Agenda item

Motion by Councillor M J Hill OBE

 

It was moved and seconded as follows:

 

Preamble:

In February 2021, the county council’s road maintenance grant was reduced by the Government from £51m down to £38.7m – a 25% cut. As a result, county councillors voted to fill this funding gap by allocating £12.3m from council reserves for this financial year.

 

The Treasury’s own figures have consistently shown the East Midlands to be lowest funded region per head for transport in the UK. And if we were receiving the same level of funding as the UK average, we and our neighbouring counties would have an extra £1 billion to spend on transport every year.

 

Lincolnshire is a large rural county with 5,500 miles of road to maintain. Without the £12.3 million in funding that has been taken from the council’s road maintenance grant, 24,000 potholes would go unfilled and 37 miles of roads in need of rebuilding would go un-repaired.

 

Local government has been at the forefront of government spending cuts for the last 10 years. During that time, Lincolnshire County Council has seen its annual government grants fall from £227m to £109m. In addition, the council has faced cost pressures of around £22-61m each year.

 

It is to our credit that we have maintained good services during this period.

 

Since 2011, the county council has found savings totalling £354m. Prior to the local government finance settlement later this month, initial estimates suggest it will face a cumulative funding shortfall of up to £57m over the next four years. Whilst some new welcome funding will be forthcoming from the Government, the main way to close that gap will be to increase council tax, draw on our reserves or find further savings – or more likely a combination of all three.

 

Because of these budget strains, it is unlikely the council can continue allocating funding from reserves to bring our roads maintenance funding back to 2019/20 levels which will have a detrimental effect on the state of our roads and lead to even greater costs in future.

 

Over many years highway maintenance has been a top priority for Lincolnshire residents which was highlighted even more during this year's county council elections.

 

 

There is an urgent need for government to reinstate their highway maintenance funding to previous levels where it correctly recognised the importance of good roads for safety and economic confidence.

 

I therefore move that this Council:

 

1.      Urgently lobbies Government to reinstate their Highways Maintenance Grant for Lincolnshire to the 2019/20 levels

 

2.      Enlists the support of the public, partners and MPs. 

 

3.      Identifies solutions if the money is not forthcoming before it sets its budget in February 2022.

 

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

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Council:

 

1.      Urgently lobbies Government to reinstate their Highways Maintenance Grant for Lincolnshire to the 2019/20 levels

 

2.      Enlists the support of the public, partners and MPs. 

 

3.      Identifies solutions if the money is not forthcoming before it sets its budget in February 2022.

 

 

 

Motion by Councillor A J Baxter

 

It was moved and seconded as follows:

 

Whilst welcoming the wide-ranging goals in the Council’s ‘Green Masterplan’, this motion seeks to ensure the council is fully measuring its performance towards achieving those goals.

I therefore move that this Council:

1. Includes a ‘Climate Change Impact Assessment’ in reports to the Council, Executive decision-makers and its committees.
2. Such Impact Assessments to include an evaluation of the consistency of report recommendations with the Council’s Green Masterplan and Carbon Management Plan, together with a specific statement on the carbon-neutrality, or otherwise, of the recommendations.

 

 

An amendment was proposed and seconded as follows:

 

Whilst welcoming the wide-ranging goals in the Council’s ‘Green Masterplan’, this motion seeks to ensure the council is fully measuring its performance towards achieving those goals.

I therefore move that this Council:

1.    Notes the success of the council in setting a 68% reduction target against its 1990 baseline to be delivered by 2025, 5 years ahead of the Government’s own ambition

2.    Notes the new Environment Bill has just passed its final reading that places a number of new requirements, in terms of sustainability reporting onto the Council, once the enabling legislation passes into law

3.    Supports the work already underway, which will align this Council with Government requirements

4. Includes a ‘Climate Change Sustainability Impact Assessment’ in reports to the Council, Executive decision-makers and its committees.  as part of the decision-making process across the organisation, where applicable.  This to be enacted as soon as the formal provisions of the Environment Act are communicated by Government to the authority.
5. Such Impact Assessments to include an evaluation of the consistency of report recommendations with the Council’s Green Masterplan and Carbon Management Plan, together with a specific statement on the carbon-neutrality, or otherwise, of the recommendations.

5. Ensures that the process of reporting on Carbon Management Plan delivery continues to the relevant scrutiny committees and to the       Executive.

 

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was carried.

 

This became the substantive motion, and upon being to the vote, was carried.

 

RESOLVED

 

That the Council:

 

1.    Notes the success of the council in setting a 68% reduction target against its 1990 baseline to be delivered by 2025, 5 years ahead of the Government’s own ambition

2.    Notes the new Environment Bill has just passed its final reading that places a number of new requirements, in terms of sustainability reporting onto the Council, once the enabling legislation passes into law

3.    Supports the work already underway, which will align this Council with Government requirements

4. Includes a Sustainability Impact Assessment as part of the decision-making process across the organisation, where applicable.  This to be enacted as soon as the formal provisions of the Environment Act are communicated by Government to the authority.

5.    Ensures that the process of reporting on Carbon Management Plan delivery continues to the relevant scrutiny committees and to the Executive.

 

 

Motion by Councillor R B Parker

 

It was moved and seconded as follows:

The Government has recently announced a ten year ‘vision’ for social care.  From October 2023 the Government plans to introduce a new £86,000 cap on the amount anyone in England will have to spend on their personal care over their lifetime, to be funded in part from a new tax, the Health and Social Care Levy

The White Paper sets out details of £1 billion of funding over the next 3 years including:

·       £300m to help councils increase the range of supported housing options which allow people to live more independently,

·       £150m to drive the greater adoption of technology and

·       £500m for workforce development, primarily through training and qualifications.

·       controversial plans to cap care costs at £86,000, which would allow wealthy people to keep a greater proportion of their assets than poorer people.

Jeremy Hunt, who chairs the Commons health and social care select committee, said the spending plans of around £1bn as outlined were “a long way off” the £7bn a year extra the health and social care select committee called for by the end of the parliament. The government’s commitments do not match the ambition set out by the Prime Minister and urgency of change, which the people who draw on care and support rightly expect to see.

These proposals do nothing to deal with the immediate pressures facing social care as we head into one of the most difficult winters on record.”

There is an absence of long-term strategy to transform the pay, terms and conditions of care workers, nor the high vacancy levels in the care sector.  In the short term, £500 million over 3 years is not enough to cover a workforce of over 1.65 million.

King’s Fund have argued that the measures failed to “fix social care” as Boris Johnson promised he would do “once and for all” in July 2019.

The care cap of £86,000 is much more advantageous to people who own more expensive houses and detrimental to those who own cheaper properties. The policy will also be more advantageous to people living in areas where house prices are high and detrimental to people living in areas where house prices are lower.

Motion

 

For the reasons set out above I move that:

 

This council calls on the Leader of the Council to write to Lincolnshire MPs urging them to press the Minister of Care, Gillian Keegan, to reconsider the present proposals.

 

Upon being put to the vote, the motion was lost.