Minutes:
Question to: Councillor Taylor
Question from: Councillor Scalese
Subject: Spalding Indoor Bowls Club
Councillor Scalese commented that residents had contacted her with regard to the Spalding Indoor Bowls Club, raising their concerns at not being able to use facilities whilst the new Leisure Centre was being built. Could a solution be found? Councillor Taylor agreed that it was indeed unfortunate that users could not continue to operate in their current location, due to issues around water, energy and fire safety. The club had many passionate members and it was a successful club. He had met with the project manager and the Bowls Club committee in early February to explain the situation. The committee had asked if a solution or a new home for them could be found, and they had provided some good proposals. The Authority was working with the committee to bring the Long Sutton club back into use (this had been unused for some years) and were close to moving forward on this. The Portfolio Holder would report back once further information was known.
Question to: Councillor Astill
Question from: Councillor Barnes
Subject: Garden waste bins (waiting list) and missed refuse collections
Following conversations with the previous Portfolio Holder, Councillor Barnes had tried to investigate the situation around garden waste bins himself and been advised that there were around 800/850 bins at the depot and that these could be delivered easily. However, there were around 1000 residents on a list for them. He wished to know why these could not be distributed more swiftly and he advised that he had not received a response from officers on these points. On a related matter, he had attempted to obtain a response from an officer regarding missed refuse collections and had not had a response from the individual regarding his questions. Councillor Astill responded that with regard to garden waste, he was aware that there were a number of people on the waiting list and that officers were working through the list to send bins out where possible. He advised that he would provide a further update on the situation at the next meeting. He also stated that there were areas in the district that did not have the garden waste service and the team was working to expand the service in the future. With regard to missed collections, the Portfolio Holder advised that performance for Quarter 3 was quite high, just under the SLA target for Q3. Occasionally there could be disruptions with normal collections due to issues such as vehicle breakdowns and staff sickness. The team worked closely with the Communications team to communicate any issues, and where possible the bins would be collected in a timely manner. There had been some issues last week but the team was working hard to catch up. He acknowledged that it was not right if officers did not respond to members’ queries however, he did state that if there was a fundamental problem within his area of responsibility as a Portfolio Holder, that he be copied into any communications so that he could chase any issues going forward.
Question to: Councillor Bingham
Question from: Councillor Brewis
Subject: Income from car parks
Councillor Brewis commented on the recent publicity around income from car parks – did this relate to actual income, or the net sum less the cost of maintenance of the car parks. Councillor Bingham advised that he would respond in due course with a full answer to this, but stated that the authority was on course to fully meet targets on this issue.
Question to: Councillor Astill
Question from: Councillor Eldridge
Subject: Emptying of street litter bins
Councillor Eldridge commented that many street litter bins were not being emptied, and asked what could be done to improve the situation going forward? Councillor Astill responded that arrangements for the collection of litter bins and dog waste bins was currently split between the refuse and street cleaning teams. Going forward, this would all be dealt with by the street cleaning team. Work was also being undertaken around mapping locational information of bins so that councillors and residents could locate these more easily. It was hoped that the new arrangements for one team emptying bins would improve service, and that the map would assist the public.
Question to: Councillor Worth
Question from: Councillor T Sneath
Subject: Attendance at flag raising events
Councillor T Sneath asked that, following an inaccurate letter published in a local paper from a former Council Chairman stating lack of support and attendance at a flag raising, that less than 24 hours’ notice was not sufficient notice to advise Councillors of such an event. In addition, it was unfair not to acknowledge those Councillors that had attended (Councillors M Geaney, E Sneath, I Sheard and C Brewis). Councillor Worth advised that generally, more notice was given of flag raising events. He acknowledged that the last flag raising may not have had as much notice given, for which he apologised.
Question to: Councillor Bingham
Question from: Councillor Beal
Subject: Future of small areas of open space
Councillor Beal stated that there were a number of small areas of open space being maintained, very often by Parish Councils. With the proposed introduction of a unitary authority going forward, what consideration was being given to these areas. It was important to ensure their continued use for residents rather than being absorbed within unitary authority proposals, and Parish Councils had to remain involved. The Portfolio Holder agreed that there was a community value to open space and there was a danger that within a unitary arrangement, they may disappear and not be taken care of properly. This issue was proactively being considered and Parish Councils and interested groups would be spoken to with the aim of moving these areas of public open space over to them for future use.
Question to: Councillor Worth
Question from: Councillor Sheard
Subject: Abbey Passage, Spalding
Councillor Sheard commented that the current state of the Abbey Passage on Spalding was very poor, causing many people not to walk through it. It was believed that individuals currently residing there had been approached with regard to being re-homed, but had declined. What was the intention to ensure that the area was sanitised and could be used as a passageway by residents. The Leader advised that he was in constant dialogue with Hills Furniture Store, on whose land the individuals were residing, and there was a plan of action in place. It was currently not a pleasant space, and the street cleansing team were involved as part of the solution.
Question to: Councillor Astill
Question from: Councillor Eldridge
Subject: Customer Services abandonment calls
Councillor Eldridge had been made aware of difficulties some residents were having getting in touch with Customer Services – could he provide detail on call abandonment rates, and how these compared to other authorities. Councillor Astill responded that he could compare with East Lindsey District Council and Boston Council as they used the same service provider. At SHDC, 40-50% of callers were terminating their calls within the first 2 minutes and 60% of callers waiting longer terminated calls also. The reason for these abandonment rates was not known however, other statistics around the Ring-back facility had spiked, aswell as WebChat which was promoted during the waiting message. There was a strong likelihood that many customers in the telephone queue were moving over to the internet to undertake the service that they were calling for. The Portfolio Holder was happy to provide further updates on how many customers were using the ringback and webchat services going forward.
Question to: Councillor Bingham
Question from: Councillor Sheard
Subject: Brass bands playing at Ayscoughfee Gardens
Councillor Sheard advised that individuals had contacted her to voice their disappointment at the cancellation of brass bands playing at Ayscoughfee – would the Portfolio Holder be working hard to ensure that these did take place and would they be announced shortly? Councillor Bingham believed that they had been cancelled following an offer of putting the concerts on and discussing options further having been refused. The option had been to provide the concerts under the South Holland District Council banner. He would happily work with members who could provide information regarding the brass bands with a view to putting the concerts on in the future, were it to be feasible and within budget.
Question to: Councillor Worth
Question from: Councillor Sheard
Subject: Unaligned members
Councillor Sheard commented that there was currently a Councillor sitting as an unaligned member and asked what committees they sat on. Could this information be shared and the issue of non-alignment be addressed. The Leader responded that he was happy to share this information. The fact that one member was unaligned did not affect numbers allocated to committees.