Agenda item

Members of the Executive to answer the following questions submitted by members of the public in accordance with the Council’s Constitution:

(a)         Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Communications submitted by Mr Peter Carline:

“What preparations are the council making for a no deal Brexit?”

(b)         Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Waste submitted by Mr Thomas Tunney:

“Is it standard practice for the housing team to advise single parents struggling to pay their rent, to register as homeless, incur a CCJ when they get evicted and then get relocated to Slough miles away from their jobs and schools?”

(c)         Question to be answered by the Leader of the Council submitted by Mr Thomas Tunney:

“Why after Councillor Goodes was disqualified for non-attendance has there been no repayment of allowances paid to him?”

(d)         Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Waste submitted by Mr Thomas Tunney:

“What did the Council hope to achieve by issuing West Berkshire Homeless with an eviction notice on the portaloos deposited at one the the homeless camps?”

(e)         Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Waste submitted by Mr Thomas Tunney:

“If the SWEP accommodation is not sufficient, rather than spending money on emergency accommodation, would the Council consider using the equipment owned by WBH to provide shelter in the perfectly sized and equipped council chambers and shower facilities?”

(f)          Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services submitted by Mr James Thomas:

“What steps is the Council taking to modernise IT service provisioning to save any of the circa £3m per annum it spends on Customer Services and ICT by embracing cloud-based software-as-a-service offerings for services like email and file storage?”

(g)         Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Transformation and Property submitted by Mr Steve Masters:

“Rather than investing £100m on speculative commercial property investment, should the Council instead be spending that on local housing stock in order to change the lives of and keep the much needed younger people in the area to stem the demographic time bomb?”

(h)         Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Highways and Transport, Environment and Countryside submitted by Mr Steve Masters:

“Can the Council confirm, for the benefit of Speen residents, that the proposed improvements to the verges (grass-crete) on Burchell Road and Digby Road are indeed imminent and will be completed within this current financial year (2018/19)?”

(i)           Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Highways and Transport, Environment and Countryside submitted by Mr Steve Masters:

“Can the Council liaise with the emergency services and Sovereign Housing in order to carry out a risk assessment and explore options to ensure that emergency vehicles have clear and safe access to Talbot Close to reassure residents some of whom are frail and vulnerable?”

(j)           Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Health and Wellbeing, Leisure and Culture submitted by Mr Steve Masters:

“With the current consultation underway for the latest round of proposed cuts to frontline services do council accept that several of the proposed cuts run contrary to and are likely to have a detrimental effect on the current priorities of the Health and Wellbeing Board?”

(k)         Question to be answered by the Leader of the Council/Portfolio Holder for Community Resilience and Partnerships submitted by Mr Eric Pattendon:

“Would the Leader agree that not fulfilling your manifesto commitment to protect the neighbourhood wardens has increased the burden on policing at a time of rising crime?”

(l)           Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Waste submitted by Mrs Martha Vickers:

“Can the portfolio holder explain why the showers and toilets at the unused council-owned football ground aren’t being utilised to help support homeless people?”

(m)        Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Waste submitted by Mr Tony Vickers:

“What problems would the council envisage having to resolve if householders on benefits who wish to continue having their garden waste collected for free were given exemption from the charge?”

(n)         Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services submitted by Ms Julie Wintrup:

“Will there be a full public independent inquiry into the how the council breached EU law by entering into an unlawful agreement with St Modwen Developments Ltd?”

(o)         Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services submitted by Ms Julie Wintrup:

“How much has already been spent on defending the case brought by Faraday Development Limited including officer time and legal costs?”

A full transcription of the public and Member question and answer sessions are available from the following link: Transcription of Q&As. (right click on link and ‘Edit Hyperlink’. Insert URL to pdf on website in ‘address’ field)

(a)          A question standing in the name of Mr Peter Carline on the subject of a no deal Brexit would receive a written response from the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Communications.

(b)          A question standing in the name of Mr Thomas Tunney on the subject of practices adopted by the housing team was asked on his behalf by Ms Deborah Sowerby and answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Waste. Mr Tunney would receive a written response and could ask a supplementary question.

(c)          A question standing in the name of Mr Thomas Tunney on the subject of repayments by Councillor Nick Goodes was asked on his behalf by Ms Deborah Sowerby and was answered by the Leader of the Council. Mr Tunney would receive a written response and could ask a supplementary question.

(d)          A question standing in the name of Mr Thomas Tunney on the subject of eviction notices at a homeless camp was asked on his behalf by Ms Deborah Sowerby and was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Waste. Mr Tunney would receive a written response and could ask a supplementary question.

(e)          A question standing in the name of Mr Thomas Tunney on the subject of using the Council Chamber as a shelter for homeless people was asked on his behalf by Ms Deborah Sowerby and was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Waste. Mr Tunney would receive a written response and could ask a supplementary question.

(f)           A question standing in the name of Mr James Thomas on the subject of embracing cloud-based software-as-a-service offeringwas answered by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services.

(g)          A question standing in the name of Mr Steve Masters on the subject of investing in local housing stock was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Transformation and Property.

(h)          A question standing in the name of Mr Steve Masters on the subject of improvements to the verges on Burchell Road and Digby Road was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Highways and Transport, Environment and Countryside.

(i)            A question standing in the name of Mr Steve Masters on the subject of undertaking a risk assessment and exploring options to ensure that emergency vehicles had clear and safe access to Talbot Close was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Highways and Transport, Environment and Countryside.

(j)            A question standing in the name of Mr Steve Masters on the subject of the impact of the budget cuts on the priorities of the Health and Wellbeing Board was answered by the Portfolio Holder forHealth and Wellbeing, Leisure and Culture.

(k)          A question standing in the name of Mr Erik Pattenden on the subject of the Conservative manifesto promise to protect neighbourhood wardens was answered by the Leader of the Council.

(l)            A question standing in the name of Mrs Martha Vickers on the subject of using the showers and toilets at the football ground to support the homelesswas answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Waste.

(m)         A question standing in the name of Dr Tony Vickers on the subject of an exemption for those on benefits to have their garden waste collected for free was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning, Housing and Waste.

(n)          A question standing in the name of Dr Julie Wintrup on the subject of holding a full public independent inquiry into the agreement signed with St Modwen Developments Ltd was answered by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services.

(o)          A question standing in the name of Dr Julie Wintrup on the subject of defending the case brought by Faraday Development Limitedwas answered by the Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services.