Local democracy

Agenda item

MEMBER QUESTION TIME (Standing Order 12)

To deal with supplementary questions arising from the following questions of which written notice has been given. 

 

Notes:

 

(i)         Answers to written questions shall be circulated at the commencement of the meeting.

 

(ii)        The Lord Mayor will have regard to the list of questions and the political composition of the Council in calling on Members to put their supplementary question to the Leader of Council and Portfolio Holders.

 

(iii)       A period of up to 30 minutes shall be available for supplementary questions to Members of the Executive. 

 

1.         Councillor Vanda Greenwood

Has the Council got sufficient processes and plans in place to deal with the coronavirus outbreak and are we fully prepared for the possibility of a pandemic?

 

2.         Councillor Debbie Davies

Why do you have such confidence that spending £25m on 5240 square metres of Grade A office space in the city centre is a sensible investment when there is 5589 square metres of contemporary Grade A office space in nearby Nelson Street which has remained un-let for several months?

 

3.         Councillor Jeanette Sunderland

Question to the Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety - In the event of the Police and Fire and Rescue Services enacting business continuity plans to ensure they are able to maintain a level of services that fulfils their critical functions, widely reported as “the Police being set to ignore low-level crime” what steps has he, as the Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods and Community Safety, taken to ensure the safety and security of the District and its residents?

 

4.         Councillor Angela Tait

Will the Leader join me in thanking the West Yorkshire Fire and Rescue Service for their great support and efforts during the recent storms and can we congratulate them on their inspection in December when they were recognised as good across all three areas covered by the inspection?

 

5.         Councillor Richard Dunbar

Can the leader update me on where we are with the development of the new Domestic Abuse strategy and if as an authority we have made representations to the Government as the proposed new Domestic Abuse Bill makes its way through parliament?

 

6.         Councillor Debbie Davies

Commercial sensitivity was given as the reason for not releasing details on the proposed public sector hub at the Jacob’s Well city centre site which was expected to open in 2018 bringing up to 3500 jobs in the city. Given this project now looks unlikely to go ahead could we be told what went wrong?

 

7.         Councillor Richard Dunbar

Bradford’s bid to be Capital of Culture 2025 has really got off to a flying start. Can the Portfolio Holder update us on where we currently are in the bidding process, what we can expect over the next year and how the good people of Bradford can get involved?

 

8.         Councillor Hassan Khan

It was encouraging news to see a drop in rough sleeping in the Bradford district in the latest official government count. Can the portfolio holder explain how we are achieving that and what more we can do to build on this progress?

 

9.         Councillor Rebecca Poulsen

How many gully cleaning requests are outstanding and what is the current time take to respond to reports?

 

10.       Councillor Aneela Ahmed

It’s great that the public has voted for Darley Street Market as the name for our new market – can the portfolio holder give an update on the latest plans for the scheme?

 

11.       Councillor Riaz Ahmed

What are the current service standards for the replacement or repair of streetlights by Bradford Council and Northern Powergrid and how many streetlights are currently awaiting repair or replacement broken down by ward and detailing how many of these are outside the services standards time limit ?

 

12.       Councillor Carol Thirkill

Will the portfolio holder tell me how we are putting our social value principles into practice through the council’s tenders and procurement processes, in particular to ensure Bradford’s young people are getting new opportunities such as apprenticeships?

 

13.       Councillor Jackie Whiteley

Given that many retail outlets would like to add external shutters to their premises, despite reservations from the Police and it being against Bradford Council’s own policy, could the portfolio holder please outline what this Council is willing to give to retailers, some of whom are experiencing regular anti social behaviour and economic loss to help them to consider alternatives to outside shutters?

 

14.       Councillor Nazam Azam

Can the portfolio holder tell us about the £925,000 funding we’ve just secured from the European Regional Development Agency for the top of town area and how the money will be spent?

 

15.       Councillor Vanda Greenwood

The challenges facing high streets obviously continues to be a big national issue. What are the latest figures on vacancy rates for our district?

 

16.       Councillor Val Townend

Despite officers requesting financial information when applications are sent out prior to a hearing, what can be done urgently to ensure parents who are applying to the Council to transport their children to school to supply written details of their finances as in the majority of cases no details are given?

 

17.       Councillor Rizwana Jamil

We’ve just set aside additional funding in the budget to continue the rollout of 20mph zones – can we have an update on the planned delivery of the zones?

 

18.       Councillor Abid Hussain

I’m very encouraged by our opportunity to secure more funding for Keighley through the Towns Fund. Can I have an update on what the process is and when we will know how much Keighley has been awarded from government?

 

19.       Councillor Jeanette Sunderland

Question to the Portfolio Holder for Children and Families - How many children are looked after in private care homes?

 

20.       Councillor David Warburton

How successful has the new Sedbergh leisure centre been so far in terms of attracting users to the facilities and signing up new memberships?

 

21.       Councillor John Pennington

In your role as skills guru can the Leader tell as what is being done to better match skills with job need?

 

22.       Councillor Vick Jenkins

Can the portfolio holder tell me the timescales for our delivery of the District Heat Network and the extent to which it will cut carbon emissions and costs?

 

23.       Councillor Mohammed Shafiq

Will the portfolio holder outline the main points relating to the planned Clean Air Zone in terms of who will be impacted and also the health benefits we expect it will achieve in particular for children growing up here?

 

24.       Councillor Geoff Winnard

To ask the Portfolio holder to set out the reason why Bingley Music Live festival in 2018 was delivered over budget and to provide a detailed breakdown of the elements that contributed to the loss of circa £300k?

 

25.       Councillor Alan Wainwright

Can the Portfolio Holder provide an update on the proposed redevelopment of the TFD centre in Tong that will not only allow the co-location of up to 45 workers from education and health services to serve the Holme Wood community but also secure the centre for other organisations such as the excellent Build a Girl, Dance United, the community library, the Council’s Youth Services and other groups who use the centre?

 

26.       Councillor Nazam Azam

Do we have an update on our long-running campaign for a city centre stop on Northern Powerhouse Rail?

 

27.       Councillor Geoff Reid

Question to the Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Transportation and Planning -

How many Park and Ride schemes are in the pipeline by Areas for Bradford East, Bradford South and Bradford West?

 

28.       Councillor Richard Dunbar

We passed a climate emergency resolution in January 2019, committing us to a number of carbon reducing schemes and we’ve also just announced £25m of new investments as part of addressing this challenge. Given that we know the average carbon footprint of a Bradford resident is around 5 tons of CO2 a year how will we be able to assess our progress on this vital issue?

 

29.       Councillor Jackie Whiteley

Please can the portfolio holder details of the costs associated with the Sun Lane judicial review? Both upfront legal costs and the estimated legal costs if the Secretary of State decision is upheld? What expenses will be incurred?

 

30.       Councillor Richard Dunbar

When will all Council decisions be subject to a climate filter as happens in Calderdale where they are seeking to bring carbon emissions to zero by 2030?

 

31.       Councillor Geoff Winnard

Incorrect Council advice on removing children from school rolls - what has the impact of the incorrect advice given by the Council ‘over several years’ about removing children from school rolls? To what extent has this resulted in the numbers of persistently absent pupils recorded by Bradford Schools has been under recorded?

 

32.       Councillor David Heseltine

Cafés have been unfairly targeted for a pavement use tax, which in many peoples opinion affects the cafe culture and vibrancy of our communities. If this tax is to remain when other businesses who liberally use the pavement to display and sell goods going to be put on an equally footing?

 

33.       Councillor David Ward

Question to the Portfolio Holder for Education, Employment and Skills - Using the January census point, will the Portfolio Holder show the number of new Elective Home Educated children for 2018-19 by school attended immediately prior to commencing Elective Home Education and for each school provide the breakdown between those entitled to Free School Meals and those not entitled to them?

 

34.       Councillor Debbie Davies

How much was spent on marketing the now redundant Richard Dunn Sports Centre and what interest did you get in the site?

 

35.      Councillor David Ward

Question to the Portfolio Holder for Education, Employment and Skills - Will the Portfolio Holder show the proportion of children in each Secondary School who live within the same postcode as the school that they attend?

 

36.       Councillor Debbie Davies

Have any steps been taken towards Bradford City Centre achieving purple flag status as neighbouring Halifax has achieved this since 2010?

 

37.       Councillor Debbie Davies

When and how much was spent on refurbishing Jacob’s Well, what year were these offices vacated and how much did it cost to demolish the building?