- From Members of the Public
- From Councillors
Minutes:
QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC
Lord Mayor: This next item is questions from the public. Mrs. Flude to present four questions on behalf of Mr. David Hartshorne. Mrs. Flude your first question please.
Mrs. Flude: How important does the City Mayor think it is that our road network is free flowing in order to allow the City to be safe, competitive and an attractive location to live, work and socialise?
Lord Mayor: Thank you. City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. My Lord Mayor I was not surprised to discover that Mrs. Flude was going to be the person to actually ask these questions. Her virtually single handed campaign against almost every improvement in the City Centre has become legendary, despite of course the complete absence of any public support. I think that I recall her having opposed Jubilee Square, the improvements in Newarke Street, the Guildhall Lane improvements and even the very significant improvements outside of her own business. I think my Lord Mayor it is interesting to note that the author of these questions who perhaps also has on occasions joined Mrs. Flude in her campaign has substantially appreciated, apparently, the improvements that have taken place in and around the area where her business exists in that I understand that he has a recently put in an application for a payment licence which will enable him to take advantage of that area, a licence we have been very pleased to grant.
Lord Mayor: Mrs Flude have you got a supplementary question?
Mrs. Flude: I have but he did not actually answer my question.
Lord Mayor: Would you like to raise a supplementary question.
Mrs. Flude: OK. Department for Transport congestion figures show that our journey times are taking on average 5% longer than it did in 2011 when you started to trim the capacity for cars on our highways, and I wonder what impact that is having on air quality in the City Centre.
City Mayor: Thank you Mrs. Flude. City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I think that it is undoubtedly the case that those who commute into the City Centre make a significant contribution to the air quality in the City and we have encouraged as far as we can a change of mode of transport such that air quality can be improved hence of course the encouragement of public transport in general and the improvement of the availability of cycle ways in the City Centre. I understand from today’s Guardian that Mrs. Flude herself travels in in a van every morning, some 23 miles the Guardian tells me. I would suggest that she might consider herself altering the mode of transport and thereby contributing to the quality of air in the City.
Lord Mayor: Mrs. Flude have you a supplementary question?
Mrs. Flude: I’ve asked my supplementary question.
Lord Mayor: Thank you. Would you like to ask your next question please?
Mrs Flude: OK. The Department for Transport predict that by 2040 traffic will increase by 42% on local roads with an expected 61% increase in congestion. Does the City Mayor think it is best that on the central ring road we maximise the existing infrastructure for the majority of road users or we squeeze the capacity and inconvenience the majority of road users?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor on her commute into Leicester Mrs. Flude will I hope have noticed the very significant investment that we and our County colleagues are making in the road network in and around the City which I hope is improving her commute in the mornings and her journey home in the evenings. My Lord Mayor the short answer is that of course we must continue to invest in the roads because the motor car is with us for the foreseeable future and is an important part of what helps to make this City move and to contribute to its economic viability and vitality. But of course we must also recognise that the increased growth predicted by the Department of Transport is a growth that is unsustainable in cities that were, in effect, for the most part laid out for the horse and cart, and that we must look in those circumstances to balancing the use of available scarce resource of road space and of course seek to promote alternative modes of transport.
Lord Mayor: Mrs. Flude have you a supplementary question?
Mrs. Flude: I do. For clarity is the City Mayor aware that on an average day almost 23,000 motor vehicles pass along Welford Road at its junction with Newarke Street compared with only 182 cyclists. The number of cyclists having fallen year on year since 2011 from 311 pedal cycles a day.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor as I think Mrs. Flude has been told on a number of occasions a recorded survey shows very different figures from the ones that she quotes this evening and it is certainly the case that in so far as we can we ought to continue to promote the modal shift from the private car to public transport and to cycles and I hope that she will herself set an example.
Lord Mayor: Mrs. Flude your next question please.
Mrs. Flude Does the City Mayor think it is possible that fewer local people are making the trip into the City because figures from the Department for Transport indicate both a fall in the number of bus trips taken which is a decrease of around 24%, and less than expected local traffic on our roads?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Not for the first time my Lord Mayor I would draw Mrs. Flude’s attention to the inconsistency of her questioning. In this question she is talking about less than expected local traffic and in the previous question she was asking about the impact of 42% increase in traffic.
Mrs. Flude: We are bucking the trend.
City Mayor: Frankly my Lord Mayor that inconsistency is very typical of the approach that she has adopted
Mrs. Flude: Why are we bucking the trend.
City Mayor: … in her consistent opposition to every improvement that has been made in the City centre …
Lord Mayor: Excuse me hold on a second. City Mayor just hold on one second. We won’t allow you to shout out in the middle of questions. You have a chance to have a chance to have a supplementary question afterwards. OK. Thank you.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor she has consistently opposed almost single handedly every improvement that has been made in the City Centre. She has been mistaken about all of that. She has had little public support if any to that opposition and my Lord Mayor she has consistently been proved wrong.
Lord Mayor: Mrs. Flude have you a supplementary question?
Mrs. Flude: That was the answer to my supplementary question.
Lord Mayor: Ok if you will move to your next question then please.
Mrs. Flude: OK. What assessment if any is undertaken by Leicester City Council to determine the potential impact upon air quality prior to works on the highway?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
Councillor Clarke: My Lord Mayor, the City Mayor has asked me to respond to this question because it does specifically talk about air quality which we are coming on to as a future agenda item later on. Air quality as Mrs. Flude knows is a network wide issue and should not be looked at from an individual project specific perspective i.e. in isolation. Our transport strategy for the transport network includes tackling congestion, improving accessibility, reducing transport carbon emissions and improving air quality and road safety of course. To improve air quality we need to cater for the current traffic levels and future traffic growth by encouraging and facilitating proportionately more travel by sustainable modes which is why we are creating spaces for that to happen. Adopting our Air Quality Action Plan as I trust we do later is a demonstration of our commitment to achieving this. Design of highways works are aimed at delivering one or more but usually most of the objectives within our published and adopted transport strategy. Each project is part of the overall package of measures for encouraging sustainable travel. The general principle of the designs is to facilitate more trips particularly by sustainable modes but at the same time not reduce capacity for general traffic, and I think we would all accept that that is a delicate balance. We have air quality monitors at strategic points on the City’s highway network and we assess the data from monitors to help ensure the strategy is having the desired effect, and since 2010 we have actually seen an improvement in air quality for most of our monitoring stations and have been removing them as air quality improves. We have further partnerships with experts, global experts at the University of Leicester who fly over the City and record the air quality using the latest technology and that technology along with our work has led to an Air Quality Action Plan that I will present later which is accepted by DEFRA as a model of good practice. Thank you my Lord Mayor.
Lord Mayor: Mrs. Flude have you a supplementary question?
Mrs. Flude: I do. If by squeezing the traffic on the central ring road Councillor Clarke you are causing increases in nitrogen dioxide is this not making it unsafe for our cyclists to exercise at the side of the road. I believe we should be looking at encouraging more people to use sustainable transport, this is not an anti-cycle campaign, and my concern is that by not using the infrastructure of the City, the road network to its best ability and squeezing the traffic as you have been doing, that this is impacting not only on City Centre businesses who rely on interfacing with their customers but we have seen figures from the Department for Transport, we have people making a lot less bus trips than ever before.
Lord Mayor: I will ask Councillor Clarke to answer that question.
Councillor Clarke: On the bus patronage I was yesterday morning visiting First Bus and Arriva Bus and discussing the growth in patronage that Arriva are experiencing at the moment and working with them very closely to continue that growth so that people see bus travel you know as an option for them. In terms of the question about squeezing traffic Mrs. Flude may recall the session she attended on developing the Air Quality Action Plan which she contributed to which talked in great detail about the systems around traffic light phasing and how traffic does actually move through a narrow gap using traffic light phasing at sometimes a better rate and traffic stops less and goes through at a much more appropriate rate that actually has a positive impact on air quality. In terms of cyclists exercising they are not actually exercising they are commuting. Our annual cordon survey this year showed over 400 cyclists using Newarke Street. I have got the figures here, we have got over 5,000 people going through our cordon survey. Cycling into the City to use the businesses in the City including those just up the road from Cank Street my Lord Mayor, new businesses going in. As Chair of the Townscape Heritage Initiative we are selling buildings and leases are going for buildings for new restaurants and shops and such like. The City is thriving at the moment my Lord Mayor, particularly that part of the City where I am really pleased to say that there will be new businesses moving in imminently.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Clarke and thank you Mrs. Flude.
Mrs. Flude: Thank you.
QUESTIONS FROM COUNCILLORS
Lord Mayor: We now move to questions from Councillors. Councillor Singh.
Councillor Singh: Yes thank you my Lord Mayor. Cutting through some of the gloom the East Midlands and Leicester appears to be a beacon of light in all things. “Can I congratulate the City Mayor in achieving success for the City of Leicester in its recent top 10 national ranking as ‘the best City for business’ and will he also inform this Council regarding the recent Leicester, Leicestershire Economic Partnership’s 2 week ‘Leicester Business Festival 2015’ success which continues to develop and improve the economic asset of the City, the businesses and employment opportunities for its constituents?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. The report that Councillor Singh refers to is actually only the latest of a number that have given a very high rating indeed to the City. That particular one was associated with Accounting Technicians and they were looking at the best place in the UK to start a business and they compared 64 cities – Leicester ranked third. It looked at a whole range of different criteria in doing that including the density of small/medium businesses and various things across the whole range of our activity. Interestingly Derby was tenth in that ranking and Nottingham, that smaller City to the north, was ranked twentieth. But as I say it is only the latest of a number. Grant Thornton did a report that identified Leicester as one of the UK’s leading locations for foreign business investment. Property Week obviously a very respected publication, identified the hottest 100 retail locations in the UK and ranked Leicester third. And I have had others, the Enterprise Research Centre looked at us and said we, alongside London, contained the highest proportion of fast growing businesses in the UK. So it is not just one isolated survey, it is a consistent message that Leicester is a place that is attracting investment and where people ought to feel that there is a positive opportunity for further investment. Councillor Singh asked me about the business festival. This is the first one that has been done. I am told there were over 5,000 people attended the various events associated with it and in so far as it is a measure of anything they say that the social media reach of it was over three quarters of a million people and that really is very substantial indeed. So a major success story continuing to promote the opportunities for business and business investment in Leicester.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Have you a supplementary question Councillor Singh?
Councillor Singh: Yes I do my Lord Mayor. Thank you. I am very grateful to the City Mayor for providing that information. Lord Mayor these successes come on top of another recent economic statistic which puts the City of Leicester or the City Centre as the top 10 highest grossing centre. This is really, really so significant in all of the country. These are hard earned and significant accolades secured through judicious policies and programmes with the City Mayor and this Labour Group which we can take recognition and pride for the City. Will the City Mayor reveal what other goodies can the City expect in the forthcoming New Year of 2016.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: I think being asked to reveal goodies, Chair, is a bit like Santa being asked to say what is in the sack somewhat before Christmas. I think we can look forward with confidence to the future. We have seen in this last year IBM choosing to come and locate its business centre here in Leicester. Hastings Direct setting up here. Both creating high quality jobs. We have seen Mattioli Woods coming back in Grove Park into the City Centre as you know as a result of the environment upgrades and the opportunities we have created here and I know that our Inward Investment Team particularly Helen Donnellan who leads it are talking with other potential investors and re-investors to the City and I very much anticipate that during the next year there will be other high profile announcements of others who have read the signs, read the surveys and know that Leicester is a place that welcomes investment and where on the back of that investment we can create jobs.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Councillor Kitterick.
Councillor Kitterick: Thank you my Lord Mayor. “Does the City Mayor agree with creating a £1.3m reserve for the Leicestershire Fire Service whilst planning to remove 11 fire engines and closing 2 stations. Surely this reserve is justified instead of implementing these kind of cuts to front line services?”
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: The short answer is of course no although actually I have looked closely at the proposals that are being made and it is not actually a proposal for a creation of a £1.3m reserve. But quite clearly what we must seek to do in assessing the results of the consultation is to ensure that in so far as it is possible given the sorts of cuts I was taking of earlier on in regard to the comprehensive spending review which hit fire as well as other local authorities one must seek to do there as we do here is to preserve the front line service and of course the front line services of the fire service are ones that are not only critical for the safety of the City but are also ones that we would want to see adequately covered across the whole of the County particularly the whole of our City.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Councillor Kitterick have you a supplementary question?
Councillor Kitterick: I have Lord Mayor. Whilst the creation of a reserve is desirable, essentially reserves are rainy day money and we will need a lot of rainy days if the number of fire engines are cut in the City as planned because there won’t be any fire engines to put out the fires. Lord Mayor it is a case that whilst a reserve is desirable I believe it was Nye Bevan that said that, and I always get this quote wrong so please forgive me if I botch it slightly, ‘The language of priorities is the religion of socialism’. And Can I ask the Lord Mayor as a fellow socialist that when the choice comes between a healthy reserve and fire services that are cut and degraded so that the City and County are unsafe or safe services for both the City and County and may be a reserve not as high as recommended by the Chief Finance Officer, that we must choose safe fire services.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor yes as I explained in fact the proposal is not to create a £1.3m reserve but leaving that point side Cllr. Kitterick is entirely right that the provision of front line services is what matters not what you have kept back in the bank for a rainy day as he quite rightly describes it and I do agree with him entirely.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Kitterick can you ask your second question please.
Councillor Kitterick: Can I ask the City Mayor whether he agrees with the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s proposal to close the busiest fire station in the City, Central, and removing the busiest fire engine at Western Station, when options for the underused and unrequired £11m Birstall HQ still have not been fully explored and the building officially added to the list of proposals for it to be sold or leased?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you Lord Mayor. It is an opportunity actually just to begin by just drawing a distinction between the consultation that has taken place which is about changes in the operational service which is what they call the Integrated Risk Management Plan and the budget proposals of the authority and those who have served on the Fire Authority in the past, I see some nodding in agreement, that there is a distinction. It is though again an opportunity for me to agree entirely with Councillor Kitterick that there are going to be some choices to be made and when those choices are made they have got to be for the protection of the front line services to Central fire station in particular and not a palace out at Birstall.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Kitterick have you a supplementary question?
Councillor Kitterick: Thank you very much Lord Mayor. I am sure the City Mayor like myself greatly appreciates the Leicester Fire station not just for its function but its form, it is certainly one of the most beautiful buildings in the City. Lord Mayor if I just put it that if we were to close the Central fire station and sell it we would probably be lucky to get 10% of the receipt that we would get for the sale of the un-needed headquarters at Birstall, and that I would call on the City Mayor to ensure that the Birstall headquarters is either disposed of or leased as soon as possible.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Thank you my Lord Mayor. As Councillor Kitterick knows I am very sympathetic to that although I must give some slight warning that is that there is a considerable difference between what it costs to build the headquarters at Birstall and what might be received by way of a capital receipt for it now. It was built in different times for a specific purpose and it might not necessarily be possible to raise that level of capital receipt from selling it to cover the costs of its original construction but nonetheless the trend of the question is one which again which I find myself in entire agreement with.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Kitterick your third question.
Councillor Kitterick: Lord Mayor. Given the overwhelming concern and opposition from serving firefighters, retired senior officers, Members of Parliament, Councillors and the public to the proposed fire service cuts, can you guarantee that the Leicestershire Fire and Rescue Service’s proposals won’t significantly affect public safety?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Again my Lord Mayor as I have said on a number of occasions I can’t give that guarantee because I am not convinced myself of it. As I have said I am not convinced that the proposals, particularly the proposals to close the Central fire station would not significantly affect public safety, and for that reason it may be very clear that unless I was to hear a very convincing argument which I have not yet heard, I would find myself in a positon of having no alternative but to vote against such a closure of the fire station.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Have you a supplementaryCouncillor Kitterick?
Councillor Kitterick: Not so much a supplementary but to express my appreciation to the City Mayor for voicing his opposition to the proposed fire service cuts and I am sure the City Mayor is aware that he has the unanimous support of Councillors in this City Labour Group to oppose those cuts.
City Mayor: If I might comment my Lord Mayor I am very grateful for the campaigning that Councillor Kitterick and others have done on this issue and as always grateful for the support of my colleagues.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Councillor Grant your first question.
Councillor Grant: Can the City Mayor explain the extent of planning by the City Council with the police in preparation for a terrorist incident in Leicester?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: I thank Councillor Grant for his very timely question. I hope you will understand that I will probably respond in rather general terms rather than specific ones. But in fact I am able to give as far as it is ever possible to give reassurance about preparedness, but I can give reassurance that there is very close working between the City Council and the others involved in the Local Resilience Forum. Now that is a multi-agency group and it includes ourselves and the police but other public agencies and they together draw up contingency plans for, amongst other things, large public events. We do also work very closely with the police counter-terrorism security advisers and together with the police have sponsored a number of counter-terrorism awareness raising events. Some of which in fact Councillors have been invited to but they have been an attempt to encourage the business community, frontline staff and ourselves to be aware of risk and to be aware of ways in which we can all be alert, all be vigilant and help. We have done with others a number of joint exercises, particularly joint exercises relating to special events with large numbers of people. But also I have myself engaged in some that have done simulation events in and around the City which is just a good part of planning so that the agencies can, in so far as they can ever, simulate what might be anticipated but attempts to simulate different types of events and how we would work together and how we would respond to them. I know obviously that there has been particularly close working when there have been large events of the City, the re-interment of King Richard III, Diwali or something of that sort that brings a lot of people together and we do have generic plans for the City Centre should anything happen here; generic plans in terms of evacuation and containment of things. There is an ongoing programme of work between our Emergency Planning Officer, the Counter-Terrorism Adviser security adviser from the police and indeed just next week there is going to be some work done to roll out key messages on a zone by zone basis across the City Centre particularly relating to evacuation should anything happen. So there is a lot of ongoing work but as I say I am sure Councillor Grant and others will understand that it is probably sensible to talk about it only in general terms, but I am convinced that it is being dealt with by people who do know their business.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Have you a supplementaryCouncillor Grant?
Councillor Grant: No.
Lord Mayor: Can you move to your second question then please.
Councillor Grant: Yes. What arrangements are in place to share critical Council facilities with the police, such as CCTV, and can these be improved and access to them made easier through closer working?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
Councillor Master: Recording inaudible.
City Mayor: Thank you Councillor Master. Have you a supplementary?
Councillor Grant: Yes Lord Mayor. I am aware of the police use of our CCTV cameras at Blackbird Road having spent an evening with the Inspector in charge of the operation that covers the City Centre on a Friday evening in 2013. Wouldn’t it be helpful to the police, particularly in extreme circumstances, for them to be able to have access to a live feed from those cameras because at the moment basically an officer has to go to Blackbird Road and sit with our operators. That seems quite an antiquated and inefficient system. If we have an extreme incident it would be appropriate for the police to perhaps have access through their command structure and certainly if the technology is available seeing as I have actually got it I could stream a picture from my son’s bedroom to a mobile device here it seems that actually we could be working with the police to upgrade these important kind of facilities if the money was available and fortunately the police have not had a funding cut and it might be an option.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Master.
Councillor Master: Recording inaudible.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Master. Councillor Grant your third question.
Councillor Grant: Is the City Mayor satisfied (although Councillor Master is answering) that the City Council has done enough in relation to the Prevent Strategy to protect the people of Leicester?
Lord Mayor: Councillor Master.
Councillor Master: Recording inaudible.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Grant have you a supplementary?
Councillor Grant: No.
Councillor Grant: Why aren’t residents in Knighton being consulted on the proposed permit parking scheme for Clarendon Park when for many it is their closest shopping area, and includes the nearest post office, following the closures of Knighton post offices, on the basis of access to the Queen’s Road location?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor the Clarendon Park area is subject to commuter parking from staff and students at the University, Queen Elizabeth College and indeed those going into the City Centre. It does make it difficult for residents to find parking during the day. It is also the case that it is near enough to both Tigers and King Power for it to suffer quite significantly from match day parking as well. As a result of that there have been a number of discussions with residents over quite a considerable period of time particularly obviously from the Ward Councillors, and certainly they have felt that it is appropriate for us to begin the process with informing residents in advance, in January, commencing of the formal public consultation. The residents parking proposals are likely to have very significant provision within them for shoppers and visitors so that residents from Knighton and indeed elsewhere in the City will find parking easier and hopefully will make it easier for them to use the very good shops that there are on Clarendon Park Road and Queens Road.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Grant have you a supplementary?
Councillor Grant: No.
Lord Mayor: Can you move then to your fifth question please.
Councillor Grant: Is it true that if the permit parking scheme goes ahead that the scheme will be funded via borrowing?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I am informed that the income from residents parking schemes is expected to pay back the implementation costs. It’s therefore usually written down over a number of years hence the concept of borrowing for it. Technically it is what we would call prudential borrowing as it has a payback to it and you can borrow up front. Although I am told that in practice no new actual borrowing will be undertaken for this scheme as it would be possible to cover it at this level with cash balances.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Grant have you a supplementary?
Councillor Grant: Yes. As the City Mayor will know from the experience on Allendale Road and Francis Street, it can be the case that once you have implemented a scheme the residents and businesses are unhappy with the consequences and ask for you to remove it. So can he reassure us that if a scheme went ahead and that was to be the case that the local residents decided they did not like it, that they wouldn’t be then burdened with the scheme having to be left in place whilst it generated the funds to cover the prudential borrowing.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Lord Mayor I must double check this but it has certainly been our practice in the past in other schemes to put them in in the first instance on an experimental basis. Whether that is indeed the case here I don’t know but I think it is likely. But it is also the case that of course when you do put in a scheme it can be taken out if it subsequently proves not to be working or to be universally unpopular. What has been very evident from previous schemes is that the public scepticism indeed on some occasions opposition to schemes has evaporated very quickly indeed. And I remember going over the years to some fairly stormy meetings with residents before a scheme has been implemented, and promising to come back in six months only to discover that there is no need to go back in six months because everyone wants them to stay, and that has been a fairly common pattern. So while of course it is possible that an experimental scheme might need to be taken out at the end of the period or indeed that if it was put in a permanent basis it could be undone subsequently. I think that is very unlikely given our experience elsewhere, but of course it is entirely up to the residents themselves as to whether they want it in the first place and that is of course what the public consultation that begins in January will be setting out to determine.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Councillor Grant your sixth question.
Councillor Grant: On the basis that the City Mayor has made it clear that formal consultation is not starting until January I will withdraw the question, it is not relevant.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Grant. Councillor Porter your first question.
Councillor Porter: Thank you. “Can the Council give us a date for the consultation on the new Local Plan?”
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: Yes my Lord Mayor I am informed that it is planned that consultation on the next stage of the Local Plan will be undertaken in early 2016, that is early next year.
Lord Mayor: Do you have a supplementary Councillor Porter?
Councillor Porter: Yes. Thank you to the City Mayor for his answer there. My supplementary is there has been a bit of inconsistency at the Planning Committee recently. One week an application for flats wasn’t approved because there was not sufficient amenity space although it happened to be right next to quite a large park, and then the following week or two weeks later at the next Planning Committee an application for flats which did not have any amenity space at all and did not have any parks nearby was approved. Even Members of the Planning Committee expressed their concern and their confusion so my question to the City Mayor is when we adopt this new Local Plan can he make sure that there is a consistent approach to planning policy.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor as Members will be aware the planning function or at least the development control function is not one that I am responsible for, it is one that is the responsibility of the Council as a whole and it is the Council as a whole that appoints a committee to carry that function out on their behalf. And I am really not in a position to talk about the consistency of decisions of those who sit on that Committee. What I do know is that they are charged with the responsibility, obviously applying the policies of the Council but having regard to national legislation and planning guidance and also considering each application on its merits – that is why it goes in front of Members rather than just going through a process of officers. The consideration of the application on its merits, that can to the outsider give the appearance of inconsistency. It is in fact members of the Committee doing their job.
Lord Mayor: I think you are moving now to your second question. Councillor Porter.
Councillor Porter: Thank you Lord Mayor. Can the Council give the dates when the County Council owned the freehold for land at Franklyn Fields in Aylestone?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I am informed that the County Council do still own part of the land at Franklyn Fields and that they have entered into an arrangement with the City Council jointly to market it. They will retain ownership until the sale to the proposed developer occurs and I was also informed that they originally acquired the site as a result of local government reorganisation in 1974 from the City and that it was one of the few pieces of land that did not come back at the time of unitary status.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Porter have you a supplementary question?
Councillor Porter: Yes thank you and thank you to the City Mayor for the answer. Could he explain why when the Leicester City Council became a unitary authority in 1997 this particular piece of land did not revert to the ownership of the City Council.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I have to say in the complexity of the transfers that were taking place at that time, I certainly as the Leader of the Council at that time, did not notice that this particular one had not come back. Had I done I might well have asked the same question that Councillor Porter asks now as to why it did not come back. The fact is that it did not come back for whatever reason, whether it was a matter of deliberate choice by the County or the City, whether it was oversight, I really don’t know, but the fact is that the freehold remains at the moment with the County Council and they are working collaboratively with us to ensure that the development at that site is brought on to the market and that we receive the much needed housing to be developed there.
Lord Mayor: Thank you. Councillor Porter your third question.
Councillor Porter: Thank you Lord Mayor. Following on from the Ofsted inspection of services for children, have there been any unallocated cases?
Lord Mayor: Councillor Russell.
Councillor Russell: Thank you my Lord Mayor. A key area that the Council has been robustly addressing and monitoring is the allocation of cases which was a concern in late 2014 and at the time of the inspection in January and February 2015. Cases requiring allocation could consist of new referrals needing assessment which are passed through from duty and advice service, or the caseload of a social worker leaving the service. All section 47 child protection investigations are allocated immediately, and when a social worker leaves the allocation of any child protection case is prioritised. Case allocation is connected with the shortage of social workers and the turn that we have experienced in our workforce and the use of agency staff some of whom had previously left the service with little or no warning requiring us to reallocate whole caseloads. This is being addressed by the requirement for staff to give a month’s notice, that includes our agency staff and is part of our new terms with them. Some level of such cases awaiting allocation to social workers is part of the normal ebb and flow within a children in need service and in Leicester as in other local authorities there is sometimes a gap between one social worker leaving and their successor starting and any work required with the family has to be undertaken on a duty basis by another social worker in the team. The number of unallocated cases that Cllr. Porter refers to is reported to both operational and senior managers on a daily basis and close managerial oversight is in place to ensure no cases are left unallocated for longer than is necessary. As of Tuesday when this answer was pulled together in the afternoon there were 12 cases awaiting allocation but none of those had been waiting over 5 days and that is the figure that we particularly look at. And none of those were child protection cases. The Council was subject to a monitoring visit by Ofsted on the 10th and 11th October and the Inspector challenged the Council on this issue on the basis of the September performance book figures that we provide to all Members and were provided to Scrutiny in the last month. At the end of the visit and after discussing the matter with the Chair of the Improvement Board she advised the Strategic Director that she was satisfied that the Council was on top of this aspect of performance. Thank you my Lord Mayor.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Russell. Do you have a supplementaryCouncillor Porter?
Councillor Porter: Yes I do actually Lord Mayor. It is interesting that you only talk about the period since recently with 12 cases. I would have really liked to have had the details of figures over a much longer period so that we could get a view of what is actually going on in the service because the Ofsted report highlighted that there was failures which have not been resolved since 2011 when they had their basically their review that took place then, their inspection that took place then. So what procedures has the City Council got in place to make sure that the mistakes that were made back in 2011 which continued right up until 2014 are not repeated again. I mean I understand they set targets but who is monitoring these targets and are those people able to report this back to Members.
Lord Mayor: Councillor Russell.
Councillor Russell: Thank you my Lord Mayor. I am not sure Councillor Porter heard all the answer to the first part of my question because as I hope I clearly explained both operational and strategic managers are looking at the figures for unallocated cases on a daily basis. We have weekly case allocation meetings to ensure that we don’t have cases that remain unallocated over five days and if there are they are very short periods and we ensure that allocation happens. Those are reported through to the Improvement Board, they are reported through to Scrutiny and those figures are also shared with Members on a regular basis by both the Scrutiny and the emails that I do out to Members around the performance of the service. If Councillor Porter would like to receive different information we would need to speak about that. We have had an agreement both with the Improvement Board and with partners that we will try and get consistent information out so that we are not asking managers to pull together different sets of information all the time, that we have a very, very comprehensive set of data that is accessible to as many people as possible because we want scrutiny of the service, we want to be able to show that we do know our service, we know where the strengths are. We also know where some of the weaknesses still are and that we are focussing on those and I am very happy to share all that information with Councillor Porter as I do with all Members now. Thank you Lord Mayor.
Lord Mayor: Thank you Councillor Russell. Councillor Porter your fourth question.
Councillor Porter: Thank you. If the land at Franklyn Fields, Aylestone is developed where will the vehicle access and egress be located?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: I am informed that it is anticipated that vehicle egress and access will be from Franklyn Road in line with the planning guidance.
Lord Mayor: Thank you. Have you a supplementary question Councillor Porter?
Councillor Porter: Yes. I understand that the Mayor has been heavily involved in proposing this site for development, but is it possible that there is a rethink that takes place on that access and egress because as I mentioned earlier on in the terms of the petition that I raised there is already an ongoing problem in Aylestone with rat running so the idea of having a huge housing development at the top of a road which is currently a cul-de-sac really is not acceptable. So is it possible that we could have some discussions with the City Mayor, myself and Councillor Clarke maybe and some local residents and see if we can get something sorted out about that access.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor I am always prepared to have representations from Ward Councillors about schemes in their Ward particularly ones that are of significant as this, but I do repeat what I said earlier on that this is a scheme very much to be welcomed. Obviously the capital receipt that it produces both for the City and the County but also for the opportunity that it gives to bring much needed house building into this part of the City and to do so in a way that is very sensitive to the existing housing in the area and the immediately adjacent Aylestone Meadows. A very important part to be thinking about the development of this area, has been to ensure that we develop it in such a way that it does compliment the adjacent Aylestone Meadows and make a positive contribution to the ecology and the environment of the area.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. Councillor Porter item 15 your fifth question.
Councillor Porter: How many offers have been returned to the Council for the land at Franklyn Fields, Aylestone by the 12 noon deadline on the 11th April 2014?
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: I am informed that the Council received 9 bids as a result of the marketing of the site, one of which was delivered after the deadline.
Lord Mayor: Do you have a supplementary question Councillor Porter?
Councillor Porter: Yes. The one that came in after the deadline is that the one that he is currently hoping to get a capital receipt on.
Lord Mayor: City Mayor.
City Mayor: My Lord Mayor as Members will understand I don’t engage directly in either opening tenders or assessing them. What I am told is that the late bid was not the highest bid and I was also reassured, and I did specially ask about this and how it had been handled. The Council has a well-established policy of dealing with late offers which is included in the Constitution and that officers concerned were very careful to ensure that the rules were properly applied.
Lord Mayor: Thank you City Mayor. That is the end of the questions.