Meeting Details

Nottinghamshire County Council has an ambitious plan for Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands.  In recent times, by speaking with one voice, and with careful planning and preparation, we have secured success, including:

• establishing an interim Development Corporation, as a precursor to a statutory development vehicle for Toton, Chetwynd, the Ratcliffe-on-Soar Power Station and the area around the East Midlands Airport;
• working with partners to develop to UK's only inland Freeport;
• leading the work to establish the UK's most connected HS2 Hub Station at Toton;
• securing two sites on the long list for the STEP nuclear fusion demonstrator;
• securing £24.3 million to improve the A614/A6097;
• supporting our District and Borough Councils in securing Towns Fund grants totalling over £120 million;
• leading a world first 5G connected forest project - digitising the visitor economy and providing 5G network coverage to new communities in Edwinstowe through a £10 million Government-sponsored project, working with local businesses and national research institutes;
• working with Midlands Connect and Highways England to deliver the A46 improvements and upgrade the A1 to motorway standard, to improve connectivity and unlock development sites of national significance;
• working with Midlands Connect and our District Councils to explore a Levelling Up Fund bid to extend the Robin Hood Line and open the Maid Marion line, to transform connectivity in mid and north Nottinghamshire;
• being seen by Government as a credible and reliable partner - this is generating new opportunities for funding and to test and trial new initiatives - such as our success with the Social Housing Decarbonisation programme.

These successes are borne out of strong collaboration, across the County and with our regional partners.  Regionally, this Council plays a leading role in the Midlands Engine and Midlands Connect, and we are a key player in East Midlands Councils and Transport for the East Midlands.

We stand on the cusp of significant levelling up opportunities - our Development Corporation alone would deliver 84,000 jobs, up to 10,000 homes and £4.8 billion of new GVA. With continued Government support and early decision making, we stand ready to deliver tangible outcomes and benefits, across our County and Region.

This Council calls upon the three political Group Leaders to write collectively to the Prime Minister setting out this unique opportunity to support Nottinghamshire and the East Midlands' levelling up agenda, and to make the decisions necessary to catalyse the following key elements of our plan:

• to confirm the HS2 Eastern leg will be constructed in full, with Toton as the Hub Station;
• to place our Development Corporation on a statutory footing, recognising the potential it brings for planned and sustainable development, jobs, skills and homes; and 
• to prioritise the East Midlands for a devolution deal, off the back of the forthcoming Levelling Up White Paper, so we can accelerate growth and prosperity for the East Midlands and Nottinghamshire.

Councillor Ben Bradley MP       Councillor Bruce Laughton

Nottinghamshire County Council notes the historical contribution that mining has played in our County. 

Nottinghamshire was a major supplier of coal for industry and home consumption, particularly during the 19th and 20th century. At one time, Nottinghamshire, with 40,000 miners was one of the most successful coalfields in Europe.

This Council further notes that when the coal industry was nationalised in 1947, there was 49 collieries in Nottinghamshire.  There are now none.

Nottinghamshire County Council owes our miners a debt of gratitude which should be reflected in any decision that this Council makes. Our miners exposed themselves to many harmful agents - this put them and their families at risk of developing skin and lung conditions.

This council welcomes the conclusions of the House of Commons' Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy Select Committee (BEIS) on the Mineworkers' Pension Scheme on 29 April 2020. This recommended that ministers tackle "historical injustice" in the scheme and to transfer £1.2 billion to the pension's fund.

This Council also notes the Government have also made £4.2 billion from the Mineworker's Pension Scheme - £2 billion over the original estimate. This is without paying a penny into the Mineworker's Pension Scheme.

This Council notes with regret the response from the Minister of State for Energy, Clean Growth and Climate Change on 28 June 2021 which rejected the recommendations of MPs on this Select Committee.  This will cost every miner who mined in Nottinghamshire £728 a year.

We therefore ask for a letter to be sent from the leaders of the 3 groups on Nottinghamshire County Council to all Nottinghamshire's Members of Parliament and to the Chancellor of the Exchequer - The Rt. Hon. Rishi Sunak MP stating that Nottinghamshire County Council believes that:

1. The Government should implement immediately the full findings and conclusions of the BEIS Select Committee's investigation into the Mineworker's Pension Scheme.
2. That the Government should not be in the business of making money from the Mineworker's Pension Scheme and should now hand back the £1.2 billion from the investment reserve fund to the miners and their families.
3. That Government should now seek to negotiate a fairer arrangement  to benefit the miners and should not be seen to profiteering and should only take money from the scheme if it falls into deficit and then only at 50%

Councillor Jason Zadrozny     Councillor Daniel Williamson

Nottinghamshire County Council notes that the Government is currently consulting on increasing the free prescription age to 66 and tens of thousands of residents in Nottinghamshire aged 60-65 will be adversely impacted.

This Council further notes that residents aged between 60 and 65 receive free prescriptions when they turn 60 in England, whereas the State Pension Age is now 66.

This Council also notes the comments made by the Royal Pharmaceutical Society (RPS) who said it was "deeply concerned" by the plan - and warned it could leave people without the important medications that they need.

This Council acknowledges that according to the Institute for Fiscal Studies - among older workers, 37% reported that there household income was now lower because of the impact of successive coronavirus lockdowns. These are the very residents who will be impacted if the age for free prescriptions is raised.

This Council therefore resolves to write a formal submission to the consultation opposing any plans to raise to free prescription age to 66. This Council further resolves to send a letter to Secretary for State for Health and Social Care - The Rt. Hon. Sajid Javid MP from the leaders of the 3 groups on Nottinghamshire County Council formerly opposing these plans.

Councillor David Martin     Councillor Helen-Ann Smith

This Council wishes to express its sincere gratitude to all school teachers, teaching assistants and school support staff who have worked tirelessly alongside parents and carers during the Covid 19 pandemic to continue educating and caring for our children in Nottinghamshire.  In addition, our thanks are extended to our nurseries, childminders and early years' providers, local charities and voluntary organisations, council officers and key workers who have all played their part in supporting our children and young people's health and well-being during this challenging period.

However the impact of Covid has been significant on our children's learning and on many of our children and young people's mental health. 

This Council accepts the Government's own Education Recovery Commissioner Sir Kevan Collin's estimate that £15bn is needed to help our children catch up with their learning. On this basis this Council determines the current allocation of £1.4 bn to be wholly inadequate. The Education Policy Institute have calculated that this amounts to £50 per pupil per year.  This contrasts with £1,600 per pupil in the USA and £2,500 in the Netherlands.

This Council wishes to emphasise that no child's education should be blighted by this pandemic: no child should be left behind.

Therefore this Council resolves to write to the Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for Education to call on the Government to scale up its ambition for our children and young people in Nottinghamshire, ensuring that our education system has the resources it requires.

Councillor Michelle Welsh     Councillor Kate Foale

This Council recognises the overwhelming evidence base that now exists demonstrating the significant health and safety benefits to the public from a reduction in vehicle speed to 20MPH.

This Council resolves therefore to explore the feasibility of implementing a 20MPH speed limit in all its residential conurbations.

Councillor Penny Gowland    Councillor Jim Creamer

(A) For Councillors

(1) Members will be informed of the date and time of their Group meeting for Council by their Group Researcher.

(2) Lunch will usually be taken at approximately 12.30pm.

(3) (a) Persons making a declaration of interest should have regard to the Code of Conduct and the Procedure Rules for Meetings of the Full Council.  Those declaring must indicate whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or a private interest and the reasons for the declaration. 

(b) Any member or officer who declares a disclosable pecuniary interest in an item must withdraw from the meeting during discussion and voting upon it, unless a dispensation has been granted. Members or officers requiring clarification on whether to make a declaration of interest are invited to contact the Monitoring Officer or Democratic Services prior to the meeting.

(c) Declarations of interest will be recorded and included in the minutes of this meeting and it is therefore important that clear details are given by members and others in turn, to enable Democratic Services to record accurate information. 

(4) At any Full Council meeting except the budget meeting and an extraordinary meeting Members are given an opportunity to speak for up to three minutes on any issue which specifically relates to their division and is relevant to the services provided by the County Council. These speeches must relate specifically to the area the Member represents and should not be of a general nature.  They are constituency speeches and therefore must relate to constituency issues only.  This is an opportunity simply to air these issues in a Council meeting. It will not give rise to a debate on the issues or a question or answer session.  There is a maximum time limit of 15 minutes for this item.

(5) At any Full Council meeting except the budget meeting and an extraordinary meeting Members may present a petition to the Chairman of the County Council on any matter affecting the residents of their division, and in relation to which the County Council has powers or duties.  The Member presenting the petition can introduce and speak about the petition for up to one minute.  Members are reminded that there is a time limit of 15 minutes for the presentation of petitions, after which any petitions not yet presented will be received en bloc by the Chairman.

(6) In relation to questions to the Nottinghamshire and City of Nottingham Fire Authority and Committee Chairmen; after receiving an answer to their question, the Councillor asking the original question may ask one supplementary question on the same matter.  There will be no additional supplementary questions.

(7) Members are reminded that these papers may be recycled. Appropriate containers are located in the respective secretariats.

(8) Commonly used points of order

26 – Constituency issues must be about issues which specifically relate to the Member’s division and is relevant to the services provided by the County Council

51 – Only 1 supplementary question per question is allowed from the Councillor who asked the original question and supplementary questions must be on the same matter

61 – The Mover or Seconder has spoken for more than 10 minutes when moving the motion

64 – The Member has spoken for more than 5 minutes

66 – The Member is not speaking to the subject under discussion

67 – The Member has already spoken on the motion

86 – Points of Order and Personal Explanations

96 – Disorderly conduct

(9) Time limit of speeches

Motions
64 – no longer than 5 minutes (subject to any exceptions set out in the Constitution)

Constituency Issues
26 – up to 3 minutes per speech allowed
29 – up to 15 minutes for this item allowed

Petitions
33 – up to one minute per petition allowed
37 – up to 15 minutes for this item allowed

Questions 
45 – up to 60 minutes for this item allowed

 (B) For Members of the Public

(1) Members of the public wishing to inspect "Background Papers" referred to in the reports on the agenda or Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act should contact: 

Customer Services Centre 0300 500 80 80.

(2) The papers enclosed with this agenda are available in large print if required.  Copies can be requested by contacting the Customer Services Centre on 0300 500 80 80. Certain documents (for example appendices and plans to reports) may not be available electronically.  Hard copies can be requested from the above contact.

(3) This agenda and its associated reports are available to view online via an online calendar – 
http://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/dms/Meetings.aspx