Agenda item

Questions

Minutes:

City Corporation’s Duties and Responsibilities

Patrick Streeter asked a question of the Deputy Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee concerning the City Corporation’s focus on local authority and non-local authority activities.

 

Responding, the Deputy Chairman reminded the Member of the City Corporation’s unique history and various responsibilities, which were significantly more wide-ranging than those of a local authority. These included the promotion of the Square Mile, the maintenance of a number of public spaces across London, support for several world-class cultural institutions, and widening access to education for children from challenging backgrounds across London. Notwithstanding this, the City Corporation demonstrably delivered its local authority duties to a high level. The Deputy Chairman made reference to various awards recently won by the City Corporation in this respect, including those recognising its clean streets and efforts in improving air quality.

 

Residential Development

Patrick Streeter asked a question of the Deputy Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee regarding the prospective purchase of a particular portion of land in east London for the purposes of building residential housing.

 

In reply, the Deputy Chairman reiterated the City Corporation’s commitment to alleviating the housing shortage in London but noted that the particular piece of land referred to was currently ill-suited for residential purposes, setting out the various difficulties associated with it. Notwithstanding this, the City Corporation would continue to search for appropriate sites and would monitor this site in case the situation changed.

 

Hate Crime and Xenophobic Incidents

Deputy Joyce Nash asked a question of the Deputy Chairman of the Policy and Resources Committee concerning recent racist and xenophobic incidents and instances of hate crime.

 

The Deputy Chairman was robust in reiterating the City Corporation’s condemnation of such incidents and emphasised its commitment to the preservation of London’s highly successful multicultural society. She also highlighted the significant cultural and economic benefits brought about through the City’s long history of diversity amongst residents, workers, visitors, businesses and trading partners. The work of the City Corporation and City Police, as well as their joint work with others, was set out along with a clear message of zero tolerance for hate crime and urging that anybody witnessing any such incident report it to the police immediately.

 

Responding to supplementary questions, the Deputy Chairman agreed to share her full response with any interested Member and to also make available information relating to dedicated reporting websites and telephone lines.

 

Promoting the City Corporation’s Photographic, Print and Film Collections

Henry Colthurst asked a question of the Chairman of the Culture, Heritage and Libraries Committee regarding the promotion of the City Corporation’s historical collections of photographs, prints and films.

 

The Chairman informed the Court of the major re-launch of the City Corporation’s “Collage” website, which hosted more than 250,000 digitised images from the City Corporation’s collections including Tower Bridge construction photographs from the 1890s and rare photographs of the Crystal Palace from 1854. Responding to supplementary questions, the Chairman undertook to explore the possibility of displaying site-specific pictures at the Guildhall and to discuss with the London Metropolitan Archives the potential to photograph temporary vistas created during the construction and demolition of major buildings within the City.

 

The Chairman also took the opportunity to make reference to the support that the new website would provide to the London Metropolitan Archive’s educational programmes, including training opportunities for teachers and work with the Greater London Authority to develop the London Curriculum, which aimed to strengthen education in London by drawing on the capital’s rich heritage. Through such activity and the provision of extensive online resources covering many areas of the National Curriculum, the LMA closely supported the City Corporation’s Education Strategy by seeking to ensure that the City Corporation’s outstanding cultural and historical resources enrich the creative experience of London’s learners.

 

Thames River Path

Brian Mooney asked a question of the Chairman of the Planning and Transportation Committee, seeking an update on progress being made in respect of the completion of the Thames River Path in the Ward of Queenhithe.

 

The Chairman provided the Court with an updated timetable for this section of the Path, noting that it was linked with the completion of a commercial development on the site and could not be constructed independently. Responding to supplementary questions, the Chairman advised that the construction of a separate temporary walkway was also unfeasible, but that the developer was receiving all encouragement from the City Corporation to act as quickly as possible. In the event that the development was abandoned part-way through the construction phase, the Chairman provided assurances that the City Corporation would act swiftly to ensure the site was cleared and not left as an unsightly and derelict area.

 

 

Illegal Street Trading

Sophie Fernandes asked a question of the Chairman of the Port Health and Environmental Services Committee concerning the City Corporation’s actions in relation to the prevention of illegal street trading.

 

In reply, the Chairman outlined the various inspection and enforcement activities the City Corporation had undertaken or had scheduled in the coming period. Reference was made to successful prosecutions in 2015 and to date on 2016, the seizure of ice cream vans, hot dog carts and trolleys used to sell peanuts, and the receipt of various formal undertakings from illegal street traders in respect of their future actions.