Agenda and minutes

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 G Bell – Item 5 - Motion 1 – non-registerable personal interest as a Member of a Trade Union.

Councillor K Clark – Item 7 – Children and Young People’s Plan 2021-2025, registerable personal interest - employed by an organisation that receives funding from the Authority.

Councillor J Cruddas – Item 7 – Children and Young People’s Plan 2021-2025, registerable personal interest – employed by an organisation that receives funding from the Authority.

Councillor D Cox – Item 5 - Motion 2 – registerable personal interest employed by the NHS. Councillor Cox indicated she would not take part in the vote.

Councillor A McMullen – Item 5 - Motion 1 – non-registerable personal interest as a Member of a Trade Union.

Councillor P Oliver – Item 7 – Children and Youngs People’s Plan 2021-2025 non-registerable personal interest – family member receives support provided by the Authority.

Resolved that the minutes of the Council meetings held on 21 January and 18 February 2021 be taken as read, confirmed and signed by the Chair.

A report to consider the recommendation of the Independent Remuneration Panel in relation to the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2021/22.

Council gave consideration to the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel in relation to the Members’ Allowances Scheme for 2021/22.

The Chair welcomed Mr John Anderson, the Chair of the Independent Remuneration Panel, who presented the report to the meeting.

The Panel had recommended that no change be made to the current Members’ Allowances Scheme for the 2021/22 financial year.

The Chair thanked the Panel for the report.

It was moved by the Elected Mayor N Redfearn and seconded by Councillor F Lott that:

Council approve the recommendations of the Independent Remuneration Panel on the Scheme of Members’ Allowances for 2021/22.

Councillor F Lott moved a procedural motion that the question be now put.

The procedural Motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 43 votes to 4 votes.

The Motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 46 votes to 0 votes.

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

It was moved by Councillor A McMullen and seconded byCouncillor J Kirwin that:

North Tyneside Council notes:

·             The Conservative government since 2010 has overseen a major dilution of Trade unions rights.

·             Fire and rehire’ tactics have been rife throughout the pandemic with 1 in 10 workers having been told to re-apply for their own job.

·             These tactics often under the threat of dismissal are used to force through inferior terms and conditions and wage cuts.

·             Amid the health and economic insecurity, hundreds of thousands of workers, including employees of companies such as British Airways and Centrica are being bounced into signing away their pay.

·             This practice is outlawed in many European countries.

·             Conservative Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Business, Paul Scully, shamefully told the House of Commons the “flexibility” offered to businesses by the absence of fire and rehire being banned in legislation is “necessary”.

North Tyneside Council believes:

·           This practice of firing and rehiring is shameful and should be outlawed.

·           This would benefit millions of people overnight, but it will also support the responsible employers while making clear to those with fewer scruples that these sorts of actions are not tolerated in this country.

·           It is immoral for employers to play fast and loose with the security of employees who have given decades of their lives to an employer.

North Tyneside Council calls upon the Mayor:

·         To write to Mary Glindon MP and Sir Alan Campbell MP and ask them to support the banning of fire and rehire in Parliament.

·         Write to the Prime Minister urging him to bring forward legislation that bans fire and rehire. 

The Motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 48 votes to 4 votes.

(Councillor D Cox took no part in the discussion or voting on this item).

It was moved by Councillor C Johnson and seconded byCouncillor M Thirlaway that:

North Tyneside Council Notes:

·         The Conservative Government refused to back cross-party plans in the North East to give freeport to areas in the North East like the Port of Tyne.

·         This decision has cost the North East 60,000 jobs and £2.6 Billion in investment.

·         North Tyneside was placed in priority group 2 for the levelling up fund while the Chancellors leafy Richmondshire authority was placed in priority group 1.

·         Many towns represented by members of the Cabinet were granted access to the town's fund, while the Conservative Government forgot about places like Killingworth, North Shields, Wallsend and Whitley Bay.

·         The public accounts committee said it was “not convinced by the rationale for selecting some towns and not others”, with ministers’ reasoning “vague and based on sweeping assumptions”

·         The Conservative Government missed the chance to fix the broken social care funding model which heaps financial pressure on local government.

·         The Government may have clapped for our carers and local Government heroes but once again has failed to support them.

·         The Conservative Government have shamefully only offered our NHS heroes a 1% increase in pay despite everything they have done for this country during the pandemic.

North Tyneside Council believes:

·         The government is playing pork-barrel politics, 40 of 45 places granted access to the town's fund has a Tory MP and the Chancellor has prioritised spending in seats the Conservatives won last year.

·         If the decision to place North Tyneside in category 2 for the 'Town's fund' is not reversed it will place us at the back of the line for economic support.

·         That the decision to not award the North East LEP area freeport status could severely damage the region’s economy.

·         This budget contains nothing that will help ‘Level up’ North Tyneside.

·         The 1% pay rise offered to NHS workers is shameful.

North Tyneside Council calls upon the Mayor to:

Write to the Chancellor and ask him to;

·         Review and reverse his decision to not award the North East LEP area freeport status.

·         Review North Tyneside’s priority 2 category in the designation in the ‘Levelling up’ fund.

·         Review his decision to do nothing on social care in the budget and fix the broken funding model.

·         Give our NHS heroes the pay rise they deserve

·         Review his decision to not give any of our towns access to the ‘Towns fund’

·         Give our Local Government heroes the pay rise they deserve.

·         Write to Mary Glindon MP and Sir Alan Campbell MP and ask them to raise these issues in Parliament with the Chancellor. 

The Motion on being put to the meeting, was approved by 47 votes to 0 votes, with 4 abstentions.

It was moved by Councillor W Samuel and seconded by Councillor S Day that:

North Tyneside Council Notes:

This Council regrets the continuing failure of successive Governments to provide sufficient resources to support adult social care in England. Councils have been forced to accept the adult social care precept in full, year on year, to ensure the stability of this service. We note that even with this funding there are inadequate resources to tackle the increasing demand.

Council agrees to request the elected mayor to write to the Prime Minister demanding that he supply additional ring-fenced funding centrally at a minimum equal or greater than the level of the precept thus avoiding the need to place this burden directly on council taxpayers in future years.

The motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 47 votes to 0 votes, with 4 abstentions.

To approve the Pay Policy statement for 2021/22 and authorise publication of the Pay Policy

The Council received a report which presented the Pay Policy statement 2021/22 that set out the Authority’s policies on a range of pay matters relating to the workforce, including senior employees (Chief Officers).

The Pay Policy had not changed significantly during the previous 12 months, with the main change being the inclusion of the North Tyneside Council Living Wage as agreed by the full Council on 26 November 2020. The pay multiple and the gender pay gap had been calculated as at 31 March 2020.

The Authority had a statutory duty to publish the Pay Policy Statement following the approval by the full Council.

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

(1) the Pay Policy statement 2021/22 be approved; and

(2) the publication of the Pay Policy be authorised.

The Motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 51 votes to 0 votes.

To approve and adopt the Children and Young People’s Plan 2021 – 2025.

Council received a report seeking approval for the adoption of the Children and Young People’s Plan 2021-2025.

The Plan was a key strategy used by the North Tyneside Partnership to deliver the priorities set out within the Our North Tyneside Plan, particularly in relation to ‘Our People’. It set out the strategic framework and partnership priorities to ensure that all children in North Tyneside were able to achieve their full potential.

It was moved by Councillor P Earley and seconded by Councillor M Wilson that:

Council approve and adopt the final version of the Children and Young People’s Plan 2021 – 2025 appended to the report.

The Motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 51 votes to 0 votes.

To receive any announcements by the Chair of Council.

The Chair wished Members who were to stand in the Election in May the best of luck. She offered any Members who were not seeking re-election the opportunity to address the meeting if they wished. Councillor Alison Austin accepted and addressed the meeting.

The Chair ended her announcements by thanking all Council Staff for their continued work in providing essential services to the residents in North Tyneside.

To receive any announcements by the Elected Mayor.

The Elected Mayor thanked all Councillors, her Cabinet Members and all Council Staff for their efforts throughout the Covid-19 pandemic. She went on to say that staff had continued to ensure the delivery of essential services to the vulnerable, the elderly and young children with some putting their own health at risk to do so. She thanked the residents and businesses that had volunteered to help their communities.

The Elected Mayor thanked Councillor W Lott for the two years she had served as Chair of Council and wished Councillor Austin well for the future.

The Elected Mayor ended her announcement by urging everyone to continue to follow the rules to keep North Tyneside safe.

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

1.    Question to the Elected Mayor by Councillor Frank Lott

What investment has been made in North Tyneside into Roads, Pavements, and associated infrastructure? 

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

Thank you, Councillor Lott for your question.

I know from listening to our residents and our Mayor that a well-maintained highway network is very important to our communities.  Investment in roads and pavements has therefore been one of Mayor Redfearn’s and my top priorities.

In the last 5 years we have invested around £24 million in day to day maintenance of the highway network and £5 million in bridges and other infrastructure.  This includes an additional £8 million of extra council funding on top of the regular funds we have for highways anyway. This has led to:

• 56 miles of roads being resurfaced
• 350 individual footway improvement schemes
• Strengthening work to Wallsend Road Bridge and other structures
• Over 100 highway drainage improvement schemes

We also have an excellent track record in securing external grant funding which has allowed us to deliver a wide range of major capital highway improvement schemes.  During my time in office we have secured around £25 million in grant funding and have successfully delivered numerous major schemes including:

• A new interchange at Coast Road / Billy Mill junction
• Widening of Beach Road
• Complete replacement of Norham Road Bridge
• Upgrades to provide a continuous cycle lane from the coast to Newcastle
• Improvements to Sandy Lane
• Enhanced links from the A19 to Cobalt business park
• Upgrades to multiple junctions along the north bank of the River Tyne

These major capital schemes have incorporated significant improvements to cycling and walking infrastructure in line with our Transport Strategy and associated sustainable travel policies.

There has also been massive external investment coming into the borough on the back of Labour work as well. The £75m scheme alone at Silverlink to improve the Silverlink roundabout was remarkable. So, in Mayor Redfearn’s term in the last 8 years it tops up to about £150m of highways investment, be that by the Council or our external partners in this Borough.

The considerable investment we have made in roads and pavements has made a noticeable improvement to our highway network.  Our latest surveys show that we are one of the best performing authorities in the region when it comes to the condition of roads and pavements.  This is especially pleasing given that reduced Government funding allocations has put extra pressure on local highways authorities to make up shortfalls in maintenance budgets.  I look forward to continuing the good work we have been doing on roads and pavements which I am sure will result in further improvements to the network in the coming years.

Councillor F Lott asked the following supplementary question:

As a pedestrian, cyclist and motorist will the investment continue into the future?

Councillor C Johnson responded as follows:

Absolutely, as long as the Labour Party continues to be elected in this Borough we will continue and remain  ...  view the full minutes text for item C107/20