To receive questions provided on notice from and to provide answers to Members of the Council in accordance with the Council’s Procedure Rules.
Minutes:
Question 1 from Councillor Hill to the Leader
Scottish Power’s net profit last year was £487 million, which must bring great joy to their shareholders. Having less fun were the residents in my ward and within Councillor Hunter’s ward who had recently been walking home nervously in the dark as, once again, Scottish Power were taking weeks (sometimes many months) to fix faults impacting street lighting. Do you think this was acceptable and what was this authority doing about it?
The Leader advised that investigations identified a fault with the underground electricity cable. Once the fault was identified as being with the mains supply it must be dealt with by the power company who had 20 working days to complete the repair. The repair was carried out within this timescale. The Council did everything they could to encourage private companies to think about residents when the lighting fails.
Councillor Hill asked in light of the fact that last year in Highcliffe that Scottish Power took over a year to fix a fault and that Renfrewshire Council had written to the Chief Executive of Scottish Power, quite rightly, to say that given the profits that they make, that the delays and lack of urgency were unacceptable, would the Leader write to the Chief Executive of Scottish power advising these delays and lack of urgency were unacceptable? She was aware of three or four examples of these unacceptable delays.
The Leader advised he would need to consider how many similar issues there had been and the timescales involved along with which utility companies these involved. If there was a common thread then this would be taken up with whichever utility company it was. The Council did try to work with people on good terms as much as they could, but he would look at this and if appropriate write to them.
Question 2 from Councillor Murphy to the Chair
Would the Leader agree with me, that openness and accountability were critical components of a well-run Local Authority, and that, in order to achieve these a full Council meeting should not be restricted by arbitrary and artificial time constraints, which bore no relation to the importance of the issue being discussed, nor of the interests of members who wished to contribute to the debate, and effectively disenfranchise back bench councillors?
The Chair advised that he had addressed this in his introductory remarks at the beginning of the meeting and work would continue to make this a good Council and make meetings productive and he hoped that the issue was now resolved.
Question 3 from Councillor Darwin to Councillor Jones
It was reported to members earlier this year that there had been a steep rise in Domestic Violence. Did Northumberland Adult social care work closely with Northumbria Police when it came to tackling Domestic Violence and issues of safeguarding? Also, what steps were put in place, if any, to ensure cases of Domestic Violence which were reported to Northumbria Police were also reported to Northumberland Adult social care to ensure Northumberland County Council could best support victims of Domestic Violence in such uncertain, worrying, and devastating times?
Councillor Jones thanked Councillor Darwin for raising such an important matter. All incidents of Domestic Violence were submitted by the police as an “Adult Concern Notification” into a team based in Foundry House, Bedlington. The team was referred to as the “MASH” and MASH stands for multi-agency safeguarding hub. The team was sub divided into two parts and if children were involved the concern would go to the children’s MASH and if no children were involved it would go to the adult MASH. Northumbria Police were a key partner of the MASH and were physically located in the building in Bedlington along with the Council’s staff. An Independent Domestic Violence Advisor also works within the MASH team and could pick up incidents of real concern and discuss referrals to seek refuge quickly. Northumbria Police were also core members of the Northumberland Children and Adults Safeguarding Partnership Board which reviews occurrences and patterns in domestic violence from a more strategic level.
Councillor Darwin stated that he had been a victim of domestic violence earlier the previous year so would like Members to know more about this issue and know that it could affect anyone at any time. He asked if he could meet with the head of Social Care or those who were best placed to help with this matter going forward to make positive changes for residents of Northumberland and improve, where possible, information shared with the police and police services. He had an ongoing investigation with Northumbria Police where a complaint had been raised on his behalf on the handling of his case and he would like to meet with Members to discuss this more.
Councillor Jones advised that this was Councillor Pattison’s portfolio so that request would be passed to her. She would advise that he visit the one call centre at Bedlington and would ask that Councillor Pattison to arrange this.
Question 4 from Councillor Hunter to the Leader
I have been contacted by a few residents asking about the 50+ question survey they have recently received in the post from Lake Market Research from Kent on behalf of Northumberland County Council. The residents who have contacted me have all stated they looked at the number of questions and due to the length of the survey placed the paperwork in the bin. Please can the Leader advise me:
• Who authorised the survey?
• What was the purpose of the survey?
• Would the results of the survey influence future budget expenditure?
• What was the total cost so far to Northumberland County Council for undertaking the survey?
• When will elected members receive feedback from the survey?
The Leader responded by stating that the survey had been authorised by himself, the Chief Executive and the Director of Strategy and Communications. The purpose of the survey was to gauge public opinion and find out what were the really important things the Council did and how much these were either appreciated or not, or whether the Council did things well or not etc. It would influence spending and the budget process this year and the next year, as it was important that the Administration reflected what people told us. The cost of the survey was around £25,000, which was on the modest scale for a survey of this size, and unfortunately we did not have the resources to undertake this ourselves. The normal process was used to find a supplier to do this on our behalf and feedback would be provided to Members.
In February Members stated that the Administration did not listen and public consultation was rubbish, so the survey was commissioned and now they were being challenged on this. It was important to listen to what residents wanted and this was one method of doing this, another was going around the County to meet with residents, such as the meeting in Berwick along with the Local Area Committees. A Town and Parish Conference had been held and this had been so successful that it had been decided that it would happen twice per year going forward. All Cabinet Members had been asked to attend at least one Town or Parish Council to meet with them and understand their issues better. The Administration did spend a considerable amount of time speaking to people and that was built into every that was done. This latest survey would allow the Administration to be clear on what was needed. Berwick had had significant infrastructure spending from the Conservatives, between 2011-2017 when Labour and Liberal Democrats were in charge in Berwick the total spend was £11.7m, currently under the Conservatives it was £31.2M and once all the current work was completed it would be closer to £50m so it was hoped that the residents of Berwick liked that what they were getting.
Councillor Hunter then asked that in future, when undertaking such surveys, Members be advised so that they could explain to residents the background and encourage residents to complete the surveys.
The Leader apologised that this had not been done and confirmed that this would be in future.
Question 5 from Councillor Dale to Councillor Riddle
As a result of Climate Change we were seeing more regular storms throughout the country causing flooding and trees falling in particular. What extra resources were this Council providing for our workforce to help them with this extra workload?
Councillor Riddle advised that the Council had detailed Action Plans for responding to events that posed a significant risk to communities, such as flooding during the recent Storm Babet severe weather event and were well prepared to respond to such events with partners.
When responding to severe weather such as Storm Babet and the forthcoming Storm Ciaran, the priority was to ensure the safety and well-being of our communities and as a result staff were redeployed from other duties to focus all resources and efforts where they were most needed. Additional external support for in-house teams was also brought in when required, for example tree surgeons to assist teams in clearing fallen or dangerous trees. We also recognised that the frequency and severity of storms was increasing and this would be taken into account in the refreshed Climate Change Action Plan 2024-26.
Councillor Dale thanked the workforce for their work over the previous weekend and she welcomed Councillor Riddle’s response. Since LGR the amount of service cuts to this workforce had been quite considerable. In 2008 Tynedale had six gully cleaners and 2 road cleaners, now there was one gully cleaner and it covered an enormous area with gullies only cleaned once every two years. This had been discussed during a Parish Council/County Council meeting. What she would like to see was that the Council be proactive rather than reactive as she felt that if the gullies had been cleaned and the ditches cleared there would not have been the level of flooding and asked if a working group could be set up.
Councillor Riddle reminded Members that there were four new gully suckers purchased in 2022 with the older ones more off the road than on. These new vehicles were state of the art efficient machines and it would be investigated if these were being used to their maximum potential. In relation to the frequency of gully cleansing, there was the new fix my street app with a lot of back office data being collected so that resources could be targeted in an efficient manner.
Question 6 from Councillor Nisbet to Councillor Horncastle
Could the Council confirm how many void Council Houses exist in Blyth, how long they have been empty and how many people were currently on the Council house waiting list?
Councillor Horncastle advised that the County Council had 3,646 units in Blyth, Cowpen and Newsham. In October 2023, there were 77 void properties in Blyth. The average void period was 99 days (lower than County average of 107 days). There were also 60 voids in Blyth awaiting demolition or structural works and full refurbishment. While there was no longer a “Council House Waiting List” as such, there were currently 13,990 active Homefinder applications and just over 8,600 of these were in Band 3 which meant they had no assessed immediate housing need. The delay in reletting the 77 properties was caused by a combination of demand and increased levels of works required to bring ageing stock up to modern standards before they were let. To give context to these figures, the void figure for lettable council properties in Blyth, Cowpen and Newsham was 2.1%, the County average was 1.8% and the national average was 2.2%. The void rate for all housing stock was 2.7% in the UK.
On 14 November 2023 there was to be a Policy Conference on Affordable and Social Housing. This would be an opportunity to influence priorities and understand how Members could better support residents who might be experiencing housing problems.
Councillor Nisbet asked for the same information to be provided for Cramlington in writing. Councillor Horncastle confirmed that this would be provided.
Question 7 from Councillor Dickinson to the Leader
Could the Leader confirm if the Advance Northumberland Managing Director has resigned and if so, did he find it appropriate that the Leader of the opposition or any Councillor for that matter, found out on the grape vine rather than being respectfully communicated with about the Council wholly owned company?
The Chair reminded all Members that Advance was an independent arm's length company. In the first instance it was for the Managing Director and the company to determine how best to communicate these issues. In general, in line with good practice, the Council did not disseminate more widely than was strictly necessary details of any resignation. Steps were being taken to ensure that the appropriate response to this resignation was taken by the council in conjunction with the company. This would, of course, follow the proper process.
Councillor Dickinson advised that some Members were becoming increasingly frustrated when members of staff who were involved in their casework left the authority without any notification being provided to those who had been working with them. He asked that better communication be provided in such cases so that they did not have to go through the whole case with a new person.
The Leader advised that the level of staff leaving now was miniscule as opposed to levels two years ago, however Members could always contact the Chief Executive and there were regular Group Leader meetings and that was the place to raise this type of issue. In relation to casework, if Members were not able to contact a particular member of staff, then the leadership team should be contacted.
Question 8 from Councillor Taylor to the Leader
As you are aware I have voted against the budget for the last two years, and as we go into this year’s budget setting period, could you confirm to the Council Tax payers of Bedlington that they would see some serious investment in their town? Personally, I am hoping that we do not just have to rely on the £3 million of Borderlands funding or take our begging bowl out for some external funding that was linked to this, and for which we have to jump through hoops as it was related to projects that we have been advised we can have, and not what we actually asked for?
The Leader responded paying tribute to her, along with Councillors Wallace, Wilczek and Robinson for being such passionate and excellent Members for Bedlington. They had raised issues and he had met with them regularly and because of that the Administration had moved forward with as much as they could. However he had to be firm about spending in Bedlington and what was actually happening, and whilst it might be disappointing, it was where they were. Cash investment was going into Gallagher Park for car parking etc. Dene Park had been visited two days ago and found that there were 12 issues which needed addressing and these were now being done. Councillor Wilczek had raised the possibility of creating more of a heritage lottery funded type scheme there to reflect the incredibly interesting history and culture around what was there hundreds of years ago.
There was a new play zone which would improve the sports and play facilities, there was a new train station at Bedlington which cost over £20m and new walking and cycling routes around the town. There was new investment at St Benet Biscop School. Bedlington was the first of only seven towns to develop a new 'Place Plan' and would receive around £3m for this and more support might be able to be provided in addition to this if a project came along. There were fresh ideas for Gallagher Park led by Councillor Horncastle, which would include investment in a Queen Elizabeth II Memorial as well as new nature trails. New investment was also being provided at Plessey Woods to provide a climbing boulder park and improved refreshment offer. Whilst it was appreciated that the new Leisure Centre had been built in Morpeth, this was only a nine minute drive and there was a regular bus service and, with the reduction in bus fares at the current time, it was possible to travel there cheaply. In conclusion he stated that whilst they would like to do more and would be doing more, it would take time and asked that Members be patient. He advised that during previous Administrations between 2011-2017 £11.6m had been spent and since this Administration came into power from 2017 to 2023 £13.1m had been spent and along with everything else that was planned to happen this would bring the total to nearly £48m in that time. The Administration did take Bedlington seriously and he applauded the work that the Councillors had done.
Councillor Taylor thanked the Leader for the list provided, however these were not the things that residents had asked for when questioned. She would be interested to know how much NCC money was in the spending quoted. In relation to the car park at Gallagher Park herself and other Councillors had been asked to contribute from their Small Schemes for this work and she had been happy to do so. In relation to the cheap bus fares, it had been advertised everywhere that these would cease at the end of December. She stated it would be nice if the Council could look at providing transport for those who had to travel outside of Bedlington for Leisure as not everyone had a car, or could afford the bus fare and asked if subsidised travel could be provided.
The Leader advised that this could be looked at, alongside another request from a Member for residents in his area who also had to travel outside for leisure. However, if there was an hourly bus service for the fare at current levels, then it would be difficult to provide anything additional.