Agenda and minutes

Councillor Padmini Chamund

The Lord Mayor invited the City Mayor to introduce Councillor Padmini Chamund to Council, which he duly did. Councillor Chamund was elected as Councillor for Belgrave Ward in a by-election on 6 December 2018.

Deputy Lord Mayor / Forthcoming Operation

The Lord Mayor passed his thanks to the Deputy Lord Mayor for her ongoing assistance in supporting his role, particularly as he undertook the role with a young family. He also informed Council that he would be having a hip operation in the near future and he particularly thanked the Deputy Lord Mayor for deputising for him during his period of recovery.

Social Gathering

The Lord Mayor informed Council that he would be inviting a number of Councillors to the Parlour after the meeting for a social gathering. It was with the aim of generating better connections between councillors and conducting politics in a less confrontational manner.

Fire – Belgrave Commercial Centre

The High Bailiff referred to a recent fire at the Belgrave Commercial Centre.

On behalf of the local MP, Keith Vaz, Belgrave Councillors and local residents she wished to put on record their thanks to Leicestershire Fire and Rescue
Service and the Police for their efforts in tackling the fire and making residents safe.

She also wished to pass particular thanks to the manager at a restaurant in the centre, Mr. Ramesh Chauhan for his selfless efforts to make the public safe as the fire was taking hold.

The Lord Mayor invited Members to declare any interests they might have in the business on the agenda.

In respect of item 5.1, Petitions to be debated - Retain safe parking/drop off spaces for the users of the Jain Centre on York Street, the following Councillors declared other disclosable interests, as follows:

Councillor Porter declared that he signed the petition and attended a social function with representatives of the Jain Centre.

Councillor Sood declared that she was a member of the Council of Faiths.

Councillor Gugnani declared that he was deputy chair of the Council of Faiths.

Councillor Aqbany declared that he had visited the Jain Centre within the days prior to the Council meeting.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2018 are available to view at:

http://www.cabinet.leicester.gov.uk:8071/ieListDocuments.aspx?MId=8707&x=1

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

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

25.       That the minutes of the meeting of Council held on 15th November 2018, a copy having been circulated to each Member of the Council, be taken as read and approved as a correct record.

None were identified.

-           Presented by Members of the Public

-           Presented by Councillors

-           Petitions to be debated

5.1       Retain safe parking/drop off spaces for the users of the Jain Centre on York Street  

Petitions from members of the public

No petitions were received from members of the public.

Petitions from Councillors

No petitions were received from Councillors.

Petitions to be debated

The Monitoring Officer noted that under the terms of the Council’s Petitions Scheme each petitioner had been invited to speak on their petition for a maximum of five minutes. This would be followed by a debate on the issues raised by the petition for a maximum of 15 minutes.

Retain safe parking/drop off spaces for the users of the Jain Centre on York Street  

A petition was presented by Dr Kamal Mehta. The petition would normally have been considered as part of the Traffic Regulation Order process and reported to the Planning and Development Control Committee. However, following a request, the City Mayor agreed to use his discretion to allow a debate to take place at Council. It was submitted in the following terms:

“Retain safe parking/drop off spaces for users of the Jain Centre on York Road.”

Moved by the City Mayor, seconded by Councillor Clair and carried that:-

26.      “That the petition be referred to the Planning and Development Control Committee for them to consider in the context of the Traffic Regulation Order, and the petition also be referred to the Overview Select Committee so that they can consider the other aspects of which the Council could provide assistance to the Jain Centre to provide alternative parking in what is an incredibly challenging part of the city.”

-           From Members of the Public

-           From Councillors

Lord Mayor: Moving on to questions. The next item is questions from members of the public, so I would like to invite Mr. Daniel Woolman to ask his question please.

Mr. Daniel Woolman: Hello Council and thank you for giving me the opportunity to ask this question. Given the recent IPCC report giving us only 11 years to act urgently on climate change, will the Council now consider putting forward a motion similar to what up to today 17 other UK councils have done and declare a climate emergency? The next sustainability action plan could then be informed by this urgent need to bring carbon neutrality for this city forward to 2025 or at least 2030 as councils such as Bristol, Manchester etc have done.

Lord Mayor: Thank you. Councillor Clarke.

Councillor Clarke: Thank you my Lord Mayor and thank you Daniel for the question.  My Lord Mayor right now we are facing a manmade disaster of global scale. Our greatest threat in thousands of years – climate change. If we don’t take action the collapse of our civilisations and the extinction of much of the natural world is on the horizon. My Lord Mayor they are not my words, but they are the words of our very own Sir David Attenborough when he made his address at the people’s seat to world leaders at COP24 last month. My Lord Mayor this is indeed a climate emergency and I will be putting that in writing following this meeting. This is what the sounds tells us and this is what Sir David reflected in his address and who are we to disagree with him. As a City Council we do have a longstanding commitment to taking action on climate change being a leading city with carbon reduction targets set in the 1990s – well before national targets were set.  We are one of the few UK cities to participate fully in the international carbon disclosure project, known as the CDP, that monitors and aims to reduce emissions.  We are a member of UK100 a coalition of local authorities pledging to source 100% clean energy and we are a signatory to the covenant of Mayors. We are on track to exceed our current targets for City Council and city-wide emissions. However, when the facts change we must change. The role of the government is critical in delivering the carbon reductions required identified in the IPCC report, as well as enabling councils and other local stakeholders to play their part effectively, I will continue to lobby national government along with lead Members from other cities to drive legislation and provide resources to enable local delivery of low carbon solutions to deliver the target.  

Of course, we must ensure that our environmental protections are not eroded as a result of leaving the EU if indeed we do leave. It is incumbent on city leaders and local authorities to recognise our role in addressing this climate emergency. More than 50% of the world’s population lives  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

-        To note any changes to the Executive

-        To vary the composition and fill any vacancies of any Committee of the Council

No items identified.

8.1 Armed Forces Covenant Annual Report 2018/19.

A report was considered which focused upon the work undertaken over the past year on the progress made towards the Council’s commitments on the Armed Forces Covenant.

Moved by Councillor Corrall, seconded by Councillor Clarke and carried:

27.     That Council:

a)    endorses the Armed Forces Covenant work to date;

b)    notes the proposed action plan for the next 12 months; and

c)    confirms its ongoing support to the Armed Forces community in Leicester and to the Armed Forces Member and Officer Champions in continuing to champion and support the commitments made in the covenant.

There being no further or urgent items of business the Lord Mayor declared the meeting closed at 6.35pm.