Councillor Jo Rigby

Agenda

The Grants Sub-Committee met to consider recommendations for the second round of the VCS Cost of Living Grant Fund 2024. Eleven applications were submitted, requesting a total of £153,190. The committee recommended that six of these be granted, for a total of £80,962.

Agenda

The meeting began with a recitation of the Quran by the Mayor's Faith Leader, Ali Jafri. The Council then approved an update to the council's capital spending plans, despite some abstentions from Conservative councillors. Two motions were then considered. The first, proposed by the Labour administration, was a general statement in support of children's safety and wellbeing and was passed despite opposition from the Conservative group. The second, proposed by the Conservatives, expressed concern at the loss of winter fuel payments for many pensioners and called on the Council to take steps to provide for those affected. This motion was defeated, with the Conservatives voting in favour and Labour against. The meeting concluded with the reception of reports from several committees.

Meeting

Agenda

The committee noted three reports: the Borough Residence Forum report, the Housing Services Activity update, and the HRA business plan update. It also decided to award the Grounds Maintenance contract to an unnamed bidder, subject to consultation with leaseholders.

Agenda and draft minutes

The Standing Advisory Council on Religious Education (SACRE) discussed a number of reports about the state of Religious Education (RE) in Wandsworth schools and the wider UK. The meeting concluded with a decision to write to the Department for Education (DfE) to express concerns about the quality of RE in the borough’s schools. The attendees also discussed plans for Wandsworth’s year as London Borough of Culture in 2025.