Middlesbrough Council saw three successful motions at last week’s meeting of the full council.
One of them was a winter fuel payment motion, proposed by Labour Councillor Nicky Walker, as previously reported on. The other two motions were originally proposed by Middlesbrough Independent Councillors Association (MICA) Councillor Jim Platt and Deputy Mayor, Councillor Philippa Storey.
In a meeting that lasted well over 2 hours, there was a motion of no confidence in the chair, as well as two motions about the winter fuel payment, and discussions of cleaning up the town.
The first successful motion surrounded a desire for greater and more representative scrutiny and the latter wanted Middlesbrough Council to go further in helping its employees who suffer baby loss.
Cllr Platt put forward a motion calling for proportional representation when it came to electing chairs of scrutiny committees.
Speaking about why he brought forward the motion he said: “If Middlesbrough Council are to improve and move towards a better future for everyone, then we have to work together for that end.” He explained that the current council consists of 23 Labour councillors and 22 others, “yet only Labour councillors have chairs and executive members making decisions.”
Liberal Democrat Councillor Tom Livingstone said it would be really good to have “councillors from opposition groups chairing scrutiny panels, it’s done in local authorities across the country, it’s worthwhile and it just makes things a little more professional.”
Mayor Chris Cooke then proposed what was deemed an amendment to the motion. Whether this was an amendment or an entirely new motion was then debated.
The mayor’s proposal committed the council to “assess how minority voices can be given a significant formalised role within the scrutiny process, as part of broader constitutional reforms which will be explored over the coming year through Constitution and Members’ Development Committee”. In addition, the amendment set out to learn “from best practice across the country”
MICA Councillor Ian Morrish commented “Yet again we seem to be looking at a replacement motion, the constitution clearly states what is meant by an amendment… Are we complying with the constitution in this council or not?”
Monitoring Officer Charlotte Benjamin responded: “Councillor, in my view, this is a valid amendment to the original motion”. The constitution was then consulted and Ms Benjamin reiterated that “in my judgement, this amendment does not negate the effect of the motion”.
Councillor Mieka Smiles said she found the amendment “a little bit waffly” and asked “does it actually mean that there will be scrutiny chairs from other parties?” MICA Councillor Tony Grainge was like-minded and highlighted the importance of “people from across the chamber” serving as chairs of committees, as was highlighted in the original motion.
Mayor Cooke spoke about his proposal and said “it goes wider” than the original motion. He highlighted that there are other councils where processes are in place to allow the opposition to be a lot more “invested” than is the case in Middlesbrough. He said he wanted to “come up with a way that’s fair for everyone”.
MICA Councillor Mick Saunders commented “With all due respect to the mayor, I think he’s tried to hijack this motion” and when Cllr Platt took the floor once more before the vote, he commented “what’s the point of anybody apart from Labour putting any motions in, because [Labour] put an amendment in and [Labour] vote it.”
The vote on Mayor Cooke’s amendment which had become the substantive motion was then passed with Cllr Grainge and Cllr Livingstone joining the Labour majority in voting it through.
Councillor Philippa Storey presented her motion following the conclusion of Baby Loss Awareness Week, which called for greater awareness as well as for Middlesbrough Council to do more for its employees.
Labour Councillor Anne Romaine spoke in support of Cllr Storey’s motion. Cllr Storey outlined that “1 in 4 people in the UK experience pregnancy or baby loss, but parents and families can feel isolated in their grief. Knowing where to go for support is vital for their mental wellbeing”.
She explained that there are currently no “statutory rights for parents who lose a baby before 24 weeks of gestation”. At Middlesbrough Council, staff are entitled to three days leave before the 24 week mark, and after this point, full maternity leave can be taken.
Cllr Smiles commented that such a policy “seems just unimaginable to me that you would need to go back to work within three days after something like that happening”.
The motion passed with every single councillor voting in favour of it, during a rare show of unity at full council.
