Hounslow Forced to Call Emergency Council Meeting
Procedural error on planning changes put borough at risk of breaking law
Cllr Theo Dennison (standing) thwarts Labour's plans during the September Council meeting
October 9, 2026
Hounslow Council has been forced to call an emergency meeting to avoid breaking national laws following chaos at the previous full council meeting.
This comes after the Labour administration brought forward a report at the meeting of the council on September 15 which combined controversial constitutional changes with legally required planning changes. The Leader of the Council then moved this report to be voted upon. By combining the two items it meant the vital planning changes could not be passed.
This is because under council rules, any motion altering council procedural rules, such as capping the length of meetings, must stand adjourned until the following meeting. Councillor Theo Dennison called this out in the meeting, and the point of order was accepted by the Mayor – the report was deferred as per council rules.
Although, the next council meeting was not until November 24, and by law, the planning changes had to be implemented by October 31 – this meant Hounslow Council would have been in a position whereby it was violating national legislation. At the time, this was described by opposition councillors as an attempt to “play political games” by forcing councillors to vote through the contentious constitutional changes because they were packaged alongside the legislative changes required.
Later in the meeting, Cllr Shantanu Rajawat, the council leader, attempted to reintroduce the report, however this is prohibited under council rules. Immediately before the vote, the Deputy Monitoring Officer advised councillors that the aspect of the report focused on planning changes was legally mandatory but the constitutional changes were bundled in with the same vote.
This created significant confusion among councillors regarding whether they were legally obligated to vote in favour of the report. Eventually, the motion passed with councillors unaware that what had just taken place violated council procedure – ruling the vote null and void, meaning the legally required changes hadn’t been approved after all.
To avoid the council acting outside of the law due to the rules not being updated to reflect national legislation, the council has now been forced to call an extraordinary council meeting on 21 October. This is a special meeting held outside of the normal schedule to handle urgent business.
Cllr Theo Dennison told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) that it took the threat of a judicial review for the council to “see sense” and call an extraordinary meeting. He added: “The Special meeting is a tacit admission that the decisions the council took late on 15th of September were unlawful.
“The planning changes are being imposed nationally by the Labour Government, and they mean local councillors, residents and the Planning Committee itself will have far less influence or control over planning decisions. The meeting will also include a review of proportionality (the political balance on the council) which, after Cllr Athwal’s suspension on being charged with fraud, should mean that Labour loses its majority on planning, licencing and audit committees.”
Cllr Athwal has denied all charges against him, and will appear in Uxbridge Magistrates’ Court on October 27 charged with fraud by abuse of position regarding allegations linked to his position as treasurer of a charity overseeing two gurdwaras in Southall.
Cllr Jack Emsley, Leader of the Hounslow Conservatives, told the LDRS that the Leader and Deputy Leader of Hounslow Council should be “utterly ashamed”. He added: “Labour’s attempts to rig the constitution in order to prop up its minority administration have backfired so spectacularly that we now need an extraordinary meeting to avoid our borough breaking the law.
“This meeting, which will cost taxpayers tens of thousands of pounds to convene, could have been avoided if they hadn’t tried to play party political games. The Leader and Deputy Leader of the council should be utterly ashamed that their actions have put Hounslow on the brink of failing to comply with this new legislation.
“This whole saga is yet another example of how Hounslow Labour continues to put their own interests ahead of our borough’s interests.”
Hounslow Council told the LDRS that considering proposals relating to constitutional changes alongside mandatory legislative changes was “appropriate”. When asked how these issues were not foreseen, and whether the council leadership takes responsibility for the additional costs incurred, the spokesperson added: “As is standard with all reports to formal meetings they were reviewed and commented upon by legal officers as contained within the report… There will of course be some additional costs associated with holding an extraordinary meeting but those costs will not run into the thousands [as claimed by the Conservatives].”
Cllr Rajawat said: “These planning changes are a legal requirement and every council in the country is required to make the necessary changes to become compliant.
“Councillor Dennison opposed these changes at last month’s meeting. If he had been successful, he would have left us in breach of national law.
“Having failed in his attempt to obstruct our legal compliance, he then attempted to hold the taxpayer to ransom over decisions that were agreed at borough council. Let there be no mistake. Only one member is responsible for wasting council time and resources and that is Councillor Theo Dennison, assisted by his mates in the Conservative Party.
“It is they who have been reckless and obstructive. Their pointless attempts to frustrate necessary planning changes show how deeply unsuited they are to anything other than vexatious point scoring.
“There’s nothing wrong with council officers taking a belt and braces approach to compliance. We believe that the taxpayer shouldn’t have to pick up the bill for Cllr Dennison’s vanity.”
Philip James Lynch - Local Democracy Reporter
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