Agenda item

Questions to the Leader, Members of the Executive and Committee Chairmen (up to 15 minutes)

To receive questions from members for the Executive and committee chairmen.

Minutes:

Councillor Dean said in certain areas the standard of workmanship as superfast broadband was being installed had been poor. A number of verges had been left in appalling condition, and junction boxes left open. This needed to be sorted. One site on Foresthall Road had exposed a lot of litter.

 

In response to this, the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development said sometimes contractors just intended to leave the soil in the trenches to settle. He asked that Councillor Dean to send him an email in order that he could follow the issue up.

 

Councillor Dean said the Council intended to invest over £100 million in commercial investments. However there was nothing in the capital programme for housing to take into account the lifting of the borrowing cap. He asked if the Portfolio Holder for Housing could confirm that the Council would be investing money, where it could, in Council housing.

 

In response to this question, the Portfolio Holder for Housing said that the Investment Strategy did not include investing in council housing as a commercial proposition. Instead there was provision in the Housing Revenue Account for investment in council-housing. There was an ongoing programme to deliver as many council homes as possible, and the Council would be looking at how the raising of the debt cap could be used. The Council had already done a lot to deliver council homes. The lifting of the debt cap was recent, and the Council might well borrow further to invest in council housing.

 

Councillor Sell asked if it would be possible to provide paper copies of the agenda pack for budget meetings in the future. This would be conducive to good decision-making. He said it was regrettable there was no mention of libraries in the Leader’s report. He asked if Councillor Rolfe could explain his actions regarding library services since the last meeting.

 

In response to these points, Councillor Rolfe said it had been decided that digital copies of agenda papers were the right environmentally-friendly strategy. He would reserve his comments on libraries for the debate at Item 19.

 

Councillors Knight, Jones and Loughlin supported Councillor Sell on his point about hard copies of the agenda. Councillor Knight said it was difficult to skip through pages of the agenda with ease on the iPad. Councillor Jones said the Council should take into account that some people might wish to follow the Council’s work on paper, and that the Council might benefit from having a debate on the issue. Councillor Loughlin said her iPad was now not working, so she had had to borrow a paper copy in any case.

 

Councillor Lees said she was a big fan of no paper and that people could print off important sections of the agenda if they considered it necessary.

 

Councillor Lodge asked if the Councillor Ranger could explain his statement suggesting that should the Residents for Uttlesford become the majority party at the Council, the group would seek to remove the protection which prevented decisions being made in secret.

 

In response to this question, Councillor Ranger said Councillor Hargreaves was now on record as having said that a recorded vote trumps a secret ballot.

 

Councillor Gerard asked a question on behalf of one of his residents. He said on 19 October 2018, a report on planning application UTT/18/1027 had recommended refusal, but the following day, a decision notice was issued granting approval. The Leader issued a press release stating that he would apply to the High Court to have the decision put aside. He asked where the Council was in the process and what lessons had been learnt from the error.

 

In response to these questions, the Leader of the Council said that mistakes happen. The next step was for the court to set a date for the hearing. The developer had not yet indicated whether they were going to oppose the application. There had been no tardiness on behalf of the Council. It was a bold decision for the Leader of the Council to take action against his own council, but he did it because it was the right thing to do.

 

The Assistant Director – Governance and Legal said unfortunately it does take a long time for a  case to be listed in the High Court, but that there had been no delay on the part of the Council.

 

Councillor Lemon asked whether the Council would be installing electric charging points in car parks in the near future.

 

In response to this question, the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development said there was no one size fits all approach that could be taken with electric charging points. This lack of uniformity across the country made it difficult, but he would take the issue up with the parking team.