To reply to any questions received from members of the public which have been submitted in writing in advance of the meeting. Questions can be asked about issues for which the Council has a responsibility. (Public question times take place on a bimonthly basis at Local Area Council meetings: in January, March, May, July, September and November each year.)
As agreed by the County Council in February 2012, the management of local public question times is at the discretion of the chair of the committee.
Please note however that a
question may possibly be rejected if it requires the disclosure of
any categories of confidential or exempt information, namely
information:
And/or:
? is defamatory, frivolous or offensive;
? it is substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting of this or another County Council committee in the past six months;
? the request repeats an identical or very similar question from the same person;
? the cost of providing an answer is disproportionate;
? it is being separately addressed through the Council's complaints process;
? it is not about a matter for which the Council has a responsibility or which affects the county;
? it relates to planning, licensing and/or other regulatory applications
? it is a question that town/parish councils would normally be expected to raise through other channels.
If the Chair is of the opinion that a question is one which for whatever reason, cannot properly be asked in an area meeting, he/she will disallow it and inform the resident of his/her decision.
Copies of any written answers (without individuals' personal contact details) will be provided for members after the meeting and also be publicly available.
Democratic Services will confirm the status of the progress on any previously requested written answers and follow up any related actions requested by the Local Area Council.
Minutes:
L Little, Senior Democratic Services Officer advised that questions had been received as follows:
From: Heddon and Ponteland Branch Labour Party
“Under the government’s new National Bus Strategy, Northumberland County Council is required to produce a “Bus Service Improvement Plan” (BSIP), with a deadline of 31st October 2021. What public consultation is being undertaken to inform the development of this Plan and the work of the proposed “Enhanced Bus Partnership”? How can individuals and interested groups contribute ideas for new or improved routes, better integration and other measures to improve local bus services? “
Response provided in writing in advance of the meeting:
“The Enhanced Bus Partnership consultation is being led by Transport North East and supported by the region's local authorities, including the county council. The County Council are actively promoting the consultation via news releases, social media and encouraging stakeholders such as town and parish councils to get involved. Both individuals and groups are being encouraged to participate in contributing to the development of a regional ‘Bus Services improvement plan’ further information on this initiative as well as a public engagement questionnaire can be accessed via the Transport North East website”
A further question was then submitted:
“Thank you for your response and the proposed answer to the questions submitted for next Monday's LAC regarding improvements to bus services. I must say that publicity for the questionnaire seems to have been rather poor. I have been looking into the issue for a few weeks now, and have just looked again at the NCC website for information on bus policy, and there is no pointer to the questionnaire. I haven't seen anything in Pont News and Views. I don't recall any information in the annual Council Tax correspondence or the occasional paper that is distributed. So I would question how serious the council is on consultation. Perhaps this comment could be raised at the upcoming LAC and considered by the relevant officers?”
Response:
“This consultation is being led by Transport North East (TNE) and not by Northumberland County Council. The Bus Service Improvement Plan is set against very strict and tight deadlines for submission to DfT which has affected the ability of both NCC and TNE to effectively engage with all stakeholders at this stage, once the BSIP has been submitted next month, we will then have further opportunity to consult and feed in proposals ahead to any intervention being finalised. In the meantime either Neil Easton or someone from TNE would be happy to meet with any individuals or groups to discuss any opportunities or concerns they may have”.
Morpeth Town Council
“Can the Town Council be provided with written guidance with regards to NCC’s s106 protocols including how best to engage with Planning Officers. The Town Council believes the early stage discussion is an important step in the process and would appreciate the necessary guidance to ensure requests are being heard at the earliest possible time. Members of the Council appreciate how busy Rob will be and if we could have the details of a specific s106 office, if there is one, and we can raise the issues directly with them. We also feel it is now especially important to get this information as we have 10 new councillors which joined us following the elections in May and they need to have a good understanding of the processes in place.”
Response:
“The new Local Plan will hopefully be formally adopted during the next few months. Extensive viability work and debate took place during the formal examination process on s106 contributions. This will mean there will be significant changes to the way that developer contributions are calculated and secured on sites. We have anticipated issuing revised public guidance when the Planning Inspectorate issues its final report on the Local Plan. Training sessions will be run with NCC and Parish/Town Council Members. We will set out how communities can get involved at this stage.”