Agenda and decisions

To receive any announcements from the Mayor and Chief Executive.

The Mayor presented Omaid Badar with a token of acknowledgement, following his achievement in being awarded Social Worker of the Year.

The Mayor advised that the University of Huddersfield had been successful in being awarded Business School of the Year at The Times Higher Education Awards 2023.

The Mayor also advised of the forthcoming retirement of Civic Attendant Steve Booth, and conveyed thanks for his service to the Civic Office over the past twelve years.  

Group Business Managers to submit any apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillor Dockrat, Councillor D Firth, Councillor Holmes, Councillor Lee-Richards, Councillor A Pinnock, Councillor K Pinnock and Councillor Ullah.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting of the Council Meeting held on 15 November 2023.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the Meeting held on 15 November 2023 be approved as a correct record.

Members will be asked to advise if there are any items on the Agenda in which they have a disclosable pecuniary interest, or any other interests, which may prevent them from participating in the discussion or vote on any of the items.

No interests were declared.

To receive any Petitions from Members of the Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9.

Council received petitions from Councillor Bolt and Councillor Gregg regarding proposed changes to parking tariffs in Kirklees.

The Mayor advised that, in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9(3), the subject matter of the petitions be referred to the relevant Service Director.

Council will receive any petitions and/or deputations from members of the public. A deputation is where up to five people can attend the meeting and make a presentation on some particular issue of concern. A member of the public can also submit a petition at the meeting relating to a matter on which the body has powers and responsibilities.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Members of the Public must submit a deputation in writing, at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting (by Thursday 7 December) and shall subsequently be notified if the deputation shall be heard. A maximum of four deputations shall be heard at any one meeting.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, Council received the following deputations;

(i)             John Beaumont, on behalf of Huddersfield Allotments and Gardens federation, in objection to an increase in allotment rents.

(A response was provided by the Cabinet Member for Culture and Greener Kirklees – Councillor Hussain).

(ii)            Hanifa Darwan, regarding humanitarian crisis.

(A response was provided by the Leader of the Council – Councillor Scott).

To receive any public questions.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11, the period for the asking and answering of public questions shall not exceed 15 minutes.

Any questions must be submitted in writing at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting.

No questions were asked.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9a, Council will discuss the subject matter of a previously submitted petition which opposes the potential closure of Claremont House Care Home.

Council held a Petition Debate in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9a regarding Claremont House Care Home.

To consider the report.

Contact: Julie Muscroft, Service Director – Legal, Governance and Commissioning

RESOLVED – That the absence of Councillor Donald Firth from qualifying meetings of the Authority, which would ordinarily lead to his disqualification as a Councillor, shall be authorised until 22 May 2024.

To consider the report.

Contact: Julian Hobson, Welfare and Exchequer Services

RESOLVED –

1)    That the existing Council Tax Reduction Scheme be reviewed and that Option 2 to reduce protection for all and implement a 25% scheme be adopted in accordance with the scheme as set out in Appendix 5, and that it take effect from 1 April 2024.

2)    That the administrative easement, as set out at Option 4, be adopted and developed in order to ensue smooth administration.

3)    That the findings of the statutory consultation exercise, as set out at Appendix 4, be noted.

4)    That the results of the Integrated Impact Assessment be noted.

To receive written questions to the Leader, Cabinet Members, Chairs of Committees and Nominated Spokespersons in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.

A schedule of written questions will be tabled at the meeting.

Council received written questions in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.

To receive the Minutes of (i) Cabinet held on 26 September and 17 October 2023 and (ii) Cabinet Committee – Local Issues held on 20 October 2023.

Received and noted.

(a)  To receive a portfolio update from the Leader of the Council.

(b)  To receive oral questions/comments to Cabinet Members on their portfolios and relevant Cabinet Minutes;

-       The Leader of the Council (Councillor Scott)

-       The Deputy Leader of the Council/Corporate Portfolio (Councillor P Davies)

-       Children’s Services Portfolio (Councillor Kendrick)

-       Communities Portfolio (Councillor Pervaiz)

-       Culture and Greener Kirklees Portfolio (Councillor Hussain)

-       Finance and Regeneration Portfolio (Councillor Turner)

-       Health and Social Care Portfolio (Councillor Ramsay)

-       Housing and Highways Portfolio (Councillor Crook)

-       Learning and Aspiration and Portfolio (Councillor Reynolds)

Council received a portfolio update from the Leader of the Council, which was followed by questions to the Leader and Cabinet Members.

(a)           Corporate Parenting Board

(b)           Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee

(c)           Strategic Planning Committee

Received and noted.

To receive oral questions in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13(4):

-       Appeals Panel (Councillor H Zaman)

-       Corporate Governance and Audit Committee (Councillor Homewood)

-       Corporate Parenting Board (Councillor Kendrick)

-       Health and Wellbeing Board (Councillor Ramsay)

-       Licensing and Safety Committee - including Licensing and Regulatory Panel (Councillor A U Pinnock)

-       Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee (Councillor Smaje)

-       Personnel Committee (Councillor Scott)

-       Planning Sub Committee - Heavy Woollen Area (Councillor E Firth)

-       Planning Sub Committee - Huddersfield Area (Councillor Ullah)

-       Scrutiny Panel – Childrens (Councillor Cooper)

-       Scrutiny Panel – Environment and Climate Change (Councillor J D Lawson)

-       Scrutiny Panel – Growth and Regeneration (Councillor Pandor)

-       Scrutiny Panel – Health and Adult Social Care (Councillor Armer)

-       Standards Committee (Councillor McCarthy)

-       Strategic Planning Committee (Councillor S Hall)

-       Kirklees Active Leisure (Councillor Sokhal)

-       West Yorkshire Combined Authority (Councillor Scott)

-       West Yorkshire Combined Authority Transport Committee (Councillor Anwar)

-       West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Authority (Councillor O’Donovan)

-       West Yorkshire Joint Services Committee (to be confirmed)

-       West Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel (Councillor Lowe)

Council received Oral Questions in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 13(4).

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillor Munro and Councillor Marchington;

“This Council notes that:

1)    School uniform can be a significant expense for many families and the cost-of-living crisis means that buying school uniforms is an even bigger concern than usual for many parents;
 

2)    Recent research by the Children’s Society found that parents spent on average £287 a year on primary school uniforms and £422 a year on secondary uniforms, with branded items costing more. The Children’s Society also found that pupils are expected to have an average of 3 branded items of uniform, while almost a third of secondary school pupils are required to own up to branded items;

3)    The cost of uniforms can be unnecessarily pushed up by practices such as sourcing a uniform from a single specialist provider;

4)    The Government has published new statutory guidance aimed at making school uniforms more affordable after a legal requirement to do so passed into law in 2021. In contrast to the previous school uniform guidance, which was non-statutory, the Education (Guidance about Costs of School Uniforms) Act, which was introduced in the House of Commons in February 2020, and completed its stages in 2021, became law with cross-party support and requires the Government to publish legally binding guidance requiring school authorities to consider costs when setting school uniform policies. Schools and their governing boards must have regard to the statutory guidance when developing and implementing their school and trust uniform policies. The main points of the statutory guidance are: 

a) Schools need to ensure that their uniform is affordable.

b) In considering costs, schools will need to think  about the total costs of school uniforms.

c) Schools should keep the use of branded items to a minimum.

d) Schools should ensure that their uniform supplier arrangements give the highest priority to cost and value for money (including the quality and durability of the garment).

e) Schools should ensure that  second-hand uniforms are available for parents to acquire. Information on second-hand uniforms should be clear for parents of current and prospective pupils and published on the school’s website.

This Council believes that:

1)    The statutory guidance set out by the Government is having a limited impact – branded items are still rife and a survey by The Children’s Society shows that unform costs are rising. The statutory guidance is not clear enough and has been interpreted differently by schools. Many schools are failing to adhere to it; 

2)    Spending on school uniform is a lottery. Some schools require parents to spend money on expensive uniform from specialist shops, while other schools will allow parents to buy from the high street, often at a significantly reduced price, and a small minority of schools do not require pupils to wear a uniform at all;

3)    The cost of highly branded school unform policies is unacceptable. The country is experiencing a cost-of-living crisis. Families are facing a huge squeeze on their income and expensive school uniform policies  ...  view the full agenda text for item 16:

Deferred to the following meeting of Council to enable the submission of a revised Motion, incorporating the Labour Group amendment.

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillor Marchington and Councillor P A Davies;

“This Council notes that:

1)    Most of the UK has a combined sewerage system, meaning that both rainwater and waste water (from toilets, bathrooms and kitchens) are carried in the same pipes to a sewage treatment works. However, during heavy rainfall, the capacity of these pipes can be exceeded, which has the potential to back up and flood people’s homes, roads and open spaces, unless it is allowed to spill elsewhere. As a result, the system is designed to overflow occasionally and discharge excess wastewater into our rivers and seas. However, data shows that the use of overflows is not occasional, as it should be;

2)    Sewage and wastewater discharge is a significant factor in water quality and has an adverse impact on the health of river ecosystems;

3)    According to the Wildlife Trusts, only 16% of waters in England are currently in good ecological health and none meet chemical standards. This means that, overall, there are no rivers, lakes, estuaries or seas in England that are currently in a healthy condition;

4)    This is a local issue as well. Last year, the amount of time sewage was allowed to spill into Yorkshire’s waterways was 232,054 hours, with 54,273 monitored spill events. According to the Environment Agency, parts of Yorkshire have some of the highest number of serious water pollution incidents in England and Kirklees has ranked amongst the highest in recent years. Data from 2021 has revealed that 5 of the top 20 most polluted rivers are in Yorkshire, with the River Calder the second most sewage-polluted waterway in the country, with sewage flowing into the river and tributaries for 27,901 hours;

5)    The national Liberal Democrat party has published a plan to help tackle the sewage scandal. This includes:

·       A ‘Sewage Tax’ of 16% on water companies to create an emergency fund for cleaning up rivers. The party believe that a significant proportion of the profits that water companies make should be reinvested to protect Britain’s streams and rivers, as it should be the water companies and not consumers who should pay to clean up the mess.

·       Local environmental groups to be added onto water company boards to help support the water companies in their duties to protect and enhance the environment.

·       Water companies should adopt a ‘public benefit company’ model, so that economic and environmental policy objectives are also considered when running the company, rather than just a return for shareholders.

·       Ofwat, the water regulator, should be abolished and replaced with a tough new independent regulator with real powers, to protect our rivers and beaches from sewage dumps. The new regulator would have the power to hand out unlimited fines and, if necessary, to prosecute companies who fail to meet their legal duties.

·       Rivers in Britain should be given a new ‘blue flag status’ to protect waterways from sewage dumping. The designations would work in a similar way to the international  ...  view the full agenda text for item 17:

Deferred to the following meeting of Council to enable the submission of a revised Motion, incorporating the Labour Group amendment.

To consider the following Motion in the names of Councillors P A Davies and A Smith;

“This Council notes that:

1)    NHS dentistry operates similarly to GP practices in that most dentists are not employed directly by the NHS but operate as independent contractors. In practice, this means that dentists purchase and equip the surgery, hire staff and pay all the running costs (such as wages, materials and insurance) in order to provide an NHS dental service;

2)    Dentists enter into agreements with NHS England which commits them to perform a set number of ‘units’ of treatment every year. The contract gives NHS dental practices targets to hit, and this is known as units of dental activity (UDA). If dental practices do not hit their targets, they risk losing a significant part of their NHS funding;

3)    Dentists are paid by the NHS according to the number of UDAs they provide. UDAs are a measure of the amount of work done during dental treatment. More complex dental treatments count for more UDAs than simpler ones. For example, an examination is 1 UDA, fillings are 3 UDAs and dentures are 12 UDAs, but the UDA bears no relation to the amount of work or true cost of the treatment. This means that NHS dentists have to subsidise more complex work. In addition, dentists have inherited different UDA tariffs, so different dentists get paid different rates for the same treatment.

4)    There is a shortage of dentists in England. According to NHS figures, the number of dentists providing NHS care in England fell from 23,733 at the end of 2020 to 21,544 at the end of January this year. This means that the NHS now has the smallest number of dentists it has had for over a decade. It is also a local problem, with Kirklees losing 11% of its dentists, meaning that it is the among the 25 most affected areas nationally.

This Council believes that:

1)    Access to NHS dental care and treatment has become enormously limited and this is a huge issue. Many people across Kirklees and England have been forced to go private and are battling to get treatment as practices stop seeing NHS patients. Many people travel miles outside their areas to access NHS treatment and some have even travelled overseas for treatment. Sadly, there has been a rise in do-it-yourself dentistry, which is enormously risky and can be harmful to dental health;

2)    Dental care is an essential part of health care and should be available to all, yet oral health inequality is widening across Kirklees and across the country. A shortage of NHS appointments and treatment is particularly affecting those on low incomes the hardest, as well as patients with high levels of need, including those who are vulnerable. A lack of access to NHS dental care has real implications; it is deepening health inequalities and resulting in a rise of health issues, such as tooth decay, gum disease and oral cancer;

3)    Dental surgeries  ...  view the full agenda text for item 18:

Deferred to the following meeting of Council to enable the submission of a revised Motion, incorporating the Labour Group amendment.