Agenda item
Questions from Members of the Public
6.1 To the Cabinet Member for Housing Services and Resident Participation From Ms Anotinette Fernandez
Why are new developments not prioritising social and affordable housing? Developments of 58 flats like the Laundry building on Mare street should not be exempt.
6.2 To the Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport From Ms Louisa Hillwood
In October 2022 I asked whether Hackney Council would switch to fully plant-based catering at internal meetings and events to address food related emissions. Could the Cabinet Member provide an update on this? If Councillors still have concerns I would like to meet with them to discuss further.
6.3 To the Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport From Dr. Noah Birksted-Breen
Will Hackney Council find an appropriate way of marking Earth Overshoot Day annually, the day when humanity uses up more resources than the earth can regenerate in a year, to help educate Hackney residents about the need to focus on reducing and reusing as higher priorities than recycling?
6.4 To the Cabinet Member for Housing Services and Resident Participation From Mr Derek Miller
Please can the Cabinet Member for Housing provide an update on the Council’s response times for dealing with leaks in its Council homes since its launch of a new faster service in February 2023?
6.5 To the Mayor From Ms Sarah Thompson
In light of the circumstances surrounding the resignation of the previous Mayor (Philip Glanville) will you as Hackney’s newly elected Mayor lead by example and hold yourself and your Cabinet Members to account in a way that is open and transparent and puts the residents of Hackney first?
6.6 To the Cabinet Member for Housing Services and Resident Participation From Ms Laura Summerfield
Can the Cabinet Member for housing please advise of its work over the last year to better support the housing needs of Hackney’s Gypsy and Traveller community?
6.7 To the Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care, Voluntary Sector and Culture From Ms Laura Pascal
What is the Tree of Life project and why has it won an award?
6.8 To the Cabinet Member for Housing Services and Resident Participation From Ifeoma Mkparu
Hackney Council dissolved Hackney Homes in March 2016. Please can the Cabinet Member explain why seven years on there are still Council run estates with old Hackney Homes branding?
6.9 To the Mayor From Ifhat Smith
Will the Mayor call on the government to call for a ceasefire in Israel / Palestine and for more support to promote community cohesion locally?
Minutes:
The Speaker prioritised members of the public present in the Chamber followed
by those who had requested their response to be read out in their absence.
6.1 To the Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Delivery, Inclusive
Economy and Regeneration from Antoinette Fernandez
Why are new developments not prioritising social and affordable
housing? Developments of 58 flats like the Laundry building on Mare
Street should not be exempt.
Response from the Deputy Mayor and Cabinet Member for Delivery,
Inclusive Economy and Regeneration
Cllr Nicholson noted the Council had committed to delivering affordable homes to residents for years. The Council had to balance this with other
important priorities to achieve sustainable development across the
borough. The Laundry building was located in a Priority Office Area
(POA), an area of employment floorspace. 6% of land in the borough
was in this category where workspace had been prioritised as part of
planning policy over residential development. 5000 square metres of
workspace had been delivered in the last 2 years.
This had not stopped developers bringing forward housing proposals,
however, workspace was the priority. There were 58 residential units at
the Laundry building in addition to over 4000 square metres of
employment space on the same site.
6.2 To the Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and Transport
from Louisa Hillwood, representing Plant-based Council Campaign.
In October 2022 I asked whether Hackney Council would switch to fully
plant-based catering at internal meetings and events to address food
related emissions. Could the Cabinet Member provide an update on
this? If Councillors still have concerns I would like to meet with them to
discuss further.
Response from the Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment
and Transport
Cllr Coban noted the Council had committed to move towards plant-
based options and reduce meat consumption. The Council recognised
the diverse communities across the borough and committed to work with
them on the transition to net zero by 2030. This included supporting
communities on the journey through the implementation of the Climate
Action Plan (CAP). The CAP set out 5 themes, one of which was food
consumption. It was noted that at the Council's 2023 Annual Meeting
plant-based catering alongside meat and fish options had been provided
which reduced carbon emissions at the event by over 50%.
The Climate and Sustainability Team led on a London-wide campaign,
Eat Like a Londoner, a collaboration with other London boroughs
designed to reduce waste and use more plant-based food. Cllr Coban
noted the climate emergency had been caused by fossil fuel industries.
Supplementary Question:
Will the Cabinet Member for Climate Change, Environment and
Transport meet the questioner for further discussions.
Cllr Coban welcomed the input from Louise Hillwood and the Plant-
based Council Campaign and indicated further opportunities to engage
with council forums and for their voice to be heard. The input into the
CAP from the campaign had been welcomed. Cllr Coban and Cllr
Kennedy had been in correspondence with the campaign to consider
what the Council had already done in relation to emissions, transport,
consumption and adaptation. The Council approach considered ways to
take people on the journey of transition whilst acknowledging the
challenges. Cllr Coban noted that he was happy to meet to continue the
engagement.
The Speaker noted that questions submitted at 6.3 had requested a written response. Those who had submitted questions at 6.4, 6.5, 6.6 and 6.8 had requested the response be read in their absence, time permitting.
6.7 To the Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care, Voluntary Sector
and Culture from Laura Pascal
What is the Tree of Life project and why has it won an award?
Response from the Cabinet Member for Health, Adult Social Care,
Voluntary Sector and Culture
Cllr Kennedy explained that Tree of Life was a talking therapy approach
developed in Zimbabwe that had responded to the context of existing
therapies that had not resonated with individuals or communities. The
Tree of Life approach allowed cultures to be reframed as a strength and
had been recognised globally as a therapeutic approach.
The project had been delivered as part of the new structures of the
Integrated Commissioning Service (ICS) for North East London. The
initiative was delivered in partnership with Hackney Community
Voluntary Service (HCVS), NHS Mental Health Support Teams in local
secondary schools, and was led by the Child and Adolescent Mental
Health Services (CAMHS) Alliance in City and Hackney. The aim of the
programme had been to give young people from Afro-Caribben and
mixed heritage backgrounds space to gain confidence in their own
abilities, acknowledge their dreams and talk about difficult experiences
in a safe environment. The project received the Health Service Journal’s
Innovation and Improvement in Reducing Healthcare Inequalities Award.
Supplementary Question:
How will the new Integrated Commissioning Service partnership
arrangements support further improvements in the delivery of the
service.
Cllr Kennedy noted that the system had moved from competition to a
system of collaboration between local authorities and the NHS. Rather
than bidding against each other they worked to identify which
organisation was best placed to deliver services. It was noted the
Integrated Commissioning Service (ICS) had reduced back office
administration costs as over 300 Clinical Commissioning Groups
(CCGs) had been incorporated into approximately 40 ICS across the
country. Cllr Kennedy had delivered a presentation to Health in Hackney
about the new structures which can be found here from Health in
Hackney Scrutiny Commission 15 November 2023
6.9 To the Mayor from Ifhat Smith
Will the Mayor call on the government to call a ceasefire in
Israel/Palestine and for more support to promote community cohesion
locally?
Response from Mayor Woodley
Mayor Woodley highlighted the Council was dedicated to local people
and understood that local people had been deeply impacted by events
on and following 7 October. The Mayor acknowledged the difficulties and
recognised the trauma had been distressing for many communities and
individuals. It was important that emphasis be placed into building
community cohesion and asked political leaders to honour the truce
and to find ways to a permanent ceasefire.
In terms of community cohesion statements had been made by the
Speaker and Deputy Mayor Bramble, in her role acting as Mayor. Visits
to faith partners, and individuals who had lost family, friends, and
colleagues in Israel and Palestine had taken place. As a former
Councillor in Cazenove Ward the Mayor noted the pride taken in the area
by people from all faiths and people with none. The Mayor indicated that
the Council always supported peaceful protest, however, other people
had become victims of those passions and it was important to find ways
to de-escalate those situations and find ways of healing. The interfaith
groups had to find ways that worked to be more inclusive to bring people
back together.
Supplementary Question:
Can the Mayor write to the central government to request they call for a
ceasefire?
Mayor Woodley indicated that she would write to central government to
outline the statement she had made this evening.
The Speaker returned to the following question from the agenda.
6.4 To the Cabinet Member for Housing Services and Resident Participation
from Derek Miller
Can the Cabinet Member for Housing provide an update on the Council’s
response times for dealing with leaks in its Council homes since its
launch of a new faster service in February 2023?
Response from the Cabinet Member for Housing Services and Resident
Participation
Cllr McKenzie noted that leaks caused damp and mould and were
distressing to residents. Tackling them early helped prevent the issue
spreading or cause potential issues in neighbouring homes. The Council
had increased investment and had committed to residents to increase
efforts to address this issue. The service had set new targets to inspect
all reports of leaks, damp and mould within 5 working days and provided
a dedicated hotline in the repairs call centre. The Council had made
significant changes in the way it had managed repairs and had
completed 8% more repair jobs than a year ago, completing on average
243 jobs per day. Also in February 2023, the Council committed to
responding to leaks by the end of the following day, and employed
additional operatives to achieve this target. In the first 6 months of 2023
87% of leaks were reported as an emergency repair. Overall average
time to attend a reported leak was 1.48 days. Overall satisfaction in the
repairs service was up by 5%. It was recognised that this was the start
of a journey and the service had to learn from what had gone wrong to
ensure the Council delivered a good and improving repair service.
Written responses to questions 6.3, 6.5, 6.6 and 6.8 are attached at APPENDIX A.
Supporting documents:
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