Agenda item

The City Mayor will answer questions raised by members of the Overview Select Committee on issues not covered elsewhere on the agenda.

The Chair reminded members that he would prefer for all questions to be provided in advance, which can help in providing more detailed responses at meetings.

The Chair accepted the following questions to be asked to the City Mayor:

1. The Chair noted that it was disappointing that Marks and Spencer (M&S) had moved out of their premises in Leicester and asked the City Mayor what plans there were for the site.

The City Mayor responded that City Centres were changing, and M&S were also changing in that they were increasingly moving out of city centres, moving online and to out of town shopping.  They were also focussing more on their food stores rather than the clothing stores.  It had been explored as to whether the clothing and household section of M&S could move out, but the food store could remain, however, this had not been amenable to them at this time.

It was further noted that other chains had previously moved out of Leicester, such as C&A, Littlewoods and Fenwicks, which were replaced by Primark, TK Maxx and the Gresham respectively.

The City Mayor explained that the ownership of the areas traded from was in two different hands and the section on Humberstone Gate was leased separately to the section on Gallowtree Gate.  Therefore, it was possible that separate interests could be expressed in the separate sections.

The premises were good places to trade from and the city centre had been invested in.  Footfall in the city centre was still good despite the loss of Marks and Spencer.

The City Mayor remarked that it was sad that Marks and Spencer had left, but it was noted that the departure of large traders gave good opportunities for other businesses.

2. Councillor Porter drew attention to the leasing of the Travelodge above the Haymarket centre, and asked what the return on this was.

The figures would be shared following the meeting.

3. Councillor Kitterick raised flooding and drainage issues and noted that whilst the Highways team had a list of high risk locations where procedures such as gully cleaning took place, the Street Cleansing team did not prioritise the cleaning of leaves in the same way that Highways prioritised the cleaning of gullies.  If drains were at risk of causing flooding, it would be good for them to have leaves cleaned from them on a weekly basis.  It was asked whether Highways and Street Cleaning could be better aligned in their priorities.

The City Mayor acknowledged that it was important for priorities to be lined up and coordinated, and that flooding was an important issue, particularly due to climate change.  It was important to make sure that communications with the public, before, during and after heavy rainfall, were right.  The City Mayor agreed to consider the issue and raise it with the relevant officers.

4. Councillor Rae Bhatia also raised the issue of flooding and noted that officers had previously advised that flood prevention and management was the responsibility of the Environment Agency.  He suggested that the Council should be the first point of contact for residents so that they knew where to go.

The City Mayor acknowledged that the issue of flooding involved many agencies and explained that the Council was working to communicate with residents before, during and after flooding to help disseminate advice to residents and help them understand what kind of response they could expect.

5. Councillor Rae Bhatia raised issues concerning the Leys Building in Beaumont Leys and the play area around it.  He asked how quickly the work on them could be completed.

The City Mayor clarified that this was a Housing Association building and agreed to follow up on the issue.

6. Councillor Rae Bhatia raised the issue of long waiting times when Council telephone lines were contacted and long response times.

The City Mayor explained that a problem with the phone system had been difficulty in recruiting people to operate it.  This was a difficult issue for call centres in general.  The Council had been doing its best to recruit staff for this.  He further suggested that scrutiny may wish to consider the issue further, perhaps through an informal scrutiny group of the Culture and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Commission.

7. Councillor Porter suggested that maybe a callback service or outsourcing of call centres could help with pressure on the telephone service and providing advice and help to residents.

The City Mayor responded that these approaches had been discussed with officers and the issue was not amenable to a simple solution.  As such, it could be an area where scrutiny could add value by looking at evidence available, including what had been done at other Councils, and taking a view on whether such solutions could be suitable.

8. Councillor Waddington raised concern about the low level of book stock in libraries reported that she had been told that the Library Service was saving money by not purchasing so many new books.  She asked whether the budget for new books had been reduced in year and whether libraries were still spending as much as they had previously on new books.

The City Mayor responded that new books were still being purchased, but also note that conventional stock was not the only way that people accessed the written word.

The Assistant City Mayor for Culture, Libraries and Community Centres responded that she was not aware of in-year reductions in funding but would look into the issue.

The Chair noted that it would be useful to receive questions in advance to allow information to be more readily shared.

The Chair welcomed questions form Youth Representatives at future meetings.