Agenda item

Motion 10.1 in the name of Councillor Rye

“Enfield Council needs to take urgent action to support Enfield Town as a major shopping centre in the borough and will: undertake enforcement action on vacant shops with untidy frontages; seek funding to provide hanging baskets and Christmas lights; review the lengthy timelines for action set out in the Enfield Town Centre Draft Framework Master Plan to deliver positive outcomes sooner rather than later.”

Motion 10.2  in the name of Councillor Achilleas Georgiou

“This Council welcomes the saving of £2.5m to the Council budget by the purchase of properties through Housing Gateway since it was established in 2014.

Given this is a net contribution, it is hard to see how any councillor could consider it anything other than good economics.”

Motion 10.3  in the name of Councillor Taylor

“Council notes the decision to issue a Section 114 notice banning Northamptonshire from engaging any new expenditure.  Council notes all Councils, including Enfield, are suffering from persistent cuts in funding and instructs the Leader of the Council and Leader of the Opposition to put in writing to the Prime Minister, in the strongest terms, our view that there should be no more cuts.”

Motion 10.4  in the name of Councillor Nesimi Erbil

“On Saturday, 20th January, Turkish war planes launched air strikes on Afrin, one of the three Kurdish cantons in Northern Syria; compromising of 20% Armenians, 30% Arabics, 25% Kurdish and 25% Alevis and Turkmens. In the London borough of Enfield large numbers of residents are concerned about the ongoing problems in Afrin.

This was followed by ground attacks over the last few weeks with civilian casualties.

This act of unprovoked warfare by the Turkish state threatens to destabilise one of the calmest regions throughout the whole Syrian civil war. Afrin has been a crucial safe haven for people fleeing ISIS in the region, and it must stay that way!

It will have devastating consequences for not just the Kurdish people who will pay with their lives but also the people of Turkey and of the broader region.

As a member of this Council, I am calling the Council to:

·       Raise this issue as a priority with the UK Government,

·       Call for an end to all UK arms sales to Turkey,

·       Publicly condemn Turkey’s aggression on the Afrin region, and

·       Take any other necessary action to end the bloodshed in Afrin.

We urgently need the Council to support this motion because it’s a humanitarian crisis in Afrin.”

Motion 10.5 in the name of Councillor Dines

“Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men in the UK, with over 40,000 new cases diagnosed every year. After bowel and lung cancer it is the third most common cause of cancer death, with one man dying in the UK every 45 minutes. As recent publicity has shown, men are remarkably unaware of this and unwilling to talk about the issue. The Council therefore commits as one its health awareness campaigns in 2018-19 to raise the awareness amongst men of prostate cancer, the symptoms to look out for and how and where to go for screening.”

Motion 10.6 in the name of Councillor Taylor

“Council  notes the importance of the NHS to Enfield residents and its requirement for adequate funding in this the 70^th year of its foundation.”

Motion 10.7 in the name of Councillor Laban

“The draft London Plan has major implications for Enfield, its policy that requires Enfield to provide more Strategic Industrial Land capacity seriously impacts the Meridian Water Project. This policy restricts the area that homes can be built on at the Meridian Water site. Enfield Council agrees to write a letter to both the Mayor of London and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government setting out the adverse effects the draft London Plan has on the delivery of desperately needed homes at Meridian Water.”

Motion 10.8 in the name of Councillor Laban

“The Mayor of London is proposing to extend the Ultra-Low Emission Zone to the North and South Circulars. These proposals whilst well intentioned are not the solution that Enfield requires to improve air quality. Enfield Council agrees to seek alternative measures to improve air quality and that the leaders of both political groups write jointly to the Mayor to express our concerns regarding what is proposed for our borough.”

Motion 10.9 in the name of Councillor Levy

On the 5th July 1948 our NHS was born which means it is now in its 70th year, This government has the opportunity to show the country how much we value the lives of people who work in the NHS and the people it serves. We are currently in the worst winter crisis in the NHS ever.  We call on the government to prioritise patient safety by guaranteeing safe staffing across all of our services and implement the changed pay policy on the NHS immediately that recognises the drop of pay for NHS staff over the last seven years. 

People who are working in the NHS are delivering excellent care. However, these dedicated NHS staff are struggling due to the pressure of the pay cap which has impacted on their lives for seven years. 

The public sector pay cap has forced professionals out of jobs they love. Those who have stayed are overstretched and under pressure to do even more with less pay. The longstanding cap was lifted in October 2017 but a pay rise has not been agreed.   

Enfield Council calls on the government to bring in the pay rise promised immediately. This must address the real-term loss of earnings over the last seven years which would mean that the NHS can retain and attract staff, resolve the workforce shortage, and ensure safe patient care.

Motion 10.10 in the name of Councillor Orhan

Enfield Council notes the collapse of Carillion and the limited actions taken to date by the Government. This Council is concerned about the impact on schools as Enfield has some schools with Carillion as a provider.

Enfield is concerned of the Governments lack of any real dialogue with local authorities and feels that it would have thought it prudent in the current climate for the Council to be advised on how the Government intends to deal with the collapse of Carillion and the solution it has to honour the public sector contracts.

Further, Enfield will be seeking immediate and urgent clarification from Government and the appointed receiver (PWC) on how it has acted to date; the interim arrangement they have in place; assurance that they will do all they can to ensure a timely transition from the existing providers to new ones; and for a continuation and smooth delivery of all operational services, with a guaranteed assurance that PWC will work collaboratively to ensure no disruption of service to staff and services to Enfield Schools.

Motion 10.3

Councillor Taylor moved and Councillor Maguire seconded the following motion:

“Council notes the decision to issue a Section 114 notice banning Northamptonshire from engaging any new expenditure.  Council notes all Councils, including Enfield, are suffering from persistent cuts in funding and instructs the Leader of the Council and Leader of the Opposition to put in writing to the Prime Minister, in the strongest terms, our view that there should be no more cuts.”

Councillor Laban moved an amendment seconded by Councillor Hurer to change the final part of the last sentence of the motion to read:  “that there should be fairer funding for the London Borough of Enfield” removing the words “that there should be no more cuts”. 

Following a debate on the motion and the amendment the amendment was put to the vote and not agreed with the following result: 

For: 16

Against: 26

Abstentions: 0

The substantive motion was then put to the vote and agreed with the following result:

For:  26

Against: 16

Abstentions: 0

Motion 10.6

Councillor Taylor moved and Councillor Levy seconded the following motion: 

“Council notes the importance of the NHS to Enfield residents and its requirement for adequate funding in this the 70th year of its foundation.”

Following the debate, the motion was agreed unanimously. 

Duration of the time allowed for motions. 

The Mayor advised, at this stage of the meeting, that the time available for motions had now elapsed so Council Procedure Rule 9 would apply.

Motions 10.1, 10.2, 10.4, 10.5, 10.7, 10.8, 10.9 and 10.10 lapsed under the guillotine.