Councillors and committees

Agenda item

MEMBERS' QUESTION TIME

The Leader of the Council or the appropriate Member of the Cabinet or the Chairman of a Committee to answer any questions on any matter relating to the powers and duties of the County Council, or which affects the county.

 

(Note:  Notice of questions in respect of the above item on the agenda must be given in writing, preferably by e-mail, to Anne Gowing in Democratic Services by 12 noon on Wednesday 3 February 2016).

 

 

 

Minutes:

Notice of 11 questions had been received. The questions and replies are attached as Appendix D.

 

A number of supplementary questions were asked and a summary of the main points is set out below:

 

(Q1) Mr Witham asked the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding to monitor closely how the Flood Re scheme worked to ensure that residents entitled to insurance received it. The Cabinet Member confirmed that the County Council would be working in close partnership with the National Flood Forum.

 

(Q2) Mr Robert Evans said that the County Council had paid out a significant sum of money for pothole damage to vehicles and considered that the figure could have been much higher, except that many people were deterred from claiming due to the lengthy process. He asked the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding if he agreed with him that it would be better to invest more in road infrastructure, thereby preventing pothole damage. The Cabinet Member said he would like more funding for Highways, however the County Council had to prioritise its budget and it was unlikely that additional funding would be available for roads. He drew attention to a recent survey for Surrey roads, where the percentage of residents satisfied had increased from 27% to 42%.

 

(Q3) Mr Young asked the Cabinet Member for Localities and Wellbeing if he would facilitate appropriate branded high visibility jackets for Members, possibly using their local allocation funding, to enable them to get involved in keeping the county litter free. The Cabinet Member welcomed the suggestion and said that much was being done already but that he would investigate this suggestion and report back to Members.

 

(Q4) Mrs White queried the figures given in the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding’s written response relating to her question about the cost of pelican crossings. She quoted figures from Wiltshire County Council and added that the cost of providing pelican crossings in Kent was also substantially less than in Surrey. She asked the Cabinet Member what action he would be taking to ensure that Surrey obtained better value for money for this work. The Cabinet Member referred to the last paragraph of his written response in which he had explained the reasons for higher costs in Surrey.

 

(Q5) Mrs Watson considered that the quality of life for Surrey residents had not been considered when the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways (EPEH) Board had rejected her motion and asked the Leader of the Council to comment. He considered that he had nothing further to say and referred Mrs Watson to item 9 on the agenda, the report of EPEH Board on the referred motion.

 

(Q7) Mr Robert Evans asked the Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning if he had been aware that the Mayor of London would be making an announcement on 21 January 2016 about potential changes of control to several suburban rail routes into London and whether he thought that working with Transport for London (TfL) would be beneficial for Surrey commuters. The Cabinet Member confirmed that he was aware of the announcement and that he agreed that there was a need to work together with the Department for Transport and TfL for the benefit of Surrey rail users.

 

(Q9) Mr Essex asked the Leader of the Council whether he was happy to fund the shortfall in funding for Adult Social Care by adding a further 2% precept on the council tax. The Leader said that the Government was not going to fund it from general taxation and had agreed that this was the alternative to funding the pressure of increasing Adult Social Care demand.

 

(Q10) Mr Essex asked for a reply that referred to the Better Care Act and not Better Care Funding. He was advised by the Leader of the Council to speak to him outside the meeting.

 

(Q11) Mr Essex asked the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding to provide the numbers of both permanent and temporary pothole repairs in Surrey because the figure in the answer did not distinguish between the two types of repair.

The Cabinet Member agreed to clarify the question and discuss the response outside the meeting.

Supporting documents: