Agenda item

Notices of Motion

Meeting of Council, Thursday, 11 October 2012 6.30 pm (Item 42.)

To consider the following Notices of Motion under Standing Order 12:

A – Motions referred from the Cabinet in accordance with Standing Order 12.1(a)

None

B – Motions submitted for consideration directly by Council, in accordance with Standing Order 12.1(b)

(i) From Cllr Simpson-Laing

“The City of York Council is concerned over the recent announcement that will allow household extensions, through Permitted Development Rights, to double in size without the need for Planning Consent

Council is concerned about the detrimental effect such large extensions could have on neighbours and neighbourhoods.

Council requests that Government undertake an extensive consultation on the extensions of Permitted Development Rights

Council requests that the Director of City and Environment bring forward proposals for an ‘Article Four Direction’, to limit the size of Household extensions not requiring Planning Consent, if the Government presses ahead with the proposed changes.”

(ii) From Cllr Galvin

“Council believes in these difficult economic times, caused by the previous Labour government’s financial incompetence, that the priority must be to protect both the vulnerable and residents’ most basic council services. Council therefore pledges:

1. To restock and to maintain all existing salt bins throughout the coming winter: and

2. To rule out any additional charges to residents for the provision and removal of green waste bins for the remainder of this council.

The costs associated with these commitments, approximately £34k will be met by reallocating from the Economic Infrastructure Fund, £34,000 from New Homes Bonus funds for 12/13 and, from 13/14, by reducing the cost of Union support by the same sum”

(iii) From Cllr Reid

Council Notes:

Councillor Sonja Crisp’s promise to Full Council in March that “all the salt bins required across all wards will be refilled from the core budget”.

The decision taken last month by Councillor David Levene, Cabinet Member for Environmental Services, not to refill the 170 salt bins previously maintained through funding provided via ward committees.

Cuts and changes to the ward committee budgets now prevent these decisions being addressed at ward level.

Council believes:

• The plans to reduce overall salt bin provision in York from around 369 full bins to around 199 will, in a bad winter, have a significant and detrimental impact.

• Leaving the bins out empty is likely to lead to a further deterioration in their condition and make it harder to bring them back into use next winter.

• Public confusion is likely as residents will not know which salt bins are full and which salt bins are empty until they need to use them.

• The decision to cut provision before the promised review of salt bin locations for the winter of 2013/14 is misguided, as is the decision not to consult local residents or local councillors.

• The mistakes Labour made over the removal of 1-in-4 of York’s dog and litter bins are being repeated.

Council calls on Councillor Levene to reverse his decision and refill all salt bins for this winter pending a review of salt bins locations for next winter, and carry out an assessment of which bins are in need of repair. The initial £17,000 cost would be funded by reducing the budget for Cabinet Members Allowances from £128,625 to £110,625.

(iv) From Cllr Alexander

City of York Council is experiencing almost a third cut in funding from the Conservative-led Government. This has led to unpopular service reductions and the situation is becoming critical.

Local Government is being asked to find savings that far outweigh Government expenditure reductions in other areas. In 2014/15 there will be a 0.6% reduction in public expenditure but Local Government will experience a cut 9 times higher. In York the savings required could be 17 times as high.

From 2003 to 2010 City of York Council received an additional £52m in funding from the Labour Government. During which time the Liberal Democrat administration led a ‘Fair deal for York’ campaign which said York was underfunded.

Since the General Election the Council has had to identify £41m of savings. York is contributing to deficit reduction but the Conservative-led Government is using deficit panic to attack York’s public services.

At the 2010 General Election no party won. The Conservative-led Government has no mandate for their destructive course of action and the Government only exists because of choices made by the Liberal Democrats. Council will pledge its commitment to lead on and sign up to a non-partisan ‘Enough is Enough’ campaign to stop the Government attacking York’s public services.

Minutes:

(i) Permitted Development Rights

It was moved by Cllr Simpson-Laing and seconded by Cllr Merrett that:

Council requests that Government undertake an extensive consultation on the extensions of Permitted Development Rights. ^1.

On being put to the vote, the motion was declared CARRIED and it was

RESOLVED: That the above motion be approved.

(ii) Salt and Green Waste Bins

It was moved by Cllr Galvin and seconded by Cllr Steward that:

1. To restock and to maintain all existing salt bins throughout the coming winter: and

2. To rule out any additional charges to residents for the provision and removal of green waste bins for the remainder of this council.

On being put to the vote, the motion was declared LOST and it was

RESOLVED: That the above motion be not approved.

(iii) Salt Bins

In accordance with his powers under Standing Orders, the Lord Mayor ruled the following motion, which had been submitted by Cllr Reid, out of order as it also related to the refilling of salt bins and substantially repeated the previous motion debated in Cllr Galvin’s name:

“Council Notes:

Councillor Sonja Crisp’s promise to Full Council in March that “all the salt bins required across all wards will be refilled from the core budget”.

Cuts and changes to the ward committee budgets now prevent these decisions being addressed at ward level.

Council believes:

• The plans to reduce overall salt bin provision in York from around 369 full bins to around 199 will, in a bad winter, have a significant and detrimental impact.

• Leaving the bins out empty is likely to lead to a further deterioration in their condition and make it harder to bring them back into use next winter.

• Public confusion is likely as residents will not know which salt bins are full and which salt bins are empty until they need to use them.

• The decision to cut provision before the promised review of salt bin locations for the winter of 2013/14 is misguided, as is the decision not to consult local residents or local councillors.

• The mistakes Labour made over the removal of 1-in-4 of York’s dog and litter bins are being repeated.

(iv) From Cllr Alexander

It was moved by Cllr Alexander and seconded by Cllr D’Agorne that:

“City of York Council is experiencing almost a third cut in funding from the Conservative-led Government. This has led to unpopular service reductions and the situation is becoming critical.

Councillor Steward then moved and Cllr Healey seconded, an amendment to the above motion as follows:

Delete all wording following the words “City of York Council is” in paragraph 1 to “attacking” in the final paragraph and replace with

“like other councils across the country is experiencing cuts in government funding due to the appalling incompetence of the previous Labour government which, as with all previous Labour governments, left the country teetering on the verge of bankruptcy.

Council registers its anger that the previous Labour government was so foolish with its spending and inept in its running of the economy that when they left government they had increased borrowing by more than every previous UK government in history combined. Council is appalled that Labour left the country with a record deficit, a record debt, record numbers of people who have never had a job, a record number of young people unemployed and in many areas of the country a terrible benefits dependency against people who should be working.

Although council welcomes some of the spending done by the previous government, including the increase in NHS and education funding, council is disappointed that so much of it was spent inefficiently. However ultimately council is appalled that Labour got the spending so wrong that when it left power the government was spending £4 for £3 it received in and borrowing a record £175 billion to cover the current year’s deficit. Council agrees with the simple summary of former Labour Minister Liam Bryne that ‘there is no money left’.

Council welcomes the decisions the coalition has taken to bring borrowing under control and ensure the UK can borrow at low rates, rather than risk a return to borrowing from the IMF as many feel would have been inevitable if Labour had got into power.

Council believes it is vital we seek to work for the good of the people of York in doing practical things to help them in these tough times, but in acknowledgement of the number of York’s cabinet members who seem to like asking the Chief Executive to write to MPs council requests the following letters be sent:

1. To Julian Sturdy MP to congratulate him as a local MP for the work he is doing in the tough job of making realistic and sensible decisions to bring the UK’s finances back under control

2. To Ed Milliband MP to say that it is disingenuous and wrong of him to lead a party which has said many times would have made 90% of the cuts the coalition government is making to oppose virtually every cut proposed refuse to give details of where more than a tiny amount of where Labour’s cuts would come from.

3. To David Cameron MP to urge him to continue to protect important public services like the NHS with ring-fenced funding, so that hard working individuals and families get the services they want and need, rather than suffering due to Labour’s incompetence. Council reiterates to him that it agrees with the coalition’s commitment to ensuring sustainable finances so that we truly can protect....”

On being put to the vote the amendment was declared LOST.

The original motion was then put to the vote and declared CARRIED and it was

RESOLVED: That the above notice of motion be approved. ^3.