Agenda item

i)              Councilor Roberts to propose and Councilor Birch to second:

“1 in 10 children in Northamptonshire receive free school meals. For many of these children this is the only hot and substantial meal they receive.

Free School meals are not customarily available during school holidays. Working parents incur additional childcare costs around the holidays. Families already struggling with low budgets find it difficult to feed their children. Children most at risk of hunger during the holidays may also suffer from social isolation, loneliness, and inactivity. These factors combined can lead to significant weight loss or gain, and negative impacts on physical and mental well-being.

This is a problem highlighted further with the current pandemic and one that is likely to increase and definitely not go away. Covid-19 is a natural phenomenon, poverty is not, and the containment of the virus will not end this plight.

We call on this Council to write to:-

·         Support a call to action for Northampton MPs to support the extension of the of the voucher scheme to all school holiday periods and to look to embed the scheme all year round. 

·         Call on National Government to act to ensure this gap is filled. 

·         To support calls to protect pupils forced to self-isolate, who will not receive their free school meal and may go hungry.

We further call on this Council:-

·         To work with Partners to establish Holiday Clubs where children can access social activities as well as food, providing financial relief for parents on very low incomes, so that no child goes hungry over any school holiday.

·         To scope and investigate the possibility of harnessing additional funding targeted to identified groups who already do or wish to offer these services.

·         To scope and investigate the potential for directing a portion of the community fund budget into community organisations, who already do, or wish to, offer these services.

What is needed is joined up working with the County Council and a commitment to take this motion forward into the West Northants authority.”

ii)             Councillor Roberts to propose and Councillor Joyce to second:

Northampton Borough Council’s Tree Policy was written in 2016, with no serious amendments or considerations since that time.  The policy is out of date and falls short of those used by other councils.

There are no pictures to show what a good tree in Northampton looks like, and it fails to join up planning policy. 

There is a negative bias that over-emphasises the challenges and conflicts without enough content about the benefits or solutions that would lead to improvement of Northampton’s urban forest and community engagement around them.

There are many more positive benefits that trees bring to urban environments. For example, they can increase house prices, improve health and wellbeing. They can also encourage more sustainable lifestyle choices. There is very little on the biodiversity benefit.

We call on this Council to:

1.     Note the significant role trees play in enhancing accessible green spaces, improving air quality, restoring and protecting soil health, creating wildlife habitat, mitigating flood risk and benefiting public health;

2.     Recognise the contribution trees make to the environment in our towns including shading and cooling, pollution and noise mitigation, as well speeding up floodwater drainage and improving the quality of our street scene.

3.     Call for a review of current policies on, and attitude towards, the planting of trees appropriate to our urban areas with a view to introducing a more proactive policy, which looks to increase the number and regularity of trees planted in our town and residential streets and parks and other open spaces;

4.     Call for a new strategy to include providing opportunities to educate children in understanding the benefits of trees and to get involved in tree planting;

5.     Recommends closer partnership working with the, and landowners seeking sites for new tree planting

6.     Recommends a Tree Summit bringing together the Local Councils, Park Rangers, Landowners and partners responsible for land maintenance, the Woodland Trust and members of the public to work out how to plant more trees in our town, residential streets and in our parks and other open spaces.

7.     Culminate this action into a working Tree Policy that includes but is not exhaustive of the following;

·         To allow for ‘replacement in situ’ of valuable urban trees.

·         For a regular maintenance plan to be outlined.

·         There should be a mapping exercise. This is not just for existing trees, but for planting opportunities.

·         Stronger tree policies that informs infrastructure design and prevents conflicts.

·         Arboricultural Officer (s) at the heart of plans

·         Parameters agreed on what residents can and can’t do to trees.

·         A clear inclusion of the responsibilities for Trees on Council owned/NPH run land, taking account of the tree size and maintenance requirements

·         More information on tree benefits.

·         Detail references that reflect the growing research and evidence into the benefits of trees.

·         Recognises an opportunity for the council to adopt CAVAT – a way of valuing its stock when the trees need removing for development, so they can get money back for replanting: https://www.ltoa.org.uk/resources/cavat.

iii)            Councillor B Markham  to propose and Councillor Beardsworth to second:

“During the 2019 General Election Campaign the Prime Minister promised that he had a plan for the reform of Adult Social Care and that a Green Paper on the future of care would be produced within 100 Days of a Conservative victory.

No green paper has been forthcoming and so far there have not been the promised All Party Talks designed to produce a financially sustainable long term answer to the Social Care Crisis, in England and Wales.

1.             This council believes that the continued failure of national government to reform social care threatens the lives and well-being of our residents and poses serious financial risks to the new West Northamptonshire Unitary.

2.             This council therefore supports  'The lives we want to lead' – the LGA green paper for adult social care and asks  our local MPs and the Government to engage with the Adult Social Care,  All Party Parliamentary Group ( APPG)    to achieve a non-party sustainable long term answer to the future provision of Adult Social Care.”

iv)            Councillor King to propose and Councillor Nunn to second:

'Whilst this Council does everything it can to combat the COVID19 virus it is important to raise awareness of the impact that this pandemic can have on the mental health and well-being of the people of Northampton.  At the beginning of October, during Mental Health Week, we recognised the work of the charity Action for Happiness and delivered their free online session aimed at improving the mental health and wellbeing of Northamptonians.

This Council resolves to extend these sessions through the mandate of NBC's Health and Well-being Forum and work with the voluntary, public and private sectors with immediate effect to make this a regular event and free for all residents, workers and visitors to Northampton.'

Robin Burgess addressed Council in respect of motion i) and commented that on behalf of Northamptonshire County Council he was coordinating the administration of the government award towards addressing holiday hunger. He advised that there were a high number of people seeking assistance who had previously not been in receipt of benefits or required the service of food banks, as a consequence of the pandemic.

Anne Wankiiri, of United African Association addressed Council in respect of motion i) and advised that some BAME children were not eligible for food vouchers due to the immigration status of their parents; her organisation provided many of these families with food parcels but stated that they needed assistance from the Council and other organisations.

Rachel McGrath, representing Northamptonshire Food Poverty Network, addressed Council in respect of motion i) and stated that the Food Poverty Scrutiny Panel found there was an expectation that voluntary organisations would “fill the gap” where councils could not meet the needs of hungry families, however voluntary organisations were facing an unsure future. She stated that the motion would provide assurance to families locked in a struggle to make ends meet, noting that the situation would get worse as unemployment rose. Ms McGrath further noted that the End Child Poverty Coalition found 11,721 kids living in poverty in Northampton.

I)                Councillor accepted an amendment to the original motion as published on the agenda. The altered motion was seconded by Councillor Birch.

“1 in 10 children in Northamptonshire receive free school meals. For many of these children this is the only hot and substantial meal they receive.

Free School meals are not customarily available during school holidays. Working parents incur additional childcare costs around the holidays. Families already struggling with low budgets find it difficult to feed their children. Children most at risk of hunger during the holidays may also suffer from social isolation, loneliness, and inactivity. These factors combined can lead to significant weight loss or gain, and negative impacts on physical and mental well-being. 

This is a problem highlighted further with the current pandemic and one that is likely to increase and definitely not go away. Covid-19 is a natural phenomenon, poverty is not, and the containment of the virus will not end this plight. 

During recent months, this council has supported a number of charities and groups to deliver food support to the most vulnerable, many of them supporting families with young children in particular, through grants of around £85,000, and is involved with the management of the £330,000 DEFRA grant which is directly supporting food provision and food banks, which is administered by the Hope Centre.

This council therefore resolved to: 

·       Work with Northampton MPs and the county council to support the extension of the of the voucher scheme to all school holiday periods and to look to embed the scheme all year round. 

·       Urge National Government to act to ensure this gap is filled. 

·       To support calls to protect pupils forced to self-isolate, who will not receive their free school meal and may go hungry. 

This council will also: 

·       Work with Partners to establish Holiday Clubs where children can access social activities as well as food, providing financial relief for parents on very low incomes, so that no child goes hungry over any school holiday.

·       To scope and investigate the possibility of harnessing additional funding targeted to identified groups who already do or wish to offer these services.

·       Continue to direct a portion of the community fund budget into community organisations, who already do, or wish to, offer these services.

·       In continuing to work with the County Council, commit to taking the points in this motion forward into the West Northants authority.”

Council debated the motion.

Upon a vote, the altered motion was carried.

Alice Whitehead, founder of Save Our Street Trees, addressed Council in respect of motion ii) advised that 10 trees were planted in Far Cotton in 2019 and expressed a wish that this would become a blueprint across the county, but noted that a proactive tree policy was needed that properly maintained, protected and replaced urban trees. She highlighted the benefits of urban trees and stated that trees should be at the heart of the Council’s target to reach carbon neutrality by 2030.

Joe Cole, representing Woodland Trust, addressed Council in respect of motion ii)  and echoed comments made by Alice Whitehead  and explained that people generally went on to lead more sustainable lives after being involved in environmental causes and reiterated the importance of policies that created social equality regarding trees.

Russell Horsey addressed Council in respect of motion ii) and commented that  the importance of urban trees had been highlighted during the pandemic since most people were spending more time locally and at home and stated that this was a good time for the Council to review its tree policy with a view of influencing the new unitary authority to plant more trees across the county.  He stated that tree planting was essential in order for the country to meet climate targets and noted that bids awarded by the government were to those councils with strong tree policies and positive community engagement.

II)              Councillor Roberts proposed and Councillor Joyce seconded:

“Northampton Borough Council’s Tree Policy was written in 2016, with no serious amendments or considerations since that time.  The policy is out of date and falls short of those used by other councils.

There are no pictures to show what a good tree in Northampton looks like, and it fails to join up planning policy. 

There is a negative bias that over-emphasises the challenges and conflicts without enough content about the benefits or solutions that would lead to improvement of Northampton’s urban forest and community engagement around them.

There are many more positive benefits that trees bring to urban environments. For example, they can increase house prices, improve health and wellbeing. They can also encourage more sustainable lifestyle choices. There is very little on the biodiversity benefit.

We call on this Council to:

1.     Note the significant role trees play in enhancing accessible green spaces, improving air quality, restoring and protecting soil health, creating wildlife habitat, mitigating flood risk and benefiting public health;

2.     Recognise the contribution trees make to the environment in our towns including shading and cooling, pollution and noise mitigation, as well speeding up floodwater drainage and improving the quality of our street scene.

3.     Call for a review of current policies on, and attitude towards, the planting of trees appropriate to our urban areas with a view to introducing a more proactive policy, which looks to increase the number and regularity of trees planted in our town and residential streets and parks and other open spaces;

4.     Call for a new strategy to include providing opportunities to educate children in understanding the benefits of trees and to get involved in tree planting;

5.     Recommends closer partnership working with the, and landowners seeking sites for new tree planting

6.     Recommends a Tree Summit bringing together the Local Councils, Park Rangers, Landowners and partners responsible for land maintenance, the Woodland Trust and members of the public to work out how to plant more trees in our town, residential streets and in our parks and other open spaces.

7.     Culminate this action into a working Tree Policy that includes but is not exhaustive of the following;

·       To allow for ‘replacement in situ’ of valuable urban trees.

·       For a regular maintenance plan to be outlined.

·       There should be a mapping exercise. This is not just for existing trees, but for planting opportunities.

·       Stronger tree policies that informs infrastructure design and prevents conflicts.

·       Arboricultural Officer (s) at the heart of plans

·       Parameters agreed on what residents can and can’t do to trees.

·       A clear inclusion of the responsibilities for Trees on Council owned/NPH run land, taking account of the tree size and maintenance requirements

·       More information on tree benefits.

·       Detail references that reflect the growing research and evidence into the benefits of trees.

·       Recognises an opportunity for the council to adopt CAVAT – a way of valuing its stock when the trees need removing for development, so they can get money back for replanting: https://www.ltoa.org.uk/resources/cavat.”

Council debated the motion.

Upon a vote, the motion was carried.

III)             Councillor B Markham accepted an alteration to the original motion as published on the agenda. The altered motion was seconded by Councillor Beardsworth.

“During the 2019 General Election Campaign the Prime Minister identified the need for a fundamental reform of Adult Social Care and that a Green Paper on the future of care would be produced.

No green paper has been forthcoming and so far, there have not been the All Party Talks designed to produce a financially sustainable long-term answer to the Social Care Crisis, in England and Wales. 

This council believes the need for government to reform social care remains a priority.  The future well-being of our residents poses a serious challenge and potential financial risks to the new West Northamptonshire Unitary and the local health economy. 

1. This council therefore supports  'The lives we want to lead' – the LGA green paper for adult social care and asks  our local MPs and the Government to engage with the Adult Social Care,  All Party Parliamentary Group ( APPG)    to achieve a non-party sustainable long term answer to the future provision of Adult Social Care.” 

This council also notes the progress of Northamptonshire County Council’s Adult Social Care service to focus on improving outcomes for residents while transforming its services.  This has resulted in the service being nationally recognised as a high performing service according to the national ASCOF measures.”

Council debated the motion.

Upon a vote, the motion was carried.