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.

Councillor Duncalfe and Birchmore declared personal interests in the items Notice of Motions as volunteers and members of the Committee at Phillips Community Centre.

Councillor Rubinstein declared a personal interest in the Council item Notice of Motions as an “older resident”.

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 reported to those present, duties undertaken as Bury’s first citizen since the last Council meeting

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the last Meetings of the Council held on 17^th July 2024. (Copy attached).

The minutes of the meeting held on 17^th July 2024 be approved and signed by the Chair.

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.

There were no public questions.

A)    TREASURY MANAGEMENT UPDATE

It was moved by Councillor Thorpe and seconded by Councillor O’Brien and it was unanimously agreed that the:

o 2023/24 Prudential and Treasury Indicators.

o Treasury Management 2023/24 Outturn Report.

B)    REVIEW OF TRANSITIONAL ARRANGEMENTS FOR EXISTING HACKNEY CARRIAGE AND PRIVATE HIRE VEHICLES IN RESPECT OF EMISSIONS STANDARDS

Council approves, following discussion at the Licensing and Safety Committee the  adoption of the following amendment (1, 2 and 3) to the existing emission.

For existing vehicle licence proprietors with a non-complaint vehicle:

1.     A vehicle proprietor of a hackney carriage and private hire vehicle licence that is due for renewal after the 1 January 2025 which is non-compliant with emission standards (EURO 4 Petrol vehicles and EURO 6 diesel vehicles) is permitted to make an application to renew the vehicle licence and provided the vehicle passes its compliance test it will be issued with a 12-month vehicle licence. The vehicle licence would be granted subject to a condition that the non-compliant vehicle is removed from the fleet and replaced with a Euro 4 or 6 compliant vehicle by the 31 December 2025.

2.     To delegate powers to the Head of Public Protection/Licensing Unit Manager and/or the Deputy Licensing Officer to suspend any vehicle licence that has been issued after the 1 January 2025 where the vehicle proprietor(s) have not complied with the condition to replace the non-compliant vehicle with a compliant vehicle by the 31 December 2025.

3.     In the event that a scheduled committee meeting of the Licensing & Safety Committee & Full Council would not permit a change. Delegation to the Assistant Director of Operations, Head of Public Protection/Licensing Unit Manager in written agreement with the Chair of the Licensing and Safety Committee to make amendments to Council Policy that relates to the transitional arrangements for existing vehicle proprietors who own non-compliant (emission standard) vehicles to enable expedient access to the clean taxi fund if it becomes available. Any decisions made would be reported in the Operational Report at the next meeting of the Licensing and Safety Committee. 

NOTE: Councillor S Arif left the Council Chamber for consideration of the item.

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. (20 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 11 to 18 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.

The Council received a report on the work of the Combined Authorities and a verbal update from Cabinet Member, Councillor Bernstein on the work of the GM Scrutiny Committee.

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

The following Notices of Motion have been received:-

(i)             Community Safety, Cohesion and Resilience.

This Council expresses its deepest sympathy with the families affected by the tragic events in Southport on 29^th July. Our thoughts remain with the community there and our praise goes to the public and frontline emergency services who responded on the day and have since, to aid the recovery.

The exploitative criminal disorder that followed, exacerbated by false information online, led to widespread criminality, far right extremism, racism and Islamophobia. There is no place for this in our society and this Council utterly condemns it.

Thankfully we escaped direct civil unrest in Bury, though we were at risk and so on high alert throughout and since. As a result, there has been real harm done to some of our communities; our refugees and asylum seekers, and particularly our Muslim community, who understandably feel a heightened sense of anxiety, fear and vulnerability.

This Council welcomes the immediate intervention of the Government, who ensured a robust response to get the criminality under control and who supported the local and national Police to make prompt arrests so the courts could deliver swift justice.

We also welcome the support from the Home Office who provided immediate security, particularly at Muslim places of worship and community centres. The Council and our two constituency MPs, worked rapidly with mosque and community leaders on their Home Office applications, and all who applied received protection and most of them within 24 hours of submission. This offered an immediate sense of reassurance to those attending prayers and community events.

This Council recognises that the damage caused by the extremist groups is real and will be long lasting and we must now turn our attention to the long term safety and security of our communities, and healing the anxiety and distress caused.

Bury is a proudly tolerant and diverse place and we thank everyone in the borough who spoke up against the criminality and called out racism wherever it manifested itself.

It is clear we need to prioritise inclusion, cohesion and safety to rebuild the confidence of those targeted, so they can live and work peacefully in our town without the anxiety of being targeted because of the colour of their skin.

This Council therefore resolves to:

• Build on our response work by collaborating with our faith and community leaders to build greater resilience and strength
• Participate fully in the Greater Manchester recovery coordination activity, recognising the fluidity of communities across administrative borders, whilst reflecting specifics of Bury’s neighbourhoods
• Collaborate with faith and community leaders and MPs to support future applications to the Home Office security protection fund
• Revisit our LET’S Do It! strategy, alongside the Community Safety Partnership Plan, to refresh our priorities by co-developing with our communities and build a ‘Stronger Together’ community strategy for Bury
• Foster and facilitate opportunities for social interactions that allow the development of tolerance and trust to develop a shared sense of pride and place in Bury
• Ensure  ...  view the full agenda text for item C. 19

i)               Community Safety, Cohesion and Resilience

Council considered a notice of motion received in the names of Councillors: A Arif,  Bayley, Boles, Boroda, Cummins, Farooq, Fitzgerald, Frith, Gold, Green, Grimshaw, Haroon, Hayes, Ibrahim, McGill, Morris, Moss, O'Brien, Pilkington, Quinn Alan, Quinn Deborah, Rafiq, Rizvi, Rubinstein, Ryder, Smith Lucy Staples-Jones Gareth, Tariq, Thorpe, Walmsley, Whitby.

The Motion was moved by Councillor Walmsley and seconded by Councillor Bernstein and on being put with all Members present including the Mayor voting in favour, Council agreed to:

• Build on our response work by collaborating with our faith and community leaders to build greater resilience and strength
• Participate fully in the Greater Manchester recovery coordination activity, recognising the fluidity of communities across administrative borders, whilst reflecting specifics of Bury’s neighbourhoods
• Collaborate with faith and community leaders and MPs to support future applications to the Home Office security protection fund
• Revisit our LET’S Do It! strategy, alongside the Community Safety Partnership Plan, to refresh our priorities by co-developing with our communities and build a ‘Stronger Together’ community strategy for Bury
• Foster and facilitate opportunities for social interactions that allow the development of tolerance and trust to develop a shared sense of pride and place in Bury
• Ensure Council communication and engagement is reflective and responsive to the needs of all our communities, and work with partners to do ensure their approach is the same
• Link our community strategy work into that of Health Inequalities to deliver an equitable and inclusive approach
• Identify projects that encourage communities to work together for mutual benefit
• Progress the ‘Different Cultures, Same Horizons’ element as part of our Culture Strategy, with intergenerational work based on heritage
• Facilitate Team Bury work to gain insight of new and emerging communities (and leaders within these) that don’t currently show in census data
• Encouragement of ‘upstanding’ – calling out and reporting behaviour – rather than bystanding and promote our Hate Crime reporting centres.

ii)             Government Funding Streams

Council considered a motion received in the names of Councillors S. Arif, Bernstein, Brown, Gartside, Harris, Hussain, Lancaster, McBriar, Rydeheard, Vernon.

The Motion was moved by Councillor Bernstein and seconded by Councillor Vernon and on being put with all Members present including the Mayor voting in favour, Council agreed to:

1. Write to the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government imploring that the CSP for Bury is again higher than the national average.
2. In the same letter to the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government asking when will a Fair Funding Review take place.  
3. Write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer asking what level of HSF this Council can expect for the remainder of this financial year and for the 2025/26 financial year bearing in mind the impact of scrapping winter fuel payments other than for those on pension credit or other means-tested benefits.  

iii)           Funding for drop in centres for Older residents

Council considered a motion in the names of Councillors Birchmore, Berry,  ...  view the full minutes text for item C. 19

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

The Council Motion Tracker is circulated for information. 

There were no scrutiny reports and items called in by scrutiny.

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 work on the outside bodies or partnerships.