Agenda item

Motion 1

To consider a notice of motion proposed by Councillor Lachlan Morrison and seconded by Councillor Don Davis, as follows:-

“Breaking Point campaign

This Council notes that many council budgets are now at Breaking Point. Austerity has caused huge damage to communities up and down the UK, with devastating effects on key public services that protect the most defenceless in society – children at risk, disabled adults and vulnerable older people – and the services we all rely on, like clean streets, libraries, and children’s centres;

• Tory cuts mean councils have lost 60p out of every £1 that the last Labour Government was spending on local government in 2010;

• Councils had to spend an extra £800m last year to meet the demand on vital services to protect children by over;

• With an aging population and growing demand adult social care faces a gap of £3.5 billion – with only 14% of council workers now confident that vulnerable local residents are safe and cared for;

• Government cuts have seen over 500 children’s centres and 475 libraries close, potholes are left unfilled, and 80% of councils’ workers now say have no confidence in the future of local services;

• Northamptonshire has already gone bust due to Tory incompetence at both national and local level, and more councils are predicted to collapse without immediate emergency funding;

• Councils now face a further funding gap of £7.8 billion by 2025 just to keep services ‘standing still’ and meeting additional demand. Even Lord Gary Porter, the Conservative Chair of the Local Government Association, has said ‘Councils can no longer be expected to run our vital local services on a shoestring’;

This Council condemns Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss for stating on BBC Newsnight on 1^st October 2018 that the government is “not making cuts to local authorities”, when all independent assessments of government spending show that this is entirely false; and that this Council further notes that Prime Minister Theresa May has also claimed that “austerity is over” despite planning a further £1.3bn of cuts to council budgets over the next year;

This Council agreeswith the aims of the ‘Breaking Point’ petition signed by Labour councillors across the country, in calling forthe Prime Minister and Chancellor to truly end austerity in local government by:

• Using the Budget to reverse next years planned £1.3bn cut to council budgets;

• Immediately investing £2bn in children’s services and £2bn in adult social care to stop these vital emergency services from collapsing;

• Pledging to use the Spending Review to restore council funding to 2010 levels over the next four years;

This Council resolves to:

• Support the ‘Breaking Point’ campaign, recognising the devastating impact that austerity has had on our local community;

• Ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister, and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government setting out the funding pressures faced by our local council, and calling on the Government to truly end austerity in local government.”

Motion 2

To consider a notice of motion proposed by Councillor Mike Smith and seconded by Councillor David Griffiths, as follows:-

“This council notes

·         Though slavery was abolished in the UK in 1833, there are more slaves today than ever before in human history. Figures from the International Labour Organisation (ILO) suggest that there are more than 40 million people in modern slavery across the world, with nearly 25 million held in forced labour. 

·         There were 3805 victims of modern slavery identified in the UK in 2016. A rising number but still well below the 10,000 and 13,000 potential victims estimated by the Home Office.

·         Modern Slavery is happening nationwide. Traffickers and slave masters use whatever means they have at their disposal to coerce, deceive and force individuals into a life of abuse, servitude and inhumane treatment. This can include sexual and criminal exploitation.

This council believes:

·         That action needs to be taken to raise awareness of modern slavery and the fact that it is happening all over the UK.

·         That the current support for victims is not sufficient and needs to go beyond the 45 days they are currently given by the government. 

·         That councils have an important role to play in ensuring their contracts and supplies don’t contribute to modern day slavery and exploitation.

This council resolves:

·         To adopt the Co-operative Party’s Charter against Modern Slavery to ensure our procurement practices don’t support slavery.”

(Charter attached)

The Council received a notice of motion moved by Councillor Lachlan Morrison and seconded by Councillor Don Davis as follows:-

“Breaking Point campaign

This Council notes that many council budgets are now at Breaking Point. Austerity has caused huge damage to communities up and down the UK, with devastating effects on key public services that protect the most defenceless in society – children at risk, disabled adults and vulnerable older people – and the services we all rely on, like clean streets, libraries, and children’s centres;

·         Tory cuts mean councils have lost 60p out of every £1 that the last Labour Government was spending on local government in 2010;

·         Councils had to spend an extra £800m last year to meet the demand on vital services to protect children by over;

·         With an aging population and growing demand adult social care faces a gap of £3.5 billion – with only 14% of council workers now confident that vulnerable local residents are safe and cared for;

·         Government cuts have seen over 500 children’s centres and 475 libraries close, potholes are left unfilled, and 80% of councils’ workers now say have no confidence in the future of local services;

·         Northamptonshire has already gone bust due to Tory incompetence at both national and local level, and more councils are predicted to collapse without immediate emergency funding;

·         Councils now face a further funding gap of £7.8 billion by 2025 just to keep services ‘standing still’ and meeting additional demand. Even Lord Gary Porter, the Conservative Chair of the Local Government Association, has said ‘Councils can no longer be expected to run our vital local services on a shoestring’;

This Council condemns Chief Secretary to the Treasury Liz Truss for stating on BBC Newsnight on 1st October, 2018 that the government is “not making cuts to local authorities”, when all independent assessments of government spending show that this is entirely false; and that this Council further notes that Prime Minister Theresa May has also claimed that “austerity is over” despite planning a further £1.3bn of cuts to council budgets over the next year;

This Council agrees with the aims of the ‘Breaking Point’ petition signed by Labour councillors across the country, in calling for the Prime Minister and Chancellor to truly end austerity in local government by:

·         Using the Budget to reverse next years planned £1.3bn cut to council budgets;

·         Immediately investing £2bn in children’s services and £2bn in adult social care to stop these vital emergency services from collapsing;

·         Pledging to use the Spending Review to restore council funding to 2010 levels over the next four years;

This Council resolves to:

·         Support the ‘Breaking Point’ campaign, recognising the devastating impact that austerity has had on our local community;

·         Ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister, and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government setting out the funding pressures faced by our local council, and calling on the Government to truly end austerity in local government.”

Councillor Jason Zadrozny moved an amendment to the motion, seconded by Councillor Tom Hollis with the meeting being adjourned at 8.20 p.m. and reconvened at 8.30 p.m. to enable due discussion to take place.

Having considered the suggested amendment, Councillors Lachlan Morrison and Don Davis, as the mover and seconder of the motion, duly agreed to the change of wording subject to a retraction of wording contained in bullet point 5.

Councillor Zadrozny then proceeded to read out the agreed amendment in the following terms:-

“Breaking Point campaign

This Council notes that many council budgets are now at Breaking Point. Austerity has caused huge damage to communities up and down the UK, with devastating effects on key public services that protect the most defenceless in society;

·         Local councils in England have seen an average cut to their budgets of almost 26% since 2010, taking inflation into account, according to the Institute of Fiscal Studies;

·         Northamptonshire has already gone bust and more councils are predicted to collapse without immediate emergency funding;

·         Councils now face a further funding gap of £7.8 billion by 2025 just to keep services ‘standing still’ and meeting additional demand. Even Lord Gary Porter, the Conservative Chair of the Local Government Association, has said ‘Councils can no longer be expected to run our vital local services on a shoestring’;

This Council calls for the Prime Minister and Chancellor to truly end austerity in local government by:

·         Using the Budget to reverse next years planned £1.3bn cut to council budgets;

·         Pledging to use the Spending Review to restore council funding to 2010 levels over the next four years;

This Council resolves to:

·         Support the ‘Breaking Point’ campaign, recognising the devastating impact that austerity has had on our local community, and to support any campaign that fights for improved funding for Local Government, specifically District Councils;

·         Ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister, and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government setting out the funding pressures faced by our local council, and calling on the Government to truly end austerity in local government.”

(At this point in the proceedings and in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 23 (Conclusion of Proceedings), a motion was moved and seconded to extend the conclusion of the meeting to 9.15 p.m. The motion was put to the vote and duly carried.)

Having been fully considered, the substantive motion was then put to the vote and it was

RESOLVED that

a)    the Council supports the ‘Breaking Point’ campaign, recognising the devastating impact that austerity has had on our local community and further supports any campaign that fights for improved funding for Local Government, specifically District Councils;

b)    the Leader of the Council be requested to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Prime Minister, and the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government setting out the funding pressures faced by the local council, and calling on the Government to truly end austerity in local government.”

(During consideration of the motion, Councillors Nicolle Ndiweni and John Knight left the room at 8.42 p.m. and 8.52 p.m. and returned to the meeting at 8.44 p.m. and 8.53 p.m. respectively.)