To deal with any questions on notice from Members of the Council, in the order in which they have been received.
A period of up to 15 minutes is allocated for the asking and answering of questions. This may be extended at the discretion of the Chairman with the agreement of the majority of those present.
Minutes:
Questions submitted by Councillor C. J. Bloore
“Could the leader of the Council tell us when did he find out the County Council wanted to decrease the District Councils share of income from the proposed Business rates pilot scheme? Could he tell me who took the decision to reject the proposal and did he consult the Deputy Leader and if so did she support the reduction or not?”
The Leader responded that the Section 151 Officer emailed her recommendation to all Group Leaders on 20th October 2017. This detailed the potential financial gain for the Council of a 50:49:1 split in favour of the district. On the afternoon of Monday 23rd October she was advised that the County had undertaken some further detailed work on the impact of the initial business rate split proposal and that County felt the proposed allocation was not acceptable and requested a 40:59:1 in favour of the County Council. The Section 151 Officer advised that this would not be financially beneficial to the District.
The original terms were agreed at the Worcestershire Leaders’ Board and the leader had advised the Chief Executive and the Section 151 Officer to enquire if other Leaders were of the same mind to reject the proposal. The response was unanimous to reject this and the County Council had been advised accordingly. No other consultation took place and the bid was submitted on the original terms.
Question submitted by Councillor S. R. Colella
“Why has the Leader committed this Council to taking on additional housing from Birmingham City Council and on what authority?”
The Leader responded that he had not done this. Authority was given in the Bromsgrove District Plan which contained the following policy with regards to the Green Belt and the needs of the conurbation, not Birmingham City.
BDP4.2
A Local Plan Review including a full Review of the Green Belt will be undertaken in accordance with BDP 3 in advance of 2023 to identify:
c) Land to help deliver the objectively assessed housing requirements of the West Midlands conurbation within the current plan period i.e. up to 2030.
This policy had been consulted on widely through the plan process and also discussed at length as part of the examination in public. Without such a policy it would have been highly likely the Bromsgrove District Plan would not have met the duty to co-operate or have been found sound by the inspectorate on behalf of the Secretary of State. In approving the Plan at its various stages of production, and finally adopting the Plan in January of this year, the authority for this policy was given by the Council as a whole.
Councillor Colella responded that he did not believe that if other Members had been aware that this was within the Plan that it would have been approved and that this should have been made clear at the January meeting of the Council when it was considered. He suggested that at no point had it been stated that a number of authorities could build houses in the District and that the answer he had received to his question was not satisfactory. Councillor Colella then called for an emergency debate to be held in order for the matter to be discussed in more detail.
The Leader did not accept this and suggested that the matter would be better dealt with through the Strategic Planning Steering Group.
Question submitted by Councillor C. A. Hotham
"Please could the Leader confirm the number of looked after children within the Bromsgrove District and explain the role of the corporate parent and its relevance to District Councillors."
The Leader responded that there were 61 looked after children within the Bromsgrove District as at the end of September 2017, which were the latest figures available. It was highlighted that the role of the Corporate Parent was extremely important and one that every Member should consider and be aware of in their role as a Ward Councillor and when making Council decisions.
The Portfolio Holder had been proactive in raising the profile of Corporate Parenting and ensured that it was included in the recent Member training on Safeguarding, to which all Members were invited. An answer to the question had been provided at that event, but as not all Members had been present the Leader had asked officers to circulate the Safeguarding Training presentation to all Councillors following this meeting.
Question submitted by S. P. Shannon
In the absence of Councillor S. Shannon, Councillor M. T. Buxton read out his question.
“I imagine that Leader of this Council is as disappointed and as angry as myself and residents reading front page headlines in local newspaper that West Mercia Police and Council officers no longer have time to detect and clean up after vandals have repeatedly left graffiti tags on BDC buildings and play equipment in parks around the district. Will the Leader recognise that residents are paying the all time highest ever amounts of Council Tax and Police Precept to the Council and overturn this opt out of responsibility from Council Officers and organise surveillance and cctv systems to be monitored?”
The Leader responded that he too had been angered by the vandalism and had asked Councillor P. J. Whittaker, as Portfolio Holder for Leisure, to provide a response.
Councillor Whittaker responded that he too had been disgusted with the graffiti and that this had been removed on at least 4 occasions. He believed that the newspaper article had been misleading and explained that the Operative who was trained in the use of the special equipment needed to remove the graffiti was currently on sick leave following a road accident and that alternative arrangements were being made to ensure that the graffiti was removed as soon as possible. It was also understood that through Police work and CCTV operators closely monitoring the situation someone had been caught and this would hopefully resolve the matter.
The Chairman took the opportunity of wishing the member of staff a speedy recovery.