Agenda item

MEMBERS' MOTIONS

To consider the following motions:

 

·  Recognising single parent rights

·  Protecting green spaces for our future generations

·  Covid-19 education recovery

Minutes:

Motion 1: Recognising Single Parent Rights

 

This motion was considered prior to the guillotine having fallen.

 

Councillor Stephanie Cryan moved the motion. Councillor Margy Newens seconded the motion.

 

There were no amendments to the motion.

 

Following debate (Councillors Adele Morris, Anood Al-Samerai, Alice Macdonald, Kieron Williams), the motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the cabinet for consideration.

 

1.  Council assembly notes:

 

a.  There are 2.9 million single parents in the UK, accounting for one in four parents. Around one third of parents experience some period of single parenting.Although almost 70% of single parents are employed, a third of children in working single parent homes live in poverty and almost 30% (double that of coupled parents) report mental health concerns.  Single parents face discrimination throughout their daily lives, from the workplace to accessing housing. This has knock on effects for them, their children and society as a whole.

 

b.  Many single parents face multiple discrimination given 90% are women, around 27% live with a disability (compared with 21% of couple parent households), and black and mixed ethnicity communities have higher numbers of single parentscompared with white communities. In London there are over 260,000 single parents; according to the 2011 census Southwark has 40% rate of single parent households and these figures are likely under-reported.

 

2.  Council assembly further notes that discrimination towards single parents occurs in:

 

a.  the workplace when it comes to recruitment, professional development and promotion

b.  housing, specifically accessing private rentals properties especially for those reliant on housing benefit

c.  child benefit calculations: a couple earning £98,000 combined will receive full child benefit for one child, whilst a single parent on £60,000 will receive no child benefit for two children;

d.  childcare vouchers with couples able to access double the amount of vouchers where both are working, regardless of the actual amount they spend on childcare;

e.  universal credit childcare payments;

f.  support and adaptations required for a disabled child to live safely in both homes where parents share care.

g.  entrance fees at tourist attractions are often higher per person for single parent families than couple families. At the National Trust single parents pay 25% more per adult;

h.  membership fees e.g. for birthing/ parenting classes where the second parent in a couple is often ‘free’;

i.  inheritance tax with the child(ren) of a couple essentially have double the threshold compared to the child(ren) of a single parent;

j.  the cost of holidays, and

k.  government and business policies and rules during the Coronavirus lockdown 2020.

 

3.  Council assembly recognises:

 

a.  That Southwark Council is committed to promoting equality irrespective of marital or civil partnership status and valuing the contribution made by all citizens. At a national level, however, the legislative oversight in respect of single parents is a chasm which needs to be addressed. Single parents are often subject to systematic discrimination across every aspect of life, and it is unconscionable that these circumstances have been permitted to exist for so long, all the while doing so much harm.

 

4.  Council assembly therefore resolves to:

 

a.  Be at the forefront of ensuring that equality for all is embedded in our practices and employment policies.

 

b.  Actively support the campaign for single parents’ rights, working with the government, campaign groups, community organisations and other partners to ensure that single parents have the parity they deserve.

 

c.  Lobby the Government to enshrine single parent rights in law including:

 

1.  The right for employees to request part-time or flexible working from their first day in a job.

2.  Commissioning an independent review into the funding and affordability of childcare, particularly in regards to single parents, and to accept its recommendations.

3.  Better access to financial support for single parents who have to take time off work to care for children sent home from school or childcare settings due to Covid-19.The single parents’ charity Gingerbread is calling for the Government’s £500 Test and Trace Isolation Grant to be extended to parents in low-income households who have to take unpaid time off work when their children are sent home from school or childcare settings due to Covid-19.

4.  End the 5 week wait for Universal Credit and create a faster process for single parents to receive their first Universal Credit payment.

5.  Make the £20 Universal Credit uplift permanent, as according to Save the Children two thirds of claimants are single parents. 

5.  Council assembly recognises that making theses law changes would have a number of benefits, including:

 

a.  greater single parent employment;

b.  reduced reliance on government benefits;

c.  greater disposable income for single parents to spend in society;

d.  more stable and decent housing for single parent families;

e.  better mental health for single parents;

f.  lower poverty levels for children of single parents; and

g.  better outcomes for the children of single parents.

 

Motion 2: Protecting Green Spaces and Tackling the Housing Crisis for Future Generations

 

This motion was considered prior to the guillotine having fallen.

 

Councillor Anood Al-Samerai moved the motion. Councillor Hamish McCallum seconded the motion.

 

There was one amendment to the motion.  Amendment B was moved by Councillor Bill Williams, and seconded by Councillor Sarah King.

 

Amendment B was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

The motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the cabinet for consideration.

 

1.  Council assembly notes that:

a)  For all local authorities, there is a delicate and necessary balance between the building of new council homes and the adequate provision of outside space for residents.

 

b)  There is a very real human cost to choosing not to explore all sites on which to provide new council homes, just as we must continue to enhance our outside spaces.

 

c)  Southwark Council is exploring all avenues to provide more council homes, including 70 sites across the borough.

 

d)  Developing those sites would guarantee that future generations have access to genuinely affordable homes and all of the health and wellbeing benefits that this provides.

 

e)  All projects will include open, inclusive and transparent consultation with residents including a robust process to take residents with us as we make these decisions together.

 

f)  In addition to this, our Great Estates Programme seeks to both expand the number of council homes on appropriate existing estate sites, and enrich these estates by working with residents to improve the look and feel of them.

 

g)  Southwark has 30 green flag parks (the highest number within inner London), and continues to invest in its parks and green spaces:

§  Over £61 million invested in parks since 2010;

§  Launch of the Southwark Nature Action Plan (SNAP) in 2020 to protect biodiversity and make nature accessible for all;

§  ‘Re-wilding’ parts of our green spaces;

§  Introduction of 200 new allotment plots as part of the Allotment Expansion Scheme;

§  Planting over 8,000 trees this year alone under our commitment to plant 10,000 by 2022.

 

h)  The New Southwark Plan will also increase the amount of protected open space in the borough, including 17 new Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation.

 

i)  There is a dire need to meet Southwark’s 15,000 household-strong waiting list for housing, and the council’s current approach to site-selection will fully incorporate the importance of provision of accessible, green, outside spaces.

 

j)  The disastrous right-to-buy policy introduced and extended by successive Conservative governments has led to the loss of over 17,000 council rented homes in Southwark

 

k)  Despite the fact that Southwark has brought 231 empty homes back in to use this year, the number of empty homes in Southwark is still unacceptable and so in September Cabinet will put forward an Empty Homes Action Plan to bring more empty homes back into use.

 

2.  Council Assembly further notes that:

 

a)  Green spaces in London are of significant benefit and popularity to the population surrounding them.

 

b)  Green spaces should not become a luxury only accessible to the well off. A report by the National Children’s Bureau in 2013 found that better-off children were nine times more likely to have access to green spaces than those in the most deprived areas.

 

c)  Our green spaces aid wellbeing. A London Green Spaces Commission report last year estimated that green spaces save London £950m per year in avoided health costs. A Public Health England report in 2020 stated, “£2.1 billion per year could be saved in health costs if everyone in England had good access to greenspace.”

 

d)  After a year of lockdowns, Londoners want to see green spaces protected. A May 2020 poll by CPRE, the countryside charity, and the National Federation of Women’s Institutes (WI), found that nearly two-thirds of Londoners (62%) felt that protecting nearby green spaces should be a higher priority for the government when lockdown ends.

 

e)  London is facing increased urbanisation. A 2020 report by the London Green Spaces Commission discovered that, in the previous ten years, spending on public green space fell by over 30% to £159m. However, London’s population in that time grew by 11.2%.

 

f)  Losing parks and green spaces would adversely affect the climate emergency. For instance, the ONS found that UK vegetation removed enough dangerous air pollution in 2017 to equate to a saving of £1.3bn in health costs.

 

g)  Therefore, it is our duty as councillors to ensure that we protect our green spaces so that future generations can enjoy them equally and gain from them as fruitfully as we have done.

 

h)  It is also our duty as councillors to do everything within our means to house residents in affordable, comfortable and safe housing; and do all we can to prevent homelessness in Southwark.

 

i)  London is in the grip of a housing crisis. Between 1997 and 2016 London’s population increased by 25%, but the number of homes only increased by 15%.

 

j)  In June 2020, over 127,000 children were living in Temporary Accommodation in London.

 

k)  There are 15,000 households on the waiting list for a home in Southwark. Half of these households include children.

 

l)  Many of these households currently live in severely overcrowded and unsuitable accommodation – sometimes entire families in a single room. 

 

m)  There are 3,200 households in temporary accommodation in Southwark.

 

n)  Southwark urgently needs more council homes.

 

3.  Council assembly calls on the cabinet to:

 

a)  Conduct an audit of all planned investment in our green spaces, outdoors sports and children’s play facilities across Southwark to ensure that they are recognised and protected for residents' amenity.

 

b)  Urgently review the site-selection criteria for council-led developments, to ensure there is enough provision to support our commitment to tackle the housing crisis and maintain our dedication to high quality parks and green spaces across the borough.

 

c)  Invest further and enhance the borough’s parks and open spaces to ensure residents across Southwark have access to high quality green space and to further increase our borough’s biodiversity.  

 

d)  Focus on building new council homes on sites suited for development — including former industrial/commercial sites across the borough and on car parks and under-used sites on our existing estates and publicly owned land.

 

e)  Continue to be creative in finding ways to deliver more council homes, including buying new sites and homes where financially viable and continuing to secure more social housing in new developments through planning.

 

Motion 3: Covid-19 Education Recovery

 

This motion was considered prior to the guillotine having fallen.

 

Councillor James McAsh moved the motion. Councillor Maggie Browning seconded the motion.

 

There were no amendments to the motion. 

 

Following debate (Councillors Vikki Mills, Nick Johnson, Jasmine Ali), the motion was put to the vote and declared to be carried.

 

Note: This motion will be referred as a recommendation to the cabinet for consideration.

 

1.  Council assembly notes that:

 

a.  The Government published its plans for education recovery after the pandemic on 2 June 2021.

b.  Sir Kevan Collins, appointed by the Prime Minister as the Government’s Education Recovery Commissioner, had judged that some £15bn was needed to repair the damage done to the nation’s pupils because of Covid-19. The Government’s subsequent offer of £1.4bn falls far short and is severely inadequate. The Education Policy Institute have calculated that this amounts to £50 per pupil per year.

c.  This contrasts with the offer of £1,600 per pupil in the USA and £2,500 per pupil in the Netherlands. There are no quick or cheap fixes if we are to build back better from the pandemic and have an education system that supports high standards and strong mental health for everyone. 

 

2.  Council assembly also notes that:

 

a.  The Department for Education has changed the census used to calculate Pupil Premium funding for the most disadvantaged pupils. This means that £150 million is being taken away from young people and schools most in need, including £1.2m in Southwark – the equivalent of 892 Southwark primary school children not receiving their Pupil Premium.

 

3.  Council assembly therefore resolves: 

 

a.  To lobby the Government to value and invest in all our children, so they are supported to learn, succeed, and go on to have bright futures. 

b.  To write to the Prime Minister and call on the Government to scale up its ambition for our children and young people and give our education system the resources they need to ensure that no child is left behind. The Government should show it is serious about levelling up by putting in the investment called for by its own former Education Recovery Commissioner.

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