The following motions have been received in accordance with Procedure Rule 16:

Motion received from Councillor Brendan Mallon and supported by the Reform Group

The Chairman advised Members that due to a procedural error at the last meeting Councillor Mallon was denied his right of reply prior to the vote being taken following a closure motion and that there will be no debate on this motion but Councillor Mallon will be given his right to reply prior to a vote being taken and that as Councillor Mallon was unable to attend today, this would be read out by Cllr Harry Hancock-Davies

Globally, the transition to ‘Net Zero’ energy systems is in a state of rapid collapse. No large economy is persisting with this and only a handful of lesser economies are still fully committed. The US is unequivocally out. Russia, India, most of Asia and South America were never really in (despite the Paris Agreement) and China simply lies.

China’s wind and solar ‘farms’ are merely a shop front for the planet’s primary manufacturer of that equipment. Meanwhile, they rapidly expand Coal and Nuclear use. China alone is 32% of global emissions (Our World in Data), more than the combined developed world. Chinese per capita emissions surpassed the UK in 2022 and are now already double the UK’s, with no slowdown in the increase. China plus just the USA and India make up fully half of global emissions.

The latest domino to fall is Germany. Previous dependence on Russian gas and their abandonment of Nuclear makes Germany now heavily dependent on coal and lignite (14% - AG Enrgiebilanzen) and LNG and thus the EU’s largest emitter at 22% of the total (EDGAR 2024 report). Unaffordable energy has resulted in large scale off-shoring of German heavy industry. Thus, Chancellor Merz’s announcement to reverse their energy policies, maintaining Net Zero in name only.

What remains is a handful of smaller European economies plus Australia still pursuing Net Zero to a similar extent as the UK, with a combined output circa 7% of global emissions (Net Zero Tracker and EDGAR 2024). Canada nominally has Net Zero policies but, unlike the UK, continues with extensive hydrocarbon production. Clearly, 7% of Net Zero is little more than a rounding error. Thus, any further spending on Net Zero is an obvious waste of money.

A number of Councils around the country, including Labour-led Islington, have heavily curtailed or suspended Net Zero spending. In the context of our Financial Emergency, in order to reduce both capital and revenue spend, we move that the Council immediately suspend all Net Zero related spending, pending a review of value-for-money beyond clearly ineffectual reductions in CO2 emissions “

Councillor Hancock Davies read out the statement form Councillor Mallon and following a vote the motion fell

Motion received from Councillor Carl Rowley and supported by Councillors Elizabeth Barker, Brian Evans, Harry Hancock-Davies and George Hollyhead

Motion: Removal of Canal Towpaths from the Safe Walking Routes Policy

This Council notes that:

1. Shropshire Council’s approach to assessing walked routes to school allows a wide range of routes to be treated as “available”, including public footpaths and other non-highway routes, where risk is judged primarily on traffic and highway considerations.

2. Canal towpaths are routinely subject to risks wholly distinct from adopted footways, including:

o Unfenced watercourses and unprotected edges;

o Seasonal flooding, surface degradation, ice and low-light conditions; o Conflicts between pedestrians, cyclists and other users;

o Limited access for emergency services.

3. The current assessment framework assumes accompaniment by a responsible adult, an assumption which does not reflect the reality of many working families or older primary-age children walking independently.

4. These assumptions are not consistently supported by objective evidence, real-world behaviour, or safeguarding standards, and do not reflect the lived experience of many families, particularly working parents and older age children walking independently.

5. Treating canal towpaths as “safe walked routes” has the effect of removing entitlement to home-to-school transport, transferring risk and responsibility from the local authority to families.

This Council believes that:

1. Assumption must never replace evidence where child safety is concerned. A route that is “theoretically walkable” is not necessarily practically or safely walkable for children on a daily basis.

2. Policies which depend on presumed adult supervision or ideal conditions place inappropriate responsibility and risk onto families rather than the local authority.

3. Recreational access infrastructure should not be reclassified by assumption as safe school transport infrastructure without clear, objective and child-specific safety criteria.

4. A lawful policy is not automatically a reasonable or proportionate one when measured against safeguarding principles.

This Council resolves to:

1. Remove canal towpaths from classification as “safe walking routes” for the purposes of school transport eligibility within Shropshire Council policy.

2. Amend the walked route assessment framework so that assumptions of accompaniment, surface condition, seasonal usability and comparability with footways may not be relied upon in determining route safety.

3. Ensure that no child or family is denied statutory home-to-school transport on the basis of a route whose safety is assumed rather than objectively evidenced.

4. Instruct officers to report back to Cabinet/Council with revised policy wording.

On taking a vote the motion fell.