Agenda item

Motion A - Working with a Labour Government

Proposer: Cllr Peray Ahmet

Seconder: Cllr Liam Carroll

The Council notes that

Following a General Election held on 4^th July 2024, the Labour Party formed a majority government following a landslide election victory in which 412 Labour MPs were elected to Parliament, and 72 Liberal Democrat MPs were elected to Parliament.

Haringey now has 4 Labour MPs representing the borough in Parliament: Tulip Siddiq (Hampstead and Highgate), David Lammy (Tottenham), Catherine West (Hornsey and Friern Barnet) and Bambos Charalambous (Southgate and Wood Green).

The new Labour government’s commitment to fixing the damage caused by the Conservative Party’s mismanagement of our economy and neglect for public services is unwavering and put forward a credible and costed plan in their 2024 Election Manifesto.

The Labour government is firmly committed to being fiscally responsible and will implement polices like the Fiscal Lock and spending rules to ensure public finances are protected, spent effectively and not wasted.

The Labour government has promised to rethink Council funding by exploring multiyear funding settlements, end wasteful competitive bidding and overhauling the local audit system.

The Labour government plans to work in closer partnership with nations, regions and local authorities and widen devolution to more areas, encouraging local authorities to come together and take on new powers.

The Labour government have committed to asking local authorities to begin preparatory work to join together on economic geographies and take on a new suite of powers through an enhanced devolution framework to benefit local residents.

The Labour government has already scrapped the inhumane Rwanda Plan and begun work on overhauling the planning system to help speed up an ambitious house building programme of building 1.5m homes over this parliament and introduced mandatory housing targets for local areas.

Local authorities are still under severe financial pressure, facing a funding gap of nearly £6bn over the next two years and 1 in 5 local authorities in England are at risk of being served Section 114 Notices.

Despite years of underfunding from central government, Haringey Council has achieved and delivered on many key commitments through the Haringey Deal & Corporate Delivery Plan by working with residents to co-produce and co-design a fairer, greener Haringey.

The Council believes that

The Labour government offers a welcome change in direction towards sensible governance, growing our economy, improving the public services residents need most, and supporting and protecting the most vulnerable in society.

We know our local communities and our borough best and welcome the government’s plans to devolve further powers so that we can work to deliver for and with local people.

The Labour government faces an uphill challenge in power as a result of the Conservative government’s failed legacy, with public services struggling, demand for services rising and a stagnated economy.

The Labour government’s commitment to being fiscally responsible is the right thing to do at this time of economic instability and will ensure any use of public money is used responsibly and is focused on supporting the most vulnerable.

A Labour government and a Labour Mayor of London will help us to deliver our transformative plan for change and help us to continue our progress in making a Haringey a fairer, greener borough.

The Local Growth Plan, the Green Prosperity Plan, the Warmer Homes Plan, Great British Energy, the National Wealth Fund, a New Deal for Working People are welcome commitments that will help to renew our country and will have a sustained and real impact on Haringey residents.

This Council resolves to:

Work collaboratively with our new Labour government and Labour Mayor of London to deliver change for residents in Haringey.

Write to the Prime Minister congratulating him and his government on winning the election and reaffirm our commitment to working with the government to deliver for residents in Haringey.

Write to the Deputy Prime Minister and Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, congratulating her in her new role, reaffirm our commitment to work collaboratively with her department on issues that impact Haringey, and invite her to visit the borough and discuss our progress in making Haringey a fairer, greener borough.

Write to our 4 Members of Parliament to congratulate them on their elections and reaffirm our commitment to working with them to deliver for all residents.

Motion B

Proportional Representation

Proposer: Councillor Dawn Barnes

Seconder: Councillor Scott Emery

Council notes:

• First Past the Post originated when land-owning aristocrats dominated parliament and voting was restricted to property-owning men;
• In Europe, only the UK and authoritarian Belarus still use archaic single-round First Past the Post for general elections;
• That the recent General Election produced the most disproportionate result ever in terms of translating votes to seats;
• The Labour Party conference in 2022 voted overwhelmingly in favour of introducing Proportional Representation, and polling has shown that over 80% of Labour Party members are in favour of its introduction;
• The Liberal Democrats have a long term commitment to introducing a Proportional Representation system;
• Proportional Representation is already used to elect the Scottish and Welsh Parliaments and the Northern Ireland and London Assemblies;
• PR ensures all votes count, have equal value, and that seats won match votes cast.

Council believes that:

• First Past the Post is not a fair system;
• Turnout would be higher under a proportional system where people felt like their votes mattered;
• Proportional Representation would improve the quality of decision-making, thereby benefiting all residents.

Council resolves to:

• Join the ‘Councils for PR’ campaign
• Write to H.M. Government calling for a change in our outdated electoral laws and to enable Proportional Representation to be used for UK general and local elections.