To consider the following motion submitted by members of the Council. In accordance with Standing Order 17, motions which if adopted would constitute the exercise of an executive function, shall be presented to the Council by the proposer and be referred automatically to the appropriate Committee without debate by the Council. The motion will be placed on the next appropriate agenda. The appropriate Committee will then consider how the motion will be dealt with. At the discretion of the Chairman, debate and decision may take place in relation to strategically important issues raised within motions.
Unless determined otherwise by the Chairman the maximum time to be allowed to present each motion shall be 10 minutes.
Cllr Clare Sutton, County Councillor for Rodwell: Social Mobility in Weymouth and Portland
The motion is seconded by: Cllr Jon Orrell, County Councillor for Weymouth Town
‘Many members will be aware that:
§ in the Social Mobility Commission’s Report published 28 November 2017, Weymouth and Portland came 322nd out of 324 local authority areas in England, whereas Dorset overall (the current DCC area) came out around the national average, and;
§ the excellent report ‘State of Dorset 2018 – Deprivation’ from our own Dorset Statistics identifies 12 smaller areas in Dorset that are amongst the top 20% nationally for multiple deprivation. Nine of the twelve are within Weymouth or Portland, and;
§ Weymouth and Portland fare extremely poorly both nationally and within the DCC context on a number of other indices. For example:
§ the Equalities Impact Assessment included in Committee Reports often states that: "the prioritisation of resources in order to challenge inequalities in outcomes for Dorset’s people is fundamental to the Corporate Plan".
In light of all this, I call upon this Council to:
a. Reaffirm its overall commitment to improving equality of opportunity within Dorset
b. Recognise that the allocation of its resources can do much to assist this
c. Acknowledge that Weymouth and Portland faces particular challenges in the context of Dorset and, most specifically,
d. In light of LGR and other developments, when deciding where to physically locate certain services going forward, especially where skilled jobs are involved, for example Planning Services, give special consideration to the fact that, if it is to thrive, Weymouth and Portland NEED these jobs’
Cllr Susan Jefferies, County Councillor for Corfe Mullen: Electoral Arrangements
The motion is seconded by: Cllr Nick Ireland, County Councillor for Linden Lea.
‘This Council requests that the Government provides for elections to the Dorset Council in 2019 to be conducted by a system of proportional representation.’
Minutes:
Social Mobility in Weymouth and Portland
The Council considered a motion submitted by Cllr Clare Sutton regarding Social Mobility in Weymouth and Portland. The Chairman explained that she would allow the motion to be debated by the Council under her discretion.
Cllr Sutton introduced the motion, stating that the concentration of deprivation in Weymouth and Portland was a serious cause for concern that was borne out by the statistical indicators and reflected in wage levels, health, schools and homelessness. She highlighted that directing resources to address inequalities formed part of the Council's Corporate Plan and the Council could play a part in bringing skilled and well paid jobs back to Weymouth and Portland to help reverse the decline. She asked Councillors to also support part (d) of the motion so that this could form part of the consideration of council assets to accommodate a future workforce by the new Dorset Council.
Members were supportive of parts a, b and c of the motion and commented on using all of the available data to allow the new Council to allocate its resources in a different way, the pay differential between Weymouth and Portland and other areas for doing similar jobs and locating staff in places closest to where they needed to be. However, a majority of members did not feel able to support part (d) of the motion as it would not be appropriate for the County Council to influence the activity of a new authority. They considered this should be a consideration for the Shadow Dorset Council using shared evidence and data in order to make informed decisions about each of the deprived areas in the Dorset area and to build on existing partnerships with public and voluntary sector partners.
Cllr Jon Orrell, who seconded the motion, stated that the public sector could deliver what the private sector was unable to achieve in bringing skilled jobs back to Weymouth and Portland. He also highlighted the added benefit of reducing traffic emissions and congestion by moving jobs to where they were needed. He therefore considered this to be an opportune time to establish a guiding principle and to highlight Weymouth and Portland.
Resolved
a That the overall commitment to improving equality of opportunity within Dorset be reaffirmed;
b That the allocation of its resources can do much to assist this be recognised; and,
c That Weymouth and Portland faces particular challenges in the context of Dorset be acknowledged.
Electoral Arrangements
The Council considered a motion submitted by Cllr Susan Jefferies regarding electoral arrangements in 2019. The Chairman explained that she would allow the motion to be debated by the Council under her discretion.
Cllr Jefferies introduced her motion outlining the need for a system of proportional representation and that members elected in the outdated "first past the post" system had a vested interest in maintaining the status quo. She explained that proportional representation had worked well in Greater London, Wales, Ireland and other countries, resulting in greater public turnout and engagement and enhanced local democracy. The changes as a result of Local Government Reorganisation (LGR) provided an opportunity to do something different, and in so doing, increase voter participation, help to create a diverse council and put power back into the hands of the voters.
Cllr Nick Ireland, seconding the proposal, expressed his view that the proportional representation model was well understood, but had experienced a lack of traction due to risk aversion. Dorset was being seen as an exemplar for LGR that should not be accompanied by an outdated voting system.
Members expressed support for the existing voting arrangements and commented that these had worked well over a long period of time and offered clarity for the public. It was noted that a majority of the public had previously voted against a change to proportional representation, and that form of voting had resulted in weaker governments in Europe.
Views were also expressed in support of the motion as a way of introducing a fairer system that increased voter turnout that would also be favoured, in particular, by the younger generation.
Following the debate, the Monitoring Officer advised that the motion related to elections to the new Dorset Council which would take place one month after the abolition of the individual councils. Electoral arrangements had been delegated to the Dorset Area Joint Committee (DAJC) and thereafter the Shadow Dorset Council.
Upon being put to a vote, the motion was lost.