a) Leader and Cabinet Members’ Question Time (30 minutes)
Any member of the Council may ask the Leader of the Council or any Cabinet Member any question without prior notice, upon:
· Any matter relating to the Council’s administration
· Any matter relating to any report of the Cabinet appearing on the Council’s summons
· A matter coming within their portfolio of responsibilities
Only one supplementary question is allowed per question.
c) Questions to Chairs of Meetings (15 Minutes)
Minutes:
Cabinet Members’ Question Time
76.1 Councillor Haigh asked the Leader of the Council if he would confirm whether he intended to continue to honour the long-standing agreement to de-politicise the role of the Mayor by rotating it amongst the political on annual basis.
76.2 Councillor James stated that it was not possible to say who would be Mayor in 2016-17 as all Members were up for election. He explained that positions would continue to be offered across all Groups, but that it was important to reflect the relative size of the Groups when making appointments.
76.3 Councillor Haigh asked the Leader to confirm that the next Mayor would be from the Labour Group and explain why there had been no cross-party discussions about changing the existing approach.
76.4 Councillor James reiterated that it was not possible to give a definite answer until the outcome of the elections was known, but that the civic roles would continue to be offered on a cross-party rotational basis.
76.5 Councillor Haigh asked the Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning if he agreed with the views of the City MP Richard Graham in respect of homeless people in Gloucester and in particular his statements about Eastern Europeans going back to their own countries.
76.6 Councillor Organ (Cabinet Member for Housing and Planning) advised that he had not seen the comments made by Richard Graham MP and that homelessness in Gloucester was a sensitive issue. He explained that officers worked closely with the relevant agencies to find solutions for the genuinely homeless individuals with complex needs, but that there were also a number of beggars with access to accommodation and that presented different challenges, including a detrimental impact of tourism and residents. He advised that it would take time to find solutions to both issues, but that they were being looked at carefully.
76.7 Councillor Haigh asked the Cabinet Member if he agreed with Richard Graham MP that Eastern Europeans should head home.
76.8 Councillor Organ stated that he did not consider issues of homeless in general terms; it was necessary to look at individual circumstances.
76.9 Councillor Hilton asked the Leader of the Council if he had received any further contact about the empty former Trident Life Building from Pall Mall Estates.
76.10 Councillor James reported that he had not received any direct contact from the owners of the building; he had spoken to the agent and also asked the City’s MP to write to the Chairman of Pall Mall Estates and hoped it would result in some positive progress towards the building being brought back into use.
76.11 Councillor Hilton asked the Leader to ensure that City Councillors would be informed of any progress by the City MP before the media were informed.
76.12 Councillor James stated that he could not be held responsible for what the City’s MP said to the press.
76.13 Councillor Hilton asked the Leader of the Council if he expected Stanhope to submit a valid planning application for the Kings Quarter scheme by the deadline of 31 March 2016.
76.14 Councillor James stated that he could not discuss commercially confidential matters in a public matter and noted that a private briefing for Members would take place at the end of the meeting.
76.15 Councillor Hilton asked the Leader if he agreed that, should a planning application not be received, efforts should turn to progressing an alternative course of action on a cross-party basis.
76.16 Councillor James noted that all Members had received a statement regarding a revised approach to the scheme and advised that the Council was committed to delivering the transformation of the area and restoring Kings Quarter as the City’s primary public space.
76.17 Councillor McLellan asked the Cabinet Member for Environment whether he agreed that the garden waste collection service should operate on a cost neutral basis.
76.18 Councillor Porter explained that it was policy for the garden waste service to be cost neutral, however, over the previous 12 months a profit of in excess of £100,000 had been made as a result of an unanticipated number of new subscriptions. The 2,000 new sign ups had meant that that the collection vehicles were at capacity and at the top end of their efficiency, which had resulted in a profit. If a further 2,000 new subscriptions were achieved, it would be necessary to purchase a third vehicle and this would wipe out the profit made to date.
76.19 Councillor McLellan accepted that a new vehicle would be required in due course, but stated that a profit of £30,000 would still be made and asked whether the Council would hand money back to customers to return the service to a cost neutral position.
76.20 Councillor Porter stated that the price for the service had been set some time ago and that, with the exception of one district, it was at the same level or less than that all of the other districts in the County, some of which operated less weeks of the year. He reported that the existence of a surplus had been known, but that there were currently no plans to review the price of the service.
76.21 Councillor Lugg referred to the recent call in of a Cabinet decision and asked the Leader of the Council to ensure that papers for Overview and Scrutiny meetings were, in future, circulated in good time.
76.22 Councillor James advised that officers would take note of the comments made.
76.23 Councillor Hampson asked the Cabinet Member for Communities and Neighbourhoods to confirm that all decisions made in respect of the Members’ Allocation Fund were adequately vetted to ensure that the allocations made were appropriate.
76.24 Councillor Dallimore gave an assurance that adequate checks were in place. She referred to the Terms of Reference for the fund and the form Members were required to complete, which was reviewed by offers prior to release of any funding. She welcomed any suggestions for amendments to the process and highlighted the positive outcomes achieved from the allocations made.
76.25 Councillor Hampson stated that he understood that the forms were for record-keeping purposes and were not scrutinised and therefore is was possible that allocations could be an inappropriate use of Council funds; he asked whether there should be a more robust process in place to ensure adequate scrutiny.
76.26 Councillor Dallimore noted that examples of the type of scrutiny undertaken had been given at a recent Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting, but advised that it was for individual Councillors to decide how best to spend their allocation within the terms of reference of the fund. She stated that there was an appropriate process to follow, but explained the intention was to remove barriers to funding for groups who might not meet the criteria for the traditional grant funding schemes.
76.27 Councillor Etheridge asked the Cabinet Member for Culture and Leisure to explain what was happening in the refurbished unit that had recently opened near the bus station.
76.28 Councillor Noakes reported that an empty unit had been transformed into a cultural hub and was attracting significant attention. She explained that much work had gone into opening the unit and that support had been received from a number of organisations.
76.29 Councillor Tracey noted a recent incident asked the Cabinet Member for Environment who was responsible for cleaning up police horse excrement in the City.
76.30 Councillor Porter stated that the officers ensure that cleaning was undertaken in respect of the incident mentioned, but that he would be exploring whether those responsible were liable for a fine.