Agenda item

Motion G: Show Us You Care Too

Proposer: Councillor Tammy Palmer

Seconder: Councillor Josh Dixon

Council notes that:

-       Care experienced people face significant barriers that impact them throughout their lives;

-       Despite the resilience of many care experienced people, society too often does not take their needs into account;

-       Care experienced people often face discrimination and stigma across housing, health, education, relationships employment and in the criminal justice system;

-       Care experienced people often face a postcode lottery of support;

-       As corporate parents, councillors have a collective responsibility for providing the best possible care and safeguarding for the children who are looked after by us as an authority;

-       All corporate parents should commit to acting as mentors, hearing the voices of looked after children and young people and to consider their needs in any aspect of council work;

-       Councillors should be champions of our looked after children and challenge the negative attitudes and prejudice that exists in all aspects of society;

-       The Public Sector Equality Duty requires public bodies, such as councils, to eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment, and victimisation of people with protected characteristics;

-       In March 2021 the Independent Review into Children’s Social Care began its work.

Council believes that:

-       Care experienced people are an oppressed group who face discrimination;

-       Councils have a duty to put the needs of oppressed people at the heart of decision-making through co-production and collaboration;

-       Services and policies should be assessed through Equality Impact Assessments to determine the impact of changes on people with care experience.

Council resolves:

-       To formally support the Show Us You Care Too campaign which calls for care experience to be made a protected characteristic as part of the Independent Review into Children’s Social Care;

-       For the council to proactively seek out and listen to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies based on their views;

-       To continue to build on the existing ringfenced apprenticeship opportunities for care experienced people by committing to an agreed number of apprenticeships places each year delivered through the council’s levy funding;

-       To take an intersectional approach and commit to tackling the systemic discrimination and disproportionality faced by specific groups of care experienced people.

Motion H - Addressing the cost-of-living crisis through reducing energy bills 

Proposed by: Cllr Mike Hakata
Seconded by: Cllr Barbara Blake

This Council believes:

-          The Conservative government has failed to protect working families from unprecedented rises in energy bills;

-          The Conservative government have failed to regulate our energy market properly with dozens of firms going bust, leaving Haringey residents to foot the bill;

-          The Conservative government has failed to meet Britain’s renewable energy potential;

-          The Conservative government has failed to produce a comprehensive national strategy for insulating homes;

-          The government needs to do more to protect Haringey residents from the rise in cost of energy bills;

-          Nationalisation of (at least parts of) the energy sector would democratise and decarbonise our energy systems, and reduce energy bills for residents.

This Council notes:

-          Haringey residents are facing an unprecedented cost of living rise, with some of our residents having to choose between buying food or heating their homes;

-          On 1 April, UK fuel poverty is set to triple overnight to 6.3 million households; 

-          Haringey Council has introduced extensive financial support for residents struggling with the cost of living;

-          In a poorly insulated property in Haringey, up to £1 of every £3 spent on heating is being wasted due to heat loss;

-          The Haringey Here to Help scheme is designed to ensure that Haringey residents get all the help and support available to them, including the Haringey Support Fund which supports residents facing unexpected costs;

-          Haringey Council has adopted Employer’s Requirements that ensures all our new Council Homes are Zero Carbon from start to finish. All new developments will be built to Passivhaus principles using low carbon heat sources and renewables which will result in low energy bills for residents;

-          Haringey Council is working towards its ambition to fully insulate all of our Council Homes by 2035, and all of our core corporate buildings by 2027;

-          These measures Haringey Council has taken so far will not only reduce energy bills, but also helps tackle the climate emergency by reducing carbon emissions;

-          Roughly one third of Haringey residents live in the private rented sector, which limits residents’ access to a well-insulated home;

-          MPs voted against a Labour motion to introduce legislation that would cut the VAT on energy;

-          Labour has a plan for tackling the rise in energy bills, including a windfall tax on North Sea Oil and Gas; and measures to reduce bills to save most households £200, with extra support for pensioners, low earners, and the squeezed middle who will receive up to £600 off energy bills.

This council resolves:

-          To continue to support residents who are struggling with high energy bills;

-          To investigate ways that the Council can provide even more financial support for household bills;

-          To investigate ways to help more residents in the private rented sector insulate their homes; 

-          To ask the Leader of the Council to write to the Chancellor of the Exchequer and the Secretary of State for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy to request the following:

o   That the government provide immediate financial support for residents struggling to afford energy bills by introducing a one-off windfall tax on North Sea Oil and Gas producers who have profited from the energy price rises;

o   That the government regulate the energy market effectively to prevent huge increases in energy bills;

o   That the government take a long-term approach to lowering energy bills, including:

§  Reducing Britain’s reliance on imported gas by accelerating home grown renewables;

§  Undertaking a national home insulation strategy which takes into account the private rented sector and encourages landlords to insulate properties they rent;

§  Taking practical steps to nationalise some or all of the energy sector, with the aim of providing affordable energy for all.