Agenda item

Motions on Notice (21:11)

To consider the following Motions on Notice under Standing Order B13:

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

(i) From Cllr Ravilious

Safeguarding York’s Future

“Council notes:

In 2019, City of York Council declared a Climate Emergency and committed to a target of making York carbon neutral by 2030;
That over 200 Local Authorities have so far pledged to support the Climate and Ecology Bill – a Private Member’s Bill brought to parliament by Olivia Blake MP - which, if it becomes law, would require the development of a strategy to ensure that the UK’s environmental response is in line with the latest science;
In March 2023, City of York Council adopted a 10 year Climate Strategy;
The failure to update York’s Local Transport Plan since it was adopted in 2011, despite improved understanding of the impact of transport on the climate;
City of York Council’s adoption of a Pollinator Strategy in 2021.

Council believes:

the wording of the 2019 cross-party approved Climate Emergency Motion called for significantly more urgent action than the responses that the previous administration delivered;
the ecological crisis should be tackled shoulder to shoulder with the climate crisis through a more joined-up approach, with a focus on reversing the destruction of nature by 2030, not just halting it;
the 10 Year Climate Change Strategy lacked sufficient commitment, in particular through the omission of intermediate carbon reduction targets;
any updated Local Transport Plan should reflect and improve on the targets for reductions in greenhouse emissions from private vehicle and freight journeys set out within the current 10 year Climate Change Strategy and previously adopted motions;
there has not yet been enough tangible action to reflect the admirable ambitions set out in York’s adopted Pollinator Strategy.

Council therefore resolves to request:

that the Lord Mayor and Executive Members begin Full Council, Executive meetings and Executive Member Decision Sessions respectively by reminding Members of the remaining days until 1^st January 2030, by which time we have pledged to be carbon neutral and requesting that Members keep this at the forefront of their minds when taking decisions;
that the Leader writes to our local MPs urging them to sign up to support the Climate & Ecology Bill, or thanking them for already doing so; and write to Zero Hour, and organisers of the cross-party campaign for the Climate & Ecology Bill, expressing its support;

- request that the Executive develops a process that demonstrates clear commitment to a strengthened York 10-year Climate Change Strategy by exploring a series of intermediate carbon reduction targets, following exploration of the topic at Corporate and Climate Scrutiny Committee and following receipt of an options report to Executive;

that the Executive Member for Transport brings forward an updated Local Transport Plan that reflects the latest science and which includes ambitious targets in line with a strengthened York 10 year Climate Strategy;
that the Executive Members for Environment and Climate Emergency take steps to implement the actions that deliver on the Pollinator Strategy to achieve a measurable increase in biodiversity.”

(ii) From Cllr Fenton

Highway Maintenance

“Council notes:

· That the council’s Highways Schemes budget for 2023/24, agreed in February 2023, is £8.929 million (including £1.174 million carried forward from 2022/23) and that this is supplemented with an additional pothole funding allocation of £504,000 for 2023/24 from the Department for Transport

· That In 2020/21 the Government cut York’s highways maintenance funding from £4m to £2.8m and confirmed that funding would remain at this lower level for three years. This amounts to a total cut of £4.8m - equivalent to 19,000 fewer potholes being repaired each year

· That in the budget agreed in February 2023, an additional £250,000 was allocated to allow local wards to invest directly in improvements such as repairing local roads

· That the current high level of inflation means that available funding for highway maintenance is even more stretched

· That officers estimate that it would cost £190 million to bring York’s highways network up to an excellent standard

· That in recent years there have been a number of additional pressures on the council’s budget, such as the installation of new infrastructure in response to Police and counter-terrorism advice on the risk of a city centre hostile vehicle attack

· That the council’s current Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Plan was adopted in 2021

· That the council’s current Highways Safety Inspection Manual was adopted in 2020 and, as envisaged when adopted, is currently subject to a review by officers

· That the ‘investigatory level’ for potholes is 40mm vertical face depth and

200mm across in any horizontal direction and that for ‘cycle lanes’ the level is 20mm vertical face depth, but there is no reference in the Manual to ‘cycle margins’ ie the section of road near to the kerb but which is not a marked lane

· That in York there are a large number of concrete roads which, some years ago, were overlaid with a tarmac layer approximately 30mm in depth and that the tarmac layer on many of these roads is crumbling, causing potholes to develop

· That due to the concrete structure of these roads remaining largely intact, these potholes are unlikely to ever meet the investigatory threshold set out in the Manual.

Council believes:

· That poor road surfaces pose a hazard to cyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair and mobility scooter users, motorcyclists and motorists

· That concrete roads with a tarmac top layer pose a particular hazard in that when the tarmac begins to fail, this can be rapid and widespread and lead to a significant length of road becoming difficult and dangerous to use, particularly for cyclists

· That whilst funding for Highway maintenance is likely to continue to be stretched, more specific consideration needs to be given to the maintenance of concrete roads with a tarmac top layer.

Council resolves to request that the Executive:

· Expedites the review of the Highways Safety Inspection Manual

· Requires that as part of this review, a change to the ‘investigatory level’ for potholes to 30mm vertical face depth is secured

· Ensures that the relevant scrutiny committee and special interest groups (such as those relating to cycling and disability rights) are consulted to better understand the impacts of the current approach to highway maintenance as described in the Manual.”

(iii) From Cllr Rowley

Getting York Moving Fairly

“Council notes the transport problems in York from 2019-2023, caused by an administration clashing with itself and the damage that this has done to the council’s reputation amongst residents. Council believes it is vital that sustainable modes of transport including cycling and walking are prioritised but opposes a war on the car user. Council also believes inclusivity for all is paramount and that rural transport users need greater recognition and disabled people should be at the forefront of provision.

For the next four year administration, Council asks the Executive to commits to:

1. Look wherever possible to improve the cycle network, including better linking of villages

2. Reverse the City Centre Blue Badge ban

3. Rule out a Congestion Charge

4. Address the stalled work on the dualling of the A1237.”

(iv) From Cllr Nelson

A City Response to Food Insecurity

“This council notes:

· in January 2023, 21.6% of family households reported children with direct experience of food insecurity and shortage in the past month, affecting an estimated 3.7 million children. This percentage had almost doubled in just 12 months;

· in these households, 3 in 4 reported being worried about the impact of being unable to afford sufficient food on their children's physical and mental health;

· food price inflation currently sits at 18.4%, amongst its highest rate in almost 50 years, leaving families facing tough choices about what goes into the shopping basket each week;

· problems faced by children and young people due to food insecurity and shortage go way beyond just being hungry and affect mental health, obesity rates, dental health and other aspects of the child and their families’ life;

· the benefits of growing food on mental and physical health;

· the significant waiting lists for all allotment sites across the city;

· the impact small businesses and ‘micro-farmers’ can have on improving food security for local communities;

· the benefits of local food production and ‘micro-farmers’ can have on the environment;

· the contribution of growing and consuming local food on the future of York as a sustainable city.

Council believes that at a time of such economic turmoil, providing greater access to cheap, healthy, locally grown food could help avert poor health outcomes for many York residents.

This council resolves to ask the Executive to:

· write a letter to the Prime Minister and relevant ministers about the importance of introducing auto-enrolment for those entitled to free school meals;

· promote enrolment for free school meals to support children, young people and their families to help combat food insecurity and shortage in York;

· encourage larger food providers in and around York to sign up to York’s Good Business Charter, including paying the Real Living Wage;

· work more closely with groups like Edible York and YACIO (York Allotments Charitable Incorporated Organisation) to develop ideas for increasing the number of public green spaces available for food production by communities across York;

· request that the council’s scrutiny function undertakes a review of community food growing opportunities and makes recommendations to Executive to expand these opportunities, including considering the prospects for expanding an Edible York project in Tang Hall to other parts of the city to bring more underused gardens into use for food growing.”

Minutes:

(i) Safeguarding York’s Future

Moved by Cllr Ravilious, seconded by Cllr Kent.

“Council notes:

· In 2019, City of York Council declared a Climate Emergency and committed to a target of making York carbon neutral by 2030;

· That over 200 Local Authorities have so far pledged to support the Climate and Ecology Bill – a Private Member’s Bill brought to parliament by Olivia Blake MP - which, if it becomes law, would require the development of a strategy to ensure that the UK’s environmental response is in line with the latest science;

· In March 2023, City of York Council adopted a 10-year Climate Strategy;

· The failure to update York’s Local Transport Plan since it was adopted in 2011, despite improved understanding of the impact of transport on the climate;

City of York Council’s adoption of a Pollinator Strategy in 2021.

Council believes:

· the wording of the 2019 cross-party approved Climate Emergency Motion called for significantly more urgent action than the responses that the previous administration delivered;

· the ecological crisis should be tackled shoulder to shoulder with the climate crisis through a more joined-up approach, with a focus on reversing the destruction of nature by 2030, not just halting it;

· the 10-Year Climate Change Strategy lacked sufficient commitment, in particular through the omission of intermediate carbon reduction targets;

· any updated Local Transport Plan should reflect and improve on the targets for reductions in greenhouse emissions from private vehicle and freight journeys set out within the current 10-year Climate Change Strategy and previously adopted motions;

there has not yet been enough tangible action to reflect the admirable ambitions set out in York’s adopted Pollinator Strategy.

Council therefore resolves to request:

· that the Lord Mayor and Executive Members begin Full Council, Executive meetings and Executive Member Decision Sessions respectively by reminding Members of the remaining days until 1^st January 2030, by which time we have pledged to be carbon neutral and requesting that Members keep this at the forefront of their minds when taking decisions;

· that the Leader writes to our local MPs urging them to sign up to support the Climate & Ecology Bill, or thanking them for already doing so; and write to Zero Hour, and organisers of the cross-party campaign for the Climate & Ecology Bill, expressing its support;

· that the Executive develops a process that demonstrates clear commitment to a strengthened York 10-year Climate Change Strategy by exploring a series of intermediate carbon reduction targets, following exploration of the topic at Corporate and Climate Scrutiny Committee and following receipt of an options report to Executive;

· that the Executive Member for Transport brings forward an updated Local Transport Plan that reflects the latest science and which includes ambitious targets in line with a strengthened York 10-year Climate Strategy;

· that the Executive Members for Environment and Climate Emergency take steps to implement the actions that deliver on the Pollinator Strategy to achieve a measurable increase in biodiversity.”

Cllr Widdowson then moved, and Cllr Waudby seconded, an amendment to the above motion, as follows:

“In the first paragraph, under ‘Council notes’:

- after the 2^nd bullet point, insert a new 3^rd bullet point as follows:

· ‘That in 2008 City of York Council adopted its first Carbon Management Strategy and Implementation Plan’

- in the 3^rd (now the 4^th) bullet point, insert ‘That’ at the start before ‘in’, and to the end, after ‘Climate Strategy’, add: ‘- A City Fit for the Future’ - together with an extensive action plan that sets out a vision to be net zero and provides a framework to both reduce carbon and be more climate resilient by 2030. Much of the work to make this plan a reality is under way, from the new community woodland, the UK’s only voluntary clean air zone, biggest electric P&R bus fleet and major multi-million flood defence projects;’

- insert a new 5^th bullet point as follows:

· ‘That York is amongst only 122 cities across the world to be awarded an A rating for climate action leadership by the Carbon Disclosure Project;’

- In the fifth (now the 6^th) bullet point, delete ‘failure to update’ and insert ‘ongoing review and update of’; after ‘York’s’ insert ‘2011’, and after ‘Local Transport Plan’, delete ‘since it was adopted in 2011, despite’ and insert ‘in the context of an’.

In the second paragraph, under ‘Council believes’:

- in the 1^st bullet point, delete ‘wording of’ after ‘the’ and insert ’10-year Climate Strategy provides a basis for more urgent action to reflect’, insert ‘intention of’ before ‘2019’, and delete everything after ‘Climate Emergency Motion’.

- In the 3^rd bullet point, insert ‘in’ at the start, insert ‘importance of delivering the commitment included in the’ after ‘the’ and after ‘Climate Change Strategy’ delete ‘lacked sufficient commitment, in particular through the omission of intermediate carbon reduction targets’ and insert ‘to track the impact of actions to enable reflection and correction if required;’

- in the 5^th bullet point, after ‘there’ delete ‘has not yet been enough tangible’ and insert ‘is scope for further’, and after ‘action to’ delete ‘reflect the admirable’ and insert ‘build on what has already been achieved in relation to the realisation of the’.

- insert a 6^th bullet point, as follows:

· ‘that working collaboratively across party and in good faith will be critical to the achievement of York’s climate change ambitions.’

In the third paragraph, under ‘Council resolves to request’, insert the following additional bullet points:

· ‘that the Executive commits to continuing the ambitious tree-planting programme put in place by the previous administration, namely a tree for each resident - 210,000 in the new community woodland and over 4,000 extra trees in urban areas;

· that the Executive explores ways to require developers to deliver a 30% net gain in biodiversity on new developments (introducing living roofs, living walls and rain gardens on urban sites);

· that the Executive delivers planned flood defence projects to protect communities, including in Fulford and Strensall, and continues to work with the Environment Agency to deliver more flood defence solutions across the city;

· that the Executive produces a Code of Practice to inform landowners, residents and farmers about what can and cannot be done with the council managed verges across the city.’”

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

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

Resolved: That the above motion be approved.¹

(ii) Highway Maintenance

Moved by Cllr Fenton, seconded by Cllr Hollyer.

“Council Notes:

· That in the budget agreed in February 2023, an additional £250,000 was allocated to allow local wards to invest directly in improvements such as repairing local roads

· That the current high level of inflation means that available funding for highway maintenance is even more stretched

· That officers estimate that it would cost £190 million to bring York’s highways network up to an excellent standard

· That the council’s current Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Plan was adopted in 2021

· That the council’s current Highways Safety Inspection Manual was adopted in 2020 and, as envisaged when adopted, is currently subject to a review by officers

· That the ‘investigatory level’ for potholes is 40mm vertical face depth and

· That due to the concrete structure of these roads remaining largely intact, these potholes are unlikely to ever meet the investigatory threshold set out in the Manual.

Council believes:

· That poor road surfaces pose a hazard to cyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair and mobility scooter users, motorcyclists and motorists

· That whilst funding for Highway maintenance is likely to continue to be stretched, more specific consideration needs to be given to the maintenance of concrete roads with a tarmac top layer.

Council resolves to request that the Executive:

· Expedites the review of the Highways Safety Inspection Manual

· Requires that as part of this review, a change to the ‘investigatory level’ for potholes to 30mm vertical face depth is secured

Cllr Crawshaw then moved, and Cllr Webb seconded, an amendment to the above motion, as follows:

“In the first paragraph, under ‘Council notes’:

- insert a new 3^rd bullet point, as follows:

· ‘York has some 151km of adopted cycle routes (part of the Highway network) and 46km of unadopted cycle routes.’

- in the 3^rd (now the 4^th) bullet point, after ‘agreed in’ delete ‘February 2023, an additional’ and insert ‘July 2019’, and after £250,000 insert ‘per year’;

- insert new 5^th and 6^th bullet points, as follows:

· ‘That due to the lack of revenue budget allocated by the previous administration to ‘buy’ Officer time to develop these Ward-based schemes, many were not progressed, despite some being presented as far back as August 2019.

· That much of the work delivered under this element of ward funding should have been undertaken as part of the highway maintenance programme’

- delete the 9^th bullet point (starting ‘in recent years’) and substitute:

· ‘a political decision to remove £3.5million from the Highways maintenance budget in order to install Hostile Vehicle Mitigation measures has added additional pressures;’

- insert new 13^th bullet point, as follows:

· ‘That the current approach of temporarily filling some potholes whilst leaving neighbouring potholes untouched until they too reach the intervention threshold is both inefficient and leaves residents frustrated and irritated.’

- insert new 16^th bullet point, as follows:

· ‘York Local Transport Plan’s hierarchy of users, with pedestrians and cyclists at the top.’

“In the second paragraph, under ‘Council believes’:

- in the 1^st bullet point, delete ‘poor road surfaces’ and insert ‘insufficient highway maintenance work’

- in the 2^nd bullet point, delete all between ‘That’ and ‘for cyclists’ and insert ‘degraded road surfaces can be a particular problem’, then after ‘cyclists’ insert ‘especially when they are suddenly forced out into the carriageway in order to avoid them.’

- in the 3^rd bullet point, delete all after ‘stretched’ and insert ‘it is vital that any spending is used efficiently and effectively.’

- add a 4^th and 5^th bullet point to the end, as follows:

· ‘That the previous administration’s devolved Highways Budgets were an inefficient use of resources and were set up to fail due to varying levels of Officer support made available to different Ward schemes.

· That it makes sense to address clusters of potholes at the same time rather than waiting for each pothole in a specific location to deteriorate until an intervention is required.’

In the third paragraph, under ‘Council resolves to request that the Executive’:

- in the 2^nd bullet point, delete ‘Requires that’ and insert ‘Explores’

- add a 4^th and 5^th bullet point to the end, as follows:

· ‘That the strategic active travel network (as identified in the draft LCWIP) is prioritised for highway maintenance treatment and allocated a specific budget to complete maintenance to a safe standard throughout the year.

· Trials a more efficient use of the Ward Highways Budget in 2023-24, reallocating it to establish a dedicated team that will have the flexibility to patch larger sections of road surface at a time, thereby delivering a longer lasting fix and better use of limited resources.’”

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

The motion, as amended, now read as follows:

“Council notes:

· York has some 151km of adopted cycle routes (part of the Highway network) and 46km of unadopted cycle routes.

· That in the budget agreed in July 2019 £250,000 per year was allocated to allow local wards to invest directly in improvements such as repairing local roads

· That due to the lack of revenue budget allocated by the previous administration to ‘buy’ Officer time to develop these Ward-based schemes, many were not progressed, despite some being presented as far back as August 2019.

· That much of the work delivered under this element of ward funding should have been undertaken as part of the highway maintenance programme.

· That the current high level of inflation means that available funding for highway maintenance is even more stretched.

· That officers estimate that it would cost £190 million to bring York’s highways network up to an excellent standard.

· That a political decision to remove £3.5million from the Highways maintenance budget in order to install Hostile Vehicle Mitigation measures has added additional pressures.

· That the council’s current Highways Infrastructure Asset Management Plan was adopted in 2021.

· That the council’s current Highways Safety Inspection Manual was adopted in 2020 and, as envisaged when adopted, is currently subject to a review by officers.

· That the ‘investigatory level’ for potholes is 40mm vertical face depth and 200mm across in any horizontal direction and that for ‘cycle lanes’ the level is 20mm vertical face depth, but there is no reference in the Manual to ‘cycle margins’ i.e. the section of road near to the kerb but which is not a marked lane.

· That the current approach of temporarily filling some potholes whilst leaving neighbouring potholes untouched until they too reach the intervention threshold is both inefficient and leaves residents frustrated and irritated.

· That due to the concrete structure of these roads remaining largely intact, these potholes are unlikely to ever meet the investigatory threshold set out in the Manual.

· York Local Transport Plan’s hierarchy of users, with pedestrians and cyclists at the top.

Council believes:

· That insufficient highway maintenance work poses a hazard to cyclists, pedestrians, wheelchair and mobility scooter users, motorcyclists and motorists.

· That degraded road surfaces can be a particular problem for cyclists, especially when they are suddenly forced out into the carriageway in order to avoid them.

· That whilst funding for Highway maintenance is likely to continue to be stretched, it is vital that any spending is used efficiently and effectively.

· That the previous administration’s devolved Highways Budgets were an inefficient use of resources and were set up to fail due to varying levels of Officer support made available to different Ward schemes.

· That it makes sense to address clusters of potholes at the same time rather than waiting for each pothole in a specific location to deteriorate until an intervention is required.

Council resolves to request that the Executive:

· Expedites the review of the Highways Safety Inspection Manual.

· Explores as part of this review, a change to the ‘investigatory level’ for potholes to 30mm vertical face depth is secured.

· That the strategic active travel network (as identified in the draft LCWIP) is prioritised for highway maintenance treatment and allocated a specific budget to complete maintenance to a safe standard throughout the year.

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

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

Note:At this point, the guillotine fell and the remaining motions and amendments were deemed moved and seconded and were voted on without debate.

(iii) Getting York Moving Fairly

Submitted by Cllr Rowley.

For the next four-year administration, Council asks the Executive to commit to:

1. Look wherever possible to improve the cycle network, including better linking of villages

2. Reverse the City Centre Blue Badge ban

3. Rule out a Congestion Charge

4. Address the stalled work on the dualling of the A1237.”

Amendment 1 -submitted by Cllr Fenton

“In the first paragraph:

- after ‘Council notes the’, insert ‘strong desire from York residents for improvements to the city’s’

- after ‘transport’, delete ‘problems in York from 2019-2023, caused by an administration clashing with itself and the damage that this has done to the council’s reputation amongst residents’ and insert: ‘system. This was highlighted in the responses to the 2021 ‘Our Big Conversation’ engagement exercise, which found that 90% of respondents see congestion as a problem in York, 82% see air pollution from traffic as a problem, 80% say transport has a negative impact on climate change, 76% want safer cycle routes and 69% want a more frequent/ reliable/ more extensive/ lower cost bus network.’

In the second paragraph:

- in point 1. delete ‘linking of villages’ and insert ‘connecting all of York’s communities with the city centre, secondary shopping areas, workplaces and schools’

- delete point 2. and substitute the following wording: ‘Notes the administration’s pledge to reverse the ‘city centre blue badge ban’ and therefore keeps the operation of city centre access arrangements under review once the hostile vehicle measures recommended by the Police and Terrorism experts to protect all in the city centre have been installed, ensuring the most up to date Police advice is followed and all alternatives and mitigations are explored’.

- in point 4. delete ‘Address the stalled work on’ and insert ‘Continue the work already underway to progress’

- Add a further two points, as follows:

‘5. Work with operators and users to deliver long term improvements to bus services and infrastructure

6. Press Government to provide the funding needed to deliver Haxby Station, now that the project is at its furthest stage in decades.’”

On being put to the vote, Amendment 1 was declared LOST.

Amendment 2 -submitted by Cllr Kilbane

“In the first paragraph:

- in the 1st sentence, after ‘caused by’, delete ‘an’ and insert ‘the old Liberal Democrat-Green coalition’, and after ‘administration’, delete ‘clashing with itself’ and insert lacking ambition, vision and any ability to listen to those with lived experience,’

- in the 2^nd sentence, after ‘prioritised but’, delete ‘opposes’ and insert ‘acknowledges this is undermined if it is presented as being’

In the second paragraph:

- to the end of point 4., add ‘by working with stakeholders to deliver a scheme that meets the transport commitments within York’s Climate Change Strategy and the emerging Local Transport Plan’

- add a further point, as follows:

‘5. Calling on the new Mayoral Combined Authority, once established, to make taking back control of our buses a priority’.”

On being put to the vote, Amendment 2 was declared CARRIED.

The motion, as amended, now read as follows:

“Council notes the transport problems in York from 2019-2023, caused by the old Liberal Democrat-Green coalition administration lacking ambition, vision and any ability to listen to those with lived experience, and the damage that this has done to the council’s reputation amongst residents. Council believes it is vital that sustainable modes of transport including cycling and walking are prioritised but acknowledges this is undermined if it is presented as being a war on the car user. Council also believes inclusivity for all is paramount and that rural transport users need greater recognition and disabled people should be at the forefront of provision.

For the next four-year administration, Council asks the Executive to commit to:

1. Look wherever possible to improve the cycle network, including better linking of villages

2. Reverse the City Centre Blue Badge ban

3. Rule out a Congestion Charge

4. Address the stalled work on the dualling of the A1237 by working with stakeholders to deliver a scheme that meets the transport commitments within York’s Climate Change Strategy and the emerging Local Transport Plan.

5. Calling on the new Mayoral Combined Authority, once established, to make taking back control of our buses a priority.”

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

Resolved: That the above motion, as amended, be approved.³

(iv) A City Response to Food Insecurity

Submitted by Cllr. Nelson.