Agenda item

In accordance with Standing Orders, the following motions have been received for consideration:

 

(1)          Care Experience as a Protected Characteristic

 

To be moved by Councillor Coleen De Freitas

 

This Council welcomes the changes already made to Government guidance, in that it removes the local connection requirement for care leavers when applying for and being allocated local social housing. The Council will ensure that guidance and support will be given to care leavers in accordance with its legal and statutory responsibilities.

 

This Council notes that:

 

a)    care experienced people face significant barriers that impact on them throughout their lives. Care leavers make up 25% of Britain’s young homeless population, and adults who have spent time in care are far more likely than their peers to die prematurely.

 

b)    despite the resilience of many care experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account and care experienced people often face direct and indirect discrimination in many areas of life, including housing, health, education, relationships, employment and criminal justice.

 

c)    the Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, such as councils, to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation of people with protected characteristics.

 

d)    current Care Leaver provision ends at age 25, whereas recognition of care experience as a protected characteristic would mean that care experience would be taken into account for a lifetime – in the same way as the discrimination and hardships resulting from care experience last a lifetime.

 

This Council therefore resolves that:

 

1.    it recognises that care experienced people are a group who are likely to face discrimination and will treat care experience as if it were a protected characteristic, and expects councillors and Council staff to challenge negative attitudes and prejudices towards care experienced people.

 

2.    Equality Impact Assessments relating to any future decisions, services and policies made and adopted by this Council will now also include impact of changes on people with care experience, alongside those who formally have a protected characteristic.

 

3.    requests that the Chief Executive undertakes an assessment of current policies and service areas provided by Stevenage Borough Council to determine impact, including any financial impact, of this policy change.

 

4.    in its delivery of the Public Sector Equality Duty, this Council will include care experience in the publication and review of Equality Objectives and the annual publication of information relating to people who have a protected characteristic in services and employment.

 

5.    this Council formally calls upon all other bodies, including other local authorities in Hertfordshire, to treat care experience as a protected characteristic until such time as this recognition may be introduced by legislation.

 

6.    this Council will proactively seek and listen to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies.

 

 

(2)       May’s local elections in Stevenage must go ahead

 

To be moved by Councillor Andy McGuinness

 

This Council understands the importance of having a replenished electoral mandate from the people of Stevenage which can only come through the ballot box.  This Council also affirms the sanctity of elections which should only be cancelled in the most extreme of circumstances. Therefore, this Council believes that the scheduled local elections for Thursday 7^th May 2026 in Stevenage should continue as planned and there is no current compelling reason, linked to local government reorganisation, to cancel them.

 

 

(3)     Motion: Practical Environmentalism – Delivering Cleaner Streets and Better Value for Residents

 

          To be moved by Councillor Mason Humberstone

 

          This Council notes that:

 

1.    Stevenage Borough Council declared a “Climate Emergency”, committing officer time and financial resources to strategies and targets largely outside the Council’s direct control.

2.     Residents consistently identify cleaner streets, safer parks, reduced fly-tipping and better maintenance of public spaces as higher priorities than aspirational, costly and unrealistic climate declarations.

3.    This Council faces ongoing financial pressures, including debt, which require a sharper focus on value for money and frontline delivery.

 

This Council believes that:

1.     Environmental policy should focus on practical, visible improvements to the local environment rather than symbolic declarations.

2.     Council resources should be directed toward outcomes residents can see and feel in their daily lives.

3.     A cleaner, safer and well-maintained town is the most effective form of local environmentalism.

This Council resolves to:

1.    Rescind the Council’s Climate Emergency declaration and discontinue non-statutory programmes, strategies and reporting arising from it.

2.    Redirect all associated funding and officer time toward:

·       Reducing Council debt;

·       Strengthening frontline services;

·       Improving core environmental enforcement and maintenance.

3.            Adopt a “Practical Environmentalism” approach, prioritising:

·      Stronger enforcement against fly-tipping, including increased use of Fixed Penalty Notices and prosecutions;

·      Enhanced street cleaning, litter removal and waste enforcement;

·      Improved maintenance of parks, play areas and community spaces;

·      Faster response times to environmental complaints.

4.            Report annually to Full Council on:

·      Environmental enforcement outcomes;

·      Cleanliness and maintenance standards across the town;

·      Savings achieved and how they have been reinvested in frontlineservices.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Care Experience as a Protected Characteristic

 

Councillor Coleen De Freitas moved the following motion:

 

‘This Council welcomes the changes already made to Government guidance, in that it removes the local connection requirement for care leavers when applying for and being allocated local social housing. The Council will ensure that guidance and support will be given to care leavers in accordance with its legal and statutory responsibilities.

 

This Council notes that:

 

a)    care experienced people face significant barriers that impact on them throughout their lives. Care leavers make up 25% of Britain’s young homeless population, and adults who have spent time in care are far more likely than their peers to die prematurely.

 

b)    despite the resilience of many care experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account and care experienced people often face direct and indirect discrimination in many areas of life, including housing, health, education, relationships, employment and criminal justice.

 

c)    the Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, such as councils, to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation of people with protected characteristics.

 

d)    current Care Leaver provision ends at age 25, whereas recognition of care experience as a protected characteristic would mean that care experience would be taken into account for a lifetime – in the same way as the discrimination and hardships resulting from care experience last a lifetime.

 

This Council therefore resolves that:

 

1. it recognises that care experienced people are a group who are likely to face discrimination and will treat care experience as if it were a protected characteristic, and expects councillors and Council staff to challenge negative attitudes and prejudices towards care experienced people.

 

2. Equality Impact Assessments relating to any future decisions, services and policies made and adopted by this Council will now also include impact of changes on people with care experience, alongside those who formally have a protected characteristic.

 

3. requests that the Chief Executive undertakes an assessment of current policies and service areas provided by Stevenage Borough Council to determine impact, including any financial impact, of this policy change.

 

4. in its delivery of the Public Sector Equality Duty, this Council will include care experience in the publication and review of Equality Objectives and the annual publication of information relating to people who have a protected characteristic in services and employment.

 

5. this Council formally calls upon all other bodies, including other local authorities in Hertfordshire, to treat care experience as a protected characteristic until such time as this recognition may be introduced by legislation.

 

6. this Council will proactively seek and listen to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies.’

 

In moving the motion, Councillor De Freitas advised that the motion built upon progress that had already been made and that she welcomed the Government’s changes to guidance which removed the local connection requirement for care leavers applying for social housing.  She also welcomed the positive steps taken locally including HCC’s signing of the care leaver covenant and the introduction of additional support around housing, council tax, employment and training.

 

Councillor De Freitas advised that the motion recognized a simple truth that care experience continued to shape a person’s life long after formal support ended.  She advised that the statistics showed at least a third of care leavers experienced homelessness within two years of leaving care and that 25% of the adult homeless population were care leavers.  She advised that too many were living in unsuitable accommodation and that instability had more consequences such as significant barriers in education and employment.   Only 14% entered higher education by the age of 19 compared with nearly half of the wider population and would face discrimination across housing, health education, employment and the justice system.

 

In seconding the Motion, Councillor Alistair Gordon advised that many who had experienced the care system would also experience trauma, instability or disrupted attachment leading to mental health problems, lower educational attainment and social isolation.

 

Councillor McGuinness, Leader of the Opposition thanked Councillor De Freitas for the motion the subject of which was being supported by Councils across the country and advised that his Group would be supporting the motion.

 

A number of Members spoke on the motion and made the following comments:

 

·      evidence of deprivation for care experienced people was overwhelming;

·      the Council should provide additional consideration, support and protection where possible;

·      the definition of a care leaver should be clarified although it was recognised that the impact of being in care did not end at a specific age;

·      implementation of the motion was key and it was critical that councillors and officers were committed to the issue;

·      Members and Officers would be required to receive training in this area in the light of new responsibilities coming as a result of Local Government Reorganisation;

·      Support should only be given around care leaver provision being available up to the age of 25;

·      The removal of the local connection requirement for care leavers could impact Stevenage residents in terms of housing allocation creating potential division.

 

Following further debate, Councillor De Freitas, thanked Members for their contributions. 

 

Upon being put to the vote, the Motion was carried.

 

May’s Local Elections in Stevenage must go ahead

 

Councillor Andy McGuinness moved the following motion:

 

‘This Council understands the importance of having a replenished electoral mandate from the people of Stevenage which can only come through the ballot box. This Council also affirms the sanctity of elections which should only be cancelled in the most extreme of circumstances. Therefore, this Council believes that the scheduled local elections for Thursday 7^th May 2026 in Stevenage should continue as planned and there is no current compelling reason, linked to local government reorganisation, to cancel them.’

 

In moving the Motion, Councillor McGuinness advised that it was the duty of the Council to protect democratic systems and institutions.  In his view, cancelling the elections was cowardly, unjustified and a betrayal of local people’s democratic rights without cause. Other local authorities in Hertfordshire were running elections.  There were no exceptional circumstances this year, additional pressures from Local Government Reorganisation were manageable and the May elections must continue.

 

He advised that although Cabinet had made a case for the cancellation with reasons they had set out in the letter to the Secretary of State, in his opinion they had not justified the cancellation of the elections.

 

In seconding the Motion, Councillor Stephen Booth advised that elections were at the core of local democracy and local citizens were entitled to choose their representatives.  Although the timing of Local Government Reorganisation was not helpful at this stage in the political cycle, he had faith in the ability of the Senior Officer Team at the Council to manage the Council and the elections.

 

During further debate, the following points were raised:

 

·         The Government had imposed Local Government Reorganisation on Local Authorities.  Early engagement in the process in order to get the best outcome for Stevenage had identified the amount of work required by both members and Officers;

·         The Government had requested local authorities to consider if they could better deliver on LGR by requesting a postponement of the May 2026 elections and a decision had been taken by Cabinet to request the postponement;

·         The decision would ultimately be taken by the Secretary of State and not the Council although it was reported that a Judicial Review hearing would take place between 19 and 20 February and a final decision would not be reached until after this date;

·         There were precedents for a number of different parties cancelling elections throughout the Country where LGR was taking place;

·         The threshold for exceptional circumstances had been reached for the reasons that had been set out at the recent Cabinet meeting;

·         The elections would be cancelled and not postponed as stated;

·         The right to vote was fundamental even if the outcome could be uncomfortable for the Council;

·         The prospect of a short term election would not be helpful to those elected or to the people of Stevenage but all those elected across the parties were ultimately there to represent Stevenage residents.

 

Upon being put to the vote, the Motion was lost.

 

Motion: Practical Environmentalism – Delivering Cleaner Streets and Better Value for Residents

 

Councillor Mason Humberstone moved the following motion:

 

·         This Council notes that:

·         Stevenage Borough Council declared a “Climate Emergency”, committing officer time and financial resources to strategies and targets largely outside the Council’s direct control.

·          Residents consistently identify cleaner streets, safer parks, reduced fly-tipping and better maintenance of public spaces as higher priorities than aspirational, costly and unrealistic climate declarations.

·         This Council faces ongoing financial pressures, including debt, which require a sharper focus on value for money and frontline delivery.

·         This Council believes that:

·         Environmental policy should focus on practical, visible improvements to the local environment rather than symbolic declarations.

·         Council resources should be directed toward outcomes residents can see and feel in their daily lives.

·         A cleaner, safer and well-maintained town is the most effective form of local environmentalism.

·         This Council resolves to:

·         Rescind the Council’s Climate Emergency declaration and discontinue non-statutory programmes, strategies and reporting arising from it.

·         Redirect all associated funding and officer time toward:

o         Reducing Council debt;

o         Strengthening frontline services;

o        Improving core environmental enforcement and maintenance.

·         Adopt a “Practical Environmentalism” approach, prioritising:

·         Stronger enforcement against fly-tipping, including increased use of Fixed Penalty Notices and prosecutions;

·         Enhanced street cleaning, litter removal and waste enforcement;

·         Improved maintenance of parks, play areas and community spaces;

·         Faster response times to environmental complaints.

·         Report annually to Full Council on:

o   Environmental enforcement outcomes;

o   Cleanliness and maintenance standards across the town;

o   Savings achieved and how they have been reinvested in frontlineservices.

 

In moving the Motion, Councillor Humberstone advised that the Council’s declaration on the climate emergency may have been well-intentioned but had not delivered locally and had used officer time to report on targets that the Council had very little control over while every day environmental issues on the streets of Stevenage had been left wanting.  Residents wanted cleaner streets, safer and well maintained parks and green spaces and an improved response to fly tipping.

 

Councillor Rob Henry seconded the motion.  He advised that the vast majority of residents wanted their streets cleaned, grass cut and fly tipping dealt with and a Climate Change Emergency declaration did not need to be in place to address these issues.

 

During further debate, the following points were raised:

 

·         The Council’s climate programme and practical delivery of outcomes had moved a long way since the declaration;

·         Outcomes such as the warm homes grant delivering upgraded housing for 240 Council homes and more to come in the future; free central heating grants and grants for improvements like insulation, double glazing and solar panels;

·         In parks, a new skate park and a multi use games area had been installed.  Additionally small woods were being planted within the three large parks;

·         Many service improvements had been introduced including the roll out of a weekly food waste collection service;

·         A number of delivery frameworks were in place to prioritize work and attract external funding which reduced pressure on council finances.

 

Upon being put to the vote, the Motion was lost.