(Please note that it is the responsibility of individual members to declare an interest prior to the item if they arrive late for the meeting)

(A printed copy of the quesiotns and replies will be available at the meeting)

Purpose - To consider appointments to outside bodies for the current civic year.

Purpose - To consider the requirements of the Local Authorities (Standing Orders) (England) (Amendment) Regulations 2015.

Purpose - To consider the recommendation from licensing committee to adopt the special Cumulative impact policy attached at appendix A to the report as part of the council’s statement of licensing policy.

Purpose - To seek approval for an adjustment to the non-housing capital programme 2015-16.

Purpose - To consider the work and progress that has been made by the Scrutiny Committee for the civic year 2014 – 2015.

Proposed by Councillor Vaughn Thomas and seconded by Councillor Harris.

The Queen’s Speech included plans for legislation to extend the right to buy to housing associations, freeze working age benefits for two years, lower the benefit cap and remove automatic entitlement to housing benefit for 18-21 year olds.
Council, RESOLVES to ask the leader of the council to write to the Prime Minister and the Interim Leader of the opposition saying that :-

1) it believes such moves will; -

a) have a huge impact both on housing associations and on local authorities, as councils would have to sell off their most valuable homes to fund replacements.

b) make it harder for people on lower incomes who are already struggling to access a decent home at a price they can afford and result in the loss of vital social and affordable homes.

2) freezing working age benefits for two years, lowering the benefit cap and removing automatic entitlement to housing benefit for 18-21 year olds fails to reflect the reality of the housing crisis. Britain is not building enough homes, which means the cost of housing and therefore the housing benefit bill is going up.

3) millions of people have no choice but to rely on housing benefit to secure a roof over their head. That includes an increasing number of people in work – the number of people in work who still have to claim housing benefit has more than doubled from around 445,000 to just over a million in the last five years.

4) cutting housing benefit for under 21s fails to take into account the reality of many young people’s lives. It could have a serious impact on vulnerable young people who have left home, including those who have been rough sleeping and may be forced to return to it. It could also mean that young people would be unwilling to take risks such as moving for work because there would be no safety net for them.

5) the best way of helping people on lower incomes into home ownership is by increasing the supply of affordable housing.

Proposed by Councillor Herries and seconded by Councillor Maxwell

Co-operatives make a significant contribution to the Norwich and UK economy with their combined turnover of over £37 billion. Many people believe that reciprocity and co-operation are vital for better communities and better economies.
Council therefore RESOLVES to:-

1) recognise that co-operatives help narrow the gap between rich and poor through employee ownership and profit sharing and further recognises that community ownership can save local services including village shops and pubs as well as enable people to take action on housing, arts, sport, land, finance and renewable energy

2) welcome co-operatives fortnight

3) ask Cabinet to; -

a) support Co-operatives fortnight each year and, where possible, the work of local co-operatives within the city.

b) continue to work closely with the Co-operative Councils Innovation Network to harness and develop the benefits of co-operation to empower local people and improve services.

Proposed by Councillor Bogelein and seconded by Councillor Henderson.

In December 2015, the United Nations’ COP-21 faces a decision of great global importance: whether to commit to a binding legal agreement on world-wide emission reductions. Support and pressure from the public and their local authorities will give governments strength to agree to binding commitments. In line with the council's strong commitment to a low carbon future –

Council RESOLVES to ask cabinet to:-

1) include an article in the CITIZEN to raise residents’ awareness of COP21, including the options they have to influence the negotiations via organisations like The Climate Coalition and Live Earth.

2) update the council website section on climate change, including information on COP21.

3) lobby national government to stand up for a strong, binding commitment at the COP21 negotiations.

4) support local and national groups of residents that aim to create public awareness for the COP21 negotiations

Proposed by Councillor Haynes and seconded by Councillor Howard

As the new government has no plan to scrap the bedroom tax, council -

RESOLVES to ask cabinet :-

1) for a period of one year, to disregard the sum by which a household's housing benefit payment has been reduced by under- occupancy restrictions when determining whether and when to initiate proceedings to recover a tenancy as a consequence of rent arrears;

2) to repeat the call to the government to withdraw the provisions of the Welfare Reform Act relating to the so called 'under occupation' in social housing ('the bedroom tax'), ensuring that people are not penalised as a result of the long term chronic under supply of social housing or changes to family circumstances

3) explore all legally acceptable ways of preventing evictions after the one year period mentioned in part 1)