Agenda item

(time limit 30 minutes)

Motion 1

To be moved by Councillor Kenyon

Seconded by Councillor Gloster

20 is Plenty

 

Council notes that:

• Speed limits on Britain’s Roads are 60% higher than in Europe.

• More than half of all accident casualties occur on roads with 30mph limits.

• A pedestrian is 7 times more likely to die if they are hit by a vehicle travelling at 30mph than they are at 20mph, rising to 10 times more likely if aged 60 or older.

• Reducing speed limits on residential roads has been found to reduce air pollution, the incidents of accidents, and the numbers of fatalities and serious injuries that result.?

• Over 20 million citizens live in local authorities in the UK which have adopted or are adopting a default speed limit of 20mph on residential roads.?

• The default speed limit of 20mph has been adopted by other local authorities without the need for the implementation of physical calming measures.?

• Road safety experts from 130 countries adopted the ‘Stockholm Declaration’ recommending 20mph as the preferred default speed limit on residential roads in February 2020, and this was endorsed by the UN General Assembly in August 2020.?

 

Council further recognises that:

• Covid-19 and the challenges that have come with building back from it demonstrate that one of our key concerns must be to address all aspects of public health.?

• This should include lowering the default speed of motor vehicles on residential roads to reduce the danger they pose to residents and the pollution they emit.?

• Such a measure should be comprehensive and cover all residential roads in the Council Area – unless there are specific and unique exceptions that necessitate a faster speed limit.?

 

Council therefore resolves to:

• Establish an all-group working party to seek to implement a Council-wide 20mph speed limit on residential roads as soon as possible. This should include identifying roads where the lower speed limit may not be appropriate and exploring enforcement measures such as average speed cameras and Community Speedwatch initiatives.?

• Ask the Chief Executive to write to the leaders of all other Councils in the region that haven’t already implemented 20mph speed limits as the default in their authority area, and to write to Highways England requesting that speeds are reduced on sections of the motorway network in our Council area to tackle pollution.

 

Motion 2

To be moved by Councillor Woodvine

Second by Councillor Lancaster

Community First Aid

 

St. John’s Ambulance is the country’s first aid and health response charity. From helping young people become the health care professionals of tomorrow, to their world class training, St. John’s empowers people of all ages with lifesaving skills. They deliver compassion and care as ambulance crews, at marathons and festivals, in hospitals, and through a range of inspiring youth programmes.

St. John’s Ambulance has always supported NHS Trusts in periods of high demand. During the Covid pandemic, volunteers stepped forward to serve the nation in the biggest peace time deployment in 140 years delivering 1.7 million hours in local communities.

Communities have a vital role in the chain of survival and First Aid is at the heart of every community.

Whether it’s a member of the public providing CPR after attending a workplace First Aid training course, a young person learning how to treat bleeding as a cadet, or a community first responder treating someone who has experienced a fall in their home. This is community First Aid saving lives.

As the nation’s ambulance auxiliary, St. John’s Ambulance adds resilience to ambulance trusts by treating and transporting patients, responding to emergency call outs whilst reducing waiting times. St. John’s Ambulance also delivers community operations focussing on the health needs of communities treating over 4,000 patients in 2022. These services include:

·                     Falls Response Services: supporting the elderly in their homes, providing the best quality care to avoid hospital admissions.

·                     Night-Time Economy: offering safe spaces in town centres on Friday and Saturday nights when the impact of intoxication is prevalent. This service has a 19% reduction in ambulance responses required.

As a trusted auxiliary partner to the NHS and local communities, St. John’s Ambulance is committed to working with Councillors to utilise the potential of volunteers to improve patient outcomes in communities and reduce NHS pressures.

In January 2023, the Three Ways to Save a Life campaign, run by SJA and BBC Radio Manchester, came to an end with a final figure of 16,120 people trained across the 10 Boroughs of Greater Manchester in life saving first aid skills.

Following the fifth anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing, the two organisations teamed to take these skills across Greater Manchester to local people and organisations, through a mix of public training sessions and on-demand training including, delivering cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and using a defibrillator, treating severe bleeding and catastrophic haemorrhages, and treating someone who is choking.

 

This Council notes that St. John’s Ambulance believes in empowering communities to respond to health emergencies and ensures everyone gets the help they need in a crisis by:

·                     Responding: as volunteers and a trusted auxiliary to the nation’s health service.

·                     Educating: to inspire every generation to have confidence to provide First Aid.

·                     Discovering: through our services on how we lead standards in community First Aid.

·                      

Therefore, this Council commits to support the vision for Community First Aid by:

1.    Raising awareness of the importance of learning First Aid by sending a delegation of senior Elected Members and Officers of the Council to visit our local St. John’s Ambulance Unit(s) and supporting / promoting the vision across social media and the local printed media platforms; particularly emphasising that anybody in Oldham can access free First Aid training by SJA.

2.    Recognising voluntary sector organisations such as St. John’s Ambulance within local resilience arrangements to support emergency preparedness and crisis response by commissioning the Chief Executive Officer and Cabinet Member for Health & Social Care to survey and utilise the skills of Oldham’s local and voluntary sector to support community response to local emergencies as recommended by the NHS Volunteering Taskforce. This can be done through supporting voluntary sector representation on local resilience forms and inclusion within emergency preparedness, resilience, and response exercises at local level.

3.    Engaging with auxiliary partners to utilise the potential of volunteers to respond to community health emergencies, improve patient outcomes and reduce NHS pressures; working with the voluntary sector to strengthen first aid resilience by empowering communities through access to first aid training and equipment to improve health outcomes and help save lives.

4.    Empowering young people to strengthen community resilience by supporting the expansion of St. John’s Ambulance NHS Cadets and Young Responder programmes.

5.    Advocating for a Statutory Right to Volunteer by writing to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom calling on the Government to introduce legislation to enable volunteers of all ages to deploy at times of national and local emergency. An effective system would enable volunteers to request a set period of leave to deploy at times of crisis.

6.    Requesting the Leader of the Council, as the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Member for Equalities & Communities, to circulate this to her colleagues at GMCA so that they may seek to commit to these actions in their Local Authorities too.

 

Motion 3

Councillor Rea to Move

Councillor Hindle to Second

The Protection and Safeguarding of Children

 

The protection and safeguarding of our children should be a priority for all of us. Reviews on historical CSE have been in front of us before. Regular requests for independent Inquiries continue to be refused.

Whilst we continue to seek justice for survivors of historical CSE we cannot ignore the fact that it is still happening now, that grooming is still happening and that grooming gangs are active.

The Leader of the Council has previously stated that CSE has and in all probability will continue to occur in the Borough.

 

Council notes that:

Information and knowledge are the most powerful tools that we have. We need to educate our children of the signs of grooming and showing them who or where to go with any concerns. We need to give them the feeling that they can report anything in complete confidence. Being pro-active and highlighting this issue could prevent more children from becoming victims/survivors.

This issue is above any party-political leanings. Together we need to eradicate this corruption which lies within our society.

 

Council resolves to:

·                     Commit to facilitating relevant sessions across the Borough

·                     Bring together all departments within the Council and work with other external bodies to deliver specific sessions on CSE and grooming.

·                     Work with partners to formulate and develop a straight forward and clear package which will be delivered to all Year 7 students in the Borough every year as a matter of course.

·                     Work towards rolling sessions out to Year 6 students.

·                     Minute the meetings of the Elected Members cross-party steering group, make them available to all members and to the general public via the council website. Additionally provide a quarterly report detailing any actions and progress made.

Motion 1: 20 is Plenty

Councillor Kenyon MOVED and Councillor Gloster SECONDED the following Motion:

 

Council notes that:

• Speed limits on Britain’s Roads are 60% higher than in Europe.

• More than half of all accident casualties occur on roads with 30mph limits.

• A pedestrian is 7 times more likely to die if they are hit by a vehicle travelling at 30mph than they are at 20mph, rising to 10 times more likely if aged 60 or older.

• Reducing speed limits on residential roads has been found to reduce air pollution, the incidents of accidents, and the numbers of fatalities and serious injuries that result.?

• Over 20 million citizens live in local authorities in the UK which have adopted or are adopting a default speed limit of 20mph on residential roads.?

• The default speed limit of 20mph has been adopted by other local authorities without the need for the implementation of physical calming measures.?

• Road safety experts from 130 countries adopted the ‘Stockholm Declaration’ recommending 20mph as the preferred default speed limit on residential roads in February 2020, and this was endorsed by the UN General Assembly in August 2020.?

 

Council further recognises that:

• Covid-19 and the challenges that have come with building back from it demonstrate that one of our key concerns must be to address all aspects of public health.?

• This should include lowering the default speed of motor vehicles on residential roads to reduce the danger they pose to residents and the pollution they emit.?

• Such a measure should be comprehensive and cover all residential roads in the Council Area – unless there are specific and unique exceptions that necessitate a faster speed limit.?

 

Council therefore resolves to:

• Establish an all-group working party to seek to implement a Council-wide 20mph speed limit on residential roads as soon as possible. This should include identifying roads where the lower speed limit may not be appropriate and exploring enforcement measures such as average speed cameras and Community Speedwatch initiatives.?

• Ask the Chief Executive to write to the leaders of all other Councils in the region that haven’t already implemented 20mph speed limits as the default in their authority area, and to write to Highways England requesting that speeds are reduced on sections of the motorway network in our Council area to tackle pollution.

 

1^st AMENDMENT

Councillor Lancaster MOVED and Councillor Byrne SECONDED the following AMENDMENT

 

Council notes that:

Speed limits on many of our Borough’s roads residential and otherwise, are inappropriately high and permit excessive speeds.

Issues with speeding are not limited to residential roads, but all roads across the highway network.

There are benefits to reducing speed limits on residential roads, including reductions in the incidents of accidents, and the numbers of fatalities and serious injuries that result.

Speed limits require the implementation of physical calming measure and active enforcement, namely permanent cameras, otherwise they are largely permissive and general speeds still exceed the limit.

The recent Welsh Government action to introduce default 20mph speed limits across their nation has resulted in great public opposition, with October 2023 polling conducted by Redfield & Wilton Strategies showing that 59% were against the change (only 29% in favour), and more than 450,000 people having signed a petition to the Senedd calling for the new policy to be

reversed.

Default 20mph limits risk the perception of arbitrary restrictions being applied on responsible motorists and widespread disobedience with the speed limit; as well as longer-standing traffic generating greater emissions.

20mph zones are most appropriate and effective when implemented around schools, town and village centres, and locations of high pedestrian traffic and strong, local road safety concerns.

 

Council therefore resolves to:

1.    Engage with residents in all communities across the Borough to establish locations which may be suitable for lower speed limits, including more 20mph zones which cover residential roads, and roads which are presently of higher and even national speed limits.

2.    Urgently review the effectiveness of existing 20mph zones, with a view to strengthening through physical traffic-calming measures and enforcement actions.

3.    Demonstrate flexibility in responding to requests for permanent speed cameras, rather than refusing simply on the grounds of rigid criteria.

4.    Utilise the recent £544,000 funding award from HM Government to perform a programme of pothole repairs and road improvements, which in turn deliver road safety benefit.

A vote was taken on the 1^st AMENDMENT which was LOST.

 

2^nd AMENDMENT

Councillor Goodwin MOVED and Councillor Ibrahim SECONDED the following AMENDMENT

 

Council notes that:

•        Speed limits on Britain’s Roads are 60% higher than in Europe.

•        More than half of all accident casualties occur on roads with 30mph limits.

•        A pedestrian is 7 times more likely to die if they are hit by a vehicle travelling at 30mph than they are at 20mph, rising to 10 times more likely if aged 60 or older.

•        Reducing speed limits on residential roads has been found to reduce air pollution, the incidents of accidents, and the numbers of fatalities and serious injuries that result.

•        Over 20 million citizens live in local authorities in the UK which have adopted or are adopting a default speed limit of 20mph on residential roads.

•        The default speed limit of 20mph has been adopted by other local authorities without the need for the implementation of physical calming measures.

•        Road safety experts from 130 countries adopted the ‘Stockholm Declaration’ recommending 20mph as the preferred default speed limit on residential roads in February 2020, and this was endorsed by the UN General Assembly in August 2020.

 

Council further recognises that:

•        Covid-19 and the challenges that have come with building back from it demonstrate that one of our key concerns must be to address all aspects of public health.

•        This should include lowering the default speed of motor vehicles on residential roads to reduce the danger they pose to residents and the pollution they emit.

•        Such a measure should be comprehensive and cover all residential roads in the Council Area – unless doing so would not be appropriate.

 

Council therefore resolves:

•        To establish an all-group working party to seek to implement a Council-wide 20mph speed limit on residential roads as soon as practical subject to consultation and cost analysis. This should include identifying roads where the lower speed limit may not be appropriate and exploring enforcement measures such as average speed cameras, in locations determined by TfGM criteria and current national guidelines, and Community Speedwatch initiatives.

•        That the all-group working party works with all other Councils in the region that haven’t already implemented 20mph speed limits as the default in their authority area as part of the GM wide Vision Zero.

 

On being put to the Vote the 2^nd AMENDMENT was CARRIED.

 

On being put to the Vote the Motion as AMENDED was CARRIED

 

RESOLVED:
Council resolves:

1.    To establish an all-group working party to seek to implement a Council-wide 20mph speed limit on residential roads as soon as practical subject to consultation and cost analysis. This should include identifying roads where the lower speed limit may not be appropriate and exploring enforcement measures such as average speed cameras, in locations determined by TfGM criteria and current national guidelines, and Community Speedwatch initiatives.

2.    That the all-group working party works with all other Councils in the region that haven’t already implemented 20mph speed limits as the default in their authority area as part of the GM wide Vision Zero.

 

Motion 2: Community First Aid

Councillor Woodvine MOVED and Councillor Lancaster SECONDED the following Motion:

 

St. John’s Ambulance is the country’s first aid and health response charity. From helping young people become the health care professionals of tomorrow, to their world class training, St. John’s empowers people of all ages with lifesaving skills. They deliver compassion and care as ambulance crews, at marathons and festivals, in hospitals, and through a range of inspiring youth programmes.

St. John’s Ambulance has always supported NHS Trusts in periods of high demand. During the Covid pandemic, volunteers stepped forward to serve the nation in the biggest peace time deployment in 140 years delivering 1.7 million hours in local communities.

Communities have a vital role in the chain of survival and First Aid is at the heart of every community.

Whether it’s a member of the public providing CPR after attending a workplace First Aid training course, a young person learning how to treat bleeding as a cadet, or a community first responder treating someone who has experienced a fall in their home. This is community First Aid saving lives.

As the nation’s ambulance auxiliary, St. John’s Ambulance adds resilience to ambulance trusts by treating and transporting patients, responding to emergency call outs whilst reducing waiting times. St. John’s Ambulance also delivers community operations focussing on the health needs of communities treating over 4,000 patients in 2022. These services include:

·                     Falls Response Services: supporting the elderly in their homes, providing the best quality care to avoid hospital admissions.

·                     Night-Time Economy: offering safe spaces in town centres on Friday and Saturday nights when the impact of intoxication is prevalent. This service has a 19% reduction in ambulance responses required.

As a trusted auxiliary partner to the NHS and local communities, St. John’s Ambulance is committed to working with Councillors to utilise the potential of volunteers to improve patient outcomes in communities and reduce NHS pressures.

In January 2023, the Three Ways to Save a Life campaign, run by SJA and BBC Radio Manchester, came to an end with a final figure of 16,120 people trained across the 10 Boroughs of Greater Manchester in life saving first aid skills.

Following the fifth anniversary of the Manchester Arena bombing, the two organisations teamed to take these skills across Greater Manchester to local people and organisations, through a mix of public training sessions and on-demand training including, delivering cardio-pulmonary resuscitation (CPR) and using a defibrillator, treating severe bleeding and catastrophic haemorrhages, and treating someone who is choking.

 

This Council notes that St. John’s Ambulance believes in empowering communities to respond to health emergencies and ensures everyone gets the help they need in a crisis by:

·                     Responding: as volunteers and a trusted auxiliary to the nation’s health service.

·                     Educating: to inspire every generation to have confidence to provide First Aid.

·                     Discovering: through our services on how we lead standards in community First Aid.

 

Therefore, this Council commits to support the vision for Community First Aid by:

1.    Raising awareness of the importance of learning First Aid by sending a delegation of senior Elected Members and Officers of the Council to visit our local St. John’s Ambulance Unit(s) and supporting / promoting the vision across social media and the local printed media platforms; particularly emphasising that anybody in Oldham can access free First Aid training by SJA.

2.    Recognising voluntary sector organisations such as St. John’s Ambulance within local resilience arrangements to support emergency preparedness and crisis response by commissioning the Chief Executive Officer and Cabinet Member for Health & Social Care to survey and utilise the skills of Oldham’s local and voluntary sector to support community response to local emergencies as recommended by the NHS Volunteering Taskforce. This can be done through supporting voluntary sector representation on local resilience forms and inclusion within emergency preparedness, resilience, and response exercises at local level.

3.    Engaging with auxiliary partners to utilise the potential of volunteers to respond to community health emergencies, improve patient outcomes and reduce NHS pressures; working with the voluntary sector to strengthen first aid resilience by empowering communities through access to first aid training and equipment to improve health outcomes and help save lives.

4.    Empowering young people to strengthen community resilience by supporting the expansion of St. John’s Ambulance NHS Cadets and Young Responder programmes.

5.    Advocating for a Statutory Right to Volunteer by writing to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom calling on the Government to introduce legislation to enable volunteers of all ages to deploy at times of national and local emergency. An effective system would enable volunteers to request a set period of leave to deploy at times of crisis.

6.    Requesting the Leader of the Council, as the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Member for Equalities & Communities, to circulate this to her colleagues at GMCA so that they may seek to commit to these actions in their Local Authorities too.

 

On being put to the Vote the Motion was CARRIED

 

RESOLVED:

That the Council commits to support the vision for Community First Aid by:

1.  Raising awareness of the importance of learning First Aid by sending a delegation of senior Elected Members and Officers of the Council to visit our local St. John’s Ambulance Unit(s) and supporting/promoting the vision across social media and the local printed media platforms; particularly emphasising that anybody in Oldham can access free First Aid training by SJA.

2.  Recognising voluntary sector organisations such as St. John’s Ambulance within local resilience arrangements to support emergency preparedness and crisis response by commissioning the Chief Executive Officer and Cabinet Member for Health & Social Care to survey and utilise the skills of Oldham’s local and voluntary sector to support community response to local emergencies as recommended by the NHS Volunteering Taskforce. This can be done through supporting voluntary sector representation on local resilience forms and inclusion within emergency preparedness, resilience, and response exercises at local level.

3.  Engaging with auxiliary partners to utilise the potential of volunteers to respond to community health emergencies, improve patient outcomes and reduce NHS pressures; working with the voluntary sector to strengthen first aid resilience by empowering communities through access to first aid training and equipment to improve health outcomes and help save lives.

4.  Empowering young people to strengthen community resilience by supporting the expansion of St. John’s Ambulance NHS Cadets and Young Responder programmes.

5.  Advocating for a Statutory Right to Volunteer by writing to the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom calling on the Government to introduce legislation to enable volunteers of all ages to deploy at times of national and local emergency. An effective system would enable volunteers to request a set period of leave to deploy at times of crisis.

6.  Requesting the Leader of the Council, as the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Member for Equalities & Communities, to circulate this to her colleagues at GMCA so that they may seek to commit to these actions in their Local Authorities too.

 

 

Motion 3: The Protection and Safeguarding of Children

Councillor Rea MOVED and Councillor Hindle SECONDED the following Motion:

 

The protection and safeguarding of our children should be a priority for all of us. Reviews on historical CSE have been in front of us before. Regular requests for independent Inquiries continue to be refused.

Whilst we continue to seek justice for survivors of historical CSE we cannot ignore the fact that it is still happening now, that grooming is still happening and that grooming gangs are active.

The Leader of the Council has previously stated that CSE has and in all probability will continue to occur in the Borough.

 

Council notes that:

Information and knowledge are the most powerful tools that we have. We need to educate our children of the signs of grooming and showing them who or where to go with any concerns. We need to give them the feeling that they can report anything in complete confidence. Being pro-active and highlighting this issue could prevent more children from becoming victims/survivors.

This issue is above any party-political leanings. Together we need to eradicate this corruption which lies within our society.

 

Council resolves to:

·                     Commit to facilitating relevant sessions across the Borough

·                     Bring together all departments within the Council and work with other external bodies to deliver specific sessions on CSE and grooming.

·                     Work with partners to formulate and develop a straightforward and clear package which will be delivered to all Year 7 students in the Borough every year as a matter of course.

·                     Work towards rolling sessions out to Year 6 students.

·                     Minute the meetings of the Elected Members cross-party steering group, make them available to all members and to the general public via the council website. Additionally provide a quarterly report detailing any actions and progress made.

 

AMENDMENT

Councillor Mushtaq MOVED and Councillor Ali SECONDED the following AMENDMENT:

 

The protection and safeguarding of our children should be a priority for all of us. After the Independent assurance review into safeguarding practices in Oldham led by Malcolm Newsam CBE and Gary Ridgeway, the council committed to ensuring that it would do whatever is necessary to keep children and young people safe in the borough.

Whilst we continue to seek justice for survivors of historical CSE we cannot ignore the fact that it is still happening now, that grooming is still happening and that grooming gangs are active.

The Leader of the Council acknowledged the reality that the abhorrent and disgusting crime of child sexual exploitation continued to occur in borough, and that all political parties should work together to ensure that potential victims can seek and receive support and justice.

 

Council notes that:

Information and knowledge are the most powerful tools that we have. We need to educate our children of the signs of grooming and show them who or where to go with any concerns. We need to give them the feeling that they can report anything in complete confidence. Being pro-active and highlighting this issue could prevent more children from becoming victims/survivors.

This issue is above any party-political leanings. Together we need to eradicate this corruption which lies within our society.

 

Council resolves to:

·                     Continue to facilitate relevant sessions across the Borough

·                     Continue to bring together all departments within the Council and work with other external bodies to deliver specific sessions on CSE and grooming.

·                     Continue to create age-appropriate materials and sessions that are made available to all schools in Oldham, both Primary and Secondary.

 

On being put to the Vote the AMENDMENT was CARRIED.

 

On being put to the Vote the Motion as AMENDED was CARRIED

 

RESOLVED:

1.    That the Council continues to facilitate relevant sessions across the Borough.

2.    That the Council continues to bring together all departments within the Council and work with other external bodies to deliver specific sessions on CSE and grooming.

3.    That the Council continues to create age-appropriate materials and sessions that are made available to all schools in Oldham, both Primary and Secondary.