All four motions put before this week’s meeting of Peterborough City Council were agreed . Wednesday night’s meeting of the Full Council at Peterborough Cathedral saw important motions on knife crime, waste management plans, the shortage of graveyard space and future donating of IT to those in need, agreed unanimously.
Cllr Amjad Iqbal’s motion said: “This Council resolves to request that the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Housing, Culture and Communities consider exploring the feasibility and potential benefits of: Ensuring babies, at any stage of gestation or post term, to Muslim and other faith families are laid to rest in a grave size that is appropriate for their size of gestation or term, akin to Huntingdonshire District Council where burials of babies and infants take place according to the size of the casket.”
Cllr Oliver Sainsbury, making his maiden motion before the council, said: “This Council resolves to: Request the Safer Peterborough Partnership Problem Solving Group to establish a particular focus on knife crime to ensure that incidents are identified and reported and that measures are instigated to prevent further incidents.
“It shall develop and instigate plans to adopt a public health approach to the issue of knife crime, as demonstrated elsewhere in the UK.
“It will set up, in conjunction with the police, the police and crime commissioner’s office, Cabinet Members for Housing, Culture and Communities and for Integrated Social Care, Health and Public Health and neighbourhood watch, a Peterborough-wide publicity and education campaign pitched at young people, their parents and carers on the subject of knife crime.
“The results of this work to be reported regularly to the Communities Scrutiny Committee.”
Cllr Nick Sandford’s motion, said: “This Council requests the Cabinet to pause any further investment in new waste collection vehicles and requests that the Growth and Environment Scrutiny Committee carry out an urgent review of collection of domestic waste, with a view to significantly increasing our recycling rates and ensuring cost effective investment in new vehicles and machinery.”
And finally, Cllr Dennis Jones’ motion, said: “The Council resolves to request that the Cabinet Member for Digital Services and Transformation consider: Donating IT locally to those in need rather than scrapping it, using schemes such as the Laptops for Homeless and Vulnerable Initiative.
“We must encourage public bodies and local businesses in Peterborough to take similar action as set out above.
“And also encouraging council suppliers, together with the Council, to proactively take part in sponsoring and promoting this message to local businesses, through traditional media and social media channels.”
Not only was this the first time, since March 2020, that councillors have sat at a Full Council meeting, face-to-face (with COVID-19 restrictions in place), but it was also the first time in many a Full Council meeting that the agenda was completed – including motions on notice, which usually run out of time for debate.
Moreover, all four of this evening’s motions were unanimously agreed.
1.
This week's full council meeting took place at Peterborough cathedral. Photo: Midlands
2.
This week's full council meeting took place at Peterborough cathedral. Photo: Midlands
