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Agenda item

Public Questions

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 Executive Member for Finance and Economic Development  submitted by Mr Graham Storey:

Can the council provide an up to date valuation and expected yield on its commercial property portfolio?

(b)          Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Adult Social Care submitted by Paula Saunderson:

“WBC Placement Policy states the Council “does not have enough affordable supply to meet demand”, so what is WBC’s definition of an Affordable Care placement, please?”

(c)          Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Adult Social Care submitted by Paula Saunderson:

How many ‘affordable’ placements are there available in West Berks, excluding Walnut Close?

(d)          Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Adult Social Care submitted by Paula Saunderson:

“What is the current average price paid by WBC for an externally purchased placement?”

(e)          Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Adult Social Care submitted by Paula Saunderson:

“What is the current average price for a placement in one of the WBC managed Care Homes, excluding Walnut Close?”

(f)            Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Adult Social Care submitted by Paula Saunderson:

“How many Dementia placements are available in West Berks, excluding Walnut Close?”

(g)          Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Adult Social Care submitted by Paula Saunderson:

“How many Dementia placements are available in WBC managed Care Homes, excluding Walnut Close?”

(h)          Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Adult Social Care submitted by Paula Saunderson:

“What are the WBC projections for the number of patients diagnosed with Dementia in the fiscal years ending 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 & 2025?”

(i)            Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Adult Social Care submitted by Paula Saunderson:

“How do these compare with the CPEC published projections of the number of patients diagnosed with Dementia for West Berkshire?”

(j)            Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Adult Social Care submitted by Paula Saunderson:

“Does the Council have any plans to address the predicted shortage in affordable supply of placements?”

(k)          Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Finance and Economic Development submitted by Mr Paul Morgan:

“Is the primary reason that the Council is now suggesting turning the LRIE into a housing estate driven by the need for a plan ‘b’ in the event that the Sandleford link development does not go ahead?”

(l)            Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Public Health and Community Wellbeing submitted by Dr Julie Wintrup:

“How many contact tracers are now employed and trained by the West Berkshire's own Public Health team and how many by private companies?”

(m)     Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Public Health and Community Wellbeing submitted by Dr Julie Wintrup:

“Is West Berkshire's Public Health team properly resourced and trained to provide the highest standard of finding, testing, tracing, and supporting people to isolate, and to maintain its other essential public health duties?”

(n)       Question to be answered by the Executive Member for Finance and Economic Development submitted by Dr Julie Wintrup:

“Is the Institute for Fiscal Studies' prediction correct in West Berkshire Council's case, in anticipating that without additional financial support from Government, it will be forced to slash services?”

(o)          Question to be answered by the Leader of the Council submitted by Dr Julie Wintrup:

“Is the Council confident that all Councillors are now properly trained in use of social media and are all upholding the seven Nolan Principles in their social media practices?”

(p)      Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing submitted by Mr Alan Pearce:

“Please can the Council confirm after what date the public will be able to access on the Councils website the following CVS files comprising of Developer agreements, Developer contributions and Developer transactions?”

(q)      Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing submitted by Mr Alan Pearce:

“After what date will the Council have submitted the URLs to the national register of developer contributions?”

(r)       Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Transport and Countryside submitted by Mr Alan Pearce:

“In follow up to the answer I received at the Executive on 16 July 2020, please will the council immediately give details of all the identified highway improvements along the A339 that they are planning to discuss with the developer’s consultants and a copy of any legal agreements (redacted if necessary) that had been made or are being considered?”

(s)      Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Environment submitted by Dr Susan Millington:

When will the delivery plan for the Environmental Strategy be published?”

(t)       Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Environment submitted by Dr Susan Millington:

As part of your Environmental Strategy commitment to carbon sequestration and improving biodiversity through large scale tree planting, will West Berkshire District Council be purchasing and leasing land for woodland creation?”

(u)      Question to be answered by the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Economic Development submitted by Mr Paul Morgan:

Can the Council please explain why it has been able to make available to the public and members a copy of the Avison Young report regarding the LRIE Development Brief but despite many requests, is still refusing to publish and make available a copy of the Surfacing Standard Limited (SSL) report looking at possible alternative sites for the football ground?”

Minutes:

A full transcription of the public and Member question and answer sessions are available from the following link: Transcription of Q&As.

(a)         A question submitted by Mr Graham Storey on the subject of the yield generated by the Council’s commercial property portfolio received a written response from the Executive Member for Finance and Economic Development.

(b)         A question submitted by Mrs Paula Saunderson on the subject of the Council’s definition of an affordable care placement received a written response from the Executive Member for Adult Social Care.

(c)         A question submitted by Mrs Paula Saunderson on the subject of the number of affordable placements, excluding Walnut Close, that were available in West Berkshire received a written response from the Executive Member for Adult Social.

(d)         A question submitted by Mrs Paula Saunderson on the subject of the current average price paid by West Berkshire Council for an externally purchased placement received a written response from the Executive Member for Adult Social Care.

(e)         A question submitted by Mrs Paula Saunderson on the subject of the current average price for a placement in one of the West Berkshire Council managed Care Homes, excluding Walnut Close, received a written response from the Executive Member for Adult Social Care.

(f)          A question submitted by Mrs Paula Saunderson on the subject of the number of dementia placements available in West Berkshire, excluding Walnut Close, received a written response from the Executive Member for Adult Social Care.

(g)         A question submitted by Mrs Paula Saunderson on the subject of the number of dementia placements available in West Berkshire Council managed Care Homes, excluding Walnut Close, received a written response from the Executive Member for Adult Social Care.

(h)         A question submitted by Mrs Paula Saunderson on the subject of the Council’s projections for the number of patients diagnosed with Dementia in the fiscal years ending 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024  and  2025 received a written response from the Executive Member for Adult Social Care.

(i)           A question submitted by Mrs Paula Saunderson on the subject of how the Council’s projections of the number of patients diagnosed with Dementia compared with the CPEC published projections for West Berkshire received a written response from the Executive Member for Adult Social Care.

(j)           A question submitted by Mrs Paula Saunderson on the subject of the Council’s plans to address the predicted shortage in affordable supply of placements received a written response from the Executive Member for Adult Social Care.

(k)         A question submitted by Mr Paul Morgan on the subject of the reasoning behind turning the London Road Industrial Estate into a housing estate received a written response from the Executive Member for Finance and Economic Development.

(l)           A question submitted by Dr Julie Wintrup on the subject of the number of contract tracers employed and trained by the Council and private companies received a written response from the Executive Member for Public Health and Community Wellbeing.

(m)      A question submitted by Dr Julie Wintrup on the subject of the level of training and resourcing of the Council’s tracing team and its impact on the ability to deliver other services  received a written response from the Executive Member for Public Health and Community Wellbeing.

(n)       A question submitted by Dr Julie Wintrup on the subject of having to reduce services if no additional financial support was offered by Government received a written response from the Executive Member for Finance and Economic Development.

(o)         A question submitted by Dr Julie Wintrup on the subject of training for Councillors on the use of social media received a written response from the Leader of the Council.

(p)       A question submitted by Mr Alan Pearce on the subject of timescales for accessing CVS files relating to planning applications on the Council’s website received a written response from the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing.

 (q)      A question submitted by Mr Alan Pearce on the subject of submission dates of URLs to the national register of developer contributions received a written response from the Portfolio Holder for Planning and Housing.

(r)        A question submitted by Mr Alan Pearce on the subject of access to information and agreements relating to highway improvements along the A339 received a written response from the Portfolio Holder for Transport and Countryside.

 (s)      A question submitted by Dr Susan Millington on the subject of the publication dates of the delivery plan for the Environment Strategy received a written response from the Portfolio Holder for Environment.

 (t)       A question submitted by Dr Susan Millington on the subject of the Council purchasing and leasing land for woodland creation received a written response from the Portfolio Holder for Environment.

(u)       A question submitted by Mr Paul Morgan on the subject of the Council’s reasons for refusing to publish the Surfacing Standard Limited report looking at possible alternative sites for the football ground received a written response from the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Economic Development.