Agenda and minutes

          The minutes of the meeting of Council held on 19 May 2017, having been circulated, were taken as read and signed as a correct record.

          RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting be confirmed and adopted.

          The Mayor made the following announcements:-

·       A new display board had been installed in the Council Chamber, which contained the names of the Leaders of Halton Borough Council since 1974; and

·       He had attended an exhibition at Lunts Heath Primary School based on the storybook ‘The Night Garden’ and had been presented with a ceramic wall hanging, made by the children.

          The Leader made the following announcements:-

·       He had attended the opening ceremony of the new Alstom facility which was a centre for train modernisation and manufacture, and  which had created 200 jobs for local people. A new skills training academy on the site was due to open in September 2017;

·       He reported that the Budget Working Group had met to consider and identify savings of £10m which needed to be achieved for 2018/19. He assured everyone that every effort would be made to minimise the impact on essential services which the Council provides in the Borough.

          The Council considered the minutes of the meetings of executive Board on 16 March 2017, 20 April 2017 and 15 June 2017.

          RESOLVED: That the minutes be received.

          The Council considered the minutes of the Health and Wellbeing Board meeting held on 29 March 2017.

          RESOLVED: That the minutes be received.

          It was noted that no questions had been submitted under Standing Order No.8.

Executive Board considered the attached report.

RECOMMENDED: That Council include £80,000 within the 2017/18 Capital Programme  for this scheme, to be funded as outlined in paragraph 5.1 of the report.

          The Council considered a report of the Strategic Director, Enterprise, Community and Resources, on a proposed extension of the Brindley Theatre Café to provide improved facilities for customers and to provide opportunities to generate additional income.

          RESOLVED: That Council approve the inclusion of £80,000 within the Capital Programme for the scheme, to be funded as outlined in paragraph 5.1 of the report.

The Council considered the report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator, outlining the Annual Reports for each of the Policy and Performance Boards (PPBs) for 2016/17, which had been submitted and which outlined their work and made recommendations for future work programmes.

          RESOLVED: That the 2016/17 Annual Reports, submitted from the Policy and Performance Boards, be received.

Standards Committee had considered the attached report of the Operational Director, Legal and Democratic Services/Monitoring Officer, which summarised the work of the Standards Committee in its Annual Report.

RESOLVED: That the report be noted.

(N.B. Councillor Joan Lowe and Councillor Alan Lowe declared a Disclosable Other Interest in Minute HEA 10 on the Health Policy and Performance Board minutes as their son’s partner worked for a domiciliary care provider in Halton)

          The Council considered the reports of the following Boards in the period since the meeting of Council on 8 March 2017:-

·       Children, Young People and Families;

·       Employment, Learning and Skills and Community;

·       Health;

·       Safer;

·       Corporate; and

·       Business Efficiency Board.

In moving each set of minutes, the respective Chair’s made the following comments:-

·         The Healthy Child Programme had contributed to a number of child health improvements such as a decrease in infant mortality rates and an increase in immunisations;

·         The progress made towards Halton achieving the White Ribbon Award and the potential for Cheshire to become the first county to have all local authorities and police service receive corporate status;

·         The Corporate Policy and Performance Board had received a verbal report on security of the Council’s ICT systems, following the global cyber attack in May 2017. Members and Staff were reminded of the need to remain vigilant when using Council IT equipment.

          The Council considered the reports of the following Committees in the period since the meeting of Council on 8 March 2017:-

·       Development Control;

·       Regulatory; and

·       Appeals Panel.

Support of The Votes at 16 Campaign

          Council considered a Notice of Motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order Number 6.

          The following motion was proposed by Councillor Stef Nelson and seconded by Councillor Ron Hignett:-

“The Council notes that currently 1.5 million 16 and 17 year olds are denied the vote in public elections in the UK and that the campaign to lower the voting age is supported by thousands of young people across the UK. Furthermore, we note that following a nationwide consultation, the UK Youth Parliament supported lowering voting to 16 years of age as their national campaign.

This Council believes that:

1]  16 and 17 year olds are knowledgeable and passionate about the world in which they live and are as capable of engaging in the democratic system as any other citizen.

2] Lowering the voting age to 16, combined with strong citizenship education, would empower young people to better engage in society and influence decisions that will define their future;

3] People who can consent to medical treatment, work full-time, pay taxes, get married or enter a civil partnership and join the armed forces should also have the same voting rights as people aged over 18.

This Council resolves to:

Write to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, asking that given their actions in lowering voting for the Scottish Referendum, Government agree to now also extend the right to vote from 16 years of age for all other elections.

Continue to work with all Halton Schools and Colleges to enhance citizenship as part of the educational curriculum and to promote interest of young people in both local and parliamentary democracy”.

RESOLVED: That the Motion be agreed.

The Sun Newspaper

Council considered a Notice of Motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order Number 6.

          The following motion was proposed by Councillor Kevan Wainwright and seconded by Councillor Dave Cargill:-

“This Council expresses its support for the families of the Hillsborough disaster that tragically occurred at Sheffield on the 15^th April 1989.

 This disaster directly affected families at Halton and we commend the continuing efforts of relatives and friends of the victims of the disaster in their search for justice. It is this Council’s hope that in due course the conclusions reached by the Hillsborough inquest will come to finally result in justice for the victims of this tragedy.

 Further, we understand the continuing feelings being expressed by people throughout the Liverpool City Region at the inaccurate and hurtful reporting of the disaster by The Sun newspaper and support the efforts to raise awareness of this by the campaign ‘Total Eclipse of the Sun’ “.

          RESOLVED: That the Motion be agreed.

Dying to Work

Council considered a Notice of Motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order Number 6.

          The following motion was proposed by Councillor Mike Wharton and seconded by Councillor Chris Loftus:-

“This Council notes the suggestion by the TUC in its Dying to Work document that terminally ill employees are not currently protected under national disability legislation and can therefore be dismissed if they are no longer able to conduct their role with reasonable adjustments. This could mean that terminally ill people can be subjected to stressful assessments, subsequent dismissal and the loss of death in-service benefits - all following the diagnosis of a terminal illness.

This Council believes in the dignity of work, and that those receiving a terminal diagnosis should not be forced out of work.

This Council believes that there should be additional Government protection for terminally ill employees, from the point of diagnosis.

This Council resolves to continue to treat staff members who receive a terminal diagnosis with dignity, and to make adjustments to ensure that they are able to stay in work as long as they wish. 

Council therefore agrees to support the TUC's 'Dying to Work Campaign' currently being developed, and that the Chief Executive writes to Derek Twigg MP, Mike Amesbury MP and the Work and Pensions Minister, to request that they support new legislation currently being drawn up which:

- seeks to ensure that terminally ill workers are covered by Protective Rights at Work in line with those workers covered by pregnancy/maternity rights;

- seeks to protect death in service benefits; and 

- seeks to allow workers with terminal illness to die with dignity “.

          RESOLVED: That the Motion be agreed.

(N.B. Councillor Charlotte Gerrard declared a Disclosable Other Interest in the following item of business as she was a member of UNISON and employed as a Social Worker with Lancashire County Council)

Dignity in Social Care – Improving Social Care Services and Jobs

Council considered a Notice of Motion submitted in accordance with Standing Order Number 6.

          The following motion was proposed by Councillor Bill Woolfall and seconded by Councillor Pauline Sinnott:-

“This Council notes with alarm the continuing crisis of social care underfunding that makes it hard for local authorities and provider organisations to ensure decent jobs and quality services.   

This Council supports in principle the provisions of UNISON’s Ethical and Residential care charters. The Council intends to implement the charters at the earliest practicable opportunity, recognising that some aspects of the charters may require additional funding.

This Council welcomes the additional short term funding that the Government pledged for social care in the 2017 budget but notes that this does not go far enough and does not represent a sustainable solution.

This Council welcomes UNISON’s Care Workers for Change campaign initiative which aims to expand union membership within the sector to give care workers the support and confidence to lead the public-facing campaign to increase central Government funding and improve employee relations within the sector.  

This Council undertakes to encourage care providers we currently commission or purchase provision from and require care providers we commission or purchase provision from in future to:-

1)    Respect the right of care staff to organise a union in their workplace and do nothing to undermine the reasonable efforts of staff to organise a union.

2)    Allow access to accredited union representatives and officials for membership recruitment activity. Provider organisations should engage positively with union requests for access to staff and, where necessary, agree arrangements that do not disrupt service delivery.

3)    Pursue a partnership approach to employment relations.  We would expect the provider to engage constructively with the union including a recognition and facilities agreement to underpin collective working.  

4)    Work with the providers and unions to pursue our shared objective of achieving the provisions of the UNISON ethical care charters.

The Council would write to all current providers of Council-commissioned care services at the earliest opportunity to advise them of our expectation that they support the above points (1-4)”

          RESOLVED: That the Motion be agreed.