We as members of this council, together with officers and partner agencies, have responsibility for our cared for children as Community Parents. These children may have had adverse experiences in their lives. They will have faced difficult challenges. Care Experienced people often experience discrimination and stigma across housing, health, education, relationships, employment, and in the criminal justice system.

It is our responsibility to do for them the things that good parents would do. To provide the best possible care that we can. To keep them safe. To help them grow and prosper. To be the best they can be. To fulfil their dreams. The things that we want for all children.

When our children legally become adults at 18 they continue to need our support and guidance as they navigate their way to the next stage of their lives. They seek our advice regularly and rely on our life experience to help them.

When our Cared for children reach the same milestone, it is reasonable for them to expect that our support and guidance as community parents also continues.

Most will start their journey into independent living, and some will remain in their placements. They will all need our community parental support as they make that transition into adulthood.

This council notes:

We already do a great deal in Salford to offer the best level of support that we can to our Care Leavers.

• All of our Care Leavers are exempt from Council Tax until they are 25
• All of our Care Leavers have Band 1 priority on our housing register
• All of our Care leavers have free prescriptions until they are 25
• We have zero intentionally homeless decisions for our Care Leavers
• We encourage “staying put” so that young people can remain with Foster Carers and 36 of our Care Leavers are subject to such arrangements (November 2022)
• Our in house “Next Steps” team offer guidance and support as young people make their journey into adulthood
• Our support continues post 25 for any care leaver who needs our help 

We need to be continually challenging ourselves to do more. It is the ambition of this council in everything that we do, in all of our departments and in the policies that we set, to consider the impact on Cared for Children, Care Leavers and Care Experienced Young People and to prioritise their needs.

We want to make sure that we are responsible and caring parents who give our children the best possible opportunity to succeed in their lives and be the best they can be.

This council Resolves:

That it will call on the City Mayor in consultation with the Cabinet Team to include the consideration of “Cared for Children” and “Care Experienced Young People” in all of our Equality Impact Assessments, alongside those protected characteristics as set out in Equality Act 2010, and consideration of socio-economic disadvantage which the city council adopted in November 2021. This will give them the formal recognition to ensure that in all the decisions that we make and in all of the policies that we set, will consider their specific needs and the impacts on them.

This council notes that:

• Since Covid shuttered the world, our city has bounced back in a big way. Gigs, restaurants, clubbing, and festivals have blossomed in the wake of the pandemic with millions flocking to Salford and Greater Manchester to pursue this entertainment.
• If you are out working, or enjoying yourself late at night, residents face a curfew for the tram, expensive taxis, or a risky walk home in the dark.
• Ella Watson, a local resident in London, successfully campaigned to get the night tube reinstated to increase women’s safety in the city.
• The Night Tube is currently running on Friday and Saturday nights on the Central, Jubilee, Northern and Victoria lines. When it's fully operational, the Night Tube runs on Fridays and Saturdays on the Victoria, Jubilee, and most of the Central, Northern and Piccadilly lines.
• Since November 2021 the Night tube continues to be successful and has surpassed fears that it would have limited customers. The service runs at an off peak cost.
• Concerns that there won’t be enough passengers can be compared to the later running airport line which is much used as the “last tram” home for many. An expansion to service does not mean less use and many users use a day ticket which runs for the whole service.
• A late-night level of access to Greater Manchester’s Tram services is the best transport option to ensure thousands of women across the region can get home safely in the evenings and at night.
• Metrolink has seen a growth and return to pre-covid levels of service users on the tram network.
• Millions enjoy and work as part of the City’s famous and vibrant night-time economy. Let’s provide a commuter service that extends beyond the 9 to 5 for our hospitality workers.
• The population of Greater Manchester is projected to rapidly increase in the coming years as more and more people move to our city. We must have the responsibility and foresight to put into practice safe and accessible public transport.

This council resolves to:

• Congratulate Ella Watson on her work to restore the Night tube and help pursue safe late-night travel for people in Greater London.
• Ask Transport for Greater Manchester to run a 3 month trial of the night tram on the Eccles via Media City to Ashton-under-Lyne service, and to monitor it’s success.
• Ask the Salford City Mayor to write to the Mayor of Greater Manchester for their support.

Notes on other cities with night trams running until 2am or later:

• London 
• Strasbourg
• Krakow
• Berlin
• Paris
• Madrid

Amendment to be proposed by Councillor Alex Warren:

Late Night Trams, a Better Service and Safer Public Transport

This council notes that:

• Since Covid shuttered the world, our city has bounced back in a big way. Gigs, restaurants, clubbing, and festivals have blossomed in the wake of the pandemic with millions flocking to Salford and Greater Manchester to pursue this entertainment.
• If you are out working, or enjoying yourself late at night, residents face a curfew for the tram, expensive taxis, or a risky walk home in the dark.
• Ella Watson, a local resident in London, successfully campaigned to get the night tube reinstated to increase women’s safety in the city.
• The Night Tube is currently running on Friday and Saturday nights on the Central, Jubilee, Northern and Victoria lines. When it's fully operational, the Night Tube runs on Fridays and Saturdays on the Victoria, Jubilee, and most of the Central, Northern and Piccadilly lines.
• Since November 2021 the Night tube continues to be successful and has surpassed fears that it would have limited customers. The service runs at an off peak cost.
• Concerns that there won’t be enough passengers can be compared to the later running airport line which is much used as the “last tram” home for many. An expansion to service does not mean less use and many users use a day ticket which runs for the whole service.
• A late-night level of access to Greater Manchester’s Tram services is the best transport option to ensure thousands of women across the region can get home safely in the evenings and at night.
• Millions enjoy and work as part of the City’s famous and vibrant night-time economy. Let’s provide a commuter service that extends beyond the 9 to 5 for our hospitality workers.
• The population of Greater Manchester is projected to rapidly increase in the coming years as more and more people move to our city. We must have the responsibility and foresight to put into practice safe and accessible public transport.
• The Regional Centre has a thriving hospitality sector which is still recovering following the pandemic.
• Evidence presented to the Salford Women and Girls’ Commission in October 2022 found that 18% of women in Salford felt unsafe and that women aged 16 to 34 years felt the most unsafe of any age and sex group using public transport alone after dark. The Safety in Salford event in July 2022 highlighted the issues of greatest concern were feelings of vulnerability of women and girls moving around the city using public transport and the feelings of fear and vulnerability women experience at night.
• Shift work is widespread in many industries in Salford, particularly hospitality, as well as health and care workers, retail, cleaning, security and porter staff and can often entail late-night working and that many workers, especially women, are increasingly worried about their safety travelling to and from work at night.
• Buses, which make up 80% of public transport journeys in Greater Manchester, have returned to near pre-pandemic numbers of passengers, whilst the Metrolink is at 75% pre-pandemic levels.
• In Salford, the bus and Metrolink services cease two hours before last orders in Salford Quays and the Regional Centre.
• Licenced Hackney Carriage and private hire vehicle numbers reduced by 15% following the pandemic and availability of Hackney Carriage and private hire vehicles after last orders is a complete unknown and is market driven, by availability of work, worker conditions, profitability etc.

This council believes that:

• The Regional public transport system needs to better reflect the needs of the night time economy, it’s staff and customers and TfGM should ensure the safety of women and girls is designed in the planning and operation of the transport network.
• Employers in Salford and across Greater Manchester should take all reasonable steps to ensure workers are able to get home safely from work especially during unsocial hours.
• Greater numbers of trained staff and stronger enforcement of the law against sexual assault and harassment on public transport are urgently needed.

This council recognises that:

• TfGM, and in particular the Metrolink, is almost fully funded from fares in comparison to London which receives a 30% subsidy, and continental light rail providers who receive anywhere between 41-67% subsidy
• Substantial government investment will be required to make the improvements needed to bring Metrolink and TfGM services more broadly to the levels of our equivalent cities on the continent, and the capital.

This council will:

• Congratulate Ella Watson on her work to restore the night tube and help pursue safe late-night travel for people in Greater London.
• Call on Transport for Greater Manchester to use the opportunity that bus franchising brings to restore a night bus service across Salford to improvement late night and off-peak public transport service provision and to provide extra night services, including Metrolink and to this end to run a 3 month trial of the night tram on the Eccles via Media City to Ashton-under-Lyne service, together with a shuttle bus/late night service for onward travel to the outlying areas of Salford to enable passengers to continue their onward journey in safety and to monitor it’s success
• Call for the rolling out, as soon as possible, of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority Safer Streets Programme, currently being trailed in Oldham, to improve the safety of women and girls travelling on and around the areas of the TfGM Metrolink.
• Request that officers investigate the possibility of the incorporation of the following wording (or wording to like effect) into the Statement of Licensing Policy: “That the Licensing Authority believes that all licence holders, and particularly those operating or applying for later licensed hours, should consider what arrangements they have in place or intend to introduce for staff returning home safely after the premises have closed when transportation options may be more limited. The LA is greatly encouraged by the “Safe Home” initiatives adopted by some licence holders for their staff and would strongly encourage others to take a similarly responsible approach to the safety of staff working within their premises later at night.” It is further requested that Officers complete their investigation and report back to the Lead Member for Environment, Neighbourhoods and Community Safety before the start of the next scheduled review of the Statement of Licensing Policy. Publicly oppose any cuts to public transport funding and to demand equivalent per-capita subsidy for Greater Manchester’s transport system as is received elsewhere in the country, particularly in London.
• Ask the City Mayor to write to appropriate minister to express this council’s concerns that due to the Benefit in Kind rules, responsible employers are penalised for ensuring their employees’ wellbeing if they pay for taxis where no public transport is available and ask him to amend s.248 ITEPA 2003 to enabling employers to pay for employees' taxis when working late at night with no tax charge.
• Ask the Salford City Mayor to write to the Mayor of Greater Manchester for their support.

Slavery was practiced by a number of nations, including the United Kingdom, for decades. In the process fortunes were made and those forced or sold into slavery suffered many indignities including beatings, shackling and appalling living conditions. Many died, some were tortured and likely all were traumatised. We already have a Holocaust Memorial Day and the Srebrenica massacre is also marked annually.

It would help to better understand the impact of slavery if an annual Slavery Memorial Day, or similar event, was established in Salford and ideally nationwide, so that current and future generations are made more aware of the appalling suffering and the destruction of well-developed cultures because of the horrors of the slave trade.

We believe that slavery should be more publicly acknowledged and studied, taught in all of our schools and given the same local and national level of importance as the Holocaust.

Although the transatlantic slave trade is covered in the national education curriculum in the UK however it is not compulsory for primary and secondary schools therefore, it would be great to request that the slave trade should become a compulsory subject/topic for our primary and secondary schools.

A Slavery Memorial Day would also help to further raise the profile of modern day slavery which this council has already debated. Modern slavery was recently highlighted by the revelation by the Olympian, Mo Farah, who tells us he was trafficked.

This council request that:

• This motion be sent to Greater Manchester Combined Authority, the LGA and His Majesty’s Government, seeking their support.
• The council call on the government to declare a national slavery memorial day.
• The City Mayor consider declaring a local memorial day, and call on H.M. Government to consider making slavery a compulsory national curriculum schools’ subject.

Salford City Council resolves:

1. That the findings of the Global Biodiversity Outlook, produced by the Convention on Biological Diversity, be noted, in particular:

• That biodiversity is declining at an unprecedented rate, and the pressures driving this decline are intensifying.
• None of the Aichi Biodiversity Targets will be fully met, in turn threatening the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals and undermining efforts to address climate change.
• The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance of the relationship between people and nature, and it reminds us all of the profound consequences to our own well-being and survival that can result from continued biodiversity loss and the degradation of ecosystems.
• Reports provided by the world’s governments, as well as other sources of evidence, reveal examples of progress which, if scaled up, could support the transformative changes necessary to achieve the 2050 vision of living in harmony with nature.

2. That the Salford City Council believes that:

• The impacts of the continued decline in biodiversity were so severe that Governments at all levels must work together and make this a top priority.
• As well as improvements in the innate value people place on biodiversity, tackling the decline in biodiversity can deliver wider benefits for the environment, economy and society and that embedding a Natural Capital Approach was essential to realising these.

3. That Salford City Council declare a ‘biodiversity emergency’ alongside the climate emergency to support the delivery of the GM 5 Year Environment Plan.

4. That the existing Climate Action Board:

• Monitor progress of indicators of key species diversity and abundance in Salford.
• Take a mission-based approach to reversing these declines as part of the 5 Year Environment and in line with the findings of the GM Local Nature Recovery Strategy pilot.
• Consider systematically the biodiversity impact of each area of the Council’s activities.
• Make recommendations and set an ambitious timescale for reducing these impacts in line with the tasks set out in the GM 5 Year Environment Plan.
• Assess the feasibility of requiring all report risk and procurement assessments to include biodiversity or natural capital appraisals, including presenting alternative approaches which reduce the impact wherever possible.
• Report to the Council every six months on progress and actions required to take to address this emergency and how it will continue to work with GM Districts to implement a Mission Based Approach.

5. That it be agreed to task a director level officer with responsibility for tackling the biodiversity impact of the Council’s activities.

6. That it be agreed to equip staff, particularly those involved with buildings, energy and transport management and procurement of goods and service, with an awareness of the biodiversity and natural capital costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce these.

7. That all organisations, businesses, and citizens can play their part in tackling the biodiversity emergency.

8. That it be agreed that the City Mayor be requested to write to the Prime Minister to inform them that Salford City Council has declared a biodiversity emergency, with a request from Government to provide the resources and powers necessary to deal with it.

This council notes:

• Trade unions have played a pivotal role in British history to improve the material conditions and dignity of working class people. This includes the foundation of the Labour Party to serve working people in Parliament.
• Living standards and rights won by trade unions help define the UK today. From maternity pay and sick pay, to the weekend and job security were fought for and won by trade unions not simply gifted by a benevolent government.
• Wages have stagnated for most and fallen for many since 2010. Now a higher tax burden on average earners coupled with low economic growth and high inflation is creating the biggest cost of living crisis for decades.
• The Health Foundation think tank estimates that nurses are paid £1,583 less than in 2011.
• In contrast to wages, profits of the largest companies operating in the UK were up 34% at the end of 2021 compared to pre-pandemic levels.
• In Salford, we have endured central government funding cuts of 53% since 2010. Which equates to £232m of cuts and unfunded budget pressures.
• The LGA estimates councils will face a funding gap of £8 billion by 2025.
• Faced with these cuts from the central government, the local government workforce has endured years of pay restraint with the majority of pay points losing 22 percent of their value since 2009/10.

This council believes:

• The recent wave of industrial action by trade unions across both the private and public sector is the democratic decision of trade union members in response to declining living standards, weakening of job security and reducing conditions of employment.
• Anti-trade union legislation in the country means that achieving a successful national strike ballot across various employers is extraordinarily difficult but the Rail, Maritime and Transport Union (RMT) and Communication Workers Union (CWU) have recently overcome these obstacles and delivered resounding results for strike action.
• Recent polling, following the performances by Mick Lynch on the media, is showing an increasing positive attitude towards the current industrial disputes.
• The Conservative government’s undermining of public sector pay also undermines pay in the private sector by pitting worker against worker.
• Rather than dealing with the root cause of industrial action the Conservative Government are seeking to implement even further anti-trade union legislation such as the use of agency workers during strikes and attacks on the devolved Welsh Labour Government’s own Trade Union Act.

This council resolves:

• Write to Mick Lynch to congratulate him in his steirling work on promoting trade unionism to the nation.
• Exemplify that the City of Salford supports trade unionism by actively supporting trade union access in local government and council commissioned services.
• Support the pay claim submitted by UNISON, GMB and Unite on behalf of council and school workers, for an increase of £2,000 or the current RPI rate, whichever is the greater (along with the various conditions claims proposed).
• Call on the Local Government Association to make urgent representations to central government to fund the NJC pay claim, rather than forcing councils to make further cuts and increasing taxes on residents to finance pay awards.
• Write to the Chancellor and Secretary of State to call for a pay increase for local government workers to be funded with new money from central government.
• Meet with local NJC union representatives to convey support for the pay claim and consider practical ways in which the council can support the campaign.

To be moved by Paul Dennett, City Mayor and seconded by Councillor Tanya Burch.

This council:

1. condemns in the strongest possible terms the unprovoked armed invasion of Ukraine by the Russian Federation, an illegal act, which constitutes a blatant breach of international law and again sees the spectre of war cast a harrowing shadow over Europe and across all the peaceful, democratic and free nations of the world;
2. urges the Russian Federation to immediately and unconditionally cease its military operations in Ukraine and withdraw its troops, whilst also committing to finding an urgent peaceful way forward to resolving the conflict;
3. deplores the loss of life, human suffering and destruction caused by the Russian aggression;
4. expresses our recognition of the independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine within its internationally recognised borders;
5. stresses that the armed attack on Ukraine by the Russian Federation constitutes an attack on the principles and values of democracy, human rights and the rule of law;
6. notes that this war makes it impossible for our fellow local authorities in Ukraine to operate and inflicts serious suffering on the Ukrainian people;
7. expresses its sympathy, support, and solidarity for Ukraine and its people in their desire to remain a free and democratic country, and notes with concern the countless thousands of Ukrainian citizens who are now fleeing westwards into Poland, Romania, Hungary, and Moldova to escape the escalating conflict.

This council recognises:

1. that the countries and peoples of eastern Europe have opened their borders and offered sanctuary to the people of Ukraine in their hour of need, as over 1.5 million refugees have already left the Ukraine, with the humanitarian emergency likely to see 7 million people displaced as a result of the Russian Federation’s invasion of Ukraine;
2. the £120 million of humanitarian aid made by the UK government to Ukraine so far to save lives, protect vulnerable people inside the country and wider region and to assist in supporting the growing humanitarian crisis;
3. that the city of Salford and Greater Manchester has an active Ukrainian community who face the shocking and distressing reality that their family and friends in Ukraine are in the midst of conflict;
4. that the city of Salford and Greater Manchester has a long-standing and proud history of providing sanctuary and helping those fleeing persecution, recognising that Greater Manchester has accommodated more asylum seekers and refugees over many years than other parts of the country;
5. the unwavering dedication and commitment of the peoples of Salford and Greater Manchester in supporting the humanitarian effort in this international crisis, especially people’s support of the efforts of national charities, Ukrainian Cultural Centre in Manchester and the Polish Integration Support Centre working across the country;

Therefore, this council calls on Her Majesty’s Government to:

1. reassess the current offer of assistance for those forced to leave Ukraine, which currently restricts access only to those with close family at this stage and risks separating wider families and causing further distress during this international humanitarian crisis.
2. urge the Immigration Minister to mandate the widening of dispersal to ensure every local authority plays their part in supporting those fleeing Ukraine and all those seeking sanctuary. This is an international humanitarian crisis requiring a national medium-to-long-term response.

This council therefore requests the Mayor and political Group Leaders jointly write to the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary setting out the terms of this motion and calling for the UK to match its words with actions reflecting the severity of the crisis and offer sanctuary to Ukrainians in their hour of need.

This council notes that:

1. Salford City Council celebrates diversity through its support for activities and events in the community aiming to welcome and to embrace all people regardless of their background.
2. The Council continues to celebrate Refugee Week every year in which we celebrate the contribution of refugees and migrants across the city of Salford.
3. Salford City Council is a home of the Northwest Refugees Centre Healthcare Professional Education (REACHE) which is hosted by Salford Royal Hospital since its launch in 2003. The Centre has been set up to assist refugees and people seeking access to healthcare professions in the UK. It has helped more than 200 people, predominately doctors, integrate their overseas qualification and gain employment in the NHS.
4. The ‘hostile environment’ policies pursued by this Government have made it harder for refugees and those seeking asylum to access services - particularly those who cannot prove their right to remain in the UK. People seeking asylum are left to live on just over £5.00 per day, with no recourse to public funds and unable to work. This leaves many struggling to support themselves and their family resulting in the majority left vulnerable to destitution, isolation and exploitation.
5. Salford City Council is concerned about the controversial Nationality and Borders Bill particularly clause 9 which stipulates that British Citizenship can be revoked without notice or any legal oversight whatsoever. It is clear that the Government should amend the bill to ensure that our most respected judicial system in the world is given its place.
6. Since 2002, people seeking asylum are only able to apply for the right to work after they have waited over 12 months for an initial decision on their asylum claim, and only if they can be employed into one of the narrow, high skilled professions included on the government’s shortage occupation shortage list. The change in policy could benefit the UK economy by £42.4 millions via increased taxable income and reduced payments of accommodation and subsistence support (Reference: Lift ban report published in October 2018)
7. Restrictions on right to work can lead to extremely poor mental health outcomes, and waste of potentially invaluable talents and skills both for the economy of Salford and the UK.
8. Salford City Council goes above and beyond in the call of duty to support refugees and asylum seekers despite huge pressures on our own budgets and services. The Government’s failed and unfair asylum dispersal scheme puts significant pressure on the most deprived areas of the UK like Salford whereas the most affluent council areas do little to help the national effort.
9. The work of ‘Salford City of Sanctuary Steering Group’ supported by Salford CVS, Salford Ethnic Minority and Traveller Achievement Service (under the children services’ directorate) as well as the Salford Forum for Refugees and People seeking Asylum, have been fundamental in bringing together local charities, community groups and the University of Salford to progress the plan of becoming a ‘City of Sanctuary’.
10. Salford has two secondary schools and seven primary schools recognised as schools of sanctuary with numbers continuing to increase. The University of Salford is providing scholarships every year to young people seeking asylum who cannot access student finance and therefore enrolment into higher education.

This council further notes:

1. That, throughout the pandemic, Salford Council’s support services under ‘Spirit of Salford’ Helpline have helped anyone who needed support regardless of their immigration status
2. A Bed Every Night Scheme has been set to provide a bed and personal support to anyone who is sleeping rough or at imminent risk of sleeping rough in Greater Manchester. Greater Manchester Combined Authority has supported 60 people at any one time who have No Recourse to Public Funds due to their immigration status. Greater Manchester Combined Authority do not receive funding to support them.
3. Salford hosts asylum seeker mental health consultation services funded through the Greater Manchester Mental Health Foundation Trust which provides professional support to deal with lived experiences resulting in trauma, PTSD etc.
4. Salford recently launched its new ‘Equality and Inclusion Strategy’ which is aiming to address all forms of social inequalities to achieve a fairer and more inclusive Salford for all.
5. That, the City Council has a good reputation in respect to the representation of Councillors who are from a refugee background.

This council resolves to:

1. Join the network of Cities and Towns which promote the inclusion and welfare of people who are fleeing violence and persecution in their own countries and become a recognised 'City of Sanctuary'.
2. Call on the Government to give people seeking asylum and their adult dependent the right to work, unconstrained by the Shortage Occupation List, after waiting six months for a decision on their initial claim or further submission.
3. Continue to be a welcoming place of safety for all, proud to offer sanctuary to people fleeing violence and persecution.
4. Recognise the contribution of refugees and people seeking asylum across the city of Salford.
5. Continue to promote diversity through recognition and celebration of our different cultures that exist across Salford.
6. Encourage integration and community cohesion by strengthening links between refugees, those seeking asylum and local communities.
7. Challenge discrimination and negative perceptions of refugees and those seeking asylum.
8. Whilst we appreciate that central government do support A Bed Every Night Scheme (ABEN) to eradicate rough sleeping in Greater Manchester.  This is not the case for this people with no recourse to public funds who require emergency accommodation and a means to meet daily living costs. We call on the government to provide financial support to all people who are destitute and without income.

Notice of Motion - HM Government’s Provisional Local Government Finance Settlement and Proposed Council Tax and Precept Increases for 2022/23

This council notes that: 

1. On 27 October 2021, the government set out the outcome of the 2021 Spending Review, suggesting that core spending power for councils in England would increase from £50.4 billion in 2021/22 to £55.3 billion by 2024/25.
2. On 16 December 2021, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ provisional local government finance settlement supplied one financial year’s detail for 2022/23, with a headline increase in core spending power of £3.5bn - a 6.9% increase in cash terms, or 4% in real terms, compared to 2021/22 - and opened a 4-week consultation between 16 December 2021 and 13 January 2022
3. The data behind the provisional settlement shows that, when the government suggested in the 2021 Spending Review an estimated 6.9% cash-terms increase for councils in England, they are in fact assuming that councils in England will increase council tax by 2% and the adult social care precept by 1% to raise £1.4 billion from council taxpayers in England in 2022/23.
4. Consequently. within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ core spending calculations for councils in England, the government contribution element constitutes only 60% of the overall increase of £3.5billion - so, of the stated overall increase of 6.9%, only 4.1% or £2.1 billion relates to the government element.
5. The government’s 2021 Spending Review and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities’ provisional local government finance settlement 2022/23 is set against a backdrop of 11 years of austerity and local government cuts, which has seen Salford City Council face £232 million budget reductions arising from cuts to government grant and unfunded budget pressures between 2010/11 and 2021/22 and an overall reduction in core funding from central government of 53% over the period.
6. The government’s national insurance changes will cost Salford City Council an extra £1.1m (for Salford City Council staff plus a likely impact where we contract for services for example care services) in employer national insurance contributions for 2022/23 and the government’s changes to the national minimum wage will cost Salford City Council an extra £1.4m within the Council and Clinical Care Group’s integrated health and care fund for 2022/23.  This is in addition to additional pressures in 2022/23 such as an additional £400k in employer pension contributions, £1.3m in price inflation and £3.4m to meet pay inflation.

This council recognises that: 

1. The underlying assumptions within consecutive government Spending Reviews and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s (MHCLG)/the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) core spending power calculations for councils in England has been to force councils in England to increase council tax and precepts and passport the costs of any increases onto local council taxpayers. The government has failed numerous times over a number of years to hit its own deadlines to publish details of care system reforms for adults with disabilities and the elderly, which has resulted in the government introducing the Adult Social Care (ASC) precept in 2016/17, forcing councils in England to considering increasing this government-introduced precept by 14% between 2016/17 and 2022/23.
2. The fair funding review for local government has also been delayed for a third year, with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities confirming in the settlement that the implementation of the review will not go ahead in 2022/23 to allow councils to focus on meeting the immediate public health challenge posed by the COVID-19 pandemic.
3. Council tax and precept increases are regressive forms of taxation which impact the poorest and lowest paid within our communities the most.

Therefore, this council calls on HM Government to: 

1. Urgently increase the overall funding provided by the government to all councils in England from the government’s £2.1 billion in the core spending power calculations to allow councils in England to mitigate the impact(s) on local council taxpayers and ensure that all the additional funding made available in 2022/23 is mainstreamed into future settlements.
2. Urgently resolve the adult social care funding crisis and bring forward proposals to mitigate the impact(s) on local council taxpayers.
3. Make progress with the fair funding review, ensuring that differentials with regards to poverty and inequality and council taxpayer’s ability to pay are effectively factored into any future methodology for determining central government grant if ‘levelling up’ is to mean anything for how local government is financed amidst the current inflationary crisis the country is facing.
4. Aim to provide local government with a rolling three-year settlement, to give more certainty of funding and to allow for proper planning and the management of risks to financial resilience.

Notice of Motion - Unlocking the Potential of Local High Streets

This council believes that healthy high streets are essential for community cohesion, civic pride, employment, shopping, services and leisure. But many shops and businesses were struggling even before the COVID pandemic: high street retail employment fell in more than three-quarters of local authorities between 2015 and 2018 according to the Office of National Statistics and more than half of all UK consumers were shopping online before the pandemic.

This council notes that retail is among the sectors most affected by the coronavirus pandemic, and retail workers have been on the frontline of the crisis throughout. The almost complete shutdown of non-essential shops between March and June 2020 has hit businesses hard, and the need for social distancing has changed the way many businesses operate, reducing footfall. The pandemic has accelerated what, in many cases, has been a longer trend of lower footfall and changing shopping habits. As the Portas Review a decade ago acknowledged, the form and function of many high streets needs to radically change if they are to adapt and survive.

This council welcomes the willingness of Government to acknowledge the problems and come forward with initiatives in response to these challenges such has the furlough scheme, the COVID support business loans, and the High Street Taskforce.

This council resolves to: 

• Write to the Government to urge them to undertake an urgent review of how best to support high street businesses recover from the pandemic and level the playing field between online and high street businesses, to make it fair and sustainable for all.
• Sign up to the Co-operative Party’s Unlock the High Street Campaign and explore what local action can be taken to revive our high streets now as the pandemic seems to be declining.
• Sign Salford City Council up to the Co-operative Party’s campaign to devolve the Towns Fund, Levelling Up Fund, UK Shared Prosperity Fund and other national funding pots, to give local communities, councils and regions the ultimate say in how it is spend in their area.
• Explore the creation of Community Improvement Districts to reconnect communities with the levers that drive economic development in town centres and create an equal partnership of business and community organisations to galvanise action at a local level.
• Make any data held by the council on ownership of high street properties public and in an accessible format, so that community groups seeking to buy empty shops through a community share offer have the information they need to do so and is Information Governance compliant.
• Make full use of s215 planning enforcement powers where empty units are attracting antisocial behaviour or creating an eyesore on the high street.
• Proactively contact landlords of vacant premises (and work with relevant business organisations, Landlord Associations and BID managers) to explore meanwhile use options and/or encourage alternative rental models (for example turnover rather than market rent) to enable new co-operatives, SMEs, social enterprises and community businesses to open their doors on the high street.

Notice of Motion - Parental Leave Policy

This council notes:

• That analysis of the 2019 Local Election results by the Fawcett Society found that only 35% of councillors in England are women, up 1% since 2018. Of the seats that were up for election in 2018, 38% went to women, up just 3 percentage points on 2014 when these seats were last contested;
• That across England, following the most recent set of local elections in 2019, the number of Labour councillors who are women still stands at 45%, the same as after the 2018 elections;
• As of October 2020, only 28 out of 121 Labour councils and only 31 out of 143 opposition Labour Groups are led by women;
• As of October 2020, 27 councils have passed the Local Government Association (LGA) Labour Group’s Parental Leave policy, and an additional 9 councils have their own parental leave policy in place. Almost 40 Labour Groups have passed the Labour Group parental leave policy;
• That the equalities section of the Labour Party Democracy Review mandates all Labour councils and Labour groups to introduce a parental leave policy for to cover their group and their council as applicable;
• That the role of a councillor should be open to all, regardless of their background, and that introducing a parental leave policy is a step towards encouraging a wider range of people to become councillors, and is also a step to encourage existing councillors who may want to start a family to remain as councillors;
• That parental leave must apply to parents regardless of their gender, and that it should also cover adoption leave to support those parents who choose to adopt.

This council resolves:

• To adopt the parental leave policy drafted by the LGA Labour Group’s Women’s Taskforce to give all councillors an entitlement to parental leave after giving birth or adopting;
• To ensure that councillors with children and other caring commitments are supported as appropriate;
• To notify the LGA Labour Group that this council has passed a motion at full council to adopt the parental leave policy

Notice of Motion 

Local Government Pay: A Fully Funded, Proper Pay Rise for Council and School Workers

This council notes:

• Local government has endured central government funding cuts of more than 50% since 2010.
• Between 2010 and 2020, councils lost 60p out of every £1 they have received from central government.
• Over the last year, councils have led the way in efforts against the COVID-19 pandemic, providing a huge range of services and support for our communities. Local government has shown more than ever how indispensable it is. But the pandemic has led to a massive increase in expenditure and loss of income, and the Government has failed to provide the full amount of promised support.
• Local government workers have kept our communities safe through the pandemic, often putting themselves at considerable risk as they work to protect public health, provide quality housing, ensure our children continue to be educated, and look after older and vulnerable people.
• Since 2010, the local government workforce has endured years of pay restraint with the majority of pay points losing at least 23 per cent of their value since 2009/10.
• At the same time, workers have experienced ever-increasing workloads and persistent job insecurity. Across the UK, 900,000 jobs have been lost in local government since June 2010 – a reduction of more than 30 per cent. Local government has arguably been hit by more severe job losses than any other part of the public sector. The funding gap caused by Covid-19 will make local government employment even more precarious.
• There has been a disproportionate impact on women, with women making up more than three-quarters of the local government workforce.
• Recent research shows that if the Government were to fully fund the unions’ 2021 pay claim, around half of the money would be recouped thanks to increased tax revenue, reduced expenditure on benefits, and increased consumer spending in the local economy.

This council believes:

• Our workers are public service super-heroes. They keep our communities clean and safe, look after those in need and keep our towns and cities running.
• Without the professionalism and dedication of our staff, the council services our residents rely on would not be deliverable – but local government simply cannot afford to fund the pay increase without additional financial support.
• Local government workers deserve a proper real-terms pay increase. The Government needs to take responsibility and fully fund this increase; it should not put the burden on local authorities whose funding been cut to the bone and who have not been offered adequate support through the Covid-19 pandemic.

This council resolves to:

• Support the pay claim submitted by UNISON, GMB and Unite on behalf of council and school workers, for a substantial increase with a minimum 10 per cent uplift in April 2021.
• Call on the Local Government Association to make urgent representations to central government to fully fund the NJC pay claim.
• Write to the Chancellor and Secretary of State to call for a pay increase for local government workers to be fully funded with new money from central government.
• Meet with local NJC union representatives to convey support for the pay claim and consider practical ways in which the council can support the campaign.
• Encourage all local government workers to join a union.

Cladding on buildings

This council notes that:

1.0 despite nearly four years passing since the fire at Grenfell Tower on 14 June 2017, which tragically claimed 72 people’s lives and injured more than 70 people, the fire at Grenfell Tower further uncovered the growing industrial and regulatory scandal in the built environment across England;

1.1 thousands of Salford residents are still living in buildings, and that number continues to rise, including disabled people who face compounding difficulties including lack of specific support for their needs, additional financial pressures, and the potential exacerbation of health conditions;

1.2 thousands of private leaseholders in Salford are paying inflated insurance and service charge costs to cover the on-going costs of waking watches, often running into hundreds of pounds every month, and will soon be faced with demands for tens of thousands of pounds more to remedy the fire safety defects. Moreover, they are unable even to sell or re-mortgage their defective properties because of a broken EWS1 process and mortgage lenders un-willingness to lend on them;

1.3 every year the housebuilders responsible for these defective properties bank billions in profits and pay out millions in dividends to shareholders, with The Independent also reporting back in June of last year that since Boris Johnson became Prime Minister the Conservative Party has received more than £11 million in donations from property developers and The Times more recently highlighting that property developers who built flats covered in dangerous cladding have donated £2.5 million to the Conservative Party since the tragic fire at Grenfell Tower in 2017.

1.4 the Government has provided no funding to correct fire safety defects that are not related to cladding systems or in buildings less than 18 metres tall and the £15 billion expected cost of all remediations as highlighted by the Homes, Communities and Local Government Committee in summer last year, is almost three times the £5 billion designated to rectify the industrial and regulatory crisis so far.

1.5 the Government has also cut the City Council’s overall core funding from central government by 53% since 2010/11, reducing the City Council’s overall local authority spending power and forcing authorities to raise council tax and precepts in order to maintain vital services such as enforcing building regulations. Salford City Council alone has lost over £222 million in cuts and un-funded budget pressures since 2010/11.

1.6 the on-going work of the Greater Manchester High-Rise Taskforce chaired by the Mayor of Salford and the work of the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign, which has brought together local campaigns, including Manchester Cladiators from across the country and proposed a Ten Step action plan to support residents in Salford and address the industrial and regulatory crisis swiftly and comprehensively across the whole of England.

This council believes that:

2.0 the industrial and regulatory crisis is a scandal that punishes leaseholders and residents of Salford for systemic problems with building safety regulations and methods of development in England;

2.1 this has had and continues to have a cruel effect on Salford resident’s mental health, leaving them in unsafe homes and facing life-changing bills;

2.2 it is grossly unjust that residents who bought homes in good faith should face remediation costs;

2.3 the Government’s Building Safety Fund is inadequate both in scope and amount, failing to protect all leaseholders from costs as requirements for remediation are accelerated;     

2.4 the Government must right broken promises, return to the original premise that no costs should be passed onto residents/leaseholders, abandon the loan schemes and two-tiered system for financial support recently announced by the Government, and act quickly;

2.5 a viable route to remediation is for payment nationally to fall on the building industry coupled with a ‘pay now, litigate later’ approach as recently developed by the Australian Labour Party State Government in Victoria;

2.6 developers who delivered dangerous and unsafe buildings due to negligence and poor workmanship should remediate this work rather than expecting residents/leaseholders to pay;

2.7 we support the End Our Cladding Scandal campaign and endorse their Ten

Step action plan which recognises that the knock-on effects mean that the industrial and regulatory crisis will not be resolved building by building, leaseholder by leaseholder.

This council resolves to:

3.0 thank the Greater Manchester High-Rise Taskforce, End Our Cladding Scandal campaign and Manchester Cladiators for their efforts in fighting this injustice, and to continue to supporting them in their work and their campaigning;

3.1 continue supporting the End our Cladding Scandal campaign’s 10-step plan to tackle this crisis, calling on the Government to endorse and implement 10-step plan in order to make safe all buildings - regardless of height or specific fire safety defects in order to protect residents and give them the peace of mind they are rightly entitled to;

3.2 call on the Government to provide the necessary funding in order to protect all innocent residents/leaseholders caught up in the industrial and regulatory crisis from ruinous costs that threaten bankruptcy or homelessness through a ‘pay now, litigate later’ approach as recently developed by the Australian Labour Party State Government in Victoria;

3.3 ask the Chief Executive of Salford City Council to write to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government to ask Government to accede to those asks articulated in End or Cladding Scandal campaign’s 10-step plan;

3.4 continue providing practical support to affected Salford residents/leaseholders, including asking the Planning Department to prioritise applications for fire-related remediation work, asking the Lead Members for Housing and Planning and Sustainable Development to continue to work with local groups and help affected Salford residents/leaseholders;

3.5 continue acting inclusively on this issue, including actively involving affected disabled people, raising awareness of their specific issues and campaigning;

3.6 ask the Lead Members for Housing and Planning and Sustainable Development to work alongside Salford’s Members of Parliament to develop a ‘Salford Ask’ outlining the funding required to remediate affected buildings in our city, saving Salford residents/leaseholders from hardship, un-fair costs and worse consequences.

HM Government’s provisional local government financial settlement and proposed council tax and precept increases for 2021/22.

This council notes that:

• on 25 November 2020, the government set out the outcome of the 2020 Spending Review, suggesting that core spending power for councils in England would increase from £49.0 billion to £51.2 billion in 2021/22, an estimated 4.5% cash-terms increase and a rise on real terms.
• the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s provisional local government finance settlement 2021/22 supplies the detail behind the increase and opens a 4 week consultation between 17 December 2020 and 16 January 2021.
• the data behind the provisional settlement shows that, when the government suggested in the 2020 Spending Review an estimated 4.5% cash-terms increase for councils in England, they are in fact assuming that councils in England will increase council tax by 2% and the adult social care precept by 3% to raise £1,918.4 billion from council tax payers in England in 2021/22.
• consequently within the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s core spending calculations for councils in England, the government contribution element constitutes only 13% of the overall increase of £2.2billion - so, of the stated overall increase of 4.5%, only 0.6% or £292.7million relates to the government element.
• the government’s 2020 Spending Review and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s provisional local government finance settlement 2021/22 set against a backdrop of ten years of austerity and local government cuts, which has seen Salford City Council face £211 million in cuts to core government grant and unfunded budget pressures since 2010/11 and an overall reduction in core funding from central government of 53%.  

This council recognises that:

• the underlying assumptions within consecutive government Spending Reviews and the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government’s core spending power calculations for councils in England has been to force councils in England to increase council tax and precepts and passport the costs of any increases onto local council tax payers.
• the government has failed numerous times over a number of years to hit its own deadlines to publish details of care system reforms for adults with disabilities and the elderly, which has resulted in the government          introducing the Adult Social Care (ASC) precept in 2016/17, forcing councils in England to considering increasing this government introduced precept by 13% between 2016/17 and 2021/22 with no national funding solution still on the horizon.
• the fair funding review for local government has also been delayed for a second year, with the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government confirming in April 2020 that the implementation of the review will not go ahead in 2021/22 to allow councils to focus on meeting the immediate public health challenge posed by the pandemic.
• council tax and precept increases are regressive forms of taxation which impact the poorest and lowest paid within our communities the most.

Therefore, this council calls on HM Government to:

• urgently increase the overall funding provided by the government to all councils in England from the government’s £292.7 million in the core spending power calculations to allow councils in England to mitigate the impact(s) on local council tax payers.
• urgently resolve the adult social care funding crisis and bring forward proposals to mitigate the impact(s) on local council tax payers.
• make progress with the fair funding review, ensuring that differentials with regards to poverty and inequality and council tax payer’s ability to pay are effectively factored into any future methodology for determining central government grant. 

This council notes that:

• the latest published figure for unbuilt dwellings with planning permission in Salford was 20,512 dwellings;
• the delivery of significantly more dwellings in each of the last four years in Salford than the target - 3,344 in last published data, 92% of which are on brownfield sites;
• the conscientious approach to ensuring future housing land supply through the local plan process.
• the securing of £26.6 million through s106 agreements to invest in making development more acceptable;
• the delivery of 2,028 affordable homes - 18% of the Greater Manchester total and the second highest in the conurbation.

This council recognises that:

• the underlying assumption of the Government White Paper Planning for the Future is the housing shortage is due to the failure of the planning system is demonstrably wrong;
• the White Paper’s ‘zoning, proposals will remove power from communities and local people to influence individual developments;
• the White Paper’s proposal to introduce a national Infrastructure Levy will benefit wealthier parts of the country and remove the link between a development and the necessary physical and social infrastructure that mitigates its impact(s);
• the White Paper is silent on how it will tackle the current viability system, which often allows developers to negotiate away their commitments to affordable housing and seemingly offers nothing to mandate that affordable housing should be a non-negotiable requirement that impacts how land is valued and sold, favouring that the national infrastructure levy on developers be discounted if affordable homes are delivered.  

Therefore, this council calls on the Government to:

• withdraw the undemocratic proposals which remove citizens’ rights to influence individual developments;
• address the market failure in housing through a sustained programme of significant public investment in affordable social-rented homes;
• ensure that landowners and developers are no longer able to avoid obligations by limiting the uplift in value that goes to private profit rather than public benefit.

To be proposed by Paul Dennett, City Mayor and seconded by Councillor Bill Hinds.

This council notes:

• Local government has endured central government funding cuts of nearly 50% since 2010. Between 2010 and 2020, councils will have lost 60p out of every £1 they have received from central government.
• The 2019 LGA survey of council finances found that 1 in 3 councils fear they will run out of funding to provide even their statutory, legal duties by 2022/23. This number rises to almost two thirds of councils by 2024/2025 or later.
• The LGA estimates councils will face a funding gap of £8 billion by 2025.
• Faced with these cuts from central government, the local government workforce has endured years of pay restraint with the majority of pay points losing 22 per cent of their value since 2009/10.
• At the same time as seeing their pay go down in real terms, workers experience ever increasing workloads and persistent job insecurity. Across the UK, an estimated 876,000 jobs have been lost in local government since June 2010, a reduction of 30 per cent. Local government has arguably been hit by more severe job losses than any other part of the public sector.
• There has been a disproportionate impact on women, with women making up more than three quarters of the local government workforce.

This council believes:

• Local government workers provide an invaluable safety net for people and communities across the country and without the professionalism and dedication of our staff, the council services residents rely on would not be deliverable.
• Government funding has been cut to the extent that a proper pay rise could result in a reduction in local government services.
• The government needs to take responsibility and fully fund increases in pay; it should not put the burden on local authorities whose funding has been cut to the bone.

This council resolves to:

• Write to the Chancellor and Secretary of State in support of the pay claim submitted by GMB, UNISON and Unite on behalf of council and school workers for a £10 per hour minimum wage and a 10 per cent uplift across all other pay points in 2020/21 - calling for this increase to be fully funded with new money from central government.
• Call on the Local Government Association to make urgent representations to central government to fund the NJC pay claim.
• Meet with local NJC union representatives to convey support for the pay claim.
• Encourage all local government workers to join a union.

To be moved by Councillor Kate Lewis and seconded by Councillor Sharmina August.

Salford City Council notes the findings of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) report ‘Global warming of 1.5°C’ published on 8 October 2018, in particular:

• That human activities are estimated to have already caused approximately 1.0°C of global warming above pre-industrial levels
• That if we continue at the current rate, we are likely to surpass the Paris Agreement target of 1.5°C as early as 2030
• That at the current level of commitments, the world is on course for 3°C of warming with irreversible and catastrophic consequences for humans and the natural world

The city council believes that:

• That the impacts of global temperature rise above 1.5°C, are so severe that governments at all levels must work together and make this their top priority.
• As well as large-scale improvements in health and wellbeing around the world, bold climate action can deliver economic benefits in terms of new jobs, economic savings and market opportunities.

Therefore, Salford City Council agrees:

• To declare a ‘climate emergency’
• To establish a new task and finish group, with a remit to:
  
  • Seek advice from experts to develop a 5 year carbon budget and set a challenging target date of 2038 for carbon neutrality in Salford
  • Consider systematically the climate change impact of each area of the council’s activities
  • Make recommendations and set an ambitious timescale for reducing these impacts
  • To assess the feasibility of requiring all risk and procurement assessments to include Carbon Emission Appraisals, including presenting alternative approaches which reduce emissions wherever possible
  • Report to full council with the actions the council needs to take to address this emergency
• To task a Director level officer with responsibility for reducing as rapidly as possible, the carbon emissions resulting from the council’s activities
• To equip all our staff with an awareness of the CO2 costs and impacts of everyday activities, and the ability and motivation to reduce emissions through widespread carbon literacy
• To produce a report to the next full council on the level of investment in the fossil fuel industry that our pensions plan and other investments have
• That the City Mayor will write to the Prime Minister to inform them that Salford City Council has declared a climate emergency and ask her to provide the resources and powers necessary to deal with it

This council notes:

• The Banyamulenge people, are ethnic Tutsi people, many of whom live on the High Plateau of South Kivu, in the eastern region of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, close to the Burundi-Congo-Rwanda border
• Banyamulenge means “those from Mulenge”. Mulenge is a hill near Lemera in the east of DRC. .
• The Banyamulenge have been a persecuted people. Since colonial times Banyamulenge have undergone discrimination and exclusion and over the last few decades thousands upon thousands have been murdered and massacred
• On 13 August 2004 there was a massacre at the Gatumba refugee camp in Burundi where 166 people were massacred. All victims were from a minority Banyamulenge tribe
• All were defenceless and slaughtered with machetes and burned alive with gasoline
• The attack was carried out by a force of armed combatants, many of them members of the Forces for National Liberation (FNL). The FNL is a predominantly Hutu rebel movement known for its hostility to Tutsi people
• Banyamulenge Refugees are now settled around the world. 60 or so Banyamulenge refugees are now settled in Salford and many more across Britain
• We welcome them to the safety of our community and value the positive contribution they are making to the culture and life in our city
• The perpetrators of the massacre still haven’t been brought to justice, many still live free. The current Deputy Speaker of the Burundian Parliament Agathon Rwasa is widely suspected to have been one of the leading perpetrators of the massacre. Agathon Rwasa is the leader of FNL
• The FNL is believed to have been behind a series of other attacks, including the December 28th, 2000 Titanic Express massacre
• The Titanic Express massacre was an event in which 21 people were killed in an attack on a Titanic Express bus, close to the Burundian capital Bujumbura
• The passengers, who had travelled from Kigali in Rwanda, were robbed of their valuables and then separated according to their ethnicity. Hutus and most Congolese were released unharmed. The Tutsis on board, and one British woman, Charlotte Wilson, who was traveling with her Burundian fiancé, were forced to lie face down on the ground and then shot
• In May 2001, the International Crisis Group attributed the Titanic Express attack to "troops under the order of Agathon Rwasa"
• In January 2004, the Sunday Times announced the discovery of a document which appears to be an FNL report, signed by a senior commander, detailing how the Titanic Express massacre was carried out.
• In June 2006, detailed eyewitness accounts of the attack were published in the book Titanic Express: Finding Answers in the Aftermath of Terror, by Richard Wilson, the brother of Charlotte Wilson.
• During the civil war, FNL was linked to the killing of Monsignor Michael Courtney, the Catholic Church's chief representative in Burundi
• The Most Reverend Michael Courtney (5 February 1945 – 29 December 2003) was the Apostolic Nuncio to Burundi and TitularArchbishop of Eanach Dúin
• In December 2003 gunmen fired at his car, Archbishop Courtney suffered gunshot wounds to the head, shoulder and leg and died from haemorrhaging during surgery. He was 58 years old
• Archbishop Courtney had been instrumental in the previous month's signing of a peace agreement between the Burundian government and the main opposition Hutu group which at the time was rejected by the FNL

This council resolves:

• To welcome and support our Banyamulenge community in Salford
• To support the annual commemorations that take place to remember the crimes committed at Gatumba and to support the survivors, their families and a community that has been under attack
• We support the Banyamulenge Community’s call for justice. The criminal perpetrators need to be arrested and brought to justice
• In particular, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court has to undertake an inquiry and issue warrants of arrest for those people involved in the massacres at Gatumba against the Banyamulenge and against all other attacks that the community has been subjected to including the Titanic Express massacre and the murder of Archbishop Michael Courtney
• Rwasa needs to be held accountable for what he's done and prosecuted as a war criminal
• To call upon the British Government and the European Union to put pressure upon the Government of Burundi to fully cooperate with the International Community to ensure that the Banyamulenge community receive justice

Dear Home Secretary,
I am writing to advise you at the meeting of Salford City Council held on 21 November 2018 the following motion was approved and adopted:

This council notes that, killers who withhold the location of their victims’ bodies, create significant distress and suffering for the relatives of the deceased. Ian Simms is serving a life sentence for the murder of Marie McCourt’s daughter Helen in February 1988, in Billinge, Merseyside. For almost three decades, Simms has refused to reveal the whereabouts of Helen’s body, denying her mother and family the chance to grant her the dignity of a funeral and resting place. Marie has campaigned for the introduction of “Helen’s Law”, seeking Parliament to make changes to current legislation and prevent convicted murderers, who do not reveal the location of their victim’s bodies, being granted parole.

The introduction of “Helen’s Law”, would represent a significant deterrent to killers, who may otherwise withhold details of where their victims bodies have been hidden and is in the best interests of the public and help other grieving relatives, like Marie McCourt, who are enduring a similar torment, to find peace by giving their loved ones a proper funeral. ‘Helen’s Law’, officially known as the Unlawful Killing (Recovery of Remains) Bill, was scheduled for its the second reading in the House of Commons in May 2017, but was deferred by H.M. Government due to the calling of a General Election. This deferment and its subsequent omission from the Queen’s Speech, detailing the bills that will be brought forward, has been detrimental.

Salford City Council is asked to actively support the introduction of Helen’s Law, through writing to H.M. Government requesting that, the Unlawful Killing (Recovery of Remains) Bill be re-listed for debate in Parliament as soon as possible.

I would be grateful if you could give consideration to the points identified in the motion, particularly the request for the Unlawful Killing (Recovery of Remains) Bill to be re-listed for debate in Parliament as soon as possible.

I look forward to your response.

Yours sincerely

Paul Dennett
City Mayor
Salford City Council