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 8 October 2020.

 

Please submit any questions to stephen.bace @gloucestershire.gov.uk

 

A written answer will be provided for each written question received (to be presented to the questioner and to Cabinet (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 at the meeting (in response to the answer given 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.

 

A total of 11 member questions were submitted for consideration in advance of the meeting.

 

No public questions were submitted.

 

Please refer to the link here to view the responses to the questions.

 

The following supplementary questions were asked at the meeting.

 

 

Question 1: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cabinet Response to Council Motion 848 Tree Planting.

 

Cllr Hodgkinson asked why a higher tree planting figure was now being proposed after the suggestion made the previous year of planting 6 million trees had been dismissed.

 

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

 

Cllr Moor explained that at that time he had concerns about the financial implications of the commitment. Since then officers had carried out a great deal of work and there was a broad partnership in place that gave him the confidence to be ambitious. He added that this was not just about tree planting but also about woodland regeneration.

 

Question 2: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cabinet Response to Council Motion 848 Tree Planting.

 

Cllr Hodgkinson asked whether it had occurred to the Cabinet Member to start the work with partners when the suggestion of planting 6 million trees had been made the previous year?

 

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

 

Cllr Moor replied that officers had been working on this for a long time and had only just concluded the Gloucestershire Tree Strategy. He felt this was the right time to make the commitment.

 

Question 3: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cabinet Response to Council Motion 848 Tree Planting.

 

Cllr Hodgkinson asked if the Member could confirm that the Council would plant 1 million trees as part of the 35 million commitment.

 

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

 

Cllr Moor confirmed that this was the case.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Question 4: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cabinet Response to Council Motion 848 Tree Planting.

 

Cllr Hodkinson asked how many trees the County Council had planted as part of its 1m commitment expressing concern about meeting this ambitious target.

 

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

 

Cllr Moor replied that he did not have the figures to hand but that currently tree planting had been impacted by a number of factors including the pandemic and he did not feel that was reflective of the trajectory of planting going forward.

 

 

Question 5: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cabinet Response to Council Motion 848 Tree Planting.

 

 

Cllr Hodgkinson asked what the early estimate was for the total costs across Gloucestershire of planting 35 million trees.

 

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

 

Cllr Moor replied that the Council was working with partners to calculate those costs and he would be bringing the results to council and cabinet subsequently.

 

 

Question 6: Cllr Paul Hodgkinson

 

Agenda item 7: Cabinet Response to Council Motion 848 Tree Planting.

 

Cllr Hodgkinson stated that now was the time to plant trees when the ground was warm. There was a 6 month tree planting season and that worked out at 25,000 trees being planted each day. He asked where those trees would come from and how could we ensure this was realistic.

 

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

 

Cllr Moor explained that Forestry England was well advanced on their two major planting areas.

 

 

Question 7: Cllr Bernie Fisher

Agenda item 8: Real Time Passenger Information System

 

 

Cllr Fisher asked what impact the Covid-19 pandemic had had on the frequency of public transport use and what measures the Council was taken to encourage use.

 

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

 

Cllr Moor replied that the pandemic had had a devastating impact on the use of public transport. The Council had increased its financial support for community transport and commercial services.

 

Question 8: Cllr Bernie Fisher

Agenda item 8: Real Time Passenger Information System

 

Cllr Fisher asked for information on how the Council was doing in relation to increasing bus patronages and how best to understand the targets in place. 

 

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

 

Cllr Moor replied that the target was to increase bus patronage and that Quarter 4 2019/20 showed more than 4.3m journeys a year on buses which was an increase since 2016 for the same quarter.

 

Question 9: Cllr Jeremy Hilton

 

Agenda item 7: Cabinet Response to Council Motion 848 Tree Planting.

 

Cllr Hilton asked if the Cabinet Member could confirm how many GCC personnel were responsible for trees along the highways network..

 

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

 

Cllr Moor replied that extensive work took place in this area but the most important work at the moment was on the Ash dieback programme.

 

 

Question 10: Cllr Jeremy Hilton

 

Agenda item 7: Cabinet Response to Council Motion 848 Tree Planting.

 

Cllr Hilton asked, of the trees felled last year, how many had the stumps ‘ground out’? He provided an example from his own division of stumps that remained in the ground.

 

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

 

Cllr Moor advised the member to take up local issues with highways manager.

 

Question 11: Cllr Jeremy Hilton

 

Agenda item 7: Cabinet Response to Council Motion 848 Tree Planting.

 

Cllr Hilton asked what maintenance would be put in place for the trees that were being planted, providing examples of trees that were not being looked after appropriately.

 

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

 

Cllr Moor asked the member to contact him so he could follow up any issues he had.