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 R Shipman
Council notes:
· That 16% (2019 figures) of state school children in Derbyshire rely on free school meals during term time. The recent decision to not extend the free food voucher scheme, implemented at the start of the pandemic, for over the summer holidays. The Covid-19 crisis means we are in unprecedented times.
Council resolves:
· To work with all stakeholders across North East Derbyshire to deliver weekly food parcels to children who are entitled to free school meals starting from 7th December until 18th January.
· To continue with the regular food bank collection points and engage with food retailers to assist with gathering food supplies to support the scheme.
· That if supplies are greater than the demand for the service, look at other vulnerable groups to deliver parcels to.
· To report back to full Council on how many people have been supported through the scheme.
(b) Motion submitted by Councillor N Barker
Council Notes:
· Following the full council meeting on 12th October 2020, the video footage was taken down from YouTube, edited to remove offensive words and re-uploaded with 10 seconds of content removed
· All Councillors are responsible for their own behaviour in their role as a member of this council and should follow the Nolan Principles
· The Nolan principles call for Holders of public office to act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. That Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.
Council resolves:
· That all video and audio footage should remain available online and by written request for 12 months from the date the video was recorded.
· That no video or audio footage of council meetings, committees or sub-committees shall ever be edited.
Minutes:
(a) Motion submitted by Councillor R Shipman
Members considered a motion submitted by Councillor R Shipman. This motion was about the provision of food parcels during December 2020 and early January 2021, to those children who would normally receive free school meals.
With the agreement of the Chair, Councillor R Shipman asked the Leader of the Council, Councillor A Dale, to provide an update on the recent changes which had occurred at a national and local level on this issue?
The Leader of the Council explained that the Government had announced a £170M Covid Winter Grant scheme. Funding under the scheme would be ring-fenced to the provision of food and support for vulnerable children and their families until March 2021. He also explained that the Government had announced the extension of the Holiday Activities and Food programme until Christmas 2021.
Members were informed that Derbyshire Council would receive £2.18M from the Winter Grant Aid Scheme. Although the Government had yet to specify the criteria for making payments, it appeared that the County Council, working with the District Councils and other partners, would have discretion to determine who should be supported using this grant aid and how best to support them.
Following on from this, Cllr R Shipman indicated that he would be prepared to support an amendment to the motion, which had been drafted by Cllr A Dale, to reflect these recent developments.
As a procedural measure to enable the amended motion to be considered, Councillor R Shipman and Councillor D Hancock moved and seconded the original motion, as printed on the Council Agenda for the meeting.
Councillor A Dale then put forward his proposed amendment to the motion (changes underlined):
Council notes:
· That 16% (2019 figures) of state school children in Derbyshire rely on free school meals during term time.
· The recent decision to not extend the free food voucher scheme, implemented at the start of the pandemic, over the October half term.
· The Covid-19 crisis means we are in unprecedented times.
Council welcomes:
· The Government’s recent announcement of the £170m Covid Winter Grant Scheme to support vulnerable households with food and bills until March 2021 and the expansion of the Holiday Activities and Food programme to Christmas 2021.
· Derbyshire County Council’s allocation of £2.18m under the Covid Winter Grant Scheme.
Council resolves:
· To offer support to Derbyshire County Council and commit to working with all relevant stakeholders across North East Derbyshire, including the County Council, to support the delivery of the Covid Winter Grant locally to vulnerable households.
· To continue with the regular food bank collection points and engage with food retailers to assist with gathering food supplies to support the scheme.
· That if supplies are greater than the demand for the service, look at other vulnerable groups to support.
· To report back to full Council on how many people have been supported through the scheme
Councillor A Dale and Councillor W Armitage moved and seconded the amendment to the motion.
The amendment to the motion was put to the vote and was carried.
(a) Motion submitted by Councillor N Barker
Council then considered a motion, submitted by Councillor N Barker on the electronic recording of Council meetings. The motion as printed on the Council Agenda for the meeting was:
Council notes:
· Following the full council meeting on 12th October 2020, the video footage was taken down from YouTube, edited to remove offensive words and re-uploaded with 10 seconds of content removed
· All Councillors are responsible for their own behaviour in their role as a member of this council and should follow the Nolan Principles
· The Nolan principles call for Holders of public office to act and take decisions in an open and transparent manner. That Information should not be withheld from the public unless there are clear and lawful reasons for so doing.
Council resolves:
· That all video and audio footage should remain available online and by written request for 12 months from the date the video was recorded.
· That no video or audio footage of council meetings, committees or sub-committees shall ever be edited.
Council discussed extensively the motion. Several key points emerged from the discussion. Those in favour of the motion felt that, as a matter of principle, the recording of the public parts of any Council meeting should not be edited, as to do so might create a misleading impression of what had occurred at the meeting and how Members had conducted themselves.
Those against the motion thought it would be inappropriate to allow recordings of offensive language to remain on the Council’s website. They also highlighted the practical implications of not being able to remove sensitive personal information that had been incorrectly raised during the public part of a meeting.
At the conclusion of the discussion, the motion was moved and seconded by Councillor N Barker and Councillor R Shipman.
At the request of three Members (Councillor D Hancock, Councillor N Barker and Councillor R Shipman) a recorded vote was called for.
The motion was put to the vote and was defeated on a recorded vote.
For the Motion: 18
(Councillors N Barker, J Birkin, A Cooper, S Cornwell, J Funnell, D Hancock, L Hartshorne, P A Holmes, M Jones, P R Kerry, J Lilley, G Morley, S Pickering, T Reader, J Ridgway, K Rouse, R Shipman and P Windley)
Against the Motion: 28
(Councillors P Antcliff, W Armitage, K Bone, P Bone, S Clough, C Cupit, A Dale, L Deighton, P Elliott, M Emmens, A Foster, M Foster, O Gomez Reaney, Mrs C D Huckerby, A Hutchinson, J Kenyon, B Lewis, H Liggett, P Parkin, M Potts, A Powell, C Renwick, M Roe, D Ruff, K Tait, M E Thacker MBE, R Welton and N Whitehead).