Agenda item

1.    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 5 July 2017).

2.    Cabinet Member Briefings on their portfolios

These will be circulated by email to all Members prior to the County Council meeting, together with the Members’ questions and responses.

There will be an opportunity for Members to ask questions.

Notice of 22 questions had been received. The questions and replies were published as a supplementary agenda on 10 July 2017.

A number of supplementary questions were asked and a summary of the main

points is set out below:

(Q2) Mr Robert Evans asked the Leader of the Council if he would release the content of the letter that he had written to the Chancellor. The Leader agreed to the request and also informed Members that he was still waiting for a response.

(Q3) Dr Povey did not consider that his question had been answered and asked what was the relative cost of a ton of recycling if the waste was put into wheelie bins or fly-tipped? The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport agreed to provide the details outside the meeting. He also informed Members that there had been many changes to recycling in Waverley and reported that there had been a 40% reduction in fly-tipping incidents in that District.

Mr Essex raised both the issue of distance for residents to travel to recycling centres if four centres were closed and also that, as a result of the increased distances, recycling targets could decrease, which could result in financial loss to the Council. The Cabinet Member said that the proposals on the future of the Community Recycling Centres (CRCs) were still out for consultation. However, he informed Members that if the proposed closure of four CRCs went ahead, 95% of Surrey residents would still have a CRC within six miles of their home.

(Q5) Mrs Watson asked the Leader of the Council if he would be ‘third time lucky’ in his lobbying of Government for fairer funding for Surrey. The Leader considered that her supplementary question did not relate to her original question.

(Q7) Mr Forster said that the Woking Local Plan relied on local rail capacity and he was concerned that there was a lack of clarity from Government on their commitment to Crossrail 2 because there had not been any reference to it in the recent HM Queen’s speech.

Mrs Muir, divisional Member for Epsom West, agreed that clarity on Crossrail 2 was also needed for her residents.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport agreed that Crossrail 2 was desperately needed in Surrey to help alleviate overcrowded trains. He informed Council that he had written to Government asking whether Crossrail 2 would go ahead.

(Q8) Mr Botten asked if the Cabinet Members would agree that nearly 50% of the families who use the Beeches have yet to find alternative provision. The Cabinet Member for Children responded by stating that the Council had communicated extensively with the families over a long period of time, and that the social care team were working with those affected families to find the best solutions.

Dr Grant-Duff referred to the number of SEND children benefitting from short breaks in Surrey and asked what benefits the re-commissioning of this service would have for all SEND children and young people in Surrey. The Cabinet Member for Children said that for many SEND children, the re-provision of services would provide a better offer, and often closer to home, particularly in relation to play and leisure. Finally, she thanked Members for their interest in the Short Breaks provision in Surrey and reminded them that a report for decision would be presented to Cabinet on 18 July 2017.

Mr Harrison asked the Cabinet Member for Children to confirm whether the overnight provision at Applewood would be reduced and was advised that it would be unchanged.

(Q9) Mr Botten referred to a previous speech of the Leader of the Council in which he highlighted the high number of adults in Surrey withLearning Difficulties and the historical reasons behind it. He asked whether the funding for Housing Related Support should reflect this. The Cabinet Member for Adults said a funding decision would not be made until after the consultation.

(Q11) Mrs Rivers asked the Leader of the Council if the assistance provided by the Local Government Association (LGA) proved thatmembership of the LGA was good for Surrey taxpayers and whether SCC should continue to be a member.

Mr Robert Evans referred to the £20m that was invested in Icelandic Banks and asked the Leader of the Council if an internal investigation had been undertaken and whether there had been any resignations as a result of the incident. He also made reference to SCC’s current investment strategies and asked if there were safeguards in place to prevent any future issues with investment.

Mr Townsend asked why SCC was leaving the LGA because he considered that it was a ‘strong vehicle’ for influencing Government.

The Leader of the Council expressed disappointment about Members asking questions about the LGA and said he had made it clear in February that the new Council would decide what organisations the Council would affiliate to.

(Q12) Mr Essex asked what impact the transfer of services to Surrey Choices had on the residents’ experience. The Cabinet Member for Adults confirmed that complaints were monitored and that no adverse comments had been received about the service.

(Q14) Mr Robert Evans asked the Cabinet Member for Highways if the £9m reduction in the Medium Term Financial Plan for the road repairs budget would have an adverse effect on the condition of Surrey’s roads. The Cabinet Member confirmed that the highways were constantly monitored in Surrey and therefore that should not happen.

(Q16) Mrs Watson asked the Leader of the Council if he would be proposing a 15% increase in council tax at next year’s Budget meeting. The Leader responding by stating that the Budget was set by the full Council.

(Q17) Mr Forster questioned whether the £42 billion core budget for schools by 2019/20 would include the recently announced teachers’ pay rise. The Leader of the Council suggested that he wrote to the Secretary of State for a response to this question.

(Q18) Mr Botten queried whether the Cabinet Member for Education was aware that the headteacher of a school in Dorking was considering moving to a four-day week and also would she consider making representations to Government in relation to the 1% pay rise announced for teachers. The Cabinet Member informed Members that the School Teachers Review Body had agreed the 1% increase and that she considered that it would be upto the Chancellor in his Autumn Budget review in November to present his views on public sector pay. On the issue of a four-day week, she said that she had attended a Faith Chairs Headteachers meeting recently and none of the schools had talked about moving to a four-day week.

(Q19) Mr Lee asked whether the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport agreed with the Warlingham Conservatives’ statement and would he be opposing the Bond Road site closure? The Cabinet Member informed Members that the consultation was on going and nothing would be decided before the proposals had been to the scrutiny committee and then to Cabinet for decision. He said that, whilst the County Council did not want to close any Community Recycling Centres, it was facing severe budgetary pressures and that savings had to be made in the service.

(Q20) Mr Essex asked about the Capital Safety Defect Programme and whether another budget could fund the ‘in between’ work (namely funding local structural repair on all roads) now that the funding to local committees had been withdrawn. The Cabinet Member for Highways confirmed that would be the case.

Cabinet Member Briefings: these were also published with the supplementary agenda on 10 July 2017.

Members made the following comments:

Cabinet Member for Education: On improvements to the SEND provision and the issues of recruiting Educational Psychologists, plus the importance of supporting schools at the early intervention stage.

She was also asked about the new way of working as the schools-led improvement system developed and said that she considered that the Regional Schools Commissioner would play a significant role.

Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport was praised for the success of the local bus transport review and the savings delivered, whilst at the same time, improving services in some areas – this was a ‘good news’ story that should be publicised.

On the Air Quality Action Plan, it was requested whether the letter sent to Michael Gove MP could be made public. This was agreed.

Cabinet Member for Children was asked to expand on the comment in her statement relating to the inconsistence of practice and to explain to Members the work undertaken by the MASH (Multi-agency Safeguarding Hub). She said that her aim was to have a high quality of service disseminated across Surrey. She also informed Members that Ofsted would be visiting Surrey in the next month, to look specifically at theMASH.

Cabinet Member for Health: Members were pleased that health and care organisations had signed a devolution pledge with the Surrey Heartlands Sustainability and Transformation Partnership (STP). She was asked about plans to monitor its progress and also for assurance about equality of service for all Surrey residents and not just for those in this area.

Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport on Community Recycling Centres and the consultation. Given the significant amount of interest and the large number of responses, he was asked if there could be an extension to the consultation. However, this request was rejected.

Additional item

The Chairman agreed that the Leader of the Council could make a statement.

The Leader informed Members that Mr David McNulty, the Chief Executive would be retiring at the end of September. He paid tribute to the significant contribution to Surrey that Mr McNulty had made since becoming Chief Executive in 2009.