Agenda item

Councillor Stubbs asked the Leader for an update on the resolution made at the Council meeting held in December regarding Sustainable Development Goals.

The Leader stated that a report was being prepared which addressed the Motion, setting out how it would be progressed.  It was a standing agenda item on the Sustainable Environment Steering Group.  The report would include the mapping for which of the sustainable goals and targets were most relevant to the Council.  The work would require resourcing from the policy perspective and the One Council programme would see the formation of a corporate policy capacity at the centre of the organisation which would take on that work and be updated as it moved forward.

Councillor Stubbs stated that there had been a request at the previous meeting that all reports coming to Full Council be marked appropriately, according to the sustainable development goals but the two reports at this meeting did not have those markings.  Could it be ensured that the reports at the next meeting would have the markings as requested and passed by the Motion.

The Leader assured that this would happen and stated that, although the reports at this meeting did not have the mark on them, the first report definitely had an indication to the sustainable goals.  The Borough Growth Fund showed £100,000 for environmental sustainability, £50,000 for the unpleasant odour, £70,000 for town centre recovery, £100,000 for the One Council programme.  The Capital Programme had solar panels, subways improvement, pest control vehicles and electric charging points which were all part of this.  

Councillor Fear asked the Leader for an outline of the threats posed by a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) for residents and businesses in the Borough.

The Leader stated that the CAZ’s were essentially where the most polluted vehicles of certain type and age paid a daily charge to enter a particular geographical area.  CAZ’s had two potential impacts.  It could mean a significant economic blow for the area.  The CAZ assumes a daily charge on older vehicles ranging from £5 for a car, £9 for LGV’s and up to £35 for HGV’s.  A report showed that the fleet of private vehicles in both Newcastle and Stoke on Trent were relatively old and around 20% of them would be non-compliant vehicles.  This figure was above the national average.  Imposing those charges would impact upon those least able to pay such daily charges.   In addition, A CAZ would need a larger area to cover it rather than the bus gate.  Displacement of the vehicles avoiding the CAZ would lead to exceedencies elsewhere.

Councillor Fear stated that this was very concerning and asked the Leader for assurance that he would continue to campaign and lobby against the imposition of a CAZ in the Borough.

The Leader confirmed this stating that he would be writing to the local MP’s and the Leader of Stoke on Trent City Council outlining the concerns and hoped that he had the support of Council in doing so.  

Councillor Fox-Hewitt asked the Leader to advise what robust processes were in place to ensure that Council policies around ethical tendering were adhered to when contacting services on behalf of the Council.

The Leader stated that there was cross-party support for the procurement measures referred to and contracting processes which were designed to ensure, as far as possible, that a full range of ethical considerations were required of its suppliers.  As part of the contract management process, officers were doing their best to test a sample of contracts for compliance but it was not always possible to check compliance on every term of every contract that the Council had let.  If any instances were discovered where the Council’s agreed procurement of contract requirements were not met, the situation would be considered carefully and appropriate action would be taken.

Councillor Fox-Hewitt asked the Leader if he was aware of any complaints or challenges that Council was not adhering to the extant policies of the Council.

The Leader stated that there was something that Councillor Fox-Hewitt and other Members were involved in but it should not be discussed at a Council meeting.  There was a meeting on this tomorrow where it would be looked into as part of as disciplinary hearing.

Councillor Paul Waring asked the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Efficiency to list any capital projects between 2012 and 2017 which specifically focussed on Kidsgrove.

Councillor Sweeney stated that the only capital project that he had found specifically for Kidsgrove was in 2016-17 when £15,000 was given for the ski centre.   

Councillor Paul Waring asked for assurance that the people of Kidsgrove were now getting a fair share of the capital expenditure of the Borough Council.

Councillor Sweeney confirmed that this was the case.

Councillor Stubbs asked the Leader for an update on the progress being made for the May elections in terms of the nomination process, staffing and setting up of polling stations.  In addition, Councillor Stubbs asked for an update on the number of volunteers who had confirmed their availability and for confirmation that there would be no reduction in the number of polling stations.

The Leader advised that a briefing note had been circulated to Members this evening.  Informal Cabinet had previously had a briefing on this as had group leaders.  Measures were in place to deal with the effect of Covid.  The elections would be completely different this year for a lot of people, there would also be more postal votes and the Council needed to ensure that there would be extra capacity on the telephones as a lot more of the Council’s business was being done over the phone or on the internet so it was important to have more capacity as more people would want postal votes and there would be more queries regarding voting this time.

Councillor Stubbs asked if postal vote applications could be sent out with every Council Tax bill.

The Leader stated that the availability of postal votes was being promoted and it would also be up to the political parties to promote them.

Councillor Moffat asked the Portfolio Holder for Environment and Recycling what plans there were to progress the resolution, passed in April, 2019 to aim to make Newcastle a carbon neutral Borough by 2030.

Councillor Trevor Johnson stated that at the Cabinet meeting last December, a report was considered on the Sustainable Environment Strategy and Action Plan for the Council and Borough.  At that meeting, Councillor Johnson had referred to the 2019 resolution declaring a climate emergency and the commitment of Cabinet to deliver a Sustainable Environment Strategy.  The Leader had reported how the work would be ongoing and would include partners - Keele University and Staffordshire County Council.  The work to progress the Carbon Capture agenda, especially in urban areas had been particularly highlighted.  Cabinet had endorsed the work to tackle environmental issues and agreed to seek views and support for the Strategy and Action Plan from key local partners and the Economy, Environment and Place Scrutiny Committee would be reviewing this at their meeting in March.

Councillor Moffat asked that it be considered to take a citizens assembly approach in order to co-design or form a smart strategy to achieve a low or zero carbon future for Newcastle.

Councillor Trevor Johnson took this on board and agreed to contact Councillor Moffat after the meeting to discuss this further.