Agenda and minutes

Honoured Citizen Award

The Lord Mayor reminded Council that nominations for Honoured Citizen Awards could be made up until the end of April 2020. The Honoured Citizen Award Scheme was an opportunity to recognise outstanding achievements or significant contributions to the community either by individuals or groups. Further details were available from the Member and Civic Support Team.

Lord Mayor’s Ball

The Lord Mayor informed Council that she would be hosting a charity ball on behalf of her chosen charities, the Air Ambulance Service and the PDSA. The ball would be held at Devonshire Place, London Road on Saturday 7 March 2020.

Fire & Emergency Evacuation Procedure

The Lord Mayor reminded all present of the evacuation procedures as detailed on the agenda for the meeting.

The Lord Mayor invited Members to declare any interests they might have in the business on the agenda, not already declared on their register of interests.

There were no declarations.

The minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2019 are available to view at:

http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk:8071/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=81&MId=9386&Ver=4

Copies are also available from Democratic Support on (0116) 454 6350 or committees@leicester.gov.uk

Moved by the Lord Mayor, seconded by Deputy Lord Mayor and carried:

That the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 14^th November 2019, copies having been circulated to each Member of the Council, be taken as read and that each be approved as a correct record.

There were no statements.

-           Presented by Members of the Public

-           Presented by Councillors

There were no petitions.

The following questions were asked by Councillors and details of who responded are included below. The full details of questions and the responses can be viewed on the webcast of the meeting on the Council’s website at:

https://leicester.public-i.tv/core/portal/webcast_interactive/466732

We maintain a comprehensive library of webcast Council meetings. The webcast for this meeting will remain on the live website until 13^th November 2020, and after this date can be requested from the Democratic Support Team by contacting (0116) 454 6350 or at committees@leicester.gov.uk.

For your convenience, links to each question and response are embedded after each question.

1.         Councillor Broadwell:-

“Leicester City Council has sought to be the "best landlord in the city" and so I wish to ask what we are proposing in order to make this a reality?”

            Assistant City Mayor Councillor Cutkelvin replied.

            Link to webcast of question 1

2.         Councillor Broadwell:-

“While I applaud the expansion of the City's cycle network, there are a number of hazardous features that require attention: painted cycle lanes make cyclists statistically less safe, and motorcycle barriers cause damage to bicycles and impede accessible cycling also.  What are the plans to mitigate these hazards, and what is the plan for improving cycle infrastructure across the city more generally?”

Deputy City Mayor Adam Clarke replied.

Link to webcast of question 2

3.         Councillor Broadwell:-

“It has come to my attention that a number of commercial properties in the City, both in the centre and in the outer estates - are lying empty and unused, partly due to property speculation. What steps have we as a Council taken to bring vacant property back into use?”

City Mayor replied.

Link to webcast of question 3

4.         Councillor Broadwell:-

“Many constituents are complaining of dismissive and unhelpful behaviour towards them by Council employees, and many feel ignored by us.  What can be done to improve our standing with the public in this matter?”

City Mayor replied.

Link to webcast of question 4

5.         Councillor Ali:-

“Does Leicester City Council have a zero-tolerance policy on bullying and discrimination within the Council and when employees and officers raise concerns with councillors, how can we deal with these grievances and raise complaints of employee misconduct?”

City Mayor replied.

Link to webcast of question 5

6.         Councillor Cole:-

“Given the recent revelations in Manchester that children in care in the City who it was known were being sexually exploited were abandon by the Manchester Police which therefore follows that the Council would have been aware of the exploitations, can the cabinet lead reassure members that Leicester is not aware of any such sexual exploitation of children in care here in the City and what mechanisms are in place to alert the Council if such activities where taking place in our City?”

Deputy City Mayor Councillor Russell replied.

Link to webcast of question 6

7.         Councillor Cole:-

“Given that Leicester City Council is in the process of replacing two senior members of staff, can the City Mayor say what  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

Moved by Councillor Cank, seconded by the City Mayor and carried:

That the appointment of Councillor Stephan Gee as Vice-Chair of the Heritage, Culture, Leisure and Sport Scrutiny Commission be confirmed.

Proposed by Assistant City Mayor Councillor Myers, seconded by Assistant City Mayor Councillor Patel, that:-

This Council:

(a)   notes that:

(i)            in Leicester, there are 817 families seeking asylum in receipt of Section 95 support;

(ii)          since 2002, people seeking asylum have only able to apply for the right to work after they have been waiting for a decision on their asylum claim for over a year, and only if they can be employed into one of the narrow, highly-skilled professions included on the Government’s Shortage Occupation List;

(iii)         people seeking asylum are left to live on £5.39 per day, struggling to support themselves and their families, and left vulnerable to destitution, isolation, and exploitation;

(iv)         the potential foregone economic gain for the UK economy of allowing people to work is estimated to be £42.4million via increased taxable income and reduced payments of accommodation/subsistence support;

(v)          71% of people polled agreed with the statement: “when people come to the UK seeking asylum it is important they integrate, learn English and get to know people.  It would help integration if asylum-seekers were allowed to work if their claim takes more than six months to process”;

(b)     believes that:

(i)            people seeking asylum want to be able to work so that they can use their skills and make the most of their potential, integrate into their communities, and provide for themselves and their families;

(ii)          restrictions on right to work can lead to extremely poor mental health outcomes, and a waste of potentially invaluable talents and skills both for the economy of Leicester and the UK;

(iii)       allowing people seeking asylum the right to work would therefore lead to positive outcomes for those seeking asylum in Leicester and for the local and national economy;

(c)          resolves to:

(i)        Join the Lift the Ban Coalition, which is campaigning to restore the right to work for everyone waiting for more than 6 months for a decision on their asylum claim.

(ii)        Call on the UK Government to give people seeking asylum the right to work unconstrained by the shortage occupation list after they have waited six months for a decision on their initial asylum claim or further submission

Moved by Assistant City Mayor Councillor Myers, seconded by Assistant City Mayor Councillor Patel, and carried:

This Council:

(a)       notes that:

(i)         in Leicester, there are 817 families seeking asylum in receipt of Section 95 support;

(ii)        since 2002, people seeking asylum have only able to apply for the right to work after they have been waiting for a decision on their asylum claim for over a year, and only if they can be employed into one of the narrow, highly-skilled professions included on the Government’s Shortage Occupation List;

(iii)      people seeking asylum are left to live on £5.39 per day, struggling to support themselves and their families, and left vulnerable to destitution, isolation, and exploitation;

(iv)      the potential foregone economic gain for the UK economy of allowing people to work is estimated to be £42.4million via increased taxable income and reduced payments of accommodation/subsistence support;

(v)       71% of people polled agreed with the statement: “when people come to the UK seeking asylum it is important they integrate, learn English and get to know people.  It would help integration if asylum-seekers were allowed to work if their claim takes more than six months to process”;

(b)     believes that:

(i)         people seeking asylum want to be able to work so that they can use their skills and make the most of their potential, integrate into their communities, and provide for themselves and their families;

(ii)        restrictions on right to work can lead to extremely poor mental health outcomes, and a waste of potentially invaluable talents and skills both for the economy of Leicester and the UK;

(iii)     allowing people seeking asylum the right to work would therefore lead to positive outcomes for those seeking asylum in Leicester and for the local and national economy;

(c)       resolves to:

(i)      Join the Lift the Ban Coalition, which is campaigning to restore the right to work for everyone waiting for more than 6 months for a decision on their asylum claim.

(ii)      Call on the UK Government to give people seeking asylum the right to work unconstrained by the shortage occupation list after they have waited six months for a decision on their initial asylum claim or further submission.

There being no other business, the Lord Mayor declared the meeting closed at 6.35pm.