Leadership blog - 04.02.19

On Wednesday we had the latest meeting of Full Council and there was a packed agenda of reported actions, public questions and debates on a variety of motions.

Questions from the public ranged from council initiatives to extend 20mph zones to protect residents, the need for more social housing, to the commitment to becoming carbon neutral by 2030 and the return of concerts to the Stadium of Light with the Spice Girls performing this summer.

Full Council is always a great opportunity for the community to have their say and we would encourage people to send in their questions for our next meeting in March. You can do this by clicking on the link here and then you can come along and hear the Leader of the Council or a member of the Cabinet give an answer.

At Wednesday's meeting Council unanimously agreed a motion to bring forward plans to tackle period poverty in the city through the provision of free sanitary products in all civic buildings and also by supporting schools, including primary schools, and local employers to do the same.

Period poverty has been highlighted in the media in recent months as a real problem nationally and we will do all we can to help eliminate it in Sunderland.

Demonstrating the wide range of subjects debated, Council also discussed the events of 18 June 1984 and the picketing of Orgreave. It was noted that in Sunderland many miners and their families were adversely affected by the events of that day in terms of wrongful arrest, false imprisonment, ill-health, family breakdown and termination of employment and as a direct result of policing tactics at Orgreave.

Joining the campaign backed by a number of other councils, the motion called for a full investigation into the military-style policing used at Orgreave. Council agreed to call on the Home Secretary to order a full public inquiry into the deployment and actions of the police that day and to hold meaningful discussions with the Orgreave Truth and Justice Campaign, the NUM and concerned MPs.

I hope this gives a good flavour of Council meetings and debates for those who might not know what goes on and as mentioned above, we look forward to receiving your questions for future meetings.

Cllr Paul Stewart
Cabinet Secretary