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.
Minutes:
Question 1 from Councillor Hardy to Councillor Pattison
In 2019/20, the council had a budget of £2,086,884 for Disabled Facilities Grants. Only 85% of the council’s DFG budget was spent. While people living with life limiting illnesses like MND struggled to get the Home Adaptations they needed. Will you work with me and support MNDA “Act to Adapt Campaign” to ensure that any Northumberland resident diagnosed with a terminal illness such as Motor Neurone Disease will be given priority access to DFG and Home Adaptations.
Councillor Pattison thanked Councillor Hardy for all?his work to support the MND Association, which played a vital role in supporting people?who suffered from it.?MND was a terrible disease and was the focus of the Civic Head’s charity this year.
She did agree that supporting people with MND was one of the most essential responsibilities of the Council. The financial information in?Councillor Hardy’s?question, while?technically?correct, gave a?rather?misleading picture.??The figure described as the “DFG budget”?represented the amount which the?Council received?from?the?Government?for DFGs and related purposes.? The?Government changed the rules?a number of?years ago?to make it clear that?this?funding?could be used flexibly to support?any?capital expenditure which?enabled disabled people to live in their own homes.? While the largest element of spending was grants paid out?under the statutory Disabled Facilities Grant scheme,?the level of the funding?received?from?the?Government had in recent years been higher than was required to meet all eligible applications under that scheme, and?the surplus funding had been used to support other capital expenditure?outside the DFG scheme,?such as providing adapted accommodation to enable people with a learning disability and associated physical disabilities to live?in independent supported accommodation.? Because the timing of such schemes?might not align neatly with local authority financial years, funding was carried forward as necessary to ensure that it remained available to support disabled people, so underspends in one year did not mean that the money was lost.?
Officers were not aware of people living with life limiting illnesses like MND who had struggled to get the Home Adaptations they needed.? As?the Council told the MND Association in response to the Freedom of Information request that the question was based on, there was a process already in place for ensuring that?urgent applications, such as those from people with rapidly deteriorating progressive conditions, were prioritised.? If Councillor Hardy, or any other members, knew of cases in which the?Council had not responded?as urgently as it should have done, she urged them to contact her to make sure they were?looked into.?
She had a few?reservations about the MND Association’s campaign, which asked specifically for a fast-track process for people with MND, and more favourable?financial rules for people?with the condition.? Priorities needed to be based on the urgency of people’s need rather than on?their specific diagnosis, and MND was not the only condition which could create very urgent needs.??In his?question,?Councillor Hardy had?taken a broader approach,?and asked for priority to be given to anyone with a terminal illness.? She was assured?by officers that current arrangements were designed to ensure that this happened, but?was happy to take up any specific issues raised with her.
Councillor Hardy asked that anyone who was diagnosed with a terminal illness and issued with a DS1500 be given a fast track to disabled facility grants and home adaptations. ?
Question 2 from Councillor Hill to Councillor Wearmouth
How many complaints have Northumberland County Council had, over the last ten years or indeed ever, from residents and visitors who have taken grave offence and have had to reach for the smelling salts over the names of our streets??
Councillor Wearmouth replied that he was not aware of any.
Councillor Hill commented that there was an important point in the report to Cabinet the following week on this regarding the need for clear street signs both for directions and safety. She had an estate in her area where the street numbering was very confusing so she asked for a commitment that places like this would be picked up on. Councillor Wearmouth responded that she would need to contact Local Services about this.
Question 3 from Councillor Hill to the Leader
Whistleblowing paramedics in Cornwall, an area with some similar characteristics and demographics to Northumberland, have said that there is an ambulance crisis.??They say that people are needlessly dying because ambulances cannot get to patients in time and because of ambulances having to queue outside hospitals.??Furthermore, they say the public, generally, do not realise the scale of this problem and they fear this situation will get even worse as Winter approaches.??How confident are you that we are not facing the same crisis?here ??
The Leader noted that the question was not about a County Council service. He acknowledged that the ambulance service was a very important one and in Northumberland, the figures were approximately on average with neighbouring areas. If there were to be questions asked about the ambulance service then he suggested that they be directed to them as he did not have sufficient detail to respond.
Councillor Hill replied that she had received a detailed response from an officer accepting that there was a problem and was disappointed that the Leader had not chosen to deliver it. The Leader replied that he did not focus on being negative. He had been advised by officers that the County had a first class ambulance service. If it didn’t always meet its targets, it was up to them to address that.
Question 4 from Councillor Daley to Councillor Horncastle
Horton Burn watercourse in Cramlington is an environmentally significant watercourse running through the Northburn residential area in Cramlington. It is also a recognised environmental corridor with designated healthy walking routes alongside the burn.
We have herons, ducks, fish, water voles and occasional reports of Otters. We also have significant species of plants along the waterway. In recent years there has been an increasing number of pollution incidents including oil spillages, detergent dumping and in 2019 thousands of fish and eels killed in a major dumping incident from one of the industrial estates.
I have worked with local residents, set up a Friends Group, engaged with Northumbrian Water, the Environment Agency and others to get action. Hundreds of local residents are working with me to look after this watercourse including reporting incidents as they occur.
Will the County Council also work with me to get the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water to fine and hold to account those responsible for dumping waste into the burn and get the clear message out that this is a living waterway and not a sewer?
Councillor Horncastle confirmed that officers in Public Protection were currently taking this important matter up with the Environment Agency, to ensure that the case was given priority.
Councillor Daley welcomed this and added that he’d been working with officers on issues such as dumped shopping trolleys in waterways and been told that riparian rights now sat with the County Council instead of Northumbrian Water or the Environment Agency. This transfer of responsibility was of concern and he asked if officers could meet with him, Northumbrian Water and the Environment Agency.
Councillor Horncastle advised that he would raise this with the Head of Public Protection at his meeting with him to find out who was responsible for what and was happy to visit the location with Councillor Daley.
Question 5 from Councillor Daley to Councillor Horncastle
As part of the St Nicholas Manor 400 + home planning application in Cramlington, where almost all homes are now completed,?a series of road safety measures are planned including a new roundabout on the A1171 to improve road safety, new pedestrian crossing points plus improvements to Station Road with cycle path links as part of a section 278 agreement. ?
This area has been the subject of road closures due to serious road traffic accidents, complaints from pedestrians and cyclists plus massive concern from residents of Northburn, St Nicholas Manor and Nelson Village.??
Why were we told in 2019 that these works would start immediately following the construction of Westmorland Way roundabout, which was completed 2019, and why is it that more than 2 years later with excuses such as delays being related to tendering processes and more recently a stone built bus shelter, which has been there for over 15 years, preventing this scheme from starting. Given that Northumberland County Council has done everything legally on our side to give the green light to this safety scheme, why is it that this urgent work shows no sign of being started?
Councillor Horncastle advised that the Council had been endeavouring to resolve a number of issues linked to site, but the development had been subject to numerous delays from the developer’s legal teams.??The final required legal agreement was circulated to all parties in August. Unfortunately, one of the surety providers 'National Housing Building Council' advised that the agreement was not sufficient for them to?guarantee?the properties. Subsequently, the Council had been working to support the developers and their solicitors to agree a wording which secured the appropriate matters. A revised agreement was circulated recently and officers were waiting feedback. Officers were pressing for a commitment towards starting these essential works. Future highways agreements would be structured in such a way that developers would be required to demonstrate compliance prior to occupation of any units.
Councillor Daley welcomed this but there were multi million pound developers across the county who were abusing the planning system and residents and the County Council was being blamed for the failures. Developers had to be held to account. He urged Councillor Horncastle and officers to come to St Nicholas Manor and see how important it was for this scheme to be progressed.
?Question 6 from Councillor Ezhilchelvan to Councillor Riddle
Irresponsible parking around schools is something which affects almost every councillor in our county. Some other councils have taken a very proactive stance by using mobile number plate recognition systems on modified cars which drive around schools and capture the number plates of poorly parked cars. Acknowledging any work already done, can you please tell us what proactive measures that the Northumberland County Council is using and/or planning to use to end the blight of bad parking around our schools?
Councillor Riddle advised that the County Council had a vehicle with automatic number plate recognition system and it was used around schools where there were particular highway safety issues caused by poor parking behaviours. On a more proactive basis, the Council worked closely with schools to help them develop and implement “School Travel Plans”. These used a range of approaches, including encouraging children to use non-car means of travelling to school. The Travel Plan also set out how the school worked with parents to tackle inconsiderate parking and the escalating steps that could be taken.
If anyone was aware of particular problems at a specific school he urged them to get in touch with Rob Murfin.
Councillor Ezhilchelvan was glad that this was acknowledged as a problem and was surprised that there was a vehicle going around as he had never seen it. He asked why this had not been seen and commented that those residents who had residents parking schemes, for which they paid a permit fee, were never surveyed.
Councillor Riddle responded that he would have to get information from officers on the vehicle’s routes. Parking violations were the responsibility of the enforcement team. If there were concerns these should be reported.
Question 7 from Councillor Lee to Councillor Horncastle
Since my election in May I have recovered over 200 abandoned shopping trolleys in Cramlington East. Retailers have failed to attend meetings to discuss this issue. Existing legislation permits the local authority to adopt Schedule 4 of the Environmental Protection Act 1990 as amended by the Clean Neighbourhoods Act 2005 which allows them to issue penalties to retailers for each abandoned trolley. Will Northumberland County Council give consideration to adopting this legislation?
Councillor Horncastle replied that the Council's Public Protection and Neighbourhood Services teams would explore the technical and practical implications of this by investigating the enforcement, collection and storage requirements.?Following this, an update would be provided at the next full Council Meeting.
Councillor welcomed this but in the meantime, this was an ongoing issue and he suggested that a working group be formed to identify a speedy solution to the problem. Councillor Horncastle acknowledged that there was a problem. Officers would investigate the possibility of a working group and would also look at the conditions attached to the original planning permission.
Question 8 from Councillor Swinburn to the Leader
Northumberland County Council has rightly received significant praise for our work to tackle climate change and ultimately be Britain’s environmentally greenest County. As part of the move to improve air quality, many residents in the County are now switching to electric vehicles.
Cramlington has seen a significant increase in electric car ownership and many taxi firms are looking to switch away from petrol and diesel to use an electric fleet.
Given that Cramlington is the second biggest town in Northumberland, and the recognised gateway to and from the County, how can we support the residents and growing number of people who visit the town for work and leisure, with more off street and communal charging points so that in conjunction with increased public transport and improvements to the train station, we can make Cramlington the "Green Town of Northumberland" ?
The Leader responded that the target for Cramlington in terms of carbon emissions was the same as for the rest of the County. However, given the layout of the town, he felt there was a good case to be made for rolling out some of the funding available from the capital programme for additional and improved cycleways. A feasibility study could be done on this.
Councillor Swinburn commented that in 2015 only 1.1% of new vehicles registered had a plug, compared to 3.2% in 2019 and 10.7% by the end of 2019. The pandemic had had a significant impact on vehicle sales, most noticeably this year with a massive increase in electric vehicle sales. However, there had been only two additional EVCPs in Cramlington. There was a need for action now and he asked if the Leader would meet with him and his fellow Cramlington councillors and the Town Council to develop some plans to progress the easier use of EVs in the town.
The Leader advised that there was a lot of work going on in the rollout of EVCPs and he was very keen to ensure that the County Council met its climate change targets by 2030. He was sure members could work together on this.
Question 9 from Councillor Dale to the Leader
Does this Council support the use of Smart Meters as an effective aid in the rollout of renewable energy?
The Leader confirmed that was the case. Councillor Dale welcomed this and advised that she had written to Guy Opperman MP asking when the Government expected the rollout of smart meters and asking the Government to make this a priority. She asked if the Council would write to Mr Opperman and other local MPs to support residents on this.
The Leader asked Councillor Dale to forward him a copy of that letter but added that all local MPs were supportive of the Council’s work on climate change.
Question 10 from Councillor Dale to Councillor Horncastle
When does this Council expect the Council's Local Plan to be signed off by Government?
Councillor Horncastle advised that, following the Local Plan Examination Hearing Sessions, the Schedule of Main Modifications to the Northumberland Local Plan?had been subject to consultation from 9 June to 4 August 2021. The representations received to the Main?Modifications?consultation together with the Council's response had been sent to the Inspector for consideration, prior to the report on the 'soundness' of the Local Plan being issued by the Inspector.??The timescale for the receipt of the Inspector's report was outwith the control of the Council, but it was anticipated that the Inspector's report would be received before the end of 2021 and subject to the Local Plan being found 'sound', it was anticipated that the Local Plan would be adopted in early 2022.
Councillor Dale commented that all members should have a briefing on the Local Plan as many were new to the process. This could update members on the current position and explain the process. The Leader responded that he would ask the Director to arrange this. He thanked the Director and all of his staff for their work in getting to the current position.
Question 11 from Councillor Mather to the Leader
The need to address climate change is important but I’m worried about the knock on impacts to farmers and the rural community, in particular tenant farmers and their workers, many of whom have contacted me to say that they at risk of or already have been served notice to vacate land to make way for “re-wilding”, tree planting etc.
Would the Leader set in motion a review by NCC of the subject by NCC officers and join me in discussions with local farmers so that we can ensure we understand the issues being encountered, and identify positive ways to address them and support our vital industry?
The Leader replied that efforts were being made nationally to find more forestry to offset carbon, and also looking for a whole new range of environmental options for farmland. Northumberland was a beautiful county because of its farmers. There needed to be balance in how the County was taken forward, and tenant farmers were vulnerable and needed to be protected. He would set a working group up of officers along with representatives of the NFU, CLA and the TFA. The County’s MPs would be involved also. He would report back on this to the next Council meeting on progress.