Motion 1
To consider a notice of motion proposed by Councillor Helen-Ann Smith and seconded by Councillor Dave Shaw, as follows:-
“Ashfield District Council notes the government’s Elections Bill, which is undergoing its second reading in the House of Commons, will require individuals to show photographic ID for UK Parliamentary elections in Great Britain, local elections in England, and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales.
It further notes a Cabinet Office impact assessment that estimates the policy will cost up to £180million. £180million would buy 15,316 hip operations, 5,986 new ventilators or 9.9million hours of tutoring in schools.
This Council acknowledges that there were 171 allegations of in-person voter fraud at polling stations in Local and Parliamentary elections from 2014 to 2019 - of which three led to a conviction.
This Council believes that at a time when the country is facing huge financial challenges due to COVID-19, spending up to £180million over ten years on a Voter ID scheme to make it harder for people to vote in elections is wrong both morally and shows a lack of priorities.
Ashfield District Council believes that Voter Identification laws are a costly solution to a problem that does not exist and is a distraction from our recovery from Covid-19.
This Council notes the views of charities including Save the Children, independent campaign groups such as Greenpeace, and the trades union movement, who have condemned the Election’s Bill as “…an attack on the UK’s proud democratic tradition and some of our most fundamental rights”.
The types of ID accepted include passports, driving licences and blue badge cards, yet according to a UK-wide study commissioned by the Cabinet Office, more than 2 million people lack the necessary ID to take part in UK elections.
This Council believes that thousands of residents in the Ashfield District do not own photo ID. These proposed laws will disproportionally effect areas with higher levels of deprivation across the Ashfield District. Poorer residents, the elderly, the young and people with disabilities will be impacted.
Ashfield District Council therefore agrees to write to the Secretary of State for Justice, who is responsible for constitutional affairs and all Nottinghamshire MPs requesting that they oppose the photo identification element of the Elections Bill currently going through Parliament.”
Motion 2
To consider a notice of motion proposed by Councillor David Martin and seconded by Councillor Lee Waters, as follows:-
“Ashfield District Council notes that General practice in England has faced an extremely challenging time during the COVID-19 pandemic. It further notes that according to the latest figures available from the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group – nearly 25,000 residents across Nottinghamshire had to wait more than a month for a GP appointment in June and that nearly 40% of residents don’t have access to face to face consultations anymore.
Ashfield District Council believes that access to a GP is a post-code lottery and is creating a health care crisis which is especially acute in places like Hucknall and the Selston Parish.
This Council believes that residents should have access to high-quality GP care when they need it.
This Council notes with the number of GPs falling - due to lack of recruitment and retention and with the population rising, demands on GPs are higher than ever. There are millions of patients whose treatment has been delayed due to the pandemic, more tests to administer and additional bureaucracy. GP workload is becoming unmanageable.
GPs and their teams cannot meet this challenge without more support.
This Council is calling on the UK Government to provide the funding and commitment needed to urgently increase the number of GPs, practice nurses and other practice staff and to improve the premises in which they work. This will help GP practices in the Ashfield District and across England to meet the growing needs of people in our communities, providing the care we and our families need.
This Council backs the campaign by the British Medical Association – “Support your Surgery” – which calls for Government investment in general practice to provide better services, better buildings and more GPs and practice staff.
This Council therefore resolves to write to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care – the Right Honourable Sajid Javed MP and Lucy Dadge, the Chief Commissioning Officer of the NHS Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group highlighting the health inequalities that exist in the Ashfield District.”
Motion 3
To consider a notice of motion proposed by Councillor Jason Zadrozny and seconded by Councillor Sam Deakin, as follows:-
“Ashfield District Council notes with regret that tens of thousands of families claiming Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits in the county will lose more than £1,000 a year when the uplift to the benefits is lifted. The Government plan to remove its £20 per week uplift – brought in to support struggling families through the pandemic from October 6.
This Council notes that 5 out of 10 people affected by this are in work yet the Government claim that stopping this uplift is “…a shift to getting people back to work.” This Council therefore believes that stopping this uplift is purely an ideological attack on the poorest residents of Ashfield and the rest of the country.
It will mean a loss of £1,040 to the current, overall annual package received by claimants in the Ashfield District, or around £86.66 per month. This Council believes that these plans mean the biggest overnight reduction to a basic rate of social security since the modern welfare state began more than 70 years ago.
This Council notes that families with children will be disproportionately impacted and six in 10 of all single-parent families in the UK will be impacted.
In the Ashfield Constituency, this cut will adversely impact 9150 families. In the Sherwood Constituency it will adversely impact 7520 families currently in receipt of Universal Credit or Working Tax credits according to figures released by the Joseph Roundtree Foundation.
This Council believes:
(1) That failing to maintain the recent uplift will have a devastating effect on 16,670 families in the Ashfield and Sherwood constituencies at a time when they need financial support the most and will increase hardship and poverty for people who are already struggling.
(2) That reducing benefits will have an adverse impact on child poverty, other poverty levels and the financial health and well-being of people of the poorest in our County.
This Council therefore resolves to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer - The Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions - Thérèse Coffey MP to ask them to reverse this decision and to strengthen the support offered by Universal Credit and Working Tax Credits.”
Minutes:
The Council received a notice of motion moved by Councillor Helen-Ann Smith and seconded by Councillor Dave Shaw as follows:-
“Ashfield District Council notes the government’s Elections Bill, which is undergoing its second reading in the House of Commons, will require individuals to show photographic ID for UK Parliamentary elections in Great Britain, local elections in England, and Police and Crime Commissioner elections in England and Wales.
It further notes a Cabinet Office impact assessment that estimates the policy will cost up to £180million. £180million would buy 15,316 hip operations, 5,986 new ventilators or 9.9million hours of tutoring in schools.
This Council acknowledges that there were 171 allegations of in-person voter fraud at polling stations in Local and Parliamentary elections from 2014 to 2019 - of which three led to a conviction.
This Council believes that at a time when the country is facing huge financial challenges due to COVID-19, spending up to £180million over ten years on a Voter ID scheme to make it harder for people to vote in elections is wrong both morally and shows a lack of priorities.
Ashfield District Council believes that Voter Identification laws are a costly solution to a problem that does not exist and is a distraction from our recovery from Covid-19.
This Council notes the views of charities including Save the Children, independent campaign groups such as Greenpeace, and the trades union movement, who have condemned the Election’s Bill as “…an attack on the UK’s proud democratic tradition and some of our most fundamental rights”.
The types of ID accepted include passports, driving licences and blue badge cards, yet according to a UK-wide study commissioned by the Cabinet Office, more than 2 million people lack the necessary ID to take part in UK elections.
This Council believes that thousands of residents in the Ashfield District do not own photo ID. These proposed laws will disproportionally effect areas with higher levels of deprivation across the Ashfield District. Poorer residents, the elderly, the young and people with disabilities will be impacted.
Ashfield District Council therefore agrees to write to the Secretary of State for Justice, who is responsible for constitutional affairs and all Nottinghamshire MPs requesting that they oppose the photo identification element of the Elections Bill currently going through Parliament.”
Having been fully considered, the motion was put to the vote and it was
RESOLVED
that the Council agrees to write to the Secretary of State for Justice, who is responsible for constitutional affairs and all Nottinghamshire MPs requesting that they oppose the photo identification element of the Elections Bill currently going through Parliament.