Issue - meetings

Questions by Members

Meeting: 19/06/2023 - City Council (Item 23)

Questions by Councillors

Questions to the Leader, Cabinet Members and Committee Chairs covering aspects for their areas of responsibility or concern by councillors in accordance with Part B, paragraph 12 of the constitution.

Minutes:

 

From

To

Subject

 

 

1

Cllr Angela Penrose

Cllr Mary Aspinall

Support for unpaid carers

Response: The previous week had been national carers week and what had been highlighted is that there were a large number of carers in Plymouth and she had wanted to make sure people knew they could go onto Plymouth City Council’s website to look at what support was available to them.

2

Cllr Natalie Harrison

Cllr Mark Coker

Bus Shelter Replacements Delayed

Response: The issue was occurring in other places across the city and Councillor Coker had asked for a full briefing on the issues and why replacements were taking so long and what could be done.

 

Supplementary: Could Councillor Harrison be updated and could temporary seating be installed.

 

Response: Refer to previous response.

3

Cllr John Mahony

Cllr Sue Dann

DELT Email Issues

Response: Not aware of the issue, but if any Councillors had any issues with emails they should contact DELT directly.

 

Supplementary: Could portfolio holder take it forward and report back?

 

Response: Issues could vary from Councillor to Councillor so it would be best to contact DELT direct, who could inform her as portfolio holder of any consistent issues.

4

Cllr James Stoneman

Cllr Tom Briars-Delve

Commitment to Chelson Solar Farm

Response: The project was important to Net Zero Action Plan and there were meetings due to take place imminently regarding the work.

 

Supplementary: Would he confirm to share information cross party as it was previously?

 

Response: Happy to arrange a cross party briefing for Shadow Portfolio Holders.

5

Cllr Patrick Nicholson

Cllr Tom Briars-Delve

Grass Cutting at Junctions in Plympton

Response: The administration had inherited a complicated arrangement for grass cutting from their predecessors, and the city had experienced bad weather during spring, making grass cutting difficult. In his first portfolio holder briefing, he had asked for grass cutting at junctions to be made a priority and had specifically mentioned Plympton due to issues raised to him from the area.

 

Supplementary: Could a schedule be shared with Councillors to help in responding to residents about grass cutting issues?

 

Response: There was an interactive map online. No specific dates would be given as ground conditions and weather could affect timings.

6

Cllr Bill Stevens

Cllr Mark Lowry

Increasing Interest Rates and Cost of Borrowing

Response: It was impacting borrowing costs and was continuing to increase.

 

Supplementary: How would this impact the Council?

 

Response: The Council’s Capital Program was predominantly based on the Council’s ability to borrow and so the program might have needed a review.

7

Cllr Mrs Terri Beer

 

 

Cllr Tom Briars-Delve

Enforcement of Section 154 – Highways Act 1980 – Overhanging vegetation less than 8ft.

Response: If there were specific example, encourage Councillors to report issues to Councillor Casework for it to be raised with the relevant teams for review. If a case was not resolved to satisfaction, contact Councillor Briars-Delve with examples for further investigation.

 

8

Cllr Rebecca Smith

 

 

Cllr Tom Briars-Delve

 

Administrations opinion on residents who had resorted to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23


Meeting: 20/06/2022 - City Council (Item 9)

Questions by Councillors

Questions to the Leader, Cabinet Members and Committee Chairs covering aspects for their areas of responsibility or concern by councillors in accordance with Part B, paragraph 12 of the constitution.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

From

To

Subject

1

Cllr Nigel Churchill

Cllr Jonathan Drean

Electric Vehicle Charging Points for Maritime Industry: had the Council considered this?

Response: Two EV water taxis were currently running in the city and the pontoons had charging points on them; this was something the Council was hoping to install more of in the future.

2

Cllr Dylan Tippetts

Cllr Jonathan Drean

Compton Roads: would the Cabinet Member and relevant officers consider going on a site visit with Cllr Tippetts to Compton, specifically Hartley Avenue, to assess the road surface and consider options for repair?

Response: The Cabinet Member confirmed he was happy to attend a site visit and discuss available options for repair if necessary.

3

Cllr Chaz Singh

Cllr Richard Bingley

Licensed Drivers: what plans were in place if more licensed drivers made a decision to move out of the city for work?

Response: A lot of consultation had taken place regarding the taxi service and licensed drivers in the city. It was suggested that concerns were directed towards Councillor Riley as his scrutiny panel ‘Growth and Infrastructure’ were scheduled to consider taxi licensing as part of a select review.

4

Cllr Ian Tuffin

Cllr Bill Wakeham

Sea swimming: did the Cabinet Member agree that those wishing to swim in the sea were as safe as possible?

 

Supplementary question: would the Cabinet Member back Luke Pollard MP’s campaign to have the waters around Devils Point and Firestone Bay designated as official bathing water subject to regular testing for water quality?

Response: The Cabinet Member agreed that those wishing to swim in the sea should be as safe as possible and confirmed that he would support anyone who wanted to improve the quality of the local waters.

5

Cllr Sarah Allen

Cllr Bill Wakeham

Weeds and overgrown grass: what had gone wrong with this years’ programme of maintenance?

Response: Staffing and resourcing issues were affecting this department however road sweeper vehicles were to be converted to allow weeds to be cut when out maintaining roads.

6

Cllr Patrick Nicholson

Cllr Pat Patel

Letters to residents: Several residents in Plympton had received a letter from the Council threatening to remove their ability to pay their council tax or housing benefit by direct debit – would the Cabinet Member seek to review standard letters to ensure they treated customers with respect?

Response: The Cabinet Member confirmed he would instruct a review of standard letters to be undertaken.

 

7

Cllr Mark Deacon

Cllr Pat Patel

20,000 people attended SailGP 2021 with a global audience of millions, would the administration seek to bring this back for the City in 2023?

Response: Once economic data had been received for SailGP 2022 the Council would then decide whether to progress and bid for 2023.

8

Cllr Neil Hendy

Cllr Richard Bingley

There had been reports of taxis leaving the city centre and refusing to undertake multiple jobs for females in one complete journey. Drivers would complete one job before returning to the city centre to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9