Agenda item

Questions to Members of the Cabinet.

In accordance with the Council Procedure Rules, all questions –

v  Must be relevant to an item which the Council has powers or duties;

v  Must not relate to an item which is included elsewhere on the 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.

Councillor S Bywater drew attention to the declining availability of public transport in Sawtry and the impact of the recent announcement by Meridian Trust to close Sawtry swimming pool in December 2022 leaving children and families with limited means to access such facilities elsewhere to learn to swim and questioned the Executive Councillor for Leisure, Waste and Streetscene  as to what action she taking with Meridian Trust to ensure the swimming pool remained open as the District Council had invested heavily in the infrastructure over the years. In response, Councillor S L Taylor provided a background to the history of the transfer of the leisure facility from the District Council to Meridian Trust in December 2019 with the business identified as a going concern. The District Council had also funded £80k to help facilitate the ongoing operational and maintenance running costs to ensure the asset remained open and available. She confirmed that the District Council had met with Meridian Trust, owners of the asset, to see how the District Council could support operationally, but at the present time the District Council did not have the financial means to support due to rising increasing operational costs associated with One Leisure as a result of the pandemic and increase in energy costs. She further urged the residents of Sawtry to communicate with Meridian Trust outlining their concerns.

Councillor J Neish referred to the limited numbers of applications being considered by the Development Management Committee and cancellation of meetings and raised a question in relation to the number of planning applications in the backlog and number not determined within legislative timeframes within last six months. He further asked what directive had been issued by the Executive Councillor for Planning to assist with this, as well as the estimated number of applications dealt with during the 10-day temporary closedown of the Department and what efficiency drives would be put in place for the ongoing effective running of the Department for residents and developers to see an improvement in determination rates, as substantial budget had been set aside by the previous administration to address such issues. In response Councillor T D Sanderson explained that the Planning Department had undergone major changes recently and the pre-application advice service launched today would avoid additional amendments being submitted during application process and income would be maximised. Until recently there was not a clear method to fix the system, nor clear metrics to measure rates of successes. He reported that 681 cases had been dealt with since May 2022 that were over 12 weeks old and around 110 applications of these applications had been for strategic sites coming forward. With a new Management Team in the service keen to deliver, the Executive Councillor was confident that the public would be seeing a stronger and more robust service going forward.

Arising from a question from Councillor C Lowe on who had funded the £10 voucher scheme for attendees at the recent Climate Change Strategy Engagement Focus Groups, Councillor L Davenport-Ray, Executive Councillor for Climate and Environment, undertook to investigate and provide a written response to the councillor.

Councillor P Kadewere requested a recap by the Executive Councillor for Customer Services of the measures the District Council had put in place in the District to assist residents in tackling the cost of living crisis. Councillor S Ferguson referred to the financial support pages on the District Council’s website, promotion of Warmer Spaces through community groups, support through Household Support fund supporting 400 residents in Quarter 1, the award of £56k in discretionary housing payments to residents on low incomes, low levels of homelessness in the District supported by an excellent Housing Team, support for voluntary sector and other community groups in need and the facilitation of awarding £9.4m to 64k residents in the District as part of the energy rebate scheme and thanked Officers involved.

Following the cancellation of Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Customers and Partnerships), Development Management Committee, Corporate Governance Committee, Employment Committee and Climate Change Strategy Working Group meetings, Councillor T Alban questioned whether residents should be concerned about the lack of available business for such meetings and whether there was a democratic deficit in the District. In response, the Executive Leader, Councillor S J Conboy, assured residents that there was not a democratic deficit as the opposition would be aware of the work streams coming through from the previous administration and should also appreciate that delays do occur. She further drew attention to the work that had been undertaken with many Members recently looking at the work programme for Overview and Scrutiny and looked forward to full Agendas going forward.

Councillor M L Beuttell raised a question in relation to an update of Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE), specifically where the Council was with the Cambridgeshire County Council Agreement and Department for Transport, as all information has been removed from the website, as well as an update for residents on when CPE will be delivered. The Executive Councillor for Leisure, Waste and Street Scene, Councillor S L Taylor, reported that the Council was still in talks with the County Council and undertook to provide a full written response to Members following an update from Officers.

Councillor A R Jennings raised a question on when the District Council would be moving forward with the consultations on St Neots Future High Street Fund and town centre regeneration and committing the spending, as the money that had been secured needed to be spent and every month delay was eroding the pot on transport projects, together with the £16.2m secured by previous administration of Community Infrastructure Levy funding had been reduced by approximately £0.5m. In response, Executive Councillor for Jobs, Economy and Housing, Councillor S Wakeford, referred to an update that had been provided on the Market Towns Programme at the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Performance and Growth) on 7th September 2022 and in respect of the transport elements, a further date was scheduled with St Neots Town Council in a fortnight and Ward Members would be invited. A full programme of engagement events would take place in the final week of November 2022 inviting key stakeholders and a further report being submitted to the Cabinet for consideration in the coming months on The Old Falcon Hotel. By reference to the funding question, Councillor Wakeford explained that they had been more scrupulous in terms of how the money had been accounted for and would seek Officer advice as to providing a fuller response to Councillor Jennings.