The Mayor announced the recent deaths of two honorary Aldermen who were former councillors and had both been past Mayors. Honorary Alderman Pat Hecks died on 9 February 2013. Honorary Alderman Derek Millard died suddenly on 15 February 2013.

Of Honorary Alderman Pat Hecks the Mayor announced that he had died on 9th February 2013 following a short illness. The Mayor paid tribute to Honorary alderman Pat Hecks describing him as "one of life's gentlemen", courteous, friendly and had a wicked sense of humour. He had been a Councillor for Croham Ward. He was first elected in 1982 and stood until 1998. He had been Mayor in 1993/94. The Mayor went on to say that Hon Alderman Hecks had been chairman of the Licensing and Consumer Affairs Committee and had served on numerous committee including Education Committee, Libraries Committee, Licensing Committee and the Resources, Finances and Policy Committee. After he left the Council Hon Alderman Hecks had pursued many other interests including helping with meals on wheels, a member of Rotary and followed his enthusiasm for the railways. The Mayor said it had been a privilege knowing him and that he would be missed by many people.

The Leader of the Council, Councillor Mike Fisher, said that the passing of Hon Alderman Hecks was a very sad loss. He had served with distinction for many years as a Ward Councillor for Croham Ward, as Chairman of various committees and Mayor in 1993. Hon Alderman Hecks was also a supporter of many civic events with his wife Gillian. The Leader said his passing was a huge loss to the borough and that the Council's thoughts are for his wife and family at this sad time.

Councillor Tony Newman, Leader of the Opposition passed on condolences on behalf of the Labour Group. Councillor Newman remembered Hon Alderman Hecks as a generous man to him personally and to many others. Councillor Newman went onto say that he had recently seen Mrs Wicks, who had suffered her own loss recently and that she wished to pass on her condolences to the Hecks' family.

Following this the Council stood for a moment of silence in respect of Hon Alderman Pat Hecks.

Of Hon Alderman Derek Millard, the Mayor announced that he had died suddenly on 15 February 2013. Affectionately known as ‘Mr Purley', Hon Alderman Millard had elected for Purley Ward in 1986 and served until his retirement in 2010. He had served on numerous committees including Planning and Fairfield Hall and had been chair of Technical Services, Corporate Services and the Pension Committee. The Mayor went on to say that Hon Alderman Millard was well known for his love of the ‘king of sports', horse racing, and also for fast cars. The Mayor said that he would be missed by the people of Purley and Croydon.

Councillor Fisher, spoke of his sadness at the passing on Hon Alderman Millard, who had been a personal friend for a number of years. He paid tribute to how he had served with great distinction for Purley Ward where he had been elected at a by election in November 1986. Councillor Fisher said that during his time as Mayor, Hon Alderman Millard had bought his own inimitable style to the role which he had enjoyed immensely. Councillor Fisher went on to say that his passing was a huge loss to the borough and was, in fact, known affectionately not as "Mr Purley" as the current Mayor remembers but as ‘the Mayor of Purley'. In closing the Leader said that Purley had lost a great advocate and that the thoughts of the Council were with his wife Bunty, children and grand children.

Councillor Newman echoed the Mayor's and Leader's comments saying that on behalf of the Labour Group, following Hon Alderman Millard's sudden passing their thoughts were with Hon Alderman Millard's wife, Bunty and family and that he would be sorely missed. He spoke of Hon Alderman Millard's remarkable year as Mayor and of his knowledge of the racing game as being second to none.

Following this the Council stood for a moment of silence in respect of Hon Alderman Derek Millard.

RESOLVED that the allocation of items between Part A and Part B of the agenda be confirmed.

RESOLVED that the Minutes the Minutes of the full Council Meeting and the Extraordinary Council meeting both held on 28 January 2013 be agreed as a correct record

All Members of the Council confirmed that their interests as listed in their Declaration of Interests Forms were accurate and up-to-date.

The Mayor announced that there was one item of urgent business to agree to the addition of four Members to act as substitutes on the Health, Social Care and Housing Scrutiny Sub Committee for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2012/13.

Council RESOLVED that

1. two Members on each side of the Chamber to act as reserve Members of the Health, Social Care and Housing Scrutiny Sub Committee for the remainder of the 2012/13 municipal year be appointed and;

2. groups notify details of the nominees to the Monitoring Officer.

The Mayor advised the Council of forthcoming charity events

Annual Charity Dinner to be held at the Croydon Hilton on 8th March;

Mayor's Charity St George's Day Cream Tea to be held in the Town Hall on 23rd April;

The Deputy Mayor, Councillor Tony Harris would be absailing down Jury's Inn on 22nd March;

Councillor Richard Chatterjee is to undertake a sponsored swim at Waddon Leisure Centre on 31st March;

Annual Mayor's Walk, 14th April - from Whittington Stone in Archway to Mansion House.

Councillor Fisher announced that this was the last Council meeting that would be attended by Jon Rouse, Chief Executive, who was leaving to take up a post as Director General at the Department of Health. Jon joined as Chief Executive in July 2007, having previously been Chief Executive at the Housing Corporation and the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment. The Leader said he got on well with Jon despite the fact that Jon supported Queens Park Rangers, and that the Leader had tried on many occasions to switch Jon's allegiance to Crystal Palace! The Leader said he was very grateful for the hard work that Jon had put in over the last 5½ years that has helped transform the Council to one of the most efficient and best performing Councils in the country. The Leader placed on record his personal thanks for Jon's advice and support and wished him well for the future.

Councillor Tony Newman said the last 5 years had been very tough for Jon and the pressure had been immense. He said that Jon had always acted with integrity when dealing with him. Councillor Newman also said that he knew that Jon would be controlling many of the purse strings of local government in his next role (so he shamelessly lobbied) and that the adult social care costs are the biggest impact on local government and anything that can be done in his new department would be vital. Councillor Newman summed up by saying that Jon would still have part of Croydon's future in his hands in his new role and wished him well for the future.

The Mayor added his thanks to those of both Leaders saying that Jon had been invaluable in giving advice at Council meetings. He invited Jon to reply.

Jon Rouse thanked both Leaders for their kind words and said it had been a privilege and pleasure to work with both of them. He also thanked everyone in the Chamber, Members and members of the public. He said he had particularly enjoyed working with Members on Ward issues which made it a pleasure to be a local authority chief executive and he would miss it.

Councillor Steve Hollands, Chair of Scrutiny & Strategic Overview Committee, presented a written report to Council summarising the proceedings of that Committee since the last ordinary meeting of the Council, including matters considered by the Scrutiny Sub-Committees.

There were no recommendations or comments from the Scrutiny & Strategic Overview Committee in relation to the proposed Council tax/budget for 2013/14.

No questions were asked and the report was received.

At 6.55 the Leader moved a Procedural Motion under Part 4a 1.11.3 of the Constitution, for a change in the order of business and for the Council Tax Debate (agenda item 8) to be taken before the Business Report of the Cabinet and Councillors Written Questions (agenda item 7). Councillor Dudley Mead seconded the motion which was put to the vote and agreed.

The Council debated the Recommendations as contained in the Leader and Cabinet Business Report (agenda item 7), including the following reports:
1. Adoption and Introduction of Croydon's Community Infrastructure Levy Draft Charging Schedule;
2. Financial Strategy 2013/17, General Fund 7 HRA Budget for 2013/14;
3. Treasury management strategy statement, minimum revenue provision policy statement & Annual investment strategy 2013/14;

Councillor Mike Fisher moved the recommendations contained in the report as printed in the Council agenda under agenda item 7, Business Report of the Leader and Cabinet and Councillor Dudley Mead seconded.

Councillor Fisher opened the debate saying that the last few years had been the toughest for local government and that Croydon was no exception to this. It had tested everyone in the Council. He said that a clear sense of direction was required and it is about doing the right thing for Croydon not the easy thing. The Council had battled to maintain services in the face of a 50% reduction of government funding. There were difficult decisions to be made and raising Council Tax was one of those.

In the past the Opposition, when in power, raised council tax by an average of 9% per year, this was at a time of plenty but still they achieved less. Life was much easier then.

This Administration has kept Council Tax increases to a minimum and it was frozen for the last two years despite being in the mists of one of the most biting recessions since the 1920's.

The increase equates to 34p per week per Band D household would help investment in roads, protect and educate our children, invest in new housing and look after the most vulnerable. The Leader said that the electorate have entrusted the Administration to do the right thing. Since 2010 around 2000 residents had given their views on services that are important to them at Question time events. Each year priorities have remained the same, protect the vulnerable, invest in schools and street cleaning.

The Leader went on to say that the Administration had delivered £118m efficiencies saving over the last 7 years, with £17m in the year to come, whilst maintaining the services that mattered to residents. There had also been significant reductions in complaints about services and a 10% increase in the number of residents satisfied by Council services.

Croydon has been experiencing hard times, homelessness was an example of this and welfare reform, with Croydon being one of early areas to be implemented. These are some of the toughest and unprecedented challenges being faced by this Council.

The Leader went on to say that the focus on investment will continue in 2013.

The Urban Regeneration vehicle would bring new, modern buildings to Croydon;

Bernard Weatherill House will take the Council into the 21st century with the key partners of Health and CAB delivering their services,

When Taberner House is demolished 600 new homes will be built;

Investment in sport and schools, investing in the future of Croydon.

In reply Councillor Tony Newman opened by welcoming Croydon Radio who were transmitting the meeting. He went on to say that Labour used to webcast all Council meetings live and the next Labour Council would do so again. He said that transparency and accountability were fundamental to local democracy and questioned recent decisions taken by the Conservative council regarding the sell off of libraries, the proposed incinerator site and the spend on the new HQ had lacked transparency.

He said that Croydon was a fantastic place to live and work and had an exciting future ahead has exciting future. However across Croydon and nationally too many people were suffering.

He went on to say that the people of Croydon were suffering because of the cuts, redundancies at the Upper Norwood Joint Library, loss of lollipop crossing staff, cuts to youth services and, 100's of staff losing jobs in Taberner House. He questioned if this budget was good news for them.

Labour would introduce a Community Council in New Addington, bring forward a plan to build 100's of affordable homes to tackle housing crisis and create new jobs for local people.

Councillor Newman went on to say that should Labour be successful in the next local election they would;

Introduce the London Living wage for both the Council and those who seek and run existing Council contracts;

If legally possible would stop the incinerator being build on Croydon's borders;

Cut the pay of the Chief Executive to nearly £150K rather than £250K;

Have a proper training academy to develop staff talent and scrap the consultants' budget;

Would clean streets properly and crack down on fly tipping;

fight for better funding from Government;

Promote the credit union borough wide and crack down on pay day loan sharks;

Would fast track implementation of street lighting to make streets safe and clean.

Councillor Gatland in supporting the budget spoke of the lack of funding from past and present governments but that through efficiency savings the administration were able to protect the services that residents valued the most. These included road repairs, school improvement plans for special educational needs, and investments in primary and secondary schools.

Councillor Butler is opposing the budget spoke of the housing crisis nationally and locally and the number of families in bed and breakfast in Croydon. She continued by saying that the rise in Council Tax and the reduction in Council Tax Benefit would hit many of the poorer families in Croydon. This together with the 4% rise in rent to Council tenants would cause further distress. House building was down, homelessness and rough sleepers up, mortgages difficult to get and a rise in private sector rents on poor quality accommodation added to the problem. In conclusion Councillor Butler said there was little in the budget to assist residents in her Ward.

Councillor Dudley Mead in support of the budget spoke of the £224.6m to buy tenants out of the Housing Revenue Account subsidy and that the £6m saving would be ringfenced to build new houses. He went on to say that the 4.36% increase in rent was to equalise the difference in social rents, affordable homes rents and market rents and that Council officers had visited most tenants affected by the benefit changes. In concluding Councillor Mead spoke about the Capital budget showing available capital of £193m of which £119m is unsupported borrowing before HRA paid over, Croydon was 4th lowest borrower in London.

Councillor Hall opposing the budget, spoke of the charges for the new Council headquarters and the increase in Council borrowing.

Councillor Bashford spoke in support of the budget saying that this year's increase in the Council Tax would mean continued investment in future services. She spoke of the tough decisions made in the light of 23% reduction in government funding with further cuts to come in the coming year.

Councillor Letts in opposing said that many residents' living standards were being squeezed and that the increase in Council Tax and cuts in benefits would affect everyone. She went on to say that 1 in 5 children were in poverty and that employment prospects were difficult without adequate skills and the lack of childcare facility.

Councillor Perry in supporting the budget spoke of the various regeneration projects around the borough and the huge benefit that would be seen following the announcement of the Westfield - Hammerson proposals for the town centre. He spoke of developments Berkerley Homes at Saffron Square, L&G at St Georges House and Abstract at Renaissance the first major office space for 20 years.

Councillor Avis spoke in opposition of the budget, of the increases in taxation and the ‘bedroom' tax being a tax on the poor and vulnerable. She also spoke of assessment made by Atoss and how these would have an impact on residents through the cuts in the adult social care budget.

Councillor Margaret Mead in support of the budget spoke of the efficiencies that have been made whilst still protecting the most vulnerable residents in the borough. She went on to say that the Department for Adult Social Care and Housing was recognised as being one of the best and most innovative in the country.

Councillor Fitzsimons speaking against the budget, spoke of the poor national financial performance and the impact on the local economy and the increase in Council borrowing.

Councillor O'Connell in support spoke of the Council's front line performance strengthening and the benefits achieved through the Step Change programme.

Councillor Bee speaking against the budget, spoke of the cuts in benefits would hit children hardest and that issues like child poverty and poor health would get worse in the years to come.

Councillor Tim Pollard in support, spoke of the difficult decision to cut free school meals which would have added £10m to the budget, Investments were being made in front line services, foster care service, and schools.

Councillor Flemming speaking against, spoke of increases in Council tax and the withdrawal of Council Tax Support, and that the bedroom tax did not take into account rooms being kept for family members to stay, carers to stay or children returning from university. She spoke of the borough housing crisis and the number of families in bed and breakfast.

Councillor Thomas speaking in support saying that any increase in Council tax was too much but that these difficult decisions had to be made in the face of government cuts and previous labour administrations failings. He spoke of the improvements made under the administration including increase recycling, food waste collection from schools, street lighting, no increase in parking charge this year and the opening of the Waddon Leisure centre.

Councillor Collins speaking against spoke of the attack on local government finances' from central government. The cuts in benefits and rise in tax would affect 16,000 residents and would have an impact on the future social services budget. He went on to speak about cuts that a Labour administration would make if returned to power in 2014 including to the consultants budget. He spoke of the planning issues in the North of the borough, street cleaning and flytipping. In conclusion Councillor Collins said that a budget was needed for growth and that this budget did not deliver that.

Councillor Fisher in exercising his right of reply said he had listened to each speech and was still unsure what the opposition would do if in the same position. He spoke of the variances in government funding to neighbouring boroughs and that if a settlement for Croydon had been similar to Lambeth, Council tax would have been cut. He went on to say that he hoped that the Steve Reed MP for Croydon North would push for a fairer deal for Croydon. The administration would continue to make a case for fairer funding for Croydon and they would continue to take the difficult decisions whilst ensuring services were maintain for the residents of the borough.

At the conclusion of the debate Councillor Newman asked for a show of hands; the budget recommendations as contained in the Council agenda were then put and carried 36 Conservative, 33 Labour. as follows:

1) Adoption and introduction of Croydon's Community Infrastructure levy draft charging schedule;

2) Financial Strategy 2013/17, general fund and Housing Revenue Account budget for 2013/14; and

3) Treasury management strategy statement, minimum revenue provision policy statement & Annual investment strategy 2013/14; including the revised Appendix P previously circulated.

The Council received the Business Report summarising the proceedings of the Cabinet (Council Tax) meeting held on Monday 26 February 2013.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rules, written questions had been submitted in advance by Council Members and written replies had been given by the relevant Cabinet Members. The questions and answers had been placed in the Chamber. Supplementary questions were asked by Members of the Council and replies were given by the relevant Cabinet Members.

Each Cabinet Member was asked in turn if they had anything to add to their report. Questions were then invited from the Chamber for each Cabinet Member who replied orally to the questions asked by Members of the Council on specific paragraphs or submitted questions.

The following Members asked questions on the Business Report

Cabinet Member:

Leader: Councillors Newman, G Ryan, Lenton, S Khan, Chatterjee, Kellett, Woodley, Chowdhury and Scott.

Councillor Dudley Mead: Councillors H Pollard, Butler, Marshall, Gray, hall, Chowdhury and Fitzsimons.

The following Cabinet Members made announcements;

Councillor Margaret Mead announced that the Learning Disability Team at Croydon Health Services had come top in London for providing health services to people with learning disabilities, according to the Big Health Check 2012/13. The team were the highest rated borough in London and Cllr mead congratulated all those involved.

Councillor Tim Pollard announced that following discussions with JLIS (John Laing Integrated Services- the preferred bidder for the new library service) an issue had arisen regarding pension provision. Under EU procurement rules this effectively meant that the preferred bidder status of JLIS was at an end there would now be a request to all final bidders to resubmit an adjusted bid for the final process to be re-evaluated.

At 21.25 Councillor Godfrey requested that he be allowed to question the Cabinet Member on the announcement. The Mayor ruled that the guillotine had fallen for the meeting and questions would not be allowed. Councillor Godfrey repeated his request and this was again refused. Councillor Godfrey protested loudly and continued his request supported loudly by many from the Labour Group and opposed loudly by many from the Conservative Group. Councillor Godfrey refused to accept the Mayor's ruling and was asked to leave the Chamber. He did so and was followed by all members of the Labour Group.

The recommendations contained in the report were put and agreed with no Labour members present.

RESOLVED -
That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the remainder of the meeting on the grounds that it would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.

SUMMARY OF PART B DISCUSSION
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The remainder of the meeting included disclosure of exempt information (as defined by paragraph 1 of Schedule 12A in Part 1 of the Local Government Act 1972: ‘Information relating to any individual'). The minutes of the discussion are therefore also exempt and not available to the public. A summary of the discussion is below, as required by section 100C(2) of the Local Government Act 1972.

The Council received a report from the Corporate Services Committee recommending the approval the appointment of an interim Chief Executive and Head of Paid Service.