Agenda and minutes

A minute’s silence was observed in respect of the passing of former Councillors David Charlton, who had represented Camperdown and Howdon Wards from 1991 until 2011, and had served as the civic mayor of North Tyneside in 2000-01 and Barbara Stevens, who had represented Cullercoats and Collingwood Wards from 2000 until 2012.

Nine valid questions have been received from members of the public for this meeting.

The Chair had agreed that a single response be provided to questions 1-8 below:

1.         Question to the Elected Mayor from Mr Maier

I understand that, following consultation with some local businesses, voluntary sector and residents through Stakeholder Workshops earlier this year, the Carbon Trust has prepared an Action Plan for North Tyneside in response to the Climate Emergency.

From the last Council meeting it has voted to implement only limited policies arising from the Action Plan, with a mandate for Officers to develop business cases for further actions as deemed appropriate. There is a real danger that momentum is lost. Given the significant and wide-ranging work set out in the report action clearly needs to be immediate and comprehensive.

Will you commit to implementing the Action Plan, as recommended by the Carbon Trust, in full - and if not, why not? Given that failure to implement the plan will mean missing the binding 2050 target.

2.         Question to the Elected Mayor from Mr Christie

Under the Tranche 2 funding of the Emergency Active Travel Fund, councils are expected to adhere to the Cycling Infrastructure Design Guidance.

All funding that North Tyneside Council will be requesting will have to ensure that all schemes meet the LTN 1/20 guidance, otherwise no funding will be granted, and this will have further impacts later down the line.

As North Tyneside Council has made a commitment to the Climate Emergency and Active Transport, in spite of the early removing of the Tranche 1 schemes, please can you advise how North Tyneside council will comply with LTN 1/20 and what that will look like?

3.         Question to the Elected Mayor from Ms Hawkins

What active steps has the Council taken to reduce car use in the borough - to lower greenhouse gas emissions as well as reduce air pollution and encourage walking and cycling - since their Declaration of a Climate Emergency, such that they feel the Sunrise Cycleway is now surplus to requirements?

4.         Question to the Elected Mayor from Ms Remfry

I understand that the Carbon Trust was commissioned by North Tyneside to develop its Climate Emergency Action Plan to move towards a carbon neutral borough by 2050 and it has now produced its report.

Does the Council fully support this Action Plan and intend to implement all its recommendations?

5.         Question to the Elected Mayor from Ms Erskine

I understand that, following consultation with some local businesses, voluntary sector and residents through Stakeholder Workshops earlier this year, the Carbon Trust has prepared an Action Plan for North Tyneside in response to the Climate Emergency.

I also understand that the Cabinet has voted to implement limited policies arising from the Action Plan, with a mandate for Officers to develop business cases for further actions as deemed appropriate.

Will you commit to implementing the Action Plan, as recommended by the Carbon Trust, in full - and if not, why not (given the taxpayer money given to the Carbon Trust to prepare the recommendations)?

6.  ...  view the full minutes text for item C76/20

You are invited to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests in matters appearing on the agenda, and the nature of that interest.

Please complete the Declarations of Interests card available at the meeting and return it to the Democratic Services Officer before leaving the meeting.

You are also invited to disclose any dispensation from the requirement to declare any registerable and/or non-registerable interests that have been granted to you in respect of any matters appearing on the agenda.

Declarations of interest were reported as follows:

Councillor C Davis – item 1 – Public Questions – non-registerable personal interest as her daughter works for the Carbon Trust

Councillor A Newman – item 5 – Motion 3 - non-registerable personal interest as his daughter is in the year group that may be affected by the situation regarding school examinations

Councillor K Clark – item 5 – Motion 3 - non-registerable personal interest as her daughter works in secondary education

Councillor W Samuel – item 5 - Motion 3 - non-registerable personal interest as his step-son may be affected by the situation regarding school examinations

Councillor S Phillips – item 5 - Motion 3 - non-registerable personal interest as he is a teacher and also an exam marker

Councillor M Rankin – item 5 - Motion 3 - non-registerable personal interest as his daughter may be affected by the situation regarding school examinations

Councillor L Bartoli – item 5 - Motion 3 - non-registerable personal interest as his son may be affected by the situation regarding school examinations

Councillor M Thirlaway – item 5 - Motion 5 - registerable personal interest as due to his employment he may potentially financially benefit from a one-off payment to social care staff as set out in the Motion. Councillor Thirlaway informed Council that he would not be taking part in any discussion or vote on this Motion.

Resolved that the minutes of the Council meeting held on 24 September 2020 be taken as read, confirmed and signed by the Chair.

Eight valid Motions on Notice, signed by at least three Members of the Council, have been received for consideration at this meeting.

1.            Motion - To ban the intentional release of balloons and sky lanterns on Council owned land

It was moved by Councillor A Austin and seconded by Councillor J Wallace that:

In recent years the release of large numbers of balloons and sky lanterns has increased, whether as a celebration or as a memorial to a loved one.

Whilst fully appreciating the emotions behind such events there is no doubt that when these lanterns and balloons return to the ground, they become simply litter, damaging our environment and threatening our wildlife.

This motion calls on Elected Mayor and Cabinet to consider a ban on the intentional release of balloons and sky lanterns for commemorative, social or publicity purposes, because of the serious environmental damage the resultant litter causes to marine life, birds, animals and the wider environment.

Balloons and lanterns can become a serious form of pollution for marine wildlife – the two main threats being ingestion (eating a balloon or pieces of balloon due to mistaking them for prey items such as jellyfish) or getting tangled up in balloon string or ribbon.

The list of marine creatures evidenced to have been affected by balloon entanglement and/or ingestion includes dolphins, whales, turtles, and seabirds, and so far includes 170 different species of marine life. 

Lanterns and balloons (especially those filled with helium) can travel for many miles before coming back down to land, and farm animals have died after ingesting them.

Sky lanterns also pose a fire risk – in 2009 one sparked a blaze which claimed the life of a ten year old boy.  Another caused a devastating fire at a zoo in Germany which killed 30 animals and birds.

There is a risk of fire to standing straw, thatch roofs, bales of hay, and crops in the summer months.  Lanterns have been the cause of a number of false alarm call outs on the coast as people mistake them for distress flares.  They can pose a risk to aircraft, and cost councils money to clean up.

We believe that the proposed ban should also apply to balloons described as "biodegradable" since evidence has shown that the latex they are made of can still take up to six months or more to degrade, and in that time, still poses a threat to the safety of our wildlife.

We fully appreciate that many of these balloon and lantern releases are linked to remembering lost loved ones, so we further request that the Elected Mayor and Cabinet identifies one or more pieces of land which could be repurposed as "Memorial Meadows" where grieving families can scatter wildflower seeds, and return to visit from time to time.  This would serve to promote biodiversity, encouraging butterflies and bees, but would also allow loved ones to be remembered.

Bans are strongly supported by numerous organisations such as the RSPCA, the Marine Conservation Society and the National Farmers’ Union, and a great many councils throughout the UK have now banned intentional balloon and lantern releases,  ...  view the full minutes text for item C79/20

To seek Council approval to pay a North Tyneside Living Wage (NTLW) based on the Living Wage Foundation’s current rate.

Council received a report seeking approval to pay a North Tyneside Living Wage (NTLW) based on the Living Wage Foundation’s rate for 2019/20 of £9.30 per hour. This would be paid as a supplement to all those earning less than £9.30 per hour on the Authority’s current pay and grading structure and back dated to April 2020. This risk was understood and had been included in the 2020/21 Budget.

It was moved by Councillor B Pickard and seconded by Councillor R Glindon that:

Council:

(1)  agree to a North Tyneside Living Wage as outlined in the report, which will be backdated to April 2020;

(2)  authorise the Head of Resources in consultation with the Head of Law and Governance, Head of Paid Service and Cabinet Member for Finance and Resources and Cabinet Member for Human Resources to put in place a pay supplement for the year 2021/2022 taking into consideration the financial impact on the Authority of the Real Living Wage;

(3)  authorise the use of the finance allocated via the budget setting process for 2020/21 to enable the implementation of this payment; and

(4)  authorise the Head of Resources, in consultation with the Head of Law and Governance to take all necessary steps to implement the recommendations above.

The motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 54 votes to 0 votes.

To receive any announcements by the Chair of Council.

The Chair thanked everyone who had contributed to her charities. She specifically referred to support given to help Operation Veteran gain a lease on a property in Nile Street, North Shields for use as a veterans’ centre. She thanked all those who had been involved.

She also referred to the recent Remembrance Day events which had been very different this year and referred in particular to the video that had been produced of the laying of wreaths at various locations around the Borough.

The Chair conveyed her best wishes to everyone for Christmas and New Year and hoped everyone stayed safe in the present circumstances.

To receive any announcements by the Elected Mayor.

The Mayor thanked Councillor Pickard for all the work he had done on the Living Wage.

She thanked all those residents who had been in touch with her to praise the Authority’s staff for their continued efforts in ensuring that essential services had continued to be delivered such as caring for vulnerable residents, keeping the borough clean, to teachers, catering and cleaning staff who had kept schools open. 

She referred to the Chancellor’s recent announcement to award NHS staff a well-deserved pay rise. However, she was disappointed at the announcement to freeze the pay of public sector workers despite many of them risking their lives on a daily basis in the current pandemic.

The Mayor conveyed her best wishes to public sector workers and wished everyone a safe Christmas. She urged everyone to exercise caution and to adhere to the rules and hoped that by working together some sort of normality could return in 2021.

The Mayor also thanked the Chair of the Council for chairing this virtual Council meeting.

Two valid questions on notice have been received for a response at this meeting.

1.            Question to the Elected Mayor by Councillor J M Allan

Could the Elected Mayor or her Cabinet member provide an update on the progress being made on the Climate Emergency Action Plan? It is now over twelve months since full council agreed to the proposal below and could be advised when local ward councillors will be invited to participate and make contributions to the work. Could the response also provide the names of the Climate Emergency Board members?

That Council:

1. notes the significant progress made to date by the Authority in reducing carbon dioxide emissions.

2. agrees that the Authority:

a. declares a climate emergency.

b. seeks to halve the Authority’s and the Borough’s carbon footprint by 2023, four years ahead of the current target.

c. commits that itself and Borough will be carbon neutral by 2050 in line with the national target; and

3. notes that Cabinet will receive an update report within six months.

4. requests the Elected Mayor to instruct the Head of Environment, Housing and Leisure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport to:

a. publish an annual report on the Authority’s website that details performance against carbon reduction targets; ITEM 6 Climate Emergency Declaration

b. includes young people in the development, delivery, and review of actions, ensuring that they have a voice in shaping the future.

c. work with partners across the Borough and region to deliver this new goal through all relevant strategies and plans.

d. call on Central Government to provide powers and resources to reduce carbon emissions;

e. ensure that all strategic decisions, budgets, and approaches to planning decisions are in line with this climate emergency declaration; and

f. ensure that the Authority Senior Leadership Team embed carbon reduction work across the Authority and take responsibility for reducing, as rapidly as possible, the carbon emissions resulting from the Authority’s activities.

Councillor C Johnson responded on behalf of the Elected Mayor as follows:

Thank you for your question regarding the Climate Emergency Action Plan and for highlighting your enthusiasm, to contribute to its successful delivery.

In July 2019, the Council declared a Climate Emergency, setting a target to reduce the carbon footprint of the Authority and the Borough by 50% by 2023, and to become carbon neutral by 2050.

Despite the significant and far reaching challenges that coronavirus has placed upon the Authority, its officers and our community, I am pleased to be able to report that the Climate Emergency Board has continued to meet to oversee the development and production of our Climate Emergency Action Plan.

And Cabinet has been appraised of progress on a regular basis since the Declaration.

The Board is co- chaired by myself and the Head of Environment, Housing and Leisure and membership is a team of lead officers having responsibility for the following workstreams: -

Phil Scott                                  Co-Chair   

John Sparkes                        Housing Workstream

Suzanne Duncan                  Organisational Development Workstream

Colin MacDonald                  Waste Workstream

James Moore                       Communications Workstream

Barbara Patterson                Catering Workstream

Samantha Dand                   Internal  ...  view the full minutes text for item C83/20