Aologies received from Cllrs C.Andrews, J. Connelly, S. Gill, D. Grewal, B. Harris, G. Hibbs and G. Lal.

Cllr John Cooper declared a personal interest in agenda item 6.

To receive announcements (if any) from the Mayor, Leader, Members of the Executive or the Head of Paid Service

The Mayor formally to thank those who made the Fusiliers Event of 26^th November 2009 a great success.

To receive any petitions presented by Members 

Three received.

To approve the minutes of the two meetings of the Council held on Tuesday 24^th November 2009. 

Minutes of the two meetings held on 24^th November 2009 agreed subject to following amendments:

In the bullet point detailing Cllr Mark Bowen’s comments on page seven of the minutes, the first sentence should read: “Councillor Mark Bowen considered that the Labour Group was incoherent in its declared wish to see council tax reduced yet also wishing to remove proposed savings without offering alternatives to help this happen.”

In Councillor Bowen’s comments on page nine, the second sentence should be read: “He objected to the serious allegation made by Councillor Cadbury that the Leader and he had deliberately “bumped up” the figures that officers had provided for the final report, particularly in relation to the housing benefit pressures which she claimed had been inflated from £1 million to £4.6 million.  He considered that her comments suggested corruption in the Administration by the act of deliberately distorting figures for political reasons and he challenged her to provide evidence to back up her allegation”.

On page 12, the term “£5.30” to be replaced by “5.3 pence”.

Consideration of the minutes was deferred to the meeting on the 22^nd September, 2003.

Report by Councillor Barbara Reid, Executive Member for Environment

RESOLVED –

THAT Members ratify the objection to Heathrow Airport’s Airtrack proposal sent to the Secretary of State for Transport on the 17^th September 2009 (this decision was unanimous)

Report by Councillor Paul Fisher, Executive Member for Communities - Engagement and Safety

Councillor Paul Fisher to provide Councillor Elizabeth Hughes with further details of the persistent drinking offenders.

RESOLVED –

The Controlled Drinking Zone in respect of Feltham Town Centre and the immediate surrounding area as shown edged red on the plan forming appendix A of the report be continued. 

Report by Councillor Peter Thompson, Leader of the Council, and Councillor Mark Bowen, Deputy Leader of the Council (also Chairman of the Constitutional Review Group)

RESOLVED –

That the amendments to the Council's Constitution and Procedure Rules as set out in paragraphs 2.4 and 2.6 of the report be approved.

Report of the Borough Solicitor

RESOLVED –

That

• Councillor Adrian Lee be appointed to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee;
• Ms Merle Abbot and Mr David Brockie be appointed to the Woodbridge Park Management Committee; and
• Ms Maggie Hardy be appointed to the Isleworth & Hounslow Charity Trustee Board.

"Can the Executive Member provide an explanation on why her report on the Transformation and Modernisation Strategy submitted to the Executive on 5th January 2010 did not clearly lay out the departmental re-organisation required to comply with the Transformation and Mordernisation agenda?"

“Is the Executive Member satisfied with the Council's response to the adverse weather conditions in January?”

“The Labour Group has recently made references to increased fly tipping in the Borough.  One Member of the Labour Party recently claimed in the letters page of the Hounslow Chronicle that the increased costs of the Tidy Town service has meant fly-tipping is once again rampant across Hounslow, bringing extra costs of £300,000 a year.  Does the Executive Member have any evidence, or has the Labour Group provided it, to prove that there have been increased costs anywhere close to this figure?”

“Given the explosion in demand for primary school places in Hounslow could Cllr Oulds comment on the Government’s decision to award the Borough not a single penny to us to meet our extra need for school places?”

“Can the Executive member for Finance comment on the likely impact to small businesses in the borough of the forthcoming reevaluation of the business rates?”

”This Council notes:

• The House of Commons, London's City Hall and over 40 local authorities already have a policy of sourcing only barn or free-range eggs in their catering facilities.  They have recognised it is important to support cage-free farming systems rather than battery farming.
• Caged hens suffer greatly in their short lives.  They are unable to carry out important natural behaviours, such as foraging and dustbathing, or even flapping their wings.
• Barren battery cages are prohibited throughout the EU from 2012 and the UK government is encouraging public bodies to move away from conventional battery eggs and switch to cage-free eggs.
• Less intensive farming systems are not just better for animal wellbeing, they can also be better for the environment and farmers, delivering more sustainable farming.
• Although prices may vary, it only costs little more to produce an egg in a free-range system than an egg from a caged system. Last year LB Hounslow consumed 25,722 eggs, so the transition to free range eggs will cost the Council £745/ annum.
• This is an opportunity for the Council to benefit from partnering with a well respected charity, Compassion in World Farming, and promote leading animal welfare policies to the public, as well as receiving a ‘Good Egg Award’.
• Driven by ever increasing global demand for edible oils, the past few decades have seen rapid expansion in the production of two major edible oils, soyoil in South America and palm oil the tropics.
• Vegetable oil production around the world totals 95 million tonnes per year, of which over 28 million tonnes are produced by the oil palm, the world's second largest oil crop after soyoil.
• From the 1990s to the present time, the area under palm oil cultivation had increased by about 43%, most of which were in Malaysia and Indonesia.
• While better managed plantations and oil palm smallholdings serve as models of sustainable agriculture, in terms of economic performance as well as social and environmental responsibility, there is serious concern that not all palm oil is being produced sustainably at present.
• Development of new plantations has resulted in the conversion of large areas of forests with high conservation value and has threatened the rich biodiversity in these ecosystems. Use of fire for preparation of land for oil palm planting has been reported to contribute to the problem of forest fires in the late 1990s. The expansion of oil palm plantations have also given rise to social conflicts between the local communities and project proponents in many instances.

This Council therefore commits to source (from the start of the 2010/11 financial year) cage-free eggs from barn or free-range systems for all catering provided by the Council, through DS Catering.

This Council also:

• seeks to phase out the use of food products containing Palm Oil that is not certified to international sustainability standards by the end of 2010;
• commits to become a founder member of The Sustainable Restaurants Association (www.thesra.org) whose launch is supported by Sustain.  This will  ...  view the full agenda text for item 15.

RESOLVED –

That this Council commits to source from (the start of 2010/11 financial year) cage-free eggs from barn or free-range systems for all catering provided by the Council through DS Catering.

This Council will also investigate phasing out the use of food products containing Palm Oil that are not certified to international sustainability standards.

“This Council believes that residents of the London Borough of Hounslow should have the opportunity to nominate and support members of the public who have brought credit to the borough by rewarding them with Freedom of the Borough status.  These nominations should cover three categories:

Category 1:    Entertainment and Sport

Category 2:    Community

Category 3:    Business

We believe that the Council should facilitate this in conjunction with the local media. The nominees receiving the highest number of public votes in each category would then receive the accolade.”

RESOLVED –

That this Council believes that residents of the London Borough of Hounslow should have the opportunity to nominate and support members of the public who have brought credit to the borough by rewarding them with a new Heroes of Hounslow Award.  These nominations should cover three categories:

Category 1:    Entertainment and Sport

Category 2:    Community

Category 3:    Business

We believe that the Council should facilitate this in conjunction with the local media. The nominees receiving the highest number of public votes in each category would then receive the accolade.

“This Council calls on the Government to secure the Freedom Pass by protecting the previously agreed level of concessionary travel funding for London, for 2010-11 from the proposals currently being consulted on by the Department for Transport (DfT) that would cut £29 million of agreed funding for the boroughs, following the DfT’s re-opening of a three year funding deal in its third year.”

RESOLVED -

That this Council calls on the Government to secure the Freedom Pass by protecting the previously agreed level of concessionary travel funding for London, for 2010-11 from the proposals currently being consulted on by the Department for Transport (DfT) that would cut £29 million of agreed funding for the boroughs, following the DfT’s re-opening of a three year funding deal in its third year.

The next meeting of the Council is scheduled for Tuesday 2^nd March 2010 and will commence at 7.30 in the Council Chamber