Agenda item

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 Cllr Kilbane

 

Making York an Anti-Racist and Inclusive City

“Council notes that York and North Yorkshire has seen a 239% increase in race-related recorded hate crime since 2012, increasing from 152 to 515 incidents last year (see appendix)*.

It further notes that:

·        York is the UK’s first Human Rights City;

·        race-related hate crimes tend to account for around 60% to 80% of all local hate crimes each year;

·        systemic racism continues to affect the lives of those significantly and disproportionately from marginalised ethnic and refugee communities;

·        marginalised ethnic groups continue to be under-represented in local governance structures;

·        despite the efforts of many agencies, racism remains a problem in York.

Council believes that:

·        racism is detrimental not just to those who suffer from it directly but to whole communities across our city;

·        rising race-related hate crime highlights why tackling racism must be prioritised;

·        taking urgent actions to make York an anti-racist and inclusive city will send an important message about how civic leaders want York to be seen locally, nationally and internationally;

·        working collaboratively, by engaging representation from marginalised ethnic groups to formulate and implement a long-term anti-racism and inclusion strategy and action plan, is an important first step that this council can take to help tackle racism.

Council resolves to aspire to make York an Anti-Racist and Inclusive City, and requests that Executive:

·        supports the setting up within three months of an independent, ethnically diverse and intersectional working group, to include people with lived experiences, that will: working to its own terms of reference, collaboratively develop and implement a long-term anti-racism and inclusion strategy and action plan for the city that:

o   identifies, acknowledges, and tackles structural barriers to understanding the impacts of racism and to implementing change in all public bodies in our city;

o   identifies, acknowledges, and works to tackle institutional racism wherever it exists in all public bodies in our city;

o   encourages the participation of marginalised ethnic groups in all aspects of civic and city life;

o   works to ensure equitable representation from marginalised ethnic groups in local governance;

o   ensures equal access for those same groups to health (including mental health) and social services;

o   ensures that the narratives and visibility of York's history are acknowledged and that citizens from marginalised ethnic groups are promoted and celebrated for what they have to offer

·        agree to receive the strategy and action plan after 12 months and act swiftly to implement the latter;

·        collaborates with the working group to assess what resource it will require to support it in producing the strategy and action plan before bringing a resourcing proposal back to Council.”

 

*appendix available to view online with this agenda

 

[Endorsed by: Speak Up Diversity / York Racial Equality Network / York: Human Rights City / York Racecourse / York City of Sanctuary / York Disability Rights Forum / York Travellers Trust / York Fairtrade City / York LGBT Forum / York Mosque / York Mediale / York St John University / Quakers / Diversity Enterprises / York Museums Trust / Pilot / York Music Venue Network]

 

(ii)         From Cllr Craghill

 

Government Must Work with Councils to Tackle Worsening Heatwaves and Extreme Weather

“Council notes:

·        The work currently being done by City of York Council to progress towards our 2030zero carbon ambition including the community woodland, new zero carbon housing and energy efficiency retrofit schemes as well as a draft city wide strategy.

·        That progress in most areas is nonetheless held back by a lack of substantial and consistent Government investment and closer working with local councils.

·        The signs in York over the last few years that climate change has already begun in earnest, with hotter drier summers, warmer wetter wintersand increased frequency of extreme weather and flooding.

·        That in 2018 at COP24 the UK Government signed up to working with local communities to deliver the UK’s ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ in the2015 Paris Climate Agreement;

·        That, in May 2021, the Rt. Hon. Alok Sharma MP, President of COP26, said collaboration would be a key objective of the COP26 Climate Summit in November - "Governments, business and civic society need to work together to transform the ways we power our homes and businesses, grow our food, develop infrastructure and move ourselves and goods around".

Council believes:

·        That despite these agreements and statements, there is still no formal relationship allowing joint partnership working between Local and National Government to take mitigation and adaptation actions against the climate emergency;

·        That greater collaboration and action are required if we are to mitigate our greenhouse gas emissions and meet our commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement;

·        That mitigation strategies should be accompanied by effective adaptation measures to ensure that we are equipped to deal with the changes in our climate that have already begun. These include the potential for heatwaves and extreme weather that will threaten the health and well being of our most vulnerable residents and may also impact on food security.

Council therefore resolves:

·        To ask Executive to report on the City’s climate resilience by assessing the risks from theeight priority risk areas of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (June 2021) https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/independent-assessment-of-uk-climate-risk/ , plan for enhancement of the city’s climate resilience and management of the unavoidable impacts of climate change.

·        To add this Council’s voice to calls by the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport, and others, for a joint local and national government taskforce to plan action to reach ‘net zero’ emissions.

·        To call for such a partnership to set appropriate regulations, benchmarks and targets and create the much needed long-term funding to enable local council areas, communities and economies to decarbonise whilst remaining resilient and able to realise the benefits of decarbonisation in terms of new green jobs and a healthier environment.

·        To therefore ask the Chief Operating Officer to write to Alok Sharma MP, President for COP26, the Prime Minister, and the Leadership Board of the LGA, informing them of our support for a joint Local/National Government Climate Change Partnership Taskforce and asking for one to be established as soon as possible.”

 

(iii)        From Cllr Smalley

 

Signing up to the City of Sanctuary Local Authorities Network

“Council notes:

·        City of Sanctuary UK is a movement working across the country to ensure the UK is a welcoming place of safety for all and is proud to offer sanctuary to people fleeing violence and persecution.

·        Since 2016 York has been recognised as a City of Sanctuary; the Council alongside its partners work with refugee families who need accommodation and support, seeking to promote an environment of understanding and compassion within the city.

·        City of York Council is working to implement the City of Sanctuary pledges through its actions and policies, and with its partners in the statutory and voluntary sectors.

·        York City of Sanctuary team and other established charities are central in supporting Government-led refugee relocation programmes.

·        Since the announcement that NATO military forces would withdraw from Afghanistan, the Council has worked alongside the Home Office, Ministry of Defence and MHCLG to support the national effort with regard to both the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the later Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme (ACRS). The Council has committed to do its bit and has not set a limit on the number of individuals it is aiming to support.

The Council acknowledges:

The importance of being an active member within a network of local authorities that are working towards a vision of welcome for all, facilitate the sharing of innovative practices which promote the embedding of a culture and practice of welcome and speak with one voice on national matters which affect local communities and local authorities.

Consequently, the Council resolves to:

·        Join the City of Sanctuary Local Authority Network committing the council to work towards the Council of Sanctuary Award and agreeing to endorse the City of Sanctuary Charter.

·        Commit to working with York City of Sanctuary.

·        Draw up an action plan, for approval by the Executive, showing how the council will: learn about what it means to be seeking sanctuary; take positive action to implement welcome, safety and inclusion; and share its experience of sanctuary and welcome with the wider community and local organisations, spreading the word about its welcoming efforts.

·        Submit an application, within six months of joining the network, to go through the award appraisal process in order to gain accreditation as a Local Authority of Sanctuary.”

 

(iv)        From Cllr Webb

 

York Residents’ Right to Food

“Council notes:

·        Article 25 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food..”

·        Trussell Trust research showing that three million children nationally are at risk of hunger during the school holidays, representing a public health crisis;

·        That foodbank use has increased dramatically; according to the Trussell Trust, foodbank parcels have increased by 128% since 2015, and by 33% in the past 12 months;

·        That in York, from 2020 to 2021, there was an almost 20% increase in the number of food parcels provided through the local Trussell Trust foodbank network;

·        That according to Food Justice Finder, in the City of York Council area only 51% of Healthy Start vouchers are claimed, meaning £2,167.50 per week does not reach intended recipients;

·        That the main drivers of food bank use are:

o   Problems with the benefits system (delays, inadequacy and reductions)

o   Challenging life experiences or ill-health

o   Lack of informal or formal support

·        The informal food support York residents themselves have provided both before and during the Covid19 pandemic;

·        No meaningful response or improvement to numbers experiencing food poverty in York following the Council’s approved July 2018 motion to tackle food poverty;

·        That the UK Government has committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which have an international and domestic commitment to ending hunger by 2030.

Council believes that:

• No one in the UK should go hungry, not least children, and that good, nutritious food is a right, not a privilege;
• Food justice is about taking action on the causes of hunger such as affordability and availability of good nutritious food;

·        Local councils should continue to play a key role in tackling both the symptoms and the causes of food poverty post-pandemic, and that their actions be informed by listening to the local communities that they serve.

Council resolves to request that all Group Leaders write to the relevant Government Ministers to request that:

o   the Universal Credit £20 uplift is reinstated;

o   the Free School Meal voucher holiday scheme be permanently extended without strings attached;

o   the recommendations of the National Food Strategy be implemented in full.

and requests that Executive:

·        Agree to allocate individual responsibility for tackling food poverty to a named Executive Member;

• Designates Local Area Coordinators as food justice champions, who will lead on tackling food poverty locally;
• Supports the setting up of a food partnership to bring together local stakeholders, including members of the community who have provided informal food banks, to develop a local food action plan to help address the causes of food poverty, which will report back to the Health Policy and Scrutiny Committee;
• Increases promotion of Healthy Start vouchers amongst eligible families in the city and agrees a 100% target for their take-up;
• Building on work throughout the pandemic, makes the focus of the Community Hubs Strategy to facilitate the setting up of ‘community kitchens’ in buildings such as community centres, council-run centres and school kitchens that are out of use during school holidays, so they can be used by the community to provide good quality, nutritional food for residents in need;
• Surveys informal food bank providers to get a clear picture of the amount of informal food bank use in York;
• Works to ensure the council frequently promotes the city’s food poverty support website through its corporate communications: https://yorkfoodpoverty.org/whats-happening/”

(i)           Making York an Anti-Racist and Inclusive City

 

Moved by Cllr Kilbane and seconded by Cllr Looker.

 

“Council notes that York and North Yorkshire has seen a 239% increase in race-related recorded hate crime since 2012, increasing from 152 to 515 incidents last year (see appendix)*.

It further notes that:

·        York is the UK’s first Human Rights City;

·        race-related hate crimes tend to account for around 60% to 80% of all local hate crimes each year;

·        systemic racism continues to affect the lives of those significantly and disproportionately from marginalised ethnic and refugee communities;

·        marginalised ethnic groups continue to be underrepresented in local governance structures;

·        despite the efforts of many agencies, racism remains a problem in York.

Council believes that:

·        racism is detrimental not just to those who suffer from it directly but to whole communities across our city;

·        rising race-related hate crime highlights why tackling racism must be prioritised;

·        taking urgent actions to make York an anti-racist and inclusive city will send an important message about how civic leaders want York to be seen locally, nationally and internationally;

·        working collaboratively, by engaging representation from marginalised ethnic groups to formulate and implement a long-term anti-racism and inclusion strategy and action plan, is an important first step that this council can take to help tackle racism.

Council resolves to aspire to make York an Anti-Racist and Inclusive City, and requests that Executive:

·        supports the setting up within three months of an independent, ethnically diverse and intersectional working group, to include people with lived experiences, that will, working to its own terms of reference, collaboratively develop and implement a long-term anti-racism and inclusion strategy and action plan for the city that:

o   identifies, acknowledges, and tackles structural barriers to understanding the impacts of racism and to implementing change in all public bodies in our city;

o   identifies, acknowledges, and works to tackle institutional racism wherever it exists in all public bodies in our city;

o   encourages the participation of marginalised ethnic groups in all aspects of civic and city life;

o   works to ensure equitable representation from marginalised ethnic groups in local governance;

o   ensures equal access for those same groups to health (including mental health) and social services;

o   ensures that the narratives and visibility of York's history are acknowledged and that citizens from marginalised ethnic groups are promoted and celebrated for what they have to offer

·        agrees to receive the strategy and action plan after 12 months and act swiftly to implement the latter;

·        collaborates with the working group to assess what resource it will require to support it in producing the strategy and action plan before bringing a resourcing proposal back to Council.”

 

*appendix available to view online with the agenda

 

[Endorsed by: Speak Up Diversity / York Racial Equality

Network / York: Human Rights City / York Racecourse / York Cityof Sanctuary / York Disability Rights Forum / York Travellers

Trust / York Fairtrade City / York LGBT Forum / York Mosque /

York Mediale / York St John University / Quakers / Diversity

Enterprises / York Museums Trust / Pilot / York Music Venue

Network]

 

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

 

Resolved:  That the above motion be approved.¹

 

(ii)      Government Must Work with Councils to Tackle Worsening Heatwaves and Extreme Weather

 

Moved by Cllr Craghill and seconded by Cllr D’Agorne.

 

“Council notes:

·        The work currently being done by City of York Council to progress towards our 2030 zero carbon ambition including the community woodland, new zero carbon housing and energy efficiency retrofit schemes as well as a draft city wide strategy.

·        That progress in most areas is nonetheless held back by a lack of substantial and consistent Government investment and closer working with local councils.

·        The signs in York over the last few years that climate change has already begun in earnest, with hotter drier summers, warmer wetter winters and increased frequency of extreme weather and flooding.

·        That in 2018 at COP24 the UK Government signed up to working with local communities to deliver the UK’s ‘Nationally Determined Contributions’ in the 2015 Paris Climate Agreement;

·        That, in May 2021, the Rt. Hon. Alok Sharma MP, President of COP26, said collaboration would be a key objective of the COP26 Climate Summit in November - "Governments, business and civic society need to work together to transform the ways we power our homes and businesses, grow our food, develop infrastructure and move ourselves and goods around".

Council believes:

·        That despite these agreements and statements, there is still no formal relationship allowing joint partnership working between Local and National Government to take mitigation and adaptation actions against the climate emergency;

·        That greater collaboration and action are required if we are to mitigate our greenhouse gas emissions and meet our commitments under the Paris Climate Agreement;

·        That mitigation strategies should be accompanied by effective adaptation measures to ensure that we are equipped to deal with the changes in our climate that have already begun. These include the potential for heatwaves and extreme weather that will threaten the health and well being of our most vulnerable residents and may also impact on food security.

Council therefore resolves:

·        To ask Executive to report on the City’s climate resilience by assessing the risks from the eight priority risk areas of the UK Climate Change Risk Assessment (June 2021) https://www.theccc.org.uk/publication/independentassessment- of-uk-climate-risk/ , plan for enhancement of the city’s climate resilience and management of the unavoidable impacts of climate change.

·        To add this Council’s voice to calls by the Local Government Association and the Association of Directors of Environment, Economy, Planning and Transport, and others, for a joint local and national government taskforce to plan action to reach ‘net zero’ emissions.

·        To call for such a partnership to set appropriate regulations,

·        benchmarks and targets and create the much needed longterm funding to enable local council areas, communities and economies to decarbonise whilst remaining resilient and able to realise the benefits of decarbonisation in terms of new green jobs and a healthier environment.

·        To therefore ask the Chief Operating Officer to write to Alok Sharma MP, President for COP26, the Prime Minister, and the Leadership Board of the LGA, informing them of our support for a joint Local/National Government Climate Change Partnership Taskforce and asking for one to be established as soon as possible.”

 

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

 

Resolved:  That the above motion be approved.²

 

(iii)     Signing Up to the City of Sanctuary Local Authorities Network

 

Moved by Cllr Smalley and seconded by Cllr Fisher.

 

“Council notes:

·        City of Sanctuary UK is a movement working across the country to ensure the UK is a welcoming place of safety for all and is proud to offer sanctuary to people fleeing violence and persecution.

·        Since 2016 York has been recognised as a City of Sanctuary; the Council alongside its partners work with refugee families who need accommodation and support, seeking to promote an environment of understanding and compassion within the city.

·        City of York Council is working to implement the City of Sanctuary pledges through its actions and policies, and with its partners in the statutory and voluntary sectors.

·        York City of Sanctuary team and other established charities are central in supporting Government-led refugee relocation programmes.

·        Since the announcement that NATO military forces would withdraw from Afghanistan, the Council has worked alongside the Home Office, Ministry of Defence and MHCLG to support the national effort with regard to both the Afghan Relocations and Assistance Policy (ARAP) and the later Afghan Citizens' Resettlement Scheme (ACRS).

·        The Council has committed to do its bit and has not set a limit on the number of individuals it is aiming to support.

The Council acknowledges:

The importance of being an active member within a network of local authorities that are working towards a vision of welcome for all, facilitate the sharing of innovative practices which promote the embedding of a culture and practice of welcome and speak with one voice on national matters which affect local communities and local authorities.

Consequently, the Council resolves to:

·        Join the City of Sanctuary Local Authority Network committing the council to work towards the Council of Sanctuary Award and agreeing to endorse the City of Sanctuary Charter.

·        Commit to working with York City of Sanctuary.

·        Draw up an action plan, for approval by the Executive, showing how the council will: learn about what it means to be seeking sanctuary; take positive action to implement welcome, safety and inclusion; and share its experience of sanctuary and welcome with the wider community and local organisations, spreading the word about its welcoming efforts.

·        Submit an application, within six months of joining the network, to go through the award appraisal process in order to gain accreditation as a Local Authority of Sanctuary.”

 

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

 

Resolved:  That the above motion be approved.³

 

(iv)        York Residents’ Right to Food

 

Cllr Webb sought Council’s consent to alter his motion to incorporate the amendment submitted by Cllr Ayre. 

 

Council having granted consent, Cllr Webb moved, and Cllr Douglas seconded, the altered motion, as follows:

 

“Council notes:

·        Article 25 of the United Nations’ Universal Declaration of Human Rights states: "Everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food.”

·        Trussell Trust research showing that three million children nationally are at risk of hunger during the school holidays, representing a public health crisis;

·        Throughout the Covid pandemic, the Council has provided crucial support and enabled access to food for the most vulnerable, including spending more than £800k to provide Free School Meals, more than £500k to run community hubs, including food parcel distribution, and more than £500k to enable direct grants to residents and local organisations supporting access to food across the city;

·        That foodbank use has increased dramatically; according to the Trussell Trust, foodbank parcels have increased by 128% since 2015, and by 33% in the past 12 months;

·        That in York, from 2020 to 2021, there was an almost 20% increase in the number of food parcels provided through the local Trussell Trust foodbank network;

·        That according to Food Justice Finder, in the City of York Council area only 51% of Healthy Start vouchers are claimed, meaning £2,167.50 per week does not reach intended recipients;

·        That the main drivers of food bank use are:

o   Problems with the benefits system (delays, inadequacy and reductions)

o   Challenging life experiences or ill-health

o   Lack of informal or formal support

·        The informal food support York residents themselves have provided both before and during the Covid19 pandemic;

·        No meaningful response or improvement to numbers experiencing food poverty in York following the Council’s approved July 2018 motion to tackle food poverty;

·        That the UK Government has committed to the UN Sustainable Development Goals, which have an international and domestic commitment to ending hunger by 2030.

Council believes that:

·        No one in the UK should go hungry, not least children, and

·        that good, nutritious food is a right, not a privilege;

·        Food justice is about taking action on the causes of hunger such as affordability and availability of good nutritious food;

·        Local councils should continue to play a key role in tackling both the symptoms and the causes of food poverty postpandemic, and that their actions be informed by listening to the local communities that they serve.

Council resolves to request that all Group Leaders write to the relevant Government Ministers to request that:

o   the Universal Credit £20 uplift is reinstated;

o   the Free School Meal voucher holiday scheme be permanently extended without strings attached;

o   the recommendations of the National Food Strategy be implemented in full.

And requests that Executive:

·        Agree to allocate individual responsibility for tackling food poverty to a named Executive Member;

·        Designates Local Area Coordinators as food justice champions, who will lead on tackling food poverty locally;

·        Supports the setting up of a food partnership to bring together local stakeholders, including members of the community who have provided informal food banks, to develop a local food action plan to help address the causes of food poverty, which will report back to the Health Policy

·        and Scrutiny Committee;

·        Increases promotion of Healthy Start vouchers amongst eligible families in the city and agrees a 100% target for their take-up;

·        Building on work throughout the pandemic, makes the focus of the Community Hubs Strategy to facilitate the setting up of ‘community kitchens’ in buildings such as community centres, council-run centres and school kitchens that are out of use during school holidays, so they can be used by the community to provide good quality, nutritional food for residents in need;

·        Surveys informal food bank providers to get a clear picture of the amount of informal food bank use in York;

·        Works to ensure the council frequently promotes the city’s food poverty support website through its corporate communications: https://yorkfoodpoverty.org/whatshappening/”]

 

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

 

Resolved:  That the motion, as altered, be approved.⁴