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 8 November 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 6 November 2024 at latest. A maximum of 3 questions per member of the public is permitted. Questions should be addressed to the Leader or relevant Policy Committee Chair.

Public Questions and Statements should be submitted via our webform:

bristol.gov.uk/publicforum

Petitions 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 11 November 2024.

Recommendation: That Full Council note the report.

Recommendation

That Full Council:

1. Approves the revised Procurement and Contract Management Rules (the Rules);

2. Authorises the Director: Finance in consultation with the Director: Legal & Democratic Services to: undertake any necessary updates or amendments to the Rules to reflect changes in the law or to correct errors.

Recommendation: That Full Council note the report.

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 (LIBERAL DEMOCRATS): Save our Rivers: Stopping the Sewage Scandal

Full Council notes that:

1.      Every river in England is now polluted beyond legal limits, with raw sewage spills from overflows contributing massively to the pollution of our waterways. Wessex Water provides sewerage services for our region, and in 2023 the company dumped sewage 41,453 times for a total of 372,341 hours.

2. Our local rivers - including the River Avon, the River Frome, the River Malago, the River Trym, and the Brislington Brook - are particularly threatened by further sewage discharges. In 2023, Bristol had 4,433 sewage spills – making it the fourth-worst UK city for sewage spills by area density.

3.      Since 2021, the water regulator Ofwat has not fined any water company for sewage dumping.

4.      High volumes of rainwater entering the sewerage system, as well as the addition of pollutants from human sources, increases the risk of overflows and sewage dumping. In addition to sewage, run-off from farms and wash-off from roads also contribute to river pollution.

5.      National and local organisations, including the Bristol and Avon Rivers Trust, are campaigning to improve our river quality.

Full Council believes that the UK Government should:

1.      Replace Ofwat with a tough new regulator with new powers to prevent sewage dumps, increase inspection regularity of water companies and farms, and rigorously prosecute offenders in conjunction with the Environmental Audit Committee.

2.      Strengthen the Office for Environmental Protection and provide more funding to the Environment Agency and Natural England to help protect our rivers and enforce environmental laws.

3.      Properly fund local and highways authorities so that they can introduce systems to prevent road pollutants from entering our waterways.

Full Council resolves to:

·         Request that the Environment and Sustainability Committee consider the views expressed by this motion and establish a working group with One City partners for the purpose of developing policy to improve the water quality of Bristol’s rivers and waterways.

Full Council recommends that this working group could, as a starting point, investigate the following measures:

a.      Build and maintain a database on river quality across Bristol to properly monitor and assess the environmental state of our waterways. This should include working with existing organisations such as the Bristol and Avon Rivers Trust, who currently run a Water Guardians project to collect this data.

b.      Work with partners to trial and launch a project to encourage the use of water butts, both residentially and commercially,  ...  view the full agenda text for item 11.