Meeting

NOTE: There will be prayers by Reverend Tony Palmer in the Mayor’s Reception Room at 1.45 pm for Members of the Council and Officers who wish to attend.

To receive any apologies.

To authorise the signing of the minutes of the Council Meeting held on 14th May 2025, attached.

Matters especially brought forward by the Lord Mayor.

To elect a Leader of the Council for the remaining year. Following the election the Leader will announce membership of the Cabinet and any changes to Portfolios.

Matters especially brought forward by the Leader.

To receive any requests for Deputations, Presentation of Petitions or Public Questions.

The following petition has been received which under the Council’s Procedure Rules is a qualifying petition which must be debated at Council.

(i) Newly Introduced Parking Charges in Bitterne - 2,352 signatures

Report of the Chief Executive seeking the endorsement of Council for the Southampton Solent University's updated Civic Charter.

Report of the Leader seeking approval of the Southampton 2035 City Plan.

Report of the Leader seeking approval of Southampton City Council Corporate Plan.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services seeking approval of the Capital Outturn 2024/25.

Report of the Cabinet Member for Finance and Corporate Services seeking approval of the Revenue Outturn 2024/25.

Report of the Leader of the Council setting out Government's plans to reorganise Local Government and the potential implications for Southampton.

Report of the Leader of the Council, attached.

(a) Moved by Councillor Moulton

Council calls on the new Leader and Executive to reconsider the proposed sale of the Amoy Street Car Parks in Bedford Place.

Council recognises the vital importance of these car parks to Bedford Place, London Road, and the wider area, as they provide convenient and safe long-stay parking for shoppers, visitors, residents, and workers across the retail, office, and other sectors.

Council further calls on the Leader and Executive to:

Undertake direct and detailed consultation with local businesses prior to any final decision; Carry out a full economic impact assessment to evaluate the consequences of losing these and other nearby car parks; Ensure any final decision is taken at a public Cabinet meeting, not through officer delegation.

Additionally, Council calls on the Cabinet to publish a list of all car parks in the Bedford Place area that have been formally approved for potential disposal, so the full implications can be properly understood.

Finally, Council agrees that this approach should also apply to any future proposals to dispose of car parks in other areas such as Bitterne, Woolston, and Shirley.

(b) Moved by Councillor Kloker

Introduction

This Council Notes:

Our globally rare and ecologically fragile chalk streams, such as the River Itchen and River Test, face increasing threats from pollution, over-abstraction, and unchecked development. These waterways, internationally recognised for their rarity, are not only unique ecosystems but also cherished assets at the heart of Southampton’s identity and wellbeing.

There is widespread agreement among nature NGOs like The Wildlife Trusts and World Wildlife Fund that the safeguarding of chalk streams requires engaged, informed communities and robust support for local initiatives. With only 14% of UK rivers in good ecological health and none in good chemical health, the need for urgent, grassroots action is clear. Public concern in Southampton has grown, as highlighted by the River Itchen Scrutiny Inquiry (2022-23), and the city’s residents are eager to take an active role—through citizen science, education, and hands-on projects—to clean up rivers and restore local nature.

Central to these efforts is investment in blue-green infrastructure: networks of healthy rivers, estuaries, parks, and natural spaces that deliver vital ecological services and climate resilience. Such investment is not a luxury but a foundational part of Southampton’s economic regeneration, enhancing quality of life, attracting new opportunities, and supporting sustainable economic growth. By prioritising blue-green infrastructure, the City can leverage the passion and expertise of its community—through groups like Friends of Itchen Estuary, Respect the River, Friends of Riverside Park, and many others—to create a thriving, nature-rich urban environment.

Recent discussions with Southern Water and continued momentum from local campaigns reflect the City’s shared ambition to achieve designated bathing water status for the Itchen estuary and make Southampton’s rivers safe, healthy, and as nature rich as they once were. Recognising the immense contribution that clean, vibrant blue-green spaces make to climate change resilience, economic vitality, wellbeing, and civic pride, this Council is committed to putting the community at the centre of river restoration and making blue-green infrastructure a cornerstone of Southampton’s future.

The Motion

The Universal Declaration of River Rights establishes that all rivers shall possess, at minimum, the following fundamental rights:

1) The right to flow,

2) The right to perform essential functions within the river’s ecosystem,

3) The right to be free from pollution,

4) The right to feed and be fed by sustainable aquifers,

5) The right to native biodiversity, and;

6) The right to regeneration and restoration.

Recognising this Universal Declaration of River Rights framework, this Council recommendations and requests of Cabinet:

1) This Council requests that Cabinet recognise that a thriving, resilient relationship with our rivers and estuaries can only be achieved by placing the local communities at the heart of a Rights of Rivers charter. Community voices, stewardship, and lived experience are essential to shaping how Southampton defines, protects, and celebrates the rights of its rivers.

2) This Council requests Cabinet to work in close collaboration with local communities and relevant stakeholders to ensure genuine, ongoing community input in the implementation of a Rights of Rivers for our rivers and estuaries. This includes empowering the community to co-develop a ‘Declaration of the Rights of Rivers’ with stakeholders, to be brought to the Council for endorsement by Spring 2027.

3) This Council, in accordance with the Adopted Local Development Plan, Southampton City Vision and its successors, requests Cabinet to:

a. Work in collaboration with all relevant agencies and stakeholders to safeguard and enhance water and habitat quality in our chalk stream.

b. Ensure that Strategic Planning will take account of the Rights of Rivers and chalk streams and that the Council will take all necessary measures to protect these ecosystems, including within the Local Plan review and its successors.

c. To request officers and the development control process to take account of the Rights of Rivers and chalk streams, with any development proposals within a river catchment required, including consideration of the imposition of a condition of the planning process, to have no adverse impact on the health, water quality or ecological integrity, and to, where possible, deliver improvements.

Supporting SCC Policies

Biodiversity net gain strategy

Green infrastructure strategy

Green City plan

Planning policies

(c) Moved by Councillor Renyard

Council notes:

Governments Green Paper on Welfare Reform originally published on 18th March with subsequent changes before passing through The Commons by a slim majority on the 1st July has received much criticism across the political spectrum. That the current bill, now unrecognisable from the original, is acknowledged to be in a shape many feel is not fit for purpose.

That as an upper-tier local authority we are responsible for managing social care services in Southampton, upholding disability rights legislation, ensuring accessibility within the disabled community, and play a key role in the provision of support services.

• That upper-tier local authorities with the above responsibilities, like Southampton City, were not adequately consulted on the bill and its wider impacts.

• That health compromised and disabled communities and their representatives have still not been adequately consulted on the bill.

• That any cuts to the health-condition related element of Universal Credit (UC-H) for new claimants or to Personal Independence Payments (PIP) in the future, amount to an unacceptable attack on both Disabled people and those with health conditions of all ages, whether in work or not.

• It is likely that £3b of the £5b savings this Bill were seeking will no longer be made and this sum will need to be met elsewhere, putting additional strain on Local Authorities with Adult Social Care responsibilities.

• It is likely that new claimants of UC-H will be £3000 worse off than existing claimants, pushing these people further into poverty.

• It is likely that, following the review of PIP, over 60% of people who would not qualify under the currently proposed new recipient assessment for PIP will be women.

• It is dishonest of politicians to repeatedly respond to concerns about PIP and UC-H reductions with claims that the changes will help people in to work. UC-H is for individuals unlikely to be able to work due to health conditions and PIP is for disabled recipients whether in work or not.

• That any further progress on this bill, including those changes for UC-H, should come after all concerned organisations across both service providers, disability representative groups and those of the disabled and health compromised community themselves have been properly consulted,

• That disabled and health compromised people should be at the heart of all decision making that affects them and that all levels of Government have a responsibility to ensure that this is the case.

• That local authorities’ current responsibilities and challenges in the provision of adequate services to the disabled and health compromised communities must be addressed as part of changes to these elements of welfare, until such time as the Government sees fit to properly address adult social care at a national level.

This council further believes that the proposed or future cuts are also likely to have wider adverse impacts on our community, our local economy and the council’s finances. These include:

• Reduced local spending – residents in receipt of welfare support spend most of their income in local shops and on local services

• Increased rent arrears among council tenant households that include disabled or health compromised people.

• Increased pressure on social services -council has the same statutory responsibilities under the Care Act 2014 but residents’ ability to contribute to care costs is potentially reduced, subject to the Timms review.

• Increased use of food banks and food hubs -75% of food bank visits are from households with one or more Disabled or health compromised members.

Council resolves:

• To ask the Leader to write to The Secretary of State for Work and Pensions and The Chancellor of the Exchequer and ask:

• That the bill be given more time before its report stage and final reading in The Commons so that the necessary work of engagement with local authorities, disability groups, their representatives and concerned members of the disabled and health compromised community can take place, as well as giving MPs the time they need to assess the bill in its new form.

• That the proposed £1b Employment Support Package, due to be “accelerated” ahead of the 2029 initial timescale, is fully implemented prior to any cuts to welfare payments affecting the disabled and health-compromised community.

• That Council work with local MPs to convene a fully accessible local forum for Disabled and Health compromised peoples’ organisations and charities, working with these people so that their views are heard by the wider public, by this local authority and the national Government via engaged local MPs.

• To assess and publish urgently the likely impact of the proposed changes to residents within our council area.

(d) Moved by Councillor P Baillie

This council believes in the value of community centres.

This council is dismayed at the likely loss of Harefield Community Centre.

This council urges the administration to allow the community centre to be rescued by local people, before the land is used for housing and the community centre is lost to Harefield.

(e) Moved by Councillor Wood

Council notes:

There is currently a Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) campaign calling for better access to NHS ear wax removal services. Hearing is vital for communication. 18 million people in the UK are deaf or have hearing loss or tinnitus. Hearing loss affects many people over 50. It is an invisible disability and is often overlooked.

Access to treatment has become inconsistent and many GP surgeries no longer offer this vital service. Wax removal is available privately, including at high street opticians, but many people, especially older residents and those on low incomes, cannot access these services.

The lack of easy access to ear wax removal services can cause people to attempt self-removal of ear wax. This can have serious complications, such as infections, permanent damage to the ear or hearing loss. Untreated earwax and resulting hearing loss can cause significant social isolation.

The RNID state that “There is no medical reason for withdrawing this vital service. The ongoing cuts to ear wax removal services are having a profound impact on people’s wellbeing.”

Southampton City Council ran a hearing event for employees on 14th May this year where it was recognised that lack of funding for ear wax removal is a problem.

Council believes:

Delivering a consistent ear wax removal service to all who need it would improve the lives of thousands of residents. This is a relatively low-cost treatment which can make a huge difference to people’s lives. Without this service, residents can experience social isolation and mental health problems.

Ear wax removal is a service that should be available to everyone that needs it. There is no medical reason why it is not. The current situation is letting down the people of Southampton.

The old model of ear wax removal being provided in GP practices as part of primary care was effective and returning to this would benefit patients.

Council resolves:

The council will put pressure on the NHS, through HOSP and other mechanisms, to make ear wax removal services available via primary care to all Southampton residents who need it.

For the council to support the Royal National Institute for Deaf People (RNID) campaign regarding access to ear wax removal services.

(f) Moved by Councillor Gravatt

Creating a pop-up hospitality hub in Mayflower Park

Council notes:

Mayflower Park is a much-loved public space in the city offering fantastic views across Southampton Water. Unfortunately, over time the condition of the park has deteriorated, and it is in need of investment and a refresh. The council's current financial position does not allow for the full investment required to restore Mayflower Park. Therefore, it would be better to make smaller targeted investments to improve the space and make better use of it.

Other coastal areas have made use of pop-up hospitality hubs, either from food trucks or adapted shipping containers, to revitalise underused waterfront areas. These provide spaces for small businesses to offer food and drink to visitors, and when designed well, create vibrant areas of significant benefit to the local economy. The western area of parking in Mayflower Park has been blocked off by concrete barriers, creating a large open space which is currently unused—this could be an ideal site for such a hub.

Council believes:

Delivering a pop-up hospitality hub in Mayflower Park would help revitalise the park, boost visitor numbers, and generate income for the council through rents. Despite being a coastal city, our waterfront areas are lacking in activity—this project would bring life to the waterfront and support local businesses, jobs, tourism, and the evening economy.

The council should directly invest in and deliver a hospitality hub comprised of shipping containers converted to house restaurants and bars, with associated seating and lighting to create an attractive hospitality area in keeping with the industrial character of the park. Planned works to the sea defences could provide an opportunity to re-pave the area and deliver public realm improvements, including new paving and lighting.

Providing a smaller scheme to improve a section of Mayflower Park is financially feasible through the council’s revolving regeneration fund. This investment would be an excellent use of this fund. While this project will not fully restore Mayflower Park, which is in need of significant investment, it will be a first step towards a better park. The scheme being a pop-up means it can be moved and adapted as required for events or if there is progress on the planned Spitfire memorial.

Council resolves:

1. To develop a proposal to deliver a shipping container pop-up hospitality hub in the western area of Mayflower Park, comprising 3–5 units fitted out as restaurants or bars, with associated outdoor seating, lighting, and public realm improvements.

2. To aim to deliver this project in time for spring / early summer 2026.

3. To work with partners such as the Southampton International Boat Show to explore if additional investment may be available, and to make sure that the plans work alongside major events held in the park.

To consider any question of which notice has been given under Council Procedure Rule 11.2.

To deal with any appointments to Committees, Sub-Committees or other bodies as required.