Decision details

Urgent Motion – Violence Against Women and Girls

 

Councillor Jackie Hollywell moved and Councillor Teresa Callaghan seconded the following urgent motion:

 

“That this Council acknowledges and deeply regrets the murders of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa, Nicole Smallman, and Bibaa Henry and would like to send our heartfelt condolences to all the families of these women and girls who have lost their lives as a result of violence.

 

The appalling murder of Sarah Everard last March was particularly shocking as her recently convicted murderer was a serving Police Officer.  This horrendous crime has not only made women and girls more concerned about their safety, but it has sadly led to questions about the security and reassurance of the presence of Police Officers in our communities.

 

We would also welcome the announcement by the Home Secretary of an enquiry to look into the circumstances of this particular crime and perpetrator, as well as the wider societal implications for the safety of women and girls.  However, we call on the Government to make this a formal public enquiry so that it can be as transparent and wide-reaching as possible.  All the issues need to be properly examined as Violence Against Women and Girls can only be eradicated by a focus on the root causes and requires a cultural shift in attitudes and behaviours underpinned by education and legal improvements.

 

Therefore that Council resolves:

 

1.      To write to the Home Secretary to call for the enquiry into the murder of Sarah Everard to be made a formal public enquiry;

 

2.      To call on the Government to legally recognise Misogyny as a Hate Crime and for the Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner to ensure that any incidences of violence against women and girls are recorded accordingly; and

 

3.      To also call on the Chief Constable of Hertfordshire and The Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire to urgently review the conduct of their Officers and Staff in order to reassure the people of Stevenage that they have confidence in their Police.”

 

The following amendment was moved by Councillor Phil Bibby and seconded by Councillor Wendy Kerby:

 

Deletion of points 2.and 3., and make a new 2., as follows:

 

"To also call on the Chief Constable of Hertfordshire and the Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire to share the processes they have in place to ensure that police candidates are robustly vetted, and that their conduct continues to remain appropriate."

 

Following debate, and upon being put to the vote, this amendment was lost.

 

Following further debate on the substantive motion, and upon this being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED:

 

“That this Council acknowledges and deeply regrets the murders of Sarah Everard, Sabina Nessa, Nicole Smallman, and Bibaa Henry and would like to send our heartfelt condolences to all the families of these women and girls who have lost their lives as a result of violence.

 

The appalling murder of Sarah Everard last March was particularly shocking as her recently convicted murderer was a serving Police Officer.  This horrendous crime has not only made women and girls more concerned about their safety, but it has sadly led to questions about the security and reassurance of the presence of Police Officers in our communities.

 

We would also welcome the announcement by the Home Secretary of an enquiry to look into the circumstances of this particular crime and perpetrator, as well as the wider societal implications for the safety of women and girls.  However, we call on the Government to make this a formal public enquiry so that it can be as transparent and wide-reaching as possible.  All the issues need to be properly examined as Violence Against Women and Girls can only be eradicated by a focus on the root causes and requires a cultural shift in attitudes and behaviours underpinned by education and legal improvements.

 

Therefore that Council resolves:

1.      To write to the Home Secretary to call for the enquiry into the murder of Sarah Everard to be made a formal public enquiry;

 

2.      To call on the Government to legally recognise Misogyny as a Hate Crime and for the Hertfordshire Police and Crime Commissioner to ensure that any incidences of violence against women and girls are recorded accordingly; and

 

3.      To also call on the Chief Constable of Hertfordshire and The Police and Crime Commissioner for Hertfordshire to urgently review the conduct of their Officers and Staff in order to reassure the people of Stevenage that they have confidence in their Police.”

 

(i)         Councillors to be made aware of upcoming announcements to press and public

 

Councillor Robin Parker moved and Councillor Stephen Booth seconded the following motion:

 

“That Council calls for a weekly bulletin to be circulated to all councillors by the start of each week outlining all known events, public announcements, statements, news releases and other information planned for publication by the Council during the coming week.”

 

The following amendment was moved by Councillor Sharon Taylor and seconded by Councillor Claire Parris:

 

Deletion of all word after “That Council…” and their replacement with “…agrees for the details of SBC organised events to be shared with all councillors in advance of them taking place.”

 

Following debate, and upon being put to the vote, this amendment was carried.

 

Following further debate on the substantive motion, and upon this being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED:

 

“That Council agrees for the details of SBC organised events to be shared with all councillors in advance of them taking place.”

 

(i)         Managing the IT System

 

Councillor Stephen Booth moved and Councillor Andy McGuinness seconded the following motion:

 

“That Council notes the serious financial consequences of the recurrent series of IT failures experienced in recent years and those to date during 2021 by SBC. These failures have caused widespread disruption to Council services to residents, to staff working practices and to the e-mail system on at least four separate occasions.

                          

We therefore call upon the Overview and Scrutiny Committee urgently to investigate and review the management and operation of the Council’s IT systems and specifically:

- speedily to appoint independent consultants to analyse and identify the key problems;
- quickly to resolve these problems with the minimum of disruption to council services and working arrangements;
- to appoint senior staff including at least one at director level to manage the IT system;
- to develop a strategy and plan for the IT system and submit it to Council for approval;
- to suspend the introduction of all new devices, apps and systems until such time as the above has been achieved; and
- to introduce measures to ensure that future failures and outages are costed and reported to Council.”

 

The following amendment was moved by Councillor Rob Broom and seconded by Councillor Jeannette Thomas:

 

“Deletion of all word ‘financial’ in the first paragraph;

 

Addition of a paragraph following the first paragraph stating “That Council notes the significant work that is being undertaken to upgrade the Council’s IT system and implement the ICT Strategy agreed in 2019.”;

 

Deletion of the words “…call upon the Overview and Scrutiny Committee urgently to investigate and review…” in the second paragraph and their replacement with “…ask the Executive to receive a report on the delivery of the ICT Strategy, the current operations, its management, and to inform the future strategy.  To inform this report the a Portfolio Holder Advisory Group will be convened and, following Executive, the Overview & Scrutiny Committee will be invited to review the Executive’s decision(s) regarding Management of the Council’s IT system in the usual manner.”; and

 

Deletion of all the bullet points in the final paragraph.”

 

Following debate, and upon being put to the vote, this amendment was carried.

 

Following further debate on the substantive motion, and upon this being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED:

 

“That Council notes the serious consequences of the recurrent series of IT failures experienced in recent years and those to date during 2021 by SBC. These failures have caused widespread disruption to Council services to residents, to staff working practices and to the e-mail system on at least four separate occasions.

 

That Council notes the significant work that is being undertaken to upgrade the Council’s IT system and implement the ICT Strategy agreed in 2019.

 

We therefore ask the Executive to receive a report on the delivery of the ICT Strategy, the current operations, its management, and to inform the future strategy.  To inform this report the a Portfolio Holder Advisory Group will be convened and, following Executive, the Overview & Scrutiny Committee will be invited to review the Executive’s decision(s) regarding Management of the Council’s IT system in the usual manner.”

 

(ii)        Lives animals as prizes

 

Councillor Robin Parker moved and Councillor Andy McGuinness seconded the following motion:

 

“That Council asks for an officer report on the feasibility of not allowing the giving of live animals as prizes or rewards:

 

(a)    at any SBC event;

 

(b)    on SBC controlled premises; and

 

(c)    in the Borough of Stevenage.”

 

The following amendment was moved by Councillor Phil Bibby and seconded by Councillor Graham Lawrence:

 

“Deletion of the words 'asks for an officer report on the feasibility of not allowing the giving of', and replace with 'condemns the practice of giving'.

 

Deletion of the bullet points (a), (b), and (c), and replace with 'Under current legislation (Animal Welfare Act 2006), the only relevant offence is to give away an animal as a prize if the recipient is under 16 and not accompanied by an adult.  With animal welfare in mind, Council should write to Government, asking for a review of this legislation, which is outdated.  In the meantime, Council should liaise with HCC Trading Standards officers, to ensure current legislation is enforced.'

 

The revised Motion reads:

 

“That Council condemns the practice of giving live animals as prizes or rewards.  Under current legislation (Animal Welfare Act 2006), the only relevant offence is to give away an animal as a prize if the recipient is under 16 and not accompanied by an adult.  With animal welfare in mind, Council should write to Government, asking for a review of this legislation, which is outdated.  In the meantime, Council should liaise with HCC Trading Standards officers, to ensure current legislation is enforced.”

 

Following debate, and upon being put to the vote, this amendment was carried.

 

The following further amendment (to the text of the new substantive motion) was moved by Councillor Lou Rossati and seconded by Jackie Hollywell:

 

“Retention of the first paragraph, up to the words ‘…not accompanied by an adult’; and

 

A re-working of the sentence commencing ‘With animal welfare in mind…’, including the additional wording ‘…this Council will…’ in place of ‘Council should…”, and the breaking up the remainder of the paragraph into (a), (b) and (c), including an additional (a) to ‘prohibit any hirer from giving live animals of any kind as prizes or gifts on any land owned or managed by SBC.”

 

Following debate, and upon being put to the vote, this further amendment was carried.

 

Following further debate on the substantive motion, and upon this being put to the vote, it was RESOLVED:

"That Council condemns the practice of giving live animals as prizes or rewards. Under current legislation (Animal Welfare Act 2006), the only relevant offence is to give away an animal as a prize if the recipient is under 16 and not accompanied by an adult. 

 

With animal welfare in mind, this Council will:

 

(a)       prohibit any hirer from giving live animals of any kind as prizes or gifts on any land owned or managed by SBC;

 

(b)       write to Government, asking for a review of this legislation, which is outdated; and

 

(c)        liaise with HCC Trading Standards officers, to ensure current legislation is enforced.”