ITEM 9(i)
Mr Mel Few (Foxhills, Thorpe and Virginia Water) to move under Standing Order 11 as follows:
‘This Council notes with delight the success of the many Magna Carta celebrations and in particular the historic event which took place on Runnymede Meadows on 15 June 2015 celebrating the 800th anniversary of its sealing.
This Council thanks all of the many people, partners and organisations that helped make the celebrations so successful and which enabled the county of Surrey to showcase a unique event of world significance.
This Council wishes in particular to thank its own staff and Members, many of whom went way beyond the call of duty, in the successful organisation of these celebrations.’
ITEM 9(ii)
Mrs Fiona White (Guildford West) to move under Standing Order 11 as follows:
‘This Council agrees to prioritise the recruitment and retention of Social Workers including by ensuring that the County Council's social worker pay is competitive with neighbouring councils, carrying out recruitment campaigns, recruiting social work graduates from Universities, providing key worker housing and relevant training, in order to:
· provide sufficient qualified, trained and experienced Social Workers to support and protect vulnerable children and adults in Surrey,
· reduce the council's over-reliance on costly agency staff
· reduce the workload of social workers.’
ITEM 9(iii)
Mrs Hazel Watson (Dorking Hills) to move under Standing Order 11 as follows:
‘This Council requests the Cabinet to allocate additional funding to all Local Committees to enable them to introduce 20 mph speed limits outside schools where requested by both the school and the local community in order to reduce traffic speeds and to improve road safety.’
Minutes:
ITEM 9(i)
Under Standing order 12.3, the Council agreed to debate this motion.
Under Standing Order 12.1, Mr Few moved the motion which was:
‘This Council notes with delight the success of the many Magna Carta celebrations and in particular the historic event which took place on Runnymede Meadows on 15 June 2015 celebrating the 800th anniversary of its sealing.
This Council thanks all of the many people, partners and organisations that helped make the celebrations so successful and which enabled the county of Surrey to showcase a unique event of world significance.
This Council wishes in particular to thank its own staff and Members, many of whom went way beyond the call of duty, in the successful organisation of these celebrations.’
Mr Few made the following points in support of his motion:
· It was a brave decision, taken by Surrey County Council, to celebrate the 800th anniversary of the sealing of the Magna Carta on the Runnymede Meadows in Surrey
· The event has heightened awareness of Surrey and the county will benefit from increased numbers of visitors
· There had been dedicated teams from the County Council and National Trust working on the event – organising traffic management plans, coach transport, security checks and ensuring that guests would be fed and watered
· With VIP guests, including several senior members of the Royal Family, the Prime Minister and other international guests, the organisation of the event was challenging and its success was achieved with the help of partnership working
· 200 people were presented to Royalty and other dignitaries
· The event culminated in a fly past from the Red Arrows
· It was a very well organised event.
The motion was formally seconded by Mrs Clack, who made the following points:
· Continuation of thanking the people who had key roles in bringing the event to fruition, in particular: Susie Kemp - Assistant Chief Executive, Peter Milton – Head of Cultural Services, Katie Brennan and the Magna Carta team and also the Civic team
· She also thanked Surrey Police, Surrey Highways, Surrey’s Emergency Planning team, Surrey Social Services, Surrey Fire and Rescue Service, the Ambulance Service, Runnymede Borough Council, Surrey Performing Arts Service, National Trust, Dame Sarah Goad and the Chief Executive
· That the vision of the Leader of the Council in relation to this event had placed Surrey on the ‘world map’
· The magnificent artwork, The Jurors by Hew Locke which was commissioned by Surrey County Council and the National Trust
· That art interpretation volunteers were on site at weekends and since the event the car park takings had increased by 50%
· Finally, she said that it was a perfect day and that she was proud to be a part of the Magna Carta celebrations.
Eight Members spoke on the motion, with the following points being made:
· The event had highlighted the reputation of Surrey and put Runnymede and Spelthorne on the map
· The Jurors artwork was a good legacy
· The perception that the event was for ‘the great and the good’ and not for ordinary people – perhaps more could have been done for local people on the day
· The TV coverage was limited
· It was an amazing day and Members were proud to be part of it
· Praise for the Police
· Concern about the cost of the event, when there were cuts to services being made
· That the artwork could have been funded by public subscription rather than Surrey County Council
· Thanks to those staff who worked so hard to make the event a success
· That the County Council was responsible for the wellbeing of its residents and this event was good for morale and businesses
· Thanks to all the school children who designed the flags for the event
· The Red Arrows flypast at exactly 12.15
· This was not a Conservative event, it was a Surrey County Council event.
After the debate, the motion was put to the vote with 61 Members voting for it. No Members voted against it but there were three abstentions.
Therefore it was:
RESOLVED:
This Council notes with delight the success of the many Magna Carta celebrations and in particular, the historic event which took place on Runnymede Meadows on 15 June 2015 celebrating the 800th anniversary of its sealing.
This Council thanks all of the many people, partners and organisations that helped make the celebrations so successful and which enabled the county of Surrey to showcase a unique event of world significance.
This Council wishes in particular to thank its own staff and Members, many of whom went way beyond the call of duty, in the successful organisation of these celebrations.
ITEM 9(ii)
Under Standing order 12.3, the Council agreed to debate this motion.
Under Standing Order 12.1, Mrs White moved the motion which was:
‘This Council agrees to prioritise the recruitment and retention of Social Workers including by ensuring that the County Council's social worker pay is competitive with neighbouring councils, carrying out recruitment campaigns, recruiting social work graduates from universities, providing key worker housing and relevant training, in order to:
· provide sufficient qualified, trained and experienced Social Workers to support and protect vulnerable children and adults in Surrey,
· reduce the council's over-reliance on costly agency staff
· reduce the workload of social workers.’
Mrs White made the following points in support of her motion:
· The recruitment and retention of social workers in Surrey was a longstanding issue
· Continuity of social worker care was very important
· The use of technology was no substitute for the personal approach
· Established social worker teams that worked closely with one another were needed
· Acknowledgement that Surrey’s proximity to London Boroughs, where social workers were paid higher rates, made it more difficult to recruit social workers to Surrey
· The cost of agency staff
· The importance of tackling the issues and to think ‘outside the box’ for solutions i.e. key worker housing
· A need to address Surrey County Council’s reputation with social workers
· That social work was a vocation for most social workers and that money was not a prime consideration
· Possible consideration of utilising some of the money paid to agency staff to pay enhance wages for social workers
· Surrey County Council needed to be good employers to attract and retain social workers
The motion was formally seconded by Mrs Watson, who reserved her right to speak.
The Leader of the Council thanked Mrs White for her timely motion and said that this was a national issue. He said that the County Council faced fierce competition in recruiting social workers and had made some progress in recent years but recognised that there was more to do. He confirmed that the Conservative Group would be supporting this motion.
Five Members spoke on the motion, with the following points being made:
· The number of Surrey residents requiring social care services
· The affect of a Supreme Court judgement in relation to Deprivation of Liberty issues, which had resulted in an increase in applications from 57 last year to over 3000 this year – this was a budget pressure for the County Council because experienced social workers had to assess these applications
· Everything that had been suggested by Mrs White was being considered plus a number of strands of work to progress the issue had been identified, including looking at retention and also co-operation with London Boroughs
· There had been some good points made, where officers and Members had been commended, in the Children’s Services Ofsted report i.e. Adoption processes
· The importance of tying any possible provision for key worker housing to specific jobs
· It was vital that the County Council attracted a good calibre of people with the right skills into social work positions
· That there were similar problems in the NHS and the County Council needed to work together with the Health Service to prevent duplication.
Mrs Watson, as seconder of the motion, said that she was delighted with the response and considered that there had been a positive and constructive debate. She said that the high vacancy rates were due to the proximity of the county to London but the Council needed to do everything it could to attract people to apply for social worker posts in Surrey.
Mrs White, as proposer of the motion, referred to the point made by Mr Witham in relation to the number of Deprivation of Liberty applications and also the obligations to the Council arising from the Care Act and said that this made the need for social workers positions to be filled even more critical.
Finally, she thanked all Members for supporting her motion.
Therefore, it was:
RESOLVED:
This Council agrees to prioritise the recruitment and retention of Social Workers including by ensuring that the County Council's social worker pay is competitive with neighbouring councils, carrying out recruitment campaigns, recruiting social work graduates from universities, providing key worker housing and relevant training, in order to:
· provide sufficient qualified, trained and experienced Social Workers to support and protect vulnerable children and adults in Surrey,
· reduce the council's over-reliance on costly agency staff
· reduce the workload of social workers.
ITEM 9(iii)
Under Standing order 12.3, the Council agreed to debate this motion.
Under Standing Order 12.1, Mrs Watson moved the motion which was:
‘This Council requests the Cabinet to allocate additional funding to all Local Committees to enable them to introduce 20 mph speed limits outside schools where requested by both the school and the local community in order to reduce traffic speeds and to improve road safety.’
Mrs Watson made the following points in support of her motion:
· She called upon the Authority to provide additional funding to local committees to enable the introduction of 20mph speed limits outside schools where requested
· Made reference to a trial at three schools in Mole Valley where the reduced speed limit had now been made permanent
· That the safety of all children was paramount and many parents wanted a 20mph speed limit outside schools
· Any 20mph speed limit would need enforcement
· There was evidence across the country that drivers did slow down when 20 mph speed limits were in place.
The motion was formally seconded by Mr Cooksey.
Seven Members spoke on the motion, with the following points being made:
· That speed limit assessments were already delegated to local committees for decision and this motion was a request for additional resources for local committees
· Not all problems that occurred outside schools related to speed
· That it was the County Council’s policy to undertake an assessment of safety outside schools and that report was then considered by the relevant local committee
· There were only 15 out of over 500 schools in Surrey that were near accident black spots and these schools had been fully evaluated and some road improvements made
· Local people should make local decisions on local issues
· Where would the extra funding requested come from?
· The motion said that introduction of 20mph speed limits would only happen if requested by the school and the local community
· The motion went against any devolution principles for increasing responsibility locally
· Whilst local committees had the power to introduce changes to speed limits, they did not have sufficient resources to implement them
· Many other local authorities throughout the country had implemented 20mph speed limits outside schools.
After the debate, the motion was put to the vote, with 12 Members voting for it.
52 Members voted against it and there were no abstentions.
Therefore the motion was lost.