Issue - meetings

Motion

Meeting: 25/09/2019 - Council (Item 48)

A period of up to one hour is allocated to consider the motions on notice. This may only be extended with the agreement of the Council.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor R. Hunter asked for it to be noted that he had, prior to the meeting, agreed with Councillor S. Baxter to allow her Notice of Motion to be considered as the first Notice of Motion, as it was such an important subject and he would allow his to be considered last. The Chairman asked those Members who had also submitted Motions if they were in agreement with this arrangement and it was confirmed that they were.

Brexit

Members considered the following Notice of Motion submitted by Councillor S. Baxter:

Council recognises that a no-deal Brexit is still a possibility and this could have serious implications for our district.

Council notes that All District Councils have been awarded Government funding with £17,400 already allocated to Bromsgrove.

There are 3m European nationals working in the UK many of whom are employed in the agriculture, care and hospitality industries who are currently dependant on their contribution to the workforce. According to government information, these residents will have until December 31st 2020 to apply for UK residency under the European residency scheme, however there is confusion over the government’s announcement that free movement would end immediately on 31 October 2019 and that a planned transition period would not be implemented.

To date, there have only been 1m applications for UK residency which presents a known risk to our local businesses and community in the event of a no deal Brexit.

We call upon this council to take the following actions to mitigate against all risks associated with a no deal brexit:

To use some of the funding that it has received from central government to support our businesses and our local economy by urgently developing a programme which will maximise the take up of the European residency scheme and the need to apply for it.

To ask officers to produce an assessment of all financial risks of a no-deal Brexit to Bromsgrove District and ask the Leader to establish a cross party working group to consider how the total available funds can be used in the best interests of the community.

The Motion was proposed by Councillor Baxter and seconded by Councillor R. Hunter.

In proposing the Motion Councillor Baxter firstly thanked Councillor Hunter for allowing her to put the motion first. She then explained that she wanted to make it clear to Members, what the motion should not be about; Brexit. The aim of the motion was to ensure that local businesses and communities were protected. It was clear to her that this was currently the only grant funding available to support local communities, by supporting this Motion Members would ensure that residents’ best interests were being addressed. She had attended an LGA event where this matter had been high on the agenda as there was little time left and it was something that this Council could do to help its residents, communities and businesses. Councillor Baxter provided statistical information in respect of the number of European nationals and the areas ... view the full minutes text for item 48