Issue - meetings

In accordance with Procedure Rules Nos.11 and 35 a period of 10 minutes is allocated for members of the public to address the meeting on any matter relevant to the work of the body in question.  Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes but the Chairman or person presiding will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned where there are a number of speakers. Members of the public are not required to give notice to use this facility. However, as a matter of courtesy, a period of 24 hours’ notice is encouraged.

Members of the public wishing to ask a question at the meeting should provide at least three clear working days’ notice in writing and should include the question with that notice. This will enable an informed answer to be given.

Carol Jones used public speaking time to address the Board concerning proposed bus subsidy cuts in Crewe. She was concerned that the proposed cuts would cause isolation and deprivation, as the service provided a social link for residents. She asked what the Health and Wellbeing Board had done for the citizens of Cheshire East with regard to the proposals.

The Chairman of the Board and Leader of the Council, Cllr Rachel Bailey, responded to say that the bus service review was still the subject of consultation and that Cabinet would receive details of the consultation, but that there had been no decision to date. Council Members, including the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee, were working to ensure that residents were best served by whatever the result of the review was. With regard to isolation, she stated that the Council had already been very innovative in rural areas and had looked at initiatives to make sure that residents were not isolated.

Cllr Janet Clowes, Adult Social Care and Integration Portfolio Holder,  added that there had been a number of community initiatives where communities had set up their own  transport solutions in their areas. This had primarily been in rural areas, but it was recognised that urban areas could be just as isolated. The key would be to look at what routes were being used and particularly the little bus, but she did not want to pre-empt the Cabinet decision.