In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 10 to consider Motions on notice from Members. Motions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 noon twelve clear working days before the meeting.
(a) Motion submitted by Councillor D Hancock
“Council notes the identification of inconsistencies with adherence to the Equality Act 2010 in its Licensing Policy.
Council believes that the diversity of our communities and workplace is a positive; and that all people have the right to live their lives free from fear of discrimination and hate crime.
Council further believes that behaviour contrary to the Equality Act is wholly unacceptable and should be punished to the fullest extent.
Council resolved to undertake an urgent review of all its policies to identify any similar inconsistencies, and to align all penalties with the maximum level imposed for any single protected characteristic”.
(b) Motion submitted by Councillor Ross Shipman
“Council notes that:
· Covid-19 has caused unprecedented strain on North East Derbyshire District Council finances due to loss of income from leisure fees and charges and other activity-based services.
· Measures have been put in place by the leadership team to limit expenditure during the first part of the year.
· Councillors must lead by example at all times
Council approves that:
· North East Derbyshire District Council will not raise the members allowance or special responsibility allowances until 2022”
(c) Motion submitted by Councillor Pam Windley
“Council notes:
· The first class service delivered by its employees and members throughout the Covid-19 emergency
· That it always strives to improve on its own performance
· That those individuals and families who are suffering with, or caring for, early stage dementia experienced challenges over and above those faced by many others in our community
· That often these early stage cases are not receiving support from GPs or adult social care
Council resolves:
· To thank all of our staff and members for their excellent work
· To proactively support the Chair in her work with Alzheimer’s Research UK by undertaking a district-wide survey to identify the additional support needed by these early stage dementia patients and their families/carers and to use our Health and Wellbeing remit to implement the findings”
Minutes:
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule No 10 to consider Motions on notice from Members. Motions must be received in writing or by email to the Monitoring Officer by 12 noon twelve clear working days before the meeting.
Three motions had been submitted by Members under Procedure Rule 10 for this meeting.
(a) Motion proposed by Councillor D Hancock
“Council notes the identification of inconsistencies with adherence to the Equality Act 2010 in its Licensing Policy.
Council believes that the diversity of our communities and workplace is a positive; and that all people have the right to live their lives free from fear of discrimination and hate crime.
Council further believes that behaviour contrary to the equality Act is wholly unacceptable and should be punished to the fullest extent.
Council resolved to undertake an urgent review of all its policies to identify any similar inconsistencies, and to align all penalties withy the maximum level imposed for any single protected characteristic”.
Councillor D Hancock reported that he wished to withdraw his Motion in light of correspondence that had taken place today and thanked officers for their work on this matter.
(b) Motion proposed by Councillor R Shipman
“Council notes that:-
· Covid-19 has caused unprecedented strain on North East Derbyshire District Council finances due to loss of income from leisure fees and charges and other activity-based services.
· Measures have been put in place by the Leadership Team to limit expenditure during the first part of the year.
· Councillors must lead by example at all times.
Council approves that:
· North East Derbyshire District Council will not raise the members allowance or special responsibility allowances until 2022”.
In presenting his motion to Council, Councillor R Shipman stated there were no plans as far as he was aware to raise Councillor Allowances but this was to preempt any attempt to raise such allowances. Covid-19 had placed unprecedented pressure on the Council’s finances, therefore he believed there should be no consideration of an increase to Councillor Allowances until at least 2022. Councillor D Hancock seconded the Motion.
Councillor P Windley stated her support for the Motion.
Councillor A Dale stated that local Conservatives had a proud history of campaigning to keep the cost of politics low.
Councillor D Hancock raised a point of order that under Procedure Rule 12.4 speeches must be directed to the question under discussion.
Councillor A Dale continued, stating that this Motion was not necessary because there were no plans to increase allowances under the current administration and also that Councillors should not be setting their own rate of allowances. It was for an Independent Remuneration Panel to recommend a Scheme and felt that this was the right process that should continue to be followed.
Councillor N Barker stated that whilst he had sympathy for what was in the Motion there was also other factors, such as not setting your own pay, which also needed to be considered.
Councillor S Pickering stated that Councillors pay was independently set and this was the right and proper process.
Councillor D Hancock stated Motions were put forward because it was something that the Councillor believed in and were submitted with the best of intentions. He wished to clarify that this Motion did not take away any money from Councillor Allowances but it made a commitment that the Council would for the current term forgo any increase in allowances that may be proposed.
Councillor Shipman stated that every Motion he had proposed was to improve the Council. He stated that unemployment in the District had almost tripled to 8% during the current crisis and therefore he believed the Council should be standing with residents by committing to no increases to Councillor Allowances.
The motion was DEFEATED.
(c) Motion proposed by Councillor P Windley
“Council notes:-
· The first class service delivered by its employees and members throughout the Covid-19 emergency.
· That it always strives to improve on its own performance.
· That those individuals and families who are suffering with, or caring for, early stage dementia experienced challenges over and above those faced my many others in our community.
· That often these early stage cases are not receiving support from GPs or adult social care.
Council resolves:
· To thank all of our staff and members for their excellent work.
· To proactively support the Chair in her work with Alzheimer’s Research UK by undertaking a district-wide survey to identify the additional support needed by these early stage dementia patients and their families/carers and to use our Health and Wellbeing remit to implement the findings.”
Councillor Windley put her Motion to Council which was seconded by Councillor D Hancock. Councillor D Hancock stated that he wished to highlight the excellent job that everyone had done on this and also to the Chair for her work with the Alzheimer’s Research UK. He stated that although social care was the responsibility of the County Council, it was very acute how many people were caught in this position and the impact it had on carers. There was little support for those with dementia, especially those with early onset dementia, and little chance of them living a normal life. As the Council had a remit in respect of health and wellbeing this issue should be looked into and to assess what the needs were.
Councillor M Foster stated that there was a lot he could agree with in this Motion. He believed it should be expressed as ‘living with’ and not ‘suffering with’ in respect of the 3rd bullet point. In the 4th bullet point he saw this as a criticism of GPs, which he could not support. He also stated that he did not support to undertake a District-wide survey, as this had not been considered with regards to what else the Council had to undertake. Councillor M Foster stated that the proper method for this should be through the scrutiny committees, as each scrutiny committee had health and wellbeing in its remit. It could then be appropriately discussed and planned. He therefore made a proposal for an amendment to the Motion as follows:-
AMENDMENT
“Council notes:-
· The first class service delivered by its employees and members throughout the Covid-19 emergency.
· That it always strives to improve on its own performance.
·
That those individuals and families who
are suffering living with, or caring for,
early stage dementia experienced challenges over and above those
faced my many others in our community.
·
That often these early stage cases
are not receiving support from GPs or adult social
care.
Council resolves:
· To thank all of our staff and members for their excellent work.
·
To proactively support the Chair in her
work with Alzheimer’s Research UK by undertaking a
district-wide survey to identify the additional support needed by
these early stage dementia patients and their families/carers and
to use our Health and Wellbeing remit to implement the
findings.”
The amendment was seconded by Councillor J Kenyon. He stated that he supported the thrust of the Motion but the section that required a detailed survey into one particular issue in isolation of all other things that had claims on council resources was an unnecessary micro-management of council business.
Councillor D Hancock explained that the fourth bullet point was not a criticism, it was recognition of the fact that people with early on-set dementia often did not recognise that they had an issue so getting them to go to the doctor or involving adult social care was often difficult.
Councillor B Hill stated that she had personal experience in regard to this issue and would be supporting the Motion. Councillor Hill stated that it was very difficult to get a diagnosis of early on-set dementia in younger people.
Councillor R Shipman agreed with the intent of the Motion and proposed a possible re-wording for the fourth bullet point to read ‘often the patients through no fault of any service provider are not able to get the diagnosis of dementia’ and to agree in principle that a survey would take place but for one of the scrutiny committees to confirm the details.
Councillor M Foster stated that he did not agree with the proposed changes Councillor R Shipman suggested and he wished his amendment to stand as originally stated.
Councillor N Barker stated he had intended to support the Motion but would now be happy to support the amendment. He thought that Councillors P Windley and B Hill should be invited to the scrutiny committee which dealt with this because they had the background knowledge. He believed that all Councillors wanted the system to be better so nobody fell through the gaps. He also wished to thank all staff for their work during the past five months and the Council should not forget the work they had done, and to keep staffing levels at a suitable level.
Councillor J Ridgway stated that the Council should be looking at the mental health of all people who had been affected by the Covid-19 crisis. She added that Covid-19 had affected people tremendously.
Councillor M Thacker MBE accepted what Councillor J Ridgway had said and added that mental health and wellbeing during the Covid-19 period had been a severe downside of what had happened during the pandemic for many people but believed this was a separate issue from dementia and Alzheimer’s. Councillor M Thacker stated that he felt the Motion did not go far enough and he would support the amendment. He stated that there was already recognised data for North East Derbyshire and would prefer to see the next actions of the Council as action focused; working with charities and groups to help them tackle Alzheimer’s and dementia and for the Council to undertake targeted work with the clinical commissioning group and public health organisations.
Councillor M Foster made clear that his amendment did not recommend this to any scrutiny committee and it would be up to individual Members to raise this issue at a scrutiny committee meeting.
Councillor A Dale expressed his support for the amendment and stated that he felt it was appropriate for the possibility of a survey to be raised at a scrutiny committee.
Councillor D Hancock stated that scrutiny could not set policy or priorities, it could only make recommendations and he would vote against the amendment because it took away from the proactivity of the Motion. The aim of the Motion was to get work started on this issue.
Councillor T Reader stated that she felt the amendment should be supported and that a scrutiny review of this would be more beneficial and would achieve the purpose of the Motion.
Councillor P Windley stated that the Motion was not meant as a criticism of the work of GPs or adult social care and she was happy to go along with whatever route would assure people received the help that they needed.
The amendment was carried to become the substantive motion.
Councillor R Shipman expressed his disappointment that the amendment had been carried.
The Motion, as amended, was CARRIED.
RESOLVED – That Council:-
Noted:
· The first class service delivered by its employees and members throughout the Covid-19 emergency.
· That it always strives to improve on its own performance.
· That those individuals and families who are living with, or caring for, early stage dementia experienced challenges over and above those faced my many others in our community.
Resolved:
· To thank all of our staff and members for their excellent work.
· To proactively support the Chair in her work with Alzheimer’s Research UK.