Agenda item - MOTIONS

Agenda item

MOTIONS

15.1    In the name of Councillor Orhan:

 

Following the campaign in the Londra Gazette and my letter to the Schools Minister urging him to intervene and force the AQA and OCR exam boards to reconsider the decision to scrap “A” levels and GCSEs of certain community languages such as Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Polish, Greek and Turkish, it has been disappointing that other than a reprieve of a year no firm announcement of a commitment has been made by the Government that a u-turn has been achieved.  It begs the question who is in charge of education in the UK and if this Government is committed to providing language skill opportunities much in demand in business and much in need by an outward facing country.

 

As this is of a huge interest for Enfield residents I ask the Council to fully support me in a letter urging the government to make a public statement that community languages will be taught in school beyond 2017.”

 

15.2    In the name of Cllr N.Cazimoglu:

 

“The country, particularly London, is facing a housing crisis and residents in Enfield are feeling the effects.  This Council believes that the only real solution is to build more homes.

 

House building is at its lowest since the 1920’s; private rents have increased by 37% in the past five years and the government continue to use billions of pounds of public money to subsidise private landlords through housing benefit.

 

This Council believes that government is complacent about the housing crisis which is affecting many of our residents in Enfield.

 

We call on the government to grant local authorities the powers and financial ability to increase the supply of housing for our residents.  The government should go further than they already have in lifting the cap on borrowing for Housing Revenue Accounts.  Council’s must be given the financial flexibilities they need to be able to scale up housing development, both in partnership and directly.”

 

15.3    In the name of Councillor Chibah:

 

“That this Council recognises the positive contribution that Trade Unions and Trade Union members make in our workplaces.  This Council values the constructive relationship that we have with our Trade Unions and we recognise their commitment, and the commitment of all our staff, to the delivery of good quality public services.

 

This Council notes with concern the Trade Union Bill which is currently being proposed by the Government and which would affect this Council’s relationship with our Trade Unions and our workforce as a whole.  This Council rejects this Bill’s attack on local democracy and the attack on our right to manage our own affairs.

 

This Council is clear that facility time, negotiated and agreed by us and our Trade Unions to suit our own specific needs, has a valuable role to play in the creation of good quality and responsive local services.  Facility time should not be determined or controlled by Government in London.

 

This Council is happy with the arrangements we currently have in place for deducting Trade Union membership subscriptions through our payroll.  We see this as an important part of our positive industrial relations and a cheap and easy to administer system that supports our staff.  This system is an administrative matter for the Council and should not be interfered with by the UK Government.

 

The Council resolves to support the campaign against the unnecessary, anti-democratic and bureaucratic Trade Union Bill.

 

The Council further resolves to seek to continue its own locally agreed industrial relations strategy and will take every measure possible to maintain its autonomy with regard to facility time and the continuing use of check-off.”

 

15.4    In the name of Councillor Barry:

 

“If the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is agreed, the people of Enfield will lose many of the regulations that protect their environment, their food and their rights as workers.

 

A report commissioned by the Government concluded that TTIP offers “few or no benefits to the UK while having meaningful economic and political costs.”

 

This Council resolves:

 

        To call on the Government to put the national interests of our people above those of big businesses and to reject this agreement.

 

        To write to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, local MPs, MLAs, and all London MEPs raising our serious concerns about the impact of TTIP on local authorities and the secrecy of the negotiating process.

 

        To write to the Local Government Association to raise our serious concerns about the impact of TTIP on local authorities and ask them to raise these with Government on our behalf.

 

        To call for an impact assessment on the impact of TTIP on local authorities.

 

        To publicise the Council’s concerns about TTIP; join with other local authorities which are opposed to TTIP across Europe and work with local campaigners to raise awareness about the problems of TTIP.

 

        To contact the local authorities of municipalities twinned with Enfield asking them to consider passing a similar motion on TTIP.”

 

15.5    In the name of Councillor Barry:

 

“Many people in Enfield may soon be disenfranchised.

 

In May, 217,537 people were registered to vote in Enfield.  Now, over 9,000 of those are at risk of being removed from the register on 30 November.

 

Acting against the advice of the Electoral Commission, the Government wants to end the transition period for the new Individual Electoral Registration (IER) system in December 2015. This is one year earlier than originally planned.

 

On 1 December those people that have yet to provide the necessary evidence to remain registered will be taken off the electoral role.

 

This Council believes that the right to vote is a key foundation of our democracy and a fundamental human right and calls on the Government to annul the decision to bring forward the full implementation of Individual Electoral Registration - as is possible under the legislation - so allowing Councils a further 12 months to register the missing voters.”

 

15.6    In the name of Councillor Alessandro Georgiou:

 

“This Council recognises that the Union Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a symbol of Freedom and represents all that is great about the United Kingdom.

 

The Council will therefore have the Union Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland present in all full Council meetings.  The flag will have a prominent place either hanging behind the Mayor of Enfield’s chair or on a flag poll to the right of the Mayor.”

 

15.7    In the name of Councillor Sitkin:

 

“This Council calls upon companies operating in Enfield to work with us to explore mechanisms for paying their employees the London Living Wage”

 

15.8    In the name of Councillor Celebi:

 

“Council resolves that a review be undertaken of the decision to digitise the Museum Archives.  No final decision should be made until stake holders are fully consulted and the digitising programme is fully costed. Until such review is completed all staff redundancies should also be put on hold.”

Minutes:

The following motions listed on the agenda lapsed due to lack of time:

 

15.1    In the name of Councillor Orhan:

 

“Following the campaign in the Londra Gazette and my letter to the Schools Minister urging him to intervene and force the AQA and OCR exam boards to reconsider the decision to scrap “A” levels and GCSEs of certain community languages such as Bengali, Gujarati, Punjabi, Polish, Greek and Turkish, it has been disappointing that other than a reprieve of a year no firm announcement of a commitment has been made by the Government that a u-turn has been achieved.  It begs the question who is in charge of education in the UK and if this Government is committed to providing language skill opportunities much in demand in business and much in need by an outward facing country.

 

As this is of a huge interest for Enfield residents I ask the Council to fully support me in a letter urging the government to make a public statement that community languages will be taught in school beyond 2017.”

 

15.2    In the name of Cllr N.Cazimoglu:

 

“The country, particularly London, is facing a housing crisis and residents in Enfield are feeling the effects.  This Council believes that the only real solution is to build more homes.

 

House building is at its lowest since the 1920’s; private rents have increased by 37% in the past five years and the government continue to use billions of pounds of public money to subsidise private landlords through housing benefit.

 

This Council believes that government is complacent about the housing crisis which is affecting many of our residents in Enfield.

 

We call on the government to grant local authorities the powers and financial ability to increase the supply of housing for our residents.  The government should go further than they already have in lifting the cap on borrowing for Housing Revenue Accounts.  Council’s must be given the financial flexibilities they need to be able to scale up housing development, both in partnership and directly.”

 

15.4    In the name of Councillor Barry:

 

“If the Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership (TTIP) is agreed, the people of Enfield will lose many of the regulations that protect their environment, their food and their rights as workers.

 

A report commissioned by the Government concluded that TTIP offers “few or no benefits to the UK while having meaningful economic and political costs.”

 

This Council resolves:

 

        To call on the Government to put the national interests of our people above those of big businesses and to reject this agreement.

 

        To write to the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, local MPs, MLAs, and all London MEPs raising our serious concerns about the impact of TTIP on local authorities and the secrecy of the negotiating process.

 

        To write to the Local Government Association to raise our serious concerns about the impact of TTIP on local authorities and ask them to raise these with Government on our behalf.

 

        To call for an impact assessment on the impact of TTIP on local authorities.

 

        To publicise the Council’s concerns about TTIP; join with other local authorities which are opposed to TTIP across Europe and work with local campaigners to raise awareness about the problems of TTIP.

 

        To contact the local authorities of municipalities twinned with Enfield asking them to consider passing a similar motion on TTIP.”

 

15.6    In the name of Councillor Alessandro Georgiou:

 

“This Council recognises that the Union Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a symbol of Freedom and represents all that is great about the United Kingdom.

 

The Council will therefore have the Union Flag of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland present in all full Council meetings.  The flag will have a prominent place either hanging behind the Mayor of Enfield’s chair or on a flag poll to the right of the Mayor.”

 

15.7    In the name of Councillor Sitkin:

 

“This Council calls upon companies operating in Enfield to work with us to explore mechanisms for paying their employees the London Living Wage.”

 

15.8    In the name of Councillor Celebi:

 

“Council resolves that a review be undertaken of the decision to digitise the Museum Archives.  No final decision should be made until stake holders are fully consulted and the digitising programme is fully costed. Until such review is completed all staff redundancies should also be put on hold.”