The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 12 of the Meeting Procedure Rules has been proposed by Councillor Drew Mellor and seconded by Councillor Jane Kelly:-
This motion is to agree that in principle this Council is supportive of the setting up and delivery of a Poverty Truth Commission initiative for the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area by a well-established organisation outside of the Council.
Poverty Truth Commissions have been successfully completed in many towns and cities throughout the UK. People from all walks of life have come together to discuss their experiences, they are initially invited from local communities – Community Commissioners, and from the Public Sector and Business world – Civic Commissioners.
A Poverty Truth Commission is about developing relationships of trust and empathy between commissioners, and seeing what happens when their combined wisdom, resources and experience are brought together. The tried and tested model will be adapted to best fit the local context, seeking to enable a deeper dive into the challenges and the opportunity to unearth and commit to new future possibilities for wiser action and culture change.
I feel that the PTC movement fits well with our ABCD aspirations and therefore move that we support them in their endeavours in our area. I look forward to taking part in the conversations and trust that others will do the same.
Minutes:
The following motion submitted in accordance with Procedure Rule 12 of the Meeting Procedure Rules was moved by Councillor Drew Mellor and seconded by Councillor Jane Kelly
This motion is to agree that in principle this Council is supportive of the setting up and delivery of a Poverty Truth Commission initiative for the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area by a well-established organisation outside of the Council.
Poverty Truth Commissions have been successfully completed in many towns and cities throughout the UK. People from all walks of life have come together to discuss their experiences, they are initially invited from local communities – Community Commissioners, and from the Public Sector and Business world – Civic Commissioners.
A Poverty Truth Commission is about developing relationships of trust and empathy between commissioners, and seeing what happens when their combined wisdom, resources and experience are brought together. The tried and tested model will be adapted to best fit the local context, seeking to enable a deeper dive into the challenges and the opportunity to unearth and commit to new future possibilities for wiser action and culture change.
I feel that the PTC movement fits well with our ABCD aspirations and therefore move that we support them in their endeavours in our area. I look forward to taking part in the conversations and trust that others will do the same.
Councillor Mellor in presenting the motion reported on his wish for the Council to deliver for all people and this motion moved the Council forward on that ambition. He thanked Councill Kelly for her leadership on this motion and Councillor Rice for her help who was a strong advocate of the Poverty Truth Commission. Councillor Mellor reported that this was about change for an under-represented part of the Community. Councillor Kelly seconded the motion and reserved her right to speak later in the debate.
Councillor Brooke moved the following amendment (Key: words to be removed; words added; original words retained; words moved to
footnotes). The amendment had previously been circulated to all Councillors. Councillor Brooke outlined the detail of the amendment and in presenting the amendment withdrew 4) below. Councillor Slade seconded the amendment and reserved her right to speak later in the debate.
This Council agrees in principle to, and is supportive of, the setting up and delivery of a Poverty Truth Commission initiative for the Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole area by a well-established organisation outside of the Council.
In supporting this initiative, the Council undertakes to
1) Work with both the Community Commissioners, and from the Public Sector and Business world – Civic Commissioners developing relationships of trust and empathy between commissioners, and seeing what happens when their combined wisdom, resources and experience are brought together.
2) Coordinate the discussion outcomes with the already established ABCD aspirations
3) Ensure that appropriate actions are undertaken that will begin to address poverty and other inequalities within those areas identified through the Poverty Truth Commission’s research and discussions and with a view to bringing about a positive change.
4) Bring a report back to Full Council, before the end of the year, outlining options as to how the PTC may be delivered.
Footnotes/Background information:
a) Poverty Truth Commissions have been successfully completed in many towns and cities throughout the UK. People from all walks of life have come together to discuss their experiences, they are initially invited from local communities –
b) The tried and tested model will be adapted to best fit the local context, seeking to enable a deeper dive into the challenges and the opportunity to unearth and commit to new future possibilities for wiser action and culture change.
Councillor Mellor’s personal view:
“I feel that the PTC movement fits well with our ABCD aspirations and therefore move that we support them in their endeavours in our area. I look forward to taking
part in the conversations and trust that others will do the same”.
Councillor Mellor reported that he would accept part of the amendment. The wording in the first paragraph as suggested but not the additional bullet points 1) to 3) (4) having been withdrawn). He highlighted that the Council was a partner in this process not leading the initiative. He also highlighted the opportunity for early discussion where there was cross- party support for a motion. In response to a comment made he reported that this was part of the delivery of ABCD.
Councillor Brooke indicated that he was happy that Councillor Mellor would accept the first statement but was concerned that as a partner he was not prepared publicly to commit actual actions arising out of the discussions that would be the responsibility of the Council and confirmed that he was not happy for the removal of 1), 2) and 3).
Councillor Rice declared a local interest as she had been involved in the steering group for the poverty truth commission set up in a voluntary role and confirmed that she would not be voting on any amendments or the original motion. She reported that the steering group has seen the motion put forward and was very pleased to see it coming through.
Councillors commented on the proposal including highlighting that it was an important piece of work led from outside the Council and the spirit of the amendment was to make sure that the Council would act on it. There was a request to vote on the bullet points in the amendment separately.
Councillor Kelly reported that the PTC had to be independent and similarly to the ABCD and strength-based approaches the Council should embrace and enable the initiatives and accept that the Council cannot place constraints or impose timescales on the community. The motion would support the work with the Health and Wellbeing Board and empower our communities ensuring that experiences such as food insecurity were raised up and heard by those who make decisions around our services.
Councillor Nicola Greene in commenting on the amendment understood that the intention was to ensure that no time was lost, and that the Council fully engaged with this agenda. As Chairman of the Health and Wellbeing Board she expressed her concern that the amendment did not acknowledge the work that was already underway with much of it led by the Health and Wellbeing Board. In particular she highlighted the work undertaken in tackling food insecurity started under the previous administration and extended as a priority. She highlighted that it was all about partnership working and looked forward to welcoming the Poverty Truth Commission as part of a wider partnership. Councillor Greene explained that the Council would be an active partner. She informed Councillors that the Poverty Truth Commission would take many months to do its work with the rigor that was required with its own governance arrangements and the timeframe for doing anything by Christmas was unrealistic. She also referred to the structural changes that the CCG were undertaking highlighting the development work of the Health and Wellbeing Board and expectations that the Board would be at the table representing the interests of BCP residents in particular concerning health inequalities.
Councillor Slade reported that she welcomed the proposal. She expressed her frustration that the first time a number of Councillors were aware of this was a week ago when this had been in the pipeline for 15 months it had the backing of Cabinet and the website was already live saying that it starts in March 2022. She emphasised had we been aware of the above we would have been in a position to discuss the motion and make any improvements and outlined the benefit of the bullet points in the amendment. Councillor Brown in commenting on the motion stated that it did not provide any detail on what a Poverty Truth Commission is or what it aims or intends to do but felt that the amendment provided clarity.
Councillor Mellor reported that he was not aware that there had been no further sharing of the proposal.
Councillor Brooke summed up on the amendment and clarified the misunderstanding relating to the time constraints which were not related to the Commission itself and accepted the points made relating to 1) and 2). He felt that 3) was critical and welcomed a separate vote on each proposal.
The Council voted on the amendment which was lost by a majority decision.
Councillor Stribley proposed seconded by Councillor Hadley that the first paragraph from the amendment be incorporated into the original motion which Councillor Mellor accepted as the following substantive motion which was agreed by a majority decision.
This Council agrees in principle to, and is supportive of, the setting up and delivery of a Poverty Truth Commission initiative for the Bournemouth, Christchurch, and Poole area by a well-established organisation outside of the Council.
Councillor Felicity Rice did not vote on the above decision.
Councillor Cheryl Johnson left at 10.25 pm