Agenda item

Report of the Leader of the Council, attached.

 

The report of the Leader of the Council was submitted, setting out the details of the business undertaken by the Executive (copy of the report circulated with agenda and appended to signed minutes).

 

The Leader and the Cabinet made statements and responded to Questions.

 

The appointment of Councillor Noon as Cabinet Member for Efficiency and Improvement was noted.

 

The following questions were then submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.1:

 

1. Development Control

 

Question from Councillor Vinson to Councillor Thorpe

 

Is the Cabinet Member aware that, despite the claims of his predecessor to have strengthened Development Control, there is currently a serious backlog in inspections and enforcement actions?

 

Answer

 

Yes, I am aware of this issue and it is being addressed. There is currently an enforcement backlog, due to particular resource pressures in this area; there are currently just two planning enforcement officers in post. However we are currently recruiting a further two enforcement officers; one is a new, temporary, fixed term post to deal with HMOs and the other is a vacant post.

 

 

2. Fly-tipping

 

Question from Councillor Turner to Councillor Thorpe

 

What measures will be taken this year to deal with the problem of fly-tipping in the City?

 

Answer

 

The Regulatory Services Division has taken the lead in coordinating teams across the council to tackle Fly tipping.

 

City Patrol, Environmental Health, Trading Standards, Streetscene & Community Safety, Waste Services, Housing, and others are working together with the police, Hampshire Fire & Rescue and neighbouring local authorities to deter fly tipping and hold those who repeatedly engage in this criminal behaviour to account.

 

Coxford Road, where it meets Lords Wood has been identified by the group as the city’s number 1 fly tipping hotspot.  As a result a specific action plan to tackle fly tipping in this particular location is being implemented.

 

The intention is to rollout this approach to other ‘hotspots’ and identify appropriate action at each to engage the local community, educate, deter and take enforcement action against those found responsible.

 

This work will link with the planned programme of Street CRED days (Crime Reduction and Environment Days) which will also focus on geographical areas of the City and take an inter-agency approach to dealing with crime and anti-social behaviour.

 

3. Young Carers

 

Question from Councillor Turner to Councillor Bogle

 

What is being done to ensure support for the education and personal development of young carers in Southampton?

 

Answer

 

The City Council contract with Southampton Voluntary Services to provide comprehensive support to young people who are carers.  The service ensures that young carers have access to personalised support, leisure activity, alternative learning experiences and health advice and guidance.  The service worked with approximately 120 young carers during 2011/12 and is continuing this work in 2012/13.

 

4. Oaklands Pool

 

Question from Councillor Vassiliou to Councillor Payne

 

How much money has been spent since 16th May on Oaklands Pool?

 

Answer

 

£13,340

 

5. Oaklands Pool

 

Question from Councillor Vassiliou to Councillor Payne

 

How many staff will be affected by your decision to shut Oaklands Pool?

 

Answer

 

 

Thirty three staff, in a variety of permanent, casual, full time and part time roles.

 

6. Oaklands Pool

 

Question from Councillor Vassiliou to Councillor Noon

 

How does closing Oaklands Pool help with fitness and obesity?

 

Answer

 

Closing Oaklands pool would be most regrettable but the facility is suffering the legacy of years of neglect and under investment.

 

The City has an excellent range of sport and recreation facilities and programmes provided by a wide range of partners: Schools, Clubs, SCC in partnership with Active Nation, Mytime Active and Solent University.  In the event of closure, we will work with affected people to direct them to alternative opportunities.

 

7. Pay Cuts

 

Question from Councillor Smith to Councillor Dr R Williams

(In accordance with Council Standing Order 11.6 this question was transferred to Councillor Letts for response).

 

What commitment have you given to the unions about restoring pay cuts?

 

Answer

 

Our commitment is to restore the pay cuts to staff and we will do so.

 

8. Transparency

 

Question from Councillor Smith to Councillor Dr R Williams

 

What does open and transparent mean to you?

 

Answer

 

Open” (from the Oxford English Dictionary)

 

- available or accessible

 

“Transparent” (also from the OED)

 

- open to public scrutiny

 

9. Redundancies

 

Question from Councillor L. Harris to Councillor Letts

 

Can you inform us how much you have budgeted for the costs of the 90 redundancies you have stated will be needed, using your new scheme; and what the savings will be over the next 12 months by your redundancy programme?

 

Answer

 

The Council currently holds £12.8M in the Organisational Development Reserve (ODR) to fund potential redundancy costs over the next 3 years. In addition to that sum, the General Fund Revenue Outturn 2011/12 report on today’s agenda proposes to add a further £2.2m to the ODR, of which £0.9M is earmarked to cover redundancy costs, taking the total sum available to fund potential redundancy costs to £13.7M, of which £5.7M is currently set aside for 2013/14.

 

Any redundancies arising from either the proposed ‘Changes to Existing Revenue and Capital Budgets report’ on today’s agenda, or from the Budget Report in February will need to be funded from within the overall sum set aside for redundancies.

 

10. Redeployment Policy

 

Question from Councillor L. Harris to Councillor Letts

 

Can you tell us where they are going to be redeployed?

 

Answer

 

The Executive have committed to bring forward a revised Redeployment Policy to Full Council in September, following consultation with the Unions. It is anticipated that the revised policy will offer a range of options to support individuals at risk of redundancy.

 

Clearly redeployment is the process of matching individuals at risk of redundancy with posts which are either vacant or which can be released by agreement to a bumped redundancy. It is premature at this stage to speculate as to which posts will be at risk in the future, and where those individuals would be redeployed.

 

Our commitment remains to put in place a revised redeployment policy which provides employees at risk with the best possible opportunity to secure on-going employment, be that within the Authority or externally.

 

11. Visits by Carers

 

Question from Councillor Claisse to Councillor Stevens

 

Bearing in mind the concerns expressed by the Cabinet Member about the inadequacy of 15 minute visits by carers for the elderly and vulnerable, will he be increasing spending in this area to address this concern?

 

Answer

 

15 minute visits are usually used to provide ‘pop in’ checks or medication support which do not require a longer period of care and, in considering the best use of Council Tax payers’ money as well as meeting the Council’s statutory responsibility, it is appropriate to set the length of visits to meet assessed needs.

 

We are working towards a more flexible approach where the person who uses care negotiates on a day to day basis with the care agency how best to use the total allocation of purchased care per week to meet their individual needs.

 

Sarah Pickup of ADASS notes the following in response to the recent UKHCA (UK Home Care Association)’s report

 

Over 60% of older people are making choices about their care using a personal budget as the recent ADASS personalisation survey showed. (A similar figure applies in Southampton). This means that the way care visits are arranged for an individual is not just dictated by the council but agreed with the individual. To make good use of their budget, people might well choose to use shorter visits.  Many of the people using home care services receive more than one visit in the day and the length of each visit needs to be seen in this context. Home care is not the only service people use to meet their needs: support plans may also include use of day services or access to voluntary sector or other resources.

 

12. Portswood and Shirley Police stations

 

Question from Councillor Claisse to Councillor Rayment

 

Will you join with me in calling for front desk facilities at Portswood and Shirley Police stations?

 

Answer

 

Calling for front offices to reopen is not the answer. I am happy to work with Partners, volunteers, and Councillor Moulton to ensure a presence can be provided in every neighbourhood. What is important is that the Police are accessible and merely having offices open doesn’t always achieve that objective.

 

13. Sure Start Centres

 

Question from Councillor Mead to Councillor Bogle

 

Will the Cabinet Member for Children's Services confirm her commitment to the future of all Sure Start Centres in Southampton?

 

Answer

 

I remain committed to retaining our excellent Sure Start provision within the City.  There are no plans to reduce the numbers of centres (14) or the services provided.  Service provision is constantly reviewed and sometimes revised, to meet the needs of a local community and this is done in consultation with the local Advisory Group.

Where some services are delivered from school sites, where space may be needed now for additional school places, on occasions it may be necessary to move the service delivery to another local site.

 

14. Joint Working with other Authorities

 

Question from Councillor Moulton to Councillor Thorpe

(In accordance with Council Standing Order 11.6 this question was transferred to Councillor Dr. R. Williams for response).

 

What is the Cabinet Member’s approach to joint working with other authorities?

 

Answer

 

We have a cross-cutting strategy and a positive approach, which I believe in and is needed to overcome such savage cuts. Our approach is related to outcomes and not based on any political persuasion. We already work with a number of Authorities such as Swindon, Eastleigh and Portsmouth, which are all engaged in bringing forward initiatives.

 

15. Press Release Authorisation

 

Question from Councillor Moulton to Councillor Rayment

 

Can you confirm that you signed off the Council press release explaining Councillor Morrell’s resignation?

 

Answer

 

I have already answered this question in the Special Council Meeting. Yes, I signed it off.

 

16. Appointment of Cabinet Members

 

Question from Councillor Moulton to Councillor Dr. R. Williams

 

Why did you say you would not reappoint to the Cabinet Member for Efficiency post after Councillor Morrell's resignation and then 3 weeks later change your mind?

 

Answer

 

When events occur it is necessary to reflect and consider the options. I took the view that this was strategically important based on the evidence of stopping and reviewing the situation. This was based on two areas which were reviewed; strategic contracts and how we were engaging with the Private Sector and the need to reduce red tape and bureaucracy. For example there has been little change in the Capita contract from what was required in 2008/9 and the activities undertaken. What is required now needs to be tested for a 21^st Century Council. Similarly, the need to reduce red tape and bureaucracy as the recent case of the cone in the fountain highlighted. It was therefore an objective decision that Political Leadership was needed and that dialogues with other Authorities, such as Blackburn-in-Darwen, Cornwall and Lambeth were needed to try and improve efficiency. In this context Councillor Noon is the right person to do this job.

 

 

17. Mini Budget

 

Question from Councillor Moulton to Councillor Dr. R.Williams

 

Can you confirm how much your cuts in your mini budget are for this year and next year?

 

Answer

 

As set out in the ‘Changes to Existing Revenue and Capital Budgets’ report on today’s agenda, the proposed savings put forward for consultation are:

2012/13 - £0.833M

2013/14 - £1.997M (cumulative)

2014/15 – £2.537M (cumulative)

 

18. Bus Subsidy

 

Question from Councillor Moulton to Councillor Thorpe

 

Will you be providing a subsidy for the 1A bus and if so when?

 

Answer

 

All options will be considered as part of the ongoing bus review. A comprehensive and considered response from officers and our lead Councillor will be needed and we will be looking to influence our Partners in this. The recently secured Local Sustainable Transport Fund grant of 17.9m will go towards this.

 

 

19. Policy Reviews

 

Question from Councillor Smith to Councillor Dr. R. Williams

 

You are carrying out reviews of the former administration's policies. What are they?

 

Answer

 

We are carrying out reviews on our policy priorities of to assist us with transition planning. Some of these may be areas on which the former administration developed policies. In essence, the policy reviews are to designed to be inclusive and engage all our Members in the development of key policies that will help us achieve our priorities. This process includes understanding the current direction of travel, the parameters within which we need to work as well as learning from others. Each Portfolio has a policy group comprising councillors and key officers and the policy sessions help us determine the way forward. For example, as a result of the policy review of SNAC there will be no changes in direction to this project. Other policy matters we are considering include:

·  The setting up a Fairness Commission

·  HMO registration

·  Recycling policies

·  How joined up enforcement can be improved further, following the implementation of the 2009 review

·  The impact on education in the city in the future of only some schools taking up the education funding that replaced BSF

·  The impact for the future of adult social care thresholds and Southampton’s position in league tables.

·  International Way CESP Delivery

·  ROMANSE/CCTV Process

 

20. Southampton Festival

 

Question from Councillor Smith to Councillor Dr. R. Williams

 

You have committed to a Southampton Festival in your manifesto and mini budget. What is it?

 

Answer

The Southampton festival will be an opportunity to celebrate the best of Southampton’s Cultural offer.  In the long term we hope that it will deliver a range of activities, that will embrace current events, into a cohesive and co-ordinated programme.

 

In the short term, we hope to engage with local cultural organisations and event organisers to develop the vision using a launch event in the early Autumn.

 

 

21. Primary School Places

 

Question from Councillor Vinson to Councillor Bogle

 

What steps does the Cabinet Member for Children's Services propose to take to address the imbalance, numerically and geographically, between applications and primary schools places available?

 

Answer

 

Under the primary Review Phase 2, plans are in place to expand a number of schools throughout the city to increase the Year R place numbers to 3,030 from September 2012, in preparation for a cohort of approximately 3,000.

At the close of the Year R 2012 / January 2012 application process, our very latest data showed that demand was still likely to outstrip supply; consequently in May 2012 it was agreed to respond to the additional demand by expanding two more primary schools – Bassett Green and Bevois Town to bring Year R places available to 3,060.

 

The schools expanding have been chosen because of their popularity with parents and carers, and site capacity to add additional places. 

 

22. Council Leadership

 

Question from Councillor Hannides to Councillor Dr. R. Williams

 

Why does he think it is important for a Council Leader to be honest?

 

Answer

 

To convey the policies of the Authority.

 

23. Use of Council Resources

 

Question from Councillor Hannides to Councillor Dr. R. Williams

 

Did the Council Leader use Council resources to disseminate information that he knew not to be a full and complete explanation of the reasons for Cllr Morrell's resignation from the Cabinet?

 

Answer

 

Press releases are high level and by there very nature do not contain all the information.

 

24. Cultural Quarter

 

Question from Councillor Hannides to Councillor Dr. R. Williams

 

Why does the Council Leader believe it is important to proceed with the completion of the Cultural Quarter in accordance with the existing plans and agreed timeframe?

 

Answer

 

Job creation is a priority for the Council.  Working to the timescales determined by our external funding partners, such as Arts Council England, provides a great platform for retaining and securing many jobs for our residents.

 

25. Weston Towers

 

Question from Councillor Baillie to Councillor Payne

 

Question withdrawn

 

26. Fuel Poverty

 

Question from Councillor Baillie to Councillor Payne

 

Question withdrawn

 

27. Affordable Homes

 

Question from Councillor Baillie to Councillor Payne

 

Question withdrawn

 

28. Budget Information

 

Question from Councillor Baillie to Councillor Letts

 

Exactly what information was withheld from you by officers regarding the budget deficit prior to May 3rd?

 

Answer

 

There are so many possible answers, from the implementation of proposals by Government to the cut in benefit by 10% except for pensioners.

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 12.9 Questions 29 – 34 were unable to be submitted due to the timeframe allotted for this item.