Agenda item

Up to 60 minutes is allowed for this part of the meeting unless extended by the Chairman of Council on a motion moved, duly seconded and approved by the Council.  Members may ask one supplementary question in addition to their original question.

 

Members may ask one supplementary question in addition to their original question.

 

The questions received are set out in the agenda papers.

In accordance with Rule 12(1) of the Council Procedure Rules, Members of the Cabinet responded to the following questions:

 

(1)          Councillor M R Eddy will ask the Leader of the Council, Councillor K E Morris:

“A number of constituents in the Mill Hill ward have raised with me the need to reverse the decision of the former Home Secretary, Amber Rudd, not to hold a public inquiry in to the events surrounding the picketing of the Orgreave coking plant in 1984. Will the Leader of the Council write to the present Home Secretary requesting that a public inquiry be established to examine the events at Orgreave, in which some 200 Kent mine workers, mainly from this district, were involved; the decisions that led up to those events; and the way in which those events were presented in the aftermath of the events.”

In response Councillor K E Morris stated that a great deal of evidence had been submitted to the Government and a public enquiry had been refused. This was not likely to change without new evidence being submitted.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor M R Eddy exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(2)          Councillor P Walker will ask the Portfolio Holder for Access and Licensing, Councillor N J Collor:

“Can the Portfolio Holder for Access and Licensing outline to the Council the discussions held between the Council, the builders and/or operators of the Dover District Leisure Centre, and Stagecoach regarding the provision of bus services to and from the Centre, the town centres and other significant settlements like Aylesham, Shepherdswell, Eythorne and Eastry?”

In response Councillor N J Collor stated that the Council had liaised with KCC and Stagecoach during the development of the project to ensure that Dover District Leisure Centre was well served by public transport in the long term.

Local knowledge and experience gained at similar sites across the county indicated that new services to specifically serve the site would not be sustainable, so the best use of development contributions was identified as a ticket incentive scheme that would be administered by the Centre operator.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor P Walker exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(3)          Councillor P Walker withdrew his question.

 

(4)          Councillor M R Eddy will ask the Portfolio Holder for Property Management and Environmental Health, Councillor T J Bartlett:

“Could the Portfolio Holder for Property Management and Environmental Health update the Council on the progress being made to bring the triangular open space in Freemens Way into use for the public benefit of the people of the Mill Hill ward in particular and the people of Deal in general?”

In response Councillor T J Bartlett stated that the open space at Freemens Way was publicly accessible, but was privately owned and therefore was not maintained by the Council.  When complaints had been received about the state of this site, the Council had contacted the land owners and ensured that they addressed any safety or public nuisance issues. 

In addition, during the Land Allocation Document Examination in Public (in 2014), the owners of this land proposed that the majority of the site should be allocated for housing, but the Council successfully defended its open space designation. The Council was currently collecting information about open spaces to prepare a review of all its open space strategies, including a stakeholder engagement meeting with Deal Town Council, which highlighted the continuing importance of Freemens Way open space to local residents.  This information, together with the planning history, meant no changes were anticipated in the protected open space status of the site as a result of the strategy review.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor M R Eddy exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(5)          Councillor M R Eddy will ask the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Waste and Health, Councillor N S Kenton:

“What steps is the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Waste and Health taking to ensure that this Council adopts zero-carbon policies across the functions of the Council and among its suppliers?”

In response Councillor N S Kenton stated that the Council had adopted the Kent County Council environment strategy which addressed this issue.     

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor M R Eddy exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(6)          Councillor M R Eddy will ask the Leader of the Council, Councillor K E Morris:

“Given the fact that the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions has radically reduced the roll-out of Universal Credit, can the Leader of Council inform members of what action he, or other Portfolio Holders or officers of the Council have taken to inform the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions of the impact of the imposition of Universal Credit on the people of this district?”

In response Councillor K E Morris stated that officers of the Council had monthly meetings with the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) to talk about increasing arrears, homelessness and the wider impact of Universal Credit on the community. Officers and East Kent Housing continued to highlight to DWP the impact of the reforms with DWP recently being invited to Overview & Scrutiny to discuss the issues.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor M R Eddy exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(7)          Councillor P Walker will ask the Leader of the Council, Councillor K E Morris:

“A recent press report revealed that the rough sleeper count for 2018 recorded 20 of our fellow human beings sleeping on the streets, an unenviable record figure, compared to last year (14) and previous years in single figures. How does the Leader of the Council reconcile this with his various statements that tackling homelessness was his top priority?”

In response Councillor K E Morris stated that the estimate was a snapshot assessment, based on evidence from the local authority and a range of external agencies, about the number of people sleeping rough in that Local Authority area on a particular night. This is generally accepted as being the fairest way of assessing rough sleeping, as carrying out a count relies on actually finding a person sleeping out rather than taking account of people who are known to appropriate agencies.

So although the number recorded for Dover was lower than many of our neighbouring Local Authorities, it was still treated as a priority and there were no grounds for complacency. We recognised that rough sleeping was a problem that needed to be tackled, not only to address the complex issues experienced by many people who sleep on the streets but also because street homelessness was often linked with nuisance street drinking and other associated anti-social behaviour within our town centres.

We have recently agreed a grant of £10k to the Dover Outreach Centre to fund the Winter Night Shelter provision for 2018/19 and 19/20 and have submitted a number of bids to the MHCLG, relating specifically to tackling rough sleeping.

In addition, we operate SWEP, the Severe Weather Emergency Protocol, whenever the actual, or ‘feels like’ night time temperature hits zero degrees or below for 3 consecutive nights. This meant that anyone without a roof could access bed and breakfast accommodation whilst the weather was significantly cold. In addition, we continue to increase our housing stock in order to address the wider pressures of homelessness.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor P Walker exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(8)          Councillor A S Pollitt will ask the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Homelessness, Councillor P M Beresford:

“It was reported in the BBC news on the 11th of January that four Councils in East Kent, including DDC, will have to take on extra staff to combat the effects of Universal Credit, could the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Homelessness inform the Council how many staff will be need to be hired and what the cost will be?”

In response Councillor P M Beresford stated that EKH had asked for £444k in total from the 4 partner councils, for the recruitment of 8 additional income officers and 4 additional benefit and money advisors to cover the 4 Councils.

 

The Council had been asked for £111k, as its share, and this was included in the proposed 2019/20 budget and MTFP to be considered by Cabinet and Council in February and March 2019.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor A S Pollitt exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(9)          Councillor P M Brivio will ask the Portfolio Holder for Access and Licensing, Councillor N J Collor:

“Would the Portfolio Holder for Access and Licensing consider DDC introducing Traffic Regulation Orders to prevent parking on pavements as Canterbury City Council have done in areas that their authority cover?”

In response Councillor N J Collor stated that the Traffic Regulation Order introduced in the autumn within the Canterbury City Council area, by KCC as the highway authority, introduced restrictions on vehicles stopping or waiting at any time on any verge or footway in various sections of road as stated in the Order.

These proposals were developed through the Canterbury Joint Transportation Board and he would be pleased to ask the Dover JTB to give consideration to any proposals that Cllr Brivio might have for similar pavement parking restrictions within this District.

Clearly in considering whether to introduce such restrictions, consideration needed to be given to the impact on parking more generally as there were many roads within the district which required vehicles to park on the pavement to allow traffic to move freely, thus avoiding possible obstruction to the emergency services and other services requiring access.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor P M Brivio exercised her right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(10)       Councillor A M Napier will ask the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Waste and Health, Councillor N S Kenton:

“Can the portfolio holder for Environment, Waste and Health tell us what monitoring is currently being carried out on the air quality at the Port of Dover?”

In response Councillor N S Kenton stated that there was an issue with air quality in the past due to ferry emissions and an air quality management area was declared in 2002. By 2014 a change in the fuels used meant that the air quality management area was no longer needed.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor A M Napier exercised her right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(11)       Councillor L A Keen will ask the Portfolio Holder for Access and Licensing, Councillor N J Collor:

“What progress has been made on ensuring that public transport from Aylesham and the rural villages to the new DDC Leisure Centre will be available from day one of opening?”

In response Councillor N J Collor stated that some settlements, including Aylesham, would not be directly connected to the new Dover District Leisure Centre by a single bus route. However the sum of £224,773 had been received as a S106 contribution from the Aylesham development for sustainable transport improvements through provision of additional bus services to link the development in Aylesham to the surrounding area with two further contributions of the same amount (plus indexation) expected in due course.

The Council had worked closely with Kent County Council and Aylesham Parish Council to develop a survey of Aylesham residents which would clarify the public transport priorities of local people.  The survey might identify a desire for a direct bus link between Aylesham and Dover District Leisure Centre in Whitfield, but this outcome should not be assumed in advance of receiving the results. Any new measures funded by the Aylesham S106 contribution should have the potential to become commercially sustainable in the long term and therefore should be supported by evidence of demand.

Additionally the Thanet Community Transport Scheme is available across the district.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor L A Keen exercised her right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(12)       Councillor L A Keen will ask the Portfolio Holder for Access and Licensing, Councillor N J Collor:

“Network rail has included Aylesham on a list of stations to be considered for disabled access provision. What action is DDC taking to ensure that Aylesham Railway station is actually approved for these works to definitely be carried out at this station, especially given the current building programme of 1400 houses?”

In response Councillor N J Collor stated that he was delighted to learn in November 2018 that Southeastern and Network Rail had included Aylesham and also Deal on a list of 22 stations across the South East to be considered for a portion of the Government’s £300 million ‘Access for All’ scheme, during the course of the next five years. It was understood that the Department for Transport would make an announcement on the allocation of the funding in April. In the meantime the council would be making representations to government through its contacts with Network Rail and would ask its Development Partner to do likewise. He would also take up the matter with Kent County Council.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor L A Keen exercised her right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(13)       Councillor B Gardner will ask the Portfolio Holder for Property Management and Environmental Health, Councillor T J Bartlett:

“Can the portfolio holder for Environmental Health and Property Management please inform the council what concessions are going to be offered at the new Leisure centre to residents of the district that currently receive concessions?”

In response Councillor T J Bartlett stated that he was pleased to confirm that Places Leisure would continue to offer a range of concessionary rates at the new Dover District Leisure Centre.

Concessionary memberships would be available at a cost of £27.99 per month until September 2019 for existing members; this would be replaced with a new concession card for only £5 per year which will entitle those who qualified to a 30% discount on swimming, gym, and racket sports during off peak periods.

Concessions would be available to: senior citizens – linked to state pension age; children under the age of 16; full time students aged 16 years and over; people registered as disabled; people on Job Seekers Allowance, Income Support or Working Tax Credit.

These concessionary arrangements were extremely competitive given the new investment and enhanced leisure centre facilities and experience. 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor B Gardner exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.

 

(14)       Councillor B Gardner will ask the Leader of the Council, Councillor K E Morris:

“Following the regrettable announcement made by Marks and Spencer’s to close their shop in Deal High St, can l ask the Leader of the Council what steps he has taken to try to get M&S to reverse this decision, which may have a massive effect on trading in Deal High St.”

In response Councillor K E Morris advised that he dealt with this matter under Leader’s time.

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor B Gardner exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.