Agenda and minutes

The Lord Mayor welcomed all attendees to the meeting, and made a safety announcement in relation to the fire/emergency evacuation procedure.

Apologies were received from Councillors Bradshaw, Khan, Mike Davies and Windows.

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record.

On the motion of the Lord Mayor, seconded by Councillor Hance, it was

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on the 26 February 2019 be confirmed as correct record and signed by the Lord Mayor.

To note any declarations of interest from the Councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Any declarations of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

The following interests were declared with reference to item 11, Motion 2:

·         Councillor Sergeant – spouse is an employee of the Brunel Pension Partnership.

·         Councillor Langley – a retired employee of FirstBus

·         Councillor Kent highlighted that a number of Councillors were members of the Avon Pension Fund either as former officers or as Councillors.

To note any announcements from the Lord Mayor

A multi faith event would take place at the Lord Mayors Chapel on Thursday 4^th April at 7pm to which all were welcome to attend.  There would be a discussion about conflict resolution. 

The Lord Mayor reported that she had been impressed by the enthusiasm of all the children she had met on her schools tour of South Bristol.  She was particularly supportive of Reading Recovery.

The Chamber then held a minutes silence as a mark of respect for the atrocities Christchurch, New Zealand had suffered at the hands of a terrorist attack, and also for Bristol’s Twin City of Beira in Mozambique which had been hugely affected by Cyclone Idai.

Please note: Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item. Public forum items should be e-mailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk

Public forum items can be about any matter the Council is responsible for or which directly affects the city.

Please note that the following deadlines apply to this meeting:

a. Public petitions and statements: Petitions and written statements must be received by 12 noon on Monday 18^th March 2019 at latest.  One written statement per member of the public is permitted.

b. Public questions: Written public questions must be received by 5pm on Wednesday 13 March 2019 at latest.

A maximum of 2 questions per member of the public is permitted.

Questions should be addressed to the Mayor or relevant Cabinet Member.

Public petitions:

There were two public petitions received.

Public statements:

The Full Council received and noted the following statements (which were also referred to the Mayor for his consideration/information):

Please note: Up to 10 minutes is allowed for this item.

Petitions notified by Councillors can be about any matter the Council is responsible for or which directly affects the city.  The deadline for the notification of petitions to this meeting is 12 noon on Monday 18 March 2019.

There were none.

Please note that the following public forum deadlines apply to this item:

a. Public and Councillor statements: Written statements must be received by12 noon on Monday 18^th March 2019.  One written statement per member of the public or Councillor is permitted.

b. Public and Councillor questions: Written questions must be received by12 midday on Friday 15 March 2019.

A maximum of 2 questions per person is permitted.

Questions should be addressed to the Mayor or relevant Cabinet Member.

The Full Council agreed to suspend standing orders relating to the presentation of items and CPR10.3a which related to the altered deadline for questions pertaining to the item.

An officer from BDO presented the external auditors report in relation to the review of the senior executive remuneration, including references to points of clarification raised in writing prior to the meeting.

Public Statements

The Full Council noted the following statements submitted by members of the public:

Public Questions:

The Full Council noted the following questions submitted by members of the public.  Answers had been provided in writing prior to the meeting and verbal supplementary questions invited of each:

Councillor Statements:

The Full Council noted the following statements submitted by Councillors:

Councillor Questions:

The Full Council noted the following questions submitted by Councillors. Answers had been provided in writing prior to the meeting and verbal supplementary questions invited.  Supplementary questions were asked by Councillors Clark, Hopkins, Don Alexander, Hance, O’Rourke, Gollop and Eddy.

A debate followed during which an amendment to recommendation three was moved by Councillor Eddy and seconded by Councillor Weston.

Amended Recommendation (iii) to read:-

(iii) that Full Council requests that the Head of Paid Service provides a written update to be debated at the next Ordinary Meeting of Full Council after Annual Council having first been considered by the Council’s Audit and HR Committees with their input provided as part of the written update.

Upon being put to the vote, the amendment was CARRIED

(32 voting FOR, 32 voting AGAINST, Lord Mayor casting vote FOR)

Following the debate, the three substantive recommendations were then put to the vote and it was RESOLVED:

i) That Full Council accepts the recommendations from the Council’s external auditors, BDO;

(64 voting FOR, 0 AGAINST)

ii) that Full Council approves the action plan in response to the recommendations from the Council’s external auditors, BDO;

(45 voting FOR, 16 AGAINST, 3 ABSTAIN)

(iii) that Full Council requests that the Head of Paid Service provide a written update to be debated at the next Ordinary Meeting of Full Council after Annual Council having first been considered by the Council’s Audit and HR Committees with their input provided as part of the written update.

(34 voting FOR, 30 AGAINST)

An adjournment for 20 minutes then followed.

Following the adjournment, it was moved by the Lord Mayor that standing orders be suspended

(i)                 CPR9.1 to allow the meeting to go past the 2 hrs 30 time limit until 10pm. 

(ii)               CPR9.2 that the motions on the agenda that would be deferred, to be carried over to the next ordinary meeting.

The motion was seconded and upon putting to a vote, it was AGREED.

The Full Council considered a report which proposed adoption of the Pay Policy Statement for the year 2019/20.

Councillor Wellington moved the report and the recommendations contained therein.  Councillor O’Rourke seconded the report.

During debate, it was proposed by Councillor Gollop and seconded by Councillor Eddy (with reference to CPR9.4) that the report be withdrawn.  When put to the vote the motion was LOST.

Following debate, it was:

RESOLVED:

That the Pay Policy Statement for 2019/20 be adopted.

The Full Council considered a report which noted the outcome of the referendum on the Hengrove and Whitchurch Park Neighbourhood Development Plan held on 14^th February 2019.

The Mayor moved the report and it was seconded by Councillor Kent. 

Following debate it was;

RESOLVED:

1. That Council noted the outcome of the referendum on the Hengrove and Whitchurch Park Neighbourhood Development Plan held on 14th February 2019.

2. That Council noted that the Hengrove and Whitchurch Park Neighbourhood Development Plan now forms part of the statutory development plan for Bristol.

3. That the Council approved the Hengrove and Whitchurch Park Neighbourhood Development Plan.

The Full Council considered the appointment of Councillor Goggin and Hickman to the Licensing Committee.

The Lord Mayor moved the report and the Deputy Lord Mayor seconded the report.

There was no further debate it was:

RESOLVED that Councillors Goggin and Hickman be appointed to the Licensing Committee.

Note:

Under the Council’s constitution, 30 minutes are available for the consideration of motions. In practice, this realistically means that there is usually only time for one, or possibly two motions to be considered. With the agreement of the Lord Mayor, motion 1 below will be considered at this meeting, and motion 2 is likely to be considered, subject to time. Details of other motions submitted, (which, due to time constraints, are very unlikely to be considered at this meeting) are also set out for information.

MOTIONS RECEIVED FOR FULL COUNCIL – 19 March 2019

1.                   BUS FRANCHISING FOR BRISTOL

LIBERAL DEMOCRAT GOLDEN MOTION

Motion to be moved by: Cllr Hopkins, Knowle Ward, Liberal Democrats

Date of submission: 7^th March 2019

Council notes:

1.        The distrust and disappointment among residents of Bristol with their bus services.

2.        That large numbers of Bristol residents find themselves unable to access work opportunities due to the lacklustre service or find fares taking up a disproportionate amount of their income.

3.        That Bristol City Council has no direct control over the routes, timetables or vehicles that bus operators use in the city, but must use its influence to help address these problems.

4.        That in recent years congestion has worsened, increasing air pollution within the city leading to estimates of hundreds of deaths every year.

5.        That First Bus currently operates an effective monopoly in Bristol which has led to disdain for the people who pay their fares.

6.        That due to ill-advised past slashing of the railway network we are overwhelmingly reliant on our bus services as the main means of public transport.

7.        That London currently operates a successful bus franchising scheme, with Cambridge and Greater Manchester and others currently developing schemes for the future.

8.        That in the Bus Services Act 2017, bus franchising powers were devolved to the mayors of combined authorities.

Council believes:

1.        That to address all of the above problems there needs to be a fundamental change with buses in Bristol to a system that recognises public transport as a vital service.

2.        That a franchising model would allow greater competition within our public transport, making new operators available for local services.

Council resolves:

1.        To request the Mayor to use his position on the West of England Combined Authority Committee to push for the establishment of a bus franchising system in Bristol, to gain control on behalf of the citizens of Bristol of routes, timetables, fares and emissions.

2.        That under a franchising system, all buses operating within the city should run on ultra-low-emission or zero-emission fuels within five years.

2.                   AVON PENSION FUND – DIVESTMENT AND DIVERSIFICATION

GREEN SILVER MOTION

Motion to be moved by: Cllr Martin Fodor, Redland Ward, Green Group

Date of Submission: 7^th March 2019

This council notes:

1.              In 2015 the Full Council resolved that the Avon Pension Fund (APF) should consider divestment from fossil fuels and diversification into clean technologies like renewable energy, energy efficiency and energy storage;  ...  view the full agenda text for item 336.

This item fell due to lack of time.  It was agreed that the golden and silver motion would be deferred to the agenda of the next ordinary meeting.