In accordance with Procedure Rule 11, opportunity is provided for Members of the Council to ask the Mayor, the appropriate Cabinet Member or the Chairman of a Committee any question about a matter which the Council, the Cabinet or the Committee has powers, duties or responsibilities.
At Council meetings, there will be a maximum question time period of 30 minutes. Questions will be selected by the Mayor, using the criteria agreed by Council. Any questions which are accepted, but which cannot be dealt with during the allotted period will be answered in writing. Questions must be brief, clear and focussed.
Minutes:
The following questions were asked by Members :-
1. Cllr Rhoda Bailey asked for assurance that notification of planning applications would be submitted to the press on a weekly basis so that they appeared in each edition of the relevant newspapers. - Cllr A Arnold, Housing and Planning Portfolio Holder, responded.
2. Cllr L Gilbert referred to the bus service review and the withdrawal of services in rural areas and asked what measures would be put in place to ensure mobility of residents. - Cllr D Brown, Highways and Infrastructure Portfolio Holder, responded.
3. Cllr D Flude asked why it was deemed to be political for Members to ask questions at the Staffing Committee about staff care and bullying and referred to a letter from the Leader of the Council recently published in the Crewe Chronicle. - The Leader of the Council responded.
4. Cllr L Jeuda referred to the Government decision not to accept unaccompanied child refugees under the Dubs Amendment and asked what pressure the Council was going to apply to ask the Government to change this policy. - Cllr P Bates, Finance and Communities Portfolio Holder, responded.
5. Cllr M Deakin referred to the recent report considered by the Health and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee concerning the proposed Branch Surgery Closure at Rhode Heath, Scholar Green and stated that the Alsager surgery was also close to capacity. With the inevitable population expansions, he asked whether the Council could begin working on the introduction if a new surgery in the near future. - The Leader of the Council responded.
6. Cllr S Carter referred to ongoing roof problems at Hurdsfield Primary School and the need for repairs to the roof. He asked the Leader if she could expedite action in respect of this issue. - The Leader of the Council responded.
7. Cllr Corcoran referred to Notices of Motion being routinely referred to Cabinet and made reference to a Notice of Motion that he had submitted in respect of fossil fuels, which he had not heard anything further about. He asked the Leader if she would give consideration to how Notices of Motion should be dealt with in the future. - The Leader of the Council responded and undertook to consider this.
8. Cllr N Mannion referred to the ongoing discussions concerning air pollution caused by congestion and the Government’s announcement, on the previous day, regarding a ban on petrol and diesel by 2040. He asked whether the Leader would consider the establishment of a cross party working group to look at reducing pollution and congestion on roads, to report to Cabinet. - The Leader of the Council responded to say that this would probably be more appropriate to dealt with by a Scrutiny Task and Finish group, but that she would consider the matter and report back.
9. Cllr T Fox referred to the lack of a confirmed date for improvements to the link Road on to the A34 at the Summerfields development and asked when these mitigation measures would be implemented. - Cllr D Brown, Highways and Infrastructure Portfolio Holder, responded.
10.Cllr S Pochin asked whether there was a facility in Cheshire East to provide children who received free school meals with meals during school holidays and asked for assurance that the Leader would look in to this. - The Leader of the Council undertook to provide a written response.
11.Cllr J Nicholas referred to enquiries that he had received from residents regarding the cost of the recent investigations concerning senior officers of the Council and asked how much this had cost so far. - The Leader of the Council responded.