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71 |
Receive any Questions Under Council Procedure Rule
12 from Members and provide Answers thereon
The following questions were asked under Council Procedure Rule
12 and answered as indicated:
Question 1
Questioner: Councillor Charlesworth
| Will the Council Leader kindly
inform Council how many meetings of Council committees, advisory
bodies and other meetings requiring the attendance of Members of
the Controlling Group have been cancelled or rescheduled since the
Conservatives took power in May 2007, including the proposed
cancellation and rescheduling of Monday 12 January 2009's Policy
Review Scrutiny and the cancellation of Wednesday 14 January 2009's
Policy Development Scrutiny Committees? |
Answered by Councillor D Grice
| Since we took control in May 2007 a
total of 53 meetings that members of my Group should have attended
have been cancelled. Of these meetings 23 were rescheduled. If
Councillor Charlesworth wishes I can arrange for a list detailing
all of these meetings, including the reason for cancellation, to be
forwarded to him |
Supplementary Question
| Does the Leader consider that along with the frequent absence
of various Conservative Councillors from timetabled meetings, the
continual cancelling and/or rescheduling of Committee and other
City Council meetings according to the availability of Conservative
Councillors to attend, is an indication of just how bad things have
come to in the running of this Council? Would he furthermore agree
with me that all this does is to impede the efficient
administration of Council business and debases the public
reputation of the Council and its Councillors? |
Answers
| In respect of the Corporate Equality and Diversity
Development Group, Officers were not available and also a number of
meetings were affected by industrial action. A number of meetings
were also cancelled due to lack of business. |
Question 2
Questioner: Councillor R Metcalfe
|
In your May 2007 Party Manifesto you
said "We will allocate money to each Ward. Councillors in
consultation with residents will negotiate how the money is spent
in their ward."
A full year later, at the Council meeting held in April 2008 I
asked Cllr Strengiel when the Ward Budgets scheme would be
introduced and he replied "within the next five weeks". Can you
explain to Council why, some 21 months since making this election
promise, no such scheme has been introduced?
|
Answered by Councillor D Grice
|
Following a comprehensive Strategic
Plan Review from May 2007, the revised Strategic Plan VII was
published in November 2007 and included a commitment to introduce a
scheme of Ward budgets, whereby every Councillor takes control of a
small budget to deliver/support community initiatives.
A total of £33,000 was
allocated for the scheme.
Officers subsequently undertook a
range of research to identify a model of ward budgets that balanced
the cost and administration of such a scheme, with the need to
ensure sufficient probity and governance arrangements.
As Councillor Metcalfe will be aware
the Standards and Audit Committee considered the proposed scheme on
28 July 2008 where a number of further suggestions were made. The
scheme was subsequently amended and submitted to Executive on 26
August 2008, where it was approved.
Executive, at its meeting on 15
September 2008, considered the relative importance of the service
review programme. Section 5.2 made it clear that some strategic
plan schemes would be deferred until after 2008/09 to allow staff
resources to be reallocated to the service review programme, which
was the priority.
Whilst the accompanying Appendix to
that report (Appendix D) indicated that the ward budget scheme
would progress in 2008/09, staff capacity had to be diverted from
this project as well to deliver the service review. The current
position is that the detailed procedure to underpin the operation
of the scheme will be worked through over the coming weeks and the
scheme will be launched to Members in April 2009.
|
Supplementary Question
|
This is a simple scheme, am I to understand that the average
delivery time for election promises is about two years?
|
Answers
| It appears we have delivered far more in 2 years then you
did in 10 years. |
Question 3
Questioner: Councillor Nannestad
| Given that the current service
review programme is intended to cut revenue costs of the City
Council to reduce a £1.5mn budget deficit, will you consider
withdrawing the allotments service from the current service review
programme? |
Answered by Councillor D Grice
| Councillor Nannestad takes every opportunity to insist that it
is about saving money; this is not true it is also about
investment. The Report to Executive on Monday 15 September
2008 identified all the service reviews that would be progressed as
part of Phase One of the service review programme.
Appendix A on Page 46 of that report identified Allotments as
one area of focus, and scheduled completion of the review for May
2009. The scope of that review, as detailed in the report, was
to:
· Consider disposal of assets
· Offer options for use of the capital
This service review was therefore established to essentially
look to improve the allotment sites overall through the possible
realisation of capital receipts from the sale of under used sites.
The focus was on re-investment back into the service area to
improve the quality.
I am aware of the focus of the previous media coverage of this
review, which on occasions has been less than helpful.
Despite this, the service review has moved at a pace and very
productive workshops have been held with Members and a
representative group of allotment holders on 24 and 27 November
2008 respectively. The aim of the workshops was to explore the
options to improve the service overall. Further consultation will
continue in the New Year.
A report will be submitted to Executive on 26 January 2008,
which will detail how work on allotment sites will be progressed
over the next few months, be it through the service review
programme itself or outside of that review process.
I can re-affirm that the primary focus remains on realising the
necessary funds for re-investment, rather than service cuts to meet
the council’s financial savings target.
|
Supplementary Question
| I am pleased with the anwer however I cannot understand
how Councillor D Grice believes that I knew the answer
beforehand. |
Answer
| I have no further comments to add. |
Question 4
Questioner: Councillor R Metcalfe
| In your May 2007 election manifesto you promised to "provide
the political will to speed up and simplify the issue of
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders". Can you inform Council how many
Anti-Social Behaviour Orders have been secured since May 2007 under
your administration? |
Answered by Councillor D Grice
| The Council is committed to using a wide range of means to
tackle the problem of anti-social behaviour and has consistently
worked closely with all the relevant partners to do this.
In terms of formal actions taken since May 2007, we have secured
8 ASBOs and currently have 2 pending a Court Hearing; we have also
agreed 10 Acceptable Behaviour Contracts and issued 782 Warning
Letters. As Members of Council will know, ASBOs are to be regarded
as an action of last resort, in those cases where all other
attempts to change an individuals behaviour have failed and the
Courts require those coming forward with an application to be able
to demonstrate that they have issued the appropriate warnings and
gone through the ABC process first.
As the Council will also be aware, the ASB Team, the
Council’s Sport & Leisure staff and partners are
proactive in addressing the problems created by anti-social
behaviour at the outset. Through initiatives such as the Fair Play
Football league and Dance Factor, Council officers have engaged
with young people across the City. Up to 65 young men are involved
in Fair Play Football each week when the programme is running and
120 young people took part in each Dance Factor session last year.
Monitoring by the ASB Team has shown that when these projects are
in operation, anti-social behaviour in the City falls, by as much
as 22%.
It is this combination of pro-active engagement, partnership
working and the use of the sanctions available to us, at the
appropriate time, which is having an impact on anti-social
behaviour
|
Question 5
Questioner: Councillor
Nannestad
| Can the Portfolio Holder explain why none of the four
Conservative Members of the Commons Advisory Panel attended the
last panel meeting and can he confirm that this lack of attendance
is an indication of the total disinterest the Conservative group
has in the City's Commons? |
Answered by Councillor Weaver
Thank you Mr Mayor
Mr Mayor, it may be of interest to you, colleagues on my right
and to the members of the opposition that I have the honour of
being a keeper of the City Centre Masterplan. I am not and do not
want to be keeper of my colleagues private lives. Mr Mayor, I do
not know, nor does it concern me what the other members of my group
who are on the Commons Advisory Panel where doing on that
night.
Councillor Nannestad is fully aware as to where I was because he
saw me but just in case he has forgotten I will refesh his
memory.
I was in Committee Room 4 chairing a meeting of the Hackney
Carriage and Private Hire Committee, with his good friend
Councillor Kath Brothwell and Councillor Paul Grice. A statutory
Committee, whereas the Commons Advisory Panel is not.
As for the second question he has asked, it is this Conservative
administration that has reintroduced the annual commons walk,
something he deemed fit to do away with. So I suggest he puts his
own ship in order before trying to imply scurrilous accusations
against this administration. |
Supplementary Question
| Your answer is wrong, Labour had a Commons Walk, we did not do
away with them. Only one Member of your party attended on both days
. Doesn't this show a lack of interest. |
Answer
| I am not the keeper of other peoples lives, I know where I was,
I was visiting my sick wife who comes first. |
Question 6
Questioner: Councillor R Metcalfe
| In your May 2007 election manifesto you promised to
"investigate with the relevant agencies the possibility of
introducing community punishment". Can you report to Council
whether such a scheme is to be introduced? |
Answered by Councillor D Grice
| During 2008 some very productive work has been undertaken
between the City Council and the Probation Service to more
effectively utilise the labour provided by those individuals
serving in the community through court orders or release on licence
from prison.
Heads of Service met with the Probation Service on 30 April
2008, and from that meeting a set of draft protocols were
established to select suitable schemes for delivery.
The arrangements were considered and approved by The City
Council’s Employee Joint Consultative Committee on 8 July
2008. The City Council’s Antisocial Behaviour Co-ordinator
administers the scheme on behalf of the Council and acts as the
liaison point.
Since the arrangements were established the long-standing item
of work has been the refurbishing of the railings along Yarborough
Road. As soon as this work has been completed focus will turn to
grounds maintenance works around the church on St Giles.
As Leader and the former Portfolio Holder for Social Justice, I
can confirm that this Council is committed to working effectively
with the Probation Service and other agencies to ensure that
Community punishments are effective – effective in that they
are seen by the wider community to be an appropriate recompense for
the offences committed and also so that they help to rehabilitate
offenders back into the community. This is something else we have
provided from our manifesto.
|
Question 7
Questioner: Councillor Nannestad
| How much rent, if any, did the City Council pay to Lincolnshire
County Council for the use of the Castle grounds for the Christmas
Market in 2007 and 2008? |
Answered by Councillor Spratt
| The hire charge paid to Lincolnshire County Council for the use
of Lincoln Castle in conjunction with the annual Lincoln Christmas
Market, was £4,120 in 2007, and £8,000 in 2008. |
Supplementary Question
| Bearing in mind a 100% increase was above the inflation
rate and Lincolnshire County Council are one of our partners. What
do they do as a partner other than put prices up? |
Answer
| Lincolnshire County Council is a commercial organisation and
have put their charges up to reduce costs. We have received
substanstial sponsorship this year both in kind and financial.
Increases have been experienced in this difficult economic climate.
The market is the jewel in our crown and was probably under the
previous administration. It was a political decision to keep the
market but we will continue to try and drive costs down. If the
market was stopped there would be considerable costs to the local
economy of approximately £9 million. Both organisations have
to maximise income. |
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