A report of the Mayor had been circulated with the agenda.

The Chairman invited Members to indicate whether they wished to ask a question of the Mayor.  Councillors Bashir, Connal, Bell, Turmaine, Kent and Mills indicated that they wished to ask questions.

a)      Councillor Bashir said that it was good to see the Mayor back in the chamber following her recent hospital treatment.  He stated that he had noted there was something missing in the Mayor’s report.  There was no update on the Metropolitan Line Extension.  Everyone in the chamber agreed that the extension had to go ahead in order to unleash the economic prospects for the town.  He commented that he was a member of the planning committee that had recently agreed to a massive regeneration project in Ascot Road and at Watford Riverwell.  Both units had an underlying premise, namely that the infrastructure had to be in place for those projects to go forward.  He asked the Mayor to give assurances and an update on the situation with regards to the Metropolitan Line Extension, particularly following comments by the previous Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, and Chris Grayling MP.

         The Mayor advised that there had been no further information to add since her last report.  The council was clear that there was an agreement with the Minister for Transport, Chris Grayling MP, through to the Watford MP, the council’s partners including the County Council and the Local Enterprise Partnership.  Transport for London agreed to take on some of the funding and absorb any uplift in costs.  The London Mayoral election then took place and a Labour Mayor was returned.  Some of the previous agreements between the Mayor’s office and the Minister for Transport were withdrawn.  She said that the council had sought legal opinion about the Mayor of London being able to overturn a decision made by the previous Mayor.  He was able to overturn previous mayoral directions.  She felt Watford was in the middle of a political row.  The Mayor of London’s plan supported suburban lines but not the Metropolitan Line Extension.  However she felt that at heart he would support the extension scheme.

         The Mayor informed Council that she had not given up.  The Metropolitan Line Extension was too good a scheme which had cross party agreement.  Many businesses had invested millions in Watford on the back of this scheme going ahead.  She understood that the Watford MP was meeting with someone from the Treasury.  The council would continue working through its formal routes; working with officers from Transport for London to try and progress the scheme.  She was sure that when there was good news everyone would share it.

b)      Councillor Connal said that Watford was a Fairtrade Town.  Shehad noticed that Sainsbury’s was not providing as many Fairtrade products.  Many items had the sign ‘fairly traded’.  She asked the Mayor to join her in telling people that ‘fairly traded is not Fairtrade’.

         The Mayor thanked Councillor Connal.  She felt that ‘fairly traded is not Fairtrade’ was a good slogan.  Watford was one of the first Fairtrade Towns in the country.  It was disappointing that a company like Sainsbury’s was trying to pull back from the Fairtrade ethos.  She felt that there was a campaign to be set up or at the very least they should be written to and told that they were misleading people.

c)      Councillor Bell welcomed the Mayor back and in better health.  He referred to the item about breaking ground at the new Muslim Youth Centre.  He had wanted to ask a question at Cabinet but had another meeting he needed to attend.  He had also raised it with the Managing Director.  He asked the Mayor about the £150,000 loan agreed at Cabinet.  He was unsure whether the Managing Director or Head of Democracy and Governance had had a second thought on this matter as one of the members of the Trustee Board was a leading member of the local Liberal Democrats.  Being aware of how influential he was with the Liberal Democrats, Councillor Bell felt that members may have thought twice about taking this decision at Cabinet.  In addition he asked whether the Managing Director or Head of Democracy and Governance raised this matter with the Mayor.

         The Mayor replied that she was not sure of Councillor Bell’s problem.  She was aware that people voted in different ways and were members of political parties, from every community group across the town.  She did not ask all the committee members who they voted for in elections. 

         The Mayor said that she was interested that he had raised this matter now.  The project had been ongoing for 25 years.  It had been a Labour-led project; councillors had been involved in it.  It had been tied to the Single Regeneration Budget, which had funded feasibility studies.  However the project had not taken place. 

         The Mayor stated she did not understand what Councillor Bell meant about ‘influence’.  She was proud that a group of Watford people were able to raise £1 million to provide a community facility to cater for their needs.  She said the councillor should be ashamed for not supporting them.

         The Managing Director informed Council that at the start of Cabinet, members were required to declare any personal, pecuniary or prejudicial interests.  This was a self-determination process.  Both he and the Head of Democracy and Governance did not consider the decision had been prejudiced by outside connections.

d)      Councillor Turmaine said that he wished to talk about Harwoods Rec.  He asked for an update on efforts to redeploy staff who had worked in the supervised play area prior to the changes. 

         The Mayor responded that as far as she was aware the process had been carried out.  There were some jobs available for redeployment and some of the staff applied.  This was the normal process for redundancy situations.  Staff were supported with help for interviews and given training.  Staff had access to a lot of support from Human Resources (HR), if they wished to take it.  No employer was able to guarantee someone another job within their organisation.  The Council followed the proper employment practices and helped staff to move on to other employment.

         Councillor Collett, Portfolio Holder for Community, confirmed that some staff had been redeployed to other jobs within the council.  They had been given support by HR.  Some chose not to seek redeployment within the council. 

e)      Councillor Kent referred to the tragic events at Grenfell Tower.  He asked the Mayor to explain what actions had been taken to prevent a similar incident happening in Watford in the future.

         The Mayor said that she wished to state and to have it recorded on behalf of the council, its regret and sympathy for those who had lost their lives, their families and friends.  Nothing could prepare anyone for the horrors that were seen and it was important to make sure that everything was done to ensure it did not happen in Watford. 

         The Mayor advised that she had taken immediate action to ensure Watford residents were not at risk.  She had written to all the housing associations across the town; the fire brigade’s station commanders; chief inspectors and the Chief Executive at the County Council.  She had asked that every possible precaution had been taken and had received assurances.  She hoped that everyone would agree that the response from Watford Community Housing Trust had been swift and thorough.  Tenants had contacted her to say they were reassured.  Safety checks were carried out regularly and additional checks had taken place since the fire.  The annual fire assessment had taken place week commencing 19 June, as normal.  There had been no major issues.  Neither of the tower blocks had cladding.  She advised members that the fire brigade used the Meriden high rise blocks for practices.  A public meeting had been held with the fire service to reassure residents.  The Trust was actively considering the installation of sprinklers. 

         The Mayor stated that the Chief Fire Officer had confirmed that the local resilience plans were robust and prepared for major incidents.  Practices regularly took place.  The fire brigade continued to carry out their usual visits and providing more reassurance.

         The Mayor commented that she had been concerned about the ‘stay put’ policy.  Personally she would want to get out of the building.  She had been assured that it was still the correct advice.  It had worked well in a recent fire in Abbey View, where the fire had been contained and extinguished. 

         The Mayor added that the council had made sure all its own operational buildings had been assessed.  Risk assessments were up to date.  The Town Hall complex’s assessment had just been reviewed. 

         The Mayor then referred to the issue of planning applications for tall buildings and felt this would be better covered during the debate on the motions.  However, she did advise that the planning system should not duplicate another statutory regime, for example building regulations.  Notwithstanding that there had been concerns about the Ascot Road application.  She understood that the committee members had been reassured that the fire safety for the tower was considered to be of a very high standard.  This would be reviewed further by building control.  The council needed to wait to see the ‘lessons to be learned’ from the public inquiry but it would do all it could to protect its residents.

f)       Councillor Mills said she wished to ask about Harwoods Adventure Playground.  She had visited the site after it had opened and had been very impressed.  However she was disappointed to see a massive hole in the fence, which she felt was very dangerous as it was by the main road.  A few days later she was advised that temporary fencing had been placed over it.  She asked for an update on the situation.

         Councillor Collett responded that she had walked about the whole site and had noticed the opening.  It was located near to the picnic benches and where children played ball.  She immediately went to the Parks and Open Spaces Section Head and Head of Community and Environmental Services and asked them to get it repaired straight away.  She was aware they were working on it.  The open gate provided access to the contractor when they needed to gain entry to cut the grass.  She had stressed to the officers that the most important thing was to protect the children.  The Section Head was dealing with the issue.  She had also told him that the temporary cover was not good enough.  She thanked Councillor Mills for raising the matter.