Minutes:
Question to: Councillor Bingham
Question from: Councillor Gibson
Subject: Ayscoughfest at Ayscoughfee Gardens
Councillor Gibson commented on the recent music festival (Ayscoughfest), held in Ayscoughfee Gardens, which had been very successful. He thanked all those that had organised the event and assisted in any way. Would the Portfolio Holder – Assets and Strategic Planning be happy to look into this becoming a yearly event? Councillor Bingham responded that due to its success, he would be happy to support any event that brought people into the town of Spalding, and to use the fantastic resource of Ayscoughfee Gardens.
Question to: Councillor Casson
Question from: Councillor Beal
Subject: Graffiti removal and CCTV
Councillor Beal asked for clarification on the procedures for removal of graffiti, and asked how effective CCTV was in deterring and capturing perpetrators. Councillor Casson agreed that graffiti was a problem in many towns. Initially, a warden would undertake an inspection of the locations. If the site was owned by another service (e.g. gas board, County Council), they would be notified. If it was located on Council property, Waste Services would be notified to deal with its removal. If it was located on other buildings/shops, those at the site would be spoken to initially to identify who was responsible for it. Once they had been identified they would be asked to remove the graffiti but if this did not happen, the warden could serve them with a fixed penalty notice. Over the last few months, 8 incidences of graffiti had been reported and since removed. With regard to CCTV cameras, Councillor Casson believed these to be a good deterrent. This year, 118 incidents had been captured and from this, there had been 8 prosecutions. It was acknowledged that with regard to incidences of graffiti, it was difficult to identify individuals on CCTV, and the Police were not always notified immediately. CCTV was currently monitored in Boston, but in the last few months, there had been a volunteer in Spalding Police Station monitoring CCTV covering Spalding for 2 days a week.
Question to: Councillor Casson
Question from: Councillor Booth
Subject: Promotion of CCTV cameras to parishes
Councillor Booth asked if acquisition of CCTV cameras by parishes was being actively promoted. If so, when would this be rolled out? Councillor Casson commented that this had only recently been added to his Portfolio, although he was aware that there had been discussions around whether parishes would wish to have CCTV. He would look into this question and provide a response in due course.
Question to: Councillor Astill/Councillor Redgate
Question from: Councillor Barnes
Subject: Management of budgets/spend
Councillor Barnes commented that at a recent meeting of the Performance Monitoring Panel, consideration had been given to a Sustainable Products Policy. Upon discussion around procurement and stationery, it was concerning that no clear response had been received on what the spend on stationery was over the year. Councillor Astill commented that this issue was likely to sit with Councillor Redgate. The Leader commented that budgets were tightly monitored at a high level, with officer budget holders controlling budgets at a lower level. A response to the question would be provided.
Question to: Councillor Taylor
Question from: Councillor James LeSage
Subject: Anti-social behaviour in Spalding town centre
Councillor J Le Sage commented that following recent consultation on Spalding Town Centre, he was aware that a contract had been awarded to improve identified spaces in the town centre. However, anti-social behaviour specifically was the main source of concern for most people – he asked what the approach to this was to be and what was going to change? Councillor Taylor confirmed that the contract had been signed, with work to complete this year. It was important for residents to live in a vibrant, clean environment, and he agreed that anti-social behaviour also had to be addressed. The design team had met with the Police a number of times, including on-site, and they had taken on board the advice given by the Police. He reiterated that any anti-social behaviour be reported – this data could assist in moving resources across the county or lobbying for extra resources.
Question to: Councillor Worth
Question from: Councillor Hutchinson
Subject: Health provision - Holbeach
Councillor Hutchinson was disappointed to hear that the Health Hub in Holbeach would not be going ahead. The Internal Care Board stated that it was not viable for a new or a split site and the only realistic option would be to expand the existing site however, more land was required. Surrounding land was owned by the local authority and Holbeach Parish Council. Would the Leader commit to using Council land for this purpose? The Leader responded that if the land was Parish Council land, he would have no problem with the Parish Council speaking with the surgery – this would be the best route in. This could be a more feasible option.
Question to: Councillor Casson
Question from: Councillor Hassan
Subject: Fly tipping in Spalding
Councillor Hassan commented that fly-tipping seemed to be increasing in Spalding in general, and within his ward (St Johns), he and Councillor J LeSage were receiving many complaints. What measures were currently being implemented to address this concern, and were there any plans to increase enforcement, or any new initiatives planned to mitigate this problem. Finally, at the last Council meeting, the problem of early presentation of waste had been discussed and Councillor Tyrrell had advised that letters were to be issued – what had happened in this regard? Councillor Casson responded that the question involved Waste Services and responsibility lay within both his and Councillor Tyrrell’s portfolio. With regard to letters, Councillor Tyrrell confirmed that responsibility for these lay within Councillor Casson’s portfolio.
Question to: Councillor Tyrrell
Question from: Councillor Eldridge
Subject: Waste Collection Survey
Councillor Eldridge commented that it was good to see that the waste collection survey has gone live – what was the response so far, and was there any indication of where opinions lay? Councillor Tyrrell responded that over 2000 responses had been received to date and that the survey was going well. He encouraged everybody to respond as significant input was important. The survey had been advertised in many places.
Question to: Councillor Bingham/Councillor Tyrrell
Question from: Councillor Sheard
Subject: Opening times for public toilets at Ayscoughfee Gardens and in Spalding Town Centre
Councillor Sheard stated that Ayscoughfee Gardens were a real asset and it was particularly satisfying to see the newly refurbished tennis courts. However, many users of the tennis courts had complained that the toilets were not open to them all the time – was there any chance to look at extended hours? In addition, could the toilets in Spalding town be opened later than 4pm? Councillor Bingham commented that public toilets in the town centre sat under Councillor Tyrrells’ portfolio and that he would address this issue. Councillor Bingham agreed with the issue around opening times of the toilets in Ayscoughfee Gardens – consideration was currently being given into different models of altering staffing to enable the toilets to remain open for longer. It was also hoped to look at ways of reducing anti-social behaviour. Councillor Tyrrell agreed that toilet opening hours in Spalding town centre should be longer, particularly in line with shop opening times. He would take this suggestion forward.
Question to: Councillor Worth
Question from: Councillor Alcock
Subject: Environment Agency requirement to repair breach in Welland Bank
Councillor Alcock commented that for many reasons, the breach in Welland Bank had still not been rectified by the Environment Agency. The Welland itself was currently in a parlous state. Farmers still had problems in the Wash itself. If the breach itself was not repaired soon, the same issue would recur as weather became wetter over the forthcoming months. The new river was held at a much higher level than it normally was for longer than it should have been which had resulted in surrounding land not having the chance to dry out, remaining extremely wet and thus resulting in machinery not being able to access the land. In addition, the centre of Spalding looked very unattractive. Could the Authority use its strength to persuade the Environment Agency to repair the breach in the Welland Bank swiftly? The Leader responded that he fully agreed with Councillor Alcock and all that he had said. The situation had been a complete disaster and work had to be moved on. The River Taxi had been unable to run during the year, and the visual aspect of the river was poor. He would gladly draft a letter to the Environment Agency, with the Chief Executive on behalf of the Council, addressing the concerns raised. Councillor Casson added that he sat on the Welland and Deeping Internal Drainage Board which covered the Wash area and stated that it had also been frustrated at the apparent inability of the Environment Agency to sort the situation out.
Question to: Councillor Astill
Question from: Councillor Sheard
Subject: Customer Services – call-back facility
Councillor Sheard stated that she had attempted to contact the Council on the telephone on multiple occasions, that there had been a queue and she had therefore been left with the option to leave a message for call back, which had not been received. Non-response appeared to be an issue for other residents. She requested statistics for the call-back facility. Councillor Astill apologised to Councillor Sheard for her experience with the service and requested that she provide him with the telephone number she had called in on in order that he could provide this information to the Customer Services Team to investigate. He provided the following details on the number of successful callbacks in the last quarter – 844 in April, 440 in May and 505 in June. He also asked that if there were any similar issues with webchat, that users contact Customer Services to take this forward.
Question to: Councillor Astill
Question from: Councillor Chauhan
Subject: Call-back costs
Councillor Chauhan asked if there were any cost implications relating to call-backs? If so, could this be a reason for a call-back not being made? Councillor Astill responded that it was not the case that call-backs were not made due to the cost. Call-backs had been introduced to address the issue of callers waiting for long periods of time. He advised that details of call-back costs would be provided.
Question to: Councillor Tyrrell
Question from: Councillor Sheard
Subject: Disposal of clothing
Councillor Sheard commented that she had been made away that during the transition from West Marsh Road depot to Wardentree Lane, it appeared that a stock of t-shirts, body warmers and boots had been thrown away. Had this happened, if it had, how much stock had been disposed of, to what value and why? Councillor Tyrrell responded that he was not aware that this had happened and would looking into the situation.