Agenda and minutes

The Deputy 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 the Lord Mayor and Councillors Abraham, Kirk, Whittle and Wellington.

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

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

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting of the Full Council held on the 13 November 2018 be confirmed as correct record and signed by the Deputy 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.

None received.

To note any announcements from the Lord Mayor

There was none.

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 10 December 2018.

The Full Council received and noted the following petitions:

Petition CP01 – Re-think the Stoke Park path – petition presented by Councillor Tincknell

Petition CP02 – Clean up the dirty triangle – petition presented by Councillor Pickersgill

The Full Council considered a report which presented the draft statement of Gambling Policy 2019 for adoption.

The Licensing Authority had a statutory responsibility to review its Statement of Gambling Policy every three years.  The new policy will take effect from January 2019.

Councillor Dudd moved the report and recommendations contained therein.  Councillor Steve Pearce seconded the report.

Councillor Eddy spoke to the report.

There was no further debate it was:

RESOLVED that Members adopt the draft statement of Gambling Policy 2019.

The Full Council considered the report which proposed the Medium Term Financial Plan and Capital Strategy.

Deputy Mayor Councillor Cheney moved the report and the recommendations contained therein.  Councillor Don Alexander seconded the report.

Following debate, it was:

NOTED:

1. The economic outlook and projections within the 5-year MTFP

2. The Strategic planning approach

APPROVED:

3. The MTFP and Resourcing principles, as set out in appendix A1 and A2

4. The Capital Strategy, as set out in appendix A4

The Full Council considered a report which presented the mid-year Treasury Management report for 2018-19.  This report meets the treasury management regulatory requirement that the Council receive a Mid-Year Treasury review report. It also incorporates the needs of the Prudential Code to ensure adequate monitoring of the capital expenditure plans.

Deputy Mayor Councillor Cheney moved the report and the recommendations contained therein.  Councillor Stevens seconded the report.

Following debate, it was:

RESOLVED:

That the Mid-Year Treasury Management report for 2018/19 be noted.

The Full Council considered a report which considered, in line with Regulations, the amount calculated by Bristol City Council as its Council Tax base for the financial year 2019/20.

Deputy Mayor Councillor Cheney moved the report and the recommendations contained therein.  Councillor Bradshaw seconded the report.

Following debate it was:

RESOLVED:

That 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 2019/20 shall be 126,999

The Full Council considered a report which presented the Collection Fund Surplus at 31 March 2019 on the Council Tax and the Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) elements of the Collection Fund.

Deputy Mayor Councillor Cheney moved the report and the recommendations contained therein.  Councillor Pearce seconded the report.

Following debate, it was:

RESOLVED:

1.             That an estimated surplus at 31 March 2019 on the Council Tax element of the Collection Fund of £2.1m be declared for 2018/19 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 2018/19 precepts on the Collection Fund.

2.       That an estimated surplus at 31 March 2019 on the Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) element of the Collection Fund of £62k be declared for 2018/19 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 (For 2018/19: Bristol 94%, WECA 4%, Avon Fire and Rescue Service 1%). There is also an adjusting figure due to the Secretary of State of £744k.

The Full Council considered a report which presented updated Terms of Reference for the Audit Committee and proposed that the Monitoring Officer be authorised to amend the Council’s Constitution accordingly. 

Councillor Mead moved the report and the recommendations contained therein.  Councillor Stevens seconded the report.

There was no debate and it was:

RESOLVED:

1.             The updated Terms of Reference for the Audit Committee be approved;

2.             The Monitoring Officer authorised to amend the Council’s Constitution accordingly.

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 – 11 DECEMBER 2018

1. ENDING IMMIGRATION DETENTION (GOLDEN MOTION)

Motion submitted by: Cllr Hance, Redland ward, Green

Date submitted: 29 November 2018

Full Council notes that:

1.      Immigrants and asylum seekers who have committed no crimes continue to be detained in conditions that are sometimes worse than mainstream prisons.

2.      The UK is the only country in Europe to not have a time limit on how long immigrants and asylum seekers can be detained. This means that many are detained for months or even years at a time, without any certainty about when they’ll be released or deported, causing significant and unacceptable distress.

3.      There are 11 detention centres used for this purpose in the UK, one of the largest number is Europe.

4.      Between 2500 and 3500 people are detained at any time and 27,300 ended up in the Centres in 2017 at a cost of over £125 million a year. This is not only a waste of money, but indefinite detention without charge is a clear breach of people’s human rights. 

5.      The Home Office is still arriving at asylum seekers’ homes in the middle of the night, here in Bristol or stopping them when they are legitimately signing on at the police station in Patchway, whisking them away to another part of the country, where many are unable to have visits from family and friends due to the cost of travel. The majority of detainees are eventually released if they get the right legal support, as they have done nothing wrong, but many never get over the trauma of detention.

Full Council:

1.      Believes that the Government must end immigration detention now.

2.      Restates our commitment as a City of Sanctuary and recognises these issues form an essential part of the Dignity not Destitution Pledge, which has been signed by the Mayor.

Full Council calls on the Mayor to:

1.      Endorse the These Walls Must Fall Campaign (http://detention.org.uk/)

2.      Call on the Government to implement the recommendations of the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into detention.

3.      Recognise all the hard work that volunteers do to support local asylum seekers who are detained.

4.      Ask our local MPs to support the spirit of the motion, to continue to raise the matter in the House of Commons, and to support changes in current laws and procedures to introduce alternatives to detention.

5.      Seek further support for the motion via the Local Government Association, and  ...  view the full agenda text for item 299.

Motion 1 – Ending Immigration Detention

Councillor Hance moved the following motion:

Full Council notes that:

1.       Immigrants and asylum seekers who have committed no crimes continue to be detained in conditions that are sometimes worse than mainstream prisons.

2.       The UK is the only country in Europe to not have a time limit on how long immigrants and asylum seekers can be detained. This means that many are detained for months or even years at a time, without any certainty about when they’ll be released or deported, causing significant and unacceptable distress.

3.       There are 11 detention centres used for this purpose in the UK, one of the largest number is Europe.

4.       Between 2500 and 3500 people are detained at any time and 27,300 ended up in the Centres in 2017 at a cost of over £125 million a year. This is not only a waste of money, but indefinite detention without charge is a clear breach of people’s human rights.

5.       The Home Office is still arriving at asylum seekers’ homes in the middle of the night, here in Bristol or stopping them when they are legitimately signing on at the police station in Patchway, whisking them away to another part of the country, where many are unable to have visits from family and friends due to the cost of travel. The majority of detainees are eventually released if they get the right legal support, as they have done nothing wrong, but many never get over the trauma of detention.

Full Council:

1.       Believes that the Government must end immigration detention now.

2.       Restates our commitment as a City of Sanctuary and recognises these issues form an essential part of the Dignity not Destitution Pledge, which has been signed by the Mayor.

Full Council calls on the Mayor to:

1.       Endorse the These Walls Must Fall Campaign (http://detention.org.uk/)

2.       Call on the Government to implement the recommendations of the All Party Parliamentary Inquiry into detention.

3.       Recognise all the hard work that volunteers do to support local asylum seekers who are detained.

4.       Ask our local MPs to support the spirit of the motion, to continue to raise the matter in the House of Commons, and to support changes in current laws and procedures to introduce alternatives to detention.

5.       Seek further support for the motion via the Local Government Association, and by encouraging other Councils in the UK to raise the issue.

The motion was seconded by Councillor Pickersgill

Councillor Weston then moved the following amendment:

‘That the motion be amended to read as follows:

Full Council notes that:

1               Some Immigrants and asylum seekers continue to be detained in conditions that are sometimes worse than mainstream prisons. 

2.             The UK is the only country in Europe to not have a time limit on how long immigrants and asylum seekers can be detained. This means that detained for months or even years at a time, without any certainty about when they’ll be released  ...  view the full minutes text for item 299.