Agenda and minutes

Councillor Steve Battlemuch (personal)

Councillor Phil Jackson (unwell)

Councillor Audra Wynter (unwell)

None

Mobility Bus Passes

DC asked the following question of the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Local Transport:

Following the recent review of the mobility bus pass policy over the autumn 2019 period, I would like to ask the Portfolio Holder for Adult Care and Local Transport what the next steps in the decision making process are going to be and the timescales involved.  Furthermore, will the Council publish a full and transparent report outlining the total number of responses received during the consultation period and a pie-chart style diagram outlining the first option preferences favoured by respondents?  Finally, could the Portfolio Holder also outline how the final decision regarding the review will be made?

Councillor Adele Williams replied as follows:

Thank you Lord Mayor and thank you to the citizen for the question.

You will be aware that the Council reluctantly withdrew free travel between 11pm and 9.30am on Monday to Friday for Mobility Pass holders in 2018, with this difficult decision being made due to the severe budget pressures facing the Council.

Cardholders have continued to receive the benefits of the national concessionary scheme, which allows free travel between 9.30am and 11pm on Monday to Friday and all day on Saturday and Sunday. Since the additional concession was withdrawn, the measure has actually saved the Council approximately £250,000 per year.

However, in recognition of the concerns raised by citizens, and I would like to thank the Campaign for the work they’ve done in raising this issue, the Council is reviewing the withdrawal of the Mobility Pass concession, and a full consultation on options to reintroduce the concession took place between September and November 2019.

The consultation elicited a large response, with over 1,000 people giving their views on the proposed options and how the withdrawal of the concession has affected them.

The Council is reviewing the responses received and will make a decision on how to take this matter forward very soon. This will go through the appropriate Council governance processes and the Council will indeed publish a full and transparent report, which summarises all of the findings of the consultation.

So I’d like to thank you for your question and assure you that we will be making a decision very soon.

Councillor Salma Mumtaz presented a petition on behalf of residents of Nuthall Road requesting that the green space in front of housing on Nuthall Road is turned into a car park.

The minutes of the meeting of Council held on 11 November 2019 were confirmed as an accurate record and signed by the Chair.

Ian Curryer, Chief Executive, reported the following:

Queen’s New Year Honours

Congratulations to citizens of Nottingham who were honoured for their outstanding achievements in the Queen’s New Year Honours List for 2020.  These included Sheku Kanneh Mason, who is a musician for his services to music, Craig Chettle, the founder of Confetti for his services to enterprenuership and creative industries, Michael Johal, a business person in the City for his services to the economy and community cohesion and Elizabeth Fagan, the non-executive director of Boots for services to gender equality in business.  There were a number of other city-related honours.

Climate Change Award

In November, the Council was named Climate Champion and overall winner of the Guardian’s Public Service Awards in recognition of its ambitious plans to be the first UK city to become carbon neutral.  The Council also won the Local Authority Initiative of the Year at the Energy Awards for its Energiesprong project.

Academy of Urbanism Award

Old Market Square was a finalist in the Great Place category at the Academy of Urbanism Awards in November and the Council was presented with a poem about the Square composed by poet Ian McMillan.

Customer Service Excellence Award

Nottingham City Libraries have been recognised as meeting the Cabinet Office’s Customer Service Excellence Standard.

UK Bus Awards

Nottingham City Transport won UK Bus Operator of the Year at the UK Bus Awards.  The Company was named as Top City Operator and individual members of staff had success in the Top National Bus Driver, Engineer of the Year and Unsung Heroes categories. 

Sports Personality of the Year

Congratulations to volunteer Keiren Thompson who was named BBC Get Inspired Unsung Hero Award winner at the Sports Personality of the Year 2019 Awards.  Keiren was recognised for his work running the community project ‘Helping Kids Achieve’ in Bulwell.

Holocaust Memorial Day

There will be a Civic Service of Commemoration on Monday 27 January at the Council House.

Councillor Georgia Power spoke about Keiren Thompson.

None

Knife-related crime

Councillor Andrew Rule asked the following question of the Leader of the Council:

The Police and Crime Commissioner for Nottinghamshire reportedly supports the Knife Angel coming to the City of Nottingham, given there are indications that external funding would be made available to facilitate this, will the Leader of the Council continue to maintain his opposition to the Knife Angel being installed on Council land, even in the event that there was no cost to the Council?

Councillor David Mellen replied as follows:

Thank you Lord Mayor and can I thank Councillor Rule for his question.

Lord Mayor, my commitment to reducing the risk of knife crime in Nottingham remains unchanged.

My opinion as to whether we should host the Knife Angel statue in Nottingham is not one borne out of how much it might cost to bring the statue here. My view, and I know it’s a view shared by many in this Chamber, is based on how appropriate it would be to bring the statue to this City.  While some claim that the Knife Angel’s presence stimulates conversations about knife crime, we need to balance differing views. For every person who might find it inspiring, there are people in our City that who will find it distasteful or even offensive. There is a risk it may be misunderstood as glorifying violence.

Let me be clear, we are making progress in reducing knife crime, and figures from the Crime and Drugs Partnership show knife crime offences fell in the City by 17% over the past 12 months. While this is welcome news, and news we are pleased about, there are still far too many cases of knives being carried and, sadly, used and we can never be complacent about this issue.  We are committed to maintaining our public health approach in partnership with all key agencies, including public protection, police, social care, schools, voluntary and community organisations and other groups working in the City.  Reducing the risk of knife crime and youth violence includes works that we have been doing with our Youth Justice Service, a specially formed dedicated knife crime hub, to support and reach young people at risk locally; it also involves work with the County Council, the nationally funded Violence Reduction Unit and the Police and Crime Commissioner.  The initial priority of the Unit has been to work with core provision and police colleagues to reduce weapon-enabled violence in public spaces. In the longer term, the Unit is seeking to understand what causes violence, and the causes of those causes, so that we can prevent, intervene and treat those causes.

In addition, because knife crime is not just a problem amongst teenagers, we have recently been able to grant-fund voluntary organisations working with 18 – 24 year olds where there is a concern that knife crime is significant.  We know that it is very important that young people have access to good youth opportunities and have hope that they can achieve a good education  ...  view the full minutes text for item 67.

Report of the Leader of the Council

Councillor David Mellen, Leader of the Council, presented the report detailing decisions taken under procedures that include exemption from the Overview and Scrutiny Call In Procedure Rules and Special Urgency Access to Information Rules.

RESOLVED to note

(1)  the urgent decisions (exempt from call in)

(2)  the Key Decisions taken under Special Urgency Procedures

Report of the Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Energy, Environment and Democratic Services

The Deputy Leader/ Portfolio Holder for Energy, Environment and Democratic Services presented the report proposing changes to polling districts and places, following a review that had taken place in autumn 2019. 

RESOLVED to amend the Council’s current scheme of polling districts and places with the revisions set out in appendices 2 and 3 to the report.

Report of the Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Energy, Environment and Democratic Services

The Deputy Leader of the Council/ Portfolio Holder for Energy, Environment and Democratic Services presented the report proposing that the Council declare a climate and ecological emergency and work towards fulfil its ambitions of becoming the first carbon neutral city in the UK by 2028 by adopting the Carbon Neutral Charter, and consulting on a Carbon Neutral Action Plan to co-create the next steps as a City.

RESOLVED to

(1)  declare a climate and ecological emergency;

(2)  adopt the Carbon Neutral Charter, as set out in appendix 1 to the report; and

(3)  consult on a Carbon Neutral Action Plan and note that the outcome of consultation and any further recommendations or actions to be taken following the outcome of consultation will be subject to further approval.

Report of the Portfolio Holder for Housing, Planning and Heritage

Councillor Linda Woodings, Portfolio Holder for Housing, Planning and Heritage presented the report proposing the adoption of the Local Plan Part 2: Land and Planning Policies Document as a replacement for the saved policies of the Nottingham Local Plan (2005). 

RESOLVED to

(1)  adopt the Local Plan Part 2: Land and Planning Policies Document, as set out in appendices A and B to the report, to replace the remaining saved policies in the Nottingham Local Plan (2005); and

(2)  delegate authority to the Head of Planning Strategy and Building Control to make any final minor editorial changes (including correction of typographical or grammatical errors) prior to publication.

To note that Councillor Toby Neal has been appointed as a substitute member of the Appointments and Conditions of Service Committee.

The following committee membership change was noted:

(1)  Councillor Toby Neal had been appointed as a substitute member of the Appointments and Conditions of Service Committee.