Agenda item

(time limit 30 minutes)

Motion 1

Councillor S Bashforth to MOVE and Councillor M Bashforth to SECOND:

Policing

This Council notes that anti-social behaviour and crime in our suburbs is blighting our communities creating an unsettling atmosphere of fear and justified anger. This arises from the reduction in front line police services as a direct result of coalition and Tory Government cuts of £215m in the money which funds Greater Manchester Police.

2,000 Officers have been cut across GM since 2010 – over 1/3 of the total. The police are under increasing pressure to fight cyber crime/terrorism and because of the cuts neighbourhood policing is suffering.

It is essential that the public have confidence in the police and that the relationship between police and elected members is strong. The 101 service is the first point of contact for reporting crime and more needs to be done to ensure it is responsive and reliable and deals with the issues troubling residents appropriately. In the current situation of reducing public sector resources, it is also important that there is good communication between the police and elected members as residents will approach whoever they can contact to raise concerns about policing and anti-social behaviour.

Council notes that this Labour administration has appointed a cabinet member for Police and Community Safety to focus on these issues and resolves

1. to ask the Cabinet Member to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding between the council and police to ensure that elected members can be confident that their enquiries on behalf of residents will be dealt with and responded to in a timely manner.
2. to continue to press the Mayor for Greater Manchester to resolve the difficulties faced by the 101 service so that it provides an acceptable response to calls made by the public

Motion 2

Councillor Leach to MOVE and Councillor Taylor to SECOND:

Rail

This Council notes with dismay the continuing shocking state of rail services in the Greater Manchester area. New timetables have reduced the number of trains at peak times and fragmented journeys across the conurbation of Greater Manchester. The ‘emergency’ timetable has only marginally improved the situation. People travelling from Oldham have suffered intolerably.

The underlying problem is of underinvestment in local rail service, lack of rolling stock, too few trains at peak times and unreliability of the service. Basically, this is the result of the fragmentation of rail services, the operation of the franchise system and the length of franchising. Delays in electrification and other infrastructural improvements have negatively affected rail users in the North.

This council supports the efforts of the Mayor of Greater Manchester and local MPs to get the Government, Network Rail and the operating companies to take responsibility for this crisis and to provide a long term solution which accords as much importance to local links in the system as to inter-city travel. 

The Council welcomes work underway at Mills Hill to provide full platform access.

This Council believes that

1.    The current franchising system is dysfunctional and should be overhauled. Current franchise holders unable to meet their obligations should have their contracts terminated and face financial penalties.

2.    Transport for the North must have the same signatory authority over rail franchises as that now exercised by Transport for London.

3.    As a minimum, timetable changes need at least to reinstate services cut from May 2018, better they should reflect earlier commitments for an upgrade programme, taking account of the views of passengers.

4.    Full platform access is needed at Greenfield, with a firm commitment to funding and a time frame for completion.

The Council resolves to

1. Ask its representatives on Transport for Greater Manchester to take every opportunity to push for a revised timetable which provides stability and reliability, access improvements and increased investment in rail services.
2. Work with local groups to campaign for longer term improvements in rail services
3. Pledge its support for campaigns, including that of the Manchester Evening News, for greater investment and increased powers for Transport for the North to provide a rail service for Oldham, and the North West, which meets local needs and is managed in the North

Motion 3

Councillor Stretton to MOVE and Councillor Haque to SECOND:

Tyred Campaign

On Monday 10 September 2012 a coach bound for Liverpool carrying 53 people from the Bestival music festival on the Isle of Wight, left the road and crashed into a tree instantly killing Michael Molloy (18), Kerry Ogden (23) and the coach driver, Colin Daulby (63), and left others with life-changing injuries. The inquest into the crash found that the front nearside tyre which was actually older than the coach itself, at 19 years, was responsible for the crash. In 2014, Liverpool City Council unanimously agreed on a motion in support of Michael’s mother Frances calling for a change in the law requiring a ban on tyres older than six years on commercial vehicles. Despite the widespread public and political support for this campaign, no change in the law has been made, shamefully leaving others at risk from faulty and dangerous tyres.
Council notes that Frances Molloy has launched “Tyred” – the official campaign to pressure Government – to change the law to ban the use of tyres older than ten years on commercial vehicles.
Council wholeheartedly supports “Tyred” and asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition asking them to commit to cross-party support for a change in the law.
Council further resolves to support the “Tyred” campaign until such a change in the law is achieved and to draw the attention of the Local Government Association, especially its Environment and Transport Board, to this Council’s view that the concerns should be fully addressed. Council requests that the Leader copies the Chair of the LGA’s Environment and Transport Board into the letter to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.
Finally, Council asks the Chief Executive to write to all schools in the Borough asking them to require coach and bus operators that they use for school trips etc to adhere to the provisions set out in the Tyred campaign. Council should also ask officers to look at our own procurement procedures with a view to inserting an appropriate clause in any contracts with commercial operators and to also ensure that this standard applies to our own vehicle fleet.

Motion 1 – Policing

Councillor S. Bashforth MOVED and Councillor M. Bashforth SECONDED the following Motion:

“This Council notes that anti-social behaviour and crime in our suburbs is blighting our communities creating an unsettling atmosphere of fear and justified anger. This arises from the reduction in front line police services as a direct result of coalition and Tory Government cuts of £215m in the money which funds Greater Manchester Police.

2,000 Officers have been cut across GM since 2010 – over 1/3 of the total. The police are under increasing pressure to fight cyber crime/terrorism and because of the cuts neighbourhood policing is suffering.

It is essential that the public have confidence in the police and that the relationship between police and elected members is strong. The 101 service is the first point of contact for reporting crime and more needs to be done to ensure it is responsive and reliable and deals with the issues troubling residents appropriately. In the current situation of reducing public sector resources, it is also important that there is good communication between the police and elected members as residents will approach whoever they can contact to raise concerns about policing and anti-social behaviour.

Council notes that this Labour administration has appointed a cabinet member for Police and Community Safety to focus on these issues and resolves

1.      to ask the Cabinet Member to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding between the council and police to ensure that elected members can be confident that their enquiries on behalf of residents will be dealt with and responded to in a timely manner.

2.      to continue to press the Mayor for Greater Manchester to resolve the difficulties faced by the 101 service so that it provides an acceptable response to calls made by the public”

Councillor Ur-Rehman spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Sykes spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Sheldon spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Hudson spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Ali spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Mushtaq spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Rehman spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Iqbal spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor S. Bashforth exercised his/her right of reply.

On being put to the VOTE, the MOTION was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

RESOLVED that:

1.         The Cabinet Member be asked to negotiate a Memorandum of Understanding between the council and police to ensure that elected members can be confident that their enquiries on behalf of residents will be dealt with and responded to in a timely manner.

2.         The Mayor of Greater Manchester to be pressed continually to resolve the difficulties faced by the 101 service to that it provided an acceptable response to calls made by the public.

Motion 2 – Rail

Councillor Leach MOVED and Councillor Taylor SECONDED the following Motion:

“This Council notes with dismay the continuing shocking state of rail services in the Greater Manchester area. New timetables have reduced the number of trains at peak times and fragmented journeys across the conurbation of Greater Manchester. The ‘emergency’ timetable has only marginally improved the situation. People travelling from Oldham have suffered intolerably.

The underlying problem is of underinvestment in local rail service, lack of rolling stock, too few trains at peak times and unreliability of the service. Basically, this is the result of the fragmentation of rail services, the operation of the franchise system and the length of franchising. Delays in electrification and other infrastructural improvements have negatively affected rail users in the North.

This council supports the efforts of the Mayor of Greater Manchester and local MPs to get the Government, Network Rail and the operating companies to take responsibility for this crisis and to provide a long term solution which accords as much importance to local links in the system as to inter-city travel. 

The Council welcomes work underway at Mills Hill to provide full platform access.

This Council believes that

1.    The current franchising system is dysfunctional and should be overhauled. Current franchise holders unable to meet their obligations should have their contracts terminated and face financial penalties.

2.    Transport for the North must have the same signatory authority over rail franchises as that now exercised by Transport for London.

3.    As a minimum, timetable changes need at least to reinstate services cut from May 2018, better they should reflect earlier commitments for an upgrade programme, taking account of the views of passengers.

4.    Full platform access is needed at Greenfield, with a firm commitment to funding and a time frame for completion.

The Council resolves to

1.    Ask its representatives on Transport for Greater Manchester to take every opportunity to push for a revised timetable which provides stability and reliability, access improvements and increased investment in rail services.

2.    Work with local groups to campaign for longer term improvements in rail services.

3.    Pledge its support for campaigns, including that of the Manchester Evening News, for greater investment and increased powers for Transport for the North to provide a rail service for Oldham, and the North West, which meets local needs and is managed in the North.”

The Mayor informed the meeting that the time limit for this item had expired.

Councillor Leach did not exercise her right of reply.

On being put to the VOTE, the MOTION was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

RESOLVED that:

1.         The representatives on Transport for Greater Manchester be asked to take every opportunity to push for a revised timetable which provided stability and reliability, access improvements and increased investment for rail services.

2.         The Council work with local groups to campaign for longer term improvements in rail services.

3.         The Council pledged its support for campaigns, including that of the Manchester Evening News, for greater investment and increased powers for Transport for the North to provide a rail service for Oldham, and the North West, which met local needs and was managed in the North.

Motion 3 – Tyred Campaign

The Mayor informed the meeting that the time limit for this item had expired and Councillor Stretton as the Mover of the Motion and Councillor Haque as Second of the Motion requested the permit the following motion be roled over for discussion at the next Council meeting.

“On Monday 10 September 2012 a coach bound for Liverpool carrying 53 people from the Bestival music festival on the Isle of Wight, left the road and crashed into a tree instantly killing Michael Molloy (18), Kerry Ogden (23) and the coach driver, Colin Daulby (63), and left others with life-changing injuries. The inquest into the crash found that the front nearside tyre which was actually older than the coach itself, at 19 years, was responsible for the crash. In 2014, Liverpool City Council unanimously agreed on a motion in support of Michael’s mother Frances calling for a change in the law requiring a ban on tyres older than six years on commercial vehicles. Despite the widespread public and political support for this campaign, no change in the law has been made, shamefully leaving others at risk from faulty and dangerous tyres.

Council notes that Frances Molloy has launched “Tyred” – the official campaign to pressure Government – to change the law to ban the use of tyres older than ten years on commercial vehicles.

Council wholeheartedly supports “Tyred” and asks the Leader of the Council to write to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition asking them to commit to cross-party support for a change in the law.

Council further resolves to support the “Tyred” campaign until such a change in the law is achieved and to draw the attention of the Local Government Association, especially its Environment and Transport Board, to this Council’s view that the concerns should be fully addressed. Council requests that the Leader copies the Chair of the LGA’s Environment and Transport Board into the letter to the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition.

Finally, Council asks the Chief Executive to write to all schools in the Borough asking them to require coach and bus operators that they use for school trips etc to adhere to the provisions set out in the Tyred campaign. Council should also ask officers to look at our own procurement procedures with a view to inserting an appropriate clause in any contracts with commercial operators and to also ensure that this standard applies to our own vehicle fleet.”

RESOLVED that the Motion be rolled over to the Council meeting to be held on 12^th September 2018.