Issue - meetings

Questions by the Public

Meeting: 23/03/2015 - City Council (Item 77)

Webcast for 23/03/2015 - City Council

QUESTIONS BY THE PUBLIC

To receive questions from and provide answers to the public in relation to matters which are about something the council is responsible for or something that directly affects people in the city, in accordance with Part B, paragraph 11 of the Constitution.

Questions, of no longer than 50 words, can be submitted to the Democratic Support Unit, Plymouth City Council, Ballard House, West Hoe Road, Plymouth, PL1 3BJ, or email to democraticsupport@plymouth.gov.uk. Any questions must be received at least five complete working days before the meeting.

Additional documents:

Webcast for QUESTIONS BY THE PUBLIC

Minutes:

Eight questions were submitted by members of the public for this meeting, in accordance with Part B, paragraph 11 of the Constitution.

In the absence of Mr Williams, the following question and response were circulated and a written response would be sent to him after the meeting -

Question No	Question By	Cabinet Member	Subject
Q14(14/15)	Mr John Williams	Councillor Lowry (Cabinet Member for Finance)	Council Tax Liability Order Charges
Whereas other local authorities employ lawyers to represent them in court over Council Tax liability, this Authority does not. Notwithstanding this, national figures place charges levied by this Authority in the upper quartile, which seems hard to justify. Does the Authority make a profit from the costs it claims here?
Response Plymouth City Council reduced its Liability Order charge from £83 to £60 in 2013/14 which benchmarks favourably against other councils within the region. The cost is broken down as £40 per account to issue the summons with an additional £20.00 per account to obtain the order. The charge reflects recovery activity undertaken by council staff which includes preparing documentation, presenting and attending the Court. The council does not make a profit from these charges.

Mr Aldred attended the meeting and asked the following question. Councillor Lowry responded as set out below -

Question No	Question By	Cabinet Member	Subject
Q15(14/15)	Mr Ryan Aldred	Councillor Lowry (Cabinet Member for Finance)	Use of the Council’s Reserves
Why is the council not making full use of its £10.4 million working reserves to protect jobs and services? Could you not use that money to protect jobs and services whilst simultaneously lobbying the government to restore the council's funding to pre-2010 levels?
Response We have used our reserves in the past and are likely to do so this year and given the cuts from government will likely need to do so in future years. We try and retain a modest reserve of 5 percent which is less than average. We are lobbying, and continue to lobby, government for fairer funding for Plymouth and retain a focus on protecting jobs. I refer to our budget papers published in December 2014 and February 2015

In the absence of Mr Sloman, the following question and response were circulated and a written response would be sent to him after the meeting -

Question No	Question By	Cabinet Member	Subject
Q16 (14/15)	Mr Tom Sloman	Councillor Jon Taylor (Cabinet Member for Transformation and Change	Outsourcing of Services
What does this mean: "developing the intelligent client function would move away from directly delivering services, therefore staff would need have different expertise in order to manage the different service models"? Does this mean that the council will be looking to outsource its services to the private sector? (Quote taken from the budget scrutiny document section 9.1)
Response Developing an intelligent client function does not mean the council will be looking to outsource its services to the private sector. Alternative models of delivery for some services will be considered in ... view the full minutes text for item 77