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Issue - meetings

NOTICE OF MOTIONS

 

 

Meeting: 08/10/2026 - Council (Item 46)

46 NOTICE OF MOTIONS pdf icon PDF 94 KB

To consider any motions, due notice of which have been given in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12.

 

Additional documents:

Decision:

In accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12, two motions had been submitted by the required deadline set out in the Constitution.

 

(A)  Paternity Leave

 

RESOLVED: That Council:

 

(1)   Request Officers work with the Executive Member – Resources to explore eligible Council employees to receive further enhanced paternity and adoption provision for second parents, including consideration of an offer of six weeks paid paternity or adoption leave at a minimum of 90% of their salary. A paper will be produced in time for a wider discussion at the January Joint Staff Consultative Committee, as well as a consultation with our staff and trade union.

 

(2)   Requested that the Leader of the Council writes to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Business and Trade urging the Government to introduce six weeks’ fully paid paternity leave nationally.

 

(B)  Local Government Reorganisation

 

RESOLVED: That Council:

 

(1)   Requested the Chief Executive of North Hertfordshire District Council to provide a full accounting of the costs already incurred by the Council as a result of LGR, including additional staffing, officer time, consultants’ fees, legal advice, recruitment, training, project management and other transition costs.

 

(2)   Requested the Leader of North Hertfordshire District Council to write to Angela Rayner MP, the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government to:

 

a)     demand publication of the full rationale, evidence, financial assessments and departmental analysis underpinning the decision to select four unitary authorities for Hertfordshire.

b)     seek an explanation of how ministers assessed the financial sustainability of the four-unitary model, including the projected £22 million first-year deficit for Central Hertfordshire.

c)     seek a commitment that councils will be fully compensated for reasonable and demonstrable costs incurred as a direct consequence of the Government’s LGR programme and its subsequent halt.

d)     seek immediate clarity and reassurance for council officers whose employment, structures, reporting arrangements and career prospects have been thrown into uncertainty.

e)     seek clarity on the Government’s intentions and timetable for the future of Local Government Reorganisation in Hertfordshire following the cancellation of the May 2027 shadow authority elections; and

f)       demand that North Hertfordshire District Council is fully consulted before any further decision is taken, with that consultation involving representatives of all political groups on the Council and not solely the administration.

 

(3)   Called on the Government to ensure that any future proposals for local government in Hertfordshire put financial sustainability, effective public services, community links and the interests of residents, council taxpayers and frontline staff ahead of arbitrary ministerial timetables

 

(4)   Called on the Government to learn the fundamental lesson from this process: councils should never again be required to spend millions of pounds, consume thousands of hours of officer time and destabilise local government before the Government has established that its proposals are financially credible, legally sound and capable of being delivered.

Minutes:

Audio recording – 01 hour 35 minutes 04 seconds

 

In accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12, two motions had been submitted by the required deadline set out in the Constitution.

 

(A)  Paternity Leave

 

Councillor Dominic Griffith proposed the motion as follows:

 

‘This council, like many public sector organisations, faces ongoing challenges with staff recruitment and retention. These challenges can directly affect service delivery and organisational resilience.

 

The UK offers some of the weakest statutory paternity and second parent adoption leave in Europe: just two weeks at a flat statutory rate of £194.32 per week from 6 April 2026. This is equivalent to around 40% of the national minimum wage. For many households, this level of pay is not financially viable.

 

According to a 2023 TUC poll, over half (53 per cent) of families struggle financially when fathers and second parents take paternity leave. One in five fathers and second parents (21 per cent) are forced to return to work early because they cannot afford to stay off. Around 1 in 3 fathers take no paternity or adoption leave at all.

 

Children with more involved fathers have improved outcomes across education, cognitive development, and emotional wellbeing. They are less likely to experience emotional or behavioural problems as teenagers and adults and are better able to regulate stress. Paternity leave plays a crucial role in establishing this early involvement.

 

Better paternity leaves also benefits mothers. New mothers are currently left without support while recovering from birth, including the 40 per cent of births that end in caesarean section. Research shows that enabling both parents to take leave together reduces maternal postnatal depression by 26 per cent.

 

Inadequate paternity leave is also damaging to men’s mental health. Research by The Dad Shift and November found that 45 per cent of UK fathers experience multiple symptoms of depression or anxiety in their baby’s first year. Eighty-two per cent of fathers said that improving paternity leave is the single biggest action the government could take to support new dads’ mental health. Poor mental health is a leading driver of absenteeism at work: better paternity leave could reduce this pressure on fathers employed by this council.

 

A review from the Leeds University Business School found a strong corporate consensus that generous, enhanced parental leave acts as a vehicle for talent management. Employers who invest in these policies reap measurable rewards in long-term staff loyalty and retention rates improve.

 

This Council believes that offering enhanced paternity and adoption leave for second parents will strengthen this council’s reputation as a modern, family-friendly employer and help address longstanding workforce retention issues.

 

As one of the largest employers in the area, this Council has an opportunity to lead by example and promote better working standards for second parents.

 

Therefore, Council resolves:

 

1.    To request that the Cabinet explore, with the aim of introducing enhanced paternity leave and adoption leave for second parents for council employees, offering a minimum of six weeks paid paternity or adoption leave at a minimum 90% of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46