The core purpose of local Councillors is to seek to represent the views of their constituents in setting the strategy and policy for the organisation, to ensure that the organisation has the resources it needs to deliver its agreed outcomes and to challenge its Officers where necessary.
One of the tools available to Members of the Court of Common Council in the City of London through its Standing Orders is the ability to ask a question of any of the Grand Committee Chairman. Historically, this has been infrequently used, because it is rare that these matters cannot otherwise be dealt with by raising questions either informally or at each Committee’s meeting. The sorts of questions that should be asked must be of interest to the whole Court and should hold Committees to account.
However, some Members use the opportunity to ask public questions as a way of trying to embarrass Committee Chairman publicly, to score political points with their electorate. In accordance with our terms of reference, each meeting we can spend up to a maximum of 1 hour asking questions each month. Questions have to be submitted in advance in writing and be less than 250 words. Members ask their question, the Chairman responds, then Members are given the opportunity for a supplementary question, followed by other Members of the Court who may wish to join in the line of questioning of the theme of the question. Quite often what this means is we actually get through 1 or 2 questions over the course of the 1 hour allocated each month, just because people want to score political points.
Rough sleeping is an issue I care about, but it’s also a key issue in Bishopsgate, so I wanted to ask the Chairman of the Community and Children’s Services Committee whether or not the City of London will meet the government’s 2027 target to end rough sleeping. Sadly they don’t think they will. But rather than me wasting time asking my question which is already published publicly in advance, I decided to try and set a new tradition by taking the example of our colleagues in the House of Commons and stated, “My Lord Mayor, for expediency, I will simply move question number 1”. As you will see from the video below, this was welcomed by the Court and set a new trend, which meant that 5 Members of the Court were able to ask questions. Long may it continue!
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Benjamin Murphy to ask a question of the Chairman of the Community and Children’s Services Committee concerning homelessness and rough sleeping:-
“I know all Members of this Honourable Court wholeheartedly support the Government’s ambition to end rough sleeping by 2027, but as those on the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Sub Committee know, it requires a significant multi-agency approach and investment to delivering these ambitions, particularly when it comes to long-term pathways to rebuild someone’s life and support them on the journeys to a healthier and more prosperous future.
I know that often though rough sleepers and those who find themselves being made homeless in this City often present with complex needs and dependencies, making access to support services a real challenge.
We know that the demand for social housing far exceeds the supply available, which means that we have to rely on the private rental sector for resettlement. We know that this presents an affordability challenge, as private rents exceed local housing allowances which immediately puts the majority of those we are trying to help into debt and is therefore not a sustainable pathway.
I am proud of the City’s investment at the Snow Hill assessment centre, the commissioning of a range of psychological, dependency and medical services to meet the range of needs, but it feels like we have a long way to go.
With both homeless and rough sleeping becoming more prevalent across the UK and here in the City, I ask the Chair of Community and Children’s Services whether she believes the City will meet the Government’s target or what action is required for us to do so?”