Issue - meetings

Questions on Notice

Meeting: 26/01/2022 - Council (Item 82)

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:

The Chairman explained that six Questions on Notice had been received for consideration at the meeting and would be considered in the order in which they had been submitted. A maximum of 15 minutes was allocated to consideration of these questions and the answers provided and there were no supplementary questions.

Question submitted by Councillor S. Douglas

“Can the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board update council on the progress that has been made with the scrutiny of fireworks, which occurred following Councillor Hunter’s submission of a Motion on this subject in December 2020?”

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board responded by explaining that the Motion from Councillor Hunter that was submitted to Council in December 2020 had been discussed initially at a meeting of the Board on 11^th January 2021. During this meeting, Members had discussed the Motion and eventually agreed that further information should be requested from a relevant source before deciding whether or not further investigation was required. This proposal was seconded by Councillor Douglas. At the meeting of the Board held on 26^th April 2021 there was a further discussion of this subject.

During the April meeting of the Board, Members received a report on the subject of fireworks. This reported that the Council was undertaking a procurement process and would take into account issues such as the noise of fireworks at Council-run events. The Board was also informed that the Council always issued communications in relation to any Council-run events and aimed to avoid holding fireworks events on the same night as other organisations to minimise disruption to the community.

There was no firework event in Bromsgrove Town Centre in 2021 due to concern about potential Covid-19 transmission and instead an Illuminating Autumn event took place in Sanders Park. The Board therefore had not discussed the matter again in 2021. However, the Board were due to discuss the matter further in March 2022. Councillor Douglas was advised that she would be very welcome to attend this meeting. The Chairman of the Board also offered to share copies of the minutes of the previous Board meetings with Councillor Douglas together with a copy of the report that was considered at the meeting held in April 2021.

Question submitted by Councillor R. Hunter

“Street Name Plates

What is Council’s policy on timescales for the replacement of missing street name plates? How long should the maximum waiting time be?”

The Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Community Safety responded by explaining that there had never been a timescale agreed for the replacement of Street Name Plates. The process that the Engineering Team followed was that once a report was received, an inspection was undertaken to establish what was required as it could mean re-erecting the existing sign or a completely new sign might be needed. If a new sign was found to be required, subject to the budget being available, an order was placed with the approved manufacturer. (At this stage delivery times ... view the full minutes text for item 82