Agenda item

          In accordance with the Notice of Motion received under Section 4.20 of the Constitution, Councillor Siân Gwenllian will propose as follows:-

“This Council expresses its fierce opposition to the Treasury’s monetary policies because they hit the most needy, destroy public services and force us like every Council to make dire cuts which will also have a significant impact on the local economy. The cuts are not Gwynedd Council cuts, they are the Tories’ cuts; we oppose the ideology that drives the cuts, but we are trying to act as fairly and transparently as possible under atrocious circumstances. Despite this, we remain ambitious for the county and eager to generate future success.”

(b) The following notice of motion was submitted by Councillor Siân Gwenllian, in accordance with Section 4.20 of the Constitution and it was seconded.

“This Council expresses its fierce opposition to the Treasury's financial policies because they hit the most needy, destroy public services and force us like every Council to make dire cuts which will also have a significant impact on the local economy. These cuts are not Gwynedd Council's cuts but they are the Tories' cuts; we oppose the ideology that drives the cuts, but we are trying to act as fairly and as transparently as possible under atrocious circumstances. Despite this, we remain ambitious for the county and eager to generate future successes."  

The motion was supported.

During the discussion:-

·         The Cabinet Member for Resources referred to the Minister's announcement the previous day regarding the 2016/17 settlement, emphasising that there was no room to delight in the situation as the Council faced a 2% cut in its 2016/17 budget, and therefore continued to be in a situation of having to find around £7m of cuts in the next year.

·         To the contrary, it was noted that the Minister had stated, despite the horrific cuts by the Westminster Government, that the settlement for councils would not be as bad as predicted and it was largely hoped that Education, Social Services and other departments across the Council would not be facing as much of a cut.

·         It was suggested that the previous day's figure was not the important one, rather the cumulative figure, and that local government had received a 16% cut to its budget in 2009.

·         It was noted, as well as cuts, that the Council was facing big changes, such as the arrival of Inclusive Credit.

An amendment to add to the motion was proposed and seconded, stating that the Council also condemned the U.K. Government for being able to find funding for bombs and aircraft for warfare while arguing that there was no funding available for public services.

The proposer of the original motion agreed to amend the proposal on the lines noted with the consent of the Council and the seconder.

During the discussion:-

·         It was noted that the discussion had become very broad and it would have been better if the entire matter of the impact of the settlement had been raised as an urgent matter under item 6 of the agenda.

·         It was expressed that the addition to the proposal clouded the whole issue and that it was not possible to couple both things together in one proposal.

·         It was suggested that the addition was valid as it was simply a statement in principle, which condemned arming and spending on weapons of war.

A vote was taken on the amended motion, and it was carried.

RESOLVED to accept the original motion, adjusted as follows:-

“This Council expresses its fierce opposition to the Treasury's financial policies because they hit the most needy, destroy public services and force us like every Council to make dire cuts which will also have a significant impact on the local economy. These cuts are not Gwynedd Council's cuts but hey are the Tories' cuts; we oppose the ideology that drives the cuts, but we are trying to act as fairly and as transparently as possible under atrocious circumstances. Despite this, we remain ambitious for the county and eager to generate future successes.  

This Council also condemns the U.K. Government for being able to find funding for bombs and aircraft for warfare while arguing that there is no funding available for public services."