In accordance with the Council Procedure Rules, all questions –
v Must be relevant to matters for which the Council has powers or duties;
v Must not relate to an item which is included elsewhere on the Council Agenda;
v Should be limited to obtaining information or pressing for action; and
v Should not exceed two minutes in duration.
Questions should not divulge or require to be divulged, confidential or exempt information.
Contact:10 Minutes.
Minutes:
Arising from a question from Councillor A Roberts on an assessment of the effectiveness of the social distancing measures that had been deployed at One Leisure facilities since re-opening, Councillor K I Prentice, Executive Councillor for Leisure and Regulatory Services explained that an enhanced cleaning regime had been implemented, controlled access to centres rolled out and segregation of certain parts of equipment. As well as re-designation of some parts of the sports hall to maximise use across the widest range of activities to maintain safe and practical social distancing and this had been encouraging with attendance numbers rising since re-opening the leisure centres in mid-July 2020. He further reported that One Leisure had been trying to increase capacity with rising demand and customers had been welcoming the measures established to protect them as well as the staff and expressed his appreciation to the One Leisure staff for their hard work and adaptability in such difficult circumstances together with their professionalism.
In relation to a further supplementary
question from Councillor Roberts on how well the Customer Services
Team had been coping with the current situation, the Executive
Councillor for Corporate Services, Councillor D N Keane, reported
upon of how proud he was in the way that the Team had adapted to
change and very quickly transformed to a remote working Team
providing the same level of service. Since the reopening of
Pathfinder House there had been on average
6-8 people per day, with only two requiring face to face meetings,
whilst the others had been triaged to self-service via the customer
portal. Councillor Keane explained that this could all be
attributed to good management, staff engagement and use of the
technology available.
Arising from a comment by Councillor T D Alban on his appreciation to the Enforcement Team across the District addressing the increased instances of fly tipping, particularly along B660, whereby the Teams had taken action quickly to clear and check for evidence and he urged colleagues to ensure that such instances are reported. Councillor Ms M Beuttell, Executive Councillor for Operations and Environment concurred with the sentiments of Councillor Alban, particularly the hard work of the Teams involved and undertook to pass on the message of thanks to the respective Teams.
Councillor T D Sanderson raised a question in relation to the updated position on the Future High Streets Fund (FHSF) submission for St Neots and the subsequent position on the compulsory purchase of the Old Falcon Hotel on the Market Square. The Executive Leader reported that the FHSF had been submitted a few weeks ago and there had been a process of clarification on a few issues for every applicant whereby additional information had been required to be submitted. It was the expectation that any outcome on success or otherwise might not be known until the latter part of the year, with 100+ applications to consider, it was not clear as to what scale of options might be possible until the level of financial support was known. Referring to and responding to a request from the Mayor of St Neots, Councillor Fuller explained that a summary of the detail of the bid was being prepared so that it could be shared publicly for Members and the public.
In response to a question from Councillor P Kadewere on the continued closure of the toilets at Huntingdon Bus Station and any plans to re-open the facilities in response to a request from Shop Mobility to assist those visitors to the town with medical conditions, Councillor Fuller, Executive Leader explained that unfortunately such facilities could not be made Covid safe and it was illogical to re-open whilst such precautions were necessary.
Councillor B S Chapman raised a question in relation to liaison with bus companies, particularly Stagecoach’s recent announcement of significant route changes in Huntingdon and St Ives and loss of the X5 service in St Neots. Whereby Councillor Fuller explained that there was not a relevant Portfolio Holder as this was not a District Council service and suggested that his concerns might be better raised with colleagues at other authorities. However, in relation to the X5 service Councillor Fuller explained that he had raised this issue with the Mayor of the Combined Authority and it had been explained that the Mayor had commissioned a new bus service and feedback had been well received, with the public embracing the new service which had been demonstrated by usage numbers. He further suggested that any other concerns should be fed through and they would be raised at the appropriate level.
Councillor Chapman sought further clarification on the transport liaison officer at the District Council as general feedback on the new service demonstrated a more inferior level of service with no ability to take cycles onto this bus and no Public Wi-Fi, nor toilet facilities and asked that the Leader take these comments back as feedback on the replacement service.
Arising from a question from Councillor C Maslen on rejuvenation of St Neots with the closure of more shops in the town and possibility of re-visiting the car parking charges with a possible reduction in charges at the Riverside Car Park in the short term to encourage more footfall into the town centre and further plans for on-street parking enforcement, Councillor Ms Beuttell, Executive Councillor for Operations and Environment reported that there were no plans to reduce any car parking charges and since the re-opening of the town centres car parks had been very full. She further updated that the on-street parking enforcement would be looked at further in the ensuing year.
Councillor S Wakeford further pursued the question raised previously by Councillor Kadwere in relation to toilet facilities not being Covid secure and questioned whether the same thresholds were being applied to hospitality venues or had they found a way round this to open with such facilities, whereby Councillor Fuller, Executive Leader explained that in most hospitality venues they had a team of dedicated staff available all day to maintain the necessary cleaning regime whereas the District Council unfortunately could not provide the same level of service with someone stationed outside such facilities throughout the day.
In response to a question from Councillor Mrs S J Conboy on the preparedness of the District Council to assist with the expected second wave of Covid, Councillor Fuller, Executive Leader explained that the initial response provided by the District Council had not realistically been stood down from assisting and it had the ability and capacity to re-establish any support measures for those vulnerable groups, although any redeployment of resources may have implications and delay the delivery of other activities or projects.