Agenda item

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

 

A)   Motion on Proportional Representation

B)   Motion on Urgent unlock the potential of High Streets

There were two motions submitted in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12.

 

(A)        Motion on Proportional Representation

 

RESOLVED: That Council:

 

(1)  Call upon the UK Government to commit to changing electoral law to permit the introduction of a PR system of voting in any reforms to local government presented to Parliament.

 

(2)  Instruct the Leader of the Council to write to North Hertfordshire District Council's three MPs to ask them to call for a change to electoral law to permit a PR system of voting and promote the matter for debate in Parliament.

 

(B)        Motion on Urgent unlocking the potential of local High Streets

 

RESOLVED: That Council will:

 

(1)  Write to the Government to urge it to scrap business rates and replace them with a system which is fit for purpose and which levels the playing field between bricks and mortar businesses and online retail giants.

 

(2)  Campaign to devolve funds like the Towns Fund, Levelling Up Fund, UK Shared Prosperity Fund and other national funding pots, to give local communities, councils and regions the ultimate say in how it is spent in their area.

 

(3)  Continue to take local action to revive our high streets, including:

 

a.    Make any data that the Council can lawfully make public on ownership of high street properties public and in an accessible format, so that community groups seeking to buy empty shops through a community share offer have the information they need to do so.

 

b.    Proactively contact landlords of vacant premises (and work with Chambers of Commerce, Landlord Associations and BID managers) to explore ‘meanwhile use’ options and/or encourage alternative rental models (e.g. turnover rather than market rent) to enable new co-operatives, SMEs, social enterprises and ‘community owned’ businesses to open their doors on the high street.

Audio recording – 14 minutes 49 seconds

 

There were two motions submitted in accordance with Standing Order 4.8.12.

 

(A)  Motion on Proportional Representation

 

Councillor Chris Lucas proposed the amended submitted motion as follows:

 

“Council notes that:

 

1.    The electoral system used for local elections in England and Wales, First Past the Post (FPTP), is not a fair system, because it means that votes do not have equal weight and many votes are wasted.

2.    The alternative to FPTP is a system of Proportional Representation (PR), where votes cast for parties translates more or less directly into seats won. There are many variants of PR. The Single Transferable Vote System (STV) variant of PR is already in use for local elections in Scotland and Northern Ireland. With this system, voters rank candidates in order of preference and those who receive the most backing (including second and subsequent choices) are elected to serve in multi-member wards.

3.    The introduction of PR for local elections in Scotland has led to an increase in turn-out, which was 44.8% at the last elections held in 2022. The average turnout in the May 2022 local elections in England was 33.6% which was broadly consistent with previous comparable elections. Whilst the turnout in the May 2022 local elections in North Hertfordshire District Council was slightly higher than the national average (39%) this still falls short of the successes in Scotland and elsewhere.

4.    When the Electoral Commission surveyed eligible voters who did not vote in the May 2022 local election, 9% cited the reason for not voting as “there is in point in voting because… my vote doesn’t count”. This suggests that the improved representation offered by PR encourages greater engagement in local democracy. Council believes that there should be a move to the use of a system of proportional representation for local elections as soon as is practicably possible as this would boost turnout and elect a council which is more representative of the range of political views of North Hertfordshire District Council’s residents.

 

Council resolves to:

 

1.    Call upon the UK Government to commit to changing electoral law to permit the introduction of a PR system of voting in any reforms to local government presented to Parliament.

 

2.    Instruct the Managing Director to write to North Hertfordshire District Council's three MPs to ask them to call for a change to electoral law to permit a PR system of voting and promote the matter for debate in Parliament.”

 

Councillor Ruth Brown seconded the motion.

 

The following Members took part in the debate:

 

·         Councillor Simon Bloxham

·         Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg

·         Councillor Ian Albert

·         Councillor Gerald Morris

·         Councillor Sam Collins

·         Councillor Richard Thake

·         Councillor Steve Jarvis

·         Councillor George Davies

·         Councillor Daniel Allen

·         Councillor Ralph Muncer

·         Councillor Michael Muir

·         Councillor Alistair Willoughby

·         Councillor Ruth Brown

 

Councillor Chris Lucas summarised that there had been an interesting array of responses to this matter. The current system was not known and loved by people but had rather propped up Conservative governments. This was an important issue to people and because a Councillor does not see the importance, it should not be written off. Other Local Authorities had submitted motions and the letter to government had been sent by an Officer, as it was felt that it would represent the voice of the Council better than a political leader.

 

As part of the debate, it was suggested that the motion be amended to request the Leader of the Council write to government, not the Managing Director as submitted. This was accepted and proposed as an amendment by Councillor Lucas and seconded by Councillor Brown.

 

Having been proposed and seconded and, following a vote, the motion, as amended, was:

 

RESOLVED: That Council:

 

(1)  Call upon the UK Government to commit to changing electoral law to permit the introduction of a PR system of voting in any reforms to local government presented to Parliament.

 

(2)  Instruct the Leader of the Council to write to North Hertfordshire District Council's three MPs to ask them to call for a change to electoral law to permit a PR system of voting and promote the matter for debate in Parliament.

 

 

(B)  Motion on Urgent unlocking the potential of local High Streets

 

N.B. At the start of this item Councillors David Levett and Simon Bloxham advised that they were business rates payers in North Herts and would therefore not vote but would remain to take part in the debate. Councillor Richard Thake advised the same also applied as he was Director of a family business that was a business rates payer.

 

Councillor Tom Plater proposed the motion as follows:

 

“This Council believes that healthy high streets are essential for employment, shopping and leisure but many shops and businesses were struggling even before the Covid pandemic: high street retail employment fell in more than three-quarters of local authorities between 2015 and 2018 according to the Office of National Statistics and more than half of all UK consumers were shopping online before the pandemic. This Council notes retail is among the sectors most affected by the coronavirus pandemic; the almost complete shutdown of non-essential shops between March and June 2020 and subsequent local and national lockdowns and ongoing restrictions has hit businesses hard, and the need for social distancing has changed the way many businesses operate reducing footfall.

 

The pandemic has accelerated what in many cases has been a longer trend of lower footfall and changing shopping habits: as the Portas Review a decade ago acknowledged, the form and function of many high streets needs to adapt if they are to survive.

 

This Council welcomes the willingness of Government to acknowledge the problems and come forward with initiatives in response to these challenges such has the furlough scheme, the Covid support business loans, and the High Street Taskforce. However, as the Treasury Select Committee stated in 2019, the current system of Business Rates places an unfair burden on “bricks and mortar” businesses compared to online retailers, and the Business Rate system needs radical overhaul.

 

The announcements in the Budget, though welcome, fall short of what is required: small changes to revaluation cycles and temporary discounts simply tinker around the edges, and will not deliver the support that local high streets need and deserve.

 

This Council resolves to:

 

1.    Write to the Government to urge it to scrap business rates and replace them with a system which is fit for purpose and which levels the playing field between bricks and mortar businesses and online retail giants.

 

2.    Campaign to devolve funds like the Towns Fund, Levelling Up Fund, UK Shared Prosperity Fund and other national funding pots, to give local communities, councils and regions the ultimate say in how it is spent in their area.

 

3.    Continue to take local action to revive our high streets, including:

 

·         Make any data held by the council on ownership of high street properties public and in an accessible format, so that community groups seeking to buy empty shops through a community share offer have the information they need to do so.

 

·         Proactively contact landlords of vacant premises (and work with Chambers of Commerce, Landlord Associations and BID managers) to explore ‘meanwhile use’ options and/or encourage alternative rental models (e.g. turnover rather than market rent) to enable new co-operatives, SMEs, social enterprises and ‘community owned’ businesses to open their doors on the high street.”

 

Councillor Keith Hoskins seconded the motion.

 

Following the amendment to the previous motion, the Chair asked Councillor Plater to confirm who he wished to write to the government.

 

Councillor Plater confirmed that he would amend this to request the Leader of the Council write to government and this amendment was seconded by Councillor Hoskins.

 

The following Members took part in the debate:

 

·         Councillor Chris Hinchliff

·         Councillor Ralph Muncer

·         Councillor Ian Albert

·         Councillor David Levett

·         Councillor Ruth Brown

·         Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg

·         Councillor Claire Strong

·         Councillor Alistair Willoughby

·         Councillor Adam Compton

·         Councillor Keith Hoskins

 

In response to a point raised by Councillor Compton, the Monitoring Officer advised that there would be some difficulties in presenting ownership information, but generalised data releases could be explored. The Council publishes its own data regarding ownership of land on its own website but was unsure of the case for private information and would need to confirm.

 

The Chair suggested to reword the motion to ‘Make any data that the Council can lawfully make public on ownership…’ This was accepted by Councillor Plater, who proposed making this amendment, which was seconded by Councillor Hoskins.

 

Councillor Plater summarised that parking charges had been affected by decisions of central government over the past 10 years and could have been reduced were it not for these actions. Only 8 of 151 authorities in England had seen their funding increased over the last decade. A fit for purpose tax system would ensure that the burden was carried by those companies who could afford it and not local businesses. The most recent funding announcements had been late and devolving these powers would allow the Council to work with friends across Hertfordshire to provide funds to the places that need it, not just those with support in government. 

 

Having been proposed and seconded and, following a vote, the motion, as amended, was:

 

RESOLVED: That Council will:

 

(1)  Write to the Government to urge it to scrap business rates and replace them with a system which is fit for purpose and which levels the playing field between bricks and mortar businesses and online retail giants.

 

(2)  Campaign to devolve funds like the Towns Fund, Levelling Up Fund, UK Shared Prosperity Fund and other national funding pots, to give local communities, councils and regions the ultimate say in how it is spent in their area.

 

(3)  Continue to take local action to revive our high streets, including:

 

a.    Make any data that the Council can lawfully make public on ownership of high street properties public and in an accessible format, so that community groups seeking to buy empty shops through a community share offer have the information they need to do so.

 

b.    Proactively contact landlords of vacant premises (and work with Chambers of Commerce, Landlord Associations and BID managers) to explore ‘meanwhile use’ options and/or encourage alternative rental models (e.g. turnover rather than market rent) to enable new co-operatives, SMEs, social enterprises and ‘community owned’ businesses to open their doors on the high street.