- From Members of the Public
- From Councillors
Minutes:
Lord Mayor: Question 1, Councillor Singh.
Councillor Singh: Thank you my Lord Mayor. “Will the Deputy City Mayor inform this Council of the recent performance figures at the Leicester Royal Infirmary’s Accident and Emergency over the December/January period and what involvement has he had with the UHL management in addressing these failings in services at the A&E Unit?”
Lord Mayor: Deputy City Mayor.
Deputy City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. Can I first of all thank Councillor Singh for tabling this question about this very important issue which I am sure is of concern to all Members of the Council. Before I say anything else on the issue I hope and I assume that this Chamber can be absolutely united in paying tribute to the work of our NHS staff, particularly A&E, but indeed across the whole health system at this time of real pressure. They do a phenomenal job in extremely challenging circumstances and emit a lot of political and sometimes heated debate on this issue at the moment. We should be absolutely resolute and clear in my view in making clear that this is not a crisis of the making of our NHS staff, they are doing a phenomenal job as I say in incredibly challenging circumstances. The performance at UHL A&E for December averaged at 83% on the headline 4 hour target. Obviously some way short of the 95% target and the performance which we would all want to see and expect. I wrote to Members early in the New Year setting out the City Council’s contribution and our efforts in trying to alleviate some of the current pressures on A&E. That includes allocating additional social work capacity to support timely discharges from hospital, it includes providing 7 day a week access and on site presence of our integrated crisis response service to support those timely discharges and to identify people entering A&E who obviously can be moved through the system more quickly where it is safe and clinically appropriate to do that. We have a senior officer taking part in daily tele-conferences with the UHL’s team and the wider health system to identify patients who can be moved through the system much more quickly where it is safe to do so. The City Council continues to be represented on the Urgent Care Board and indeed on the, what is called the System Resilience Group which monitors the A&E performance very closely and continues to identify interventions that are required and which can make a difference to addressing some of these challenges. I continue to liaise regularly with UHL’s management, to discuss the current challenges, to make sure the City Council is doing all it can do to alleviate some of that pressure and our contributions as an organisation have been acknowledged very positively by key organisations across the system, and indeed were identified in a peer review of our Adults Social Care Department in March of last year. So we will continue to make a very proactive contribution to doing what we can do to alleviate some of the pressure at A&E in Leicester as we work to see the situation improved.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Singh have you a supplementary?
Councillor Singh: My Lord Mayor I do. Thank you. Can I thank the Deputy City Mayor for that reply and wholeheartedly endorse his comments about the hard work of the hospital staff, absolutely they are doing a commendable job and of course we totally support those comments. Can I also say Lord Mayor that the need to reassure the public is constantly failing in this area. There appears to be this ongoing lack of confidence in the UHL decision makers. Would the Deputy Mayor note that this Council and its City constituents deserve better when the public visits the A&E and that systems be constantly reviewed and revised to manifest that commitment.
Lord Mayor: Deputy City Mayor.
Deputy City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. We all want to see this situation improved and to have an A&E system which is consistently hitting that 4 hour target, meeting the expectations of patients and the public in Leicester. I have helped, I will continue through the Health and Wellbeing Board and through other structures to hold to account UHL’s management and leadership in terms of their responsibilities here. I also think it is important that we acknowledge that as far as I am concerned the real architects of this crisis in the NHS at the moment are not the managers at UHL, they are Ministers in Whitehall who set about driving forward a £3b top down reorganisation of the health service that nobody voted for which took money away from front line services. It should not be surprising that we see a crisis like this when money has been taken away from things like the NHS 111 service for example, and away from front line health services in the communities. I have been accused of politicising this issue sometimes, it is a political issue, let’s be clear about that. It is one of the oldest rules in politics – the Tories wreck the NHS, Labour saves the NHS and that is what we need to see start happening from May this year.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Deputy City Mayor. Question 2, Councillor Singh.
Councillor Singh: Thank you my Lord Mayor. In welcoming the City Mayor’s announcement of the regeneration investment of the City’s waterside economy, will he agree that the food and drink industry has been a major asset in any such economies where cities have been fortunate enough to have such prime waterways in their urban areas and has been a massive boost to local job creation?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I am pleased to agree with Councillor Singh that investment in the waterside will provide wider benefits to the City’s economy which will certainly include the food and drink sector. There have been a number of opportunities in that area for that sector to benefit. The waterside area which is the focus of this major regeneration activity is recognised as a prime location. It is near to the City Centre and it is expected to deliver a mix of new housing, employment and leisure issues, and all of those provide opportunities for the food and drink sectors. The regeneration of the waterside will add to the growth of the City’s economy and as such will deliver the aims of the economic action plan that we launched over 2 years ago now. It will support business and will lead to job growth and of course will continue to contribute in a major way to the economy of the City.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Councillor Singh have you a supplementary?
Councillor Singh: No.
City Mayor: Move on to question 3, Councillor Clarke.
Councillor Clarke: Thank you very much my Lord Mayor. Over 200 residents have signed two separate petitions aimed at getting Bloors and Greenbelt to improve the play area built as part of the Otters Bank development. These petitions are now with the Member of Parliament. Bloors have failed to attend a meeting with myself and Council officers. Has the Council done all it can to improve this much needed but poorly designed and managed play area in my Ward of Aylestone?
Lord Mayor: Councillor Clair.
Councillor Clair: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I remember meeting Councillor Clarke and officers a number of times on this issue and I am aware of the recent meeting you asked to meet with them, with the local MP. For the reason of ongoing maintenance of the required play facility are being pursued like we did together with officers also through MP with Bloor Homes from planning section as well as park officers. Following your meeting you referred to with Bloor Homes, Bloor Homes has been formally notified of the deficiencies in play area. In response to that now Bloor Homes has agreed, actually they themselves requested meeting with officers - that will happen by end of this month and I am hopeful that they will necessarily meet the specification which they have agreed under planning application rules. Should the satisfactory outcome to meeting be failed to achieve I can assure you that enforcement order of notice will actually be issued. Just on that if you have supplementary probably I can answer that I hope it will be sorted through negotiation, but as you are aware that when you issue enforcement notice they have a right to appeal. Probably if that is not; the process we need to go through it may take up to 12 months. I hope, I am on your side, officers are really keen to sort this out, it is their fault, I hope they will resolve by a meeting and by resolution.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Clarke have you a supplementary?
Councillor Clarke: No my Lord Mayor.
Lord Mayor: Move on to question 4, Councillor Chaplin.
Councillor Chaplin: Thank you my Lord Mayor. Following the serious fire at South Oxfordshire District Council this month and noting the particular damage to that authority’s planning department, what confidence can the people of Leicester have in the resilience measures put in place for the services delivered by Leicester City Council, particularly following the move to new office accommodation?
Lord Mayor: Thank you. City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I am pleased that Councillor Chaplin has taken an interest in the resilience of the Council and of course I have very considerable sympathy with our colleagues in South Oxfordshire District Council following the major events there that have caused so many problems. It is obviously very difficult to predict in detail the full range of risks that there might be to the continuity of our activities and to defend completely against them, particularly the sorts of criminal acts that we have seen elsewhere. We actually have many buildings and assets across the City and that is in one sense a challenge to us, but it is also something of a strength when we look at our resilience, we are not dependent on a particular single building in a particular place. I am aware though that we have extensive resilience and back-up plans but we can’t be complacent about them and it is important that we do consider the resilience of all of these assets including of course our new office accommodation.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Chaplin have you a …..?
Councillor Chaplin: No my Lord Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you. Question 5, Councillor Moore.
Councillor Moore: Thank you my Lord Mayor. Does the Deputy City Mayor agree with me that the shopping centre in Allandale Road and Francis Street is an important facility for residents of the area, particularly the elderly, in that it provides a pharmacy, Stoneycroft Chemists?
Lord Mayor: Deputy City Mayor.
Deputy City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I certainly do agree with Councillor Moore that Francis Street and Allandale Road shops are a very important, very popular local shopping area, and the presence of the local pharmacy is obviously very important for the community, particularly elderly residents as well and I know there is a great deal of concern locally at the moment about the upcoming decisions around the continued funding for the local pharmacy through the essential small pharmacy local pharmaceutical services contract. I know there is a petition where the community in good number are making their views known and I know all Ward Councillors for Knighton have made representations and the Member of Parliament for Leicester South has as well. I have also written to NHS England as well to make clear the importance of this local pharmacy service in that local community ahead of the area team pharmaceutical committee meeting next week where this funding decision will be made.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Moore a supplementary?
Councillor Moore: No.
Lord Mayor: Thank you. Question 6, Councillor Alfonso.
Councillor Alfonso: Thank you my Lord Mayor. Could the City Mayor inform the Council when the programme to replace all street lighting in the City to LED lights will be completed?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor and I am very pleased to have this opportunity actually to inform Members that the project to convert all of the City’s lights to the new LED white lighting is now programmed to be completed by Christmas, this coming Christmas, and that really is a remarkable achievement given the scale of what is being done. The people involved have already replaced over 20,000 street lights and have this target to replace the remaining 12,000 units by the end of the year. When completed, as Members will recall, this ambitious programme will reduce our energy consumption by 57% on street lighting, a saving of well over £1m a year, so something that I think is well worth doing from an environmental standpoint, but also something that makes very good economic sense as well.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Alfonso a supplementary?
Councillor Alfonso: No apart from to say thank you for that, he actually answered my supplementary for me. Thank you.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor do you wish to reply? No? Question 7, Councillor Kitterick.
Councillor Kitterick: Lord Mayor. Does the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care believe the standard of care at Clarendon Beechlands care home located on Central Avenue is good enough?”
Lord Mayor: Councillor Patel.
Councillor Patel: Thank you my Lord Mayor and thank you Councillor Kitterick for your question. Clarendon Beechlands is owned by a private organisation as you may know. Adult Social Care places people at the home who are eligible for assistance and Health also make placements at the home. The home is regulated by the Care Quality Commission and the Council undertakes regular monitoring visits. If safeguarding or issues of concerns are raised, then the Council will intervene and take the appropriate actions. I am aware of a number of complaints from local residents which Councillor Kitterick and his Ward colleagues have raised, and currently I am looking into the issues and I will be meeting with the local residents in early February. Thank you.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Patel. Councillor Kitterick a supplementary?
Councillor Kitterick: Lord Mayor could I ask the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care to actually, I appreciate, can I thank her for the time she has taken with this matter, but can I take this opportunity to urge Councillor Rita Patel to really have an in-depth look at this matter as myself and my fellow Ward Councillors and local residents have concerns about the running of Clarendon Beechlands and we think it is vitally important that Adult Social Care does everything within its power to ensure good care of the residents and actually a suitable environment and appropriate placements at the home, and I would also like to say that I look forward to those meetings as soon as possible.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Kitterick. Councillor Patel.
Councillor Patel: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I am more than happy to commit to looking into the issue personally and also coming to some conclusions and ensuring that the Ward Members are involved in all the discussions. Thank you.
Lord Mayor: Question 8, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Thank you my Lord Mayor. Before I ask my question I would l just like to say thank you very much to Legal for speaking to me in the presentation of my questions this evening. It was not in my intentions to upset Members facing me this evening my Lord Mayor.
Lord Mayor: Your comments are appreciated Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Thank you. And so the first question and I do apologise that the first question was not quite completed. The question was meant to have said “How many Council tenants have been evicted for late payments of rent and council tax since January this year?”
Lord Mayor: Councillor Connelly.
Councillor Connelly: Thank you my Lord Mayor. There have been no tenants evicted for late payment of rent and council tax since the beginning of this year because we do not evict tenants for late payment.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Potter have you a supplementary?
Councillor Potter: I have my Lord Mayor. With response to raising the question at the last full Council, I am quite aware that within the response we was informed that there was no evictions during the month of December and January, but he also informed us that there was several tenants being prepared to go down that avenue. Are them tenants still being prepared to go down that avenue once out of the time restricted area of not being able to evict them.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Connelly.
Councillor Connelly: In response to Councillor Potter’s supplementary question I will need to come back to her. We have responded in light of her written question which talks about late payments of rent and council tax. We do not evict anybody for late payment of rent, we only evict people for non-payment of rent and we do not evict anybody for non-payment or late payment of their council tax.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Connelly. Question 9, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Thank you my Lord Mayor. “After seeing the City Mayor in my Ward during November, I would like to know why he was in the area with the two Assistant Mayors, not wanting to talk to me as one of the local Councillors in the area and would he be happy to tell the chambers of what his intention was with the visit?”
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor. The whole of this City is divided into Wards and it ..
Lord Mayor: Can we hear the reply to the question please.
City Mayor: ..and in any typical day I probably pass through half a dozen or more; in a week probably most of the Wards in the City; and in a year certainly all of the Wards in the City. It would be wholly impractical to advise Members in advance of every visit and every journey that I make. That having been said my Lord Mayor, I did indeed visit the Ward of which Councillor Potter is one of the Councillors back some time before Christmas, and while there was approached by her in, how can I put it politely, a characteristically forceful manner. And had I been able to get a polite word in edgeways would have been happy to have explained to her that I was looking at opportunities for further investment across our City in estate based shops, of which some are located in the Ward that she represents.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Potter have you a supplementary?
Councillor Potter: I certainly have my Lord Mayor. I just wonder whether Sir Peter is actually as rude as he is to other Members across the City as he was to me and actually through the Lord Mayor I would just like to say that I was not rude to the City Mayor I just merely approached him and asked him what he was doing in my Ward, and believe it or not he was with two officers from the Planning Department as well as two Members of the Cabinet Lead sitting on the back bench shaking their heads. I think your behaviour towards myself was uncalled for and I certainly was not rude to you at all so there is not a question, I am just answering that I was not rude to Sir Peter, he was very rude to me and came into my face, but if that is the way he wants to play his games then that is fair enough by me my Lord Mayor. Thank you.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: I am sure Members will judge for themselves which of us was likely to have been rude.
Councillor Potter: Yes, so will members of the public too.
Lord Mayor: Question 10, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Thank you my Lord Mayor. “What is the intentions regarding some outer estate shopping areas and is there any truth in the rumours of him considering selling off these properties to the private sector, or will he be regenerating these properties for better use by communities as he did in Eyres Monsell?”
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor there is no truth whatsoever in the assertion that any of these estate shopping areas might be for sale. Our investment in Eyres Monsell was part of the dramatic redevelopment of the major estate based shopping area there, but indeed it was very evident, indeed I already knew it, but it was very evident from our trip around in November, that there is no plans or no need for a repeat of that scale of intervention elsewhere in the City. However, it was clear, and this is really what we are looking at in terms of the priorities for it, that there is need for some sort of investment programme, structured investment programme, in these types of facilities throughout the City. I think it is likely that that investment will range from a coat of paint and perhaps some new flower arrangements in some areas to some much more significant plans for investment in other areas. I can assure Members that Ward Councillors will be involved in discussions about areas that they represent and that does include Councillor Potter.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Councillor Potter have you a supplementary?
Councillor Potter: Just a short one. It is very reassuring that the City Mayor will be sharing the information of what is going on with the Humberstone and Netherhall shops, and I am pleased to say that they won’t be sold off because there would be a rather large concern with all the residents that actually live above the shopping areas themselves. Thank you my Lord Mayor.
Lord Mayor: Thank you. Thank you City Mayor. Question 11, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Thank you my Lord Mayor. Can the Assistant City Mayor for Neighbourhood Services confirm that the new key fob system in the community centres has not been as successful originally planned?”
Lord Mayor: Councillor Russell.
Councillor Russell: Thank you Lord Mayor. I cannot confirm that because I do not agree with the assertion. The key fob system is currently used by 90 groups in the City for a total of 449 hours per week when those groups would not otherwise be able to use our community facilities.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Russell. Councillor Potter have you a supplementary?
Councillor Potter: I certainly have my Lord Mayor. I would just like to raise the concerns from the users of the centre within the Ward that I represent, Humberstone and Hamilton, there has been some rather confusing entrances and exits to the building. Not only is there a concern for the welfare of the staff that have left alone late at night, single females leaving to lock the building by themselves in a very dark stricken area, and also the users themselves find it very difficult to actually access any support and help when they have been actually using the key fobs and entering the building. There is no-one there to assist them to set up the rooms and so forth. I too came along the same problem at the last Ward Committee meeting that we attended my Lord Mayor, and as being a disabled, registered disabled, person myself I find it almost impossible that I have to arrange the room, display the furniture and pack it away before the next users can use it. So I hope in the future that the Cabinet lead would consider in how people, the users of the community, are going to be clearing away and setting up rooms in the future.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Russell.
Councillor Russell: Thank you my Lord Mayor and I appreciate Councillor Potter raising this issue at Council. It is a shame she did not feel able to raise it beforehand because there are some very simple steps that can be taken. Access control is not around not having any staff at all for our community centres, it is about making sure that community groups are able to use their centres when it is most appropriate for them, in particular in the evenings when we have not traditionally been able to, or particularly since recent budget cuts, been able to provide staffing. What we do have is a number of technicians who are available to ensure both set up and take down of rooms to ensure that the facilities are left in an appropriate order and if that is not happening then I would urge Councillor Potter to speak initially to her Neighbourhood Services Manager. But obviously if she does not have any success then I would be very happy to look into the matter myself.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Russell. Question 12, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Thank you my Lord Mayor and I thank Councillor Russell for the response on that and will be contacting her in due course. Question 12, “Can the Assistant Mayor for Housing explain as to how much money has been withheld from the Council tenants for the two weeks free rent at Christmas and where do these funds go?”
Lord Mayor: Councillor Connelly.
Councillor Connelly: Thank you Lord Mayor. I can’t explain about how much money has been withheld and where those withheld monies go to because very simply we did not and do not withhold any monies from tenants during the two non-payment weeks at Christmas.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Potter have you a supplementary?
Councillor Potter: I do my Lord Mayor, and just for the sake of the minutes I do declare that I am a Council tenant myself and have family Council members, so more than aware of the way the Council operates their services as a Council tenant, and I would like to assure the Members here this evening, as well as the Cabinet Lead, that if a Council tenant is in arrears my Lord Mayor that the Council actually withhold the two weeks free rent that is paid by government. They do not pay the two weeks free rent into the tenant’s accounts and I would merely ask the question again, if the money is not being paid into the tenant’s accounts because of late payments of rent, then where is the money held.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Connelly.
Councillor Connelly: I actually think Councillor Potter answered her own question in respect of that if it is withheld for arrears it obviously goes into the housing revenue account to pay off their arrears.
Lord Mayor: Question 13, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Thank you my Lord Mayor. After being contacted by several constituents in Humberstone and Hamilton Ward, can the Assistant Mayor for Housing justify himself by allowing a miserly £150 to redecorate an entire home after a complete rewiring of a property?
Lord Mayor: Councillor Connelly.
Councillor Connelly: Thank you my Lord Mayor. Firstly we do not pay a redecoration allowance following rewiring. What we do pay is we do pay a disturbance allowance and I did request last year that we review the amount because the amount was originally a flat rate of £155 whether you were in a one bedroomed bedsit or whether you were in a five bedroomed house. As part of that review we agreed that the number of rooms in a property would be taken into consideration in respect of the disturbance allowance. And the disturbance allowance now, the amounts paid to a tenant living in a bedsit is now £130 and it rises to £255 for a five bedroomed house. It reflects the number of rooms in the property.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Potter your supplementary?
Councillor Potter: No my Lord Mayor, but I thank you for the response.
Lord Mayor: Thank you. Question 14, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Thank you my Lord Mayor. Is there going to be any further road improvements to the Troon Way exit in and out of the east part of City as drivers are being delayed around an extra half an hour to get through the traffic around the new Sainsbury’s?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor, had Councillor Potter asked this question some time ago when the work was underway I might well have understood the delays that were caused by the construction. However, since being completed we have seen a dramatic improvement in traffic flows in that area. Members will recall it was often a very difficult, a very dangerous junction. It has been made very much safer, very much easier to use for all of the traffic passing through there and one where we have had no significant disruption since the work was completed and where many users have reported finding a very significant improvement in their journey times.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Potter your supplementary?
Councillor Potter: Thank you my Lord Mayor. The supplementary would have to be declare the interest that I use this road on a regular basis my Lord Mayor. I used to use the road regular and take my son to work to Coalville and find myself in a bottle neck traffic system down on the bottom of the A47 near the Sainsbury’s supermarket. I do accept that the City Mayor has made or traffic, transport departments have made some small improvements around the area but I still insist and feel that there needs to be further improvements because delays are up to half an hour to an hour to get from one section on to the next section and it is not appropriate enough.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Well my Lord Mayor I think that what we have seen there is not as Councillor Potter characterised it small improvements, but very significant improvements. It is much safer than it was, it is much quicker than it was, it is much better than it was and other people very much appreciate it much more than they ever did.
Lord Mayor: Question 15, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: No supplementary to the response of that – it is best if I don’t anyway. Can the City Mayor give any indication as to when Leicester will be getting a proper ring road to keep Leicester moving into the right direction?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: There have been a number of jokes as to what direction a ring road gets us moving in and whether we really do want to move round in circles. But to be serious Lord Mayor the City does benefit from an inner ring road. It benefits from an outer ring road that is complete 9/10ths of the way round the City, the bit actually that is missing is the bit outside the City boundary that is actually County Council responsibility, but is certainly operates quite effectively in the bit that is there, and of course we do benefit now from the Western Bypass, the A46, which picks up a lot of traffic from the A50 and links up to the motorway and has very much reduced the amount of heavy goods vehicles particularly having to come through the City in order to make, particularly, the east/west link.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Potter your supplementary?
Councillor Potter: I am not sure whether Peter actually uses these roads himself, but if he actually gets into his car, I am sure he has got a car as well as a bike, and maybe he should be trying to use public services too, the transport in and out of the City on these main roads because we spend most of our time, we have to give ourselves at least an hour beforehand to get into the chambers so we can get here on time, so I think he should be using the traffic, the busy roads in the late evenings to see how congested our City really is. Thank you my Lord Mayor.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Lord Mayor I think the original question was about a ring road. I have described the fact that we have got an inner ring road, an outer ring road, we have got a Western bypass. Of course we are in an urban area, an urban area that is increasingly successful, people increasingly want to travel into to work, people increasingly want to invest in as a result of many of the policies adopted by me and my predecessors, and I think that of course the economic success of the City does put pressure on our roads and we have to continually look at ways we can improve those roads for the benefit of all road users including the private motorist.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Question 16, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Thank you my Lord Mayor. If the City Mayor was to be re-elected can he agree not to be selling any more of Leicester’s assets for £1?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Lord Mayor the sale of assets for £1 a nominal sum has over the last two years enabled this City to benefit from 116 affordable homes that would not otherwise have been created. They have enabled derelict sites to be brought back into use, they have enabled development that has brought jobs to the City that would otherwise not have been brought to the City and they have enabled, at the end of all of that, people who have been desperate for housing on our waiting lists to have a decent home, a decent roof over their heads and the heads of their children. My Lord Mayor rather than doing as Councillor Potter would wish us to do and abandoning those people on the waiting list, missing the opportunity of using our assets creatively to create jobs and homes, I on behalf of Members on this side commit to continuing to provide homes, to provide jobs and to make sure that we use the assets of this Council and this City in ways that benefit its people.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Potter your supplementary?
Councillor Potter: My supplementary would have to be Sir Peter Soulsby is just spoken complete utter nonsense and complete lies about myself that I do not care that I have not given any consideration to new builds in this City. I think the City Mayor has got a short memory. I have been a part of the Planning Committee for many, many years and always taken affordable housing very, very personal… yes there is so if you just wait your turn you will get it. So I would like to ask Sir Peter to remove that remark about me not caring about the decent homes standard because that is completely not true my Lord Mayor. As for being affordable 116 new homes being built, affordable to whom and on whose calculations, Sir Peter’s calculations. He does not actually live in the real world within the City boundaries and the way that the normal people in this City live, so affordable, affordable to who because they have not been affordable to any of the tenants or the residents within the Humberstone and Hamilton Ward.
Lord Mayor: If you do not desist Councillor Potter from this confrontational way of asking your question, putting your point of view then I will have to abandon this meeting for a bit and sort something out. I am giving you a chance now to settle down, get the questions answered, get the supplementaries in and get the information derived from the question – that is what it is for. Please carry on.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor Councillor Potter asks affordable for who, well I will tell you who they are. Ten homes affordable for adults with mental health issues; five homes for people who desperately need wheelchair accessible accommodation; a range of homes available with 100% nomination rights for people desperate for a home on our housing waiting list – that is who these homes are being provided for, that is what Members on this side supported and what she and apparently her colleagues have opposed. It is very simple my Lord Mayor what we have done is provided homes and what they have done is opposed the creation of homes, jobs and particularly places for people who are desperate for a roof over their head.
Councillor Clayton: Point of order Lord Mayor. For the second Council meeting we have had one Member shouting the word “liar” across the chamber Lord Mayor. It is completely unacceptable. I would take disciplinary action against any Member of the Labour Group who use such language and I would ask please Lord Mayor that with the Monitoring Officer you do the appropriate thing with it, it is unacceptable, completely unjustified and not befitting of Leicester City Council or this chamber.
Lord Mayor: At this point I would prefer, at this point at least, to move on to question 17, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I have every right to stand up and defend myself at the same time. Question 17 - The City Mayor says he has an open door policy; will he be sharing the Council information to all prospective candidates?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor. Of course is the short answer to that, but actually rather longer is perhaps to say that in fact it will be Council officers who will be continuing to serve the Council and Members impartially, as they always have done in the past, and providing information as is appropriate to all on an even handed, equal basis.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Councillor Potter your supplementary?
Councillor Potter: Very reassuring to hear my Lord Mayor.
Lord Mayor: I will take that as a no. We will move onto question 18, Councillor Potter.
Councillor Potter: Can the City Mayor confirm to why all other group bookings in the City Hall and Town Hall are not chargeable but only to ourselves on this side of the chambers?”
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. The Council’s policy is that room bookings for Members of the Council may be provided without charge if these are conducive to the proper dispatch of active and specific Council business. That is what it says in the rules and no doubt that also reflects the legislation. It would be unlawful for the Council to promote or support party political activity to any of its own resources. Members can only conduct party political activity on Council premises by paying for a room the same as any private person or group would do and to the very best of my knowledge that has been applied always by officers in a very even handed manner. We have had bills on this side where appropriate and I would expect Members opposite have had bills when appropriate and of course when we are meeting as political groups matters relating to the Council’s business do so within the guidelines and I think that is very appropriate that we should continue. I have no evidence whatsoever it has been anything other than entirely and scrupulously fair to all political parties.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Potter your supplementary?
Councillor Potter: I don’t think that the system has been very fair towards Members across this side of the room my Lord Mayor. We have meetings on the same terms as the Members facing us across the chambers, we operate important conversations to talk about and to discuss with members of the public. No different to the way that the Labour Party hold and discuss their meetings. But I can assure you that we have been treated disfairly by the rulings of the Council because we have been charged an extortionate rate for room hire which now we take elsewhere.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Potter.
City Mayor: If I may reply to that my Lord Mayor. I am not aware of any occasion when Members of any political party have not been charged for a political meeting, and certainly Members on this side of the chamber I know have on many occasions booked rooms here, booked this chamber even, paid the proper rate for it and paid the bill without complaint. I would suggest that Councillor Potter also when booking the room ought to pay without complaint.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Question 19, Councillor Naylor.
Councillor Naylor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. Can the City Mayor give any further details as to who will be using 20-40 New Walk after the work that has been done there which has cost almost £3m at a time when there is meant to be no money within the City?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I am sure it won’t have escaped Councillor Naylor’s attention that the plans for the future of that building remain commercially sensitive. Obviously while they do it would be inappropriate for me or anyone else to share this information. However, the information will be in the public domain and the benefits of the scheme, I think when it is in the public domain, will be readily obvious to Members. I am very much hoping that will be in the very near future now.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Naylor.
Councillor Naylor: Thank you my Lord Mayor, I have got no supplementary on that one.
Lord Mayor: Question 20 then, Councillor Naylor.
Councillor Naylor: Can the City Mayor give an explanation about the timing of so many different regeneration and environmental works projects being done at the same time, thus causing maximum congestion around the City Centre and in the outer estates. Would it have not been wiser to have had a longer term plan for this instead of almost bringing the City to a standstill?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor this is a big City and there is a lot to be done out and about in the City. We were talking earlier on about Troon Way, we have seen other things – the removal of the Belgrave Flyover. Yes indeed while some of these things are taking place there is inevitably disruption but as we have seen with both those examples and many others while disruption is an inconvenience at the time it is the disruption that makes a difference ultimately to the quality of the timing of journeys and to the quality of our City. I think the notion that you could avoid disruption by stretching things out over a longer period of time, waiting 20 or 30 years to carry out large scale improvements is unrealistic in the scale of the City and the tasks that we have to undertake. I am afraid while obviously disruption must be avoided, we must try and schedule things in such a way that they don’t impinge on each other unnecessarily, it is the case that, in the old adage, you can’t make omelettes without breaking eggs.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Naylor your supplementary?
Councillor Naylor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I mean I would not suggest as longer term a commitment as that but I would actually think that trying to do things in different spots and kind of spread the work around may have been more help. Can I also ask as my supplementary whether any consideration was given to access into the City for disabled people because clearly there has been some issues there. I know we have had people contacting us about this and they have shown concern.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Yes my Lord Mayor certainly the case of maintaining access for all users is important in the consideration of any of the major schemes that we have been talking about and that does include those with disability. I do know as I was indicating in my initial answer that a lot of thought is given to how these works are scheduled and how they relate to each other and I also know that our officers in general, but particularly our access officer, is an important part of the planning of these works to ensure that disability access is maintained as is best possible in some of the very ambitious schemes that are being undertaken.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Question 21, Councillor Naylor.
Councillor Naylor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. If I just may add that there will be somebody getting in touch from a disability group regarding local issues, so just to give a heads up. Can the City Mayor confirm that the new closing times for the Town Hall will not affect workers’ weekly hours that will affect their wages overall?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I think Members will understand that it is not really appropriate in this chamber to discuss specific staffing issues for a very small number of staff who are readily identifiable. I think there are more appropriate avenues for this issue to be raised and I am sure I don’t need to remind Councillor Naylor of the benefits of trade union membership and representation and discussion with those unions. What I can say is that changes to our office locations have impacted on many staff to a greater or lesser extent and of course when changes are taking place it is not possible to protect the status quo for each and every staff member. I can say with confidence though that any changes that do take place are notified well in advance and not simply thrust upon our workforce and discussed with them and their trade unions.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Naylor your supplementary?
Councillor Naylor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I raised this question because we have concern regarding some of our most lowest paid members of our workforce who are actually involved in working here. You say that contact has been made with the unions, can you confirm that everybody who has been involved in this has actually had contact with their union members.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: How could I possibly be expected to do that Lord Mayor. I don’t know which unions they are members of, I don’t know even if they are all trade union members. I do know that they have all been in discussions with the appropriate management about what is happening to them and if they are members of trade unions, which they might or might not be, will have had an opportunity to make representations either individually or through those unions.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Question 22, Councillor Naylor.
Councillor Naylor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. We will leave that there but I may be in contact by letter regarding that. I have recently witnessed negotiations around TUPE and procured services which I was less than impressed with. Was there no other alternative in altering service provision other than procurement when this has so many issues and has the potential to be more costly than keeping the services in-house?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor in my initial reply I can only say that if Councillor Naylor will now give us the specific details of the case I might be able to comment on the way in which it was handled and whether there were any alternatives.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Naylor your supplementary?
Councillor Naylor: I am more than happy to do that but I don’t think it is probably fair to do it in this situation. I will write to you with that. But I mean I am more than happy to come and discuss this with you. I was asking more really about the wider scope of procurement and is there not a better way to deal with changing the way we do our service provision.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I trust that when Councillor Naylor raises this matter here and when he comes to discuss it with me that he will not seek to discuss with me matters to do with his own personal employment or any project with which he is closely associated.
Lord Mayor: Thank you. Question 23, Councillor Porter.
Councillor Porter: Thank you Lord Mayor. My first question is was any asbestos found in the New Walk Centre?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I doubt whether it will come as much of a surprise to anybody that when the intrusive asbestos surveys were carried out some small areas of asbestos were found within New Walk Centre, very surprising in a building of that period if there were not some. In fact they were fairly limited. They were located principally above the switch gear cupboard doors on every floor just to prevent, if there was a fire in the switch gear, it spreading beyond that. I am advised that it was taken out with no particular problems and no other areas of asbestos were found in the rest of the building like I say quite surprisingly actually.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Porter your supplementary?
Councillor Porter: Yes thanks to the Mayor for the answer to that. I am pleased obviously that it has been safely removed as obviously asbestos does present a danger to the public and I am pleased it has been safely removed. My question though is how much, there was a lot of contents in the building, so the question is really how much were the contents of the New Walk Centre, the tables, chairs etc sold for?
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor that is a completely different question and I will be very happy to write to Councillor Porter.
Lord Mayor: Question 24, Councillor Porter.
Councillor Porter: Thank you yes I mean I understand most of the contents of New Walk Centre were basically scrapped, it just goes to show how much of a recycling initiative the Mayor has. Question 24 is how many cyclists use the Newarke Street bike lane each day?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I am tempted to go back to the other question and try and answer the mutterings that we got at the end there, but I will not do that, I will write and give Councillor Porter the full details. My Lord Mayor there will be an annual cordon count on Newarke Street and across the rest of the City Centre in May which will actually give us a definitive answer to the numbers using it, but actually anecdotal evidence is that it is being used extensively now in both directions by cyclists and what is increasingly evident is the extent to which the pedestrian flow down there has increased as well because obviously having that extra width that is free of traffic not only enables cyclists to use it in both directions which was not possible before but also makes a much more attractive route for pedestrians. But that will all be picked up in the annual cordon count in May.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Porter have you a supplementary?
Councillor Porter: Yes thank you Lord Mayor. I mean talking about mutterings you should have heard his mutterings when I asked him a question about any proposals for the Western Park Golf course. I would mention that now but I don’t think I will. So my supplementary question is – we were told some time ago that we needed to put our questions in well in advance, we used to have a much shorter time period. So he has had a few days, he has had until today, why on earth , there is CCTV down there, why didn’t he do a count over the last couple of days or so, so that we would get the figures. Why have we got to wait until the end of May. We all know that this scheme isn’t being used at all by cyclists. The Council haven’t put forward any initiatives to try and encourage cycling down there. It has cost £750,000 and most people in this City believe it is a waste of money. Can he explain why he has not done this count over the last couple of days.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I am very interested that Councillor Porter is suggesting we use CCTV for purposes for which it was not installed. But I would also say that when he talks about the scheme itself I really ought to remind him that the costs of that scheme were very significantly supported by the Department of Transport for which we are very grateful because they, like us, saw the enormous benefit that it is as one of the major links in the network of cycle and pedestrian routes across the City Centre. I was very grateful for their support and very grateful for the support of the government of which the party is currently a member is a coalition partner.
Lord Mayor: Thank you city Mayor. Question 25, Councillor Porter.
Councillor Porter: Yes I am sure the government wouldn’t have supported it if they had realised nobody is actually using it. It just goes to show that..
Lord Mayor: Wait a minute are you asking question 25 or are you still waffling on about 24.
Councillor Porter: Yes I mean I am just going to say.
Lord Mayor: Look if you don’t get on with 25 we will leave 25 and go to 26 if you want.
Councillor Porter: Keep your hair on mate.
Lord Mayor: Well stick to the question.
Councillor Porter: Can I move then to, what are we on question 25?
Lord Mayor: Question 25, yes.
Councillor Porter: OK. Has the bus lane on Welford Road been removed?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. No it has not been removed. It has been suspended in part while the experimental closure is taking place.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Porter have you a supplementary?
Councillor Porter: Yes thank you Lord Mayor. May be you would like to explain to myself and to other Members here and also to the public how this experiment is actually working when prior to this so called experiment there were four lanes of traffic, one of which could only be used by buses, so that left three lanes which could only be used by cars, and now as a result of his experiment we still have only three lanes that can be used by cars so what sort of experiment is that. An analogy that somebody mentioned to me was it would be like having four mugs, you put water into three of the mugs except for one, then the mug that has not got any water in you then remove and then you ask yourself let’s look at this experiment – how many mugs have got water in – you have still got three mugs with water in but then what the Mayor has decided to do if you follow this analogy is to say let’s make the experiment a bit more interesting, we will take one mug from one end and move it to the other and then see how many mugs we have still got water in. So the question to the Mayor is can he explain how his experiment is actually working when there is still three lanes of traffic which are available to motorists.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Forgive me my Lord Mayor I was distracted by Councillor Wann’s visual .. Anyway Lord Mayor to your serious response. I mean the serious response obviously Lord Mayor is that we have taken out, you can see it on the ground, one of the lanes of traffic down Welford Road, and as part of that suspended the bus lane over the length of the coning. That is what we are experimenting – to see whether that road works with three lanes rather than four lanes. That is a very legitimate experiment. Members can see for themselves if they go down and have a look, the change that has been made we can see what effect that has and at the end of it judge whether or not that road can be made to operate with just three lanes or whether it does indeed need the four that it had originally.
Lord Mayor: Right thank you City Mayor. Question 26, Councillor Porter.
Councillor Porter: Thank you Lord Mayor. Yes this is about “Have the Council moved back to using Barclays Bank yet – this is for the Council banking services. We were obviously with the Co-op before?”
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Yes Lord Mayor this was reported in the Leicester Mercury on the 2nd December.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Porter have you a supplementary?
Councillor Porter: Yes thank you Lord Mayor. I thank the Mayor for his answer. Obviously now the Council are banking once again with Barclays will it be possible for the Council to enter into discussions with Barclays Bank to see if they could get sponsorship from Barclays Bank to introduce a cycle scheme similar to the one that operates in London where I believe that Barclays Bank sponsor that, especially in light of the fact that there are such low numbers of people who are using the cycle lanes in the City. We need to do whatever we can to encourage more people to get on to their bikes and obviously if we are banking with Barclays there is an incentive there for the Council to talk to Barclays to see if we can get some sponsorship and introduce the scheme in this City.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Can I genuinely thank Councillor Porter for that suggestion Chair; I certainly would welcome sponsorship for such a scheme in Leicester. I think though it is just worth noting about the London scheme that it does, although it bears Barclays logo, actually require a very, very significant level of public sector sponsorship support on top of that, and it is not necessarily something that we could expect whoever the sponsor might be would be able to cover the whole revenue costs for. But certainly as I have said on previous occasions, having such a scheme in a City like Leicester is an interesting prospect although it is worth saying that the operation of such a scheme in a City like Leicester might be rather different from one in London where such a high proportion of people travel in by public transport and then use the scheme to move across the City. It is a rather different scenario, but certainly one that I am sure is well worth exploring.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Question 21, Councillor Porter.
Councillor Porter: Question 28 – I won’t hold that against you. No I shan’t. Are the 2013/14 Western Park Golf Club account figures… oh I’ve gone to the wrong one OK. You are confusing me. Can the park and ride buses pick up passengers in Aylestone with the same level of subsidised fares which are obviously currently available to motorists getting the bus in Enderby?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you Lord Mayor. I think Members who understand how park and ride work will immediately realise that were park and ride buses stopping on their journey it would destroy the whole purpose of actually having such facilities. Were they having to stop along their entire route would undermine what is effectively an express service and would I think for the most part just lead to people saying well there is no advantage in this I may as well use my car, and I just don’t think that Councillor Porter has entirely thought through the implications of his question.
Lord Mayor: Have you a supplementary Councillor Porter?
Councillor Porter: I have not had one yet.
Lord Mayor: Please carry on.
Councillor Porter: Can I have one now then?
Lord Mayor: Yes please if you would.
Councillor Porter: Yes, oh I have thought this through it looks like the Mayor has not thought it through because he managed to spend millions and millions of pounds on introducing bus lanes along Aylestone Road precisely for the point of speeding up bus journeys into the City Centre. So is he saying now as a result of that million pounds or so that this Council has spent, that bus journeys have not increased in terms of the journey time. We were told there was going to be a five minute increase on journey times and if he is saying that it is ok for this City to subsidise people who live in the County to get a fast route into the City Centre, then why on earth couldn’t he introduce a system as I have suggested where the buses, may be not at every single stop, certainly by the Co-op in Aylestone would be a good place and then maybe by Granby School, but there is only a few bus stops between Aylestone and the City Centre so I am sure that it is not beyond the whit of this City Council to organise it with the bus company which we are paying this £600,000 subsidy to in order to get the buses to stop in Aylestone for the benefit of the people of Aylestone.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor if these were the only buses passing through Aylestone then there would be some merit to the argument that Councillor Porter is putting forward. In fact they are not and Aylestone like other major transport nodes in the City is served by other services. There would be no advantage in stopping these park and ride services at intermediate stops going to Aylestone or elsewhere and many disadvantages. It would undermine the whole purpose of the park and ride service and would I think lead, as I indicated earlier on, to that service being used less than it is at the moment, I think probably to the point where it would have to close.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Question 28, Councillor Potter. Sorry Porter. We did get there eventually.
Councillor Porter: We are all getting a bit overtired tonight I think. Are the 2013-14 Western Park Golf Club accounts figures accurate?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I confirm that the figures that the officers have provided to Councillor Porter at his request are to the best of my knowledge entirely accurate.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Porter do you have a supplementary?
Councillor Porter: Yes Lord Mayor. I mean the Mayor has said that the reason, well the only reason, for closing the course down is because of the subsidy and I am absolutely certain that when he has made such an important decision he has gone through the figures to double check that they are all correct. So my question to him is can he explain why the first set of figures for the maintenance costs differ so much by thousands of pounds from the second set of detailed figures on the maintenance costs.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Well my Lord Mayor if Councillor Porter would like to tell us which particular figures it is he is talking about I am sure we could make a comparison. I am not aware that the figures that he has been provided over this last week are anything other than entirely accurate.
Lord Mayor: Right. Question 29, Councillor Grant.
Councillor Grant: Thank you Lord Mayor. Can the City Mayor tell us how many homes could be built on the Western Park Golf course site and what the commercial value of the land is?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I am sorry to disappoint Councillor Grant but I am afraid I am not able to provide him with the information he is seeking. The reason is that to the best of my knowledge no assessment has been made to enable me to give a response to this with any confidence. What I can say with confidence is that the commercial value of the land cannot be accurately assessed until such consideration has been made of what might or might not be redeveloped there and obviously in order to do that all sorts of detailed surveys would need to be done and assessments about how much would be protected as public open space and so on and so forth. There would be a long, long way to go before that, I am certainly sure that he and other Members will agree it would be entirely improper to make that assessment until the fundamental decision about the future of the golf course has been made.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Grant have you a supplementary?
Councillor Grant: Yes Lord Mayor. Like Councillor Porter I must have to say I am a bit disappointed that one of the first constitutional changes made in this term of Council was to give the City Mayor an extra day to provide answers. He has a team of officers to do it and he seems to be unable to. I have worked out that if you compared Waterside, a 60 hectare site which is to have mixed use, to the Western Park Golf Course site which is 60 hectares and it is all going to be land you could probably build 5,000 homes. Wouldn’t that be a substantial increase in Council tax for the City, it would attract a massive new homes bonus. Are we really to believe the City Mayor that none of these millions of pounds of capital receipt and extra income are in any way affecting the decision over Western Park Golf Course rather than the relatively small revenue saving.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I think Members would rightly be critical if over the last couple of days on the back on an envelope officers had done some sort of calculation about how many dwelling units you might get on any particular piece of land. They have not done detailed surveys of it. I think we would be criticised for having done that calculation but I think in that way we would be criticised for having done the calculation at all. I think it would rightly have been seen as pre-judging the outcome of the consideration about the future of the golf course.
Councillor Grant: But if you answer it Councillors…….answer at Council.
City Mayor: Yes it is certainly a legitimate question I just don’t believe it is the right time to ask it. I think it would be appropriate to ask it if indeed the closure of Western Park Golf Course goes ahead. That would be the time when Members will quite rightly want to know what the options might be for the future use of that site.
Lord Mayor: Question 30, Councillor Grant.
Councillor Grant: I will keep asking the questions Lord Mayor but as we now know and we have always known the City Mayor will choose whether he is going to give us answers or not. Why does the City Mayor have such a dismissive attitude towards the views of people in Knighton, as witnessed at the last Overview Scrutiny Committee, compared to those of some other people in the City?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I can assure Councillor Grant that I have never been dismissive of the views of the residents of any part of this City.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Grant you have a supplementary?
Councillor Grant: Yes Lord Mayor. I mean it was quite clear when we were talking about the rights of Knighton residents to be consulted over parking in Clarendon Park which is a shopping area very relevant to them but not technically in the Ward that the Mayor was dismissive of them. I wonder which other groups also receive this treatment. Those signing petitions about the City’s roads, those concerned about the loss of golf in our City, those concerned about the loss of green space in our City for housing. How do all of these groups get the sort of support given by the City Mayor to other groups in Leicester. Perhaps they need to arrange international visits and photo-opportunities that are electorally beneficial to the City Mayor.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor it is the case that when we are undertaking change in the City it is important that we have people’s views and we take account of them. The particular instance that Councillor Grant is talking about is indeed not one directly within the Knighton Ward – it is some way away and I am the first to have argued on previous occasions, others will have heard me do this, that Ward boundaries in these particular instances are not the most important consideration, it is what sort of impact it has on the neighbourhood which is often something very different from a Ward which is there for the primary purpose of defining the area from which a Councillor will be elected, it is not necessarily about the neighbourhoods. So those residents in parts of Knighton that might be affected by this proposal, notwithstanding the fact that it is outside of the actual Ward, have a legitimate interest and will legitimately expect to have their voices heard and I can assure Members, as is always the case, that those who have a legitimate interest not only have the right to be heard but will be listened to.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Question 31, Councillor Grant.
Councillor Grant: Thank you. Is the City Mayor concerned at the low achievement of education in our City compared to most local authorities in England, including many that would be considered to have greater challenges than in Leicester?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor. So sorry, I got so used to it Peter sorry. Councillor Dempster.
Councillor Dempster: Thank you Lord Mayor. I have to say I don’t recognise what is articulated in that question other than the fact that yes we do have considerable challenges in this City. Our schools are improving, they are improving steadily and I think that is good because that means that that improvement is being embedded. It is not a flash in the pan. So we are in the top 20% for all local authorities for secondary pupils attending good and outstanding schools. In recent weeks two of our primary schools have moved up to the outstanding category. That is a huge change from a decade ago. It is a huge change from when we took over in 1997 after 18 years, not just of a Conservative government that did not invest in local authorities, but also I have to say a Conservative controlled County Council who I think looked after the County but perhaps neglected to look after the City in the same way. What is noticeable about results in City schools that you know it’s some of the schools in the most challenging areas that are getting the best results and I will have to make Councillor Cleaver, wherever she is, very happy because she is a governor there. I was just recently at Rolleston School – absolutely fantastic. What engaged children, what really inspiring teaching, but you can see that all over the City, so Marriott being there, Forest Lodge, Highfields, Taylor Road well you just need to look at the results of Taylor Road and of course earlier this week I was a Babington and to see how proud those students were of their school and how they talked about their teachers it was really inspiring. And these are schools in very challenging circumstances who are achieving results at or often above national levels. So I think we need to be celebrating that. Now of course we do have challenges, absolutely right. One of the big challenges is about readiness for schools and that is why we are concentrating on that area, we are doing a piece of work that you know to encourage all families in how important it is to take up the offer of an early nursery education. But that is not something that is going to give us an overnight result. Again that is about a steady piece of work that will embed good standards for the long term. I feel really, really proud about that and you know there are other things to celebrate in Leicester and just as an example I think we should be really proud about this – the achievement gap between disadvantaged children and other children is consistently narrower at all stages of education than it is nationally – how fantastic that those children and young people that are at most disadvantage that we are delivering for them and I am really proud of that, and again something else that I was just told recently that, you know, in common with all local authorities we are introducing the national SEN Special Educational Needs reforms and we are developing a local offer and we have been incredibly successful in making that accessible to families, and in actual fact there is an event next week I think it is, and you know that work is now being highlighted at national level and it has been compared very favourably with what other local authorities are doing. So I think that we should be supporting the excellent work that is being done by our teachers by our support staff and by our governors for the long term for all children across this City. Thank you.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Dempster. Councillor Grant have you a supplementary?
Councillor Grant: Yes Lord Mayor. I mean I have to admire the gloss the Assistant Mayor has put on this but when on some measures we are the second worst performing local authority in England you have to be I think more concerned and to concentrate only on the performance of our second schools you know is very worrying. What are we doing is to be prepared for the consequences of more attention now being given to primary schools and that is going to affect those secondaries because they are essentially achieving outstanding and excellent on the basis of the improvement they are giving to primary pupils who are not coming in at a high enough standard, and as our primary schools start to improve our secondary schools will begin to fail, to slip down again. So I have to ask the Assistant Mayor how long is it going to take for us to fundamentally shift and to actually, whilst I accept that our schools are improving, we have been told that nationally they are improving at a quicker rate so actually we are not narrowing the gap. So how long is it going to take for us to narrow the gap and fundamentally improve the standards of education in the City.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Grant. Councillor Dempster.
Councillor Dempster: Yes I’m sorry I do find it offensive saying that I am glossing over things. I don’t think that I ever gloss over things, particularly things that are so important which is children’s education. And can I also say that I can’t give you a figure but I am really hoping that we are not going to be having a Conservative or a Coalition come May and then we will be able to get on an awful lot quicker because we will get more investment in education because we are not like the County with the cut in educational psychology and they just decide to say to all the schools - oh we don’t want all the responsibility, we don’t want to have to invest, all of you just go academy, oh and you can change your age range and you can all just sort yourself out, and you know if you fail well we will just close you Oh dear that is going to affect all those children, but never mind it is the survival of the fittest. No we are not like that so hopefully I will be able to give you a better answer after May.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Dempster.