Agenda item

To consider the attached motion from Councillors Brian Mathew and Chris Hurst.

The Chairman reported receipt of the listed motion from Councillors Brian Mathew and Chris Hurst. Accordingly, Councillor Brian Mathew moved the following motion which was duly seconded by Councillor Chris Hurst:

“Council welcomes the change in Government policy towards the pay cap for Police and Prison staff. It believes that the wider public sector pay cap is having an unreasonable effect on the living standards of many public-sector staff, and is also affecting recruitment and retention.

Council therefore instructs the Corporate Team and Leader of Council to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government to request that the cap is lifted to allow the implementation of the recommendations of Pay Review Bodies and negotiations with employers, and that subsequent pay increases be fully funded via Central Government settlement.

Further, Council urges the Local Government Association to make urgent representations to Government to fund and notify us of their actions in this regard.”

Presenting his motion, Councillor Mathew stated that he believed that the time was right to ask government to provided funding to enable Council to consider increasing staff pay to mitigate against the effect of the fall in living standards.

In response to the motion, the Leader stated that she would continue to lobby central government regarding funding for local government but would not agree to writing a letter to the minister as this would be additionally effective.

Following a vote, the motion was agreed for debate.

In the course of the debate, issues raised included: the legitimacy of the Council lobbying central government on a national policy issues; the effect of any unfunded increases of payroll on staffing and service levels; the views of the wider community both for and against the proposals; the political implications of the proposed motion; the impact of the cost of living and the lower pay settlements on staff; the impact of pay levels on recruitment and retention; and the views of staff on the balance between increasing staff pay and protecting existing jobs.

Following a debate and a request for a recorded vote, and having been put to the vote, the motion was LOST and was recorded as follows:

For the motion (22):

Cllr Andy Phillips, Cllr Bill Douglas, Cllr Bob Jones MBE, Cllr Brian Mathew, Cllr Chris Hurst, Cllr Christopher Devine, Cllr David Jenkins, Cllr Gavin Grant, Cllr Graham Wright, Cllr Hayley Spencer, Cllr Ian Mclennan, Cllr Ian Thorn, Cllr Jim Lynch, Cllr John Walsh, Cllr Jon Hubbard, Cllr Nick Fogg MBE, Cllr Nick Murry, Cllr Pat Aves, Cllr Ricky Rogers, Cllr Ross Henning, Cllr Ruth Hopkinson, Cllr Stewart Palmen.      

Against the motion (54):

Baroness Scott of Bybrook OBE, Cllr Alan Hill, Cllr Allison Bucknell, Cllr Andrew Davis, Cllr Ashley O'Neill, Cllr Ben Anderson, Cllr Bridget Wayman, Cllr Christine Crisp, Cllr Christopher Williams, Cllr Chuck Berry, Cllr Darren Henry, Cllr David Halik, Cllr Deborah Halik, Cllr Derek Brown OBE, Cllr Edward Kirk, Cllr Fleur de Rhe-Philipe, Cllr Horace Prickett, Cllr Ian Blair-Pilling, Cllr Jacqui Lay, Cllr James Sheppard, Cllr Jane Davies, Cllr Jerry Kunkler, Cllr Jerry Wickham, Cllr John Smale, Cllr John Thomson, Cllr Johnny Kidney, Cllr Jonathon Seed, Cllr Jose Green, Cllr Laura Mayes, Cllr Mary Champion, Cllr Mary Douglas, Cllr Matthew Dean, Cllr Melody Thompson, Cllr Paul Oatway QPM, Cllr Pauline Church, Cllr Peter Evans, Cllr Peter Fuller, Cllr Peter Hutton, Cllr Philip Alford, Cllr Philip Whalley, Cllr Philip Whitehead, Cllr Richard Clewer, Cllr Richard Gamble, Cllr Robert Yuill, Cllr Roy While, Cllr Simon Jacobs, Cllr Stuart Wheeler, Cllr Sue Evans, Cllr Sven Hocking, Cllr Toby Sturgis, Cllr Tom Rounds, Cllr Tony Deane, Cllr Tony Jackson and Cllr Tony Trotman.

Abstained from the vote (5):

Cllr Atiqul Hoque, Cllr Clare Cape, Cllr George Jeans, Cllr Graham Payne and Cllr Stephen Oldrieve