Agenda and minutes

Members of the Council are requested to declare any interests which they have in any items or issues before the Council for determination.

1.   Councillor Jones declared a personal interest in any item which related to staffing as his wife is an employee of Bury Council.

2.   Councillor Bevan declared a personal interest in any item which related to staffing as his wife is an employee within a Bury School.

3.   Councillor Mallon declared a personal interest in any item which related to staffing as his wife is an employee within a Bury High School.      

4.   Councillor S Wright declared a personal interest in any item which related to staffing as his wife is an employee within a Bury School.

5.   Councillor Quinn declared a personal interest in respect of item 8, Notices of Motion (Walk in Centres) as his son is employed by the NHS.

6.   Councillor Shori declared a personal interest in any item which related to staffing as his partner is an employee of Bury Council.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the last Meeting of the Council held on 13 July 2016 (Copy attached)

RESOLVED:

That the Minutes of the Meeting of Council held on 13 July 2016 be signed by the Mayor as a true and correct record

To receive communications from the Mayor and any announcements by the Leader of the Council or the Chief Executive on matters of interest to the Council.

The Mayor congratulated the East Lancashire Railway, The Fed and Bury Speakeasy who had been awarded the Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service.

The Mayor congratulated Adam Yates on claiming the White Jersey in this year’s Tour De France and paid tribute to the Borough’s Olympians and Paralympians

To answer questions from members of the public, notice of which has been given, on any matter relevant to the Council or its services to the community. Up to 30 minutes will be set aside for this purpose. If time permits, further questions will be invited from members of the public present.

The Mayor reported the receipt of two written questions as set out below:

On inviting questions from members of the public present, the following issues were raised:-

There were no recommendations of Cabinet or Council Committees

To receive a Statement from the Leader of the Council on the work of the Cabinet and to answer written questions from Members of the Council to the Leader and Cabinet Members on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Borough, provided the necessary written notice has been given.

Verbal questions on the work of the Cabinet since the last Council meeting will be allowed subject to a limit of one question per Councillor.

(a)                   Written question (Notice given)

             The Leader of the Council, Councillor Shori, made a statement on the work undertaken by him since the date of the last Council meeting.

              The Leader and the relevant Cabinet Members answered questions raised by Councillors on the following issues:                                                           

Due to the lack of time to answer questions 18 to 38 inclusive, the Leader gave an undertaking that copies of those questions and responses will be circulated to all Councillors. The Leader also gave an undertaking to make these available on the Council Web Site.

                       (b)          Oral questions on Leader’s Speech and the work of the Cabinet since the last Council meeting (without Notice)

(A)        A report from the Council’s representative on the work of Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority , Councillor Quinn

(B)        Questions (if any) on the work of the Joint Authorities to be asked by Members of the Council for which the necessary notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.2

(a)Councillor Quinn, the Council’s representative on the Greater Manchester Waste Disposal Authority gave a verbal report on the work of the Authority to all Members of the Council.

The following questions had been received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.2.

The following Notices of Motion have been received:-

(i)                 Smoking

This Council recognises that tobacco related disease remains the single greatest cause of preventable deaths in England, killing 80,000 people every year, more people each year than obesity, alcohol, road accidents and illegal drug use put together. It is also the single biggest preventable cause of cancer. Tackling tobacco would play a significant part in reducing health inequalities. Thousands of children also suffer harm as a result of smoking.

In the borough of Bury, 19.5 per cent of people smoke. Each year, in Bury, smoking costs an estimated £54.5M. Rates of smoking related deaths and lung cancer in Bury are worse than the UK average.

This Council resolves to commit to signing the Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control. This is a declaration which commits Bury Council to tackle the harm smoking causes our communities by committing the Council to:

-          Reduce smoking prevalence and health inequalities

-          Develop tobacco control plans with partners and local communities

-          Participate in local and regional networks

-          Support Government action at national level

-          Protect tobacco control work from the commercial and vested interests of the tobacco industry

-          Monitor progress of our plans

-          Join the Smokefree Action Coalition

Signing the declaration will send out a clear signal to the people of Bury that we remain ambitious in our efforts to reduce the harm caused by tobacco. We have been working with partners at Cancer Research UK and the Bury Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) to boost local action on the issue; later this month the CCG are looking to support us by signing the sister pledge, the NHS Statement of Support for Tobacco Control. These commitments underpin the work already underway to tackle smoking within the borough, including:

-          Multi-agency work to continue to reduce smoking in pregnancy

-          Utilizing the Healthy Workplace Charter & Working Well Bury scheme to address smoking in targeted populations e.g. Routine & Manual Workers

-          Joint work with Bury CCG to systematically target populations, using GP registers

-          Link with the Healthy Schools program to deliver focused educational work to break the intergenerational cycle of tobacco use and stop young people from starting a tobacco habit.

-          Amplify national campaigns locally e.g. National No Smoking Day & Stoptober

-          Continue to undertake work with the Trading Standards team to tackle the accessibility of tobacco products for young people, particularly in relation to illegal and illicit tobacco and underage sales.

This council therefore agrees to commit to the Local Government Declaration on Tobacco Control in order to protect successive generations of young people from the harm done by tobacco, save lives and reduce health inequalities.

In the names of Councillors  P Adams, N Bayley, J Black, S Briggs, R Cathcart, M Connolly, A Cummings,  E FitzGerald, J Grimshaw, S Haroon T Holt, M James, D Jones, J Kelly, S Kerrison, J Lewis, A Mckay, J Mallon, A Matthews, E O’Brien, N Parnell, C Preston, A Quinn, R Shori, R  ...  view the full agenda text for item C. 268

Walk in Centres

        An Urgent Motion was submitted in the names of:

              Councillors P Adams, N Bayley, J Black, S Briggs, R Cathcart,  A Cummings, E FitzGerald, J Grimshaw, S Haroon, T Holt, M James, D Jones, J Kelly, S Kerrison, J Lewis, A Mckay, J Mallon, A Matthews, E O’Brien, N Parnell, C Preston, A Quinn, R Shori, R Skillen, S Smith,  Sarah Southworth, Susan Southworth, T Tariq, J Walker, S Walmsley and M Whitby.

                     It was moved by Councillor Shori and seconded by Councillor Holt that:-

                     This Council notes the engagement process currently being undertaken by Bury CCG with regard to the proposed closure of Walk In Centres in Prestwich and Bury.

This Council acknowledges the valuable role that Walk In Centres play as part of the local health care system in providing much needed and additional access to healthcare, and diverting pressures away from already overburdened A&E units and GPs practices.  In the last year, 67,000 people utilised the Walk In Centres in Bury and Prestwich.

                  This Council welcomes the fact that over 5000 people have already signed a petition instigated by Bury Labour Group, thereby demonstrating their opposition to the closures.

Whilst this Council recognises the current funding crisis being experienced by the NHS in England and Wales where £22 billion of efficiencies are required by 2021, we also note with grave concern that Bury's own Clinical Commissioning Group is currently the sixth most underfunded in the North of England, being underfunded by £11.3 million per annum by reference to NHS England's target formula.  Coupled with the continuing under funding of Bury Council, the residents of Bury are subject to a significantly disproportionate funding gap for local services.

This Council resolves to:

a) Call for an immediate withdrawal of the proposal by Bury CCG to cease the provision of Walk In Centres, in their current format, in Bury and Prestwich.

b) Write to the Secretary of State for Health Jeremy Hunt requesting an urgent meeting to discuss the under funding issues relating to Bury CCG and Bury Council - whose role in the provision of social care services is vital in ensuring the sustainability of health and social care system.    

                    On being put, with 32 voting for, 14 against and the Mayor abstaining the Motion was declared carried.

                    (Note- the above Motion, which was not included in the Council Summons was allowed by the Mayor to be considered as a matter of urgency by virtue of the need to allow the Council to consider the matter within the consultation timescale).

                    Three further Notices of Motion had been received and set out in the Summons:-

1.   Smoking

 A motion had been received and set out in the summons in the names of:

              Councillors P Adams, N Bayley, J Black, S Briggs, R Cathcart,  A Cummings, M Connolly,  E FitzGerald, J Grimshaw, S Haroon, T Holt, M James, D Jones, J Kelly, S  ...  view the full minutes text for item C. 268

There were no Scrutiny Review Reports or specific items “called in” by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to be considered at this Council meeting.

Questions on the work of Outside Bodies or partnerships on which the Council is represented to be asked by Members of the Council (if any).

There were no questions received in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.2.

Questions on the delegated decisions made by the Regulatory Committees and Scrutiny Committees contained in the Digest of Decision 2 published  since the last ordinary meeting of the Council, providing four clear working days’ notices has been given of the question.

Members are asked to bring to the meeting their copy of Digest 2

There were no written questions asked on the delegated decisions of the Committees or Scrutiny Committee contained in the Digest of Decisions 2 (2016/17).