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 challenges. Early Help contributes to preventing children being taken into care, offers support to children and families and by achieving both of these, it also saved money. She asked the Administration to reconsider their stance on this funding and respond to the Council consultation by supporting the reinstatement of these monies to the early help service as an essential part of the four-million-pound investment. Cllr K Flavell, Chair of Children and Families Committee, responded by saying that she did not support the cuts and had fought against them but it was a case of the savings that had to be made and tried to make sure that those savings were reduced were able to do so to try and support early help. The budget would be discussed at the Children and Families Committee meeting in January 2022.
Cllr S Gardiner stated that Dame Angela Eagle had referred in the House of Commons to a potential link between HIV aids and the omicron variant and asked what action the Public Health team were taking to ensure that the those living with HIV aids were protected and encouraged to take up the booster vaccination. He stated he was happy to accept a written response.
Cllr C Naismith welcomed the funding agreed under item 12 of agenda to expand the roll out of superfast broadband to rural areas but wished to raise that the situation in towns was not particularly “rosy” either. In the Wistaston Road area of his ward in Crewe it was recently reported as receiving an average speed of 0.25 Mbps, which was actually one of the worst speeds in the country. Crewe was an important hub of economic activity and broadband was important for business premises and increasingly remote working. He asked what steps were being taken to ensure that the Council worked with relevant stakeholders and encouraged central government to invest in digital infrastructure so that Crewe and other towns could realise their economic potential. Cllr N Mannion, Chair of Economy and Growth Committee, responded that he would consult with officers and provide Cllr Naismith with a written response with regards to the specific issue of the Wistaston Road area and also the general points raised.
Cllr A Critchley stated that covid rates amongst children were increasing and asked what advice and guidance schools were being given and what additional measures were being put in place. Cllr K Flavell, Chair of Children and Families undertook to provide a detailed written response but stated that meetings with held with the Heads and the school recovery team were regularly updating the guidance in light of what was happening.
Cllr L Wardlaw stated that decision-making on speed management within Cheshire East would come to a halt for almost a year while consultation on a revised strategy took place. The consultation had only begun on 1 December and anticipated implementation was summer 2022 and asked why the current strategy could not remain as the reference document until any new policy was adopted by Council. Cllr C Browne, Chair of Highways and Transport Committee undertook to provide a written response but stated that speed management would continue. A distinction had to be made between where the Council’s authority lies and where the responsibility lies in respect of the emergency services, (for example, the police) . The Council had some responsibility for speed management, but not for speed enforcement which lay with the Police.
Cllr R Bailey referred to the winter gritting cuts and stated that in her ward, following three days of icy weather, the non-gritted Coole Lane had seen three accidents and the school bus cancelled. If a review took place and a route was deemed as too expensive not to grit, both in terms of repairs and temporary traffic lights and police and fire service time and resulted in a change, would that route be gritted from here on. Cllr C Browne, Chair of Highways and Transport Committee, responded that the introduction of the policy was about fairness, applying the same criteria across the Borough and not about saving money. Two years ago, the Council actually spent £1.7 million from the revenue budget on winter service treatment, and this year was budgeting to spend £2 million. The matter was due to come to the Highways and Transport Committee for an interim review on the 2 March and then a full further review at the following committee.
Cllr L Crane referred to the Notice of Motion proposed earlier by Cllr D Murphy, requesting a detailed report into providing a replacement waste site in Congleton and stated that it was her understanding that this was already underway as part of the work to put in place a new household waste contract when the current one ended in 2023. She asked if this was correct. Cllr M Warren, Chair of Environment and Communities Committee, responded that the household waste recycling contract was due to start in April 2023 and a waste management board consisting of officers from the council and staff from ANSA has been created to oversee the development of that new contract and part of the process would include consideration of all future provision of household waste recycling provision in the Borough.
Cllr J Rhodes refereed to the Integrated Rail Plan and HS2 and asked if the five to seven trains an hour were guaranteed because she thought that this related to the trains going north to Leeds. She was not certain how the change in the government policy had affected this and asked if the money for the station was guaranteed. Cllr C Browne, Chair of Highways and Transport Committee, responded that the Integrated rail provided commitment to build the HS2 western leg, and he read out an excerpt from the Plan - “our plans allow the Crewe hub vision to be realised with up to five to seven HS2 trains per hour able to call at Crewe”. As things stood no agreement was in place other than a suggestion to extend two platforms and put in place some new signage.
Cllr A Farrall referred to the question asked by Cllr Carter and asked that the Chair of Highways and Transport Committee write an open letter for all councillors to sign in support, to ask our local MPs to make representations on behalf of Cheshire East residents to the Department for Transport for dispensation, or at least no penalty, for additional priority gritting routes in the highway’s maintenance incentive fund. Cllr C Browne, Chair of Highways and Transport Committee, responded that he would be happy to do so. He stated that, following the initial review, 345 roads were retained, 218 were removed but 107 new roads that had never been gritted before were added. He stated that the scores that were attributed to some of those, for example in the 218 that were removed, 113 of those roads actually scored zero, which suggested they should never been gritted in the first place. Following the further round of consultation which was carried out in-between September and November last year, with Area Highway Group chairs, schools, cycling groups, Town and Parish Councils and the emergency services, 129 responses were received and a further 43 routes were added. The net reduction was about 68 roads which was approximately 3% of the network.
Cllr S Holland referred to the decision to recommend the Pathfinder Service be decommissioned and replaced by upskilling roles and services within the Council itself thus ensuring and maintaining that Cheshire East residents continue to receive the support needed. However, none of the services recommended to replace Pathfinder supply or substitute what Pathfinder provided for residents and asked that the Council reconsider the decision to revoke the Pathfinder Service so that the most vulnerable residents within our society here in Cheshire East could continue to access vital services. Cllr J Rhodes, Chair of Adult and Health Committee, responded that she had responded to this question under the Public Question item and would report the findings on the case that Council Holland had dealt with, to Councillor Holland when the investigation had been done.
Cllr L Gilbert stated that Central Bedfordshire Council had adopted new legal powers that could result in people being fined if found with their engines left running whilst parked. The Council had said the aim was to improve air quality and support its sustainability plan. He asked the Leader if the Council would commit to arranging for officers to bring forward a similar scheme for Cheshire East. Cllr S Corcoran responded that he had looked at this before and other Councils that had adopted this, had issued very few penalty notices. He thought it was important to look at enforcement. It was less about climate change and more about health. It was possibly an item which could be discussed at the Environment and Communities Committee where ideas could be put forward about how it could be enforced.
Cllr L Smetham stated her question was in support of Councillor Holland regarding the letter from the resident read out in Public Speaking Time. She stated that the loss of the previous Pathfinder Service was much regretted and had spoken at Cabinet a couple of years ago to plead for the Pathfinder Service, which was successful, much needed, and respected. She asked if Cllr Rhodes response to the earlier question could be circulated to all Councillors.