Petitions and Public Address
Decision:
Council Received the following Petition and public address:
Petition
Mr Chris Knowles, presented a petition on behalf of the Clean Air in Chippy Campaign, asking the County Council “How and When Oxfordshire County Council were going to remove HGVs from Chipping Norton?”.
Public Address
Mr Bill MacKeith, representing Oxford and District Trades Union Council, spoke in support of Agenda Item 14 (Motion by Deborah MclIveen on the Living Wage).
Ms Maria Semmonds, representing Children Heard and Seen in support of Agenda Item 17 (Motion by Councillor Neville Harris on Children Heard and Seen).
Minutes:
Council Received the following Petition and public address:
Petition
Mr Chris Knowles, presented a petition on behalf of the Clean Air in Chippy Campaign, requesting that the County Council remove Heavy Good Vehicles from Chipping Norton on grounds of safety and health.
The Chairman received the Petition and referred it to the Director for Planning & Place.
Public Address
Mr Bill MacKeith, representing Oxford and District Trades Union Council, spoke in support of Agenda Item 14 (Motion by Deborah McIlveen on the Living Wage) on the basis that the Government’s living wage introduced in 2016 would reach less than £9.00 per hour by 2020 and the real living wage was actually much higher, as calculated by the living wage foundation at £10.02 for Oxford. There were hundreds of vacancies currently in the public services, housing costs were comparable to London and there was an over reliance on private agency staff in the National Health Service. A very modest increase would help. The Trades Union believed Oxfordshire County had a duty to address the increase in equality between the rich and the poor and look after the wellbeing of people in Oxfordshire who most needed it by adopting the Motion.
Ms Maria Semmonds, representing Children Heard and Seen poke in support of Agenda Item 17 (Motion by Councillor Neville Harris on Children Heard and Seen). Describing the life of Children supported by the Charity after losing a parent to imprisonment including Stigma, bullying and isolation on a daily basis leaving them vulnerable and in the case of boys a 7 out of 10 chance in offending, she outlined the importance of the work the Charity undertake to break the cycle. In the five years since the Charity had opened, they had helped over 800 children and numbers of children offending had been very low. This had been achieved by providing targeted intervention for young people, focusing on raising self-esteem and confidence and managing difficult emotions. She thanked the Council for supporting the Charity.