Agenda item

Notices of Motion

To consider the following Notices of Motion under Standing Order 11:

A – Motions referred from the Executive in accordance with Standing Order 11(a)(i) (copies of the relevant report to the Executive and extract from the Executive minutes are attached):

(i) From Cllr Bartlett:

“This Council:

· Supports the Press campaign to ‘Let your Doctor decide’ which calls on North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (NYYPCT) to scrap the Prior Approval Panel;

· Records its thanks to those MPs and North Yorkshire Councils who have recorded their support for the ‘ditch the debt’ motion passed by the York Council at its meeting on 25^th January;

· Remains concerned that reductions, restrictions and delays in NHS treatment in York could have a negative impact upon Council services and budgets.”

B – Motions submitted for consideration directly by Council, in accordance with Standing Order 11(a)(ii)

(ii) From Cllr Merrett:

“This City of York Council places on record its belief that the ruling Liberal Democrat Executive has failed miserably to honour many of its 2003 Election pledges to the residents of York. In particular, the ruling Group has been guilty of:

· Failure to honour their pledge of £100 cashback off Council Tax

· Failure to extend full recycling to all properties, particularly terraced streets and flatted dwellings

· Failure to properly consult residents over the introduction of fortnightly alternate bin collections

· Failure to secure a larger supply of affordable housing for use by York’s residents

· Failure to provide proper and effective management – losing millions on the Barbican fiasco

· Failure to expand sufficiently Park and Ride schemes.

In addition to these failures, Council is also mindful of the self-inflicted catastrophes which have befallen this ill-directed administration, recalling in particular:

· The introduction of evening car parking charges, which had a detrimental effect on many areas of York’s night time economy

· The flawed consultation process associated with the relocation of a new swimming pool

· On-street car parking charges

· The fireworks day fiasco

· Cllr Reid’s ‘Green Wave’

· Misleading statements on the re-provision of a Barbican pool

· Several wasted years sorting out street cleaning in terraced areas.

Council awaits with interest the outcome of York residents’ opinions following the elections on 3^rd May.”

(iii) From Cllr Potter:

“This Council regrets the lack of commitment from the Liberal Democrat administration to tackling community safety issues in the City. This is evidenced by:

· Cutbacks to the Safer York Partnership budget

· Long term delays in resolving the issues over the future Chair of the SYP Board management of the senior staff, and effective integration of the Drugs Advisory Team

· Repeatedly rejecting the advice of the Chief Executive to fund a Safe City Co-ordinator within the Council

· Failure of the CYC chaired Anti-Social Behaviour task group to function properly for nearly two years

· CYC Neighbourhood Pride Unit not supporting facilitation of the roll out of the joint Ward working with the police after the initial support of the pilots

· The long delays in first repairing and then modernizing the City Centre CCTV system, and consistent voting against extra CCTV in the City Centre to cover the violence and disorder hotspots, and for extra staff to provide adequate weekend night time monitoring and resilience

· Inadequate funding of the Youth Offending Team and lack of focus on reparational and restorative justice

· Inadequate funding arrangements for the Alleygating initiative, so that very few gates have been installed over the last four years.

This Council asks for urgent action to ensure that all departments of the Council are focused on their contribution to increasing community safety and reducing the fear of crime.”

(iv) From Cllr Waller:

“Council notes;

1. the substantial sums in Landfill Tax that have been avoided due to the dramatic increase in recycling rates in the last four years, and successful waste minimisation campaigns run by City of York Council.

2. the £8 per tonne annual increments in Landfill Tax that will start from 1^st April 2008

3. the establishment of the Landfill Tax was not intended to be a net revenue raiser for HM Treasury but York Council Tax payers have paid considerably more in Landfill Tax than has been received back in assistance for recycling services.

Council supports;

1. the Local Government Association policy to have Landfill Tax rises returned to local government in full.

2. the Retail Packaging Bill before Parliament as presented on 6^th March 2007.”

(v) From Cllr D’Agorne:

“This Council confirms its opposition to any form of incineration of York's municipal waste. Key concerns include:

1. the effect of emissions on human health and the environment;

2. the fact that incineration contracts with private companies create a demand for waste

This detracts from the objective to reduce the amount of waste that is produced, and the secondary objective to recycle as large a proportion of the remainder as is possible and efficient in terms of environmental impact.

The Council also opposes any other form of treatment involving burning (such as forms of Mechanical Biological Treatment that produce Refuse Derived Fuel for burning), as the concerns expressed above apply in each case.

This Council notes the significant achievements of the city in increasing recycling, through the work of the Council and community groups such as the Friends of St. Nicholas Fields and the York Recycling Network. The Council will support the work of such groups wherever possible.

The Council notes that measures on waste reduction are almost always more financially efficient than the construction of large treatment facilities, and that recycling creates more jobs than incineration.

The Council further notes that as recycling rates increase around the country, incineration is falling further out of favour. Norwich City Council has recently confirmed its opposition to incineration, joining the councils of Essex, Lancashire, Bath and Milton Keynes, among others.

Furthermore, this Council calls upon the Government to introduce legislation to reduce waste at source by strict regulation and taxes on packaging.”

Minutes:

In accordance with Standing Order 11, five notices of motion had been received:

(i) North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust

This motion had been referred from the Executive in accordance with Standing Order 11(a)(i).

It was moved by Cllr Bartlett and seconded by Cllr Livesley that:

“This Council:

· Supports the Press campaign to ‘Let your Doctor decide’ which calls on North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (NYYPCT) to scrap the Prior Approval Panel;

· Records its thanks to those MPs and North Yorkshire Councils who have recorded their support for the ‘ditch the debt’ motion passed by the York Council at its meeting on 25^th January;

· Remains concerned that reductions, restrictions and delays in NHS treatment in York could have a negative impact upon Council services and budgets.”

Cllr Fraser then moved, and Cllr Looker seconded, an amendment to the above motion, as follows:

“At line 1: After ‘Council’ insert ‘ acknowledges public concerns regarding the financial position of the North Yorkshire and York Primary Care Trust (NYYPCT). Further, Council:

In first bullet point delete ‘supports’ and insert ‘notes’ and also delete ‘Prior Approvals panel’ and insert ‘ Exceptions Panel for Prior Approvals’.

Insert a new second bullet point

‘Notes the announcement by the Government of almost £100 million in additional funding in 2007/08 and a further additional £32 million for 2008/09 for the York and North Yorkshire PCT and the intention in the PCT’s Recovery Plan, agreed at their Board meeting on 5^th April, to repay the debt in 2007/08.’”

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

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

RESOLVED: That the above notice of motion be approved.

(ii) The Record of the Current Administration

It was moved by Cllr Merrett and seconded by Cllr Horton that:

· Failure to honour their pledge of £100 cashback off Council Tax

· Failure to extend full recycling to all properties, particularly terraced streets and flatted dwellings

· Failure to properly consult residents over the introduction of fortnightly alternate bin collections

· Failure to secure a larger supply of affordable housing for use by York’s residents

· Failure to provide proper and effective management – losing millions on the Barbican fiasco

· Failure to expand sufficiently Park and Ride schemes.

In addition to these failures, Council is also mindful of the self-inflicted catastrophes which have befallen this ill-directed administration, recalling in particular:

· The introduction of evening car parking charges, which had a detrimental effect on many areas of York’s night time economy

· The flawed consultation process associated with the relocation of a new swimming pool

· On-street car parking charges

· The fireworks day fiasco

· Cllr Reid’s ‘Green Wave’

· Misleading statements on the re-provision of a Barbican pool

· Several wasted years sorting out street cleaning in terraced areas.

Council awaits with interest the outcome of York residents’ opinions following the elections on 3^rd May.”

The motion was put to the vote and declared LOST and it was

RESOLVED: That the above notice of motion not be approved.

(iii) Tackling Community Safety Issues in the City

It was moved by Cllr Potter and seconded by Cllr Brian Watson that:

“This Council regrets the lack of commitment from the Liberal Democrat administration to tackling community safety issues in the City. This is evidenced by:

· Cutbacks to the Safer York Partnership budget

· Long term delays in resolving the issues over the future Chair of the SYP Board management of the senior staff, and effective integration of the Drugs Advisory Team

· Repeatedly rejecting the advice of the Chief Executive to fund a Safe City Co-ordinator within the Council

· Failure of the CYC chaired Anti-Social Behaviour task group to function properly for nearly two years

· CYC Neighbourhood Pride Unit not supporting facilitation of the roll out of the joint Ward working with the police after the initial support of the pilots

· Inadequate funding of the Youth Offending Team and lack of focus on reparational and restorative justice

· Inadequate funding arrangements for the Alleygating initiative, so that very few gates have been installed over the last four years.

This Council asks for urgent action to ensure that all departments of the Council are focused on their contribution to increasing community safety and reducing the fear of crime.”

Cllr Steve Galloway then moved, and Cllr Waller seconded, an amendment to the above motion, as follows:

“Delete from “regrets” to “action to ensure” and replace with:

“notes that February 2007 had the lowest ever recorded level of crime and welcomes the news that crime levels in York have reduced for the third successive year.

Council welcomes the appointment of CS Ian Spittal as the new Chair of the Safer York Partnership, notes that SYP had a budget surplus of over £50,000 in the last financial year, recognises the substantial contribution already made by the new police liaison officer post which was established in the Council over a year ago (not least in moving the Liberal Democrats Alleygating policy forward) and reminds members that provision has been made for the extension of CCTV coverage in this years budget together with the continuation of the target hardening fund, which was an innovation - coupled with 24 hour CCTV monitoring - introduced by the Council during the course of the present administration.

Council puts on record its appreciation of the work of members, officers and partner organisations in making York a safer City and asks".

To replace “are” before “focused” with “continue to remain”.”

On being put to the vote, the amendment was declared CARRIED.

The motion, as amended, now read as follows:

"This Council notes that February 2007 had the lowest ever recorded level of crime and welcomes the news that crime levels in York have reduced for the third successive year.

Council puts on record its appreciation of the work of members, officers and partner organisations in making York a safer City and asks that all departments of the Council continue to remain focused on their contribution to increasing community safety and reducing the fear of crime."

The amended motion was put to the vote and declared CARRIED and it was

RESOLVED: That the above notice of motion, as amended, be approved.

(iv) Landfill Tax

It was moved by Cllr Waller and seconded by Cllr Steve Galloway that:

“Council notes;

1.the substantial sums in Landfill Tax that have been avoided due to the dramatic increase in recycling rates in the last four years, and successful waste minimisation campaigns run by City of York Council.

2.the £8 per tonne annual increments in Landfill Tax that will start from 1^st April 2008

3.the establishment of the Landfill Tax was not intended to be a net revenue raiser for HM Treasury but York Council Tax payers have paid considerably more in Landfill Tax than has been received back in assistance for recycling services.

Council supports;

1.the Local Government Association policy to have Landfill Tax rises returned to local government in full.

2.the Retail Packaging Bill before Parliament as presented on 6^th March 2007.”

Cllr Potter then moved, and Cllr Smallwood seconded, an amendment to the above motion, as follows:

“Insert a new point 1 after “Council notes” to read:

1. the success of the Government’s landfill tax in incentivising action across the country to reduce waste, increase recycling, and reduce the previously growing amount of rubbish going to landfill.

Renumber existing points 1 & 2 as points 2 & 3 and delete existing point 3.”

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

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

RESOLVED: That the above notice of motion be approved.

(v) Incineration of Municipal Waste

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

“This Council confirms its opposition to any form of incineration of York's municipal waste. Key concerns include:

1. the effect of emissions on human health and the environment;

2. the fact that incineration contracts with private companies create a demand for waste

Furthermore, this Council calls upon the Government to introduce legislation to reduce waste at source by strict regulation and taxes on packaging.”

Cllr Waller then moved, and Cllr Steve Galloway seconded, an amendment to the above motion, as follows:

“Delete “This” at the start

Amend “confirms” to “re-confirms that”

Delete “opposition to any form of incineration of York’s municipal waste” and add “preferred technology solution for residual waste treatment is Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT), and welcomes recent changes in DEFRA policy on licensing the use of MBT output for non-fuel options, particularly noting the MBT operation in Newcastle-upon-Tyne.” Add “Council also notes” before “key concerns”

After “key concerns” add “for future contracts”

Add “and” at the end of point 1

In point 2, after “the” add “need to ensure that there continues to be an incentive for waste minimisation” and delete from “fact” to “each case”

Delete “This” before “Council notes”

Add “from a rate of 12% in 2003 to over three times that rate now” after “increasing recycling”

Add “continue to” after “the Council will””

On being put to the vote, the amendment was declared CARRIED.

The motion, as amended, now read as follows:

“Council re-confirms that its preferred technology solution for residual waste treatment is Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT), and welcomes recent changes in DEFRA policy on licensing the use of MBT output for non-fuel options, particularly noting the MBT operation in Newcastle-upon –Tyne.

Council also notes its key concerns for future contracts include:

1. the effect of emissions on human health and the environment, and

2. the need to ensure that there continues to be an incentive for waste minimisation

Council notes the significant achievements of the city in increasing recycling from a rate of 12% in 2003 to over three times that rate now, through the work of the Council, and community groups such as the Friends of St. Nicholas’

Fields, and the York Recycling Network. The Council will continue to

support the work of such groups wherever possible.

Council notes that waste minimisation is the most cost effective means of controlling waste costs. Council further notes that as recycling rates increase around the country, incineration is falling further out of favour.

Council calls upon the Government to introduce legislation to reduce waste at source by strict regulation and taxes on packaging and to support the Retail Packaging Bill.”

The amended motion was put to the vote and declared CARRIED and it was

RESOLVED: That the above notice of motion, as amended, be approved.

Supporting documents: