Agenda item

Motions on Notice

To consider the following Motions on Notice under Standing Order 22:

 

Motions submitted for consideration directly by Council, in accordance with Standing Order 22.1

 

(i)    From Councillor K Taylor

 

Highways Standards

 

“Council notes that potholes affect all road users including cyclists, public transport users, those with mobility issues and private car users.

 

It further notes worrying trends on local road standards, including:

 

-      An increase in secondary roads in need of repair jumping from 7% to 21% in the past three years;

-      An increase in unclassified roads in need of repair jumping from 10% to 28% in the past three years;

-      An increase in those local roads in the worst states of repair jumping from 16% to 24% in the past four years;

-      York’s position as having the highest percentage of poorly maintained minor roads in the entire country.

 

Under investment in roads is an issue at both a local and national level, with 18% of the local road network estimated to be in need of repair nationally, with an associated cost of £9.31bn.

 

Council believes:

 

That greater investment in repairing York’s roads is urgently needed and that long term, more sustainable solutions must also be found including:

 

-      Earlier detection and intervention;

-      Better, more sustainable repair materials and technologies;

-      Reducing wear through increased walking and cycling; and

-      Increased investment in public transport to reduce car-dependency

 

Council resolves to ask the next Executive to make road repairs more of a local priority by:

 

-      Adopting a progressive and game-changing strategy that seeks to reverse each of the above indicators to fewer than one in five roads being in need of repair;

-      Investing at least an extra £1m each year for pothole repairs, targeted at secondary and unclassified roads, above current approved budgets; and

-      Giving cyclists a fair deal by increasing the proportion of highways expenditure spent on cycling.”

 

(ii)         From Councillor K Myers

 

Youth Clubs

 

“Council:

 

Believes  it is vital for all young people to have the best possible start in life and that socialising with other young people and physical exercise outside of school plays a crucial role in this, as well as providing an antidote to an over-reliance on online activities;

 

Welcomes the joint administration's funding initiatives such as the £400k investment in upgrading 14 play parks, its £2.75m programme for new sporting facilities, including after school gymnastics coaching, at Burnholme and eight new sports pitches near Askham Bar, in addition to its commitment to fund all York libraries into the future whilst supporting their reinvention as relevant and accessible destinations for today's young people;

 

Is concerned however that many areas, especially outlying wards, lack access to facilities such as Youth Clubs which, unlike the case in some city centre wards, are not directly funded by the council.

 

Council therefore requests the Children, Education & Communities Policy & Scrutiny Committee to consider setting up a Task Group to engage with all relevant groups to look into the best way the city can work strategically to get the best use of resources (from everything from the use of council properties to volunteers’ time) in order to boost facilities and opportunities for young people in all parts of the city.”

 

(iii)         From Councillor Reid

 

Investing in our roads and footpaths

 

“This Council notes that despite significant investment, a proportion of York’s roads, footpaths and cycle network are in need of further maintenance and reconstruction.

 

This Council further notes:

 

·        According to the Department of Transport, 8% of the Council’s A roads were judged to be in need of maintenance,22% of B and C roads are in need of work and 28% of unclassified roads require repair;

·        To date, this administration has invested over £20 million into the city’s highways network, with a further £13 million secured in the recent 2019/20 Council Budget;

·        That the previous Labour administration only invested £16,266,000 into the city’s highways network;

·        That adverse weather conditions, particularly extreme wintry weather, has caused significant deterioration in the city’s road network;

·        That due to the Conservative Government’s failure to deliver sufficient investment in the North, funding for our region’s transport system is the lowest at £844 per person during 2017/18, whilst for London, it was £4,155 per person and the next highest was the West Midlands, with £3,029 per person (according to IPPR North).

·        That considerably more funding is required from Central Government to further help maintain and develop York’s road, footpath and cycle network.

 

Council believes that further action and additional funding from the Government is needed to address the extent of highways repairs and to deliver an enhanced cycle network in York.

 

Therefore, Council resolves:

 

·           To formally request additional funding from the Government to further increase the scope and pace of highways repairs and cycle network enhancements across the city;

·           To further review the current policy on unadopted roads, with a view to addressing the number of unadopted roads that are in very poor condition;

·           To ask officers to identify a series of opportunities for the Council to improve sustainable transport infrastructure across the city, including options for new segregated cycle lanes.

·           To ask officers to bring forward a report to the Executive that considers all options for a proactive city-wide road, footpath and cycle network reconstruction and enhancement programme, to include a ranking of the routes in the poorest condition, in order to minimise future expenditure on reactive repairs.”

 

(iv)        From Councillor D’Agorne

 

Declare a Climate Emergency

“Council notes:

1.      Humans have already caused irreversible climate change, the impacts of which are being felt around the world. Global temperatures have already increased by 1 degree Celsius from pre-industrial levels. Atmospheric CO2 levels are above 400 parts per million (ppm). The latest report from the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2018 gave us 12 years to implement changes to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees in order to avoid widespread drought, food scarcity, heat related deaths and loss of biodiversity including insects and vital food crop pollinators.

2.     At present the world is on track to overshoot the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit before 2050. In order to reduce the chance of runaway global warming and limit the effects of climate breakdown, it is imperative that we as a species reduce our CO2eq (carbon equivalent) emissions from their current 6.5 tonnes per person per year to less than 2 tonnes as soon as possible.

3.      Individuals cannot be expected to make this reduction on their own. Society needs to change its laws, taxation, and infrastructure to make low carbon living easier and the new norm.

4.      Carbon emissions result from both production and consumption.

5.      City of York Council has already made some positive progress, but this is not enough. More can and must be done. The Independent Panel on Climate Change in its Oct. 2018 report was very clear that action from all parts of society is necessary and local government has a responsibility to lead the way.

6.       City councils around the world are responding by declaring a ‘Climate Emergency’ and taking action to address this emergency.

         Council believes that:

1.      All levels of government (national, regional and local) have a duty to limit the negative impacts of climate breakdown. Local councils that recognise this should not wait for their national governments to change their policies.

2.      Cities are uniquely placed to lead the world in reducing carbon emissions, as they are in many ways easier to decarbonise than rural areas.

3.       The consequences of global temperature rising above 1.5°C are so severe that preventing this from happening must be humanity’s number one priority.

4.      Bold local climate action can deliver economic and social benefits in terms of new green jobs, economic savings and market opportunities, as well as much improved well-being for York residents – for example through reducing fuel poverty and energy bills, encouraging healthy, active travel and improving green spaces and access to nature.

         Council calls on the Executive to:

1.      Declare a ‘Climate Emergency’.

2.       Commit to a target of making York carbon neutral by 2030, taking into account both production and consumption emissions (scope 1, 2 and 3 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol).

3.       Request a report within six months setting out the immediate actions the Council will take to address this emergency and a plan to measure annual city-wide progress towards meeting the 2030 target.

4.      Work with partners across the city and across the region to deliver this new goal through all relevant strategies and plans and drawing on local and global best practice.

5.      Actively lobby the Government to provide the additional powers and resources needed to meet the 2030 target.”

 

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

Motions submitted for consideration directly by Council, in accordance with Standing Order 23.1.

 

At this point in the meeting, to assist with the progress of the meeting, Councillor Gillies moved that all motions on notice, including amendments, be put  to the vote without debate, after having been moved and seconded.The Lord Mayor allowed that motion to be put as a procedural motion and Council agreed to proceed, as proposed.

 

Highways Standards

 

(proposed by Councillor Kallum Taylor and seconded by Councillor Boyce)

 

“Council notes that potholes affect all road users including cyclists, public transport users, those with mobility issues and private car users.

 

It further notes worrying trends on local road standards, including:

·        An increase in secondary roads in need of repair jumping from 7% to 21% in the past three years;

·        An increase in unclassified roads in need of repair jumping from 10% to 28% in the past three years;

·        An increase in those local roads in the worst states of repair jumping from 16% to 24% in the past four years;

·        York’s position as having the highest percentage of poorly maintained minor roads in the entire country.

 

Under investment in roads is an issue at both a local and national level, with 18% of the local road network estimated to be in need of repair nationally, with an associated cost of £9.31bn.

 

Council believes:

That greater investment in repairing York’s roads is urgently needed and that long term, more sustainable solutions must also be found including:

·        Earlier detection and intervention;

·        Better, more sustainable repair materials and technologies;

·        Reducing wear through increased walking and cycling; and

·        Increased investment in public transport to reduce car-dependency

 

Council resolves to ask the next Executive to make road repairs more of a local priority by:

·        Adopting a progressive and game-changing strategy that seeks to reverse each of the above indicators to fewer than one in five roads being in need of repair;

·        Investing at least an extra £1m each year for pothole repairs, targeted at secondary and unclassified roads, above current approved budgets; and

·        Giving cyclists a fair deal by increasing the proportion of highways expenditure spent on cycling.”

 

In moving his motion Councillor Kallum Taylor indicated that he was minded to accept the amendment to be proposed by Councillor Craghill.

 

Amendment from Councillor Craghill

After ‘Council resolves to ask the next Executive to make’ replace ‘road’ with ‘highway’

Add two final bullet points at the end of the motion as follows:

-         Giving pedestrians and people with mobility difficulties a fair deal by making sure a greater proportion of the budget is spent on improving pavements and providing more pedestrian priority.

-         Ensuring that the winter maintenance regime takes a risk-based approach with priority gritting for the city’s main cycling and pedestrian routes including key cycle/pedestrian bridges requiring separate treatment (Millennium Bridge, Hungate Bridge and the new Scarborough Bridge route).

 

Upon being formally asked, Council then agreed to accept the motion as altered above for debate so that it now read:

 

“Council notes that potholes affect all road users including cyclists, public transport users, those with mobility issues and private car users.

 

It further notes worrying trends on local road standards, including:

·        An increase in secondary roads in need of repair jumping from 7% to 21% in the past three years;

·        An increase in unclassified roads in need of repair jumping from 10% to 28% in the past three years;

·        An increase in those local roads in the worst states of repair jumping from 16% to 24% in the past four years;

·        York’s position as having the highest percentage of poorly maintained minor roads in the entire country.

 

Under investment in roads is an issue at both a local and national level, with 18% of the local road network estimated to be in need of repair nationally, with an associated cost of £9.31bn.

 

Council believes:

 

That greater investment in repairing York’s roads is urgently needed and that long term, more sustainable solutions must also be found including:

·        Earlier detection and intervention;

·        Better, more sustainable repair materials and technologies;

·        Reducing wear through increased walking and cycling; and

·        Increased investment in public transport to reduce car-dependency

 

Council resolves to ask the next Executive to make highway repairs more of a local priority by:

·        Adopting a progressive and game-changing strategy that seeks to reverse each of the above indicators to fewer than one in five roads being in need of repair;

·        Investing at least an extra £1m each year for pothole repairs, targeted at secondary and unclassified roads, above current approved budgets; and

·        Giving cyclists a fair deal by increasing the proportion of highways expenditure spent on cycling.”

·         Giving pedestrians and people with mobility difficulties a fair deal by making sure a greater proportion of the budget is spent on improving pavements and providing more pedestrian priority; and

·        Ensuring that the winter maintenance regime takes a risk-based approach with priority gritting for the city’s main cycling and pedestrian routes including key cycle/pedestrian bridges requiring separate treatment (Millennium Bridge, Hungate Bridge and the new Scarborough Bridge route).’’

 

A vote was then taken on the original motion, as altered by Councillor Craghill’s amendment, which was CARRIED and it was:

 

Resolved:  That the original motion, as altered by Councillor Craghill’s amendment, as set out above, be approved.1

 

 

 (ii)     Youth Clubs

 

(proposed by Councillor Keith Myers and seconded by Councillor Doughty)

 

“Council:

 

Believes it is vital for all young people to have the best possible start in life and that socialising with other young people and physical exercise outside of school plays a crucial role in this, as well as providing an antidote to an over-reliance on online activities;

 

Welcomes the joint administration's funding initiatives such as the £400k investment in upgrading 14 play parks, its £2.75m programme for new sporting facilities, including after school gymnastics coaching, at Burnholme and eight new sports pitches near Askham Bar, in addition to its commitment to fund all York libraries into the future whilst supporting their reinvention as relevant and accessible destinations for today's young people;

 

Is concerned however that many areas, especially outlying wards, lack access to facilities such as Youth Clubs which, unlike the case in some city centre wards, are not directly funded by the council.

 

Council therefore requests the Children, Education & Communities Policy & Scrutiny Committee to consider setting up a Task Group to engage with all relevant groups to look into the best way the city can work strategically to get the best use of resources (from everything from the use of council properties to volunteers’ time) in order to boost facilities and opportunities for young people in all parts of the city.”

 

A vote was then taken on the motion which was CARRIED and it was:

 

Resolved:  That the motion, as set out above, be approved.2

 

 

(iii)     Investing in our roads and footpaths

 

(proposed by Councillor Reid and seconded by Councillor Mason)

 

“This Council notes that despite significant investment, a proportion of York’s roads, footpaths and cycle network are in need of further maintenance and reconstruction.

 

This Council further notes:

·        According to the Department of Transport, 8% of the Council’s A roads were judged to be in need of maintenance,22% of B and C roads are in need of work and 28% of unclassified roads require repair;

·        To date, this administration has invested over £20 million into the city’s highways network, with a further £13 million secured in the recent 2019/20 Council Budget;

·        That the previous Labour administration only invested £16,266,000 into the city’s highways network;

·        That adverse weather conditions, particularly extreme wintry weather, has caused significant deterioration in the city’s road network;

·        That due to the Conservative Government’s failure to deliver sufficient investment in the North, funding for our region’s transport system is the lowest at £844 per person during 2017/18, whilst for London, it was £4,155 per person and the next highest was the West Midlands, with £3,029 per person (according to IPPR North).

·        That considerably more funding is required from Central Government to further help maintain and develop York’s road, footpath and cycle network.

 

Council believes that further action and additional funding from the Government is needed to address the extent of highways repairs and to deliver an enhanced cycle network in York.

 

Therefore, Council resolves:

·        To formally request additional funding from the Government to further increase the scope and pace of highways repairs and cycle network enhancements across the city;

·        To further review the current policy on unadopted roads, with a view to addressing the number of unadopted roads that are in very poor condition;

·        To ask officers to identify a series of opportunities for the Council to improve sustainable transport infrastructure across the city, including options for new segregated cycle lanes.

·        To ask officers to bring forward a report to the Executive that considers all options for a proactive city-wide road, footpath and cycle network reconstruction and enhancement programme, to include a ranking of the routes in the poorest condition, in order to minimise future expenditure on reactive repairs.”

 

In moving her motion, Councillor Reid indicated that she was minded to accept the amendment to be proposed by Councillor D’Agorne. 

 

Amendment from Councillor D’Agorne

 

Add a final bullet point:

 

To ask officers to review the existing winter maintenance schedule and recommend changes to the Executive that would ensure a risk based approach to treatment of priority walking and cycling routes, to include top priority for specialist treatment of Millennium Bridge, Hungate Bridge and the new Scarborough Bridge (including ramps either side).

 

Upon being formally asked, Council then agreed to accept the motion as altered above for debate so that it now read:

 

“This Council notes that despite significant investment, a proportion of York’s roads, footpaths and cycle network are in need of further maintenance and reconstruction.

This Council further notes:

·        According to the Department of Transport, 8% of the Council’s A roads were judged to be in need of maintenance,22% of B and C roads are in need of work and 28% of unclassified roads require repair;

·        To date, this administration has invested over £20 million into the city’s highways network, with a further £13 million secured in the recent 2019/20 Council Budget;

·        That the previous Labour administration only invested £16,266,000 into the city’s highways network;

·        That adverse weather conditions, particularly extreme wintry weather, has caused significant deterioration in the city’s road network;

·        That due to the Conservative Government’s failure to deliver sufficient investment in the North, funding for our region’s transport system is the lowest at £844 per person during 2017/18, whilst for London, it was £4,155 per person and the next highest was the West Midlands, with £3,029 per person (according to IPPR North).

·        That considerably more funding is required from Central Government to further help maintain and develop York’s road, footpath and cycle network.

 

Council believes that further action and additional funding from the Government is needed to address the extent of highways repairs and to deliver an enhanced cycle network in York.

 

Therefore, Council resolves:

·        To formally request additional funding from the Government to further increase the scope and pace of highways repairs and cycle network enhancements across the city;

·        To further review the current policy on unadopted roads, with a view to addressing the number of unadopted roads that are in very poor condition;

·        To ask officers to identify a series of opportunities for the Council to improve sustainable transport infrastructure across the city, including options for new segregated cycle lanes.

·        To ask officers to bring forward a report to the Executive that considers all options for a proactive city-wide road, footpath and cycle network reconstruction and enhancement programme, to include a ranking of the routes in the poorest condition, in order to minimise future expenditure on reactive repairs.

·        To ask officers to review the existing winter maintenance schedule and recommend changes to the Executive that would ensure a risk based approach to treatment of priority walking and cycling routes, to include top priority for specialist treatment of Millennium Bridge, Hungate Bridge and the new Scarborough Bridge (including ramps either side).’’

A vote was then taken on the original motion, as altered by Councillor D’Agorne’s amendment, which was CARRIED and it was:

 

Resolved:       That the original motion, as altered by Councillor D’Agorne’s amendment, as set out above, be approved.3

 

 

(iv) Declare a Climate Emergency

 

(proposed by Councillor D’Agorne and seconded by Councillor Waller)

 

 “Council notes:

 

1.      Humans have already caused irreversible climate change, the impacts of which are being felt around the world. Global temperatures have already increased by 1 degree Celsius from pre-industrial levels. Atmospheric CO2 levels are above 400 parts per million (ppm). The latest report from the Inter-Governmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) in October 2018 gave us 12 years to implement changes to keep global warming to a maximum of 1.5 degrees in order to avoid widespread drought, food scarcity, heat related deaths and loss of biodiversity including insects and vital food crop pollinators.

2.      At present the world is on track to overshoot the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit before 2050. In order to reduce the chance of runaway global warming and limit the effects of climate breakdown, it is imperative that we as a species reduce our CO2eq (carbon equivalent) emissions from their current 6.5 tonnes per person per year to less than 2 tonnes as soon as possible.

3.      Individuals cannot be expected to make this reduction on their own. Society needs to change its laws, taxation, and infrastructure to make low carbon living easier and the new norm.

4.      Carbon emissions result from both production and consumption.

5.      City of York Council has already made some positive progress, but this is not enough. More can and must be done. The  Independent Panel on Climate Change in its Oct. 2018 report was very clear that action from all parts of society is necessary and local government has a responsibility to lead the way.

6.      City councils around the world are responding by declaring a ‘Climate Emergency’ and taking action to address this emergency.

 

Council believes that:

 

1.      All levels of government (national, regional and local) have a duty to limit the negative impacts of climate breakdown. Local councils that recognise this should not wait for their national governments to change their policies.

2.      Cities are uniquely placed to lead the world in reducing carbon emissions, as they are in many ways easier to decarbonise than rural areas.

3.      The consequences of global temperature rising above 1.5°C are so severe that preventing this from happening must be humanity’s number one priority.

4.      Bold local climate action can deliver economic and social benefits in terms of new green jobs, economic savings and market opportunities, as well as much improved well-being for York residents – for example through reducing fuel poverty and energy bills, encouraging healthy, active travel and improving green spaces and access to nature.

 

Council calls on the Executive to:

 

1.      Declare a ‘Climate Emergency’.

2.      Commit to a target of making York carbon neutral by 2030, taking into account both production and consumption emissions (scope 1, 2 and 3 of the Greenhouse Gas Protocol).

3.      Request a report within six months setting out the immediate actions the Council will take to address this emergency and a plan to measure annual citywide progress towards meeting the 2030 target.

4.      Work with partners across the city and across the region to deliver this new goal through all relevant strategies and plans and drawing on local and global best practice.

5.      Actively lobby the Government to provide the additional powers and resources needed to meet the 2030 target.”

 

A vote was then taken on the motion which was CARRIED and it was:

 

Resolved:  That the motion, as set out above, be approved.4

 

 

Feedback
Back to the top of the page