Agenda item

(1) Motion by Councillor Mrs S Woolley

It was moved and seconded

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) is now planning what questions will be in the next UK census in 2021.  The Royal British Legion (RBL) is currently leading a campaign to add questions to the Census regarding our Armed Forces Community. 

It is estimated that one in ten of the population are, or have been, part of the Armed Forces Community, yet there is limited information about where they are or what their needs might be.

RBL suggest this is a once in a generation opportunity for change by adding armed forces related questions to the 2021 census, thereby improving understanding of the Armed Forces Community and their needs for politicians, charities and service providers. 

To date, over a third of MPs have pledged their support, along with more than 100 local authorities and military charities. (See http://www.britishlegion.org.uk/get-involved/campaign/count-them-in/

Lincolnshire County Council has a proud tradition of supporting the Armed Forces in the county, reinforced by the recent resigning of the Lincolnshire Armed Forces Community Covenant.

I therefore move that Lincolnshire County Council registers its support to the Royal British Legion Count Them In Campaign on the official website.

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was unanimously carried.

(2) Motion by Councillor R B Parker

It was moved and seconded

The Social Mobility Commission is an independent statutory body first set up in 2010 and is responsible for ‘promoting social mobility in England, for example, by challenging employers, the professions, universities and schools to play their part in promoting social mobility'.

On 28 November, the Commission published its annual report State of the Nation 2017: Social Mobility in Great Britain. The basis of the report is built around the Social Mobility Index, which ranks all 324 local authorities in England in terms of their social mobility prospects for someone from a disadvantaged background. It uses a range of indicators, 16     in total for every major life stage, from early years through to working lives, to map social mobility by local authority area.

The ranking of the 7 Lincolnshire councils, using the 16 indicators, is set out below.

To put these ranking into a national and regional context, London Boroughs filled the 13 highest rankings for social mobility whilst North Kesteven was the highest placed council in the East Midlands. The index shows that ‘the worst performing areas for social mobility are no longer inner-city areas but remote rural and coastal areas, and former industrial areas…’.

The commission makes a number of recommendations of which three are specific to local authorities of which two are related to councils with an education remit.

This report comes at an opportune time as Lincolnshire County Council pursues its Fairer Funding campaign to achieve a fairer distribution of government funding, because it provides yet more evidence of the serious consequences of the present formulae. Indeed, the commission in its report ‘calls on government to increase its proportion of spending on those parts of the country that most need it.’

Yet at the same time it is recognised in the report that ‘local policies adopted by local authorities and employers can influence outcomes for disadvantaged residents’. In the light of this report and what it shows about the wide diversity in social mobility within our county, this council needs to respond positively.

Accordingly, this council recognises the pressing need to enhance social mobility in our county and asks the Leader and Chief Executive to pursue a range of initiatives including

·         examining our current policies to ensure that the council has in place ‘an integrated strategy for improving disadvantaged children’s outcomes’,

·         ensuring that within our own services, particularly for children and young people, that policies are in place which improve social mobility rather than reduce it,

·         moving the council to become an accredited living wage employer and, as a policy, encourage other employers in Lincolnshire to do likewise,

·         liaising with Districts Councils and the Lincolnshire Enterprise Partnership to take forward a county wide Social Mobility agenda,

·         making recommendations for particular pieces of scrutiny work on Social Mobility to be undertaken within this council.

Upon being put to the vote the motion was lost.