To deal with supplementary questions arising from the attached 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.
QUESTIONS TO MEMBERS OF THE EXECUTIVE
1. Councillor Farley
Can the portfolio holder give an update on measures to ease traffic congestion in Keighley and when the works are likely to be complete?
2. Councillor Whiteley
Whilst having the aim of moving children from children’s homes to foster care is good for the Council’s budget it is more important for children to be brought up in a family environment. Please can the Portfolio Holder for Health & Wellbeing provide details of the number of children, by age, living in children’s homes funded by this Council for the years 2010- 2017 together with the amount spent on these placements each year. How many children were transferred to foster carers over this period and what was the consequent saving to the Council?
3. Councillor Ward
Who does the Portfolio-holder for Education, Employment and Skills believe was to blame for the £1.9 million deficit at Hanson School at the end of March 2017?
4. Councillor Warnes
The West Yorkshire Pension Fund (WYPF) has recently recognised the risks and opportunities associated with climate change and stated that it will seek to reduce the carbon exposure of its holdings over time. This is a very welcome development in terms of supporting our transition towards a low carbon economy. In the meantime, the Environment Agency has stated they will decarbonise their equity portfolio by 90% by 2020, and reduce their oil and gas equities by 50% by 2020, in order to be compatible with the Paris agreement target to keep global warming below two degrees at most. Bearing the decision of the Environment Agency in mind, plus the likelihood that global warming is progressing faster than predicted towards a ‘three-degree world’ according to the United Nations Environment Programme, plus the need to protect WYPF members from the growing risk of stranded fossil fuel assets, will the Leader of Council please update us on (a) when the WYPF will begin to reduce its carbon exposure; (b) by how much it will do so; and (c) whether or not the WYPF will commit to reducing its carbon exposure by at least as much as the Environment Agency?
5. Councillor Hawkesworth
If Ilkley Parish Council move forward and take responsibilty for Ilkley public conveniences on central car park will the Council give discretionary rate relief?
6. Councillor Morris
Now Keighley has drawn the short straw again, this time with regards the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL). How do you intend to fund extra school places, road improvements, health centres or Doctors surgeries in Keighley now you have opened the door to developers who will be able to build as many houses as they wish without having to pay a penny towards Keighley’s infrastructure.?
7. Councillor Swallow
In the budget, the Portfolio Holder set aside funding to help speed up the Community Asset Transfer process. Could the Portfolio Holder provide a progress update on this and the Community Asset Transfer programme in general?
8. Councillor Warburton
Could the Portfolio Holder explain what the benefits will be for Bradford from the Bus Corridor Improvement Programme recently approved through the Combined Authority?
9. Councillor Townend
Given the significant cost of enforcement and clean-up to the Council, can the Leader of the Council set out what has been done to:
· Identify council-owned or managed sites at risk from use as an illegal encampment?
· Reduce these risks and associated costs through barriers, locks, bunds or other physical measures?
10. Councillor Hassan Khan
Will the Leader join me in condemning the recent terror attacks in Britain and throughout the world and can she give an update on our activities to promote cohesion in Bradford District?
11. Councillor Wainwright
Can the Leader tell us how many calls are dealt with by staff on the 431000 customer services number and the average waiting times? I’m concerned how the strangled funding by central government might impact on such important services for residents.
12. Councillor Pennington
The Council were presented with a framed certificate by The Bradford Textile Society for display in City Hall, would the Leader of the Council be so good as to inform us where it is?
13. Councillor Mohammed
Does the Portfolio Holder for Education, Employment and Skills join me in urging the government to use the funding it set aside for its aborted grammar schools plan to be invested in comprehensive schools instead, and to reverse its planned real terms cuts to children’s education?
14. Councillor Nicola Pollard
How many foster carers in the Bradford district have not had an annual review in the past twelve months and how many have waited longer than two years for a review?
15. Councillor Farley
Can the portfolio holder give an update on the former Keighley College building at Cavendish Street and proposals for the site once cleared?
16. Councillor Pennington
Could the Portfolio Holder for Environment, Sport and Culture confirm the cost of customer revenue lost to date, through the closure of St. Georges Hall?
17. Councillor Jamil
Our hearts go out to everyone affected by the tragedy at Grenfell Tower in London. Can the Leader provide reassurance about our emergency planning processes here in the Bradford District?
18. Councillor Farley
Could the portfolio holder provide an update on the proposed shopping centre on Worth Way?
19. Councillor Whiteley
As it is some time since the funding and organisation of Children’s Centres changed, can the Portfolio Holder please provide the following information for each Childrens’ Centre Cluster:
· What plans does the Council have in place, in any draft or other document, to continue the service across the whole district and specifically in relation to each of the Clusters that are currently funded, following the re-commissioning of Children’s Centre Services that will take place in 2019?
20. Councillor Greenwood
Does the Leader welcome the increased Arts Council funding in Bradford and how can we build on this progress?
21. Councillor Farley
Will the Leader join me in welcoming the election of the new Labour MP for Keighley, John Grogan?
22. Councillor Nicola Pollard
To the Portfolio Holder for Health and Social Care - What percentage of Hospital beds in the District is currently occupied by someone with Dementia and what is the average length of stay for one of these patients?
23. Councillor Hassan Khan
Can the Portfolio Holder for culture tell us how successful this year’s Bradford Literature Festival has been for the district?
24. Councillor Heseltine
Can Portfolio Holder for Environment, Sport and Culture outline how community groups working to improve their communities can use powered tools in spaces such as parks to help their efforts?
25. Councillor Swallow
Does the Leader welcome the opportunity for Channel 4 to move north and potentially to Yorkshire?
26. Councillor Warnes
Will the Leader of Council please advise when the two trees that were removed from Moorhead Terrace and Beechwood Grove earlier this year will be replaced; and why officers have failed to respond to repeated emails from me in relation to these matters?
27. Councillor Shafiq
A recent Care Quality Commission report found that almost a quarter of care providers nationally require improvement on safety. Will the Portfolio Holder tell us how we are performing as a district?
28. Councillor Malcolm Slater
Could I have an update on what has happened about the former Riddlesden Golf Club site since I attended a meeting on this matter in Argus Chambers on 10 May 2017?
29. Councillor Ellis
Can the Leader of the Council provide details of what contingency plans the Council has in place to deal with household waste at times when waste collections cannot be dealt with in the usual manner, due to any unforeseen circumstances?
30. Councillor Shafiq
Can the portfolio holder for health and wellbeing explain how the Council is supporting social care staff to drive up standards at a time when the government’s complete lack of a funding plan is letting down the sector and those who need care?
31. Councillor Mohammed
Could the Portfolio Holder provide an update on progress on regeneration in Bradford city centre?
32. Councillor Stelling
To the Leader of Council - The aftermath of the Grenfell Tower Disaster revealed a flaw in the handling of the emergency from Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea Council. In light of this disaster is Bradford Council reviewing its own plans to our own civil emergency planning, in-line with the Governments guidance document 'Local authorities’ preparedness for civil emergencies' and is that review district wide?
33. Councillor Mike Pollard
On 26 March 2015, Brandon Lewis, the then Minister of State for Housing and Planning, reminded Council Leaders of the robust powers that they have available to clamp down quickly on illegal and unauthorised traveller encampments. Could the Leader advise whether measures other than the Council’s currently somewhat relaxed published policy are being considered to deal with this on-going and expensive nuisance?
34. Councillor Ellis
In light of the involvement of a number of Taxi, Private Hire and Hackney Carriage license holders in high profile Child Sexual Exploitation cases, would the Leader of the Council confirm that she shares my alarm regarding the current situation, whereby amendments made in 2013, to the Rehabilitation of Offenders Act 1974 (Exceptions) Order 1975, leave Councils unable to consider all of an applicant for a licence’s offences as a whole, as some are now deemed protected and thus not matters which the Council can take into account when deciding the application?
35. Councillor Pennington
I should be grateful if the Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Planning & Transport could advise members, whether the Council provides grants to housing associations and if so provide details?
36. Councillor Stelling
To the Leader of Council - Can our authority reassure our residents, business owners and communities that we can cope in a devastating emergency?
37. Councillor Whiteley
Please could the Portfolio Holder for Childrens’ Services provide details of sickness absence ( by working weeks lost) among Social Workers in Children’s Services as a proportion of the total number of weeks available, for the years 2015-16 and 2015-17 and explain how these absences were covered?
38. Councillor Martin Smith
Would the Portfolio Holder be so kind as to provide details of Council Property sales and purchases during each of the last 5 years, with details of revenue raised and purchase costs, along with a view regarding the financial viability / sustainability of the Council’s activities in this area?
39. Councillor Griffiths
To ask the Portfolio holder for Education and Skills how many schools have 20 mph zones either side of any entrances and how many do not?
Minutes:
Council Document “E” details the questions from Members to the Leader of Council and Portfolio Holders and the answers given.
