Agenda item

Notice of Motion 1

The following Notice of Motion submitted under Paragraph 14 of the Council Procedure Rules has been submitted by Councillors Fail, Beavers, Longton, Raynor, Smith and Stirzaker:

“Standing up for responsible tax conduct

Councillors across the UK and in Wyre work hard to serve their local communities and help direct the delivery of essential public services. By signing up to the Councils for Fair Tax Declaration, councils can demonstrate alignment to their values and encourage responsible tax practice through:

• leading by example on tax conduct
• demanding to know who owns and profits from businesses the council buys from – UK and overseas – and their full financial reports
• joining calls for UK public procurement rules to change so that councils can do more to tackle tax avoidance and award points to suppliers that demonstrate responsible tax conduct.

Full Council resolves to:

1)    Sign up to the Councils for Fair Tax Declaration.

2)    Lead by example and demonstrate good practice in our tax conduct, right across our activities.

3)    Ensure IR35 is implemented robustly and contract workers pay a fair share of employment taxes.

4)    Not use offshore vehicles for the purchase of land and property, especially where this leads to reduced payments of stamp duty.

5)    Work with other Councils undertaking due diligence to ensure that not-for-profit structures are not being used inappropriately by suppliers as an artificial device to reduce the payment of tax and business rates.

6)    Demand clarity on the ultimate beneficial ownership of suppliers UK and overseas and their consolidated profit and loss position, given lack of clarity could be strong indicators of poor financial probity and weak financial standing.

7)    Promote Fair Tax Mark certification especially for any business in which we have a significant stake and where corporation tax is due.

8)    Support Fair Tax Week events in the area, and celebrate the tax contribution made by responsible businesses are proud to promote responsible tax conduct and pay their fair share of corporation tax.

9)      Support calls for urgent reform of UK procurement law to enable local authorities to better penalise poor tax conduct and reward good tax conduct through their procurement policies.”

Notice of Motion 2

The following Notice of Motion submitted under Paragraph 14 of the Council Procedure Rules has been submitted by Councillors Bridge, Raynor, Stirzaker and Michael Vincent:

“Fireworks are used by people throughout the year to mark different events, but they are also often used indiscriminately with no thought for the detrimental impact on residents or animals. While they can bring much enjoyment to some people, they can cause significant problems and fear for other people and animals.

They can be a source of fear and distress for many animals (including pet animals, farm livestock and wildlife). Animals affected not only suffer psychological distress but can also cause themselves injuries – sometimes very serious ones – as they attempt to run away or hide from the noise.

This Council resolves:

1)    to encourage all public firework displays within the local authority boundaries to be advertised in advance of the event, allowing residents to take precautions for their animals and vulnerable people

2)    to continue to promote a public awareness campaign about the impact of fireworks on animal welfare and vulnerable people – including the precautions that can be taken to mitigate risks

3)    to continue to encourage local suppliers of fireworks to stock ‘quieter’ fireworks for public display

4)    to write to the UK Government urging them to introduce legislation

o   to limit the maximum noise level of fireworks to 90dB for those sold to the public for private displays

o   to limit the public use of fireworks on or close to specific dates and times

o   to tighten restrictions on the sale of fireworks in the run up to Bonfire Night

o   to licence all public firework displays – and ensuring displays are better advertised to the public

Councillors Fail, Beavers, Longton, Raynor, Smith and Stirzaker submitted a Notice of Motion under Procedure Rule 14 on the Councils for Fair Tax Declaration. The motion was proposed by Councillor Fail and seconded by Councillor Beavers.

Councillors Michael Vincent and Henderson responded to the proposal, after which Councillor Bridge proposed that the question be now put.  The Mayor, considering that the item had been sufficiently discussed, invited the seconder of the motion, Councillor Beavers to speak.  Councillor Fail responded to the debate.

The motion was lost, by 7 votes to 35.