Questions
In accordance the Council Procedure Rules, opportunity is provided for Members of the Council to ask the Mayor or the Chair of a Committee any question about a matter which the Council, or the Committee has powers, duties or responsibilities.
At Council meeting, there will be a maximum question time period of 30 minutes. A period of two minutes will be allowed for each Councillor wishing to ask a question. The Mayor will have the discretion to vary this requirement where they consider it appropriate.
Minutes:
Cllr S Carter asked if the road gritting cuts were still open to review at the request of Councillors, and if that review would be achieved using a clear criteria or matrix for their potential reinstatement. He also asked if it could be confirmed that this was a far fairer system than the one inherited from the previous administration and further asked if the Chair of Highways and Transport Committee could write to all the Conservative MPs in the borough asking them for help to find further government funding for road safety. Cllr C Browne, Chair of Highways and Transport Committee, in response stated that that any further review of the assessment of routes would be carried out in line with the assessment criteria that had already been published on the Council's website. As a result of the policy change, the Council had moved to a network hierarchy that prioritised areas of the network by importance, taking into account for example their expected use, economic and social factors including industry, schools and hospitals, access to communities and community facilities and this moved away from the traditional prioritisation of the network by road classification. This was consistent with the well managed highway infrastructure code of practice which is endorsed by the Department for Transport and allowed the Council to be considered a band three authority in terms of the incentive funding that was receive annually from central government. Cllr Browne confirmed he would be happy to write to the MPs and reported that he, along with the Leader and Chief Executive had quarterly meetings with the five MPs, so there were plenty of opportunities to raise this with them as Councillor Cater has requested.
Cllr R Moreton stated that Congleton Hackney Carriage taxi drivers had only had one increase in the last 12 years, which he had been told was six years ago and was only 20 pence and was on their standard charge. He asked if this could be reviewed as a matter of urgency and the relevant committee consult with the drivers to find out a reasonable way forward. He also requested that officers of Cheshire East Council check licences because there were concerns that drivers from out of town were coming in and taking income from local drivers. Cllr D Edwardes, Chair of the Licensing Committee, responded that he would be happy to meet with the Congleton taxi drivers and would ensure that the matter would be discussed at Licencing Committee.
Cllr J Saunders welcomed the proposed £4 million investment in cared for children in the budget consultation and stated there was a need to focus on preventing children coming into care in the first place. Early Help helped target this area but over the next two years the Council was planning to cut the early help given to vulnerable families by £340,000 by making cuts to the number of frontline service workers - the very people who help those children and families who are facing ... view the full minutes text for item 57