(1) Defibrillators and Bleed Kits –
To consider the following Notice of Motion which has been submitted by Cllr D.B. Bedford pursuant to Standing Order 9 (1):
“This Council recognises the importance of having defibrillators and
bleed kits accessible across Rushmoor – especially in public spaces and sports
grounds.
To date, this Council has funded several defibrillators through ward
grants, and would like to build on this provision across our Borough by working
in collaboration with the voluntary and community sector, businesses and
partner organisations.
This Council also acknowledges the benefits of the roll-out of
defibrillators by the Government to all state-funded schools this year, and
notes that they will be installed at Aldershot and Farnborough train
stations.
Going forward, this Council commits to working with the local community
to find suitable places for defibrillators and bleed kits.
Therefore, this Council asks the Policy and Projects Advisory Board to:
-
Produce a report into the current accessibility and
maintenance of defibrillators and bleed kits in Rushmoor
-
Assess the cost commitments in expanding provision
of defibrillators and bleed kits in Rushmoor
-
Make recommendations for expanding the provision of
defibrillators and bleed kits across Rushmoor.”
(2) Housing Policy –
To consider the following Notice of Motion which has been submitted by Cllr Gareth Williams pursuant to Standing Order 9 (1):
“This Council
notes increasing demands to provide accommodation for those who are homeless,
caused by the cost-of-living crisis, the high level of refugees and others who
have legitimately moved to the UK in recent years, coupled with historically
low house-building rates.
RBC’s Housing and Homelessness policy states that:
Despite
positive measures in the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement such as restoring the
LHA to its previous level of 30%, it offered far too little support for local
government to address the growing deficits in council budgets or provide the
affordable homes that are needed.
Given the pressures on the Council’s budget for 2024/25, this Council
calls on the RBC Chief Executive & Council Leader to write to the
Chancellor outlining the need for a long-term commitment to funding for:
Minutes:
(1)
Defibrillators and Bleed Kits
The Council was asked to consider a
Motion which had been submitted by Cllr Marina Munro in accordance with the
provisions of Standing Order 9 (1):
To
date, this Council has funded several defibrillators through Ward grants, and
would like to build on this provision across our Borough by working in
collaboration with the voluntary and community sector, businesses
and partner organisations.
This
Council also acknowledges the benefits of the roll-out of defibrillators by the
Government to all state-funded schools this year, and notes that they will be
installed at Aldershot and Farnborough train stations.
Going
forward, this Council commits to working with the local community to find
suitable places for defibrillators and bleed kits.
Therefore,
this Council asks the Policy and Project Advisory Board to:
-
Produce a report into the current accessibility
and maintenance of defibrillators and bleed kits in Rushmoor
-
Assess the cost commitments in expanding
provision of defibrillators and bleed kits in Rushmoor
-
Make recommendations for expanding the provision
of defibrillators and bleed kits across Rushmoor.”
In proposing the Motion, Cllr Marina Munro
stated that each year, 100,000 deaths were caused
by Sudden Cardiac Arrest in the UK and there were around 60,000 incidents that
took place in community settings. Using a defibrillator within three
minutes of a cardiac arrest could improve a person’s chances of survival by as
much as 70%. Cllr Munro acknowledged that several Councillors and
community groups had secured funding through ward grants and other sources for
defibrillators to be installed in public places, such as pubs, community halls
and sports fields. Another example was at Farnborough North Station where local residents had raised funds for a defibrillator at the
station and the funding had been matched by the Council.
Cllr Munro also stated that the
Government had been taking steps to expand the number of defibrillators in
local communities and had launched the £1 million Automated External
Defibrillators Fund earlier in 2023. The
Government had also ensured that every state school had at least one
defibrillator. Members noted that
organisations like the Premier League had also been funding defibrillators at
football clubs around the country.
Cllr
Munro believed there was more that Rushmoor could do to ensure that
defibrillators were available in as many public places as possible. She
referred to research that had been undertaken by the Community team into
existing provision, however more work was needed to understand where the gaps
were across Rushmoor and how these could be filled. Cllr Munro said that Policy and Project
Advisory Board would also be able to look at the costs of expanding provision,
as well as how existing defibrillators were maintained and training to use
them.
In
seconding the Motion, Cllr Mrs D.B. Bedford referred to defibrillators which
had been supplied in her Ward by North Camp Matters Association and was keen to
see more defibrillators provided around the Borough.
Under
Standing Order 9 (10), the Mayor directed that the
Motion should be referred to the Policy and Project Advisory Board and not
debated further at the Council meeting.
(2)
Housing Policy
The Council was asked to consider a
Motion which had been submitted by Cllr Gareth Williams in accordance with the
provisions of Standing Order 9 (1):
“This Council notes increasing
demands to provide accommodation for those who are homeless, caused by the
cost-of-living crisis, the high level of refugees and others who have
legitimately moved to the UK in recent years, coupled with historically low house
building rates.
RBC’s Housing and Homelessness
Policy states that:
·
as of October 2022, there were 1,680 households
waiting for affordable housing in Rushmoor;
·
families are typically waiting up to 8 years to
secure 3-bedroom homes for affordable rent;
·
partners and housing teams are receiving an
increasing number of reports of housing cases.
Despite positive measures in the
Chancellor’s Autumn Statement such as restoring the LHA to its previous level
of 30%, it offered for too little support for local government to address the
growing deficits in council budgets or provide the affordable homes that are
needed.
Given the pressures on the Council’s
budget for 2024/25, the Council calls on the RBC Chief Executive and Council
Leader to write to the Chancellor outlining the need for a long-term commitment
to funding for:
·
more affordable and social rent housing for
local people, including larger family homes;
·
homes for British Army veterans;
·
a proportionate number of homes for refugees,
including those from Afghanistan.”
In proposing the
Motion, Cllr Williams stated that, over the previous ten years, 1,353 affordable
homes had been built in Rushmoor. This equated to an average of 135 affordable
homes each year, yet the target set by RBC in its Housing and Homelessness
Prevention Strategy was 150 each year. With reference to the Strategy, Cllr
Williams commented that Rushmoor had over 1,600 households waiting for a home
they could afford to live in. He pointed
out that, even if no more households were added to that list, it would take
another ten years before those residents currently living in over-crowded, unsuitable or precarious accommodation could find a home for
their families. The same Strategy highlighted that families looking for
3-bedroom homes were typically waiting eight years for their needs to be
addressed.
Cllr Williams
considered that the Strategy adopted by the Council fell short of what was
required to address the problem, and that wider economic and social issues were
aggravating the crisis (e.g., increased mortgage interest rates and increased
rents). Added to this was the duty to house refugees from conflicts around the
world. In this way, demands on the Council for affordable homes were expected
to increase and the Council’s ability to meet this demand was inadequate.
Cllr Williams urged
the new Leader of the Council to highlight to the Chancellor, in a very clear
and public way, that the Council needed support from the government to address
this crisis and that policy had to change to enable local authorities to meet
the needs of all residents.
During debate,
comments were raised about the legacy of the Right to Buy policy, the need to
accelerate house building, and the effects on mental health of living in
cramped living space while waiting for appropriate affordable housing.
The view was also expressed
that demand for accommodation in Rushmoor also reflected the Borough’s
well-connected location and thriving economy which supported many local people
in well paid employment. It was also pointed out that the Leader of the Council
and the Operational Services Portfolio Holder had already written several weeks
previously to the Chancellor highlighting the difficulties and pressures on
housing in the Borough.
In seconding the
Motion, Cllr Gaynor Austin stated that, in the 1950s, councils were building an
average of 147,000 homes per year. By
the 1960s a quarter of the country’s housing was council housing, and in the
1970s councils built 40% of all new housing.
Cllr Austin reported that during her teaching career she had seen
first-hand the negative effect that insecure and inadequate housing could have
on children’s physical and mental health and attainment, thus leading to
reduced life chances and the inability to buy a home of their own. Cllr Austin emphasised that Rushmoor needed more decent,
affordable, and social rent housing and that the support of Government should
be sought with a long-term, stable funding commitment. She urged Members to support the Motion.
Following further
discussion, the Motion was put to the meeting.
There voted FOR: 13; AGAINST: 22; ABSTAINED: 0 and the Motion was DECLARED
LOST.