Decision details

Debates are one of the most frequent items of business on the Plenary agenda. Many types of debate are brought forward in Plenary, including:

• Opposition party debates on a topic of their choice;

Other than in the case of Government debates, the time allocated for all other types of debates and their frequency are determined by the Business Committee

The item started at 15:58.

 

Voting on the motion and amendments under this item was deferred until Voting Time.

 

A vote was taken on the motion without amendment:

 

NDM4954 William Graham (South Wales East)

 

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

 

1. Calls on the Welsh Government to review its policies to ensure greater emphasis is placed on empowering local communities;

 

2. Acknowledges the role a Wales-wide Council Tax freeze would have played in financially empowering households;

 

3. Notes the role which enhancing small business rate relief would play in empowering businesses across Wales, allowing them to expand and hire new staff;

 

4. Encourages local government to act in a way which is transparent, open and accountable, which will motivate local communities to become more involved in local democracy;

 

5. Notes that funding schools directly will empower them to set their own priorities; and

 

6. Further notes the role decentralised planning policy can play in the empowerment of communities.

 

For	Abstain	Against	Total
12	0	40	52

The motion without amendment was not agreed.

 

The following amendments were tabled:

 

Amendment 1 - Peter Black (South Wales West)

 

Insert at end of point 1:

 

‘and calls for any review to include consideration of the introduction of a Community Bill of Rights to give local communities additional powers in the planning system, housing development and local environment’

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 1:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
17	9	27	53

Amendment 1 was not agreed.

Amendment 2 - Jane Hutt (Vale of Glamorgan)

 

Delete points 2, 3 and 4, replace with the following, and renumber accordingly:

 

Notes that the Welsh Government has provided 1.3% more funding to local authorities than England, which will empower Welsh councils to freeze council tax, if they so choose.

 

Notes the provisions of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011, which seeks to enhance local democratic accountability and engagement in Wales.

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 2:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
36	0	17	53

Amendment 2 was agreed.

 

Amendment 3 - Peter Black (South Wales West)

 

Delete point 2 and replace with:

 

‘Believes that a sustainable approach to keeping council tax low, which could be delivered by responsible governance from local councils not top-down funding streams, would help financially empower households across Wales.’

 

As amendment 2 was agreed, amendment 3 was deselected.

 

Amendment 4 - Jocelyn Davies (South Wales East)

 

Delete point 2

 

As amendment 2 was agreed, amendment 4 was deselected.

 

Amendment 5 - Peter Black (South Wales West)

 

Insert at end of point 3:

 

‘but believes this must be underpinned by wider reform of business rates, including ending overly large rises each year’

 

As amendment 2 was agreed, amendment 5 was deselected.

 

Amendment 6 - Peter Black (South Wales West)

 

Add as new point after point 4, and renumber accordingly:

 

Believes that local communities would become further involved in local democracy if local government was strengthened by:

 

a) introducing the Single Transferable Vote for local elections;

 

b) introducing a power of general competence to empower local councils;

 

c) reducing the number of top-down controls on local authorities, such as statutory duties; and

 

d) auditing the best and worst examples of open and transparent government across Wales in order to spread this best practice.

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 6:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
14	0	39	53

Amendment 6 was not agreed.

 

Amendment 7 - Jocelyn Davies (South Wales East)

 

Delete point 5

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 7:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
41	0	12	53

Amendment 7 was agreed.

 

Amendment 8 - Peter Black (South Wales West)

 

Insert at end of point 5:

 

‘and calls for a full review of school accountability, particularly investigating  local accountability and appropriate leadership for governing bodies’

 

As amendment 7 was agreed, amendment 8 was deselected.

 

Amendment 9 - Jocelyn Davies (South Wales East)

 

Delete point 6

 

A vote was taken on Amendment 9:

For	Abstain	Against	Total
36	0	17	53

Amendment 9 was agreed.

 

A vote was taken on the motion as amended:

 

NDM4954 William Graham (South Wales East)

 

To propose that the National Assembly for Wales:

 

1. Calls on the Welsh Government to review its policies to ensure greater emphasis is placed on empowering local communities.

 

2. Notes that the Welsh Government has provided 1.3% more funding to local authorities than England, which will empower Welsh councils to freeze council tax, if they so choose.

 

3. Notes the provisions of the Local Government (Wales) Measure 2011, which seeks to enhance local democratic accountability and engagement in Wales.

 

For	Abstain	Against	Total
36	0	17	53

The motion as amended was agreed.