Agenda item

To consider the Notices of Motion submitted under Standing Order B36

Minutes:

The Chairman informed Full Council that Notices of Motion 1 and 5 had been withdrawn and that Notice of Motion 5 would be re-submitted for the next meeting of Full Council on 23 May 2019.

 

2.  It was moved by County Councillor Lizzi Collinge and seconded by County Councillor Julie Gibson that:

 

End Violence at Work Charter

 

Lancashire County Council recognises that many public service workers are subjected to violence and aggression in the course of their work.  Evidence provided by UNISON highlights that in some contracted out services, public service workers are told by their employers to tolerate violence, suggesting assaults are just “part of the job”.

 

This council applauds UNISON for developing the ‘End Violence at Work Charter’ - which commits employers to ten basic actions to safeguard public service workers and provide support should they become the target of violence at work. 

 

This council wishes to see far more employers confront the issue of violence in the workplace and therefore commits to: 

 

Making the ‘End Violence at Work Charter’ a core part of our commissioning process. 

 

Asking all existing service contract providers in Lancashire to sign up to the End Violence at Work Charter and make the award of new contracts dependent on a commitment by the organisation to sign the Charter. 

 

This Council recognises that this approach is consistent with our ongoing commitment to an ethical procurement and commissioning process.

 

Further, council reiterates its opposition to violence at work in all sectors and reaffirms its commitment to working with its own employees and Trade Unions to ensure that all appropriate steps and support are in place to tackle the issue for its own workforce.

 

The following amendment was proposed by County Councillor Alan Vincent, seconded by County Councillor Geoff Driver:

 

LCC recognises that many public service workers are subjected to violence and aggression in the course of their work.

 

Unison believes that in some contracted out services, public service workers are told by their employers to tolerate violence, suggesting assaults are just “part of the job”.

 

Whilst LCC has no evidence of this, we agree with Unison and the other unions representing our staff that employers should, as we already do, provide safeguards within an action plan to end violence at work, and that their Charter provides a useful template for such a plan.

 

This Council will encourage all existing and future service contracts providers to us to provide safeguards within an action plan to end violence at work.

 

This Council recognises that this approach is consistent with our ongoing commitment to an ethical procurement and commissioning process.

 

Further, council reiterates its opposition to violence at work in all sectors and reaffirms its commitment to working with its own employees and Trade Unions to ensure that all appropriate steps and support are in place to tackle the issue for its own workforce including our commitment to a zero tolerance approach to violence.

 

The amendment was put to the vote and was CARRIED and became the substantive motion.

 

The substantive motion was then put to the vote and was CARRIED. It was therefore:

 

Resolved: -

 

LCC recognises that many public service workers are subjected to violence and aggression in the course of their work.

 

Unison believes that in some contracted out services, public service workers are told by their employers to tolerate violence, suggesting assaults are just “part of the job”.

 

Whilst LCC has no evidence of this, we agree with Unison and the other unions representing our staff that employers should, as we already do, provide safeguards within an action plan to end violence at work, and that their Charter provides a useful template for such a plan.

 

This Council will encourage all existing and future service contracts providers to us to provide safeguards within an action plan to end violence at work.

 

This Council recognises that this approach is consistent with our ongoing commitment to an ethical procurement and commissioning process.

 

Further, council reiterates its opposition to violence at work in all sectors and reaffirms its commitment to working with its own employees and Trade Unions to ensure that all appropriate steps and support are in place to tackle the issue for its own workforce including our commitment to a zero tolerance approach to violence.

 

 

 

3.  It was moved by County Councillor Gillian Oliver and seconded by County Councillor Lorraine Beavers that:

 

Lancashire County Council Use of Bailiffs

 

Lancashire County Council instructed bailiffs to retrieve unpaid debts 6,065 times in the last 12 months. 

 

Councillors are hearing about the distress these visits bring, and in some cases have received complaints about the bailiffs' perceived failure to act within the law.

 

This council commits itself to:

 

(i)  Ensuring bailiffs sent in its name know the law and act within it; and

(ii)  Seek an independent regulator for the sector and asks the Chief Executive and Director of Resources to write to Lucy Frazer MP, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State at the Ministry of Justice, requesting this

 

On being put to the vote, the Motion was LOST.

 

4.  It was moved by County Councillor Erica Lewis and seconded by County Councillor Steve Holgate:

 

Declare a Climate Emergency

 

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1.5C report, published in October 2018, humanity has 12 years for “ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities” to deliver the “rapid and far-reaching transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities” needed to turn this around, so we can avoid reaching tipping points where we no longer have the ability to avoid extreme weather events. 

 

In recent years Lancashire has been subject to both flood and fire. Events that used to be described as 1 in 100 year events to many residents now seem to be regular events. The changes we are seeing in the climate have presented severe challenges to residents, business and organisations, impacting on property, transport, agriculture and other services in Lancashire. Globally millions of others have seen their communities disrupted and devastated with loss of life and livelihood. Many organisations have been working tirelessly for years to try to limit climate change, but action must happen faster. Business as usual is clearly no longer an option. We need local wisdom to increase our resilience and to prepare for the climate changes already in the system.

 

We recognise the current financial constraints the council faces and expect both development and implementation of action to become carbon neutral and make adaptations for climate change will need significant amounts of additional external funding. However, it should also be recognised that failing to act has a cost we cannot afford to pay, and that some actions may have a positive or neutral financial impact. Investing in sustainable energy production and climate change adaptation can deliver economic as well as social benefits through new jobs and savings as well as improved well-being for people locally and worldwide.

 

A number of councils across the country have already declared a climate emergency.

 

Lancashire County Council therefore:

 

(i)  Declares a ‘Climate Emergency’, and commits to making the operations and activities of Lancashire County Council Carbon Neutral by 2030.

(ii)  Recognises that answering the challenge of climate change is not work that can be done individually and therefore commits to working in partnership with councils, businesses, organisations and residents across the county to meet this challenge.

(iii)  Establishes a scrutiny task group to review the council's operations and identify the changes that need making so that appropriate measures can be included in next year’s budget, and recommendations for action short of budget proposals can be taken as soon as possible.

(iv)  Calls upon the UK Government to provide councils across the country with the powers, resources and funding to enable the work that must be done.

 

The following friendly amendment, which was accepted by County Councillor Lewis, was proposed by County Councillor Gina Dowding to add as (v) and (vi):

 

Ensure that senior staff are fully aware of this commitment and Cabinet reports to Full Council every six months with the actions undertaken and planned to address this emergency.

 

Calls on the Government to safeguard Lancashire's environment by continuing to insist that the shale gas industry works within the current traffic light system and does not bow to pressure from the industry to lower the gold standard thresholds.

 

The following amendment was proposed by County Councillor Michael Green, seconded by County Councillor Charles Edwards:

 

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1.5C report, published in October 2018, humanity has 12 years for “ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities” to deliver the “rapid and far-reaching transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities” needed to turn this around, so we can avoid reaching tipping points where we no longer have the ability to avoid extreme weather events.

 

This Council welcomes the joint letter from the UK, Scottish and Welsh Government Ministers to the Committee for Climate Change, which asks for "the date by which the UK should achieve a net zero carbon target in order to contribute to the global ambitions set out in the Paris Agreement".

 

This Council notes, between 2015 and 2021, this Government is investing a record £2.6 billion in flood defences, maintained by colleagues from the Environment Agency. And the UK Government are on track to meet their manifesto commitment of better protecting 300,000 homes from flooding by 2021. The Council also anticipates the Environment Agency's new 50 year strategy which is being released later this year.

 

In the recently published County Council Corporate Strategy, Lancashire County Council declared "we will protect the county's environment and climate by investing in flood defence, energy efficiency and waste recycling".

 

Lancashire County Council therefore:

 

1.  Notes the excellent progress made by the Authority thus far in exceeding the challenging targets set in the Lancashire Climate Change Strategy.

2.  Recognises that answering the challenge of climate change is not work that can be done individually and therefore commits to working in partnership with councils, businesses, organisations and residents across the county to meet this challenge.

3.  Calls on the Internal Scrutiny Committee to review the council's operations and to help identify how the Council’s activities might be made net-zero carbon by 2030;

4.  Calls upon the UK Government to continue to fund and support schemes that encourage action on climate change.

 

The amendment was put to the vote and was CARRIED and became the substantive motion.

 

The substantive motion was then put to the vote and was CARRIED. It was therefore:

 

Resolved: -

 

According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change 1.5C report, published in October 2018, humanity has 12 years for “ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities” to deliver the “rapid and far-reaching transitions in land, energy, industry, buildings, transport, and cities” needed to turn this around, so we can avoid reaching tipping points where we no longer have the ability to avoid extreme weather events.

 

This Council welcomes the joint letter from the UK, Scottish and Welsh Government Ministers to the Committee for Climate Change, which asks for "the date by which the UK should achieve a net zero carbon target in order to contribute to the global ambitions set out in the Paris Agreement".

This Council notes, between 2015 and 2021, this Government is investing a record £2.6 billion in flood defences, maintained by colleagues from the Environment Agency. And the UK Government are on track to meet their manifesto commitment of better protecting 300,000 homes from flooding by 2021. The Council also anticipates the Environment Agency's new 50 year strategy which is being released later this year.

 

In the recently published County Council Corporate Strategy, Lancashire County Council declared "we will protect the county's environment and climate by investing in flood defence, energy efficiency and waste recycling".

 

Lancashire County Council therefore:

 

1.  Notes the excellent progress made by the Authority thus far in exceeding the challenging targets set in the Lancashire Climate Change Strategy.

2.  Recognises that answering the challenge of climate change is not work that can be done individually and therefore commits to working in partnership with councils, businesses, organisations and residents across the county to meet this challenge.

3.  Calls on the Internal Scrutiny Committee to review the council's operations and to help identify how the Council’s activities might be made net-zero carbon by 2030;

4.  Calls upon the UK Government to continue to fund and support schemes that encourage action on climate change.

 

Notice of Motion 6 was ruled out of order in accordance with Standing Order B33(a), as it would have the effect of seeking to rescind the resolution made by Full Council under the previous Motion.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Supporting documents: