Agenda

To receive apologies and to be notified of the attendance of substitutes.

Members are requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interest and/or other interest in any item on the agenda.

Council is asked to confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 14 May 2025.

To receive announcements from the Mayor.

To receive a report from the Leader and to receive questions and answers on the report should there be any.

To receive the Youth Mayor’s update on Broxtowe Youth Voice activities.

To receive questions from members of the public.

The Council is asked to NOTE the Annual Scrutiny Report 2024-25.

“This Council recognises the work of Stapleford Community Group, who purchased the flagpole installed in 2017 at Walter Parker VC Memorial Square – a site owned by Broxtowe Borough Council.

Since then, the Group has organised regular public flag raising ceremonies in partnership with the Council and other local organisations, marking key national and civic occasions such as Armed Forces Day, Remembrance Day, and the patron saints' days of the UK.

These events foster community spirit, have wide public support, and are regularly attended by local Mayors.

This Council resolves to:

1. Formally recognise Stapleford Community Group’s ongoing efforts.

2. Confirm continued support for these events.

3. Ensure officers remain available to assist with coordination where possible.”

“This Council while acknowledging the possible health benefits of e-bikes are greatly concerned about the way some individuals are using them.

The dangers posed to pedestrians and to vehicles are becoming more prominent. In the last few weeks we have seen several collisions between e-bikes and vehicles, including a police car. I have also heard stories of pedestrians being rode into or having very close misses.

In order to help mitigate the effects of these e-bike users this Council:

1.     Instructs the Chief Executive to write to the East Midlands Mayor and to Nottingham’s Police and Crime Commissioner to come together to formulate a plan for more police checks on e-bikes to ensure they meet current legislation restrictions.

2.     Instructs the Chief Executive to write to the MPs representing our Borough to formally raise with the government the dangers and risks e-bikes pose.

3.     Instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Secretary of State for Transport to undertake a review of the current legislation around e-bikes and make the changes necessary to make them safer.

In this letter this Council makes the following suggestions to be reviewed:

·       That the current 15.5 mph limit be reduced,

·       That e-bikes should be registered &

·       That a new e-bike licence should be introduced and a training course undertaken before usage.”

“This council notes:

That local government has endured repeated cuts over the last 15 years, amounting to more than a 27% real terms cut in core spending power since 2010. Further research by UNISON suggests that councils across England, Wales and Scotland will face a collective funding shortfall of £3.5bn by the financial year 2024/25 and a cumulative funding gap of £7bn by 2025/26. Between 2018-2023, 7 councils issued section 114 notices, including Nottingham City Council, with many others coming close to doing so.

At the same time, pressure on council finances has increased, particularly on the cost of children’s and adult social care since the pandemic. These costs now consume approximately 75% of Nottinghamshire County Council’s total budget, and this percentage is expected to continue to increase without major change.

It is a similar picture under Nottingham City Council, which continues to be unable to produce a balanced budget and resolve its debts. While Broxtowe Borough Council is itself in a relatively stable financial position, its residents are still impacted by the pressures on Nottinghamshire County Council and the reductions on services like libraries, youth centres, and infrastructure maintenance.

The catastrophic state of local government funding in the UK cannot be resolved by making further redundancies, efficiencies, or raising council tax. The government’s focus on local government reform is a red herring that cannot provide the savings needed to continue to deliver the vital services provided by local government, and, if pushed through, will only put many of these services at greater risk while also further increasing the distance between communities and their governance.

Instead of supporting the government’s attempts to push through a damaging reform of local government, this council resolves to:

·       Write to the Chancellor and Secretary of State to call for an immediate suspension of local government reorganisation until the funding situation is resolved and for an urgent review of current budget allocations and a fairer funding solution for local authorities.

·       Call on the Local Government Association to make urgent representations to central government to support the above letter.

·       Write to Nottinghamshire County Council calling on them to also support a fairer funding review to protect local council services in Broxtowe and wider Notts area.

·       Commit to campaigning to raise awareness of the threats to local services due to underfunding and LGR

• And empower the CEO and leader of Broxtowe Borough Council to act on subsequent opportunities to press this essential issue on the council's behalf to protect vital services for the well-being of residents of Broxtowe.”

“This Council notes:

The Labour Government’s reading of the Universal Credit and Personal Independence Payment Bill.

We condemn the Bill as an attempt to punish disabled people with cuts designed to achieve minor savings, while doing nothing to help them find and retain employment. This is especially egregious when the initially proposed £5 billion in savings is compared to the outstanding £47 billion “tax gap” from unclaimed tax owed by companies and the very wealthy.

The Bill included a number of amendments as concessions to Labour “rebels” made on the day of the second reading, but serious questions remain:

• Some of the concessions would not apply to new claimants, creating an unjust and illogical two-tier benefit system. There is uncertainty as to whether this would also apply to those having their existing awards reviewed, creating a situation where someone is deemed disabled enough to deserve support one day, but not the next.
• The Universal Credit health top-up will be halved for new claimants, depriving disabled people seeking work of much-needed support.
• Revisions to the already gruelling Personal Independence Payment process would be decided following a review led by the Minister of State for Social Security and Disability, Stephen Timms. This “Timms Review” is intended to be co-produced with disabled people. However, disability rights groups have raised doubts about this, and it may in fact reverse the concessions made during the Bill’s second reading.
  
  

Almost all disabled people want to work. They are not kept out of work by benefits, but, as numerous government reports have shown, by prejudice in the workplace and in the hiring process. We wish to support the people of Broxtowe, of whom approximately 8,100 are disabled, in living dignified lives and having access to the safety net they are entitled to when they need it.

This Council resolves to:

• Condemn the Bill as rushed-through, having ignored the “Pathways to Work” consultation with disabled people, and for harming disabled people rather than helping them into work. The Bill should never have been brought to the House of Commons without first consulting disabled people on what would help them find and stay in work.
• Carry out a Council-led local awareness campaign to alert disabled people in the region to the changes they may face to their benefits and related support.
• Request that the Leader of the Council write to the Minister of State for Social Security and Disability, formally requesting that the input of disabled people lead the work of the Timms Review and that the recommendations of disabled people be binding.”

To receive Members’ speeches on ward issues.

To receive questions on outside bodies.

To receive Members’ questions.

Council is asked to NOTE that Councillor T Marsh has advised that he has ceased representing the Labour Group and intends to sit as a representative of the Broxtowe Alliance. There will be an affect on the composition of committees of the Council for the purposes of proportionality which will be considered during a further item on the agenda.

Following Councillor T Marsh’s change of representation proportionality has been affected. Members are asked to RESOLVE that the amendments to the appointments be approved in accordance with the schedule laid before the meeting.

To provide an update for Council on the progress of Local Government Reorganisation in Nottinghamshire.