Agenda item

Paper No: COU/WS/20/007

Council Procedure Rules 8.1 – 8.3. The Leader will submit a report (the Leader’s Statement) summarising important developments and activities since the preceding meeting of the Council.

Members may ask the Leader questions on the content of both his introductory remarks and the written statement itself.

A total of 30 minutes will be allowed for questions and responses. There will be a limit of five minutes for each question to be asked and answered. A supplementary question arising from the reply may be asked so long as the five minute limit is not exceeded.

Councillor John Griffiths, Leader of the Council, presented his Leader’s Statement as outlined in Paper No: COU/WS/20/007.

In his introductory remarks, Councillor Griffiths:

a.       paid tribute to the lives lost during the Coronavirus pandemic and to former St Edmundsbury Borough Councillor and Mayor, Stefan Oliver (see Minute 66. above);

b.       acknowledged the outstanding work of NHS staff, other key workers and of West Suffolk councillors and staff for their tireless efforts during the pandemic;

c.       explained that with partners, the Council was lobbying Government on fairer funding, which was particularly critical for West Suffolk Council and other rural councils for continuing their hard work in tackling the impacts of COVID-19 and the recovery process;

d.       explained the support the Council, which had exceeded national efforts, had given to local businesses through the delivery of small business grants and rate relief to eligible businesses, together with helping businesses and traders to introduce COVID-19 safety measures in preparation for re-opening, where appropriate;

e.       specifically recognised the work of the Council’s Families and Communities team for their support to residents and communities during the crisis, together with the Town and Parish Councils and raft of volunteers that had demonstrated effective cohesive partnership working throughout lockdown and as restrictions began to lift;

f.       specifically recognised the work of the Housing team that had worked tirelessly to accommodate rough sleepers and persons in need during the crisis; and

g.       Civil Parking Enforcement (CPE) was now operating as planned across West Suffolk (and parts of Mid Suffolk and Babergh).

A range of questions were asked of the Leader, namely:

a.       Whether payment methods utilised by car parking ticket machines were aligned across West Suffolk car parks and whether risk assessments were undertaken to ascertain if the means by which payments could be made catered for all, including those with disabilities or impairments. In response, Councillor Griffiths, assisted by Councillor Peter Stevens, Portfolio Holder for Operations, stated that machines were in line with national standards and whilst compliant, any variances identified were assessed and mitigated where possible to achieve consistency across the district. All the Council’s car parks were independently ‘Park Marked’, which was an award given under the Safer Parking Scheme for meeting a national standard aimed at reducing crime, the fear of crime, cleanliness and accessibility. Ringo could be used in all car parks obviating the need to interact with a ticket machine.

b.       In the context of referring to West Suffolk Council (WSC) needing to intervene in the last tax year to prevent 393 households from becoming homeless and as the present COVID-19 related moratorium on evictions was due to end on 23 August 2020, which, unless WSC intervened, would potentially result in 47 households being made homeless, Councillor Clarke asked what support was being given regarding this matter.  A written response would be provided by Councillor Sara Mildmay-White, Portfolio Holder for Housing, and this would be shared with all Members in due course.

c.       Councillor Clarke then expressed how he felt that children in his community were being failed by society and asked how the Council was providing support to children, schools and communities to help improve young people’s attainment, particularly in Maths and English. In response, Councillor Griffiths stated that improvements in educational attainment in some areas was recognised and a multi-agency approach was being taken to tackle educational inadequacies across Suffolk. The Council was actively working with partners to mitigate this. 

d.       With reference to paragraphs 43. and 44. of the Leader’s Statement, which provided details of grants allocated to small businesses during the COVID-19 crisis, Councillor Cliff Waterman asked what steps the Council had taken to prevent fraud, or if there was fraud how was it detected; whether there was any monitoring of how the money was being used, and whether there were any measurable outcomes. A written response would be provided by Councillor Sarah Broughton, Portfolio Holder for Resources and Performance, and this would be shared with all Members in due course.

e.       In the context of referring to West Suffolk Council (WSC) working with registered housing associations and private landlords to meet anticipated demand for housing the homeless in the future, whether consideration should be given to WSC building its own social housing stock to enable the Council to be in a good position to cope with any future emergency that required housing for a large number of people.  A written response would be provided by Councillor Sara Mildmay-White, Portfolio Holder for Housing, and this would be shared with all Members in due course.

f.       With specific reference to car parking in Newmarket, how the success of CPE was monitored; whether car parking spaces were sizeable enough to accommodate larger cars; and whether there was consistency and sufficient publicity given to methods of payment at ticketing machines. In response, Councillor Griffiths, assisted by Councillor Peter Stevens, Portfolio Holder for Operations, stated that a monthly statement was produced by CPE operatives to ascertain and monitor performance; car parking spaces were in line with national standards, and a reiteration of the reply to question a. above was given, including that signage was displayed in each car park on the range of methods to pay.