To consider the following motions
A – Motion in the name of Councillor Warrington
That this Council notes:
· That Health Secretary Jeremy Hunt has presided over declining standards and increased private sector involvement in the NHS since his appointment in 2012.
· That earlier this month Tameside Hospital was forced to issue a warning and advise patients to seek treatment elsewhere due to ‘serious pressures’ in our local A+E department.
· The extensive coverage in the press of the crisis in the National Health Service and Social Care nationally due to underfunding by the Conservative Government.
· The failure of the Chancellor Phillip Hammond MP to pledge any money, or even mention, health and social care in his Autumn Statement last November.
· The estimated funding gap for health and social care services in the UK is £3.8 billion.
· That the Government has already cut corporation tax from 28% to 20% since 2010, costing tax payers an estimated £10.8 billion every year.
· That the government plans to cut corporation tax further to 15% by 2020, less than the basic rate of income tax.
In the light of the above this Council calls on the government to scrap the planned cuts to corporation tax and instead use the money to ensure the NHS and social care services have the money that they require to cater for their patients.
B – Motion in the name of Councillor S. Quinn
This Council aims to treat staff members who receive a terminal ill health diagnosis with dignity, and to make adjustments to ensure that they are able to stay in work as long as they are able to.
However, this Council notes that terminally ill employees are not currently protected under national disability legislation and inevitably within the law can therefore be dismissed if they are no longer able to conduct their role with reasonable adjustments. This can mean that terminally ill people can be subjected to stressful assessments, subsequent dismissal and the loss of death in-service benefits - all following the diagnosis of a terminal illness.
This Council believes in the dignity of work, and that those receiving a terminal diagnosis should not be forced out of work.
This Council believes that there should be additional Government protection for terminally ill employees, from the point of diagnosis and calls on the government to put the necessary legal protections in place.
C – Motion in the name of Councillor Jackson
That this Council notes that:
· The Government has recently changed the guidance to Building Regulations whereby they do not require the installation of Fire Suppression Systems to be fitted into new schools.
· There has been no advanced notice of this change, which is opposed by The Fire Sector Federation, the Fire Protection Association and the Arson Prevention Bureau.
· There were more than 600 fires in British schools last year.
· This change only applies to England. New schools in Scotland and Wales remain required to have sprinkler systems.
Council believes that:
· This change of policy is a false economy. The money saved by not installing sprinklers will be offset by higher insurance premiums and the cost of repairing damage caused by fire.
Council resolves to:
· Call on the Government to scrap this change to building regulations and continue to require the installation of sprinkler systems in new schools.
· Join other local authorities in lobbying the government for the abandonment of this change.