This meeting of the full Council is scheduled to consider the adoption of new Council Tax Support rules, a petition regarding the Council's pension fund investments, changes to rules on how the Council awards contracts and an interim review of polling stations. It will also hear the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Young People and Culture introduce a discussion of how the Council works with partners and institutions to benefit the borough, and the Leader of the Council give a statement.

Council Tax support

The Council is scheduled to consider a report about its Council Tax Support scheme for the year 2025/26. The report notes that Camden’s scheme:

…is one of the most generous CTS schemes in the country… Over 16,100 households (including over 5,300 pensioners) in Camden currently receive 100% support and do not pay any Council Tax.

The report recommends that the Council continues to provide 100% support to residents with no or very low income, including all those working less than 8 hours per week at the London Living Wage. It also recommends that income bands for eligibility to the scheme should be adjusted to reflect the new London Living Wage of £13.85 per hour.

Because demand for support has risen since before the Covid-19 Pandemic, the cost of the scheme is predicted to rise to around £33m in 2025/26.

Petition about Pension Fund investments

The Council is scheduled to consider a petition¹ that was submitted to the Council on 20 December 2024 containing 4,000 signatures. It requests that the Council divests its pension fund from companies involved in Israel's actions in Gaza.

The report accompanying the petition provides some background on the Camden Pension Fund and the law regarding investment decisions on ethical grounds. It notes that the Council's fund invests in pooled funds, run by Legal & General and the London Collective Investment Vehicle (CIV), over which it has little direct control:

The selection of investments in these funds is fully delegated to the appointed managers, and in the case of the passive index-tracking funds, underlying investments will mirror that of the index being tracked. This means the fund will buy the same investments in the same quantities as that held by the index.

The report also includes legal advice regarding divesting the fund from companies on the UN list of companies complicit in human rights abuses in occupied Palestinian territories, warning that:

…currently divestment… could be subject to legal challenge and should only be taken after a full consultation of the Pension Fund membership.

Contract Standing Orders

The Council is scheduled to consider a report proposing changes to its Contract Standing Orders - the rules that govern how it awards contracts to suppliers of goods and services. The changes relate to the Procurement Act 2023, which is due to come into force on 24 February 2025, and mean the Council will have to distinguish between contracts procured under the old regulations and those procured under the new rules.

The report says that the new act aims to:

…modernise and simplify the UK’s public procurement system. Its key objectives include delivering value for money, maximising public benefit, ensuring transparency, and acting with integrity.

It requires the council to publish at least 3 key performance indicators (KPIs) to monitor performance for any contract exceeding £5m. It also requires the council to:

…consider breaking down a tender into lots and providing a reason in our tender notice for not doing so.

Polling Stations

The Council is scheduled to receive a report on its polling places and districts following elections held in May and July 2024. It proposes that polling districts IA, LD and TA, which had been split to reflect previous parliamentary boundaries, should be merged together.

It also recommends that the polling place for polling district PD in Kings Cross should be permanently changed to the Abacus Belsize Primary School on Camley Street.

It notes that there may be problems with using the West Hampstead Branch Library and the Kingsgate Community Centre in future, and seeks flexibility to use alternative polling places in these districts if necessary.

Themed Debate: Working with Partners

The meeting is scheduled to include a debate introduced by the Cabinet Member for Jobs, Young People and Culture on the topic of how Camden Council works with partners and institutions.

The report prepared for the debate describes how the Council works with partners in a number of areas, including:

• Procurement and public value - Requiring the London Living Wage to be paid to people working on Council contracts, and prioritising social value in its procurement processes, with initiatives such as Good Work Camden.
• Planning and public spaces - Requiring developers to provide a range of public benefits in exchange for planning permission, including new affordable homes, training opportunities and investment in public transport.
• Euston and High Speed 2 - Requiring the developers of HS2 to mitigate the effects of the development on local communities, including investment in the Euston Construction Skills Centre.
• The Knowledge Quarter - working in partnership with institutions like University College London and Central Saint Martins to promote the area and stimulate local growth.
• Camden Giving - working with this independent charity to distribute funding to community-led projects.
• The Camden Climate Change Alliance - working with businesses to encourage and enable them to play a role in addressing the Climate Emergency.

Leader's Statement and Motions

The Leader of the Council will deliver a statement. The Council is then scheduled to consider three motions, including one about loneliness in Camden, and another about how the Council should respond to the government's new housebuilding target of 3,137 new homes per year. It will also consider a motion about the Council's Community Investment Programme (CIP). The CIP is a scheme that delivers new council homes and community facilities by redeveloping existing Council owned sites. It has delivered 1,723 new homes since it was launched, with a further 277 homes under construction.

Follow Up to the Previous Themed Debate on Health

The meeting will receive a report that describes the outcomes of the Themed Debate on Camden’s response to the government’s consultation on the 10 Year Health Plan that was held at the Council meeting on 18 November 2024.

The report summarises the views of the six invited speakers who addressed the debate, including Dr Alex Warner (GP and Chair of Camden Health Partners) and Elizabeth Sodiacal from Camden Youth: Tell Them.

It notes that the Council has now submitted its formal response to the government consultation and is awaiting the publication of the 10 Year Health Plan in Spring 2025. The government consultation invited people to:

…share specific policy ideas for change

The report summarises the Council's submission, which advocates for greater devolution of healthcare policy, including a new system of Local Prevention Plans:

These plans should be jointly formulated and governed by members of local Health and Wellbeing Boards and focus specifically on how partners will collaborate to embed in local places the preventative services that correspond to the strengths and health needs of local communities.

The report also notes that the Council recommended to the government that:

Funding should be prioritised for community-based services, arranged locally via integrated commissioning.

Finally the report notes that the Council recommended the government convene a new Citizens' Assembly on the future of Social Care.