Councillor Walker presented her notice of motion to Council as amended as follows:
(i) Removal of paragraph 1 as this work had already been completed by the Devon Audit Partnership
(ii) Removal of paragraph 5 as the Council had a responsibility to support all citizens
(iii) Amendment to paragraph 2 to replace “Home Office” with “Foreign Office”
It was moved by Councillor Walker and seconded by Councillor Lofthouse “that the notice of motion as amended be adopted”.
The Chief Executive advised that the Council was already working on providing support to Ukraine Refugees in partnership with other Devon Local Authorities as part of Team Devon. The Council was also working with third parties such as Pickwell Foundation and Sunrise to ensure that the placements were successful and they were provided with appropriate support. If a placement failed, refugees would present themselves to the Council as being homeless and requiring emergency accommodation. A review of the Devon County Council’s Pension Fund had already been carried out and only 0.15% of the Pension Fund was linked to Russian involvement and the Fund was looking at ways to reduce this percentage even further.
RESOLVED that the Council:
(a) Where possible to offer the help and assistance to Ukrainian refugees that they require during this heart-breaking period.
(b) Support, promote and work in partnership with local charitable, community and religious organizations that are working to provide resources and assistance for those affected and displaced by the conflict in Ukraine.
(c) Through press releases, thank those who have made generous offers of accommodation to Ukrainian refugees within their homes.
(d) Ask the County Council to work with our local school community to urgently find placement for school age children seeking refuge in North Devon.
(e) Promote opportunities to support organisations working on the ground in Ukraine to provide humanitarian aid and shelter – such as the British Red Cross, Unicef and the UN Refugee Council.
(f) Ask our Member of Parliament to raise with the Home Office the difficulty children, who don’t have a passport, are currently experiencing at the UK border.
(g) Write to the Foreign Office to give North Devon support to stricter sanctions on the Russian regime – and in particular to extend sanctions against Russian oligarchs with ties to Putin’s regime to fully block their access to financial operations in the UK.
(h) Ask all Group Leaders to sign a joint letter to the Prime Minister and Foreign Secretary calling on the UK Government to match words with action and:
a. Offer sanctuary to Ukrainian people in their hour of need without having to go through a prolonged visa application process.
b. End our dependence on Russian energy as quickly as possible and fast-track the transition to renewable energy sources.
c. Impose the severest economic, financial, technical and cultural sanctions on the Russia state.