Agenda item

Notice of Opposition Business

(time limit 30 minutes)

 

Motion 1

Councillor Williamson to MOVE and Councillor Al-Hamdani to SECOND:

Clean Air Outside Our Schools

This Council notes that:

·       Our residents, staff and children, are exposed to unsafe levels of pollutants outside of schools at peak times in the morning and afternoon.

·       Road transport is one of the biggest contributors to particulate matter and pollution in Oldham Borough.

·       Epidemiological studies show that symptoms of bronchitis in asthmatic children increase in association with long-term exposure to pollutants, as well as stunting lung growth.

·       Only a handful of schools across the country are trialling “No Vehicle Idling zones” yet they bring many health benefits.

·       Air pollution poses a serious threat to the health and development of young people.  While many of the policy interventions to rectify this problem would have to come from central Government or the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan, this Council can do more and needs to be proactive on this issue.

·       That there should be No-Vehicle-Idling zones around schools across the Borough.

 

This Council resolves to:

·       Review the work done on No-Vehicle-Idling nationally in other local authorities and work this into Oldham’s action plan for No-Vehicle-Idling Zones.

·       Implement No-Vehicle-Idling Zones, around as many primary schools in the Borough as possible, by the end of 2022.

·       Work closely with schools that are part of the scheme to inform parents and carers of the No-Vehicle-Idling Zones.

·       Encourage local businesses to sponsor green walls on school buildings and tree planting near schools and the appropriate cabinet member include this in their action plan.

 

Motion 2

Councillor Harkness to MOVE and Councillor Hamblett to SECOND:         

Anti-Bullying Week 2019 “Change starts with us”

This year's Anti-Bullying Week has the theme “Change Starts With Us” and is happening from Monday 11th November - Friday 15th November 2019. 

 

This Council unfortunately notes that:

·       Trades Union Congress (TUC) research revealed nearly a third of people have been bullied at their workplace. Of those bullied, half said it had an adverse impact on their performance at work.

·       Female employees are more likely to be victims of bullying than males. 

·       People of all ages are bullied because of their race, culture, faith, appearance, identity, socioeconomic status, interests/hobbies, academic ability, mannerisms, and whether they are young carers or looked after children. This bullying can take place in person or online.

·       Nearly half of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans young people have been bullied at school for being LGBTQIA+.  Children with disabilities and those with special educational needs are around twice as likely to be bullied.

·       Bullying pervades every level of human society, even the Houses of Commons. Dame Laura Cox’s report into the Bullying and Harassment of House of Commons staff in 2018 revealed a dysfunctional workplace- particularly faced by women.  Bullying and sexual harassment was reported to have long been "tolerated and concealed”.

·       Sometimes this bullying takes place in the home and serves as domestic abuse and violence.

 

This Council resolves to:

·       Have the relevant cabinet member communicate with schools in Oldham Borough about the packs released especially for primary and secondary schools from the Anti Bullying Alliance. These will include lesson plans, activity ideas, cross curricular activities for students and teachers.

·       Allow people to access a link to the Anti Bullying Alliance website from the Council web page that gives bullying support and advice.

·       Have Oldham Council sign up as a supporter of Anti-Bullying Week

·       Build on the #Stop work done by Oldham Youth Council in 2016 on highlighting that bullying is not ok.

·       To join the UK-wide Anti-Bullying Alliance, which already comprises over 140 organisations and individuals.

·       Develop an anti-bullying training programme for councillors and review the current Council anti bullying policy.

·       To adopt the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s definition of bullying. And that Oldham Council staff are encouraged to undertake the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s online training module, so they can feel more confident in identifying and calling out or reporting bullying behaviour.

·       To deal with workplace bullying more effectively, the Council will provide a  link to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) on the Council Anti-Bullying policy webpage.

 

Motion 3

Councillor Sykes to MOVE and Councillor H Gloster to SECOND:

Take the franchise off Northern Rail

This Council notes that:

·       There is a contingency plan to renationalise Northern Rail by the government.

·       The current Northern Rail franchise has consistently failed to deliver on services it was contracted to provide.

·       There are significant cross-party calls to remove the franchise from the current operators.

·       Customers are experiencing a poor and sometimes non-existent service from Northern Rail.

 

This Council resolves to:

·       Write to the Minister of Transport asking them to remove the current operators and place the franchise with someone more capable of delivering the service required.

·       Work closely with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Mayor of Greater Manchester to find a new operator to give the current Northern Rail customers the rail service they are entitled to.

 

Minutes:

Motion 1 – Clean Air Outside Our Schools

Councillor Williamson MOVED and Councillor Al-Hamdani SECONDED the following Motion:

“This Council notes that:

·       Our residents, staff and children are exposed to unsafe levels of pollutants outside of schools at peak times in the morning and afternoon.

·       Road transport is one of the biggest contributors to particulate matter and pollution in Oldham Borough.

·       Epidemiological studies show that symptoms of bronchitis in asthmatic children increase in association with long-term exposure to pollutants, as well as stunting lung growth.

·       Only a handful of schools across the country are trialling ‘No Vehicle Idling zones’ yet they bring many health benefits.

·       Air pollution poses a serious threat to the health and development of young people.  While many of the policy interventions to rectify this problem would have to come from central Government or the Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan, this Council can do more and needs to be proactive on this issue.

·       That there should be No-Vehicle-Idling zones around schools across the Borough.

This Council resolves to:

·       Review the work done by No-Vehicle-Idling nationally in other local authorities and work this into Oldham’s action plan for No-Vehicle-Idling Zones.

·       Implement No-Vehicle-Idling Zones, around as many primary schools in the Borough as possible, by the end of 2022.

·       Work closely with schools that are part of the scheme to inform parents and carers of the No-Vehicle-Idling Zones.

·       Encourage local businesses to sponsor green walls on school buildings and tree planting near schools and the appropriate cabinet member include this in their action plan.”

 

Councillor Harkness spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor Sheldon spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor McLaren spoke on the Motion.

 

Councillor Roberts MOVED and Councillor Jabbar SECONDED that under Council Procedure Rule 8.4(d) the motion be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

 

On being put to the vote, that the MOTION be REFERRED to Overview and Scrutiny Board was CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

RESOLVED that under Council Procedure Rule 8.4(d) the motion be referred to the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

 

Motion 2 – Anti-Bullying Week 2019 ‘Change Starts with Us’

Councillor Harkness MOVED and Councillor Hamblett SECONDED the following MOTION:

“This year’s Anti-Bullying Week has the theme ‘Change Starts with Us’ and is happening from Monday 11th November – Friday 15th November 2019.

This Council unfortunately notes that:

·       Trades Union Congress (TUC) research revealed nearly a third of people have been bullied at their workplace.  Of those bullied, half said it had an adverse impact on their performance at work.

·       Female employees are more likely to be victims of bullying than males.

·       People of all ages are bullied because of their race, culture, faith, appearance, identity, socioeconomic status, interests/hobbies, academic ability, mannerisms, and whether they are young carers or looked after children. This bullying can take place in person or online.

·       Nearly half of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans young people have been bullied at school for being LGBTQIA+.  Children with disabilities and those with special educational needs are around twice as likely to be bullied.

·       Bullying pervades every level of human society, even the Houses of Commons.  Dame Laura Cox’s report into the Bullying and Harassment of House of Commons staff in 2018 revealed a dysfunctional workplace – particularly faced by women.  Bullying and sexual harassment was reported to have long been ‘tolerated and concealed’.

·       Sometimes this bullying takes place in the home and serves as domestic abuse and violence.

This Council resolves to:

·       Have the relevant cabinet member communicate with schools in Oldham Borough about the packs released especially for primary and secondary schools from the Anti-Bullying Alliance.  These will include lesson plans, activity ideas, cross curricular activities for students and teachers.

·       Allow people to access a link to the Anti-Bullying Alliance website from the Council web page that gives bullying support and advice.

·       Have Oldham Council sign up as a supporter of Anti-Bullying Week.

·       Build on the #Stop work done by Oldham Youth Council in 2016 on highlighting that bullying is not ok.

·       To join the UK-wide Anti-Bullying Alliance, which already comprises over 140 organisations and individuals.

·       Develop an Anti-Bullying training programme for councillors and review the current Council anti-bullying policy.

·       To adopt the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s definition of bullying and that Oldham Council staff are encouraged to undertake the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s online training module, so they can feel more confident in identifying and calling out or reporting bullying behaviour.

·       To deal with workplace bullying more effectively, the Council will provide a link to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) on the Council Anti-Bulling policy webpage.”

 

Councillor Mushtaq spoke in support of the Motion.

Councillor C. Gloster spoke in support of the Motion.

 

Councillor Harkness did not exercise his right of reply.

 

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

 

RESOLVED that:

1.               The relevant Cabinet Member would communicate with schools in Oldham Borough about the packs released especially for primary and secondary schools from the Anti-Bullying Alliance.  These included lesson plans, activity ideas, cross-curricular activities for students and teachers.

2.               Access be allowed via a link to the Anti-Bullying Alliance website from the Council’s web page that gives bullying support and advice.

3.               Oldham Council sign up as a supporter of Anti-Bullying Week.

4.               The #Stop work done by Oldham Youth Council in 2016 be built on highlighting that bullying was not ok.

5.               The Council join the UK-wide Anti-Bullying Alliance which already comprised over 140 organisations and individuals.

6.               An anti-bullying training programme for councillors and the current anti-bullying policy be reviewed.

7.               The Anti-Bullying Alliance’s definition of bullying be adopted and that Oldham Staff were encouraged to undertake the Anti-Bullying Alliance’s online training module so they could feel more confident in the identification and calling out or reporting bullying behaviour.

8.               The Council would provide a link to the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) on the Council’s Anti-Bullying policy webpage.

 

Motion 3 – Take the Franchise off Northern Rail

Councillor Sykes MOVED and Councillor H. Gloster SECONDED the following MOTION:

“This Council notes that:

·       There is a contingency plan to renationalise Northern Rail by the government.

·       The current Northern Rail franchise has consistently failed to deliver on services it was contracted to provide.

·       There are significant cross-party calls to remove the franchise from the current operators.

·       Customers are experiencing a poor and sometimes non-existent service from Northern Rail.

This Council resolves to:

·       Write to the Minister of Transport asking them to remove the current operators and place the franchise with someone more capable of delivering the service required.

·       Work closely with the Greater Manchester Combined Authority and the Mayor of Greater Manchester to find a new operator to give the current Northern Rail customers the rail service they are entitled to.”

 

AMENDMENT

 

Councillor Leach MOVED and Councillor S. Bashforth SECONDED the following AMENDMENT:

 

“Delete bullet point 1 after this Council notes.

Insert ‘the current Northern Rail franchise has consistently failed to delivery on services it was contracted to provide and is just one example of a failed policy which provides profits for rail operators while increasing fares for passengers and an outdated and fragmented service.’

Delete remaining bullet points.

Delete both bullet points after ‘This council resolves to’ and insert

‘This Council believes that it is time to take back the railways into public ownership by a public ownership of the railways bill to repeal the Railways Act 1993 under which the Conservatives privatised our railways.

This Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to the Minister for Transport asking for the franchise to be withdrawn from Northern Rail and for the service to be run in the interests of passengers under public control rather than that of rail franchisees.’

The amended motion to read:

“This Council notes that the current Northern Rail franchise has consistently failed to deliver on services it was contracted to provide and is just one example of a failed policy which provides profits for rail operators while increasing fares for passengers and an outdated and fragmented service.

This Council believes that it is time to take back the railways into public ownership by a public ownership of the railways bill to repeal the Railways Act 1993 under which the Conservatives privatised our railways.

This Council resolves to ask the Chief Executive to write to the Minister for Transport asking for the franchise to be withdrawn from Northern Rail and for the service to be run in the interests of passengers under public control rather than that of rail franchisees.”

 

Councillor Sykes exercised his right of reply.

Councillor Leach exercised her right of reply.

 

A vote was then taken on the AMENDMENT.

 

On being put to the vote, 36 votes were cast in FAVOUR of the AMENDMENT and 12 votes were cast AGAINST with 0 ABSTENTIONS.  The AMENDMENT was therefore CARRIED.

 

Councillor Sykes did not exercise his right of reply.

 

On being put to the vote, 36 votes were cast in FAVOUR of the SUBSTANTIVE MOTION and 0 votes were cast AGAINST with 12 ABSTENTIONS.  The SUBSTANTIVE MOTION was therefore CARRIED.

 

RESOLVED that the Chief Executive be asked to write to the Minister for Transport asking for the franchise to be withdrawn from Northern Rail and for the service to be run in the interests of passengers under public control rather than that of rail franchisees.