Household Waste Recycling Centres
Cllr Paul Singh to ask the Cabinet Member for City Environment, Cllr Steve Evans:
Can the Cabinet Member advise Council upon the steps that the authority is prepared to make towards changing the opening out of the two household waste recycling centres in the City, at Shaw Road and Anchor Lane, given the continuation of long queues at weekends, and whether the extension of opening hours during at least some weekdays to allow people to use these facilities after work is under consideration?
Government Funding
Cllr Wendy Thompson to ask the Cabinet Member for Resources, Cllr Andrew Johnson:
Can the Cabinet Member advise Council how much government funding is being received by Wolverhampton for all purposes in this financial year, and how much is anticipated to be due to Wolverhampton in the next financial year?
Car Park Charges
Cllr Paul Singh to ask the Cabinet Member for City Environment, Cllr Steve Evans:
Can the Cabinet Member assure Council that there are, and will be, no plans to levy charges on all car parks in the city?
Blue Badges
Cllr Wendy Thompson to ask the Cabinet Member for Adults, Cllr Elias Mattu:
What is the current waiting period for the renewal of Blue Badges for disabled parking between the customer’s application and the delivery of the new badge back to them?
City Centre Road Network
Cllr Wendy Thompson to ask the Cabinet Member for City Assets, Cllr Peter Bilson:
What is being done to alleviate the considerable difficulties that businesses are facing in the City Centre with regard to the new road network?
Grass Cutting
Cllr Wendy Thompson to ask the Cabinet Member for City Environment, Cllr Steve Evans:
How much money has been saved on the reduction of grass cutting services across the city?
Section 106 Agreements
Cllr Wendy Thompson to ask the Cabinet Member for City Assets, Cllr Peter Bilson:
Would the Cabinet Member agree that it would be proper for local Cllrs, community groups and other local stakeholders to be consulted over the proposed use of funds secured by means of agreements made under Section 106 of the Town & Country Planning Act 1990?
Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership
Cllr Wendy Thompson to ask the Leader of the Council, Cllr Roger Lawrence:
Would the Leader agree that it would be desirable for at least one woman to be appointed to the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership?
Agency Staff and Consultants
Cllr Wendy Thompson to ask the Cabinet Member for Resources, Cllr Andrew Johnson:
Could the Cabinet Member advise Council on the costs of hiring external consultants and temporary agency staff in the last complete financial year, and on the cost so far in this financial year?
Councillor enquiries on behalf of constituents
Cllr Arun Photay to ask the Cabinet Member for Governance, Cllr Paul Sweet:
Due to the turnover of staff leaving the authority, there have been a number of incidents with Councillors’ casework going missing or not being handed over. There will always be individuals who leave an organisation, however, could the Cabinet Member advise Council what measures have been put in place to ensure that this doesn't happen again?
Minutes:
Household Waste Recycling Centres
Councillor Paul Singh asked the following question:
Can the Cabinet Member for City Environment advise Council upon the steps that the authority is prepared to make towards changing the opening out of the two household waste recycling centres in the City, at Shaw Road and Anchor Lane, given the continuation of long queues at weekends, and whether the extension of opening hours during at least some weekdays to allow people to use these facilities after work is under consideration?
Cllr Steve Evans confirmed that the opening hours had been under review and there was a possibility of extended opening hours in due course.
Cllr Singh asked what the timetable was for any changes.
Cllr Evans responded that extended opening hours would be in place at peak periods (such as bank holidays and weekends).
Government Funding
Councillor Thompson asked the following question:
Can the Cabinet Member for Resources advise Council how much government funding is being received by Wolverhampton for all purposes in this financial year, and how much is anticipated to be due to Wolverhampton in the next financial year?
Cllr Johnson advised that total government revenue funding for 2015/16 was £426.6m, which included revenue support grant of £63.3m, top-up grant of £35.9m, new homes bonus of £3.2m and business rates support grant of £2.2m. He explained the balance of funding, totalling some £322m and concisting primarily of dedicated schools’ grant, public health grant and housing benefits grants were ‘passported’ meaning the Council had little if any discretion over its distribution. He further noted a capital grant of £34.8m in 2015/16.
In terms of 2016/17, Cllr Johnson advised projected government support of £416.5m, including revenue support grant of £52.6m, top-up grant of £36.7m and new homes bonus of £4m. The projected balance of £323.2m was designated as described previously. He further advised a projected capital grant of £26.9m. He noted that the future figures must be treated with some caution, pending the autumn spending statement.
Car Park Charges
Councillor Paul Singh asked the following question:
Can the Cabinet Member for City Environment assure Council that there are, and will be, no plans to levy charges on all car parks in the city?
Cllr Steve Evans confirmed this.
Blue Badges
Councillor Thompson asked the following question:
Can the Cabinet Member for Adults advise the current waiting period for the renewal of Blue Badges for disabled parking between the customer’s application and the delivery of the new badge back to them?
Cllr Mattu advised that there were currently 9,750 blue badges in circulation but that the number of applications had increased significantly over the past two or three years. He explained that the service worked to a 12 week turnaround and, over the past 12 months, the number of applications where this target had not been met was 150. He noted that the delay can sometimes be caused by an applicant not taking up an offered appointment and also advised that only six complaints had been received in the past 12 months. He outlined a remedial action plan that, over the next six weeks, should ensure that all customers will receive a response to their application within the 12 week target.
Cllr Thompson asked what support could be provided to those residents whose badges expired before a replacement was issued.
Cllr Mattu assured Councillors that extra support would be provided to anybody in difficulty as a result of a delay on the part of the Council.
City Centre Road Network
Councillor Thompson asked the following question:
Could the Cabinet Member advise what is being done to alleviate the considerable difficulties that businesses are facing in the City Centre with regard to the new road network?
Cllr Bilson explained that consultation had been undertaken with local businesses, including personal visits by employees. He advised that changes had been made to the proposals in the light of consultation. He noted that the work was underway and, whilst there was necessary short term inconvenience, he was confident the changes would have long term benefits in the city centre.
Cllr Thompson queried whether the consultation had been sufficiently extensive.
Cllr Bilson noted that there had been some objections to the proposals, particularly in regard to some pedestrianisation, but that the overall benefits to public realm space were significant.
Grass Cutting
Councillor Thompson asked the following question:
Could the Cabinet Member for City Environment advise how much money has been saved on the reduction of grass cutting services across the city?
Cllr Steve Evans advised that the service changes had not yielded a saving but a contribution to offset reductions in government funding. He advised this totalled £200,000.
Section 106 Agreements
Councillor Thompson asked the following question:
Would the Cabinet Member for City Assets agree that it would be proper for local Councillors, community groups and other local stakeholders to be consulted over the proposed use of funds secured by means of agreements made under Section 106 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990?
Cllr Bilson confirmed his assent and advised that it was done as a matter of good practice.
Cllr Thompson asked that all members of the Planning Committee be advised when this occurs.
Cllr Bilson confirmed he would issue guidance accordingly.
Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership
Councillor Thompson asked the following question:
Would the Leader of the Council agree that it would be desirable for at least one woman to be appointed to the Black Country Local Enterprise Partnership?
Cllr Lawrence confirmed that he was in agreement. He explained that 14 applications had been received for the business representation roles, of which three were women, one of whom was appointed but subsequently resigned. He advised that he had raised this issue with the Board, which it had confirmed that it was actively seeking to appoint women as part of its current recruitment.
Agency Staff and Consultants
Councillor Thompson asked the following question:
Could the Cabinet Member for Resources advise the Council on the costs of hiring external consultants and temporary agency staff in the last complete financial year, and on the cost so far in this financial year?
Cllr Johnson confirmed that the cost in 2014/15 was £13.994m, of which £3.634m was for schools. He further advised that the cost for the year to 9 July was £2.987m, noting that the per month spend had fallen. He explained that the top three areas of spend were schools, children in need/child protection, and looked-after children. Cllr Johnson advised that he hoped such costs would fall further in the coming year, as a recent recruitment drive had seen all vacant social worker posts filled, and the work of the Council’s recruitment agency, Yoo Recruit, had proved successful.
Councillor enquiries on behalf of constituents
Councillor Photay asked the following question:
Due to the turnover of staff leaving the authority, there have been a number of incidents with Members’ casework going missing or not being handed over. There will always be individuals who leave an organisation, however, could the Cabinet Member for Resources advise the Council what measures have been put in place to ensure that this doesn't happen again?
Cllr Johnson advised that a proposal had recently been agreed by the Council’s directors and the Executive Team to provide a single point of contact for Councillor enquiries, employing the enhanced functionality provided by the new customer relationship management (CRM) system. He explained that a pilot would shortly be taking place in the People directorate.