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 Redford from Councillor Bill Gifford
“Councillor Redford at the Council Meeting in February you reflected on the frustration caused by road closures and provided reassurance that active discussions were taking place with utility companies to improve their performance in this regard.
How many meetings have there been with the utility companies since the Council Meeting and what has been agreed with the utility companies?”
In response Councillor Redford advised that the network management team was in regular contact with utility companies and he provided a flavour of the work that had been carried out:
· Network Rail - Four meetings and approximately 20 phone calls with Network Rail directly as well as 183 emails in particular relating to the Princess Drive and Rugby Road works. This had resulted in Network Rail recognising their lack of early engagement with residents and prompted them to issue letters to affected residents and businesses. They had since promised to do better on this in future.
· Severn Trent Water - Monthly strategic performance meetings were held with Severn Trent Water managers alongside individual scheme meetings. There were currently two major schemes operational (at least two meetings per scheme) and over 20 emails. Severn Trent Water had also been given notice on serious failures under the Caution of Notice of intended prosecution for over running works.
· Cadent Gas - Fortnightly management meetings were held as well as site meetings and they were active on give sites, with more than 50 emails related to coordination of these works.
· Western Power Distribution - Quarterly management meetings were held, currently operational on two major schemes with multiple meetings and email exchanges having taken place.
· Virgin - Fortnightly meetings were being held and whilst there were no works at the time of the meeting, some works were due to commence.
Additionally, the team held quarterly coordination meetings with representatives of all the major utility operators. In future, the team would be looking for tighter completion times for the works.
Councillor Gifford welcomed the response. He was pleased to hear those meetings were taking place and hoped that timescales for works could be reduced to a level that was satisfactory for residents.
(2) Question to Councillor Bell from Councillor Tim Sinclair
The Nicol Unit at Stratford Hospital, within my Division, is well appreciated by locals and although patients often prefer to be looked after in their own home, sometimes it’s not appropriate or possible to do that. So, I’m keen that the number of in-patient beds and the services offered at the Nicol Unit are at least maintained, or ideally increased. What reassurances can the Portfolio holder give me that the Council is using its influence to protect and/or enhance the facilities at the Nicol Unit?
Councillor Bell responded that the services provided at the Nicol Unit and the Ellen Badger Community Hospital were being reviewed in the context of the wider health and social care offer in South Warwickshire. The review had a focus on the discharge to assess process which provided additonal time for recovery and assessment away from the acute hospital environment. The work to lead the review was collaborative between Warwickshire County Council, South Warwickshire Foundation Trust and the CCG who were working to ensure the right outcomes for the patients and to deliver services that were appropriate for the future direction of travel. The Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee had considered an initial paper on the review which provided a number of options, and the overview and scrutiny committee had recommended an additional option to consider the increase in the number of beds (or at least the flexibility to increase the beds in response to demand). The overview and scrutiny committee would continue to exercise its functions to help with the outcomes of the review and support the citizens of Warwickshire generally. Councillor Bell was also closely linked with the leads for the review and provided support and challenge as it developed, and was aware that the project team was also keen to engage with local communities in South Warwickshire as the review process continued. Councillor Bell offered to put Councillor Sinclair in touch with the leads for the review which he welcomed.
Councillor Kate Rolfe noted that the proposals put forward at Adult Social Care and Health Overview and Scrutiny Committee were raised by herself and accepted cross party.
(3) Question to Councillor Redford from Councillor Drew
“WCC has stated that K2L is a priority yet progress is understood to have stalled. Could an update on this progress be provided, please, together with any available target date for the build?”
In response, Councillor Redford accepted that the K2L scheme had stalled but he offered assurance that whilst there were some challenges to be overcome, the council was in collaboration with external specialists on topographical and drainage surveys, more traffic modelling was being undertaken and intrusive ground investigations had been undertaken on the full length of the route. Initial designs were required for the cycleway and retaining structures between North Leamington and the Berwick roundabout and there were several conceptual designs for the new pedestrian cycle bridge across the River Avon and the flood plains. There were two initial feasibility designs and options for the route between the A425 and the B4115 junction were being considered. All these challenges were taking time and it was clear that it would take bit longer than originally thought to finalise the scheme. The complexity and scope of having the pedestrian cycle bridge across the Avon was causing issues and officers were working with Sustrans and Adkins to deliver the best possible solution that conformed with the Environmental Agency conditions. Councillor Redford added that costs of building materials had increased, adding to the financial challenges of the project. It was difficult to provide a firm start date for the project but he would advise Members as soon as this was known.
Councillor Drew requested that the issue be actively monitored.
(4) Question to Councillor Timms from Councillor Fradgley
“Please may I ask for an update on the Highways Verge Policy. I have many residents asking about their status in biodiversity planting on county land. The year is moving on and it is time to start doing work to establish wildflower seed.”
Councillor Timms responded that the draft policy had been sent out to all members in the previous week and comments were being sought as the final step in the consultation process. The consultation had been very diverse in its range, and Councillor Timms asked that any comments be sent to the policy team by 8 April 2022 to that it could be published and documented as an operational policy
Councillor Fradgley agreed that her question had been submitted prior to the policy being circulated for consultation and hoped that her question had spurred the process on. She noted that a number of town councils had projects ready for implementation and were awaiting the final policy before proceeding with them. Councillor Fradgley asked if town councils could obtain the county view on projects before the policy was operational, as the projects would be time-sensitive.
In response, Councillor Timms advised that the answer was yes. She acknowledged that the policy had taken some time to come forward and noted that several concerns had been received from district councillors which needed to be addressed before it could be circulated to county councillors. Councillor Timms wanted to ensure everyone was aware of the process and who was responsible for what going forward. The consultation was, therefore, key, but if there were individual projects that could go forward in advance, sight of them was to be welcomed.
(5) Question to Councillor Redford from Councillor Feeney
“I would be grateful if Councillor Redford could detail the parking enforcement activity for Rugby and more particularly for Benn division and could he comment on the number of staff deployed and roughly how many hours a week they are active in Rugby”
In reply, Councillor Redford advised that there was not a reporting mechanism that allowed data to be provided for individual electoral divisions. However, he did have details of the number of hours that staff had been deployed in Rugby over the period in question and he would provide this to Councillor Feeney after the meeting.
(6) Question to the Leader from Councillor Feeney
“I am sure that we all agree that our staff are the most valuable resource we have. Our staff have worked incredibly hard during the pandemic and I am sure we would all agreed that it would be right to recognise all staff, but particularly those grups of staff who have delivered frontline services and carried on working in our buildings during this time. We would particularly like the Council to recognise the cleaning staff who worked tirelessly to keep everyone safe during this time and ask that a special event be held and the cleaners invited to receive some recognition from the Chairman of the Council and we would also be grateful for any consideration to be given to a wider meaningful recognition of staff groups as well”.
In response, Councillor Isobel Seccombe stated that she realised there would be some councillors who were not familiar with what the Council had been doing and welcomed the opportunity explain. Over the previous two years, the cleaning and caretaking teams had been pivotal in maintaining the estate to ensure that the Council remained Covid 19 secure and that the Council operated effectively. Focus had been given, by all levels of leadership, to recognise the work that had taken place. The Council, as part its People Strategy, had invested time and effort in enhancing the approach to recognise its employees, including cleaning staff and the teams had been continually recognised by Corporate Board and also from across the group leaders who had throughout the last two years sent messages of support and thanks. Additonal support and flexibility wherever possible had been given to the teams. The Council had initiated the introduction of the ‘High Five’ app for instant recognition by all colleagues as well as the corporate team. There was also a staff ‘shout out’ which featured in the Corporate Board and Strategic Director broadcasts. The Council had regularly recognised and celebrated the work of its cleaning staff. Additionally, the Council held ‘Star Awards’ for which staff nominated individuals and teams for recognition, and there was also involvement in the Leader and Chairman awards. These events had taken place online for the last two years but in normal times they would have been held in person and were attended by herself and the Chairman. The Council’s cleaning and caretaking colleagues worked all over Warwickshire so it would be difficult to pull them all together. Whilst they made a brilliant contribution, they were not alone in what they contributed, and therefore in recognition of what all staff had achieved over the pandemic, the Council had offered an extra day’s holiday to all employees. Staff were valued and the People Strategy made this very clear.
Councillor Feeney sought further clarification on how elected members could show the value of cleaning staff, as she considered that quite often they were the unsung heroes of an organisation, and she believed they should be recognised in particular.
Councillor Seccombe recognised the cleaning staff’s fantastic contribution but this was the same with other frontline services such as children’s services and adult social care. All staff contributed to the team that was Warwickshire and she felt what had already been done was ‘above and beyond’; the feedback from staff supported that view and she got the sense that people liked working for Warwickshire.
(7) Question to Councillor Timms from Councillor Feeney
“I’d be grateful if you could update full Council on the provision of support for those in food poverty. Could you outline the schemes planned, how much money has been allocated in total for those schemes in particular.”
In reply, Councillor Timms advised that there were two strands to the response: one was the Local Welfare Fund, and Warwickshire was one of the few councils who had always retained this fund for people in crisis. It had been extremely useful for distributing the Household Support Fund. Since October 2021 £2.41 million had been spent, including the Hub vouchers for school meals which would continue through the Easter holidays. In Warwickshire, there was also the Food Forum which was bringing forward the Food Strategy and this was a really important partnership approach with health, district and borough councils, and voluntary sector partners. There were three main focuses of the Forum: affordability and access including food poverty, education and choice and a priority around sustainability. As part of this, there were also community supermarkets, known as community pantries, which fell under the remit of the Food Forum and one had opened in Lillington. This provided a referral system which was a more sustainable option than food banks and allowed extra support to be given by Warwickshire Community and Voluntary Action (CAVA) and the Citizen’s Advice Bureau. It was a wraparound pilot project and some mobile pantries would be opening in the north of the county: the locations had been informed by data suggesting where they were most needed. The project was costing £350,000. Councillor Timms looked forward to seeing how the project could be made more sustainable in the future.
Councillor Feeney asked Councillor Timms to elaborate on the location of the pantries.
Councillor Timms advised that the mobile pantries would be opening in Camp Hill and New Arley.
Councillor Boad welcomed the opening of the permanent pantry in Lillington and the support that it offered to families.
(8) Question to Councillor Redford from Councillor Millar
“Are there any lessons to be learnt from the planning and co-ordination of roadworks in and around Leamington Spa.”
Councillor Redford stated that there were lessons to be learnt and it had shown how important the Princes Drive corridor was in Leamington Spa. He advised that in future, if any works were needed at Princes Drive that required a closure, consideration would be given to overnight closures to keep the route open. In addition, as traffic flows were nearly back to pre-pandemic levels, the Council was trying to make sure that any other works in the Leamington Spa area that could impact on the works at Princes Drive did not take place at the same time to enable traffic to flow more easily than it had done in the previous month.
Councillor Millar noted that in response to Councillor Gifford’s earlier question, Councillor Redford had indicated that Utility Companies were writing to residents and local businesses, and she asked if there was a list of where the letters were being sent as she had not received any correspondence.
Councillor Redford indicated that he would investigate this issue.
(9) Question to Councillor Timms from Councillor Millar
“I am seeking to understand the progress that the Council has made on energy efficiency measures on its own estates and then to follow up about the proportion of Green Shoots funding that had gone into energy efficiency projects.”
Councillor Timms advised that the carbon footprint for 2021, which were the latest figures available, showed a reduction in the use of gas by 13% and of electricity by 19%, however, those reductions were largely due to the change in the use of the buildings due to agile working away from offices and the hybrid model of working that was being moved towards. This would be an ongoing process of looking at what buildings were required for the future so there was a lot of work to be done around the council estate. In terms of actual recent schemes, there were two: the Bedworth Fire Station where an air source heat pump replaced a gas boiler and solar panels installed on the Elliot Park Innovation Centre. The finalisation of the programme to replace streetlights with LEDs throughout the county continued. In common with other councils, there was a big challenge around decarbonising the estate and the Council was putting together its Sustainable Future Strategy following an initial presentation to Cabinet in November 2021. Once that was completed it would be presented to Cabinet in October 2022, looking at full costs and the plan for how further funding could be applied for.
The first found of Green Shoots had seen a total of £205,000 spent on energy efficiency, including a project on changing streetlights to LEDs, and five projects on renewables. This equated to about 33% of the amount that was awarded for Green Shoots.
Councillor Millar asked what measures would be taken on energy efficiency in the future to make sure that the Council was not lagging on lagging and that residents were insulated against price shocks.
Councillor Timms responded that the Sustainable Future Strategy would include the energy efficiency of buildings and what buildings were needed for the future. The work was taking place and the outcomes would be presented to Cabinet for approval in October 2022.
As the time limit for questions had been reached, the Chair announced that all remaining questions would receive a written response.