From

To

Subject

1

Councillor Bowyer

Councillor Peter Smith

Who should receive the response to a member’s written question? The media or the member?

Councillor Smith advised that if Councillor Bowyer provided details of a specific question he would look into this issue.

2

Councillor Mrs Bowyer

Councillor Peter Smith

Would Cllr Smith undertake to check current terms and conditions of the hire of sports pitches to ensure that it was made clear to hirers that it was their responsibility to ensure all litter was cleaned up after use?

Cllr Smith advised that Cllr Vincent was the responsible Cabinet Member and he would be asked to provide Cllr Mrs Bowyer with a written response.

3

Councillor Dr Mahony

Councillor Coker

Was it acceptable that Traffic Regulation Orders (TRO) were not notified to councillors within the ward? On the specific ward issue would there be a further consultation undertaken?

Cllr Coker commented that it was not acceptable and apologised for the lack of notification to ward members. He further added since being informed about this issue by Cllr Mahony’s ward colleagues, that this specific TRO had now been put on hold until further consultation had been undertaken.

4

Councillor Darcy

Councillor Peter Smith

Why was the Planning Committee meeting on 20 September 2012 not broadcast on the webcast or made available in the archive?

Cllr Smith would provide Cllr Darcy with a written response.

5

Councillor Churchill

Councillor Coker

Why did Plymouth City Council impose a local act to prevent Plymouth taxi drivers picking up passengers who had booked from outside the city boundaries? This was deemed to be stifling growth, how would this be reconciled?

Cllr Haydon, Chair of Taxi Licensing Committee, responded that it was in the Local Government (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 1976 and Plymouth City Council needed to abide by that.

Cllr Coker advised that Plymouth City Council was in the process of responding to a government consultation about taxi licensing and that if Cllr Churchill would like to highlight his concerns they would be fed into the response process.

6

Councillor Fry

Councillor Vincent

Was he aware that proposals had been published by this council to establish a children’s home for two teenagers in a semi-detached private house in Compton ward and that local residents had not been consulted on these proposals?

Cllr Vincent would provide Cllr Fry with a written response.

7

Councillor Ricketts

Councillor Vincent

Could you urgently rectify the condition of the Staddiscombe playing pitches?

Cllr Vincent would provide Cllr Ricketts with a written response.

8

Councillor Jordan

Councillor Peter Smith

As part of the summer Olympics, Plymouth played host to several foreign training camps. Could you please update the Council on how you helped to promote the city to those visiting countries whilst they had their athletes in the city?

Cllr Smith advised that he had met every team staying in Plymouth adding that ties had now been strengthened with those countries and many athletes had planned to return to the city to use it as a training camp for the Commonwealth Games in two years’ time.

9

Councillor Tuffin

Councillor Vincent

How was the council dealing with the continuing problem of bin management and in particular how was it addressing the issue within the St. Peter and the Waterfront ward?

Cllr Vincent advised that there were similar problems across the city which was being reviewed. With regards to the domestic collection of waste, the law allowed councils to specify how, when and where domestic waste was to be collected, however the law did not allow the council to specify how the bin was dealt with in between collections. Plastic bags were treated differently to bins, and if these were left out then it was classed as fly tipping.

10

Councillor Dr. Mahony

Councillor Vincent

Was there any further information available on the QE2 status of Central Park?

Cllr Vincent responded that he was not aware of the council’s intention to apply to obtain QE2 status in Central Park and asked that Cllr Dr. Mahony updated him on any information he had outside of the meeting. Cllr Vincent would keep Cllr Dr. Mahony fully informed on the progress of this issue.

11

Councillor Michael Leaves

Councillor Vincent

The terms and conditions of South West Devon Waste Partnership (SWDWP) were that observers were not excluded from Part 2 discussions and Cllr Vincent was asked to retract the statement he made at the last Council meeting.

Cllr Vincent responded that he would provide Cllr Leaves with the date and time of the meeting he was excluded from.

12

Councillor Darcy

Councillor Peter Smith

Why did the Council no longer webcast its Cabinet meetings?

Cllr Smith responded that only one Cabinet meeting was webcast as part of the webcasting trial and that Cabinet meetings were open to the public so anyone could come and observe the meeting.

13

Councillor Monahan

Councillor Peter Smith

Given his answer to a recent member’s question, was he suggesting that planning applications would now be considered in the same manner as other political decisions of this council?

Cllr Smith responded that Planning Committee had always been a quasi-judicial committee and he would need to clarify his answer recently provided to Cllr Monahan.

14

Councillor Dr Salter

Councillor McDonald

Could Cllr McDonald explain why employees in Adult Health and Social Care were being given six day’s training to learn how to do the job?

Cllr McDonald advised that the Health and Adult Social Care department had recently been through a major transformational change and this has meant changing the way the service operated and professional staff worked. Six days training to transform the way the service operated and deliver the improvements was not considered excessive

15

Councillor Martin Leaves

Councillor Vincent

Could you assure the council that travellers would not regain access into Central Park?

Cllr Vincent advised that in order to prevent the return of travellers to Central Park, the parks department was monitoring the park closely. Bollards had been put in place and it was hoped that railings would also be erected around Central Park.

16

Councillor Nicholson

Councillor McDonald

Could you describe how you would ensure that the council’s health partners would be consulted and would participate in the review of the Plymouth Plan including the future of the airport site?

Cllr McDonald advised that the National Health Service was a key partner and would be consulted on the Plymouth Plan. This could be an issue that a scrutiny panel could pursue in terms of the promotion of a co-operative Council.

17

Councillor Jordan

Councillor Penberthy

What have you done to promote the Military Covenant since signing it and how are you encouraging bids?

Cllr Penberthy responded that at present the council and partners were finalising the Military Covenant’s action plan. Also, Cllr Murphy had been appointed as a chair of the Military Covenant Group and would be championing the covenant. The council’s partners and other voluntary organisations were promoting the covenant and had been actively seeking bids.

18

Councillor Ball

Councillor Vincent

I think it is a breach of the law leaving bins out on pavements and I would like you to tell us what your position is on this issue?

Cllr Vincent responded that the law allowed councils to specify how, when and where domestic waste was to be collected, however the law did not allow the council to specify how the bin was dealt with in between collections. This was a serious problem and, in order for it to be solved, councillors needed to work closely with residents. As the Cabinet Member he would be happy to work with any councillor and attent neighbourhood meetings to discuss this issue with local residents.

19

Councillor Mrs Dolan

Councillor Vincent

Some of the residents in the Stoke ward were worried about the possibility of bins being used to climb over property walls; could something be done about bin management from that point of view?

Cllr Vincent responded that the law did not allow the council to specify how the bin was dealt with in between collections and that this problem would need to be rectified by ward councillors working with local communities.

20

Councillor Darcy

Councillor Peter Smith

Could you tell me how many local businesses were given the opportunity to provide the webcasting service to the Council?

Cllr Smith would provide Cllr Darcy with a written response.

21

Councillor Monahan

Councillor Peter Smith

Could you confirm your belief that the Planning Committee is not a quasi-judicial Committee?

ClIr Smith would provide Cllr Monahan with a written response.

22

Councillor Martin Leaves

Councillor Vincent

Could you advise the council of the protocols for having assisted waste collection?

Cllr Vincent would provide Cllr Martin Leaves with a written response.