Agenda item

To consider the following motions:

Motion in the name of Councillor Mills:

That this Council believes that bus services are crucial to our residents when travelling around our borough and Greater Manchester as a whole. This Council also believes that buses are vital for residents accessing important health services such as GP surgeries; getting to and from places of employment and living day to day lives. Furthermore, this Council believes that the regulation of buses is essential in the creation of a sustainable and environmentally healthy city region. 

Under deregulation the existing bus system across Greater Manchester has not been fit for purpose. It is important that as a result of this we note the following:

·         80% of public transport journeys in Greater Manchester are done by bus.

·         Bus deregulation happened across most cities and town in the UK in the 1980s, meaning that bus companies can run whatever routes they like, charging whatever they choose, with various ticketing structures. 140 types of tickets are available in Greater Manchester.

·         A regulated network is how buses are in London and Jersey. In these places a local transport authority sets prices, routes and develops standard ticketing systems. In London, Transport for London puts all bus routes out to tender and buys the service from a company.

·         Regulation mean profits can be used to subsidise socially necessary services. It also allows a simple smart ticket system, with an automatic daily cap of spend, like the oyster card in London. Without regulation, a simple and single area-wide zonal ticket, with an automatic cap on spend (examples include London’s oyster card), is impossible.

·         76% of people in Greater Manchester want buses to be regulated, according to recent polling.

·         Bus journeys have declined by 40% in Greater Manchester since deregulation, while in London bus use has doubled. In Jersey, bus ridership has gone up by 32% in the last five years alone.

This Council believes that local government should have the ability to plan, join up and design the bus network in Greater Manchester, and compel bus companies to deliver certain standards. Our current bus network is far too vulnerable to instabilities as we have seen, with routes changed and fares raised, hitting some of our most vulnerable residents.

The announcement of the Our Pass and Our Network schemes by the Mayor of Greater Manchester are welcomed, along with the recent public announcement by the Greater Manchester Combined Authority that bus franchising is the preferred option for buses across the city region. However this council believes that these are only the first steps in ensuring that the best bus services possible are delivered to not only the residents of our borough but of the city region as a whole.

Therefore, this Council resolves to support the Better Buses for Greater Manchester campaign, which is calling for better, regulated buses.

Motion in the name of Councillor Cooney

The Council notes that:

Unite has members across many different sectors of the economy and following the merger with UCATT last year, represent a significant amount of people employed in the construction industry.

Unite Union contacted Tameside Council as part of their campaign to engage with all Council / Group Leaders across the country regarding their Construction Charter, seeking support to have these terms nationally agreed as minimum standard in any local authority procurement policy.

The Unite Construction Charter is part of a priority campaign within this sector to address the practices by some firms that compromise employment protections that their members should enjoy.

The Council recognises that it has a major part to play in this ongoing strategy, specifically relating to the role of construction projects within the local authority.

The Unite Construction Charter is aligned to the Councils ethical approach to procurement and contains many beneficial clauses including essential points on Health and Safety, standards of work, apprenticeship training and implementation of appropriate nationally agreed terms and conditions of employment.

The Charter applies to contractors, sub-contractors and their supply chain engaged on construction projects awarded by a local authority.

By approving and including the Charter in the Council’s ethical approach to procurement, contracts between the Council and contractors in the construction industry will be strengthened. This Charter also aligns itself to the modern slavery and Human Trafficking Policy the Council has already adopted.

Unite is calling on the Council to sign the attached charter.

This Council resolves that: (1) The Council signs the attached Unite Construction Charter. (2) The Charter is incorporated in to the Councils Procurement Rules and applied to all new construction projects commissioned by the Council.

Motion in the name of Councillor Dickinson

That this Council recognizes the strength of public feeling and acknowledges the work already undertaken by the Save Stamford Park Greenhouse Group in their efforts to save the building.

Since the demolition plans were announced to the public, the group has formed, has nearly 2,000 members and a petition with over 4,000 signatures.

Despite Stamford Park being the largest park in the Borough and had a £4 million lottery investment, I would like this Council to note that prior to the decision being made only the Stalybridge North Councillors were consulted regarding the proposals.

Given the conservatory has already been fenced off for four years, we strongly believe a further six months will make no difference to this Council.

Therefore, as I am very proud that the people of Tameside have come together to fight this decision, we propose that the scheduled demolition be postponed until March 2020 in order to allow the Save Stamford Park Greenhouse Group to apply for funding and explore options to keep the building.