Agenda item

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.

 

The Chairman explained that 9 Questions on Notice had been received for consideration at the meeting.  These questions would be considered in the order in which they had been received.  There would be no supplementary questions.

 

Question submitted by Councillor P. McDonald

 

"How many employees are being paid less than the Living Wage Foundation’s £9.50?"

 

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling responded by explaining that the Council paid the Foundation Living Wage, which was set at £9.50 per hour.  There were no employees who were being paid less than £9.50, other than one apprentice post, which was being paid at the appropriate apprentice rate for the age of the employee. This was in line with the national apprentice pay rates.

 

Question submitted by Councillor C. Hotham

 

“This council has five strategic purposes. Three make no mention of climate change. Of the remaining two, there is a brief mention of making recycling easier and improving home energy efficiency. There is also a brief vague mention of a “green thread” running through council policy. I don’t think this now demonstrates sufficient commitment to fighting climate change. We have a newly appointed Climate Change Cabinet Member, a climate change working group and a general strong consensus across the council that time is running out and that now is the time to act.

 

Does the Climate Change Cabinet Member agree with me that tackling climate change should become a strategic purpose of this council in its own right and will he undertake to make sure this happens?”

 

The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change commented that he was delighted that the importance of climate change had been highlighted.  The Council had agreed that the ‘green thread’ should run throughout the Council Plan, as it was not something that stood on its own.  Responsibility for climate change cut across all services and portfolios and was something that everyone had responsibility for, as opposed to being a distinct stand-alone purpose.  In this respect, the Portfolio Holder for Climate Change had a co-ordinating role across all of the strategic purposes.

 

The Council was fully committed to the authority’s climate change duties and as such the Portfolio Holder for Climate Change invited Councillor Hotham to highlight this again when the Council Plan was due a review in a year’s time.

 

Question submitted by Councillor S. Baxter

 

“Please could the leader provide an update on the redistribution of the many surplus Council ipads to schools.”

 

The Leader responded by commenting that in April 2021, contact was made with Worcestershire Children First, which was responsible for the delivery of services to children and young people in Worcestershire.  Worcestershire Children First were offered Members’ old ipads for distribution amongst children attending local schools.  In response, the Council was advised that there was no scheme operated for this purpose by Worcestershire Children First.  However, they suggested that contact be made with the social enterprise NewStarts about donation of the equipment, as NewStarts operated a recycling scheme where they repurposed donated laptops.  Following consultation with the Leader, it was subsequently determined that the ipads would be donated to NewStarts for this purpose and this occurred in early June 2021.

 

Question submitted by Councillor S. Robinson

 

“Bus Shelters

 

Please could the cabinet member update council on its bus shelter improvement programme and advise us what are the implications of the county council’s plan to adopt district owned shelters? Will all our shelters be transferred and will the improvements BDC budgeted for this year still go ahead?”

 

The Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services explained that it was understood that the County Council were considering taking responsibility for bus shelters across the County. However, Bromsgrove District Council had not received a formal approach from Worcestershire County Council on this subject. Therefore, the Engineering and Design Team were continuing with the programme and had just procured a contractor to supply the new bus shelters. Work on site for preparation of the first 4 bus shelters was scheduled to start before Christmas, weather permitting, and would be carried out by the Council’s Minor Works Team and the authority’s Civil Engineering contractor.  Work on a further 4 bus shelters would then be undertaken between January and March 2022, weather permitting. A small number of other sites might be replaced during the financial year if the budget allowed.”

 

Question submitted by Councillor R. Hunter

 

“Swimming Pools

 

A recent report by Swim England called ‘A Decade of Decline: The Future of Swimming Pools in England’ reveals the shocking potential for a huge reduction in the availability of public swimming pools nationally by the end of the decade. It predicts that the number of public pools in England could fall by us much as 40 percent, the equivalent of almost 2,000 pools. What reassurance can you offer this council that the future provision of public swimming in Bromsgrove is in safe hands and that we will not see local services diminished as part of this worrying national trend?”

 

The Portfolio Holder for Leisure, Cultural Services and Community Safety advised that consultants were in the process of developing a leisure strategy for the Council. Amongst other things, the information compiled to inform this strategy, would include an understanding of the provision of and demand for swimming facilities available to residents. It was important to note that Bromsgrove town was very fortunate to have a modern, recently constructed swimming provision. This was in contrast to many of the swimming pools in England referred to in the “decade of decline” document.  In addition, Council had worked cross party throughout the pandemic and beyond to ensure that these facilities were sustainable and continued to deliver the very best for the residents of the District at a time when their health and well-being was so important.”

 

Question submitted by Councillor J. King

 

“What practical support is this council offering to the 5,000 low income Universal Credit claimants in this district who became £20 a week poorer in October?”

 

The Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling responded by explaining that the benefits section at Bromsgrove District Council were committed to supporting residents who were struggling financially both in the short and long term.   The Council had a dedicated Financial Independence Team (FIT) who could help with a number of areas of support (for example income maximisation, benefit take up, budgeting advice as well as being able to signpost to other specialist agencies and partners.)

 

The authority administered a range of benefits to support residents: Housing Benefit, Council Tax Support, Discretionary Housing Payments and Council Tax Hardship Payments. The Council also had an Essential Living Fund (ELF) scheme which could help with a wide range of costs such as utility costs, food parcels and supermarket vouchers.

 

Further details and contact information were provided in a leaflet entitled “Income Extra”, a copy of which would be circulated to all Members after the meeting.

 

Question submitted by Councillor K. Van Der Plank

 

“Please can we have an update on the new mobile CCTV cameras that were promised to help tackle fly tipping. What other measures have been introduced to tackle fly tipping since the motion we passed in 2019 and how many convictions have we now had?”

 

The Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services explained that she would respond to the question in two parts.

 

Firstly, in terms of the update on new mobile CCTV cameras to help tackle fly tipping, she confirmed that these were purchased at the start of the financial year and had been used successfully at several of the hotspot locations in the District so far.  They were rotated around based on where the most active locations were.  The Council was reviewing future enforcement arrangements and expected to be submitting a bid for funding to purchase additional cameras to build on this in 2022.

 

Secondly, in relation to other measures to tackle fly tipping since 2019 and the number of convictions, Members were informed that the Council was part of a North Worcestershire bid via the partnership for funding from the West Mercia Police and Crime Commissioner to support landowners with fly tipping on private land over the following two years.  This would involve a media campaign, bespoke signage, education on how to deter this type of activity, and a number of additional cameras to support direct monitoring and catch those responsible. The Council was anticipating that a decision would be announced on this shortly.

 

The Council had significantly increased signage across the District, including the main gateways into the area from the North and North East, in order to deter those coming from outside of the District to dump fly tipped items. So far during the 2021/22 financial year, the Council had issued 12 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) for fly-tipped waste using footage from these cameras and had several cases that were being worked up and progressed through the Courts for prosecution. The Council was working up a press campaign to publicise this as an additional deterrent for others considering fly tipping in the District and any unpaid FPNs would be escalated through the Court Process as required.

 

Fly Tipping numbers had reduced across the District on average by 100 per month in comparison with 2020, and the Council had also seen changes in behaviour around fly tipping that supported the view that many of those responsible were aware of the increased scrutiny

 

Question submitted by Councillor A. English

 

“Could we please have an update on the Government grant for insulating park homes? How much did BDC receive and how many homes have been insulated as result?”

 

The Leader advised that the Council, as part of a consortium with the five other local authorities in Worcestershire, had applied for funding from the Green Homes Grant Scheme – Local Authority Delivery phase 1a scheme (LADs 1a). The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) advised that the consortium was successful in its application on the 1st October 2020, with all works and claims to be made by the 31st October 2021.

 

The Council’s proposal was to undertake external wall insulation (EWI) to park homes within the District where occupiers met the eligibility criteria and Bromsgrove District Council was able to claim up to a maximum of £439,150 capital and £9,000 revenue for the delivery of works.  This was a complex proposal requiring the Council to procure, through a compliant tender, a Trustmark registered contractor and a managing agent, both of whom were required to be in place to deliver the scheme. Due to the Covid-19 lockdown, there were a number of factors which presented as challenges, including supply chain issues, and difficulties in securing the availability of suitable tradespersons. The timeframes within which the works had to be completed and validated claims lodged resulted in the number of park homes completions not meeting the expected spend. 

 

One park home site was selected in order that time and materials could be used most efficiently, and the scheme was able to complete and fund EWI and ancillary works to 16 park homes. The costs of the capital and ancillary works which the Council claimed for was £216,868.37 capital and also £9,000 for the project delivery costs. This equated to 49% of the available funding being claimed and received. It had been confirmed that this underspend was comparable with the other Worcestershire local authorities’ claims, and also nationally for LADS 1a.

 

Question submitted by Councillor H. Rone-Clarke

 

“Given that Bromsgrove prides itself on its ‘night-time economy’, the rise in incidents of spiking, particularly and disturbingly, with needles should concern us all greatly. What steps can BDC take to regulate against these attacks and will the leader commit to them now?”

 

The Leader responded by commenting that Bromsgrove was proud of its diverse night-time economy which served residents of the town and people from further afield.  The allegations that had been made in some of the larger cities were concerning but the Leader explained that West Mercia Police had advised that there were no confirmed cases of drink spiking involving needles or otherwise in Bromsgrove. One allegation (not involving needles) was made several weeks ago but this had not been confirmed. West Mercia Police took any such allegations seriously and would investigate thoroughly. Members were asked to encourage any resident with information about such offences or, in the case of a resident believing they had been a victim of drink spiking, to report it to West Mercia Police as soon as possible and in an emergency to dial 999.

 

With regard to steps Bromsgrove District Council could take, the Leader had been advised by the Licensing Team at Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) that this issue had been raised at Bromsgrove Pubwatch and that all members of the group had been asked to be particularly vigilant in relation to this concerning activity. Also, via Safer Bromsgrove and the Town Centre Management Group, all agencies and bodies engaged with the night time economy, including operators, were fully alive to this issue and were actively monitoring and discussing various prevention opportunities.  Whilst there had been no confirmed cases of spiking in the District partners were not complacent and were working closely with premises’ license holders and their designated premises supervisors to ensure all reasonable steps were being taken to prevent this practice, as part of their duty to prevent crime and disorder under the Licensing Act 2003.  

 

Members were reminded that the Licensing Act and its associated regime were designed to be permissive so, in the absence of evidence, the Council and other partners in their roles as responsible authorities could not apply blanket conditions to premises without evidence of issues specifically arising there.  Officers of the Council and their colleagues at West Mercia Police would continue to encourage businesses to take steps to limit the potential impact of this national concern and any further allegations would be subject to considerable scrutiny by all relevant agencies.