Agenda item

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

 

Written questions

 

To answer any written questions from a County Councillor, (or any person living or working in the county, or is affected by the work of the County Council), about any matter which relates to any item on the agenda for this meeting.

 

The closing date for the receipt of written questions is 4.00 pm on Thursday 7 March 2019

 

A written answer will be provided for each written question and presented to the questioner and to Cabinet Members in advance of the meeting. The questions and answers will be taken as read at the meeting and need not be read out. At the discretion of the Leader of Council, each questioner in attendance at the meeting will be allowed to ask one supplementary question in response to the answer to the original question.

 

A copy of all written questions and written answers circulated at the meeting will be attached to the signed copy of the minutes of the meeting.

 

Urgent questions

 

An urgent written question may be asked by a member of the public about any item on the Cabinet agenda for that meeting which the Chairperson considers could not have been reasonably submitted by the deadline for the receipt of written questions, provided he or she gives notice of the question to the Chief Executive by 12 noon the day before the meeting.

 

Please submit cabinet questions to jo.moore@gloucestershire.gov.uk

A total of 12 (member) questions were submitted for consideration prior to the meeting.

 

Please refer to the link below to view the responses to the questions: -

 

http://glostext.gloucestershire.gov.uk/documents/b15143/Member%20Questions%20and%20Answers%20-%2013%20March%202019%20Wednesday%2013-Mar-2019%2010.00%20Cabinet.pdf?T=9

 

If unable to access the document at the link above, please go to the link below and select the ‘Cabinet Questions and Answers’ PDF document at the top of the web page: - 

 

http://glostext.gloucestershire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=117&MId=9225&Ver=4

 

The following supplementary questions were asked at the meeting.

 

Question 1: Cllr Colin Hay 

 

Agenda item 5: Financial Monitoring Report

 

Children and Families (Point 20)

 

Cllr Hay asked the cabinet member to provide budget details on the funding spent on delivering the council’s youth support services over the past 10 years.

 

Response by: Cllr Richard Boyles (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People)

 

Cllr Boyles explained the difficulty in providing this information but agreed to speak with officers to answer the question more fully.  

 

Question 2: Cllr Colin Hay 

 

Agenda item 5: Financial Monitoring Report

 

Children and Families (Point 24)

 

In response to the comment that other authorities were experiencing the same recruitment and retention difficulties as Gloucestershire, Cllr Hay asked if this meant there was no agreement on the setting the salaries of permanent social worker staff and if the cabinet member could foresee a change in this position before 20 March 2019.

 

Response by: Cllr Richard Boyles (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People)

 

Cllr Boyles confirmed there was an agreement and that the salaries of this and other authorities were constantly scanned and would be taken back to the South West Recruitment and Retention Group meeting on 20 March 2019. Other factors would be considered, not just pay, in the council's approach to supporting social workers. The council would also be developing its own bespoke Academy to build on the work of the South West cohort.

 

Question 3: Cllr Colin Hay 

 

Agenda item 5: Financial Monitoring Report

 

Children and Families (Point 27)

 

Cllr Hay asked what advice had been given to the Schools Forum by council officers?

 

Response by: Cllr Richard Boyles (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People)

 

Cllr Boyles confirmed that the advice to the Schools Forum was on public record and could be viewed in the minutes for that meeting. 

 

Question 4: Cllr Colin Hay 

 

Agenda item 5: Financial Monitoring Report

 

Children and Families (Point 27)

 

Cllr Hay questioned the advice given at the Schools Forum meeting and asked if the cabinet member thought the recommendation to change from 'one in 75'  to '1 in 40' would damage education standards and if the change had been agreed by all schools? 

 

Response by: Cllr Richard Boyles (Cabinet Member for Children and Young People)

 

Cllr Boyles confirmed that the council had consulted with all schools and that the change to 1 in 40 had been approved by the Schools Forum. He explained that the council continued to try to support the most exceptional schools in the county. Acknowledging the difficulties changes in funding presented to schools the cabinet member reaffirmed the council's lobbying of MP's and officers lobbying of government to obtain the best deal for Gloucestershire Schools. 

 

Question 6: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cost Pressures and Continued Support for Subsidised Public Transport Contracts

 

Cllr Hodgkinson referred to the £1m reduction in the council's funding of public transport since 2015 and asked how the cabinet member felt personally about the reduction?

 

Response by: Cllr Nigel Moor (Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning)

 

Cllr Moor referred to the council's £223k investment in public transport provision and acknowledged the impact of inflation on funding. The council remained proactive at looking at the subsidy policy and continued to work with public transport providers to maintain services.

 

Question 7: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cost Pressures and Continued Support for Subsidised Public Transport Contracts

 

Referring to reduced funding towards public transport during the past 5 years, Cllr Hodgkinson questioned whether the cabinet member (with responsibility for climate change) considered the provision of local bus services a critical tool in reducing the county's carbon omissions? 

 

Response by: Cllr Nigel Moor (Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning)

 

Cllr Moor clarified that investment in public transport provision was one of the tools at work at the county council in addressing the impact of climate change. The council also continued to look at the non-met areas of the county and was pleased with the county's reduction in carbon emissions. Cllr Moor also referred to the significant growth in public transport provision in the Cheltenham area. 

 

Question 8: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cost Pressures and Continued Support for Subsidised Public Transport Contracts

 

Cllr Hodgkinson referred to the year on year population increase of Gloucestershire over the past 4 years and questioned whether the number of people using public transport was in correlation to the reduction in funding?

 

Response by: Cllr Nigel Moor (Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning)

 

Cllr Moor explained that there was a whole sector of social factors that needed to be taken into consideration. It was, however, reassuring to see the increase in the number of people using public transport in Cheltenham.

 

Question 9: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cost Pressures and Continued Support for Subsidised Public Transport Contracts

 

Cllr Hodgkinson questioned the future of the reduced bus service from Northleach to Bourton and the impact on the community. 

 

Response by: Cllr Nigel Moor (Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning)

 

Cllr Moor confirmed that Section 106 contributions had been used to retain the Northleach to Bourton service and that the council continued to work with the service provider to support this investment. A decision on the future of the bus service had yet to be made but every effort would be made to retain a regular service. 

 

Question 10: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cost Pressures and Continued Support for Subsidised Public Transport Contracts

 

Cllr Hodgkinson expressed concern about the impact the decision to reduce services was having on the number of passengers reliant on the service. Cllr Hodgkinson described the relationship as a 'catch 22 situation' and asked what the cabinet member was going to do to prevent the number of passengers using public transport declining due to reduced service provision. 

 

Response by: Cllr Nigel Moor (Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning)

 

Cllr Moor felt this was an exaggeration of the position and that the issues to be considered were operational issues. The council continued to look at such issues and had commissioned work to improve the situation. One area of work the council was focussing on was investing in community transport provision to fill any gaps in commercial service delivery.

 

Question 12: Cllr Lesley Williams

 

Agenda item 7: Cost Pressures and Continued Support for Subsidised Public Transport Contracts

 

Cllr Williams enquired about the decision to appoint TAS Consultancy to undertake a review of bus service provision in Gloucestershire. Cllr Williams also asked why the council had not commissioned local universities to undertake the review. 

 

Response by: Cllr Nigel Moor (Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning)

 

Cllr Moor advised members that TAS Consultancy was very experienced in this area of work and in working with commercial operators. The review would provide real insight into bus service provision for Gloucestershire. Reflecting on the reduction in the number of bus companies operating across the county or willing to compete with large company operators, Cllr Moor stated this would be an area to be considered by the work undertaken during the review.