Agenda item

 to be put to the Business Chair, a member of the Cabinet or the Chair of any

Committee or Sub Committee, in accordance with the Constitution’s Rules of

Procedure No.10.  

 

 

Question 1 from Councillor Hunter to the Leader  

Please can the Leader give me assurance that Northumberland County Council will respond the current consultation on the 2022 LNER timetable and support the residents of Berwick and the surrounding area by opposing the proposals which would mean there would be the following reduction of East Coast trains stopping in Berwick: 

72 trains per week 

288 trains per month 

3744 trains per year 

Berwick Railway Station is a well-used station by residents and visitors for a variety of reasons e.g. commuting, business, hospital appointments, pleasure. 

The reduction of trains stopping in Berwick will increase the carbon footprint which goes against proposals to reduce carbon emissions. This also goes against the work by SENRUG, RAGES and pressure groups to re-open small stations and platforms along the East Coast line which were closed in the past. 

Nationally they are saying the people using trains are at a record low, therefore if less trains going to stop in Berwick-upon-Tweed then less passengers will be able to use the service.? 

Therefore, I request that Northumberland County Council responds to the consultation before 5th August 2021. 

I am also asking that the appropriate Scrutiny Committee urgently considers the current LNER timetable from 2022 consultation, as the changes will have a detrimental impact for Northumberland residents and visitors. 

The Leader agreed this was a significant step backwards. Four operators were doing a consultation at the same time. The aim was to encourage people to take a quicker train, but this would mean taking slower trains off the track which would negatively impact on the Council’s efforts to encourage people to use stations such as Berwick and Morpeth. He had written to the four MP's asking for their support in objecting to the proposed changes, and to the Secretary of State for Transport, the Department of Transport and the Council’s other partners arguing that the consultation and the proposed changes should be put on hold and an 'East Coast Mainline Task Force' be established to look at the issues around capacity on the line. There was a very strong opposition to this regionally and the Council would continue to oppose any move to reduce commuter trains. He had no issue with Scrutiny looking at this issue also.

Question 2 from Councillor Bridgett to the Leader  

Will this Administration and Council use its shareholding in Newcastle Airport to vote against the ridiculous idea from Sunderland Council in relation to renaming Newcastle Airport? 

Councillor Bridgett was not present, but the Leader advised that he was not in favour of this, and he would not agree with it on any vote.

Question 3 from Councillor Bridgett to the Leader 

Could the Leader of the Council please tell me if he still stands by his statement that he is “impressed” with the state of the roads in the Rothbury Division? 

This would be moved forward to the next Council meeting in Councillor Bridgett’s absence.

Question 4 from Councillor Kennedy to the Leader  

On being elected Leader of the Council Councillor Sanderson stated that public toilet facilities would be one of the county council’s  priorities. Therefore can I ask, can the Hexham public facilities be one of the priorities?  In particular the toilets at the Sele Park are in a poor state and are in a need of refurbishment and those behind the Queens Hall have been left abandoned and unused.  

Do you agree these are a priority and if so when can the Hexham public expect action?  I would like to invite you on an inspection tour of the facilities, would you like to come? 

The Leader responded that the Council had taken proactive view to public toilet facilities and had made investment in significant improvements to the public toilets at Seahouses, Holy Island and Bamburgh. In addition to this, the Council had also allocated £1,000,000 in capital funding within its Medium-Term Financial Plan to improve the condition of?public toilets across the whole county. This would address some backlog maintenance repairs,?as well as some more significant refurbishment works to?a?number of?key facilities. Officers had been asked to prepare a plan of  action which would be led by Councillor Riddle.

With regards to the public toilets in Hexham, he was aware that there had been a number of useful meetings with Hexham Town Council and that Councillor Cessford had also raised the issue, and it would be looked at.

Councillor Kennedy commented that this was an issue which had been raised repeatedly at a recent Hexham Town Council public event. He welcomed the news that this would be seen as a priority and that the Leader would accompany him for a visit. The boarded up toilet behind Queens Hall had simply been abandoned.

The Leader responded that he understood there had been a lot of discussion with the Town Council about the toilets and he was happy to visit along with Councillor Riddle.

Question 5 from Councillor Kennedy to Councillor Horncastle  

Northumbria Police own 10 properties at Fairfield Hexham. These 3 and 4 bed properties have been abandoned for a long period of time, a total waste of housing for Hexham families.  

I invited the Police Commissioner to meet me at the site in 2020 but this invitation was unfortunately not accepted. I was hoping would it be possible for the County Council to exert some pressure on to Northumbria Police so elected officials can meet at this site and discuss a way forward please? 

I am aware officers of the Police and County Council are discussing matters but the pace is rather pedestrian. 

Councillor Horncastle confirmed that the County Council was in discussions with the Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner concerning the acquisition of the site for housing.  At this time, the discussions were commercially sensitive, and it would not be appropriate to comment further. Personally, he agreed with everything the Council and the previous Cabinet member had tried to do on this matter. However, this was within the control of Northumbria Police. If he became aware of any further information he could share with Councillor Kennedy, then he would do.

Councillor Kennedy welcomed this and advised that he would write to the Police and Crime Commissioner and to Councillor Horncastle to invite them to a site visit.

Question 6 from Councillor Taylor to Councillor Wearmouth  

At the last meeting Councillor Wearmouth agreed to ensure any updates for the Bedlington Town Centre development were shared with me, unfortunately this failed to materialise, so I have asked Advance directly for all releases to be shared with me so I don't have to see them via social media shared by another Bedlington Councillor. My question relates to the funding of this development, so could I have a breakdown of the funding allocations to the Bedlington Town Centre redevelopment over the past eight years (this had not been asked for in the original question but this was what was needed),  and how we arrived at the current figures, and can you please provide details of the works that are currently happening on the remaining Town Centre site(excluding Aldi)?

Councillor Wearmouth advised that he had some data prepared by officers but as the question now being asked was different, he would ask officers to provide this information to her. If she had any further questions or comments he asked Councillor Taylor to get in touch

Question 7 from Councillor Taylor to Councillor Riddle  

The grass cutting and weeding are sporadic this year, grass cutting has been atrocious, with little care on how it looked, clumps of grass left in the middle of a newly cut area and the spraying of weeds inadequate. I've walked around estates in my ward and it's really not good enough. Can I have an assurance that this will be tackled? 

Councillor Riddle replied that there had been prolonged periods of rain towards the end of May, followed by much?warmer?conditions?in June which?had created?prolific growing conditions for grass and weeds. With 8.5million square metres of grass to tackle?each year, getting around it all took time. All grass cutting crews had been deployed but the long grass had resulted in more clippings being left behind than usual.? Additional hours had been worked in June to try and catch up and although things were now getting back on schedule, this had taken a number of weeks because of the unusual growth rates.? 

Teams had also been deployed to the weed spraying quad bikes with additional people out on foot when wind and other weather conditions?permitted. Good progress was being made with over 80% of the hardstanding areas across the county?now complete.? The action taken in June meant that grass cutting was back on track and residents should also be seeing significant amounts of weeds dying back now.?He reassured members that the teams were doing everything possible. 

Councillor Taylor asked whether it would be possible to revert to the use of blue weedkiller so residents could see that weeds had been sprayed. Councillor Riddle responded that he would ask officers to look at this.

Question 8 from Councillor Hill to the Leader (member response) 

It is vitally important that an organisation such as NCC with it’s size, scope of responsibilities and huge turnover of taxpayers’ money functions properly and smoothly with harmonious and constructive working relationships. Do you agree with that statement and, from 0-10, how would you currently score the Council on this ? 

The Leader agreed and replied that because of the number of people who worked for the Council he could not give a universal figure. Councillor Hill replied that the question was generally on how harmonious and smooth running the Council was, how would the Leader score it? The Leader replied that because the Council was such a large and complex organisation, relationships would vary from area to area and to find a mean average would be difficult and was not something he would try and do.

Question 9 from Councillor Hill to Councillor Riddle  

Since 1st May 2017, what is the total amount NCC has spent on maintaining and running its cemeteries. How much has been received in burial fees during this time?  

Councillor Riddle replied that some of the costs incurred in maintaining cemeteries sat in different budget areas?with elements such as?grass cutting?in some cemeteries?being undertaken by integrated NEAT teams. An analysis of 2020/21?shows?the costs incurred?in maintaining and running cemeteries was?£628,569. The income received was?-£592,980?so the net cost of running our cemeteries in 2020/21 was?£35,589.? 

The team were undertaking the analysis for previous years and when this?was?complete?he would reply to Councillor Hill in writing.

Councillor Hill asked whether, given the long term challenges with some of the cemeteries, there was any strategy to deal with this. Councillor Riddle replied that members and officers were aware of the sensitivities around cemeteries and monitored provision and capacity. There were none that would be full in the next 5 years, perhaps two within 5-10 years and planning permission had recently been granted for another crematorium in the County. However, the County Council could not be responsible for every fallen headstone. 

Question 10 from Councillor Richardson to the Leader 

I am receiving more and more complaints from residents about the cost of parking permits, especially when households have more than one vehicle. Would the Leader consider a scheme that reduces the cost for multiple car households, and in future consider further reductions for second or first green car incentive? 

The Leader commented that this had been looked at previously, but it could be done again. The Authority was one of a very few that did not charge for town centre parking. The resident permit parking?charge was currently £25 per permit per annum, and he did not feel that extending it would help in those areas where there was already a shortage of parking. Officers felt that the current policy should continue of increasing the number of static chargers and there would be a trial of on street car parking charges in seven towns in the County.

Question 11 from Councillor Nisbet to the Leader  

The home zone at Cowpen Quay remains a mess despite the best efforts from the local members and residents. Will the Leader commit to working with me to ensure the Council has a robust plan to deal with this issue and resolve it for the local residents? 

The Leader agreed that there was a long standing litter and fly tipping problem at this location and Councillor Nisbet and other local councillors had made great efforts to deal with the issue. It had been shown in other areas that these kind of problems got resolved when investment was made, and Blyth would receive significant investment over the next few years which would help. He asked Councillor Nisbet to contact Paul Jones to arrange a visit to the area.

Councillor Nisbet welcomed this and agreed that the fly tipping problem was a serious and long standing one, which needed to be addressed.

Question 12 from Councillor Murphy to Councillor Riddle  

In Rotherham and other areas, miles of grass verges have been planted with wildflowers and, where it is safe to do so, grass has been allowed to grow. Will the Leader explain the Council’s biodiversity policies and what progress the council has made and still aims to make in the light of these successes? We understand these don't work everywhere and it isn't an intention to make communities untidy but in places where it's possible could more be considered? 

Councillor Riddle advised that the aim was to cut?verges on the strategic road network during June and July, prioritising?sight-lines?on junctions etc, before then undertaking?verge?cutting?on?non-strategic?verges.?All cuts were between 1 and 1.5m wide, whole width cuts of any?verge?were rare and secondary cuts on certain strategic roads were only done where this was necessary for visibility.? 

The?cutting?of roadside?verges was vital?to ensure that vegetation did not restrict visibility for drivers, cyclists and pedestrians.?In addition to the road safety benefits, the works also improved the look of an area and kept the road network in better condition by preventing plants?encroaching onto the road?and affecting the roadside drainage systems.?The Council understood the importance of biodiversity and?was fortunate to have?verges with plant communities of particularly high conservation value in?some parts of?Northumberland.??? 

In recent years the Council had worked with ecology?and community?groups including Natural England, North Pennines AONB and the Northumberland National Park Authority to agree where those?verges were and to delay?cutting until later in the season.?The number of these verges had increased each year for the last 4 years and now totalled over 80?verges.?? 

Residents understandably supported wildflower strips as a concept because the ones they saw were full of colour for months at a time during the growing season.?These however were usually carefully managed floral displays that took a lot of maintenance and though they could be called?wildflowers?because of the seed mix, they did not have the same conservation value as a natural wildflower verge.?? 

The requests the Council received every year regarding?verge?cutting?were all somewhere on the scale between 'maintain everything more' and 'leave everything to grow wild'.?Though the Council’s approach was focused on the need to keep roads safe and provide amenity value, it would continue to work with partners to safely and sustainably improve the ecological value of the verges going forward.?? 

Councillor Murphy agreed there was a role for public education going forward so that people could understand that an area looked “messy” it may in fact be an area of great biodiversity. If the Council was to continue with this approach then it needed to be hand in hand with public education. Councillor Riddle agreed there was a place for such verges, but public safety had to be maintained. ? 

Question 13 from Councillor Ball to the Leader  

Members’ inboxes are full of questions relating to weed spraying and general street maintenance. Has the council considered a more environmentally friendly approach including some trialled by other areas?  Will the Leader set out the council’s plans to tackle these issues, including the resulting staffing requirements and assure members that short term agency staff, which costs the taxpayer more with potentially lower standards of service, will not be used? 

The Leader replied that proposed staffing cuts in the budget had been turned down last year because the Administration had felt it was important to maintain these services which were valued by the public. Weather conditions this year had made it very difficult to keep on top of weeds and grass and some areas had been more successful in this than others, though not through lack of effort.  

The Council was trialling a range of products and methods of weed control this year and members would be updated members on the effectiveness of alternatives to glyphosate application, including foam, heat and?vinegar-based?products.? 

There was a core team of staff and during the summer seasonal workers were taken on for the 26 week growing season which worked very well. Agency staff were only used when absolutely necessary. There was a fantastic team of staff on the front line who had done their best to keep on top of things? but in some areas the adverse weather had prevailed. 

Councillor Ball invited the Leader to visit the colliery rows in Ashington where some of the work had just not been good enough. The Leader accepted the invitation to do that with Councillor Riddle and Councillor Gallacher if he was available.

Question 14 from Councillor Dickinson to Councillor Seymour 

Can she confirm to elected members what events she attended and the promotion she did during Pride month in June and what she plans to promote the Northumberland Pride month as the member responsible for this area of work within the Council? 

Councillor Seymour advised that she had only taken responsibility for this area a short while ago and Pride Month had followed straight on from the election. During this time she had been familiarising herself with the portfolio, had met with key officers, attended the staff network groups and supported initiatives. However, there had been restrictions on events, so she had not been able to be as active on the ground as she would have liked. Pride was supported at the annual event and all year round and she the thanked the staff for all the work they did. This Year’s Northumberland Pride was on 28 August at People’s Park, Ashington and she would be doing some media work to support this event. She hoped to make equality and diversity training available for all councillors.

Councillor Dickinson was pleased to hear that Councillor Seymour would be attending Northumberland Pride and doing media work to support the event. It was important for the Council to be seen at the forefront of all types of equality. He asked whether Councillor Seymour could commit to further work in relation to equality across the Council and ensure that there was a cross party working group set up to look at this. Councillor Seymour agreed to do this.

Question 15 from Councillor Purvis to Councillor Pattison  

Elected members are reading about various issues relating to Care homes and the inadequate nature of some, I must stress that the majority provide good care in Northumberland, but can we confirm how many are currently rated inadequate and did the Council have action plans around those rated as failing before the CQC rated them that way? 

Councillor Pattison replied that there were currently 100 registered residential services in Northumberland and of these, 71 were older persons and 29 were specialist services for people with physical disabilities, learning disabilities and people with mental health problems. With the exception of a small number of specialist services operated by the council, all services were operated by external organisations that the Council?had a contractual relationship with,?but did not directly operate.? Council officers worked closely with the CQC to spot concerns at an early stage and there were facilitated programmes to share good practice from homes rated outstanding. Officers also ran an excellence course to develop the skills and knowledge of care managers to increase their resilience and bring through the next generation of manager. There were also plans to support Northumberland providers with recruitment issues.

There was one home currently rated as inadequate in Northumberland and the Council was supporting it to make the required quality improvements whilst also undertaking its safeguarding and care management functions, and helping the residents, including those who wished to move to another establishment. She provided some figures for members as follows:-

Older persons	2016	2017	2018	2019	2020	2021
Outstanding	0	0	0	2	2	3
Good	32	45	47	51	60	57
Requires Improvement	23	26	16	15	8	8
Inadequate	1	0	1	2	0	1
Not yet inspected	?	7	9	3	3	2

 

Councillor Purvis asked that this be sent to him in writing and if there were any issues arose with care homes, that members be informed at an early stage.

Question 16 from Councillor Wallace to Councillor Horncastle 

 

Previously, administration members have made statements about reviewing LAC planning arrangements, can he explain if a review is underway and if so, what cross-party input will be given? 

Councillor Horncastle advised that the Leader had mentioned a possible review of the LACS at the last Council meeting, but he felt this had mainly referred to non-planning matters. The planning arrangements would remain as they were with a little fine tuning. Councillor Castle chaired the LAC Chairs’ meeting which had opposition members on it, but he was very happy for any member to contact him with their views. If there was to be a formal review then there would be cross party input. Members could also approach their planning chairs.