Agenda

To approve the minutes of the Council Meetings held on 15^th July and 1^st September 2020.

To receive such communications as the Lord Mayor, the Leader,  Members of the Executive Board or the Chief Executive consider appropriate.

To consider the report of the City Solicitor on appointments.

To note the report of the Chief Officer Financial Services setting out amendments to the Leader’s executive arrangements for the 2020/21 Municipal Year.

To consider the report of the City Solicitor presenting to Council the Scrutiny Annual Report for 2019/20. It also provides opportunity to further update members on the role of scrutiny during the initial period of response to, and subsequent recovery from, the Covid-19 pandemic.

To deal with executive questions in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.

To receive the minutes in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 2.2(i).

This Council welcomes the £7.8 million provided by Government to Leeds for the COVID-19 Discretionary Grant Fund but notes that as of 31^st August £4 million was unspent.

Council notes that Local Authorities had significant discretion when it came to setting the eligibility criteria for their discretionary grants. Although the Government encouraged Local Authorities to focus on small businesses which faced high fixed property-related costs and which had missed out on the main business grant schemes due to the way they interacted with the business rates system, Local Authorities were able to pay grants to other kinds of businesses, according to their assessment of local economic need. Council is disappointed that no support has been offered by Leeds City Council to small businesses which operate from the owner’s home, despite neighbouring Councils amending their schemes to do so.

Council also regrets that the administration has decided to reintroduce parking charges across the city, at a time when local businesses could have benefited from visitors being able to park for free.

Council calls on the ruling administration to do more to help businesses recover from the pandemic, including by:

1) Implementing a one-off discretionary payment scheme for businesses as a matter of urgency;

2) Reintroducing free parking in council car parks in the run up to Christmas to boost local trade;

3) Considering how it can develop a local version of the “National Time Out” proposals, so that hospitality, leisure and retail businesses are given a nine-month rent free holiday in order to stabilise their finances.

This Council welcomes the Government measures such as the Job Retention Scheme and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme brought in to provide financial help for individuals and businesses suffering as a result of the economic crisis caused by the Coronavirus pandemic.

The Council recognises that as the Government’s income protection schemes are wound down, individuals who do not return to their previous employment will suffer significant financial loss. Meanwhile, the millions not covered by the Government’s measures will have endured months of hardship. Additionally, the economy will need a demand boost to avoid a prolonged recession and to give businesses the confidence to reopen and begin hiring people again.

Council recognises that the Covid 19 crisis is taking place at a time of climate emergency, and that there needs to be a Green recovery if Leeds City Council is to meet its target of Leeds becoming zero carbon by 2030. Payment of a Universal Basic Income could be an important factor in providing the stimulus needed within that green recovery, for entrepreneurship and green jobs.

The Council believes that the current benefits system is not capable of dealing with the potential large volume of claims that could arise. It is already failing residents in Leeds, with Universal Credit causing hardship to many communities through the combination of low payment levels, payment delays, sanctions and complex bureaucracy.

Therefore, in order to provide financial security for households during the critical post-Covid period, as well as delivering a vital stimulus to the economy, the Council instructs the Chief Executive to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions proposing the implementation of a Recovery Universal Basic Income which would be universal, individual and unconditional. 

Additionally, this Council supports in principle a permanent Universal Basic Income, recognising the need for a radical overhaul of the welfare system and the positive impact this would have on poverty alleviation, inequality, well-being, mental health and the effects on the workforce of increasing use of technology and artificial intelligence. 

Council offers to work with government, local authorities, universities, the UBI Lab Network and other institutions to investigate the feasibility of such scheme. With a strong economy, an ambitious Council and a diverse population, Leeds would be an ideal City to choose for the first UBI pilot in the UK. 

This Council considers the proposals in the government White Paper “Planning for the Future” to be an assault on local democracy, creating a licence for ill-considered development without local community input.

The government proposals would undermine local policies including those to tackle the Climate Emergency and fail to tackle the housing delivery issue the government says they are intended to address.

We call on the government to scrap their ill-thought-out plans and work with local Councils and the LGA to tackle the real issues with delivering the homes our communities need.