Agenda

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.

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

To note any announcements from the Lord Mayor

Members of the press and public who plan to attend a public meeting at City Hall are advised that you will be required to sign in when you arrive, and you will be issued with a visitor pass which you will need to display at all times.

Public forum items can be about any matter the Council is responsible for or which directly affects the city. Submissions will be treated in order of receipt and as many people shall be called upon as is possible within the time allowed within the meeting (normally 30 minutes).

Further rules can be found within our Council Procedure Rules within the Constitution.

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 Friday 5 January 2024 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 3 January 2024 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 forum items should be e-mailed to

democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk

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 8 January 2024.

Recommendation: That Full Council debates the petition and refers it to the Mayor / relevant Cabinet member for a formal response.

Recommendation: That Full Council note the report.

Recommendation: Agree, in accordance with the Local Authorities (Calculation of Council Tax Base) (England) Regulations 2012, the amount calculated by Bristol City Council as its Council Tax base for the financial year 2024/25 shall be 134,752.

Recommendations:

1. That an estimated surplus as at 31 March 2024 on the Council Tax element of the Collection Fund of £0.835m be declared for 2023/24 and shared between this Council, the Police and Crime Commissioner for Avon and Somerset and the Avon Fire and Rescue Service in proportion to their 2023/24 precepts on the Collection Fund.

2. That an estimated deficit as at 31 March 2024 on the Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) element of the Collection Fund, net of grants, of £4.545m be declared for 2023/24 and shared between this Council, Avon Fire and Rescue Service and the West of England Combined Authority (WECA) in proportion to the appropriate year demands (Bristol 95%, WECA 4%, Avon Fire and Rescue Service 1%).

Recommendation: That Full Council pass a byelaw enabling the council to commence charging for storing of deceased people at Flax Bourton Mortuary where the funeral director delays collection.  

Recommendation: That Full Council adopts the Members’ Allowances Scheme for publication within the Constitution.

Recommendation: that Full Council note the report.

Recommendation: That Full Council accepts the report of the Audit Committee and notes the key areas the Committee is monitoring to support improvements required in internal control, risk management and governance.

Recommendation: That Full Council adopts the Constitution for the Committee Model of governance which will come into effect on 6 May 2024.

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

GOLDEN MOTION (GREEN PARTY): MAXIMISING THE SUPPLY OF HOUSING FROM EXISTING BUILDINGS AND COUNCIL LAND

Full Council notes that:

1.         UK Government data released in March 2023 identified 1.2m families on housing waiting lists across England [1] Meanwhile the costs of providing temporary accommodation have increased by 62% in the last five years to £1.7bn. [2]

2.         UK Government data released in October 2022 shows that over one million homes were classed as unoccupied in England, with over 300,000 of those reported as being long-term empty - vacant for six months or longer. [3]

3.         Savills have identified that there is an oversupply of retail space nationally of approximately 150 million square feet. With the average UK flat being 625 square feet, this is enough floor space to provide up to 240,000 average size flats (including 96,000 in long term empty retail space). They forecast that the level of excess retail space will double by 2030 as the retail economy continues to evolve. While some vacant space may be valuable to diversify local centres and high streets with new uses, much could offer housing opportunities.

4.         It is common for commercial letting agents to inflate quoted prices of empty properties beyond the rateable value, and/or gatekeep interested businesses from making offers, resulting in properties being empty for longer periods. This also results in areas not having the retail offering required to support sustainable communities.

5.         In Bristol there are around 21,000 families are on the housing waitlist and the cost of providing temporary accommodation remains a significant budget pressure. Shelter have recently estimated that on any given night in Bristol in 2023 there are approximately 3,224 people in some form of homelessness, the overwhelming majority of whom are in temporary accommodation. This is an increase of 639 compared to 2022. [4]

6.         In Bristol, between 2022/23, almost 400 council homes were empty at any one time, whilst some 400 private sector homes were brought back into occupation over the same period. [5] Live table 615 on vacant Local Authority dwelling stock- maintained by central government - show that on 3rd October 2023, 5,251 mostly privately owned dwellings in Bristol were shown as vacant, of which 1,881 were classified as long term vacant. [6]

7.         In Bristol, Savills have identified some 185,000 square feet of long-term retail voids (over half of which have been vacant for over three years) – equivalent to almost 300 average size flats. Cost pressures to  ...  view the full agenda text for item 17.