Agenda item

Motions

Meeting of Council, Wednesday, 29th January, 2020 7.00 pm (Item 14.)

Motion 1 in the name of Councillor Joanne Laban

“Bullying is the use of coercion, force, or threat to abuse, aggressively dominate or intimidate. In light of the recent articles in the press, Enfield Council agrees to confirm its opposition to the use of bullying and will deliver an anti-bullying campaign across the authority.”

Motion 2 in the name of Councillor Joanne Laban

“This Council has no confidence in Councillor Nesil Caliskan as Leader of the Council and confirms her removal as Leader of the Council pursuant to paragraph 2.3 of the Council Rules of Procedure.”

Motion 3 in the name of Councillor Edward Smith

“This Council agrees to resist residential developments on Underground Station car parks in Enfield that are not in conformity with the existing local plan on the grounds that these car parks encourage commuters to use public transport.”

Motion 4 in the name of Councillor Maria Alexandrou

“Cervical screening is a way for women to protect themselves from cancer. The sad reality is that fewer women are now having cervical screening. Last year 1.3m women didn’t attend NHS screenings. There are 3,200 new cases of cervical cancer every year and of those 870 women die from it.”

According to CANCER RESEARCH UK 99.8% of cases are preventable. When Jane Goody fought her cancer battle, nearly 80% of women went for smear tests.10 years later, only 72% of women go. If this rate falls any lower, the rise in deaths will shoot up. In the case of Jade Goody, she ignored letters about her abnormal cells. She needed to go to hospital for surgery to remove those abnormal cells, surgery which most probably would have saved her life.

Many young women in their 20s and 30s are dying from cervical cancer and the tragedy is they are leaving behind their partners and young children. We need to encourage everyone to look after their health and have regular check-ups.

“Enfield Council therefore agrees to work together with other agencies for a local campaign on cervical cancer awareness and encourage women to attend that important screening test. It only takes 5 minutes at the doctor’s surgery and this test can save your life.”

Motion 5 in the name of Councillor Joanne Laban

In the week of Holocaust Memorial Day, this council reaffirms its adoption of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance's definition of antisemitism:

“Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Enfield Council pledges to continue to work towards combating antisemitism.

Motion 6 in the name of Councillor Christine Hamilton

Britain and London are facing numerous Public Health Emergencies. Air Quality, Smoking, Obesity, Alcohol, Gangs & Youth Violence to name but a few but the Conservative government have seen it fit to slash public health grants over 5 years since 2015; amounting to a 60% cut in Public Health funding. Shocking!

Enfield's Public Health Allocation for next year is now expected to be £47 per head; compared with a London average of £73. Islington receives £103, Camden £100, Kensington and Chelsea £130; even our next-door borough Haringey with £69 per head is way above our allocation. The public health grant funds vital services and functions with the aim of Preventing ill-health and so contributes to the future sustainability of our NHS.

Councils are responsible for delivering important public health services, including sexual health services, drug and alcohol treatment, health visiting & school nursing, smoking cessation and obesity reduction. But Public Health Directors also have an input and influence into all the wider areas that influence health and wellbeing, including transport, planning, education and housing services. We have introduced HiAP (Health in all Policies) in Enfield and aspire to becoming a truly Public Health Borough.

Taking funds away from Prevention is therefore a false economy and a direct contradiction to the aims of the NHS in the 10-year Forward Plan. Without proper investment in prevention our residents suffer; demand on local health services increases; and the local economy loses.

This Council believes that the impact of continued cuts to our Public Health Grant on our communities has become impossible to ignore. For this reason, we have supported the recent Cancer Research UK’s and Enfield's Over 50's Forum calls for increased and sustainable public health funding. This Council therefore calls on the Government to deliver increased investment into public health and prevention through Local Government, which is the best place to deliver the changes we need to make for the benefit of residents.

Starving local government of its much-needed public health funds under an austerity regime that is literally killing people is short-sighted and needs to stop!

The current Public Health Grant allocation (which is based on a historical funding formula) needs rapid realignment to help us address the realities of health needs in Enfield. We therefore demand the Government reinstates replaces the Grant that has been cut over recent years and increases it to a level that accounts for the needs of our residents

Motion 7 in the name of Councillor Nesil Caliskan

This Council notes:

That analysis of the 2018 Local Election results by the Fawcett Society found that only 34% of councillors in England are women, up 1% since 2017. Of the seats that were up for election in 2018, 38% went to women, up just 3 percentage points on 2014 when these seats were last contested;
That across England, Labour has improved its representation since seats were last up for grabs, with 45% women compared with 40% in 2014, Liberal Democrat representation up from 34% to 36% whilst the Conservative Party saw a fall from 31% to 29% in the share of its councillors who are female;
That as of the 2018 local elections, only 26 out of 119 Labour councils and only 33 out of 130 opposition Labour Groups are led by women;
As of summer, 2017, only 4% of councils in England and Wales have parental leave policies, according to research by the Fawcett Society;
That the role of a councillor should be open to all, regardless of their background, and that introducing a parental leave policy is a step towards encouraging a wider range of people to become councillors, and is also a step to encourage existing councillors who may want to start a family to remain as councillors;
That parental leave must apply to parents regardless of their gender, and that it should also cover adoption leave to support those parents who choose to adopt.

This Council resolves:

To instruct the Director of Law & Governance to take the necessary steps to ensure that this Council adopts a parental leave policy to give all Councillors an entitlement to parental leave after giving birth or adopting.
To ensure that councillors with children and other caring commitments are supported as appropriate.

Motion 8 in the name of Councillor Rick Jewell

Enfield Council believes that the continuing ideological drive towards academisation is flawed and does nothing to improve educational outcomes. Indeed, evidence exists to suggest that attainment gets worse.

This Council will support schools to remain with the local authority, as opposed to seeking academy status.
This council notes that even with evidence of failing trusts and declining educational standards, academies cannot revert to local authority control. This will have a detrimental effect on our children’s learning. Enfield Council will lobby the government to allow schools to return to a local authority governed school.
This council is very proud of our schools and our staff and we want them to stay within the control of the local authority. Schools, and the education of children, are best served when they are part of the local authority working collectively and collaboratively.
Academising schools only makes the school less accountable and disenfranchises the parents giving them less input into the schools their children attend.
This council will encourage schools to run separate meaningful consultation ballots for both parents and staff prior to any academisation process and to take notice of the mandate from that consultation.
This council will stand in full support of any school where the staff acts to stop a forced academisation.
Parent and teacher power across the country is winning in their fight to stop these academies and this council should fight harder for ours.
We will work harder towards keeping the dialogue and relationship between the council and those schools that have already academised.

This administration will do its utmost to protect the schools in our borough, the education of our children, the wishes of the parents and the terms and conditions of employment of our staff within those schools.

Motion 9 in the name of Councillor Michael Rye

This Council resolves:

· to require all public firework displays within the local authority boundaries to be advertised in advance of the event, allowing residents to take precautions for their animals and vulnerable people

· to actively promote a public awareness campaign about the impact of fireworks on animal welfare and vulnerable people – including the precautions that can be taken to mitigate risks

· to encourage local suppliers of fireworks to stock ‘quieter’ fireworks for public display.

Motion 10 in the name of Councillor Clare de Silva

At any one time, one in 14 people over 65 is living with dementia. This Council agrees to commit to creating dementia-friendly communities in Enfield, promoting initiatives such as Dementia Friends Champions, and celebrating Dementia Action Week and World Alzheimer’s Day. This Council also commits to a dementia-friendly approach to procurement and service delivery ensuring wider accessibility for those living with dementia.

Motion 11 in the name of Councillor Chris Dey

That this council welcomes The Prime Minister, Boris Johnson’s, announcement of 20,000 additional police officers. We now call on London Mayor, Sadiq Khan, to fully implement Shaun Bailey’s, fully funded plan from within existing budgets, for a further 2,000 police officers in London. This would really help tackle the scourge of serious youth violence across London which is of real concern in Enfield.

Motion 12 in the name of Councillor George Savva

Racism and discrimination continues to be an issue in all parts of society. Racism is often felt by an individual, but the impact is a negative consequence for communities and our country as a whole. We call on the national government and local Councils to take a firm stance against racism and do what they can to fight against it in all its forms.

Motion 13 in the name of Councillor Tim Leaver

Enfield Council welcomes the Election of Feryal Clark as MP for Enfield North Constituency; Re-Election of Bambos Charalambous as MP for Enfield Southgate Constituency; and Re-Election of Kate Osamor as MP for Edmonton Constituency in the General Election of 12th December 2019. We look forward to working with them in the interests of the residents of the Borough of Enfield whom we all serve.

Minutes:

Motion 13

Councillor Tim Leaver proposed and Councillor Hass Yusuf seconded the following motion.

“Enfield Council welcomes the Election of Feryal Clark as MP for Enfield North Constituency; Re-Election of Bambos Charalambous as MP for Enfield Southgate Constituency; and Re-Election of Kate Osamor as MP for Edmonton Constituency in the General Election of 12th December 2019. We look forward to working with them in the interests of the residents of the Borough of Enfield whom we all serve.”

Councillor Laban proposed and Councillor Rye seconded an amendment to replace the last sentence with the following:

“This chamber also congratulates Boris Johnson on his landslide victory and looks forward to working with our local MPs and the new Conservative Government in the interests of the residents of the Borough of Enfield whom we all serve.”

Councillor Ergin Erbil proposed and Councillor Caliskan proposed that the amendment be taken. This was agreed after a vote with the following result:

For: 36

Against: 16

Abstentions: 1

The amendment was voted on and not agreed with the following result:

For: 15

Against: 38

Abstentions: 0

Following the full debate, the motion was put to the vote and agreed with the following result:

For: 36

Against: 16

Abstentions: 0

Motion 6

Councillor Christine Hamilton proposed and Councillor Mahtab Uddin seconded the following motion:

“Britain and London are facing numerous Public Health Emergencies. Air Quality, Smoking, Obesity, Alcohol, Gangs & Youth Violence to name but a few but the Conservative government have seen it fit to slash public health grants over 5 years since 2015; amounting to a 60% cut in Public Health funding. Shocking!

Starving local government of its much-needed public health funds under an austerity regime that is literally killing people is short-sighted and needs to stop!

Following the debate, the motion was agreed without a vote.