1 – Learning Lessons from the Coffey Report:

The Leader will doubtless be aware of the recent publication of the findings of the Inquiry, chaired by the Chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group for Runaway and Missing Children, Stockport MP Ann Coffey.

The Inquiry into child sexual exploitation in Greater Manchester followed the failure of statutory agencies to safeguard vulnerable children and young people in Rochdale and Rotherham.

Chair Ann Coffey spoke of “the failure of police and partner agencies to listen properly to young victims and their families and to adequately respond to them…

It is clear that victims in Rochdale and elsewhere were not identified or taken seriously because of negative and discriminatory attitudes of the police and other partner agencies towards them.

Their behaviour was seen as a life style choice and because of that they were not seen as vulnerable children and were not given the protection they should have expected from organisations with a responsibility to safeguard them”.

This sounds identical to the tenor of Professor Jay’s Report on Rotherham.

However this Report, titled ‘Real Voices’, is more shocking because it features the voices of vulnerable children and young people from our own communities across Greater Manchester – they could very well be the sons and daughters of our friends and neighbours.

Can the Leader please tell me how this Council will be responding to the findings of this Report to ensure that the children and young people of our Borough will be protected from such exploitation in the future?

2. Supporting Candidates and Councillors with Disabilities:

The Leader may be aware that the period from 22nd November to 22nd December is designated Disability History Month.

During this month we are asked celebrate the lives and achievements of disabled people and encouraged to hold awareness raising activities about disability.

It will soon be apparent to Members opposite that disability issues will be a major focus for the Liberal Democrat Group at tonight’s Council.

I am sure that the Leader will agree with me that it is proper that this Council reflects the make-up of the borough’s population. It is important therefore that this Chamber includes Councillors with disabilities and that the Council’s workforce is inclusive of disabled employees.

Not only is this the right thing to do, but it is also practical – for how otherwise will we as Councillors or Council Officers be aware of the needs and aspirations of disabled people and so be able to provide appropriate services and opportunities?

For my second question, I want to focus on the support provided to electors with disabilities who wish to become Councillors.

The Leader will be aware that the Local Government Association is working with the Government’s Equalities Office on a pilot programme to encourage more disabled people to become Councillors.

This builds on the LGA’s ‘Be a Councillor’ programme which encourages people from all walks of life to consider becoming a Councillor and this Government’s excellent ‘Access to Elected Office for Disabled People Fund’, which provides financial support to disabled people seeking elected office or when carrying out their duties once elected.

I am also conscious that this Council Chamber will eventually be refurbished to make it ‘fit for purpose’ for the 21st Century. I hope that this refurbishment will be undertaken with the needs of people with disabilities in mind.

Can the Leader please tell me what this Council is doing to encourage disabled people to come forward as candidates for election in 2015 and beyond, what support will be available to those candidates if elected, and what steps are being taken to ensure that this Chamber when refurbished will meet the needs of Councillors with disabilities?
 
3 – Laughing Gas is Latest Legal High

Nitrous Oxide, or laughing gas, is the latest in a long line of ‘legal highs’ that can be purchased from corner shops and street vendors.

Commonly used as an anaesthetic in dentistry and in surgical procedures, it is now estimated that some 200,000 people use laughing gas ‘recreationally’ across the UK.

It can give users a feeling of euphoria, but it can also lead to lower blood pressure, anaemia, fainting, heart attacks and poisoning of the nervous system.

That is of course why in medical environments its use is limited to pain relief and supervised by trained personnel.

Last month, Manchester University banned students from using ‘laughing gas’ on university property and Manchester City Council has also voted to toughen its stance on the sale of such gas, with money from the public health budget is being used to raise public awareness of the dangers of its use.

And in Taunton, Somerset, Council business tenants are to be banned from selling “legal highs” over the counter.

Can the Leader please tell me tonight whether this Council is prepared to follow the lead shown by Manchester and Taunton?

And how is this Council working with the Police and other partners to combat other ‘legal highs’?

Howard Sykes
17 December 2014