Agenda item

Motions

Councillor Morgan Rise to move that

 

this Council RESOLVES

 

(i)     to note that 18.7% of Surrey Heath children, equating to some 3,870 children, currently live in poverty after household costs.

 

(ii)    to note that, within the Parliamentary Constituency of Surrey Heath, 1,332 children receive Free School Meals.

 

(iii)   to commend and support community efforts made by High Cross Church, the Hope Hub, Just4Kidz and many other individuals, businesses, and charities within Surrey Heath to provide food to eligible children during school holidays; and

 

(iv)   that a report be brought to the Executive by 15 December 2020 outlining ways in which this Council can provide financial support to assist in the provision of fully funded, Free School Meals to all eligible children during all school holidays and other periods of school closure caused by current & future pandemics.”

 

Minutes:

It was moved by Councillor Morgan Rise and seconded by Councillor Cliff Betton that

 

this Council resolves

 

(i)            to note that 18.7% of Surrey Heath children, equating to some 3,870 children, currently live in poverty after household costs;

 

(ii)          to note that, within the Parliamentary Constituency of Surrey Heath, 1,332 children receive Free School Meals;

 

(iii)         to commend and support community efforts made by High Cross Church, the Hope Hub, Just4Kidz and many other individuals, businesses, and charities within Surrey Heath to provide food to eligible children during school holidays; and

 

(iv)         that a report be brought to the Executive by 15 December 2020 outlining ways in which this Council can provide financial support to assist in the provision of fully funded, Free School Meals to all eligible children during all school holidays and other periods of school closure caused by current & future pandemics.”

 

It was moved by Councillor Rodney Bates and seconded by Councillor Rebecca Jennings-Evans that the motion be amended by

 

a)     inserting additional wording at the end of (i) to state “and that 1,151 of these receive free school meals according to the latest Surrey projected figures from January 2020”;

 

b)     deleting the wording at (ii);

 

c)     inserting “to note the positive cross party co-operation within Surrey Heath on this issue and the willingness to put aside political loyalties throughout the pandemic in a shared belief that no child should ever go hungry” in (ii);

 

d)     inserting “schools, churches, community groups, officers and councillors” between “Just4Kidz” and “and many other individuals…” in (iii);

 

e)     inserting “and the Mayor be asked to formally write on behalf of the Council to thank them for their efforts” at the end of (iii)

 

f)      deleting (iv);

 

g)     inserting the following additional clauses to the motion:

 

(iv)      to note that the Council has already agreed two previous motions on addressing poverty in February 2018 and October 2019, with relevant actions already part of the current Surrey Heath Corporate Plan;

 

(v)       that the Leader of the Council be asked to facilitate a meeting between the MP for Surrey Heath, relevant portfolio holders, and the councillors for Chobham, Old Dean, St Michaels, and Watchetts to directly discuss how the Government can assist with addressing poverty in their wards, including the need for ongoing provision of holiday meals within the period of this pandemic;

 

(vi)      that the Leader of the Council and Acting Chief Executive be asked to give regular updates to all councillors regarding the discussions about Surrey wide provision of holiday meals, recognising that Surrey County Council is the statutory lead for supporting vulnerable children and that it has the full list of those receiving free school meals, rather than this Council;

 

(vii)    that, whilst the funding responsibilities for holiday meal provision for vulnerable children primarily resides with the Government and Surrey County Council, this Council agrees, as a last resort and should there be an absence of sufficient funding from them, to allocate up to £20,000 from the Community Fund specifically for charities and community groups to provide meals and healthy food provision for vulnerable children and families during school holiday periods until the end of May 2021; and

 

(viii)   that the Leader of the Council formally writes to Mr Marcus Rashford MBE to commend him for his work in highlighting his personal experience of this important issue and sends him a copy of this motion.

 

The amendment was put to the vote and carried. It therefore became the substantive motion.

 

RESOLVED

 

(i)        to note that 18.7% of Surrey Heath children, equating to some 3,870 children, currently live in poverty after household costs and that 1,151 of these receive free school meals according to the latest Surrey projected figures from January 2020;

 

(ii)      to note the positive cross party co-operation within Surrey Heath on this issue and the willingness to put aside political loyalties throughout the pandemic in a shared belief that no child should ever go hungry;

 

(iii)     to commend and support community efforts made by High Cross Church, the Hope Hub, Just4Kidz, schools, churches, community groups, officers and councillors, and many other individuals, businesses, and charities within Surrey Heath to provide food to eligible children during school holidays, and the Mayor be asked to formally write on behalf of the Council to thank them for their efforts;

 

(iv)     to note that the Council has already agreed two previous motions on addressing poverty in February 2018 and October 2019, with relevant actions already part of the current Surrey Heath Corporate Plan;

 

(v)      that the Leader of the Council be asked to facilitate a meeting between the MP for Surrey Heath, relevant portfolio holders, and the councillors for Chobham, Old Dean, St Michaels, and Watchetts to directly discuss how the Government can assist with addressing poverty in their wards, including the need for ongoing provision of holiday meals within the period of this pandemic;

 

(vi)     that the Leader of the Council and Acting Chief Executive be asked to give regular updates to all councillors regarding the discussions about Surrey wide provision of holiday meals, recognising that Surrey County Council is the statutory lead for supporting vulnerable children and that it has the full list of those receiving free school meals, rather than this Council;

 

(vii)   that, whilst the funding responsibilities for holiday meal provision for vulnerable children primarily resides with the Government and Surrey County Council, this Council agrees,as a last resort and should there be an absence of sufficient funding from them, to allocate up to £20,000 from the Community Fund specifically for charities and community groups to provide meals and healthy food provision for vulnerable children and families during school holiday periods until the end of May 2021; and

 

(viii)  that the Leader of the Council formally writes to Mr Marcus Rashford MBE to commend him for his work in highlighting his personal experience of this important issue and sends him a copy of this motion.

 

Note 1: In accordance with the Members’ Code of Conduct, the following councillors declared non-pecuniary interests:

 

(i)        Councillor Rodney Bates declared that he was a trustee of Old Dean Community Group; and

 

(ii)       Councillor Shaun Garrett declared that he was a trustee of Just4Kidz and Old Dean Community Group.

 

Note 2: In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 17.4, a recorded vote on the amendment to the motion was taken.

 

The following Members voted in favour of the amendment:

 

Councillors Peter Barnett, Rodney Bates, Cliff Betton, Richard Brooks, Sarah Jane Croke, Vivienne Chapman, Paul Deach, Colin Dougan, Tim FitzGerald, Sharon Galliford, Shaun Garrett, Edward Hawkins, Josephine Hawkins, Rebecca Jennings-Evans, Ben Leach, David Lewis, David Mansfield, Alan McClafferty, Emma-Jane McGrath, Charlotte Morley, Sashi Mylvaganam, Adrian Page, Robin Perry, Darryl Ratiram, Morgan Rise, John Skipper, Graham Tapper, Pat Tedder,  Victoria Wheeler, Helen Whitcroft, Valerie White, Kristian Wrenn.

 

Councillor Graham Alleway did not vote as he had left the meeting prior to the vote being taken.