11.1 Motion in the name of Councillor George Savva
Enfield Council congratulates the England Lionesses in their amazing achievements, winning in the 2022 Euro final, beating Germany 2-1, and bringing football home.
11.2 Motion in the name of Councillor Doug Taylor
Council reaffirms its support for Crossrail 2 as a project which can generate growth for the borough and improve connectivity both into central London but also Northwards. It is for Government and Mayor of London to create the opportunities for the project, but Enfield will give its support.
11.3 Motion in the name of Councillor Maria Alexandrou
The celebration of International Day of Women and Girls in Science commemorates the invaluable role of women in this field.
Over the years, incredible women like Margaret Hamilton and Katherine Johnson pushed the boundaries in space travel and were pioneers in mankind’s quest to reach to moon.
The 11th February is the date this International Day is celebrated.
This year’s theme is Equality and Diversity.
Let us unite and acknowledge the accomplishments of women that continue to explore the depths of science and applaud the women that innovate and are an inspiration to others.
11.4 Motion in the name of Councillor Maria Alexandrou
We condemn the shocking brutality that led to the death of 22-year-old Mahsa Amini on the 16th September, sparking world-wide protests.
We stand together in support of Amini’s family and the brave people of Iran demanding Freedom.
11.5 Motion in the name of Councillor Chris Joannides
This Council notes that loneliness and isolation are a public health issue that must be tackled at a local, as well as national level. It is estimated one in ten people of pensionable age living in the London borough of Enfield are likely to be classed as lonely or severely lonely.”
This Council believes:
1. Loneliness increases the risk of people falling into depression and suicide.
2. Loneliness increases the risk of heart disease and puts people at greater risk of blood clots and heart attacks.
3. Being chronically lonely is equivalent to smoking 15 cigarettes a day.
4. Loneliness makes people more likely to drink more alcohol, eat more and exercise less.
5. Raising awareness of the health impact of loneliness is important because it affects older people's mortality and morbidity.
6. Councillors and the local authority as a whole can play a key leadership role in ensuring Enfield is an area in which people maintain and forge social connections.
7. Enfield Council's Health, Adult Social Services and Children's services scrutiny panels must play a central role in mapping local services and supporting local interventions to help reduce social isolation and loneliness.
Enfield Council will work at three levels to address loneliness:
One to one:
1. Improve information and advice on existing services and activities that reduce loneliness and isolation. Make sure this information is available both off and online.
2. Launch a local campaign to raise awareness of the health effects of loneliness and isolation amongst target risk groups.
Neighbourhood:
3 Involve older people, including those experiencing or at risk of loneliness in mapping local services and co-producing solutions.
4. Support the voluntary and community sector to build referral partnerships with frontline healthcare staff, fire services and social workers.
Strategic:
5. To take active interest and role in ensuring the public health problem of social isolation in Enfield is recognised and assessed.
6. To regularly measure loneliness and mapping need through Joint Needs Assessment and lifestyle surveys. Use this to monitor impact of interventions.
7. To ensure addressing loneliness and isolation is part of any "ageing well "or "mental health" or other relevant priority in Health Scrutiny Panel.
8. To protect subsidies for public transport for over-60's and improve accessibility to public and community support.
9. To protect the borough's open spaces and Green Belt being encroached by development and allow the general public to enjoy the health benefits it brings.
10. Agree a plan, in conjunction with the Health Scrutiny, Adult Social Services and children services to take action to prevent and reduce loneliness.
11.6 Motion in the name of Councillor Andrew Thorp
Across Enfield amazing volunteers are running Uniformed Youth Groups teaching young people skills for life and providing them with an opportunity to have adventures. Last month Squirrel Scouts celebrated its first birthday. This is Scouts for 4-5-year-olds, and it is particularly targeting wards disproportionately affected by the pandemic to help ensure all children have access to the same opportunities. Non-formal education transforms young people’s lives and directly supports their achievements at school. This Council thanks our Borough’s volunteers and commits to supporting uniformed youth organisations across the Borough so that they can reach the young people that need it most.
11.7 Motion in the name of Councillor Joanne Laban
Enfield Council notes the Mayor of London’s decision to make the Ultra-Low Emission Zone (ULEZ), London-wide from Tuesday 29 August 2023.
This chamber believes that the Mayor has failed to take into consideration the negative impact his decision will have on the cost of living for Enfield residents with non-compliant vehicles.
The Mayor has also ignored the views on Londoners as the majority of those who responded to the consultation opposed a London-wide ULEZ.
The decision will do little to improve air quality as Transport for London’s own assessment by Jacobs states that expanding the ULEZ would have a negligible impact on modal shift with less than one per cent reduction in daily car trips into or within the expanded zone.
Enfield Council agrees to the following:
· The Cabinet Member and Shadow Cabinet Member sign a joint letter to the Mayor of London requesting that he do the following:
o Reverses his decision to make the ULEZ, London-wide
o Use the £200 million that it would cost to expand the ULEZ to
§ Implement zero emission bus routes in Enfield
§ Provide more electric charging points in the borough
§ Expand the School Streets programme
§ Plant more trees across outer London
§ Re-introduce the Better Boiler scheme where Londoners can apply for funding to upgrade their boilers
11.8 Motion in the name of Councillor Christopher Dey
That this administration stops using the resources of Enfield Council Taxpayers to produce overtly political literature. A recent example which was distributed as an information was misleading to residents giving the impression that the Council was funding cost of living support, which is in fact being funded by the Government, this fact was not mentioned in the publication.
11.9 Motion in the name of Councillor Christopher Dey
The following roads in Grange Park ward urgently need some traffic calming measures to slow the speed of the traffic. Residents do not want a ghastly ‘Low Traffic Neighbourhood’ they do want to be consulted on what can be done to slow the speed of the traffic. The affected roads concerned are Old Park Ridings, The Grangeway, Vera Avenue, Green Dragon Lane, Green Moore Link, Bush Hill. The Council agrees to allocate more funding to road safety projects.
11.10 Motion in the name of Councillor Nesil Caliskan
Enfield Council is committed to supporting Ukrainian nationals placed in our borough and we pay tribute to the generosity of the people of Enfield who have offered to share their homes as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme. To date 119 Ukrainian refugees, including 28 children, have been placed in Enfield.
Enfield Council will continue to offer our full support to Ukraine refugees, and we call on the government to prioritise the safeguarding of refugees and to provide further links to wider support networks nationally.
11.11 Motion in the name of Councillor Ergin Erbil
Austerity has meant councils have lost 60p in every £1 of central government grant that the previous government was spending on local government.
On top of that, central government has slashed council housing budgets, from enforced rent reductions, setting Enfield Council back by £300m over the next 30 years, to rent caps set by central government without reimbursing councils.
These measures by central government are short-term sticking plasters resulting in long-term pain for social housing tenants, with less funding to make sure every council tenant lives in a high-quality home.
At the same time, following the tragic Grenfell fire, central government have broken their pledge — failing to give councils funding for vital fire safety works.
Despite funding cuts, Enfield Council are investing in our council homes and estates, including £47m for building safety and £163m for major works over the next five years.
But government cuts and mismanagement of the economy has meant that councils are having to do more with less, with council tenants paying the price.
Cheshire House in Edmonton Green, for example, has suffered from structural issues because of long-term underinvestment.
This council believes:
· Central government support for council housing budgets has not been adequate since 2010
· Every Enfield Council tenant deserves to live in quality council homes, on well-maintained estates
· Without adequate and increased central government funding, major works our residents need will be impacted or delayed
· The Government need to invest in a green decent homes programme — investing and retrofitting social housing across the country
This council resolves to:
· Call on the Local Government Association to make further representations to central government to provide funding for major works projects to deliver decent homes.
· Write to the Chancellor and Secretary of State to call for:
o an end to attacks on council housing budgets;
o a programme of investment into specific council housing in Enfield to support and accelerate major works improvements and regeneration.
11.12 Motion in the name of Councillor Ergin Erbil
This Council notes that:
· The mismanagement of the economy by central government has caused the highest levels of inflation in 40 years, rising interest rates and stagnant economic growth.
· Household energy bills have skyrocketed over the last year – 96% higher than last winter – while just over 16,000 households in Enfield are already fuel poor.
· The effects of climate change are intensifying the impact of energy prices, increasing pressures on families and businesses.
· As the cost-of-living increases, people and businesses are less able to finance adaptations to improve energy efficiency and to prepare for extreme weather events.
· More families need help. Yet steeply increasing inflation means this Council’s ability to mitigate impacts and provide essential services is increasingly challenging.
The Council agrees to:
1. Recognise that the Cost of Living and Climate Crisis are connected and jointly require attention to ensure the wellbeing of local people and businesses.
2. Make decisions on investment and delivery that, wherever possible, contribute to environmental and social benefits across Enfield.
3. Advocate for more robust, affordable public transport that connects employees with work, links students to education and reduces carbon emissions.
4. Work with social landlords operating in Enfield to review the energy efficiency of their housing stock, recognising that poor insulation and inefficient heating are key factors in the rising cost-of-living.
5. Write to the Prime Minister, our local MPs, and the relevant government ministers to call for:
a. Increased financial support for residents, with most support provided to low-income households.
b. Lobby government to deliver a more ambitious nationwide commitment to fund improvements in the energy efficiency of homes, resulting in energy bill reductions and environmental benefits.
c. Insulation schemes and renewable energy generation programmes funded by fossil fuel profits.
11.13 Motion in the name of Councillor Ayten Guzel
Recent data from the NHS on children’s health show that Enfield was ranked as the fourth-worst borough in London for obesity in four and five-year-olds. 25.5% of four and five-year-olds and 41.7% of ten and eleven-year-olds were found to be either overweight or obese.
This Council believes we need to help children and young people establish healthy eating habits from an early age to tackle existing and future health inequalities in Enfield.
‘Fast food' outlets are shops that are popular with students. The nutritional quality of the food available is generally poor and some shops use ‘student offers' specifically to target schoolchildren.
Enfield Council must do what it can to reduce unhealthy eating amongst children, limit the opportunities that young people have to eat ‘fast food', and create a healthier borough.
This Council agrees to review all relevant supplementary planning document to manage the proliferation of fast-food outlets in particular areas, resisting the opening of new hot food takeaways near schools and youth facilities.
11.14 Motion in the name of Councillor Ayten Guzel
Pertussis or Whooping Cough is a respiratory infection that can cause severe symptoms or death in unvaccinated individuals. It is of particular risk to unprotected babies. Vaccination is the most effective way to prevent infection.
Current uptake of pertussis vaccination is low resulting in many babies being unprotected from birth until their first vaccination.
To increase immunisation uptake of the Whopping Cough vaccination, Enfield Council will implement a collaborative campaign with NHS maternity services and VCS partners, focusing on pregnant women and their families to encourage uptake in whopping cough vaccination.
11.15 Motion in the name of Councillor Nicki Adeleke
Council recognises that people with autism are more likely to face prejudice and discrimination in their lifetime. In Enfield 921 children and 126 young adults have healthcare plans for autism, and 571 adults have an autism classification.
There are some great facilities in the borough for autistic people, including SEND schools, support in mainstream schools, our voluntary organisations, and the Enfield Learning Disability Partnership Board champion the rights of people with learning disabilities and their carers.
However, more work is needed to ensure autistic people have equal opportunities in education, training, and employment, so they can live as fulfilled a life as they are able.
The Council will:
1. Work with local communities, autistic children, and adults to raise awareness of autism and the challenges faced by autistic people
2. Work to increase the number of school places for autistic children within the borough in mainstream and SEND schools
3. Provide support so that when autistic children transition to adulthood, adequate support is available to enter work or further training
4. Work with local communities, voluntary and charitable organisations to combat loneliness and other health and wellbeing challenges among autistic adults
11.16 Motion in the name of Councillor Bektas Ozer
This Council notes that:
· The mismanagement of the NHS by central government has meant that we are experiencing a crisis in the NHS this winter. Years of cuts to the NHS has left our health system unprepared and overwhelmed.
· Government ministers continue to ignore the crisis in our NHS. Ambulances queue outside hospitals and patients are treated in corridors in Enfield and across the country. Alongside this, seven million people in the UK continue to wait for elective treatment.
· In the Borough of Enfield, hundreds of people wait for 4 weeks or more to see a GP.
· NHS staff provide an enormously important service to our communities, and they have the Council’s support. Nurses, and all NHS staff, should be paid a decent wage.
The Council agrees to:
1. Write to the Prime Minister, our local MPs, and the relevant government ministers to call for:
a. Adequate funding for the NHS across the country
b. Fair funding for Enfield’s NHS services
c. To engage with and listen to striking NHS workers
d. To pay NHS staff decent pay
Minutes:
11.3 Motion in the name of Councillor Maria Alexandrou
“The celebration of International Day of Women and Girls in Science commemorates the invaluable role of women in this field.
Over the years, incredible women like Margaret Hamilton and Katherine Johnson pushed the boundaries in space travel and were pioneers in mankind’s quest to reach to moon.
The 11th February is the date this International Day is celebrated.
This year’s theme is Equality and Diversity.
Let us unite and acknowledge the accomplishments of women that continue to explore the depths of science and applaud the women that innovate and are an inspiration to others”
During the debate, a procedural motion was moved by Councillor Sabri Ozaydin and seconded by Councillor Chris Dey under paragraph 13.20 (viii) of the Council’s Procedure Rules to extend the debate for a further 10 minutes which was put to the vote and AGREED.
Following the debate, the Motion was AGREED.
The remainder of Motions lapsed under the guillotine arrangements.