Minutes:
The Council had before it a Notice of Motion standing in the names of Mr P M McDonald, Mr C J Bloore, Mr P Denham and Mr R M Udall.
The Notice of Motion was moved by Mr P M McDonald and seconded by Mr P Denham who both spoke in favour of it.
The Council then agreed to consider and deal with the Motion on the day.
Those speaking in favour suggested:
· this was a very serious matter and the purpose of the Motion was to address it in a serious manner.
· this was a long-standing issue and should have been addressed as part of a carefully planned removal schedule. This had not been done and unless air tests had been conducted current risks were probably unknown.
· the Council had a duty of care to users of its buildings especially to students and teachers in educational establishments.
Those speaking against suggested:
· that the Council did take very seriously its duty of care to users of all its buildings. The Council had a policy for managing asbestos in its buildings which was compliant with all legal and other requirements placed upon it. It was wrong to suggest that the Council had no knowledge of the range of potentially dangerous substances in buildings, that the Council did not take its duties of care very seriously or that there was a policy of inactivity.
· that various types of asbestos existed and not all were potentially dangerous to public health. To treat all in the same way was clearly not appropriate.
· that this Motion was another example of political posturing and whilst the signatories may be sincere in their wish to protect the users of Council buildings there were elements of scaremongering which were both unfortunate and ill advised.
· that schools themselves also had a responsibility in management of their premises and members who served as school governors said they took this very seriously.
On a named vote the Motion was lost.
Those voting in favour were:
Ms P Agar, Mr J Baker, Mr P Denham, Mr A Fry, Ms P A Hill, Mr R C Lunn, Mr P M McDonald and Mr G J Vickery (8).
Those voting against were:
Mr A A J Adams, Mr R C Adams, Mr A T Amos, Mrs S Askin, Mr R W Banks, Mr M L Bayliss, Mr A N Blagg, Mrs S L Blagg, Mr P J Bridle, Mr J P Campion, Mr S C Cross, Mrs P E Davey, Mr N Desmond, Ms L R Duffy, Mrs E A Eyre, Mr S E Geraghty, Mrs J L M A Griffiths, Mr M J Hart, Mrs A T Hingley, Mrs L C Hodgson, Mr I Hopwood, Mr M E Jenkins, Mr A P Miller, Mr T A Muir, Mrs F M Oborski, Mr S R Peters, Dr K A Pollock, Prof J W Raine, Mr J H Smith, Mr C B Taylor, Mr J W R Thomas, Mrs E B Tucker, Mr P A Tuthill and Mr G C Yarranton (34).