Minutes:
1. British Gas Energy Price Increase
With the consent of the Full Council, this Notice of Motion, to have been proposed by County Councillor Matthew Tomlinson and seconded by County Councillor Jean Parr, was deferred to the next meeting of Full Council on 14 December 2017.
2. It was moved by County Councillor Lizzi Collinge and seconded by County Councillor Margaret Pattison that:
Baby Loss Awareness Week is held annually from 9 to 15 October and is a special opportunity to mark the loss of pregnancies and the brief lives of babies lost at or soon after birth. This year, Baby Loss Awareness Week called for improved bereavement support for families affected by baby and pregnancy loss.
Miscarriage is a common experience - it is estimated that one in six confirmed pregnancies ends in miscarriage - yet can be devastating for the people affected.
As a large employer, Lancashire County Council is in a position to help employees affected by pregnancy loss. As an organisation that exists to serve the people of Lancashire, it is also in a position to deal supportively with residents who have experienced miscarriage and baby loss.
This council therefore instructs the Chief Executive, as Head of the Paid Service, to ensure that:
• Managers have the correct training to help employees who miscarry at work or who have suffered a loss.
• Managers have good quality resources on miscarriage and baby loss in the workplace, such as the Miscarriage Association's 'Miscarriage and the Workplace' leaflet.
• Frontline staff have training and resources to help Lancashire residents affected by miscarriage and baby loss.
• All employees have access to good quality information about miscarriage and baby loss.
• Miscarriage and baby loss is dealt with sensitively and supportively at all times.
On being put to the vote the motion was CARRIED and it was:
Resolved: - That:
Baby Loss Awareness Week is held annually from 9 to 15 October and is a special opportunity to mark the loss of pregnancies and the brief lives of babies lost at or soon after birth. This year, Baby Loss Awareness Week called for improved bereavement support for families affected by baby and pregnancy loss.
Miscarriage is a common experience - it is estimated that one in six confirmed pregnancies ends in miscarriage - yet can be devastating for the people affected.
As a large employer, Lancashire County Council is in a position to help employees affected by pregnancy loss. As an organisation that exists to serve the people of Lancashire, it is also in a position to deal supportively with residents who have experienced miscarriage and baby loss.
This council therefore instructs the Chief Executive, as Head of the Paid Service, to ensure that:
• Managers have the correct training to help employees who miscarry at work or who have suffered a loss.
• Managers have good quality resources on miscarriage and baby loss in the workplace, such as the Miscarriage Association's 'Miscarriage and the Workplace' leaflet.
• Frontline staff have training and resources to help Lancashire residents affected by miscarriage and baby loss.
• All employees have access to good quality information about miscarriage and baby loss.
• Miscarriage and baby loss is dealt with sensitively and supportively at all times.
3. It was moved by County Councillor John Fillis and seconded by County Councillor Azhar Ali that:
This Council supports the ongoing work to engage with all Councils in Lancashire to review the arrangements around joint working and the Shadow Combined Authority, in order to establish a new collective round table approach to working with the government for the benefit of the people of Lancashire.
Council resolves that the following principles guide this work:
- All Lancashire Councils should be involved, including those who have indicated they would not support the previous Combined Authority proposals.
- That there is no elected Mayor for all of Lancashire.
- That the discussions aim to establish a formal partnership.
- That all partners have an equal input and retain their autonomy.
The following amendment was proposed by County Councillor Geoff Driver and seconded by County Councillor Albert Atkinson:
This Council supports the ongoing work to engage with all Councils in Lancashire to review the arrangements around joint working in order to establish a collective approach to working with the government for the benefit of the people of Lancashire.
Council resolves to consider the setting up of a Combined Authority that will be beneficial to the County Council and the people of Lancashire.
County Councillor John Fillis indicated that he would accept the amendment subject to the insertion of "That there is no elected Mayor for all of Lancashire". County Councillor Geoff Driver accepted the insertion and the amendment became the substantive motion.
On being put to the vote the motion was CARRIED and it was:
Resolved: - That:
This Council supports the ongoing work to engage with all Councils in Lancashire to review the arrangements around joint working in order to establish a collective approach to working with the government for the benefit of the people of Lancashire.
Council resolves:
(i) To consider the setting up of a Combined Authority that will be beneficial to the County Council and the people of Lancashire.
(ii) That there is no elected mayor for all of Lancashire
4. It was moved by County Councillor Erica Lewis and seconded by County Councillor Lizzi Collinge that:
Following a year-long commission, jointly chaired by Labour's Dame Margaret Hodge MP, and Gillian Keegan, then Councillor and Director of Women2Win, and now Conservative MP, earlier this year the Fawcett Society and the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) released a report Does Local Government Work for Women?
The report highlights the ongoing under-representation and barriers to women's participation in local government. In particular it noted that progress in increasing the number of women councillors had stalled, increasing by only 5% over the last 20 years, whereas the number of women in Parliament has increased by 10% over that period.
Noting the important issues raised in the report, this Council requests that the Internal Scrutiny Committee establishes a working group to further explore the findings of the report and make recommendations as to good practices which should be adopted by this council.
On being put to the vote the motion was CARRIED and it was:
Resolved: - That:
Following a year-long commission, jointly chaired by Labour's Dame Margaret Hodge MP, and Gillian Keegan, then Councillor and Director of Women2Win, and now Conservative MP, earlier this year the Fawcett Society and the Local Government Information Unit (LGiU) released a report Does Local Government Work for Women?
The report highlights the ongoing under-representation and barriers to women's participation in local government. In particular it noted that progress in increasing the number of women councillors had stalled, increasing by only 5% over the last 20 years, whereas the number of women in Parliament has increased by 10% over that period.
Noting the important issues raised in the report, this Council requests that the Internal Scrutiny Committee establishes a working group to further explore the findings of the report and make recommendations as to good practices which should be adopted by this council.
5. BAE Systems Job Losses
This Notice of Motion, to have been proposed by County Councillor Julie Gibson and seconded by County Councillor Jean Parr, was withdrawn.
6. Neighbourhood Wellbeing Initiatives
With the consent of the Full Council, this Notice of Motion, to have been proposed by County Councillor Geoff Driver, seconder to be confirmed, was deferred to the next meeting of Full Council on 14 December 2017.
7. It was moved by County Councillor Peter Buckley and seconded by County Councillor Geoff Driver that:
Last Thursday (19 October 2017) was designated UNISON's SOS Libraries Day in which the Union were seeking support "to make sure that library services are protected and invested in so that communities can enjoy and benefit from them now and in the future."
This Council concurs with the need to focus on libraries and agrees with the reasons set out in the UNISON literature, that:
· Libraries have huge local value and need to be protected. Using the library is associated with higher life satisfaction, happiness and sense of purpose. Yet 478 libraries have closed since 2010 and over 8,000 library workers have lost their jobs.
· Cuts to libraries affect other public services. It is estimated that library users in England save the NHS 27.5 million each year. Libraries often support people’s education about their own health or social care needs, helping to prevent existing issues from escalating.
· Library cuts have an unfair impact on marginalised groups. Women, Black and disabled people are much more likely to use their local library, so they are disproportionately affected by library cuts.
This Council also notes that under the previous Labour-led administration, over a third of the County Council operated libraries were shut, whereas this Conservative administration are actively in the process of reopening them.
This Council therefore resolves to:
(i) Acknowledge and support the many hard-working library professionals that work in our library service.
(ii) Acknowledge and thank all the voluntary and community groups who have shown commitment to the library service and its future development.
(iii) Enforce the commitment in law for local authorities to provide a 'comprehensive and efficient' library service and ring-fence funding for library services in the long-term.
(iv) Write to the General Secretary of UNISON to advise him that Lancashire County Council supports UNISON's campaign to save public libraries.
The following amendment was proposed by County Councillor Lizzi Collinge and seconded by County Councillor Azhar Ali:
The addition of the following to the substantive motion:
(v) Write to Philip Hammond MP to request a meeting with all-party delegation from Lancashire County Council to discuss a fair funding formula for Lancashire, after years of large reductions in local government funding, in order to protect the future of our library services.
On being put to the vote the amendment was LOST. The substantive motion was then put to the vote and was CARRIED. It was therefore:
Resolved: - That:
Last Thursday (19 October 2017) was designated UNISON's SOS Libraries Day in which the Union were seeking support "to make sure that library services are protected and invested in so that communities can enjoy and benefit from them now and in the future."
This Council concurs with the need to focus on libraries and agrees with the reasons set out in the UNISON literature, that:
· Libraries have huge local value and need to be protected. Using the library is associated with higher life satisfaction, happiness and sense of purpose. Yet 478 libraries have closed since 2010 and over 8,000 library workers have lost their jobs.
· Cuts to libraries affect other public services. It is estimated that library users in England save the NHS 27.5 million each year. Libraries often support people’s education about their own health or social care needs, helping to prevent existing issues from escalating.
· Library cuts have an unfair impact on marginalised groups. Women, Black and disabled people are much more likely to use their local library, so they are disproportionately affected by library cuts.
This Council also notes that under the previous Labour-led administration, over a third of the County Council operated libraries were shut, whereas this Conservative administration are actively in the process of reopening them.
This Council therefore resolves to:
(i) Acknowledge and support the many hard-working library professionals that work in our library service.
(ii) Acknowledge and thank all the voluntary and community groups who have shown commitment to the library service and its future development.
(iii) Enforce the commitment in law for local authorities to provide a 'comprehensive and efficient' library service and ring-fence funding for library services in the long-term.
(iv) Write to the General Secretary of UNISON to advise him that Lancashire County Council supports UNISON's campaign to save public libraries.