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 Democratic Services by 12 noon on Wednesday 14 March 2018).

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 15 questions had been received. The questions and replies were published as a supplementary agenda on 19 March 2018.

It was noted that there was an amended response to question 14 which was tabled at the meeting and is attached to these minutes as Annex 2.

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

(Q1) Mr Evans felt the response he had received was not informative and asked the Leader of the Council how Members were supposed to be game changers without being given useful information. The Leader stated that much of the information was in different forms, such as correspondence or conversations with Members of Parliament.

(Q3) Mr Cooksey was disappointed with the response and asked if the Cabinet Member for Highways could provide some specific information about the repair of cycleways and the funding that would be allocated.  

Mr Harris highlighted that the original tweet had been taken out of context and was now deleted.

The Cabinet Member confirmed there was a budget to repair cycleways and that the Council was working with local areas to increase cycle lanes throughout Surrey.

(Q5) Mrs Goodwin asked if the Cabinet Member for Adults and Chairman of the Adults & Health Select Committee would consider inviting Surrey Choices to a Select Committee meeting to explain how the Shared Lives Services was benefiting Surrey’s vulnerable people. She also asked if theywould consider inviting Wiltshire Council to share their view of best practises. The Cabinet Member confirmed he had responded to Mrs Goodwin’s email on the same subject and that he did not have authority over the Adults & Health Select Committee.

(Q7) Mr Essex asked if the Cabinet Member for Health could share the letter from Jeremy Hunt and if they could ask that the annual ring-fencing be reversed so the full benefits of increased Public Health spending in Surrey could be realised. The Cabinet Member said that the Council was asking for proper funding for Public Health and highlighted that prevention was key to maintaining the health of residents.

(Q10) Mr Evans thanked the Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport for the response and for drawing attention to a number of issues.He asked if the Cabinet Member would agree that the Council should ask workers to use grass strimmers with care as it was the main cause of hedgehog death.

Mr Essex asked the Cabinet Member what the Council would do to reverse the decrease in hedgehogs in Surrey.

Mrs Angell asked what steps would be taken to ensure that Surrey is placed on the hedgehog roll of honour.

Mrs Muir highlighted that toads were also in danger as there was a 68% decline.

The Cabinet Member invited Members to visit the Harper Asprey Wildlife Rescue Centre in Windlesham on 2 May 2018 and urged councillors to encourage their district and borough councils to sign up to a national strimmer awareness campaign. It was noted that Windlesham was the first hedgehog-friendly village in Surrey.

(Q11) Mr Cooksey asked if the Cabinet Member for Highways could confirm what discussions had been had with MPs about the resources needed to maintain Surrey’s Highwaysand how successful those discussions were.

Mr Harris asked if the Cabinet Member agreed that Members should better communicate what extra money was available to use in local areas.

The Cabinet Member highlighted some positive work within the highways service and confirmed that he had contacted all MPs to gain their support going forward.

(Q14) Mr Essex asked the Leader of the Council if he agreed that the Council should invest in public services in order to save in the future.He stated that these benefits would be seen across the public sector therefore the Council needs to continue to press to secure greater funding from Central Government. The Leader of the Council stated that the Council would always look to ‘invest to save’ when an opportunity arises.

Cabinet Member Briefings: these were also published with the supplementary agenda on 19 March 2018.

Members made the following comments:

The Cabinet Member for Highways was asked to expand on a comment made at Mole Valley Local Committee regarding funding for local priorities. He said that he would later confirm where this funding could be spent.

The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport was asked to share plans to improve air quality in the county. He confirmed that he had met with Borough Councillors in order to look at air quality in Surrey and that he would be meeting with the Air Quality Minister on 16 April 2018 to discuss current issues.

The Cabinet Member for Children was asked for clarification on the proposed changes to the funding of children centres and if residents would be consulted. She confirmed that the consultation would be taking place in summer 2018 and that a full report would be considered by Cabinet in June 2018.