Agenda item

To consider the following motions submitted by members in accordance with Standing Order 5:

 

(1)      Labour Motion 1 – Library Membership for Children and Young People

 

           That this Council commits to a refreshed approach to the promotion of library membership to the children and young people of Warwickshire.

 

           Proposer: Councillor Sarah Feeney

 

           Seconder: Councillor Caroline Phillips

 

(2)      Labour Motion 2 – Petitions Scheme

 

           That this Council undertakes to review its Petitions Scheme and commits to develop a protocol surrounding how the Council responds to petitions.

 

           Proposer: Councillor Barbara Brown

 

           Seconder: Councillor Sarah Millar

(1) Labour Motion 1 – Library Membership for Children and Young

People

 

That this Council commits to a refreshed approach to the promotion of library membership to the children and young people of Warwickshire.

 

Councillor Sarah Feeney proposed the above Motion and in doing so, she recognised that it was not an easy task to manage.  She acknowledged the work that the library service conducted in terms of rhyme time, offering music and genealogy but stated that an important part of a child’s journey was understanding that a library could provide information.  She noted that an amendment had been tabled which she felt diluted the motion and as she sought the refreshed approach to be conducted rather than only be considered, she would not therefore be accepting it as a friendly amendment.

 

Councillor John Holland seconded the recommendation and reserved the right to speak.

 

Amendment

 

Councillor Andy Jenns proposed the following amendment:

 

That this Council recognises and celebrates the achievements of our library service, its staff and volunteers, and commits through scrutiny to consider further ways to promote its services a refreshed approach to the promotion of library membership to the children and young people of Warwickshire.

 

[Deletions shown as strikethrough. Additions shown in bold and underlined.]

 

Councillor Jenns was disappointed this was not accepted as a friendly amendment as he considered that it was in the spirit of the original motion.  Whilst visiting some of the county’s libraries the previous day, he had raised the motion with staff and whilst it had been agreed more promotional activity was needed, it was believed this should be targeted at secondary school children.  Councillor Jenns advised that in 2020 the under 18 population of the county was 120,000 (circa 20% of the total population).  In this age group, there were 44,546 registered borrowers (37% of the under 18 population) and of those 28,272 regularly borrowed books, and the total number of children’s books issued between April 2022 to March 2023 was 650,947.   These were impressive numbers but he considered that a review by scrutiny to see if alternative approaches would be beneficial would be welcomed.

 

Councillor Adrian Warwick seconded the amendment and reserved the right to speak.

 

Debate

 

Councillor Sarah Boad welcome the motion and supported the amendment which would see a report presented for scrutiny.  She considered this would help to enhance levelling up work in deprived areas and she encouraged members to promote library services among residents.

 

Councillor Isobel Seccombe supported the amendment and review of the topic by scrutiny.  It was desirable to promote the library service, but this had to be achieved without taking funding away from other projects.  The amendment was in the spirit of encouraging more take up of library services, but not at the cost of something else.

 

Councillor Tim Sinclair was supportive of the spirit of the motion, noting that his own children had been reading from an early age and the library had played a large role in their lives.  In his view, the original motion was not clear on the action to be taken beyond a ‘refreshed approach’ whilst the amendment made provision for a specific action and measurable improvement.

 

Councillor Bill Gifford expressed surprise that the original motion did not acknowledge the work of the libraries and was further surprised the amendment was not accepted as friendly.  He stated that Warwickshire had one of the best library services in the country  but it could be better promoted and it seemed a natural course of action for this to be investigated by scrutiny.

 

Councillor Judy Falp welcomed the motion.  She reflected on her personal experiences and supported the view that gaps in membership were among secondary school children but that the digital offer could be attractive to them.  She considered that scrutiny would be best placed to investigate the issue.

 

Councillor Kam Kaur noted that Warwickshire Library Service was a national exemplar and that a lot of the work that it undertook was not properly recognised.  She welcomed the opportunity to promote the service and echoed the comments from Councillor Boad to link libraries and communities. 

 

Councillor Andy Crump applauded the work of Library Services.

 

Councillor Adrian Warwick noted the outstanding work done by libraries and welcomed the opportunity to celebrate those achievements in the Council Chamber.   He considered that the amendment strengthened the motion and had hoped it would be well received. 

 

Councillor Andy Jenns considered that the Chamber was supportive of the spirit of the amendment and wanted to support a thriving library service.

 

Councillor John Holland expressed the view that the amendment would slow down the implementation of any promotional activity and urged Council not to support it. 

 

Councillor Sarah Feeney stated that the use of the word “consider” in the motion was reducing and that the outcome of scrutiny work might be not to take the issue further if it was not affordable.  She wanted children to have access to libraries and asked the Chamber not to ‘consider’ doing this, but to actually do it.

 

Vote

 

A vote was held on the Conservative amendment which was carried by a majority and became the substantive motion.  A vote was held on the substantive motion which was unanimously supported.

 

Resolved

 

That this Council recognises and celebrates the achievements of our library service, its staff and volunteers, and commits through scrutiny to consider further ways to promote its services to the children and young people of Warwickshire.

 

(2) Labour Motion 2 – Petitions Scheme

 

That this Council undertakes to review its Petitions Scheme and commits to develop a protocol surrounding how the Council responds to petitions.

 

Councillor Barbara Brown proposed the above motion, expressing the opinion that the scheme required review with consideration being given to opportunities to debate the issues that were brought before the Council.   She advocated for the formation of a Petitions Committee to look at petitions received, investigate the issues raised and recommend actions for debate.

 

Councillor Sarah Millar seconded the recommendation and reserved the right to speak.

 

Debate

 

Councillor Isobel Seccombe supported the motion in principle and concurred that the Chamber heard eloquent speeches from petitioners which seemed to have no tangible outcome. She considered that any change to the Scheme would require a change to standing orders and suggested that scrutiny consider putting a review of the Petitions Scheme on the work programme to investigate what would be appropriate for the future and the impact on standing orders.

 

Councillor Tim Sinclair was concerned that the motion was too vague and would have preferred to see specific actions and outcomes.

 

Councillor Andy Jenns referred to the petition received earlier in the meeting and his understanding of how hard the petitioner had worked to obtain the signatures required and made the effort to attend to speak, for what appeared to be an anticlimactic outcome.

 

Councillor Sarah Millar expressed admiration for the courage shown by the petitioner who had given a speech earlier in the meeting and agreed it must have been a disappointing experience.  She reminded Council that there was new petition system in parliament and that in terms of proportionality every petition did not need to be responded to and debated, but she felt it was important to have a scheme that was pertinent and proportionate.

 

In closing, Councillor Barbara Brown stated that the motion could not be specific as it was related to something developmental and she welcomed Councillor Seccombe’s sensible approach.

 

Vote

 

A vote was held and the motion was carried unanimously.

 

Resolved

 

That this Council undertakes to review its Petitions Scheme and commits to develop a protocol surrounding how the Council responds to petitions.