Agenda and minutes

The Chairman will draw attention to the emergency evacuation procedure as set out under Note 8.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure, as set out on the agenda.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to complete the green interest forms circulated to groups in their pre-meetings (which will be announced at the Council Meeting) to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

Councillor Charles Gerrish declared a disclosable pecuniary interest in item 9 (Housing Motion), as Chair of ADL, and withdrew from the meeting for the duration of that item.

Councillor Joe Rayment declared an ‘other’ interest in item 12 (Climate Emergency) as he lives in a Georgian flat with single-glazed sash windows.

Councillor Eleanor Jackson declared an ‘other’ interest in item 12 (Climate Emergency) as a Member of the Development Management Committee which might see a planning application arising from this motion.

On a motion from Councillor Tim Warren, seconded by Councillor Dine Romero, it was

RESOLVED that the minutes of 19^th February 2019, including the exempt minutes, are moved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The Chair made the customary announcements regarding arrangements for the meeting. 

In addition, she reminded Councillors that tickets were still available for the Charity Music Evening in the Guildhall this Saturday 16th March at 7.30pm.

She concluded by thanking all Councillors who are not re-standing, for the time they have given to the Authority and wishing those Councillors that are re-standing, good luck at the election.

There were no items of urgent business.

The Democratic Services Manager will announce any submissions received. The Council will be invited to decide what action it wishes to take, if any, on the matters raised in these submissions. As the questions received and the answers given will be circulated in written form there is no requirement for them to be read out at the meeting. The questions and answers will be published with the draft minutes.

Statements were made by the following members of the public;

Rachel Willis made a statement in which she outlined several aspects of period poverty and called on the Council to pass the motion on the agenda, and further open up debate on this issue.  A full copy of Rachel’s statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and attached to the online minutes.  Councillor Tim Warren asked if Rachel was aware that the Council had committed £50k in the budget to address period poverty, to which she replied that she had not been aware, and welcomed this news.  Councillor Liz Hardman asked Rachel if she considered more sustainable sanitary products were acceptable to young people, to which she responded that she thought they increasingly were, but often the expense was a prohibitive factor.  The Chair thanked Rachel for her statement which was referred to the relevant Cabinet Member.

Abbi Cole, a Bath resident and parent, made a statement explaining the recent steps she had taken in response to the climate emergency and urging the Council to pass the motion to declare a climate emergency later in the meeting.  A full copy of Abbie’s statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and attached to the online minutes.  The Chair thanked Abbi for her statement which was referred to the relevant Cabinet Member.

Richard Young, an environmental scientist, father and Bath citizen addressed the Council about the climate emergency.  He outlined the ways in which harm was being caused to the planet and the failure of leaders to tackle the enormity of the issue.  He called on the Council to show leadership tonight and going forward.  In response to a query from Councillor Dine Romero about whether Richard was aware of the cross party element of the agenda motion, he responded that he was and it gave him hope.  The Chair thanked Richard for his statement which was referred to the relevant Cabinet Member.

Sarah Warren made a statement in which she explained that she had been doing a master’s degree in sustainability over the last 3 years, through which she was becoming increasingly aware that environmental changes were happening faster than had been predicted, and cited some examples.  She called on the Council, as policy makers, to put this at the heart of all decision making.  Councillor Paul Crossley asked Sarah about the effects of arctic ice melting on the Somerset area, to which she replied that flooding would have a number of negative aspects on the area.  The Chair thanked Sarah for her statement which was referred to the relevant Cabinet Member.

Dr Alice Gardner, a GP in Wiltshire and resident of Bath, made a statement highlighting the negative health impacts of climate change such as air pollution and explaining how positive environmental changes also had positive health benefits. A full copy of Alice’s statement has been placed on the Council’s Minute book and attached to the online minutes.  In response to a query from Councillor Richard  ...  view the full minutes text for item 81.

The City of Bath World Heritage Site Management Plan 2016-2022 was endorsed by Council in 2016 and is mid-way through its 6 year life. In line with best practice, the document has been monitored and reviewed and Council (as the body which endorsed the Plan) is now asked to endorse mid-term alterations to it.

The Council considered a report seeking agreement to mid-term alterations to the World Heritage Site Management Plan 2016 – 2022, which had originally been endorsed by Council in 2016.

On a motion from Councillor Paul Myers, seconded by Councillor Will Sandry, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously) to endorse the mid-term changes to the City of Bath World Heritage Site Management Plan and recommend to the Cabinet Member for Economic and Community Regeneration that the revised document is approved for submission to the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO).

On a motion from Councillor Tim Warren, seconded by Councillor Paul Myers, it was

RESOLVED that

Council notes that:

1.  In January 2019, a cross-party commission, convened by housing charity Shelter in the aftermath of the Grenfell Tower fire, published a report A vision for social housing, finding that the roots of the current housing crisis can be found in the decline of social housing over the past four decades.

2.  The report found that this decline in social housing has resulted in a failure to build enough homes to meet demand, huge waiting lists for social homes, an explosion in the number of people in private rented accommodation and a huge rise in welfare costs to government as a result of more people renting privately at higher cost.

3.  The report further found that, unless a radically different approach is adopted, only half of today’s young people are ever likely to own their own home. A generation of young families will be trapped in private rented property for their whole lives, with increasing numbers living in dangerous accommodation or going into debt. More people will grow old in private rentals, facing unaffordable rent increases or eviction at any point. Billions more in welfare costs will be paid to private landlords and hundreds of thousands more people will become homeless as a result of insecure tenancies and sky-high housing costs.

4.  The report recommends a decisive and generational shift in housing policy. This would require:

·  investment in social housing;

·  a new regulator working across social and private renting to protect residents and to set and enforce common standards;

·  a new national tenants’ organisation to give social housing residents a voice; and

·  a historic renewal of social housing with a 20 year programme to deliver 3.1 million more social homes.

5.  Capital Economics set out in detail the costs and benefits of a 20-year social home building programme and found that while the gross additional cost would be on average £10.7 billion per year this gross cost would be reduced firstly by direct benefits to government of increased infrastructure spending and savings in the welfare system, and secondly by the returns to government arising from the knock-on economic benefits across the economy. Taking all this into account, the maximum net cost to government in the most expensive year could be £5.4 billion and if funded in the early years through borrowing, the programme pays back in full over 39 years.

6.  In Bath and North East Somerset, there are around 5,000 households on the housing waiting list and currently 27 households in temporary accommodation.

This Council believes that:

7.  In line with the vision outlined in the Shelter report, all political parties need to rediscover publicly built housing as a key pillar of our national infrastructure. A home is the foundation of individual success in life and a programme of home building can be the foundation of similar national success.

8.  A major increase in the delivery of social housing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 83.

On a motion from Councillor John Bull, seconded by Councillor Chris Dando, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously) that

This Council:

1.  Recognises that there is public dissatisfaction in B&NES resulting from the perceived lack of reliable, speedy and affordable buses linking residents with their work, educational and health facilities and venues for shopping and entertainment.

2.  Also regards it as essential that such services exist in order to reduce residents’ reliance on private vehicles with their accompanying pollution, congestion and road safety risks.

3.  Welcomes the opportunity under the Bus Services Act 2018 for mayoral Combined Authorities to implement a franchising scheme whereby the Authority identifies the requirements of its residents and then invites bus operators to bid to run the routes rather than the operators competing to offer routes which can often lead to either duplication and overlap or gaps in services.

4.  Calls on the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor to the Exchequer to ask for an offer of free bus travel to those under 25, to be funded out of vehicle excise duty.

5.  Calls on the WECA Mayor, in the light of recent bus service reductions in rural areas, to apply the necessary staff resources to completing the Bus Strategy as a matter of urgency and to carry out a high-level scoping study on a bus franchising scheme which incorporates conditions on operators including fare levels, frequency, reliability and vehicle accessibility.

[Notes;-

1.  The above resolution, deleting point 4 from the original Labour motion contained within the agenda papers, and adding the new point 4 above, was proposed by Councillor Mark Shelford, and accepted into the substantive by the mover and seconder of the motion.]

On a motion from Councillor Liz Hardman, seconded by Councillor Karen Warrington, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously) that

Council notes that:

1.  A survey by girls’ rights charity Plan International UK found that:

•  one in ten girls in the UK are unable to afford sanitary products;

•  one in seven girls have also struggled to afford sanitary products;

•  one in seven girls have had to ask to borrow sanitary wear from a friend due to affordability issues;

•  more than one in ten girls has had to improvise sanitary wear due to affordability issues; and

•  one in five girls have changed to a less suitable sanitary product due to cost.

2.  A January 2018 report also by Plan International UK Break the Barriers: Girls’ Experiences of Menstruation in the UK found that periods are surrounded by shame and stigma.  48% of girls feel embarrassed by their periods rising to 56% of 14 year olds.

3.  A number of different approaches are being taken to address period poverty including the Red Box Project which provides sanitary products in schools.  Brook, in partnership with Plan International UK is piloting a P-Card scheme which will provide free period products, education and information to vulnerable and disadvantaged young people.

4.  Safe disposal of menstrual products poses an increasing environmental problem.  Some packs of single-use pads have the equivalent of four carrier bags worth of plastic in them which takes centuries to biodegrade and releases toxic gases if burnt.

5.  Research by Anglia Water found that nearly half of women flush tampons and consider this a normal method of disposal.  This can lead to blocked sewers and polluted rivers and oceans.

6.  B&NES MYP, Hannah Powell, has said that many teenage girls would love to try menstrual cups because they are so much better for the environment, but the cost can be prohibitive.

7.  That from this summer, the NHS will offer hospital patients free sanitary products in order to tackle period poverty.

This Council believes that:

8.  Talking about periods and ending the taboos that surround them, means that we can better equip every girl with the products and information she needs to manage her periods effectively without shame, stigma or embarrassment. 

9.  Addressing period poverty should also involve education so that girls understand what is available and the environmental impact of disposable products.  Reusable menstrual products, as well as being better for the environment, by their very nature help to address period poverty in a sustainable and long-lasting way.  However, they will not be suitable for everyone and it is important that girls have a choice of products.

10.The development of alternatives to the non-biodegradable plastic elements of disposable sanitary products and packaging should be a priority for manufacturers.

11.Individual councillors as public figures and community leaders, have a responsibility to take a lead in opening up the debate about periods so that we can begin to address the shame and stigma felt by so many girls and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85.

Councillor Lin Patterson presented a petition containing over 2,200 signatures calling for action on climate change now and made a statement in support.

On a motion from Councillor Rob Appleyard, seconded by Councillor Mark Shelford, it was

RESOLVED that

This Council acknowledges;

1.  The devastating impacts that climate change and global temperature increases will have on the lives and livelihoods of people around the world, including on the health, safety and wellbeing of B&NES residents;

2.  The urgent need for action to be taken fast enough for there to be a chance of further climate change being limited to avoid the worst impacts of drought, floods, extreme heat and poverty for hundreds of millions of people;

3.  The opportunity for individuals and organisations at all levels to take action on reducing carbon emissions, from both production and consumption;

4.  The need to enable low carbon living across society through changes to laws, taxation, infrastructure plus transport in all forms, policies and plans;

5.  The historic commitments made at the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris regarding the future of renewable energy;

6.  That global temperatures have already increased by 1oC compared to pre-industrial levels, are still rising, and are on track to overshoot the Paris Agreement limit before 2050;

7.  That the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change’s Special Report (November 2018) makes clear the need to ensure global carbon emissions start to decline well before 2030 to avoid overshoot and enable global warming to be limited to 1.5?C;

8.  Our responsibility to help secure an environmentally sustainable future for our residents and in relation to the global effects of anthropogenic climate change.

This Council subsequently notes that;

9.  Despite the Paris Agreement placing no binding commitments upon local government institutions, we as a Council can still play our part in the global movement towards a sustainable energy future, this is evidenced in recent reports which show with ambitious action from national and sub-national authorities, civil society, the private sector, indigenous peoples and local communities, further climate change can be limited;

10.The UK is well placed to contribute to this, drawing upon our existing industrial base, rooted in an industrial heritage which once before revolutionised the global energy economy to the great benefit of humankind;

11.B&NES is well-placed to champion both rural and urban decarbonisation through renewable energy, energy efficiency, smart energy development, zero carbon homes, local & sustainable food, sustainable travel, carbon sequestration;

12.The Council is already working on a number of these issues including, for example, work to ensure the new Local Plan ensures zero carbon development and that the Council-owned ACL builds its new homes to that standard;

13.More needs to be done to enable Bath and wider area’s high number of listed buildings to be made more energy efficient, through pressure on central government and Historic England;

14.The development of green industries can deliver economic benefits through creating well-paid, high-skilled employment locally, regionally and nationally as well  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

On a motion from Councillor Bob Goodman, seconded by Councillor Paul Crossley, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously)

This Council acknowledges;

1.  That plastic is a material with an extremely long lifetime;

2.  One of the largest proportions of plastic waste in our society is plastic that is used only for a short time – i.e. disposable or single use items. It is also these items that are most likely to pollute the environment in uncontrolled ways, i.e. ending up as litter;

3.  Questions must be raised as to why we are using a nearly indestructible material for something that is in use for such a short space of time;

4.  The ambition to significantly reduction global usage of single-use plastic is not about demonising plastic entirely;

5.  Plastic is also a wonder material - it is cheap to make, lightweight and structurally strong;

6.  It has enabled a great deal of progress and improved public health in a number of ways including the field of medicine, food hygiene and shelf life of products, it protects things and keeps us safe;

7.  The critical role that single-use plastic can still play in areas such as the medical setting where some individuals still need to use straws or single use disposable items;

8.  That the Council has been taking action to reduce single use plastics over the last year, for example: eliminating plastic straws in the GLL run leisure centres and the Heritage Services venues, along with action to switch to metal cutlery at the leisure centres, and tackle supply chain plastic waste by Heritage Services

This Council subsequently notes:

9.  The prolific use of plastic has led to it becoming an environmental pollution problem on a local, national and global scale;

10.Therefore, it is vitally important to continue to recycle plastic at every opportunity.

11.It is time for everyone to examine how we can make a shift away from our reliance on plastic;

12.Aiming to reduce plastic aligns precisely with the Government’s 25-year environment plan and the Government’s Waste and Resource Strategy;

13.That the Council will continue to lobby Government and the industry to remove unnecessary packaging and make it easier to avoid single use plastics in the first place and develop solutions;

14.Eliminating single use plastic is a challenge, as here aren’t all the answers there yet on alternatives to single use plastics, but there are lots of things that we do as customers, consumers and businesses to make some positive changes away from single-use plastics;

15.Real, tangible progress requires enough local organisations (business, public and community sectors) to sign up to and then demonstrate they have phased out single-use items – e.g. cups, stirrers, straws, condiments sachets;

16.There have already been a considerable number of active members of the business community, local community groups and parish council who have been leading the way or who have been involved in activities that support this:

·  Such as cafes incentivising customers to bring their own cups  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

On a motion from Councillor Paul Crossley, seconded by Councillor Paul May, it was

RESOLVED (unanimously)

Council notes:

1.  Bath and North East Somerset Council’s Connecting Families Programme has been in operation since 2013 and is part of the Government’s ‘Troubled Families Programme’.

2.  The Connecting Families team has worked with and tracked outcomes for 842 local families in the current phase of the programme and has recorded successful outcomes for 487 of these. This represents almost 70% of the Programme target of 700 families assisted.

3.  B&NES is currently ranked as the second highest performing authority in the country for this indicator.

4.  That intensive early intervention services are instrumental in improving the lives of local families and also lead to reduced costs and duplication of services for the Council.

5.  Local authorities receive funding for the Programme through a payment-by-results system.

6.  The second phase of the Programme is due to end in 2020 and no announcement has yet been made regarding the continuation of funding for the programme after this date.

7.  The resolution adopted by the Children and Young People Policy Development and Scrutiny Panel on 19 September 2017 supporting the continuation of the Programme.

Council resolves:

8.  To commend the Connecting Families team for their outstanding work in supporting local families, along with the volunteer support group Families Matter.

9.  To ask the Leader of Council to make further representations to Government, calling for the continuation of funding for the Programme in the context of the forthcoming comprehensive spending review.

10.To ask the MPs for Bath and North East Somerset to support calls for continued funding for the Programme and to invite them to receive briefings about some of the successes achieved through the Programme.

Councillor Lin Patterson had made a statement and presented a petition earlier in the meeting.

Councillor Will Sandry thanked the Council and Chair at the conclusion of the meeting.