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.
(a) To Chairmen/Vice-Chairmen of Committees
To receive answers in respect of questions from Members of the Council to the Chairman or Vice-Chairman of the Council or the Chairman of any Committee or Sub-Committee asked in accordance with Rule 12 of the Council Procedure Rules.
(1) Councillor M R Eddy will ask the Chairman of the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee, Councillor K Mills:
“Although the current French Government has recently refused the request of the Mayor of Calais, made in the light of the EU referendum vote in this country, to revoke the bilateral agreements between France and Britain and thereby remove British frontier checks from Calais and Dunkerque, what consideration has been given through the scrutiny process to the possible impact of such a revocation on the services and finances of this District?”
(b) To the Executive
To receive answers in respect of questions from Members of the Council to a Member of the Executive asked in accordance with Rule 12 of the Council Procedure Rules.
(2) Councillor P J Hawkins will ask the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Waste and Planning, Councillor N S Kenton:
“Since 2011 the Council has approved new housing developments in Sholden that total nearly 500 new homes, and there are rumours of a further development on the site currently being developed by Persimmons in the Church Lane area. Can the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Waste and Planning tell the Council at what point it will be decided that saturation point has been reached in terms of further housing developments in Sholden given the lack of suitable infrastructure to support those further developments?”
(3) Councillor S F Bannister will ask the Portfolio Holder for Property Management and Public Protection, Councillor T J Bartlett:
“The Council has embarked on public consultation on the Sports and Leisure Strategy, and the proposals for the new leisure centre. How has the Council ensured that the consultees, in terms of location and income group, are a fair sample of local people?”
(4) Councillor D A Sargent will ask the Leader of the Council, Councillor P A Watkins:
“I am sure the Leader of the Council joins me in condemning the post-referendum increase in racist and xenophobic hate crime attacks in various parts of the Country. Will he please outline the actions that this council can take to tackle hate crime?”
(5) Councillor S J Jones will ask the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources and Performance, Councillor M D Conolly:
“Can the Portfolio holder for Corporate Resources and Performance provide further information regarding the urgent decision to release £185,000 for routine maintenance on the Council's assets? Bearing in mind it is well known that there is a maintenance backlog how was the decision prioritising these projects made?”
(6) Councillor B Gardner will ask the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources and Performance, Councillor M D Conolly:
“Would the Portfolio Holder please explain the background and the reasons as to why the new levels of the fees for local land charges had to be rushed through as an urgent decision notice and furthermore that the opportunity for Councillors to call this decision into Scrutiny had to be removed by the Chairman of Council?”
Minutes:
In accordance with Rule 12(1) of the Council Procedure Rules, Chairmen of Committees responded to the following questions:
(1) In the absence of the Chairman of the Scrutiny (Policy and Performance) Committee, Councillor K Mills, the Chairman of the Council advised that the question would not be put.
In accordance with Rule 12(1) of the Council Procedure Rules, Members of the Cabinet responded to the following questions:
(2) Councillor P J Hawkins asked the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Waste and Planning, Councillor N S Kenton:
“Since 2011 the Council has approved new housing developments in Sholden that total nearly 500 new homes, and there are rumours of a further development on the site currently being developed by Persimmons in the Church Lane area. Can the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Waste and Planning tell the Council at what point it will be decided that saturation point has been reached in terms of further housing developments in Sholden given the lack of suitable infrastructure to support those further developments?”
In response, the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Waste and Planning advised that any further proposals for housing development in the area would be beyond that allocated and tested in the Council’s Core Strategy and Land Allocations Local Plan and would therefore have to clearly demonstrate a case for approval, including whether or not there was sufficient infrastructure to support further development, as a departure from the Local Plan.
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor P J Hawkins exercised her right to ask one supplementary question.
(3) Councillor S F Bannister asked the Portfolio Holder for Property Management and Public Protection, Councillor T J Bartlett:
“The Council has embarked on public consultation on the Sports and Leisure Strategy, and the proposals for the new leisure centre. How has the Council ensured that the consultees, in terms of location and income group, are a fair sample of local people?”
In response, the Portfolio Holder for Property Management and Public Protection stated that the need for comprehensive consultation with both stakeholders and the general public had been recognised in developing the indoor facilities strategy and plans to replace Dover Leisure Centre. As a consequence the list of stakeholders and consultees for the new leisure centre project had been expanded, a number of organised consultation events were being held and the consultation was being widely publicised through flyers/posters, local newspaper adverts, the council’s website and social media.
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor S F Bannister exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.
(4) Councillor D A Sargent asked the Leader of the Council, Councillor P A Watkins:
“I am sure the Leader of the Council joins me in condemning the post-referendum increase in racist and xenophobic hate crime attacks in various parts of the Country. Will he please outline the actions that this council can take to tackle hate crime?”
In response, the Leader of the Council referred the questioner to the motion on the same subject latter in the agenda. He advised that the Community Safety Unit was working closely with Kent Police and the PREVENT sub-committee was holding monthly meetings.
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor D A Sargent exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.
(5) Councillor S J Jones asked the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources and Performance, Councillor M D Conolly:
“Can the Portfolio holder for Corporate Resources and Performance provide further information regarding the urgent decision to release £185,000 for routine maintenance on the Council's assets? Bearing in mind it is well known that there is a maintenance backlog how was the decision prioritising these projects made?”
In response, the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources and Performance stated that the £185,000 had been identified in the approved Medium Term Financial Plan 2016/17 for Corporate Property Maintenance to be drawn down to supplement revenue budgets as works were identified and budgeted expenditure confirmed. Projects concerning the recovering of certain areas of the roof at the Whitfield Offices to prevent further damage to the interiors and refurbishing the kitchens and toilets within the offices in response to regular failures in plumbing and pipe works.
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor S J Jones exercised her right to ask one supplementary question.
(6) Councillor B Gardner asked the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Resources and Performance, Councillor M D Conolly:
“Would the Portfolio Holder please explain the background and the reasons as to why the new levels of the fees for local land charges had to be rushed through as an urgent decision notice and furthermore that the opportunity for Councillors to call this decision into Scrutiny had to be removed by the Chairman of Council?”
In response, the Portfolio Holder advised that the Law Society had introduced a new CON29 form for use by Conveyancers when obtaining information from the Local Authority in relation to Local Land Charges. The compilation of the answers to the new CON29 questions was a much larger project than initially appeared and required consultation with partners (Kent County Council, Water Authority and the Environment Agency) to identify which organisations held the information and software changes to systems used in compiling the information required by the new CON29 form. The required changes were made by 16 June 2016 but due to the EU Referendum the following week, the Democratic Services team were not able to be implemented until the following week and call-in was suspended in order to ensure the required measures were in place by 4 July 2016 thereby avoiding a loss of income.
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.5, Councillor B Gardner exercised his right to ask one supplementary question.