Content

Under Council Standing Order 9.1.2 a further
vote was taken at the start of the meeting to re-order the business
on the agenda to move Motion 12.8 (Tackling the epidemic of
violence against women and girls) to the start of the Notices of
Motions item.
 
Resolved –
 
That
under Council Standing Order 9.1.2 Motion 12.8 (Tackling the
Epidemic of Violence against women and girls) be moved to be the
first motion to be considered under the motions item on the
agenda.
 
 
12.8  
TACKLING THE EPIDEMIC OF VIOLENCE AGAINST
          
WOMEN AND GIRLS
 
As set out in the published agenda Motion 12.8
was moved by Councillor Kamran Hussain and seconded by Councillor
Hinchcliffe.
 
In accordance with Council Standing Orders
18.4  and
18.8  an amendment (additional published papers Amendment
N) was moved by Councillor Falak Ahmed and seconded  by
Councillor Coates.
 
In accordance with Council Standing Orders
18.4  and
18.8  a second amendment (additional published papers
Amendment O) was moved by Councillor Edwards and
seconded  by Councillor Sutcliffe.
 
Following a number of speakers in accordance
with Council Standing Order 18.12 the following Amendments and
Motion, were put to the vote.
 
Amendment
“O” was put to the vote and lost.
 
Amendment
“N” was put to the vote and lost.
 
Motion 12.8 as set
out below was put to the vote and was carried.
 
Resolved-
 
Council notes:
 
Our wholehearted support for the victims and
survivors of violence against women and girls from our district. As
members of council we stand alongside them and remember those
who have been killed and are missed so much by their loved
ones.
 
Tackling violence against women and girls is a
top priority for Bradford Council and for West Yorkshire Mayor
Tracy Brabin, who has put it at the heart of the West Yorkshire
Crime Plan and set up a Women's Safety Unit with representatives
from the West Yorkshire Combined Authority, the county's Violence
Reduction Partnership and West Yorkshire Police.
 
The welcome work by campaigners, councillors
and MPs across political parties to tackle this issue and the
commitment from the new Home Secretary Yvette Cooper that this
government will treat violence against women and girls as
“the national emergency it really is” as part of the
government’s aim to cut violence against women and girls by
half in the next decade.
 
WYCA’s work in partnership with the
council to tackle the issue, including the introduction of a team
of PCSOs patrolling bus stations and buses across the region to
support safer travel, and the work to make parks and green spaces
safer and more accessible for women and girls.
 
The work of our district’s MPs to make
women’s lives safer, such as the long campaign by Judith
Cummins MP to make spiking one specific criminal offence.
 
The acknowledgement by the National Police
Chiefs Council (NPCC) that there is an epidemic of violence against
women and girls and it is a national emergency.
That abuse against women and girls is
deep-rooted in gender inequality and unconscious bias which have
developed over generations. It occurs everywhere irrespective of
age, class, ethnicity, faith, sexuality or where someone lives.
 
The important work to date of our youth
services, schools and other agencies to tackle misogyny and
misinformation around issues such as consent.
 
The efforts of hospitality and other
businesses alongside the council and other agencies to make night
times safer, including the work underway to achieve Purple Flag
status and similar initiatives across the district such as Ask
Angela.
 
The launch of the Safety of Women and Girls
(SOWG) Plan in August which sets out how Bradford Council, the
police and partner organisations will strive to make the district
safer for women and girls, combat misogyny and challenge harmful
attitudes.
 
The best way to eradicate Violence Against
Women and Girls is to work upstream increasing early intervention
and prevention and education opportunities thereby reducing future
violence against women and girls.
 
16 Days of Activism against Gender-Based
Violence is an annual international campaign that ran from 25
November – the International Day for the Elimination of
Violence against Women – until 10 December. During this
period, Bradford Council's Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence team
organised engaging and informative sessions for professionals
across our district, including several 'An Audience with' sessions
promoting services and increasing awareness around domestic abuse
and sexual violence (DASV), Active Bystander training, workshops
around children as victims in their own right and the launch of the new
sexual violence and abuse training module.
 
The commissioned service for DASV in Bradford
is the Survive and Thrive consortium, combining Staying Put, Family
Action, and Women Centre.
 
Council resolves
to:
 

·  
Consistently support the police to reduce the
incidents of all violence against women and girls using council
processes to support holding perpetrators to account.

·  
Back Mayor Tracy Brabin and Deputy Mayor for
Policing and Crime Alison Lowe by making Bradford a strong partner
in the West Yorkshire plan to tackle violence against women and
girls, especially through our commissioned services to support and
empower victims and survivors.

·  
Give full council support to delivering a strong
action plan rooted in the newly launched Safety of Women and Girls
Plan, for example, in new programmes to engage men and boys as part
of the solution.

·  
Ask Safer Bradford Partnership to pilot new and
innovative ways of working.

·  
Task partners to ensure that the newly commissioned
Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence services continue to achieve
positive results in supporting victims/survivors and expand the
excellent work that is reducing reoffending.
To be
actioned by: Council and Chief Executive/Strategic
Directors
 

12.2    MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT FOR YOUNG PEOPLE
 
As set out in the published agenda Motion 12.2
(incorporating additional published papers Amendment E as consented
to by Councillor Griffiths) was moved by Councillor Russell and
seconded by Councillor Ros Brown.
 
In accordance with Council Standing Orders
18.4  and
18.8  an amendment (additional published papers Amendment
C) was moved by Councillor Poulsen and seconded  by
Councillor Coates.
 
In accordance with Council Standing Orders
18.4  and
18.8  a second amendment (additional published papers
Amendment D) was moved by Councillor Duffy and seconded 
by Councillor Ferriby.
 
Following a number of
speakers in accordance with Council Standing Order 18.12
Amendment D as set out below was then put to the vote, was carried
and became the substantive motion, was then voted on and was
carried.  
 
Resolved –
 
That with the
addition and deletion of the appropriate words, the motion be
amended to read as follows:
 

       
Council notes:
 
·        
There is a national crisis in children’s
mental health. The reasons for this appear to be complex and varied
with contributing factors likely to include poverty and austerity,
which have increased pressures on families and public services, and
the impact of the pandemic on children’s lives.
·        
Locally we have a comprehensive partnership approach
to address this challenge and support good mental
health.
·        
Mental health problems can affect a child of any
background.
·        
Prevention and early help is crucial for supporting
good mental health and addressing any concerns before they escalate
into crisis.
·        
The district’s Health & Wellbeing Board is
the senior strategic partnership for improving health, tackling
health inequalities and addressing the wider determinants of
health.  Whilst this is a national
issue, locally we have prioritised children’s mental health
and the Health & Wellbeing Board has been doing focussed work
on this subject for many months.
·        
The voluntary and community sector (VCS) and our
youth services also carry out a range of beneficial activities to
support children’s and young people’s
wellbeing.
·        
There is a large number of different projects being
funded to support children’s mental health in our district
through the council, NHS and the Children and Families Trust
through the nationally adopted Thrive framework. To name just a
few:
-         
The Public Health Nursing Children’s
service
-         
The Emotionally Based School Avoidance
Project
-         
Mental Health Champions
-         
My Happy Mind in primary schools
-         
Baby Steps antenatal and postnatal parenting
programme
-         
Dad Matters advice for male parents and
carers
-         
Hospital Buddies
-         
Know Your Mind Plus one-to-one sessions
-         
Youth Service support for schools
-         
Youth Groups
-         
Peer Support for LGBTQ+
-         
Breaking the Cycle
·        
A number of teams in the council directly support
children both with and without a medical diagnosis, including: a
dedicated Social, Emotional & Mental Health team within the
Specialist Teaching & Advisory Support Service; the Virtual
School for children looked after and children with a social worker;
the specialist inclusion team; the Educational Psychology Service;
and the Emotionally Based School Avoidance Team who work with
children severely absent from school due to high levels of
anxiety.
·        
Much of the council’s work also indirectly
supports the mental wellbeing of children, such as our housing
services, our parks and green spaces, museums, libraries and
galleries, our sport and leisure services and our public health
initiatives.
·        
In the past 12 months we have created a directory of
all the services that schools can access via Bradford Schools
Online to support their students’ mental health.
 
Council resolves to:
 
·        
Task officers to work with health partners on the
Health and Wellbeing Board to ensure children’s mental health
support remains a top priority.
·        
Ask the Health and Wellbeing Board to ensure the
three bodies of the council, the NHS and the Children and Families
Trust work in a coordinated way to get the best services for
children and best value for money.
·        
Ask Public Health officers to continue rolling out
the Living Well schools programme.
·        
Ask health partners to provide an update to the
Health and Wellbeing Board on its comprehensive work to ensure
timely access to CAMHS services for every child who needs
it.
·        
Write to relevant Ministers highlighting the
proactive work happening in Bradford, examples of good practice and
how we might work with Government to be part of resolving this
issue nationally.
To be
actioned by: All Strategic Directors and Interim Director of Public
Health
 
12.3    MOTION
– CAR PARKS
 
As set out in the published agenda Motion 12.3
was moved by Councillor Griffiths and seconded by Councillor
Naylor.
 
In accordance with Council Standing Orders
18.4  and
18.8  an amendment (additional published papers Amendment
F) was moved by Councillor Poulsen and seconded  by
Councillor Loy.
 
In accordance with Council Standing Orders
18.4  and
18.8  a second amendment (additional published papers
Amendment G) was moved by Councillor Ross-Shaw and
seconded  by Councillor Kamran Hussain.
 
Following a number of
speakers in accordance with Council Standing Order 18.12
Amendment G as set out below was then
put to the vote, was carried and became the substantive motion,
was then voted on and was carried.  
 
Resolved-
 
That with the
addition and deletion of the appropriate words, the motion be
amended to read as follows:
 
 
Council notes:
 
·        
Free parking in car parks has been steadily phased
out across the district for a number of years. As car parks incur
business rates, there is technically no such thing as a
‘free’ car park, as the costs are borne by the Council
and subsidised through general budgets
 
·        
The policy of austerity implemented by the Liberal
Democrats and Conservatives when in government has had far reaching
consequences for councils, ultimately leading to the current
financial crisis engulfing local government across the country and
forcing many difficult decisions to help balance the
books
 
·        
Most council car parks in urban centres already
charge and have done without issue for many years, including
Saltaire, Haworth, Bingley, Baildon, Silsden, Shipley, Keighley and
Wilsden
 
·        
Equalisation of car parking charges was introduced
as part of the Budget passed in February 2024 and fully implemented
from September 2024, extending this approach to Wibsey, Idle,
Addingham and Steeton
 
·        
As with all parking pricing and restrictions, policy
is kept under regular review
 
 
Council believes:
 
·        
Parking charges are never popular but it is vital
the council is able to balance the books and continue to provide
vital services we all rely on and do so in a way that is as fair
and equitable as possible

 
·        
Idle is a thriving community with a number of strong
and growing businesses and a larger number of free on-street
parking spaces than many other urban centres across the
district

 
·        
The success of the recent Christmas light switch-on,
where the car park was closed for fairground rides, attracted
hundreds of visitors to Idle

 
 
Council resolves to:
 
·        
To continue to monitor the new parking charges where
implemented across the district, which currently have less than a
single month’s of income to assess due to the lag in
collecting and assessing the data.
 
·        
Support our urban centres across the district
through our Invest in Bradford economic development team, who are
ready to help businesses plan and grow for the future.
 
To be
actioned by:  Strategic Director
Place
 

12.4     
MISMANAGED DECLINE
 
 
As set out in the published agenda Motion 12.4
was moved by Councillor Pollard and seconded by Councillor
Felstead.
 
In accordance with Council Standing Orders
18.4  and
18.8  an amendment (additional published papers Amendment
H) was moved by Councillor Hinchcliffe and seconded  by
Councillor Imran Khan.
 
Following a number of
speakers in accordance with Council Standing Order 18.12
Amendment H as set out below was then
put to the vote, was carried and became the substantive motion,
was then voted on and was carried.  
 
Resolved-
 
That with the
addition and deletion of the appropriate words, the motion be
amended to read as follows:
 
Council notes:
 
·        
The austerity policies of the Conservative and
Conservative-Liberal Democrat governments since 2010 have been
disastrous for the country.
 
·        
The fall in living standards felt by ordinary people
as a result of the failed economic policies of the Conservative and
Conservative-Liberal Democrat governments was
unprecedented.
 
·        
Not only are people worse off, but so are the public
services they depend on.
 
·        
The people of the country voted decisively at the
general election to bring an end to interminable austerity and
decline, and to instead invest in growth, opportunity and the
decent public services they rightly expect.
 
·        
LGA analysis published before the Autumn Budget
revealed that English councils face a £2.3 billion funding
gap in 2025/26, rising to £3.9 billion in 2026/27 – a
£6.2 billion shortfall.
 
·        
A Treasury audit uncovered a £22 billion black
hole in public finances left by the previous government.
 
·        
The new government is now having to take the
decisive action and difficult decisions needed to reset the
economy, invest in our public services and drive growth on a
national level.
 
·        
Despite the mismanaged decline seen nationally since
2010, locally we have invested and drawn in substantial outside
investment in growth and opportunities to get more good jobs and
regeneration.
 
·        
Our strategy means that we have a transformed city
centre while also delivering significant investment and
improvements in civic infrastructure, business development and
culture in all corners of our district. Bradford is well placed to
play a key role in national renewal at the heart of the
North.
 
Council resolves to:
 
·        
Continue to invest with our partners in growing our
local economy to generate new job and leisure opportunities for our
residents across the district.
 
·        
Task the Director of Finance to: take account of the
impact of national policies on the council’s budget; ensure
that we consider both new responsibilities and opportunities as
part of our planning; and publish those details as usual in our
public finance reports on an ongoing basis.
 
To be
actioned by: Strategic Director Place and Interim Director of
Finance
 

12.5     
SUPPORTING OUR RURAL COMMUNITIES 
As set out in the published agenda Motion 12.5
was moved by Councillor Poulsen and seconded by Councillor
Herd.
 
In accordance with Council Standing Orders
18.4  and
18.8  an amendment (additional published papers Amendment
I) was moved by Councillor Ros Brown and seconded  by
Councillor Watson.
 
In accordance with Council Standing Orders
18.4  and
18.8  a second amendment (additional published papers
Amendment J) was moved by Councillor Ross-Shaw and
seconded  by Councillor Hinchcliffe.
 
In accordance with Council Standing Orders
18.4  and
18.8  a further amendment (additional published papers
Amendment K) was moved by Councillor Griffiths and
seconded  by Councillor Naylor.
 
 
 

After the moving and seconding of Motion 12.5 (Supporting our rural
communities) and the amendments and hearing a number of speakers
the time reached 10pm.  A bell was rung in accordance with
Council Standing Order 20.1.  No further discussion was held
and the Motion and amendments, in accordance with Council Standing
Orders 18.12 and 20.2 were voted on without any further debate.

 
Amendment K was put
to the vote and was lost.
 
Amendment J as set
out below was then put to the vote, was carried and became the
substantive motion, was then voted on and was
carried.  
 
Resolved-
 
That
with the addition and deletion of the appropriate words, the motion
be amended to read as follows:
 
Council notes:
 
·        
Bradford District is two-thirds rural and includes
some of the most rural areas of West Yorkshire.
·        
Local family run farms provide local produce and
work all year round in difficult conditions often with little
reward, as, nationally, 17% of farms make no profit at all and a
further 59% make less than £50K.
·        
We want to support our rural
communities.  In conjunction with our
partners at West Yorkshire Combined Authority, we have set aside a
£2.5 million capital grant fund to support rural micro and
small businesses in West Yorkshire called Rural West
Yorkshire.  The fund has the following
themes: ?

·        
Business Development

·        
Food Processing

·        
Visitor Economy / Tourism Infrastructure
 
·        
In Rural West Yorkshire focus has been on new and
existing small/micro businesses (including social enterprises and
charities with a trading arm), with up to 50 employees, to make
investments that will facilitate growth, create and/or safeguard
employment or positively impact the rural economy.
14 grants have been
awarded in the Bradford District totaling
£440,104.
·        
The new Labour government’s commitment to
Britain’s farmers is steadfast in recognition of the fact
that food security is national security. The government has
committed £5 billion to the farming budget over two years
– the largest budget for sustainable food production in our
history. In contrast the Tories left a £300m underspend in
their farming budget.
·        
The Chancellor Rachel Reeves inherited a budgetary
black hole, a low growth national economy and horrendously
stretched public services from 14 years of Conservative-led
governments, issues which have all had a hugely negative impact on
our rural and farming communities, for instance with rural crime up
nearly a third since 2011.
·        
To address the black hole in public finances and the
need to invest more in our public services, the Chancellor
announced a range of measures – one of which was changes to
Agricultural Property Relief (APR).
·        
Under the policies left by the last government, more
than half of farms and estates sold are going to tax avoiders,
non-farmer investors and lifestyle buyers; and a small number of
wealthy landowners own a significant proportion of farmland. Up to
now they have been receiving 100% relief on their inheritance tax
bills.
·        
The majority of those claiming relief will not be
affected by the changes. The independent Institute for Fiscal
Studies estimates that the actual number of farms affected could be
much lower than the official estimates of 500 per year and state
that ‘this moves our inheritance tax in the right
direction’. The government is simply asking the richest
estates and the most valuable farms to pay their share.
·        
Under the changes, two people can claim up to
£3m tax-free when inheriting a farm. Those above the
threshold will have ten years to pay the tax with zero interest
incurred.
 
Council resolves to:
 
·        
To thank our hard-working farming community across
the district for all they do to provide food and in assisting to
keep roads open during snowfall.
 
·        
To work with partners such as the Police, Health and
WYCA to ensure rural communities are fully supported and provided
with suitable services.
 
·        
To do all we can across national, regional and local
agencies to support our rural economies and promote any support
programmes available.
 
To be
actioned by:  Council, Chief Executive
and Strategic Directors
12.6     
 REAFFIRMING BRADFORD’S
COMMITMENT AS A CITY OF

SANCTUARY AND ENSURING APPROPRIATE SUPPORT FOR  REFUGEES AND ASYLUM SEEKERS &

12.9    GETTING READY FOR UK CITY OF CULTURE
2025
 
Resolved –
 
That under Council
Standing Order 9.1.6 Motions 12.6 and 12.9 (above) be withdrawn
from the agenda.