Issue - meetings

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.

Councillor R Moreton stated that he had beenworking alongside residents of his ward trying to resolve issues with damp in social housing properties.  He felt it was only going to get worse with the cost-of-living crisis as residents would not be able to heat their homes. He stated that he was now working alongside social housing providers in Congleton to try and get the long-standing issues resolved but felt that this was a massive problem across the Borough.  He asked if the Council could write to all social housing providers across the Borough to make sure they are dealing with resident’s complaints regarding damp in their properties as a matter of urgency.      In response Councillor N Mannion, Chair of Economy and Growth Committee state that the Council had written to all the registered providers that had housing stock in Cheshire East asking them for an appropriate contact with regard to the related issues of damp, mould and heating and these details would be circulated to Members in due course.

Councillor J Clowes referred to the monies announced byMichael Gove, Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities. In particular to social care and asked that a clear and concise breakdown of those monies be prepared for Councillors; and in particular for the Adults Social Care and Health Committee. She referred to the £500 million which had been announced by the then NHS Secretary of State, Therese Coffey, and stated that she understood that the Council would have received £1.2 million of the £200 million which was allocated to Local Authorities but now had been told that the £300 million allocated to the NHS would be distributed through the Better Care Fund.  This had to come to Local Authorities and Councillor Clowes asked for an understanding as to how that was going to be spent. She asked for details of how next year’s funding would support the Council and for details of any known additional funds available such as the New Homes Bonus.    In response Councillor J Rhodes, Chair of the Adults and Health Committee responded that the Council welcomed all financial support from the Government, but funding was not meeting the inflationary costs in the adult care budget. She undertook to provide a written response in relation to the money announced by Michael Gove.

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Councillor L Anderson stated that she was looking at downsizing her house and had looked at a house built three years ago. She had been somewhat shocked to find that the house had an EPC rating of ‘E’, which was one of the lowest ratings. She asked what the Council could do to encourage developers to have better standards for energy ratings, and whether any new builds by the Council e.g., new schools, be the highest EPC rating as possible if not more.    Councillor M Warren, Chair of Environment and Communities Committee, responded by stating he was surprised that situation existed given the drive on EPC rating and undertook to provide  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60