Councillors and committees

Agenda item

MEMBERS' QUESTION TIME

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 Democratic Services by 12 noon on Wednesday 31 January 2018).

 

 

Minutes:

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

 

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

 

(Q2) Mr Eber Kington asked whether the new Chief Executive would be prioritising the key issues identified in the staff survey. The Leader stated that there would be a further report to the People, Performance and Development Committee regarding the staff survey results and that the new Chief Executive would attend that meeting.

 

Mr Matt Furniss asked Council to consider the staff survey results in relation to the culture of team working and asked the Leader to endorse the value of team work across the organisation. The Leader congratulated staff on the work that they do, particularly in times of austerity and commended them for their ‘one team’ approach.

 

(Q3) Mr Stephen Cooksey asked the Cabinet Member to explain the Conservative policy in relation to DIY waste. The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport explained that the law was very clear and that the Council were able to charge for the disposal of DIY waste.

 

Mr Bob Gardner asked the Cabinet Member to explain what was being done about prosecuting people for fly-tipping. Mrs Bernie Muir also asked the Cabinet Member to comment on fly-tipping. The Cabinet Member stated that there was a strategy in place to prevent fly-tipping and that work was being undertaken with District and Boroughs to tackle this problem. He went onto say that there had been a successful campaign on fly-tipping and that residents have informed knowledge in this area.

 

Mr Wyatt Ramsdale requested an explanation on how fixed penalty notices are benefiting Surrey. The Cabinet Member stated that Epsom and Ewell Borough Council had the highest number of fly-tipping convictions with a large monetary value.

 

(Q4) Mr Matt Furniss thanked the Cabinet Member for the work that had been done on the Ash Bridge scheme and asked whether he would consider making this one of his key priorities. The Cabinet Member for Highways confirmed that local schemes are always a priority.

 

(Q5) Mrs Hazel Watson asked whether the Leader would be equally sympathetic to non-Cabinet Members in relation to the use of IT to enable paperless meetings. The Leader stated that leadership roles were very important and that there were occasions when paper would be necessary.

 

(Q7) Mr Chris Townsend asked for confirmation that no children’s centres would close as part of the Early Help review.

 

Mr Mark Brett-Warburton asked what links existed between the Early Help work and the Improvement Board.

 

The Cabinet Member for Children responded by confirming that the Improvement Notice had made the Early Help offer a mandatory area of work. She said that many Members had been involved in their local areas and that work around children’s centres was a part of this. She explained that the ambition was to work with partners to join up services at children’s centres and other community venues. 

 

(Q8) Mrs Kay Hammond asked the Cabinet Member to confirm that only eight members of fire service staff had moved out of the Surrey Fire and Rescue Service and would she agree that it was an outstanding, well run and high performing service. The Cabinet Member for Communities responded by stating that the Fire Service was an efficient service being led by a nationally recognised leader and she gave her thanks to the officers in the service.

 

Mr Bob Gardner asked for an update on the initial response vehicle trial. The Cabinet Member confirmed that the trial had started on 8 January 2018 and that there would be a familiarisation session for Members.

 

(Q9) Mr Will Forster paid tribute to the fire service and the youth workers affected by the recent fire and asked whether all local Members would be consulted on the future of the building. The Cabinet Member for Education said that it was important to note that the youth workers had been able to deliver the service despite the fire and that there had been no disruption to the service with young people not being disadvantaged. The Cabinet Member for Property and Business Services confirmed that individual Members would be consulted on plans for the building going forward.

 

(Q11) Miss Marisa Heath referred to the ongoing consultation on the Heathrow expansion and asked for reassurance that the Council would be robust in its response to protect residents and their wellbeing. The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport confirmed that the flightpath and noise consultation would end on 8 March 2018 and then the responses to this would be considered before further information would be provided next year. He informed Members that the Council had a place on the strategic board and would make sure that the safety of residents was represented.

 

Dr Peter Szanto asked the Cabinet Member to confirm whether he agreed that a Heathrow rail link was vital to minimise the transport impact of expansion on Surrey residents and queried what the Council was doing to support the evaluation of alternative rail link proposals. The Cabinet Member said that there must be better links to access the airport and that he had met with Network Rail regarding this matter.

 

 

Supporting documents: