Motion 1: Council Tax Support and Benefits
Proposed by Councillor
Patrick Kitterick, Seconded by Councillor Nigel Porter to move:
This Council Notes
with concern the effect of the changes to Council Tax Support in
Leicester, agreed by the Full Council in January 2025, and the
potential impact of the billions of pounds of cuts to welfare
provision recently announced by Liz Kendall, Member of Parliament
for Leicester West and Secretary of State for the Department of
Work & Pensions.
The City Council
meeting specifically notes the following.
1.
Councillors have been contacted by numerous local residents
informing us of the hardship and distress caused by the imposition
of these changes, we believe this is only the tip of an iceberg of
the suffering these changes have caused.
2.
Previous re-assurances about the safety
net procedures for people losing out appear in certain cases not to
be working.
3.
Since the changes to Council Tax Support were agreed by Leicester
City Council in January, the Government has announced a raft of
deep and cruel cuts to Welfare Benefits so people on the lowest
incomes in the city may well be doubly hit by cuts both locally and
nationally.
4.
The designated Task Group of councillors to look at the impact of
the Council Tax Support changes is only due to have its first
meeting on 12th June 2025, whilst the crisis in people's finances
from the extra council tax charges is happening now.
The council,
therefore, calls for the following
- To allocate
additional monies to a discretionary fund to cover the shortfall in
people's incomes from the withdrawal of Council Tax Support.
The discretionary fund should work in such a way that no-one who
loses out from the recent changes in Council Tax Support, should
have to pay for these changes in 2025/26. This one-off
allocation should come from funds allocated to the bizarre Cafe
Project at the King Richard III visitors centre and the bottomless
pit of a project which is the Leicester Railway refurbishment
scheme. The reason for this is so that the real impact on
Council Tax bills in practice can be evaluated, alongside the
looking at the potential impact of the proposed national welfare
cuts.
- For the City Mayor
and members of the city council to write a joint letter to Liz
Kendall MP to ask her to re-consider and withdraw the cruel cuts
that she announced which will hit hardest the most vulnerable
people in Leicester and the rest of the UK.
Motion 2: Community Centres, Libraries and Museums
Proposed by Councillor
Hemant Rae Bhatia, seconded by Councillor Patrick Kitterick to move
that:
This Council notes
with concern:
- The council's "Museum
Service Vision" with proposals to virtually close public access to
Abbey Pumping Station, Newarke Houses
Museum and Belgrave Hall.
- The launch of a
consultation on the widespread "de-funding" of libraries and
community centres across Leicester. This consultation has
caused huge concern across the City of Leicester https://consultations.leicester.gov.uk/communications/library-community-centre-proposals-2025/
- These much loved
facilities appear to be paying the price for the out of control
project which is the refurbishment of Jewry Wall Museum.
- The council is also
set to embark on a bizarre £550,000 project to enhance the
cafe at the King Richard III Visitor Centre whilst closing other
museum and community facilities across the city.
- Despite contributing
over £16 million to the botched re-development of Jewry Wall
Museum, equivalent to around £130 for each household in
Leicester, the generous citizens of the city will be likely to be
charged at least £10 a time to visit a facility that they
have already heavily contributed to.
- That no serious
scrutiny has taken place of the Museum Service Vision prior to its
announcement and implementation and no serious interrogation has
been carried out of the proposed operation of Jewry Wall Museum
when it eventually re-opens after many years of being closed to the
public.
- Community Centres and
Libraries are now in line to be cut at a time when the 150 highest
paid officers in the council are costing the people of Leicester
around £20 million a year. When the most Senior
Officers of the council were asked whether this could be reduced by
10%, possibly through natural turnover of posts, councillors were
told that this area of cost could not possibly be cut, not by a
single officer.
This Council,
therefore, calls for the following
A.
The suspension of the implementation of the Museum Service Vision
whilst the proposals contained within it and the impact of the
changes put forward undergo proper council scrutiny.
B.
The cancellation and withdrawal of the Community Centre and Library
consultation in order to end the anxiety and uncertainty hanging
over these much-loved facilities. Any future consultation
process must be subject to Full Council approval and the Full
Council shall have the final decision on any changes arsing from such consultation.
C.
That alternative cuts to council spending are explored, especially
in reducing the burden of the £20 million bill for the top
150 officers at Leicester City Council.