A period of up to 40 minutes is allocated for questions to the Leader, Cabinet Portfolio Holders and Chairs of Overview and Scrutiny Committees.
Minutes:
(1) Question to Councillor Jeff Morgan from Councillor Jenny Fradgley
I understand that government legislation means that councils now have to restrict the number of home to school seats that can be sold on school buses. Whilst pupils living in a school's catchment area continue to be entitled to seats, I am told that only 20% of the remaining vacant seats can be sold to other pupils requiring transport.
Would the Portfolio Holder please confirm that this is the position and tell me whether this has led to some parents having to make alternative arrangements for home to school transport?
Answer from Councillor Jeff Morgan
The new legislation requires that all vehicles carrying paying customers must comply with Public Service Vehicle Access Requirements. There were exemptions that could be applied for, but these have ceased. New exemptions have been introduced but these will run only to March 2022. After this date they will be reviewed further, and it may be that no exemptions are permitted in the future. Where it is considered that paying customers will make it viable some vehicles in Warwickshire have been converted. If the cost of any upgrade cannot be covered it has not been possible to offer transport to some paying customers. In Warwickshire around 30 students have been affected in this way.
Some services have been transferred to the private sector. This has helped to reduce the burden of upgrading on the County Council. The ultimate goal is to make all vehicles compliant.
Councillor Fradgley thanked the Portfolio Holder for his answer adding that it is important that parents should not have to se their cars given concerns over climate change.
(2) Question to Councillor Margaret Bell from Councillor Jenny Fradgley
The government has announced proposals to cap care costs. I understand that for nursing homes this cap applies to the care cost element of charges, but not to the accommodation part of the charge ie. cost of the room, meals, cleaning, entertainment etc.
Would the Portfolio Holder please give me an estimate for Warwickshire of the proportion of nursing home charges that cover care and the proportion that goes to cover other costs?
Answer from Councillor Margaret Bell
It is very difficult to provide a definitive answer as this will vary from home to home.
The Dilnot Report proposed a 'contribution' towards living costs of between £7k and £10k per year, or £135 to £192 per week (but that was in 2011). This would be the equivalent of up to £230 per week today (based only on general inflation).
An estimate of one third of the total cost being accommodation costs has been quite widely used (and is as good an estimate as any other at this stage - and ahead of any detailed guidance).
More details will be available when the white paper is published.
(3) Question to Councillor Heather Timms from Councillor Bill Gifford
In the absence of Councillor Bill Gifford Councillor Jerry Roodhouse read the following.
As Warwickshire County Council are affiliated with the Solar Together procurement scheme, I would be very grateful if you could let me know how the County Council can continue the excellent work of getting homes to use renewable energy, without a “High Risk” of supporting forced labour camps in China.
Answer from Councillor Heather Timms
Solar Together is a subsidiary of IChoosr which is, itself, an international company which, in the UK, has a specific focus on collective energy switching and group buying of solar panels. As a company they are affiliated to Solar Energy UK which represents over 230 companies in the UK energy sector. Solar Energy UK has issued the following statement with regards to the UK industry supply chain which has been endorsed by IChoosr. “We, members of the UK solar energy industry, condemn and oppose any abuse of human rights, including forced labour, anywhere in the global supply chain. We support applying the highest possible levels of transparency and sustainability throughout the value chain and commit to the development of an industry-led traceability protocol to help to ensure our supply chain is free of human rights abuses.”
In addition, the Council has procedures in place to review all aspects of its supply chain and has asked IChoosr to provide us with assurances firstly that there is no forced labour in the manufacture of panels and secondly that they are actively working to identity and exclude suppliers who do not comply with the above statement. We will continue to exert as much influence as we can on IChoosr.
Not all solar panels are manufactured in China and not all Chinese manufactured panels will be linked to indicators of forced labour. However, we would expect, where relevant, IChoosr to exclude suppliers where there is evidence of forced labour and to identify alternative sources of solar panels. We are keeping a very close eye on this and if it becomes necessary would consider securing an alternative partner to continue the roll out of renewable energy in Warwickshire homes.
A supplementary question was read out.
Do you find it worrying that the contractors working on this project appear to not have screened out panel manufacturers that use polysilicon from Daqo (such as JA Solar and Jinkosolar) as highlighted in the report by Professor Laura Murphy of Sheffield Hallam University published in May this year shortly after it was raised with them?
Councillor Heather Timms agreed to supply an answer to this supplementary question after the meeting.
(4) Question to Councillor Wallace Redford from Councill Jackie D’Arcy
A petition concerning part night street lighting was previously presented to Council. Has the Portfolio Holder responded to that petition and can this response be shared with members?
Answer from Councillor Izzi Seccombe in the absence of Councillor Wallace Redford.
A written reply has been provided to the petition organiser. Copies will be sent to all members.
In addition, it should be noted that the County Council will be re-assessing the impact of part night street lighting.
(5) Question to Councillor Andy Crump from Councillor Piers Daniell
Would the Portfolio Holder care to comment on the recent work of the Fire and Rescue Service?
Answer from Councillor Andy Crump
The Fire and Rescue Service has been called upon to undertake some excellent work especially in the last few weeks. Sadly, a life was lost at the fire in Leamington Spa and condolences go to the family of the man that died. The service worked well demonstrating close and effective working with partners.
The achievements of the service will be recognised at an awards evening on 14 October.