Agenda item

(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:

• 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 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:

• 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.”

 

(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):

 

“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 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 was of the opinion that 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 PPAB 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 each year, and the target set by RBC in its Housing and Homelessness Prevention Strategy was 150 each year. On reading that 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 wider economic and social issues were aggravating the crisis (eg 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 going to increase and that 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 their residents.

 

During debate, views were expressed 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 location and thriving economy which supported many local residents in well paid employment.  It was also pointed out that the Leader of the Council and the Operational Services Portfolio Holder had 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.