Agenda item
Questions from Members of the Public
Minutes:
Question a) from Sebastian Sandys to Councillor Champion, Executive Member for Environment & Transport:
Would the Executive Member for Environment and Regeneration please explain why I have not had a response to my petition submitted to Council on 27 June 2019 and could they please tell me the full costs of the installation and subsequent removal of the parklet in Baldwin Street EC1V, and where the parklet is now?
Response:
Thank you for your question Sebastian and please accept my apologies that you have not received a formal response from the council to your petition, I will make sure that you do and I can assure you that it was not ignored. Parklets are small green oasis, installed on streets to make them greener and pleasanter. Unfortunately, this parklet generated complaints from local residents that it was being used as an outside drinking area by clients of a nearby pub. An investigation has taken place but complaints have continued so this parklet has been removed and is in storage until we can find an appropriate alternative location. In relation to the point you made about cost, the Bunhill parklet costs and installation were match funded out of planning gain funds that had to be spent in the local area and cost £15,000 including installation. The cost of removing it was £1200 including moving it to another area where it can be enjoyed by local residents.
Question b) from Gill Weston to Councillor Ward, Executive Member for Housing & Development:
In 2018 Islington Council granted itself planning permission to build accommodation for 11 adults with learning disabilities at Windsor Street. In 2014 council officers calculated that the scheme would cost £1.98 million and by December 2017 council officers had determined that the costs had risen to £4.12 million. Please can Councillor Ward provide an update on the estimated costs of building this accommodation, providing both build costs and development/consultancy costs?
Response:
Ms Weston was not present in the Chamber and a written response will be sent.
Question c) from Ian Fearnley to Councillor Ward, Executive Member for Housing & Development:
Care Quality Commission (CQC) regulations specify that no more than six people with a learning disability and/or autism should live together in supported living housing; and they have called for "small domestic scale setting within a community". In 2018 and 2019 two tribunal cases ruled in favour of the CQC’s decision to refuse applications to register services for accommodation that deviated from this maximum number of six.
https://www.cqc.org.uk/news/releases/tribunal-cqc-decision-learning-difficulties
Later this year Islington Council propose to start building its residence for 11 adults with learning disabilities and/or autism at Windsor Street which contravenes these regulations as it provides shared facilities and exceeds the maximum number of six people per site.
The CQC state that 'new services should not be developed as a campus and/or congregate setting due to this not being in the best interests of people with a learning disability and not promoting their rights of choice, independence and inclusion'. Given this, how does the Council propose to modify the accommodation to comply with the CQC regulations?
Response:
Mr Fearnley was not present in the Chamber and a written response will be sent.
Question d) from Helena Farstad to Councillor Champion, Executive
Member for Environment & Transport:
Islington Council declared a Climate Emergency (CE) June 2019 with
the target to become net zero carbon by 2030. This is 20 years
ahead of the Government and is demonstrating the urgency this
crisis demands. The CE action and communication plan is eagerly
anticipated and should have been released for consultation in
advance of this question being heard.
Sadly, regardless of what Islington is doing, or indeed all the
other London boroughs and UK as a whole, unless the most polluting
countries in the world are taking similar, bold action, there is
likely to be irreversible changes to our climate that may directly
impact Islington and its residents. Be that increased temperatures,
increased droughts, erratic rain fall leading to flooding,
increased sea levels threatening the lower lying parts of London to
be uninhabitable, spread of disease, unexpected and rapid movement
of people, food shortages etc. I wonder whether the Council is
planning with these eventualities in mind and whether any
conversations with other boroughs and indeed the Mayor of London
are taking place addressing these possible and increasingly likely
future risks?
Response:
Thank you for your question. As we have
said the consequences of climate change are already with us and
having a devastating effect on many countries and here in the
UK. We have seen extreme climate events
in recent years and this is likely to continue. We do have a very experienced Emergency Planning
team who work with City Hall and government to ensure that we do
have robust plans in place. To go back
to the broader point you make, the task before us is huge, I do
however believe that it is incumbent on us all to do what we can,
in the Council and beyond and this is why the Council declared a
Climate Emergency on 27th June. 2019, with a commitment to report
back on 27th February 2020, today. We have also gone one step
further and developed a Zero Net Carbon Strategy. A huge amount of thinking and work has taken place
across the council to embed net zero carbon in everything we do
moving forward.
Our collective challenge is to eliminate 700,000 tonnes of carbon
emissions despite only 4% of these emissions arising from the
council, which is why we need the government to make significant
and on-going funding, including capital grant funding in order to
deliver our ambition for Islington. Specifically, the cost of
retrofitting the council’s housing stock to become both
energy efficient and zero carbon in terms of energy is well in
excess of what the council can afford. As a council it is vital that we take a lead
role. We have started initial
stakeholder and resident consultation and a special meeting of the
Environment & Regeneration Scrutiny Committee has been arranged
to take place on 9 March. There will be
opportunities for residents to give feedback on the
strategy. Thank you again for writing
to me and for giving feedback on the consultation.
Question e) from Ernestas Jegorovas to Councillor Comer-Schwartz, Executive Member for Children, Young People and Families
Will the council add tackling climate change to Islington's Fair Future commission?
Response
Mr Jegorovas was not in the
Chamber and a written response will be sent.
Supporting documents:
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