1) Our schools are the future
The closure of rural schools in North Yorkshire has many significant negative social impacts on residents, communities and children.
The loss of schools and other associated infrastructure leaves villages without the necessary services to support families now and into the future.
We call on this council to place a moratorium on any school closures until the new North Yorkshire local plan is developed.
Proposed Cllr Steve Mason
Seconded Cllr Andrew Murday
2) Hospice funding
This Council recognises:
1. The invaluable care that the Hospice movement provides to people at the end of life and the tremendous public support that they command.
2. The unfortunate, but inevitable demographic changes in our society that has led in recent years, notwithstanding the impact of COVID, to increasing numbers of people who could benefit from Hospice, Palliative and End of Life Care, particularly for people with complex needs or who experience high levels of frailty in their last year of life.
3. The desire of the Hospice sector to protect its independent status whilst having its contribution to supporting people at the end of life recognised through fair and consistent funding arrangements across and within the new Integrated Care Board statutory responsibility to commission Hospice, Palliative and End of Life Care services.
This council therefore regrets that ICB funding for Hospices has not kept up with inflation, and it recognises the detrimental effect this is having on Hospice service provision across North Yorkshire. We call on the local ICB to ensure that it meets its statutory requirements, and that it commits to paying Hospices the full cost of any commissioned clinical services that would be otherwise be provided by the NHS.
Further, in fulfilling its own responsibilities to improve the health and wellbeing of its population this Council is concerned that the failure to adequately fund the sector will undermine its own ability to fulfil that responsibility.
We therefore request that the Leader of the Council writes to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to ask her to ensure that NHS England gives greater support to Integrated Care Boards, enabling them to better understand their responsibilities for Hospice and End of Life Care services, and thus ensuring a fair contribution for the work they do and greater consistency across England, taking note of changing needs.
Proposed Cllr Peter Lacey
Seconded Cllr Andrew Lee
3) Care Leavers
Young people leaving social care are already in a vulnerable situation, and they are often subject to discrimination when attempting to get a job or find a place to live. Indeed, some housing providers directly stipulate “no care leavers”.
The effect of this discrimination is to push these young people, who are already vulnerable, into hostels and shelters where they are easy targets for exploitation and victimisation by criminal gangs.
We call on this council to join over sixty other local councils in the UK by treating care experience as if it is a protected characteristic by:
• Ensuring that during development of future policy and service provision, impact on those who have had care experience is considered alongside impact on those with other protected characteristics.
• Including care leavers and children in care in its equality objectives and reports, alongside those with other protected characteristics.
• Proactively seeking out and listening to people who have experience of care, especially when considering decisions which affect them.
• Formally calling on central government to add care experience as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act, as recommended by the 2022 Independent Review of Children’s Social Care.
• Formally calling on other bodies, such as academy trusts, housing providers, and the new combined authority to treat care experience as if it is a protected characteristic in similar ways.
Proposed Cllr Andrew Timothy
Seconded Cllr Chris Aldred
4) Right to Grow
This Council notes:
• Its own commitment to conserving biodiversity in order to help mitigate climate change by increasing capture and storage of carbon in ecosystems, and support adaptation to climate impacts.
• That trees and green space in urban environments can help prevent floods, cool streets, sequester carbon emissions, filter air pollution, and provide an important habitat for insect and plant-life.
• The increasing need to put the health and well-being of residents at the heart of our Council strategies.
• The powerful evidence which demonstrates the link between people’s health and wellbeing and the availability of fresh locally produced food.
• That the cost-of-living crisis is creating real hunger reinforcing the need for healthy fresh food at an affordable price.
• That communities coming together to grow can radically reduce costs to NHS and social care budgets by reducing loneliness and providing healthy food.
• That there is plenty of under-used publicly owned land which could be used for community food growing while also improving the public realm.
This Council agrees:
• Identify and produce a map of all Council owned land suitable for community cultivation that is publicly available at no cost to residents, and actively promoted across all wards.
• Land should be considered suitable for cultivation for food or biodiversity unless containing proven hazards or unless development is due within 24 months.
• Make this land available for cultivation by a simple license to community organisations at no cost.
• Ensure the license does not contain conditions that present a significant barrier to residents in terms of financial or practical requirements.
• Ensure that where community groups cultivating on public realm land for food growing or wildlife spaces, the groups are given an opportunity to bid for the land should it be tendered to sale.
• Allow the necessary infrastructure such as access to water and/or for water harvesting to enable sustainable cultivation for all.
• Ensure that allotment provision adheres to the 1969 Thorpe Report which recommends a minimum provision equivalent to 15 plots per 1,000 households. In the 2011 census, 256,594 households were recorded in North Yorkshire.
Proposed Cllr Hannah Gostlow
Seconded Cllr Steve Mason.
5) Home to School Transport
A significant proportion of the NYC Home to School Travel Service is governed by legislation. However, proposals to bring the policy in line with the DfE requirements by removing some areas of discretionary provision has some risks:
• estimated annual savings of £3.2m are based on a number of assumptions which are difficult to predict
• the full financial impact of the changes won’t be seen for seven years
• families with more than one child could have different eligibility, with children from the same family being forced to attend schools in different locations
• restricting eligibility to nearest school only will have a significant & disproportionate impact on rural communities
• potential changes to the pattern of admissions at schools where transport provision is a factor
• a house move within the area could mean children are forced leave their current school.
• North Yorkshire will be paying other authorities to educate its own children while perfectly good schools inside the county lose out.
We call on this council to halt the drastic cuts to free school bus services in the county and to use the £6.2m of emergency central government funding for its intended purpose of supporting frontline services.
Proposed Cllr Barbara Brodigan
Seconded Cllr Felicity Cunliffe-Lister.
Minutes:
The Chair, Councillor Roberta Swiers, advised that five Notices of Motion had been submitted. The Chair confirmed that she had ruled as follows on each of the submitted motions:
(1) A call to place a moratorium on any school closures until the new North Yorkshire local plan is developed – motion to be debated at the meeting
(2) A request for the Leader to write a letter to the Secretary of State regarding hospice funding and support – motion to be debated at the meeting
(3) A call to join over sixty other local councils in the UK by treating care experience as if it is a protected characteristic – motion to be referred to the Scrutiny Board to determine the most appropriate overview and scrutiny committee
(4) A call to promote un-used public land for the cultivation for food or biodiversity and expand allotment provision –motion to be referred to the Scrutiny Board to determine the most appropriate overview and scrutiny committee
(5) A call to halt the proposed cuts to free school bus services in the county (Home to School Transport policy) - motion to be referred to the Executive
89 Our schools are the future
(1)
The closure of rural schools in North Yorkshire has many significant negative social impacts on residents, communities and children.
The loss of schools and other associated infrastructure leaves villages without the necessary services to support families now and into the future.
We call on this council to place a moratorium on any school closures until the new North Yorkshire local plan is developed.
Proposer - Cllr Steve Mason
Seconder - Cllr Andrew Murday
The notice of motion was moved by Councillor Steve Mason and seconded by Councillor Andrew Murday.
The motion was then debated.
On a vote being taken 15 Members voted for the motion, 68 against and there was one abstention. The motion therefore fell.
89 Hospice Funding
(2)
This Council recognises:
1. The invaluable care that the Hospice movement provides to people at the end of life and the tremendous public support that they command.
2. The unfortunate, but inevitable demographic changes in our society that has led in recent years, notwithstanding the impact of COVID, to increasing numbers of people who could benefit from Hospice, Palliative and End of Life Care, particularly for people with complex needs or who experience high levels of frailty in their last year of life.
3. The desire of the Hospice sector to protect its independent status whilst having its contribution to supporting people at the end of life recognised through fair and consistent funding arrangements across and within the new Integrated Care Board statutory responsibility to commission Hospice, Palliative and End of Life Care services.
This council therefore regrets that ICB funding for Hospices has not kept up with inflation, and it recognises the detrimental effect this is having on Hospice service provision across North Yorkshire. We call on the local ICB to ensure that it meets its statutory requirements, and that it commits to paying Hospices the full cost of any commissioned clinical services that would be otherwise be provided by the NHS.
Further, in fulfilling its own responsibilities to improve the health and wellbeing of its population this Council is concerned that the failure to adequately fund the sector will undermine its own ability to fulfil that responsibility.
We therefore request that the Leader of the Council writes to the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care to ask her to ensure that NHS England gives greater support to Integrated Care Boards, enabling them to better understand their responsibilities for Hospice and End of Life Care services, and thus ensuring a fair contribution for the work they do and greater consistency across England, taking note of changing needs.
Proposed – Cllr Peter Lacey
Seconded – Cllr Andrew Lee
The notice of motion was moved by Councillor Peter Lacey and seconded by Councillor Andrew Lee. In moving the motion Councillor Lacey proposed that in the final paragraph after the words “End of Life Care services” the words “encouraging collaboration at a local level” be added and this was accepted.
The motion was then debated.
On a vote being taken the notice of motion was approved unanimously.
89 Care Leavers
(3)
Young people leaving social care are already in a vulnerable situation, and they are often subject to discrimination when attempting to get a job or find a place to live. Indeed, some housing providers directly stipulate “no care leavers”.
The effect of this discrimination is to push these young people, who are already vulnerable, into hostels and shelters where they are easy targets for exploitation and victimisation by criminal gangs.
We call on this council to join over sixty other local councils in the UK by treating care experience as if it is a protected characteristic by:
· Ensuring that during development of future policy and service provision, impact on those who have had care experience is considered alongside impact on those with other protected characteristics.
· Including care leavers and children in care in its equality objectives and reports, alongside those with other protected characteristics.
· Proactively seeking out and listening to people who have experience of care, especially when considering decisions which affect them.
· Formally calling on central government to add care experience as a protected characteristic in the Equality Act, as recommended by the 2022 Independent Page 5 Review of Children’s Social Care.
· Formally calling on other bodies, such as academy trusts, housing providers, and the new combined authority to treat care experience as if it is a protected characteristic in similar ways.
Proposed – Cllr Andrew Timothy
Seconded – Cllr Andrew Lee
The motion was moved and seconded and referred to the Scrutiny Board to determine the most appropriate overview and scrutiny committee.
89 Right to Grow
(4)
This Council notes:
· Its own commitment to conserving biodiversity in order to help mitigate climate change by increasing capture and storage of carbon in ecosystems, and support adaptation to climate impacts.
· That trees and green space in urban environments can help prevent floods, cool streets, sequester carbon emissions, filter air pollution, and provide an important habitat for insect and plant-life.
· The increasing need to put the health and well-being of residents at the heart of our Council strategies.
· The powerful evidence which demonstrates the link between people’s health and wellbeing and the availability of fresh locally produced food.
· That the cost-of-living crisis is creating real hunger reinforcing the need for healthy fresh food at an affordable price.
· That communities coming together to grow can radically reduce costs to NHS and social care budgets by reducing loneliness and providing healthy food.
· That there is plenty of under-used publicly owned land which could be used for community food growing while also improving the public realm.
This Council agrees:
· Identify and produce a map of all Council owned land suitable for community cultivation that is publicly available at no cost to residents, and actively promotedacross all wards.
· Land should be considered suitable for cultivation for food or biodiversity unless containing proven hazards or unless development is due within 24 months.
· Make this land available for cultivation by a simple license to community organisations at no cost.
· Ensure the license does not contain conditions that present a significant barrier to residents in terms of financial or practical requirements.
· Ensure that where community groups cultivating on public realm land for food growing or wildlife spaces, the groups are given an opportunity to bid for the land should it be tendered to sale.
· Allow the necessary infrastructure such as access to water and/or for water harvesting to enable sustainable cultivation for all.
· Ensure that allotment provision adheres to the 1969 Thorpe Report which recommends a minimum provision equivalent to 15 plots per 1,000 households. In the 2011 census, 256,594 households were recorded in North Yorkshire.
Proposer – Cllr Hannah Gostlow
Seconder – Cllr Steve Mason.
The motion was moved and seconded and referred to the Scrutiny Board to determine the most appropriate overview and scrutiny committee.
89 Home to School Transport
(5)
A significant proportion of the NYC Home to School Travel Service is governed by legislation. However, proposals to bring the policy in line with the DfE requirements by removing some areas of discretionary provision has some risks:
· estimated annual savings of £3.2m are based on a number of assumptions which are difficult to predict
· the full financial impact of the changes won’t be seen for seven years
· families with more than one child could have different eligibility, with children from the same family being forced to attend schools in different locations
· restricting eligibility to nearest school only will have a significant & disproportionate impact on rural communities
· potential changes to the pattern of admissions at schools where transport provision is a factor
· a house move within the area could mean children are forced leave their current school.
· North Yorkshire will be paying other authorities to educate its own children while perfectly good schools inside the county lose out.
We call on this council to halt the drastic cuts to free school bus services in the county and to use the £6.2m of emergency central government funding for its intended purpose of supporting frontline services.
Proposer – Cllr Barbara Brodigan
Seconder – CllrFelicity Cunliffe-Lister.
The motion was moved and seconded and referred to the Executive.