Agenda and minutes

None.

To approve the minutes of the proceedings of the Meeting of the Council held on 28^th September 2020.

The minutes of the meeting held on 28^th September 2020 were agreed and signed by the Mayor.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Meredith, Hadland, McCutcheon, Chunga and King.

The mayor thanked Members for their contributions to his chosen charity from their covid empowerment funds which amounted to almost £6,000. He announced that he had visited Brampton Primary School and attended a virtual fundraiser for Go Gold for Alfie which raised £,1000. The Mayor attended a conference held by Northampton Town of Sanctuary and congratulated the organisation for their efforts in helping vulnerable people during such a difficult time. The Mayor also judged posters made by school children supporting work by the Community Engagement team to raise awareness about hate crime in schools.

Upcoming events included:

·       Diwali, 7^th November starting at 5:30pm, details of the event could be found through the Mayor’s Office and Communications team.

·       Remembrance Sunday, 8^th November: the event would be virtual, and details could be found through the Mayor’s Office.

The Mayor urged Members to note any emails regarding new or updated covid regulations, and asked Council to contact the Civic and Mayoral Officer to make contributions to upcoming online events.

The Mayor announced that six members of the public had registered to speak.

Robin Burgess, Anne Wankiiri and Rachel McGrath requested to speak before Motion i was debated, and Alice Whitehead, Joe Cole and Russel Horsey requested to speak before Motion ii was debated.

The Mayor advised that ten questions had been received by Councillors and that the answers had been tabled in accordance with the Constitution. Questions and answers were given as tabled unless where stated, supplementary questions were asked as detailed below.

In response to a supplementary question relating to question 1, Councillor Hallam explained that the Kingdom Enforcement contract was not currently operational due to Covid-19 restrictions, greatly reducing the number of Fixed Penalty Notices issued.

In response to a supplementary question relating to question 9, Councillor Larratt advised that the independent highways inspector was being funded by the Local Highway Authority.

In response to a supplementary question relating to question 10, Councillor Hibbert advised that Covid-19 and unitary elections had caused delays, however updates would be brought to future meetings.

Councillor Nunn presented his report as Leader of the Council and highlighted the salient points. He noted the upcoming Remembrance Sunday and stressed the importance of the public staying at home and watching the virtual event instead. In response to questions, Councillor Nunn stated that the burden on the Environmental Services team was significant, but staff were coping under the circumstances and capacity levels were under constant review. Regarding the E-Scooter scheme, Councillor Nunn advised that progress had been made, they now had registration numbers so that the public could report them if they were found in unsuitable locations. Councillor Nunn stated that a more positive dialogue had been opened with NCC; the Council had made numerous responses, both formal and informal to consultations, including a “delivery robot” initiative.

Councillor Larratt presented his report at Deputy Leader and highlighted the salient points. In response to questions, Councillor Larrat advised that he would raise capacity issues regarding Democratic Services with the Monitoring Officer at their next meeting. The Community Governance Review Cross-Party Working Group would be considering asset transfers in due course. He advised that members of the public were entitled to postal votes and any applications for a postal vote would be duly processed; an all-postal vote election would require a change in legislation and there was no desire in central government for this to be done presently. Councillor Larratt assured Members that a member briefing on rail issues was being worked on. He also confirmed that Countywide Traveller Unit would continue on a county-wide basis following post-unitary.

Councillor Hallam presented his report as Cabinet Member for Environment and highlighted the salient points. He noted that his report had been written before the latest lockdown announcement and thanked officers in Environmental Health, Neighbourhood Wardens and Park Rangers for their continued hard work. In response to questions, Councillor Hallam advised that parks were maintained and updated on a rolling basis. Stats on missed bin collections and fly tipping were reported to Cabinet in regular monitoring reports. He confirmed that whilst there had been a number of isolated incidents, business compliance regarding Covid guidelines was generally very high. He advised that the Neighbourhood Wardens were effectively doing 2 jobs currently, however their hard work several months prior contributed to keeping Northampton from entering a local lockdown. Regarding fly tipping, Councillor Hallam stated that the evidence suggested a direct link between criminal gangs and organised fly tipping which was a difficult issue to resolve. He echoed comments made by Councillor Russell congratulating the local Park Ranger and community at Bradlaugh Fields on its Green Flag award.

Councillor Hibbert presented his report as Cabinet Member for Housing and Wellbeing and highlighted the salient points.

At this juncture of the meeting, the Mayor announced that the time limited for Cabinet Member reports had been reached and no further Cabinet Members would elaborate on their reports.

Councillor Meredith to make a statement on “Rose of the Shires”

Councillor Beardsworth made a statement on “Rose of the Shires” and stated that people going above and beyond during the pandemic represented the rose; she highlighted the efforts of a neighbour in providing meals for school children who had given her the nickname “Mrs Hope”. She lamented the fact that MPs had subsidised meals yet voted not to provide free school meals during school holidays. Councillor Beardsworth hoped that Members would contact the MPs for Northampton North and South and ask why they voted against the motion to provide free school meals.

Councillor Nunn stated that nobody wanted to see children to go hungry and advised that by Thursday 29^th October, 11,500 families had received vouchers and that by the end of the half-term, almost every eligible family had access, and noted that they could continue to claim for vouchers after the half term ended. This was an issue that had been exacerbated by Covid-19, but there was a determination to make things better for everyone.

Councillor Beardsworth stated that the Government had not listened to the people; 2,000 paediatric consultants had written to the Prime Minister stressing the importance of free school meals throughout the holidays and the advice had not been heeded.

(Copy herewith)

Councillor Larratt presented a report on Community Governance and Next Steps and noted the recommendations of the Cross-Party Working Group, contained in Item 2 of the report.

Councillor Nunn seconded the report.

Councillor Stone moved that the item be deferred and the report be sent back to the Cross-Party Working Group for further development; she stated that there had been no further work had been undertaken since the report was taken to the Cross-Party Working Group on 16^th September and expressed her disappointment that the report had not been seen by a scrutiny group or Members informed by way of a briefing.

Councillor Roberts echoed comments made by Councillor Stone and commented that there were no references to funding or budgets within the report

Councillor Birch seconded the motion made by Councillor Stone and commented that work should not progress until further details such as costings were detailed in the report.

Councillor B Markham commented that further details regarding assets, budgets, costing, etc., should be considered by the new town and parish councils which would involve a broader spectrum of elected members and allow members of the public to observe any decisions made.

Councillor Beardsworth expressed her disappointment that no work had been made on the report since it was considered by the Cross-Part Working Group on 16^th September. She questioned funding figures in the report and stated that further work was needed.

Councillor Malpas voiced concern around the lack of costings within the report and suggested that some of the town’s assets would need to be sold in order for the Guildhall to be properly maintained.

Councillor Larratt commented that any delays could cause the Council to risk losing control of implementing the new town and parish councils; the new shadow town and parish councils were the best option to inform the Cross-Party Working Group which would then bring forward satisfactory recommendations.

A vote was taken on the amendment by Councillor Stone to refer the report back to the Cross-Party Work Group for further work.

Upon a vote, the motion was lost.

The recommendations within the report were agreed.

RESOLVED:

1.       That the Chief Executive convenes a first shadow meeting of the Northampton Town Council to consider the matters as set out in the draft agenda on page 17 of the Cross-Party Working Group report of the 16^th September 2020 (and marked Appendix A in that report).

2.       That the Northampton Town Council be recommended at its first shadow meeting to agree the terms and conditions along with arrangements for the recruitment of a Town Clerk   for the Town Council who when appointed will commence duties as soon as is practicable after the 1st April 2021.

3.       That the Cross-Party Working Group be delegated power to carry out the interview and appointment of a Town Clerk and have further delegated authority to agree all terms and conditions for such an appointment.

4.       That the services proposed to be transferred to the Town Council as set out  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

i)              Councilor Roberts to propose and Councilor Birch to second:

“1 in 10 children in Northamptonshire receive free school meals. For many of these children this is the only hot and substantial meal they receive.

Free School meals are not customarily available during school holidays. Working parents incur additional childcare costs around the holidays. Families already struggling with low budgets find it difficult to feed their children. Children most at risk of hunger during the holidays may also suffer from social isolation, loneliness, and inactivity. These factors combined can lead to significant weight loss or gain, and negative impacts on physical and mental well-being.

This is a problem highlighted further with the current pandemic and one that is likely to increase and definitely not go away. Covid-19 is a natural phenomenon, poverty is not, and the containment of the virus will not end this plight.

We call on this Council to write to:-

·         Support a call to action for Northampton MPs to support the extension of the of the voucher scheme to all school holiday periods and to look to embed the scheme all year round. 

·         Call on National Government to act to ensure this gap is filled. 

·         To support calls to protect pupils forced to self-isolate, who will not receive their free school meal and may go hungry.

We further call on this Council:-

·         To work with Partners to establish Holiday Clubs where children can access social activities as well as food, providing financial relief for parents on very low incomes, so that no child goes hungry over any school holiday.

·         To scope and investigate the possibility of harnessing additional funding targeted to identified groups who already do or wish to offer these services.

·         To scope and investigate the potential for directing a portion of the community fund budget into community organisations, who already do, or wish to, offer these services.

What is needed is joined up working with the County Council and a commitment to take this motion forward into the West Northants authority.”

ii)             Councillor Roberts to propose and Councillor Joyce to second:

Northampton Borough Council’s Tree Policy was written in 2016, with no serious amendments or considerations since that time.  The policy is out of date and falls short of those used by other councils.

There are no pictures to show what a good tree in Northampton looks like, and it fails to join up planning policy. 

There is a negative bias that over-emphasises the challenges and conflicts without enough content about the benefits or solutions that would lead to improvement of Northampton’s urban forest and community engagement around them.

There are many more positive benefits that trees bring to urban environments. For example, they can increase house prices, improve health and wellbeing. They can also encourage more sustainable lifestyle choices. There is very little on the biodiversity benefit.

We call on this Council to:

1.     Note the significant role trees play in enhancing accessible green spaces, improving air quality, restoring and protecting soil health,  ...  view the full agenda text for item 10.

Robin Burgess addressed Council in respect of motion i) and commented that on behalf of Northamptonshire County Council he was coordinating the administration of the government award towards addressing holiday hunger. He advised that there were a high number of people seeking assistance who had previously not been in receipt of benefits or required the service of food banks, as a consequence of the pandemic.

Anne Wankiiri, of United African Association addressed Council in respect of motion i) and advised that some BAME children were not eligible for food vouchers due to the immigration status of their parents; her organisation provided many of these families with food parcels but stated that they needed assistance from the Council and other organisations.

Rachel McGrath, representing Northamptonshire Food Poverty Network, addressed Council in respect of motion i) and stated that the Food Poverty Scrutiny Panel found there was an expectation that voluntary organisations would “fill the gap” where councils could not meet the needs of hungry families, however voluntary organisations were facing an unsure future. She stated that the motion would provide assurance to families locked in a struggle to make ends meet, noting that the situation would get worse as unemployment rose. Ms McGrath further noted that the End Child Poverty Coalition found 11,721 kids living in poverty in Northampton.

I)                Councillor accepted an amendment to the original motion as published on the agenda. The altered motion was seconded by Councillor Birch.

“1 in 10 children in Northamptonshire receive free school meals. For many of these children this is the only hot and substantial meal they receive.

Free School meals are not customarily available during school holidays. Working parents incur additional childcare costs around the holidays. Families already struggling with low budgets find it difficult to feed their children. Children most at risk of hunger during the holidays may also suffer from social isolation, loneliness, and inactivity. These factors combined can lead to significant weight loss or gain, and negative impacts on physical and mental well-being. 

This is a problem highlighted further with the current pandemic and one that is likely to increase and definitely not go away. Covid-19 is a natural phenomenon, poverty is not, and the containment of the virus will not end this plight. 

During recent months, this council has supported a number of charities and groups to deliver food support to the most vulnerable, many of them supporting families with young children in particular, through grants of around £85,000, and is involved with the management of the £330,000 DEFRA grant which is directly supporting food provision and food banks, which is administered by the Hope Centre.

This council therefore resolved to: 

·       Work with Northampton MPs and the county council to support the extension of the of the voucher scheme to all school holiday periods and to look to embed the scheme all year round. 

·       Urge National Government to act to ensure this gap is filled. 

·       To support calls to protect pupils forced to self-isolate,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

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