“This Council notes the result of the EU Referendum and now commits to doing everything that it can to protect, support and enhance the position of the residents of South Cambridgeshire, in whatever new agreements are sought and reached with the European Union and its member countries and the rest of the world and otherwise, as a result of the Referendum decision to leave the EU.
In particular this Council believes:-
(1) That the financial position of local authorities such as South Cambridgeshire must not be further worsened and should, if possible, be improved.
(2) That the Government must give an immediate guarantee that the existing rights of citizens of other European Union countries who are already living in South Cambridgeshire will be protected.
(3) That the importance of high tech and life science industries as well as of scientific research in South Cambridgeshire must be recognised and action taken to protect their futures.
(4) That there must not be any weakening of environmental legislation and employment rights that at present derive from EU directives.”
Decision:
Council APPROVED the following motion:
“This Council notes the result of the EU Referendum and now commits to doing everything that it can to protect, support and enhance the position of the residents of South Cambridgeshire, in whatever new agreements are sought and reached with the European Union and its member countries and the rest of the world and otherwise, as a result of the Referendum decision to leave the EU.”
Minutes:
Councillor Bridget Smith, Leader of the Opposition, proposed that Council approved the following motion:
“This Council notes the result of the EU Referendum and now commits to doing everything that it can to protect, support and enhance the position of the residents of South Cambridgeshire, in whatever new agreements are sought and reached with the European Union and its member countries and the rest of the world and otherwise, as a result of the Referendum decision to leave the EU.
In particular this Council believes:
(1) That the financial position of local authorities such as South Cambridgeshire must not be further worsened and should, if possible, be improved.
(2) That the Government must give an immediate guarantee that the existing rights of citizens of other European Union countries who are already living in South Cambridgeshire will be protected.
(3) That the importance of high tech and life science industries as well as of scientific research in South Cambridgeshire must be recognised and action taken to protect their futures.
(4) That there must not be any weakening of environmental legislation and employment rights that at present derive from EU directives.”
Councillor John Williams seconded the motion. He was particularly concerned with the outcome of the EU referendum from the perspective of the amount of money the University and many companies based in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire currently received from the EU, stating that 19,000 people in the area worked in jobs that were dependent on EU funding. He was keen to see as much EU funding secured as possible as a result of any deal to leave the EU.
Councillor Nick Wright, Deputy Leader and Corporate and Customer Services Portfolio Holder, proposed an amendment to delete the words ‘in particular this Council believes’ from the end of the first paragraph and the subsequent paragraphs (1) to (4). He was concerned that the Council was potentially placing too much of a restriction on itself at this stage when negotiations were only just at a starting point and referred to other key industries that had not been specifically mentioned in the motion as it originally stood.
Councillor Peter Topping, Leader of the Council, seconded the amendment as he did not believe that the detail behind the points listed in (1) to (4) of the original motion was as apparent as had been presented.
Councillor van de Weyer was of the opinion that it was at this stage that the Council should make it clear what it wanted to negotiate about, stating that the first paragraph of the original motion did not go into any detail with the subsequent points providing a clear message.
Councillor Sebastian Kindersley was disappointed with the amendment and felt that the Council’s administration was missing an opportunity to act rather than wait for more details to emerge, citing the city of Oxford as an example of an area that was seeking to take advantage and lobby the Government on behalf of its residents at an early stage.
Councillor Simon Edwards, Portfolio Holder for Finance and Staffing, could not agree with the second point in particular without a reciprocal arrangement for those residents of South Cambridgeshire who worked in the EU. He agreed with the point that this was the early stages of a negotiation and that the Council should not indicate its position at this time.
Voting on the amendment, with 30 votes in favour and 15 votes against, the amendment was carried.
Enough Members as prescribed by Council’s Standing Orders requested a recorded vote. Votes were therefore cast as follows:
In favour
Councillors David Bard, Val Barrett, Francis Burkitt, Brian Burling, Graham Cone, Pippa Corney, Simon Crocker, Christopher Cross, Kevin Cuffley, Simon Edwards, Sue Ellington, Roger Hall, Lynda Harford, Mark Howell, Caroline Hunt, Mervyn Loynes, Ray Manning, Raymond Matthews, David McCraith, Charles Nightingale, Des O’Brien, Tony Orgee, Tim Scott, Ben Shelton, Peter Topping, Robert Turner, Bunty Waters, David Whiteman-Downes, Tim Wotherspoon and Nick Wright.
Against
Councillors Henry Batchelor, John Batchelor, Anna Bradnam, Nigel Cathcart, Doug Cattermole, Peter Johnson, Sebastian Kindersley, Douglas de Lacey, Janet Lockwood, Cicely Murfitt, Bridget Smith, Hazel Smith, Ingrid Tregoing, Aidan van de Weyer and John Williams.
(Councillors Tom Bygott and Neil Davies were not present at the meeting during this vote).
Debating the substantive motion, Councillor Bridget Smith was disappointed with the amendment which she felt was not portraying a strong enough message from the Council. She reflected on lots of people currently living in the district with significant uncertainties regarding their futures and thought that the original motion was an opportunity for the Council to influence decision-making going forward.
Council unanimously APPROVED the following substantive motion:
“This Council notes the result of the EU Referendum and now commits to doing everything that it can to protect, support and enhance the position of the residents of South Cambridgeshire, in whatever new agreements are sought and reached with the European Union and its member countries and the rest of the world and otherwise, as a result of the Referendum decision to leave the EU.”