(a)
Majority Party Motion – The Gordon Hospital
and a Lack of Acute Mental Health Provision in South
Westminster
To be moved by
Councillor Nafsika Butler-Thalassis and seconded by Councillor
Lorraine Dean.
The
mental wellbeing of our residents is of the utmost importance to
this Council. We are concerned about the loss of
Westminster’s 51 acute mental health beds since the temporary
closure of the Gordon Hospital at the beginning of the Covid
pandemic and the consequences this has had for our residents and
our staff. We are concerned that patients have to wait much longer
to access an acute bed, often in unsuitable environments such as in
A&E. When a bed is finally found, it is outside Westminster,
and sometimes very far from Westminster which contributes to the
isolation of mental health patients from their families and
communities.
The
temporary closure of the Gordon Hospital has put immense pressure
on other parts of the system. St Charles, the acute mental health
hospital in Kensington & Chelsea is finding that Kensington
& Chelsea patients are having to move out of borough to make
way for Westminster patients. St Mary’s hospital is having to
host several mental health patients at a time for up to 24 hours in
beds that are needed for patients who are physically ill. The
police are finding that their resources are tied up in escorting
mental health patients in A&E for up to 24 hours instead of
fighting crime.
The
closure of the Gordon Hospital affects all our communities both
directly and indirectly. However the closure of this acute
provision has a particular impact on communities least able to
access alternative support, such as those who are street homeless
and those households in multiple deprivation.
There is no indication that the need for acute mental health
beds is reducing. Our data shows that in 2022/23 our staff assessed
1070 people, 49 people more than in 2021/22. Of those 1070 people,
777 were referred for acute hospital care, which is 103 more people
than in 2021/22.
We
call on the NHS to reopen acute mental health beds in South
Westminster to ensure that the acute mental health needs of our
residents are met. We very much value community
mental health services but we don’t believe that community
mental health services should be funded at the expense of acute
hospital beds. We need both types of services to support patients
with different needs and at different stages of their patient
journey. This is the view we will be expressing formally to the NHS
when they open their consultation in the Autumn.
(b)
Majority Party Motion – Ecological Emergency
To be moved by
Councillor Ryan Jude and seconded by Councillor Cara
Sanquest.
This
Council recognises the importance of a healthy and biodiverse
environment that ensures the wellbeing of all who live, work and
study here and support Westminster’s future prosperity. This
Council also acknowledges the 2019 State of Nature report, which
found that 15% of UK species are classified as threatened with
extinction, and 2% are already extinct.
Westminster declared a climate emergency in 2019. The Council
notes that the ecological and climate emergencies are intertwined,
as burning fossilised carbon places stress on the ecosystems which
regulate the climate. If habitats are compromised or destroyed,
this has impacts not only on the decline of local species but also
on resilience for more extreme weather events such as heatwaves and
floods.
In Westminster, there are 33 Sites of Importance
for Nature Conservation (SINCs), which cover 22% of the
City’s land footprint. Some are located on council land,
while others are owned by other landowners, such as The Royal
Parks. However, the most recent Open Space Audit data that is
available found that only 39% of Westminster SINCs demonstrated
‘average to rich’ or ‘rich’ species
diversity. As well as in our green spaces, there is also
significant ability to improve the biodiversity in our built
environment and through our planning system. There is an
opportunity to learn more about the state of nature in the City of
Westminster, and to improve general awareness of and develop
actions to reverse biodiversity loss in our City.
We
therefore pledge to provide leadership and work with all
organisations, departments, partners and our communities to do all
that is within the Council’s power to reverse the decline in
biodiversity and deliver measurable biodiversity net gain within
Westminster.
The
Council also notes the importance of the work of the newly instated
Climate Assembly and the following Cabinet decision to:
·
Note the final recommendations from the Westminster
Citizens’ Climate Assembly.
·
Approve the initiation of a programme of
cross-council work, led by individual Cabinet Members, to develop
responses to each recommendation of the Climate Assembly,
identifying what action is possible or where the Council may need
to influence stakeholders to take them forward.
·
Agree that all recommendations brought forward for
implementation will be subject to further financial and legal
consideration and, where necessary, individual Cabinet or Cabinet
Member decisions will need be undertaken.
In
addition to this, the Council will:
(1)
Declare an ecological emergency, which recognises
the global ecological emergency and the local impact this has on
the communities and businesses we serve, expanding upon the climate
emergency declared in 2019;
(2)
Pledge to act during the first year of the Motion
being accepted, to secure future measurable biodiversity net gain
for Westminster, building on recent achievements such as the
'Greening Westminster' fund, the 'No Mow May' initiative, local
projects which support communities to take action to improve
biodiversity, the ban on the use of Glyphosate, the Wild Gardens
competition and other initiatives;
(3)
Publish a strategy,
within the first year of the Motion being accepted, outlining our
approach to improving biodiversity within Westminster, which will
formally bring together and build upon work happening across the
council to support biodiversity net gain;
(4)
Undertake and
publish a Green Infrastructure Audit, to assess the current
condition and quality of green spaces in Westminster, including our
33 SINC locations in the City;
(5)
Proactively look for
opportunities to work in partnership with local groups and
stakeholders, to ensure we are all working together to address the
ecological emergency;
(6) Pledge to develop plans for further
action in the second year of the Motion being accepted and beyond,
based on a full assessment of the scientific evidence on how best
to achieve this goal;
(7)
Declare its full
support for the Climate and Ecology Bill, and to write to all MPs
with constituencies that contain Westminster City Council wards, to
encourage them to also support the Climate and Ecology
Bill.
In
recognition of this ecological emergency Westminster City Council
will:
·
Make Council housing estates, parks and open spaces
more hospitable to a wide range of plants and animals.
·
Encourage community engagement with habitat creation
through community gardens, improving biodiversity in our streets
and pocket parks.
·
Identify how the City’s open spaces function
as part of a Westminster ecological network and prioritise areas
for protection and enhancement.
·
Work in partnership with institutions, schools,
businesses and community groups, to raise awareness and encourage
wider biodiversity action across the City through public engagement
and advice to residents and businesses on how to protect and
enhance habitats within their neighbourhoods.
·
Ensure the delivery of biodiversity enhancements
through our planning policy and development control
functions.
·
Review and increase ambition on the Council’s
target to increase tree canopy cover by 10% by 2050, including
working with Westminster Tree Trust to make it easier for residents
to propose tree planting. Work with communities to increase tree
planting, and where street trees are not appropriate, install green
walls, hedges and planters for smaller trees.
·
Design new council housing for net gain of
biodiversity and opportunities in the form of integral swift boxes
and biodiverse green roofs.
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