Agenda and draft 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.   All members of the Labour Group (Excluding the Mayor) and Councillor Mary Walsh declared a personal interest in Notice of Motion – Industrial Action as members of Trade Union.

2.   Councillor A Quinn declared a personal interest in all matters under consideration as both his son and daughter-in law, work for the NHS.

3.   Councillor D Quinn declared an interest in all matters under consideration as an employee of the Citizens Advice Bureau and both her son and daughter-in law, work for the NHS

4.   Councillors Rizvi and Grimshaw declared personal interest in all matters under consideration as their relatives work in the Nhs.

5.   Councillor S Donnelly declared a personal interest in the Emergency Motion as he works voluntarily with the RAF cadets and the veterns .

6.   Councillor Rydeheard and Brown declared a personal interest in all items on the agenda as he undertakes work representing the Taxi trade

7.   Councillor Tariq declare a personal interest in the Labour notice of motion as the Manager of Healthwatch and a member of the Oldham Health and Wellbeing Board.

8.   Councillor S Arif declared a personal interest in the Clean Air item as a Taxi driver operating in the Borough.

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 placed on record her pleasure in the way the six towns of Bury came together to celebrate the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee in June.

The Mayor congratulated those from Bury recognised in the Queen’s Birthday Honours, namely, Antony Cotton who has been awarded an MBE for services to the British Army Personnel and Veterans.

The mayor also congratulated the following Voluntary organisations;

Corrie Gardeners,

Greater Manchester Army Cadet Force (Hawk shaw),

The Attic Project

Bury2gether

and Rammy Men

These five organisations  been awarded the Queens Award for Voluntary Service which is the highest award given to local voluntary groups in the UK.

Minutes of the meeting held on 25^th May 2022 are attached.

The minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Mayor. 

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.

Notice had been received of 5 questions. 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.

There are no recommendation from Cabinet and Council Committees.

There were no recommendations from Cabinet or Council Committees.

Report attached.

It was moved by Councillor Quinn and seconded by Councillor Morris it was:

RESOLVED:

That:

Bury Council:

1.    Note the 'Case for a new Greater Manchester Clean Air Plan’ document attached as Appendix 1 and associated appendices A to E has been submitted to the Secretary of State as a draft document subject to any comments from Bury Council ahead of the next Air Quality Administration Committee.

2.    Note that Councillor Alan Quinn as Bury Council’s appointed representative on the Air Quality Administration Committee will represent Bury Council comments.

3.    Note the initial screening undertaken to assess which protected characteristics are likely to be impacted by the new GM Clean Air Plan, and in scope for the Equalities Impact Assessment.

4.    Note the updated Do Minimum position for 2023 and 2025 and the forecasted points of exceedance in GM in 2023 and 2025; and

5.    Note the participatory policy development approach and the next steps for the GM CAP.

6.    Note the new ‘ask’ from Government to remove out-of-area operation by private hire drivers/vehicles to support the new GM Clean Air Plan.

7.    Note feedback from early engagement activity with vehicle owner representative groups.

8.    Note the NO₂ monitoring results and the exceedances of the annual mean across sites set up for GM CAP purposes between 2018 and 2021.

To receive a report 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, Cabinet Members and Chair of a Committee 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. (30 minutes)

A member may ask a verbal question of the Leader, any Member of the Cabinet or Chair of a Committee about any matter on the Council agenda and which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the Borough.  Only one verbal question per Councillor. (15 minutes)

(a)         Written question (Notice given)

The Leader of the Council, Councillor E O’Brien, 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 10 to 19 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)      Verbal Questions

(A)         A combined authority update report is attached, for information

(B)         Questions (if any) on the work of the Combined Authority to be asked by Members of the Council for which the necessary notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rules.

(a)         The Council received a report on the work of the Combined Authorities.

(b)     The following questions had been received in accordance with Council Procedure Rules:

(i)          Access to health services

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

Councillors: A. Arif, N Bayley, C Boles, N Boroda, C Cummins, S. Donnelley, U Farooq, E FitzGerald, N Frith, R Gold, D Green, J Grimshaw, S Haroon, M Hayes, G McGill, C Morris, E Moss, E O’Brien, K Peel, T Pilkington, A Quinn, D Quinn, T Rafiq, I Rizvi, L Smith, T Tariq, S Thorpe, S Walmsley, and M Whitby.

This Council notes that primary care services are in crisis, with people across our borough and the country struggling to access GP services and adequate dental treatment.

We recognise the tremendous efforts of GPs in Bury in maintaining services as far as possible during the course of the pandemic, implementing new ways of working, and in addition doing an incredible job in delivering the vaccination programme in the borough. However, we also know that many of our constituents are expressing concerns about accessing to GP services and also dental services.

This Council believes that everyone should be able to get an appointment to see a doctor or relevant health professional in a reasonable amount of time and local people have the right to receive dental treatment on a reasonable ongoing basis.

However, this Council is concerned by the government’s admission that they will be unable to deliver the promised 6,000 additional GPs by 2024/25 which will create further pressures on the system, particularly in places like Bury which already have a shortage of GPs.

This Council:-

(a)      recognises that general practices across the country are at breaking point, putting the whole of the NHS at risk;

(b)      believes that Primary Care is the ‘Bedrock of the NHS’, dealing with around 90% of patient contacts, and acknowledges that, currently, GPs and their teams are at the forefront of helping communities recover from the pandemic; caring for people whose mental and physical health has been affected by Covid 19; and leading the Vaccination programme; whilst at the same time, they are dealing with the backlog of people on waiting lists elsewhere in the NHS;

notes that:-

(c) (i)       in 2016 the Conservative Government promised to increase GPs by 5,000 in 5 years but that the overall number of GPs has seen little growth since 2015;

(ii)       the number of patients per practice is 22% higher than it was in 2015 but the GP workforce has not grown with this demand; there are now just 0.46 fully qualified GPs per 1,000 patients in England – significantly below the average number of physicians in comparable nations;

(iii)      there is a growing backlog of care in the NHS; long waits for specialist treatment are skyrocketing and pressure on Accident and Emergency Departments is reaching pre-pandemic levels;

(iv)      General practice and general practitioners are under pressure; a recent survey by the British Medical Association (BMA) showed high levels of mental health conditions and exhaustion; resignations from General Practice are also rising, and practices are shutting  ...  view the full agenda text for item C. 20

(i)          Access to health services

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

Councillors: A. Arif, N Bayley, C Boles, N Boroda, C Cummins, S. Donnelley, U Farooq, E FitzGerald, N Frith, R Gold, D Green, J Grimshaw, S Haroon, M Hayes, G McGill, C Morris, E Moss, E O’Brien, K Peel, T Pilkington, A Quinn, D Quinn, T Rafiq, I Rizvi, L Smith, T Tariq, S Thorpe, S Walmsley, and M Whitby.

This Council notes that primary care services are in crisis, with people across our borough and the country struggling to access GP services and adequate dental treatment.

We recognise the tremendous efforts of GPs in Bury in maintaining services as far as possible during the course of the pandemic, implementing new ways of working, and in addition doing an incredible job in delivering the vaccination programme in the borough. However, we also know that many of our constituents are expressing concerns about accessing to GP services and also dental services.

This Council believes that everyone should be able to get an appointment to see a doctor or relevant health professional in a reasonable amount of time and local people have the right to receive dental treatment on a reasonable ongoing basis.

However, this Council is concerned by the government’s admission that they will be unable to deliver the promised 6,000 additional GPs by 2024/25 which will create further pressures on the system, particularly in places like Bury which already have a shortage of GPs.

This Council:-

(a)      recognises that general practices across the country are at breaking point, putting the whole of the NHS at risk;

(b)      believes that Primary Care is the ‘Bedrock of the NHS’, dealing with around 90% of patient contacts, and acknowledges that, currently, GPs and their teams are at the forefront of helping communities recover from the pandemic; caring for people whose mental and physical health has been affected by Covid 19; and leading the Vaccination programme; whilst at the same time, they are dealing with the backlog of people on waiting lists elsewhere in the NHS;

notes that:-

(c) (i)       in 2016 the Conservative Government promised to increase GPs by 5,000 in 5 years but that the overall number of GPs has seen little growth since 2015;

(ii)       the number of patients per practice is 22% higher than it was in 2015 but the GP workforce has not grown with this demand; there are now just 0.46 fully qualified GPs per 1,000 patients in England – significantly below the average number of physicians in comparable nations;

(iii)      there is a growing backlog of care in the NHS; long waits for specialist treatment are skyrocketing and pressure on Accident and Emergency Departments is reaching pre-pandemic levels;

(iv)      General practice and general practitioners are under pressure; a recent survey by the British Medical Association (BMA) showed high levels of mental health conditions and exhaustion; resignations from General Practice are also rising, and practices are shutting  ...  view the full minutes text for item C. 20

In accordance with the Council Constitution, the Mayor has agreed it is not practical to defer consideration of this item.

(i)          Emergency Motion -  Castle Armoury

In accordance with the Council Constitution the Mayor agreed that it is not practical to defer this motion the motion has been received in the names of all Elected Members.

This Council notes:

1. All activity at Castle Armoury has been suspended due to the building being unsafe

2. Castle Armoury as well as being an important part of the current identity history of Bury is home to W Company 5th Battalion of the Royal Regiment of Fusiliers, 207 Field Hospital Royal Army Medical Corp and The

Lancashire Royal Regiment of Fusiliers volunteer Band.

3. It is also the base for our Army cadets, RAF cadets, a community Karate group, and the Armed Forces veterans breakfast club.

4. The building is owned by the Bury Castle Armoury Trust and is leased to NW RFCA through a formal agreement. Under the terms of the lease NW RFCA and in turn the Ministry of Defence assume full responsibility for repairs and maintenance.

5. The building is currently assessed as needing over £2m spending on it for urgent repairs and several million more to fully modernise it. The RFCA have not been able to obtain the funds needed.

Council further notes that:

There is an overwhelming desire to re-open Castle Armoury to all those that use it and a meeting was held last week for all the organisations that use it.

Council instructs:

That an open letter be written from the Council and concerned parties, urging the Ministry of Defence to provide the necessary funds to make it safe again and to modernise it.

That the council organise a meeting with the VCFA, the Armed Forces Champion, the Chair of Bury Castle Armoury Trust to look at what external funding may be available.

To inform all interested parties of progress on a regular basis and to convene another meeting to discuss further campaigning.

The Mayor declared that the motion was carried unanimously. 

A report setting out progress in respect of Motions passed at the last meeting of Council is attached for information.

There were no scrutiny review reports and specific items "called in" by scrutiny committees.

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 on the work of outside bodies or partnerships.