cllr Anna-Joy Rickard to the Cabinet Member for Housing Services

Can the Cabinet member for parks and public space advise what measures the Council is taking to provide facilities for gypsies and travellers and thus reduce the unauthorised encampments on Stoke Newington common?

7.4  Cllr Peter Snell to the Cabinet Member for Energy, Waste, Transport and Public Realm

  Can the Cabinet Member for transport advise on how the Council is dealing with the appearance of e-bikes to hire on our streets including what plans the Council has to ensure safe and proper use?

7.5  Cllr Polly Billington to the Cabinet Member for Finance and Housing Needs

  Access to the internet is essential in today’s society especially with a government pursuing a policy of “digital by default”. What efforts are being made to ensure access to the internet in temporary accommodation in Hackney to enable families who need it to bid for homes, apply for jobs and benefits and for the children to be able to do their homework?

7.6  Cllr Sade Etti to the Lead Member for Community Safety, Policy and Voluntary Sector

  Can the Cabinet Member outline how the council can promote the values of our community, of tolerance and inclusion all year round, to send a message that Hackney is No Place for Hate?

RESOLVED to note the contents of the report.

RESOLVED that the revised Terms of Reference for the City and Hackney Integrated Commissioning Board attached at Appendix 1 be approved and agreed that these are included in the London Borough of Hackney’s Constitution in Part 3.3.

RESOLVED that the report and the amended Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2019/20 attached at Appendix 1 be agreed.

Global warming is here now and is increasing the pace and intensity of climate change and associated ecological collapse. Despite almost 30 years of talks and collective global commitments such as those made at Paris in 2015, action at the national and global level to avert global warming catastrophe remains woefully inadequate.

In October 2018, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) released the IPCC Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5°C, which drew the sobering conclusion that we had just 12 years to take the action required to avoid warming of more than 1.5°C above the pre-industrial average.. Failure to do so will significantly worsen the risks of drought, floods, extreme heat, and poverty for hundreds of millions of people, with profound geopolitical consequences for all^[1].

Our activities have already raised average global temperatures in the region of 1°C above pre- industrial levels. The Met Office report that 2015, 2016, 2017 and 2018 are the four warmest years on record in all surface temperature data sets. They have forecast that the 1.50C of global warming limit agreed in Paris could be temporarily breached between now and 2023^[2]. The planet is currently on a trajectory of 3-4°C of warming by the end of the century.

The IPCC’s Special Report on Global Warming of 1.5C concluded that “limiting warming to 1.5C is possible within the laws of chemistry and physics but doing so would require unprecedented changes" and that “the next few years are probably the most important in our history.”

Urgent action from national and local authorities, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities is therefore vital^[3].

Together, and individually, we as a species must reduce our CO2eq (carbon dioxide equivalent) emissions from their current world average of 6.5 tonnes per person per year to less than 2 tonnes as soon as possible^[4]. With an average annual per capita CO2 footprint of circa 9 tonnes in the U.K, nothing less than the wholesale transformation of our economy and society is required to avert catastrophe.

Individuals can make some valuable changes, but society needs to change laws, taxation, infrastructure, etc., to make low carbon living easier and the new norm. Maximising survival and minimising suffering requires an emergency response by all levels of government including local government. Any delay in implementing effective solutions will result in more avoidable loss and suffering. A deep structural response on-par with the level of mobilisation witnessed during the world wars will be necessary.

As part of the very early stages of this mobilisation, municipalities around the world are declaring a ‘Climate Emergency’ and committing resources to address it. In the UK so far, numerous councils at all tiers of Local Government have already made this declaration, and on 1 May, the U.K Parliament officially became the first in the world to declare a climate emergency.

It is not, however, satisfactory to merely ‘declare’ a climate emergency, we must take very  ...  view the full agenda text for item 11.

RESOLVED to:

1. To tell the truth about the climate emergency we face, and pursue its declaration of a climate emergency with the utmost seriousness and urgency.
2. Pledge to do everything within the Council’s power to deliver against the stretching targets set by the IPCC’S October 2018 1.50C Report, across the local authority’s full range of functions, including a 45% reduction in emissions against 2010 levels by 2030 and net zero emissions by 2040, and seeking opportunities to make a greater contribution.
3. Call on the UK Government to provide powers and resources to make the 2030 and 2040 targets possible.
4. Actively campaign to change national policy where failure to tackle the challenge of heating our homes without fossil fuels, fossil fuel subsidies, insufficient carbon taxation, road-building, and airports expansion, for example, has actively undermined decarbonisation and promoted unsustainable growth.
5. Support the campaign to create a just transition for workers and users and be part of the creation nationally of a million public sector climate jobs with particular reference to extending sustainable accessible and integrated public transport, retrofitting housing stock, energy democracy, heating and cooling from renewable energy and eco build, food and waste.
6. Involve, support and enable residents, businesses and community groups to accelerate the shift to a zero carbon world, working closely with them to establish and implement successful policies, approaches and technologies that reduce emissions across our economy while also improving the health and wellbeing of our citizens.
7. Produce an annual update to Full Council on the progress made against the Council’s decarbonisation commitments, and conduct an annual Citizens Assembly comprised of a representative group of local residents to allow for effective public scrutiny the Council’s progress and to explore solutions to the challenges posed by global warming.

8.  Work with other local governments (both within the UK and internationally) to determine and implement best practice methods to limit Global Warming to less

Support the Abolition of Section 21 ‘no fault evictions’

This motion calls on the Council to lobby the Government to scrap Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988, known as ‘no fault’ evictions, as part of a wider Better Renting campaign to improve awareness and standards in the Private Rented Sector. Section 21 enabled private-sector landlords to evict their tenants with two months notice, without the need to give a reason.

Most of England’s 11 million renters are on tenancies with fixed terms of six months or a year. There are nearly 34,000 privately renting households in Hackney -- all at risk from their tenancies ending through Section 21 notices.

The Hackney Labour 2018 -- 2022 Building a Fairer, Safer and more Sustainable Hackney, included a pledge to support Hackney’s private renters by improving information about their rights, as well as campaign for further powers to regulate the sector. This is being achieved through the Council’s Better Renting campaign.

Research^[1] published by the campaign group Generation Rent shows that Section 21 evictions are now the single biggest cause of homelessness in England.

In Hackney, the number of homeless applications has increased significantly in the current year, as have the numbers placed in temporary accommodation and who are rough sleeping.

The loss of private rented accommodation is a leading cause of homelessness in Hackney, driving residents to seek support from the Council, including through Temporary Accommodation. The number of residents now in Temporary Accommodation is 3,100, costing the Council £13 million per year.

In 2017, the Scottish government made tenancies indefinite and banned no-fault evictions under the terms of the Private Housing (Tenancies) (Scotland) Act 2016. Landlords can still regain possession of their property, but must make a justifiable and evidenced case through the courts according to grounds that are set out in law.

On 15 April this year the Government announced its intentions to introduce new legislation to abolish Section 21 evictions following a consultation, but this could be at risk with a new Prime Minister, Cabinet and Ministers.

This motion calls on the Council to note and agree that:

?  mass homelessness is a national disgrace, and removing its leading causes should be a priority for the Government;

?  ‘no fault’ evictions, where tenants can be forced to leave their home for no good reason, is a disgrace;

?  alongside the good work of the Council in tackling homelessness and raising awareness of the rights of private tenants through the Better Renting campaign, the Government has announced their intention to scrap Section 21 after consultation.

?  the Government’s plans could change with the election of a new Prime Minister, and subsequent new Cabinet and Ministers.

This motion calls on the Mayor to respond to the Government’s consultation on Section 21 evictions, and in the spirit of this motion, call on new legislation to ban ‘no fault’ eviction of tenants by their landlord.

This motion calls on the Council to write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and  ...  view the full agenda text for item 11a

RESOLVED to note that:

?  mass homelessness is a national disgrace, and removing its leading causes should be a priority for the Government;

?  ‘no fault’ evictions, where tenants can be forced to leave their home for no good reason, is a disgrace;

?  alongside the good work of the Council in tackling homelessness and raising awareness of the rights of private tenants through the Better Renting campaign, the Government has announced their intention to scrap Section 21 after consultation.

?  the Government’s plans could change with the election of a new Prime Minister, and subsequent new Cabinet and Ministers.

and agreed that:

?  the Mayor respond to the Government’s consultation on Section 21 evictions, and in the spirit of this motion, call on new legislation to ban ‘no fault’ eviction of tenants by their landlord.

?  the Council write to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, asking them to commit to abolishing Section 21 of the Housing Act 1988 under a new Prime Minister.

?   the Mayor support Generation Rent’s Unfair Evictions Campaign, and work with them and the Mayoral Adviser for Private Renting & Housing Affordability through the Better Renting campaign.