Agenda item

Prior to consideration of Motion No. 155, Councillor Rathmell sought a point of clarification. He stated that at the previous Council meeting, he had proposed an administrative motion to proceed to the next item of business following questions raised by him, Councillor Saunders, Councillor McTigue and Councillor Hubbard. A response to those questions had not been received.

 

Councillor Rathmell stated that CIPFA had identified that the current Council Constitution was not fit for purpose and needed refreshing to make it accessible and user friendly.

 

Councillor Rathmell requested that the Chair exercise his right under Article 5 and Procedure Rule 1 of the Constitution to put the item on hold until responses to the previous questions that had been raised, had been received.

 

The Chair advised that he had given this matter some considerable thought. The motion was brought under the current Constitution, and it was likely that a new Constitution would not be available for some time. The motion had already been considered by the Council on two separate occasions, and in his view, it was appropriate for the matter to be dealt with at this meeting.

 

Councillor Rathmell clarified that the subject matter of the motion related to the 2018 Constitution which included the 6-month rule in relation to complaints, and he queried whether the Chair was willing to proceed with the motion. The Chair confirmed that he was willing to proceed with the motion.

 

Councillor Rooney clarified that CIPFA had not indicated that the Constitution was not fit for purpose, but that it did require improvement.

 

Consideration was given to Motion No. 155, moved by Councillor Mawston, and seconded by Councillor M Storey of which notice had been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rules No. 53-60 as follows:

 

Public Censure

 

A Standards Committee Meeting held on 11 May 2022 concluded that Councillor J McTigue, acting in her capacity as a member of Middlesbrough Borough Council (‘the Council’), had breached items 3.2, 3.5 and 3.12 of the Members Code of Conduct on social media posts on 28 November 2019 and on 23 December 2020, in that she did not respect others, conducted herself in a manner which was likely to bring the authority, office, or the Member into disrepute and did not use social media responsibly.

 

Following consideration of the Standards complaint, the Standards Committee in consultation with the Independent Person, ordered that a number of sanctions be imposed, one of which included that Councillor McTigue to be subject of a motion of public censure at the full Council meeting.

 

Cllr McTigue has also failed to comply with the other sanctions that were imposed by the Standards Committee at the hearing on the 11th May 2022, namely:

 

1. Councillor McTigue was to provide a written apology to the Council employee who was the subject of the complaint, by 6 July 2022, with a copy provided to the Standards Committee.

 

2. Councillor McTigue to receive one-to-one training on the appropriate use of social media and the Member/Officer Protocol, to be provided by the relevant Council Officer(s), and this should be completed by 6 July 2022.

 

In accordance with the Standards Committee’s resolution, the matter of a motion of censure is now placed before Council in respect of Councillor McTigue’s conduct in respect of the matters detailed by the Investigating Officer in the report to the Standards Committee meeting held on 11 May 2022.

 

Councillor Cooper spoke in opposition to the motion in his role as Deputy Leader of the MICA group. He posed questions to Councillor Mawston and Councillor M Storey.

 

The Monitoring Officer advised that the Council meeting and the Standards Committee had received advice on the issues raised by Councillor Cooper on a number of occasions. The decision by the Standards Committee to censure Councillor McTigue had been unanimous, and on the basis that the issues raised had already been addressed at previous meetings of the Standards Committee, Councillor M Storey, and Councillor Mawston should not be required to respond to the questions posed by Councillor Cooper. 

 

Councillor M Storey outlined the reasons why the councillor should be censured.

 

Councillor Mawston advised that if the Council did not take action on the recommendations of the Standards Committee, members would be failing in their duty.

 

The Chair advised that he had received a statement from Councillor McTigue to be read out at the meeting.

 

Councillor M Storey stated that the in his view, the statement should not be read out at the meeting, as Councillor McTigue had the opportunity to attend the meeting.

 

The Chair advised that it was unclear as to why Councillor McTigue was not present at the meeting, and on that basis, he would read the statement out, as requested.

 

Councillor Rathmell pointed out that under the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 1, the Chair had authority to read the statement out.

 

The Chair read a statement out on behalf of Councillor McTigue in relation to the proposed censure.

 

The Mayor stated that he would be voting against the censure, and he set out the reasons for his decision.

 

Councillor Arundale stated that this was a case of natural justice. He stated that the Standards Committee recommendations should not be ignored.

 

Councillor Rooney stated that she concurred with the view of Councillor Arundale. The investigation into the complaint was carried out by an Independent Investigator and there had been much debate about it. Councillor Rooney advised that she would be voting for the censure.

 

Councillor Rathmell stated that all members should have all the information before them prior to the vote. He queried whether Councillor McTigue had been provided with the name of the officer who was the subject of the complaint.

 

Councillor Rooney stated that the issue had already been subject to discussion at two meetings of the Standards Committee, and she moved that the meeting proceed to the vote. Councillor M Storey seconded the proposal to move to the vote.

 

Councillor Rathmell queried whether Councillor McTigue had been provided with the name and contact details of the officer who was the subject of the complaint, he also queried with regard to which dates had been provided in respect of the one-to-one social media training.

 

The Monitoring Officer advised that the queries raised had already been dealt with at the last Standards Committee.

 

The Chair requested that the Monitoring Officer proceed to the vote on the motion.

 

Following a vote, the motion was CARRIED

 

Consideration was given to Motion No. 156, moved by Councillor P Storey, and seconded by Councillor Thompson of which notice had been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rules No. 53-60 as follows:

 

Free School Meals

 

Middlesbrough Council acknowledges that Britain is in the midst of a cost-of-living crisis that is affecting household’s right across our borough.  We are particularly concerned about the impact on low-income families with school aged children.

 

This Council notes that figures from The North-East Child Poverty Commission showed that 41.2% of children in Middlesbrough are currently living in poverty.

 

This Council notes that at this time only pupils in reception and KS1 are entitled to Free School Meals in Middlesbrough. Given the cost-of-living crisis, this Council is deeply concerned that Nursery children in our maintained schools and nurseries are excluded from this offer. 

 

This Council therefore believes that ensuring our youngest students are included in our Free School Meal offer is a critical tool to achieving those goals.

 

This Council acknowledges the Mayor and his executive have forecasted an overspend on this year’s budget and that additional costs cannot be incurred lightly.  However, given the longer-term benefits a healthy start in life brings, it is right that the potential of such a scheme be explored.

 

This Council therefore calls upon the Mayor and Deputy Mayor and Executive Member for Children’s Services to publish costs associated with an extension of Middlesbrough’s Free School meal offer to include all 3 and 4-year-olds in nursery and primary schools in the Borough, and to do so by the end of December 2022.

 

The Council also calls upon the Schools’ Forum to set out the implications for schools, by the end of December 2022.

 

This Council requests that the Children and Young People Learning scrutiny panel then consider the Mayor’s assessment of the costs at its meeting in January 2023.

 

The Mayor stated that if the proposal was feasible, he would consider it. He queried whether the timelines for the completion of the actions could be extended?

 

Councillor P Storey spoke in support of the motion. In response to the request from the Mayor in relation to an extension to the timelines, she advised that the December date could be changed to January and the January date could be extended to February.

 

Councillor McCabe, Arundale and Rooney commented on the motion.

 

Councillor J Thompson spoke in support of the motion.

 

Following a vote, the motion was CARRIED

 

Motion 157

 

The Chair advised that he had been notified by Councillor Cooke that he had an amendment to his original motion and requested that members agree to the request for an amendment. It was agreed that Councillor Cooke be permitted to amend the original motion.

 

Consideration was given to the amended Motion No. 157, moved by Councillor Cooke, and seconded by Councillor P Storey of which notice had been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rules No. 53-60 as follows: 

 

Safe haven for veterans

 

As we mark Bonfire Night in the month of November, it is important that we consider the effect that fireworks and loud displays can have on those who are or have served for our country and suffer long terms effects such as PTSD and will find fireworks particularly hard to cope with. A safe and peaceful space is needed during this time.

 

Middlesbrough Council resolves:

 

1.         To work with Middlesbrough based armed forces charities to set up a safe  

            and quieter space, and enable veterans to come together in support of one 

            another.

 

2.         In the event that the council is setting up events with fireworks, the council should be mindful of the effects on others and look at ad-hoc provisioning of a safe space.

 

3.         Middlesbrough Council resolves, where possible to only commission companies and issue permits to those for public events in MBC boundaries that use low noise fireworks only.

 

Councillor Cooke thanked Councillor Rathmell for the amendment to the original motion and spoke in support of the amended motion.

 

Councillor Arundale, Mawston, Rathmell, C Hobson and Cooper commented on the motion.

 

Councillor P Storey spoke in support of the motion.

 

Following a vote, the motion was CARRIED