South Kesteven councillors vote to delay discussion on Conservative asylum motions
Two motions on concerns about asylum seekers have been delayed for a second time after councillors voted to defer them back to the ‘relevant committees’.
South Kesteven district councillors backed a motion by Coun Lee Steptoe (Labour) at an extraordinary meeting on October 13 for matters to be delayed for a second time - this time to so that they can be looked at by committees before they are considered by the full council. They has been put off previously after councillors ran out of time to discuss them at a meeting.
After the last delay, councillors were set to due to discuss two motions by the district's Conservative group this week about concerns that Houses in Multiple Occupation (HMOs) in the district may be used to house asylum seekers.
The first motion by Coun Sue Woolley (Conservative), who represents the Bourne North and Morton ward, was due to focus on HMOs and concerns that they can be established without planning permission.
She was expected to call on the district council to introduce tougher planning regulations around smaller HMOs amid concerns by the Conservative group that these could be used to house asylum seekers.
The second motion by Coun Gareth Knight (Conservative), who represents the Grantham Barrowby Gate ward, was set to focus on public concerns about asylum seekers potentially being housed in hotels in the district.
Coun Knight was due to outline fears that section 21 ‘no fault’ eviction notices might be used to kick people out and free up accommodation to house asylum seekers.
The suggestions aimed to pre-empt policies that the Conservative group thinks might happen in relation to asylum seekers but aren't currently proposed.
Coun Steptoe, who represents the Grantham Earlesfield ward, put forward a motion to defer the Conservative group’s motions back to a scrutiny committee before they are considered by the full council.
He said: “I would actually like to move a procedural motion stating the fact that none of the issues being raised today have been brought to the housing overview and scrutiny committee. None of them.
“We have those committees for a purpose to provide oversight, scrutinise, ask legitimate questions and hear any party political points that anybody wants to air.
“I actually find it disrespectful that the movers of this motion have not brought it to the committee. Probably not disrespectful to myself as the chairman but certainly to the committee.
“I would like to move, then, that both of these motions before us are moved back to the housing overview and scrutiny committee for full consideration before coming to full council.”
Coun Richard Cleaver (Independent) agreed with Coun Steptoe’s motion.
The Stamford councillor said: “It is perfectly normal in these circumstances for a contentious issue to be referred back for proper scrutiny.
“We have scrutiny committees for a reason and it is to make sure we do good decision making especially when we’ve got complex, contentious issues.
“It’s a perfectly appropriate thing to do. It’s something I’ve certainly requested before in my time as a councillor both in opposition and in the administration.”
But the Conservative group at the district council who put forward the motions have criticised the decision to defer them back to a scrutiny committee.
Coun Sue Woolley (Conservative), said: “This is particularly disappointing, simply because of the time constraints.
“Section 21 notices are coming into force in the early part of the new year.”
Coun Woolley said that the Conservative group was not calling for tougher legislation but for smaller HMOs to have the same legislation as larger HMOs.
She said: “We do not want to see families in three and four bedroom homes being evicted, which they could possibly be if landlords are rushing to use section 21 before the new legislation takes effect.
“At the moment, all we wanted was to make sure that HMO legislation which is already in place for those with five people and more is applied to HMOs with five people and less.
“We’re not saying that we don’t want any HMOs. We’re just saying that we should have the same criteria in place for smaller HMOs as there is for larger ones.”
Coun Gareth Knight (Conservative) said the motions were in the public interest and should have been debated at the meeting.
He said: “I think it’s extremely disappointing that the councillors debating this motion have tried to delay an issue which is so time sensitive.
“This is an issue which is in the public domain. People are concerned about it.
“People are being served eviction notices and councillors have decided they don’t want to discuss this which is extremely sad.”
But Coun Ben Green (Reform UK), who represents the Isaac Newton ward, criticised the Conservative party’s performance in failing to tackle illegal immigration.
He added: “In short, they built nothing, planned nothing, and now want to lecture others about the consequences that they engineered.
“The last people we need to hear from on immigration are the Conservatives. They are arsonists posing as firemen.”
Coun Lee Steptoe told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that he believed that the motions should be discussed by a scrutiny committee.
He said: “I think that the right thing has been done in the end. It’s simply about doing everything in the right way.
“If things are not working well, then they should go to the committees. In committees, it’s less formal and partisan.
“It allows us to discuss this in a more reasonable way and to get expert advice.”
The district council said the motions would be discussed at a housing overview and scrutiny committee meeting at a later date.