Agenda item

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

 

 

Motion 1 signed by Councillors M Thirlaway, F Lott and M Hall

 

It was moved by Councillor M Thirlaway and seconded by Councillor F Lott that:

 

North Tyneside Council notes the Government’s decision to replace Public Health England with the National Institute for Health Protection.

 

We condemn the decision to appoint Baroness Dido Harding as the temporary chair of this new organisation.

 

We believe Baroness Harding is an unsuitable appointment due to her lack of experience and expertise in public health and her failure as Head of the NHS Track and Trace during the coronavirus outbreak.

 

We believe Baroness Harding’s appointment is a political decision that fails to prioritise public health during a worldwide pandemic.

 

North Tyneside Council requests that the Elected Mayor writes to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care expressing our opposition to this appointment.

 

The Motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 39 votes to 6 votes.

 

Motion 2 signed by Councillors M Rankin, C Johnson and B Pickard

 

It was moved by Councillor C Johnson and seconded by Councillor B Pickard that:

 

Council notes:

 

·         that the COVID-19 crisis has had a profound impact on the Council’s staff, services, and income;

·         that, at the start of the crisis, the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government urged councils to do “whatever was necessary” to control the spread of the virus;

·         that the Secretary of State also promised full financial reimbursement to councils for the financial impact of the crisis;

·         that, despite three welcome tranches of money, the Council still faces an in-year financial shortfall;

·         that the Government changed the distribution formula between allocations of funding, skewing resources away from urban areas with higher levels of COVID to shire counties and rural areas, with lower levels of COVID;

·         that the LGA estimates the financial gap facing the local government sector to be £7.4bn;

·         that recent IFS analysis reports that councils are facing a “perfect storm” of funding and that many will have to make in-year budget cuts as a result of the failure of Government to fully compensate for losses.

 

Council believes:

 

·         that the Government should honour their promise to reimburse councils in full for financial losses;

·         that it would be a national outrage if councils were forced to reduce services and lay off the staff who have gone the extra mile to support our communities through the crisis.

 

Council calls upon the Mayor to:

 

·         write to the Secretary of State to ask him to honour his pledge to fund

councils fully;

 

·         sign up to the Unison campaign Back the #10BillionBailout for local services (see https://action.unison.org.uk/page/63837/petition/1?locale=en-GB);

 

·         campaign for a decent and fair settlement for local government in the

forthcoming Spending Review.

 

The Motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 41 votes to 6 votes.

 

Motion 3 signed by Councillors C Davis, W Samuel and B Burdis

 

It was moved by Councillor C Davis and seconded by Councillor W Samuel that:

 

This Council resolves to endorse the Covid Bereaved Families Campaign and, therefore, calls on the Government to start an immediate public inquiry into the Covid-19 Pandemic, with the first part of the inquiry to start immediately.

 

Lessons need to be learned and applied quickly to prevent further loss of life, as happened in the aftermath of the Hillsborough tragedy, which led to immediate improvements to safety in football stadiums.

 

We also agree with the families’ call for the Government to provide adequate support to those who have lost someone to Covid-19. To date, there has been

little to no recognition of the trauma of losing someone in this way or that there will be additional strain on bereavement and mental health support services. We believe all families should be able to access adequate support wherever they are in the country.

 

The North Tyneside Council offers its condolences to the bereaved in North Tyneside and throughout the UK. By meeting the demands of the bereaved

families, the Government can protect other families from needlessly suffering the overwhelming grief that they are experiencing.

 

The UK has one of the highest death tolls in the world in the Covid-19 Pandemic, with over 45,000 excess deaths. Gaps in the country’s pandemic preparedness, delays to locking down, inadequate supplies of PPE and the policy of discharging ill-people into care homes have all been identified as having contributed to the high death toll. As we head into winter it’s vital that we prepare for a potential second wave.

 

North Tyneside Council requests the Elected Mayor to vigorously promote the

petition from the Campaign, covidfamiliesforjustice.com, and to press the inquiry on the Government through our two local Members of Parliament.

 

The Motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 41 votes to 5 votes.

 

Motion 4 signed by Councillors J Allan, J Harrison and B Burdis

 

In moving this Motion, Councillor J Allan clarified that the independent report referred to had in fact been commissioned by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and that the Local Government Association had supported the findings of the report.

 

It was moved by Councillor J Allan and seconded by Councillor J Harrison that:

 

North Tyneside Council supports the independent report commissioned by the Local Government Association. Responding into the quality standard of homes delivered through change of use for permitted development rights, the

independent report rightly backs our long-standing concerns over the detrimental impact on local communities of rules allowing home conversions without planning permission. It provides further evidence on why it is more vital than ever that planning should remain local. and requests that our Elected Mayor write to inform the Government and the Local Government Association of our views.

 

The independent report rightly supports our concerns in North Tyneside over the detrimental impact on our local communities of having rules that would allow home conversions without planning permission. It provides further evidence on why it is more vital than ever that planning should remain local.

 

The report highlights how these conversions mostly avoid making any contribution to local areas, which is a requirement of the local planning system, and fail to meet adequate design standards and create worse living environments.

 

Under these new rules, communities will have no way to ensure developers build high-quality affordable homes in the right places, provide any affordable homes as part of the development, along with infrastructure that provides enough schools, promotes greener and more active travel, and tackles climate change.

 

We urge the Government to act on these independent findings and remove

permitted development rights. Developers must no longer be allowed to bypass the planning system and local communities must be able to have a say on all new developments in their area.

 

It is vital that councils and local communities have a voice in the planning

process and are able to oversee all local developments so councils can deliver resilient, prosperous places that meet the needs of our communities.

 

The Motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 42 votes to 0 votes, with 5 abstentions.

 

Motion 5 signed by Councillors A Newman, M Wilson and C Johnson

 

It was moved by Councillor A Newman and seconded by Councillor M Wilson that:

 

Objection to the Internal Markets Bill

 

We share widespread concern over the government's admission that the Internal Markets bill breaches international law. The United Kingdom is built in and subject to the rule of law and international law is just as important as domestic law. Undermining this vital principle will fatally weaken faith in our commitment to international law and the repercussions will affect the whole country, not just North Tyneside.

 

We therefore ask the Mayor to write to the Prime Minister outlining this Council's objection to breaching international law and urging him to withdraw the bill.

 

The Motion, on being put to the meeting, was approved by 42 votes to 6 votes.