Agenda and minutes

Report of the Group Director of Operations

Report of the Chief Executive

Report of the Chief Executive

Hearing from People who are Care Experienced

Preamble

With a view to allowing Members of Council to hear from persons who are care experienced during the debate on the next Motion, Members are asked to support the following resolution.

Resolution

That, for the purposes of the next Motion, the Council Procedure Rules be varied to permit Members of Council speaking on the Motion to invite persons who are care experienced to share their experience during the debate on the Motion. 

Care Experience – Protected Characteristic Motion

Preamble

(a)    Councillors on the Corporate Parenting Panel have heard directly about the discrimination that our cared for and care experienced children and young people experience on a regular basis.

(b)   (The term ‘care leavers’ and ‘care experienced’ are used interchangeably.  In recent years, the care experienced community has expressed a preference for this term to be used.  However, the term ‘care leavers’ is entrenched in law and statute and as such, whilst Local Authorities and other partner agencies can change the term that they use, the term ‘care leavers’ will remain in some form).

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

(d)   The Independent Review of Children’s Social Care headed by Josh McCallister published in May 2022 a final report and recommendations that concluded:

“Government should make care experience a protected characteristic following consultation with care experienced people and the Devolved Administrations” and “New legislation should be passed which broadens corporate parenting responsibilities across a wider set of public bodies and

organisations.

“Many care experienced people face discrimination, stigma, and prejudice in their day to day lives. Public perceptions of care experience centre on the idea that children are irredeemably damaged and that can lead to discrimination and assumptions being made.

“This stigma and discrimination can be explicit, and often comes with assumptions about the likely characteristics of children and adults that have care experience. They can also be implicit and are evidenced in the way care experience is discussed in schools, workplaces, and the media. At its worst this can lead to care experienced people being refused employment, failing to succeed in education or facing unfair judgements about their ability to parent when they have children and families of their own.”

This Council therefore recognises that:

(a)    Cared for and care experienced people are a defined group who face discrimination;

(b)   It has a duty to put the needs of such people at the heart of decision-making through co-production and collaboration;

(c)    Henceforth, future decision, services and policies made and adopted by Darlington Borough Council should be assessed through Equality Impact Assessments to determine the impact of changes on people with care experience, alongside those who formally share a Protected Characteristic.

Resolution

Council resolves to:

(a)    Treat care experience as if it were a Protected Characteristic and formally call upon all other bodies it partners or contracts with to treat care experience as a Protected Characteristic until such time as it may be introduced by legislation.

(b)   Proactively seek out and listen to the voices of care experienced people when developing new policies.

(c)    Ask the Council’s senior leaders to work with Human Resources to provide opportunities for young people with care experience to obtain work experience as part of Darlington Borough Council’s corporate parenting responsibilities.

(d)   Write to the  Secretary of State to call for care experience to be treated as a Protected Characteristic,  ...  view the full agenda text for item 20b

Climate Emergency Motion

Preamble

(a)    This Council notes that many Darlington residents are demanding action on climate change.

(b)   Council accepts that to limit the effects of global warming it is necessary for the world population to reduce its annual carbon emissions from the current 5.2 tonnes per person to less than 2 tonnes, as soon as possible.

(c)    Council recognises that individuals cannot be expected to make this reduction on their own.

(d)   All governments nationally and locally have a duty to limit the negative impacts of global warming. This Council has already acknowledged the importance of addressing the issue of Climate Breakdown, having signed up to the Global Covenant of Mayors. Darlington Borough Council also supports the current Tees Valley Net-Zero Strategy [1]

(e)   Implemented policies have put the world on track to overshoot the Paris Agreement’s 1.5°C limit, with projections of a global temperature rise between 2.2°C and 3.5°C [2]. Local councils should not wait for their national governments to change their policies.

Resolution

Council therefore resolves to: 

(a)    Reaffirm its declaration of a 'Climate Emergency'.

(b)   Work to make Darlington Borough Council carbon neutral by at least 2040, considering both production and consumption emissions, both directly and indirectly caused by the council (scope 1 and 2), as described by the Carbon Trust [3].  For scope 3 emissions the Council will publish data (where available) to monitor emissions and inform procurement practice.

(c)    Call on central government to develop the strategies and deliver the funding necessary to make this possible.

(d)   Develop a carbon emissions reduction trajectory that supports the central government commitment to the Paris Agreement of no more than 1.5°C global temperature increase.

(e)   Ensure that Darlington Borough Council is adapting to climate change so that it can continue to provide vital services.

(f)     The Council is one of several organisations who have a leading role within the Borough, and within that role we will work to encourage and persuade businesses, third sector and public sector organisations, and residents to reduce emissions and become more resilient.

(g)    Pledge to publish the emissions for the whole Borough and track this against a 2040 net-zero pathway.

(h)   Work with nurseries, schools, and colleges to signpost them to appropriate learning aids and encourage young people to get involved in decision making and peer learning about how to tackle climate change.

(i)      Work with other local authorities, organisations, and governments within the UK and internationally to share best practice methods on responding to the climate emergency.

(j)     Continue the cross-party working group to oversee the climate change work and to provide support and guidance.

(k)    Provide an amended action plan to reflect revised timescales within six months, with reporting on progress to Full Council every 6 months, thereafter.

[1]  Tees Valley Climate Change Strategy: https://teesvalley-ca.gov.uk/business/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2023/03/Net-Zero-strategy-Digital.pdf

[2] The IPCC’s CLIMATE CHANGE 2023 Synthesis Report: https://www.ipcc.ch/report/ar6/syr/downloads/report/IPCC_AR6_SYR_SPM.pdf

[3] Carbon Trust Briefing: What are Scope 3 emissions? https://www.carbontrust.com/our-work-and-impact/guides-reports-and-tools/briefing-what-are-scope-3-emissions

Change to Leader and Committee Governance Arrangements

Preamble

Darlington Borough Council is entering its second no overall control administration in five years, and there is a very real prospect of a situation of no overall control continuing for the foreseeable future. The largest political group on the council received only 35.1% of the popular vote. It is Council’s belief that governance arrangements that enable all political parties to share in shaping and directing the future direction of the Council should be developed.

Resolved

Council therefore resolves, under the provisions of the Localism Act 2011:

(a)    To change its governance arrangements and start to operate a committee system form of governance.

(b)   That the relevant change time for Darlington Borough Council to cease operating the existing form of governance and start operating the new committee form of governance shall be at its Annual Council in May 2024.

(c)    To request the Chief Executive Officer to work with the four Group Leaders to draw up detailed proposals for the operation of the committee system, to be considered at the February Council meeting, in advance of the May 2024 implementation date.

(d)   That the Chief Executive, working with the four Group Leaders, seek external support and advice from organisations including the Local Government Association, Association for Public Service Excellence, the Centre for Governance and Scrutiny, New Local, and other Councils with experience of undertaking governance reviews.