Agenda item

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 1 February 2017).

Notice of 12 questions had been received. The questions and replies are attached as Appendix A.

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

(Q1) Mr Robert Evans asked the Cabinet Member for Localities and Community Wellbeing if he considered that residents had a right to know which fire stations faced an uncertain future. The Cabinet Member responded by stating that it was difficult to predict anything in the current financial climate. However, he considered that Surrey’s Fire and Rescue Service was one of the finest in the country and he would do his utmost to protect it. He also referred to the Leader’s decision, made after listening to the views of local residents and the MP, to keep Staines Fire Station open until the new fire station was built in the area.

(Q2) Mr Sydney said that he was pleased that information about the county’s rural landholdings would be included in the Annual Report 2017/18 but asked the Leader why it had not been included in the current report. The Leader stated that the Conservatives valued the views of its countryside partnership and provided an assurance that information relating to countryside management would be included in the 2017/18 Annual Report of the Council.

Mr Mallett considered that the County Council owned a large number of properties and land but did not have a property / land scrutiny board, which he felt was a disadvantage to Members. The Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience disagreed, stating that property issues came within the remit of the Council Overview Board. The Chairman of the Council Overview Board also confirmed this and added that other scrutiny boards scrutinised areas within their remit, such as the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board examining the Surrey Wildlife Trust.

(Q4) Mrs Young asked the Leader if he was aware of the increasing pressures on family household budgets, due to rising prices and in particular energy costs.

Mr Kington referred to ‘welfare reform’ mentioned in the Leader’s response to this question and said that the County Council did not contribute to the Boroughs / Districts hardship fund.

The Leader did not respond specifically to these supplementary questions and asked Members to wait for his Budget statement later in the meeting.

(Q5) Mr Robert Evans referred to the Freedom of Information Act (FOI) and considered that there was nothing in it that would prevent voluntary information being given so questioned why was he not able to receive the information that he had requested.

Mr Essex said that he had previously asked for similar information and that his request had also been dealt with under FOI but that he had now received a response. He asked the Leader to confirm whether he considered that Adult Social Care was a national issue, which he did.

(Q6) Mr Sydney considered that his question had not been answered and asked the Leader why the time taken to consider income generation from specific Surrey assets was so slow. He was advised that there were agreed processes to go through and that it was important to follow these procedures in order to protect public money.

(Q7) Mrs Young asked the Leader of the Council to say which services would be cut if Surrey residents rejected the 15% council tax increase in the referendum.

Mr Essex considered that deleting recommendation 23 of the Cabinet recommendations on the Budget proposals and replacing it with recommendation 30 – the establishment of a Sustainability Review Board was less transparent.

The Leader requested that Members wait for his Budget statement later in the meeting when the reasons may become clearer.

(Q9) Mr Sydney considered that the reasons stated in the response were unsatisfactory and said that they were excuses for the slow progress that the Council had made in this area. The Leader disagreed and said that in relation to the planning process, there was clear guidance that had to be adhered to.

Mr Essex referred to cuts being made to the Surrey Wildlife Trust and asked the Leader when it would be possible to view the business plan setting out how the Trust proposed to generate income and make better use of land and resources. The Leader referred to the Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning and asked him to contact Mr Essex directly in relation to this request.

(Q11) Mr Sydney considered that Lingfield Library had been more successful prior to it becoming a Community Partnered Library (CPL).

The Leader asked the Cabinet Member for Localities and Community Wellbeing to confirm that the success of the CPLs was due in part to the dedication of the volunteers, which the Cabinet Member did, referring to paragraph 2 in his written response. He considered that libraries in Surrey were a wonderful success story and hoped that Mr Sydney would be supportive of the Lingfield CPL.

(Q12) Mr Sydney did not believe that Property Services had the right mix of skills, qualifications and experience to deliver the service it was responsible for and said that he had previously taken issue with both the Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience and the Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning on this matter. However, the Cabinet Member for Business Services and Resident Experience disagreed with his view and confirmed that the service did have access to the professional staff it required.