To consider any questions submitted by Members.  (The deadline for questions is 4.30 pm on the Monday the week before the meeting – please contact Democratic Services by e-mailing democraticservices@swale.gov.uk or call 01795 417330).

Topics of questions from Members published Friday 6 September 2019.

The Mayor advised that eight questions had been received from Members.  Each Member was invited to put his/her question, which was responded to by the relevant Cabinet Member.  The questioner was then invited to ask a supplementary question.

Details of the questions and responses are set out below:

Question 1 – Councillor David Simmons

What does the Council Leader think the increased cost will be to Swale Borough Council if it leaves the Mid Kent Waste Partnership in 2023, when the current contract ends, and brings the waste contract in "House"?

Response – Leader

Thank you for your question which has topicality given the evidence of widespread public concern about the delays to waste and food bin collection over the recent extremely hot Bank Holiday weekend. That is under the contract which I believe you agreed.

So, as your question rightly implies cost of the contracted service is an important consideration, but so too is efficiency and reliability. It is important too that contractors have a willing workforce. Consequently, it will also matter to us that future contractors take on board our commitment to the real living wage. Agreeing to parsimonious contracts can lead to household waste not being collected and overfilled street waste bins, something the current Cabinet Member and Head of Service are working hard to prevent but within the context of the contract agreed in the past.

However, as you of all people should know the question is a little premature.

The current Mid Kent Waste Partnership contract does not come to an end until 31^st March 2023. As with all commissioning of major contracts, a great deal of work goes into looking at the strategic direction we want the service to go in e.g. what outcomes do we want for residents, the best model(s) to use to achieve these outcomes and then who in the market is best placed to deliver these.

Given the size of the waste and street cleansing contract, this work will start in earnest towards the end of this year, with a strategic direction agreed in 2020 and then a formal tender process between 2021 and 2022. So, you will appreciate it would not be possible to state the perceived costs of any type of model at this time, as it will be totally dependent upon the specification we design to meet our strategic direction. I hope we can learn from past mistakes.

Supplementary Question and Response

In response to a question as to the arrangements for involvement of Scrutiny when the contract was renegotiated, the Leader responded by confirming that there would be Scrutiny involvement and that all options available would be considered, in particular quality of service, as well as cost.

Question 2 – Councillor Roger Clark

Would the Cabinet Member for Community detail the action he took to add impetus to and accelerate the delivery of the skatepark which he claimed in his response to the question from Councillor Whelan at the last Council meeting?

Response – Cabinet Member for Community

Thank you for the question Cllr. Clark, however, I did not make any such claim to have personally added to the completion of the skatepark.

Back in June when I reviewed the details of the project, I secured an additional £20k to enhance the project.  Once the current contractor has completed the works, we will put this money to good use.   I am looking forward to the long awaited skatepark opening in the autumn.

Supplementary Question and Response

In response to a request for details or all emails/texts/calls that the Cabinet Member had made regarding progressing the Skate Park, the Cabinet Member read out the response he had made at the last Council meeting, and suggested that the Member may wish to listen to the audio recording.

Question 3 – Councillor Lloyd Bowen

Can the Cabinet member tell us how much his proposal for providing free WiFi within Faversham, Sheerness and Sittingbourne town centres will cost?

Response – Cabinet Member for Community

The full costings for the proposed town centre wi-fi is continuing to be fully researched. Once this is complete, a tender will be undertaken, and the full cost benefit analysis will be brought forwards for a final decision to progress its implementation.

Supplementary Question and Response

In response to a question as to when other areas in the Borough would be afforded the same free benefits (i.e. free WiFi), the Cabinet Member advised that the costs would be too prohibitive to extend it to the whole of the Borough, but it was proposed that it would be provided in Faversham, the Isle of Sheppey and Sittingbourne Town Centres.  Further information would be made available as the project progressed.

Question 4 – Councillor Lloyd Bowen

Would the Cabinet Member for Economy and Property detail the action she has taken since her motion to supersede this Council's support for action to complete improvements to Junctions 5 – 7 of the M2, the A249 and the completion of the Northern and Southern Relief Roads, to practically demonstrate her support and commitment to these key infrastructure projects, which she acknowledged to this Council were crucial? 

Response – Cabinet Member for Economy and Property

Given the uncertainty in Government, with the relevant new ministers only taking up their posts on the 24^th July 2019, and parliaments summer recess starting on the 25^th July 2019, there has been limited opportunity to lobby for the improvements needed on the Strategic Road Network. 

As previously stated a response to the most recent consultation on the proposed Junction 5 improvements was submitted through the Leader, making clear this Councils support for the scheme and the urgency with which the improvements are required.  I have since also written to the new Secretary of State for Transport to reiterate our support for Junction 5 and make clear the need for Junction 7 to be a priority within the next phase of the Road Investment Strategy, due to be published later this year.

We now understand that it is the Secretary of States intention to hold inquiries into the orders for the proposed Junction 5 improvements, details of which are to follow. 

One step forward was also announced on the 30^th July 2019, with Transport for the South East (TfSE) submitting a ‘top ten’ list of priority road improvement schemes across the South East, to government as part of a £3.5bn, five-year investment programme for Major Roads. This included £20m for the M2 Junction 5 scheme and I thank Kent County Council for preparing the bid to TfSE that made this possible. 

Supplementary Question and Response

The Cabinet Member was asked for information about what she had or intended to do to relieve pressure for residents (along the A2 from Murston to Faversham) travelling on road networks and further afield?  Had any discussion taken place about applying for funding (such as the Challenge Maintenance Fund)?

The Cabinet Member was aware of the Local Highways Challenge Maintenance Fund, and agreed that it was imperative that upgrades were made to Junction 5 and 7.  Discussions had taken place with Highways England and KCC, and she assured Members that the issue was being taken forward, however, it was unlikely that any decisions would come from Government in the current political situation.  She assured the Member that the issue had not been forgotten.

Question 5 – Councillor Steve Davey

The block paving in Sittingbourne High Street, laid in 1995, costing approximately £750k, (around £1.5m in today's money) has many sub-standard repairs and trip hazards and will compare poorly with our new leisure quarter once completed. Should we as the Council be taking greater care of such an expensive asset, and monitor more closely the quality of work carried out by contractors engaged by KCC or premises owners?

Response – Cabinet Member for Economy and Property

Cllr Davey is well informed that the original paving in Sittingbourne High street was undertaken in 1995 by the then combined SBC and KCC highways unit.

KCC are ultimately responsible for maintaining the highway network including Sittingbourne High Street roadway and footways. I acknowledge there is some work required especially to the road humps and the block paving on the footways and will review with colleagues from KCC.

As Cabinet Member, myself and the Leader have already undertaken some high street surveys and are looking at the entire high street and its linkages to the new leisure quarter. This will form part of future work being undertaken to find more permanent solutions to keep a vibrant town centre.

Supplementary Question and Response

In response to a question as to whether the Council had any right to veto which contractors were used to carry out repairs, given previous poor work, the Cabinet Member advised that concerns had been raised with KCC and that she would do her best to ensure that KCC only used contractors that were suitably qualified and competent.

Question 6 – Councillor Mark Ellen

This question was not put as the Member was not present.

Question 7 – Councillor Tony Winckless

I have received several complaints from people having to use Mobile Phones to pay for parking, when machines are not working. There’s been a case when an elderly lady was fined who does not own a mobile phone. Are there plans to change the policy?

Response – Cabinet Member for Environment

When no machine is available, customers are directed to use RingGo via the mobile phone app or by calling a phone number advertised on the machines. OFCOM statistics show that between 96 and 100% of 16 and 64 year-olds use a mobile phone. Even 88% of 65 – 74-year olds have a mobile.

It would be unfair of those who pay as usual via the app, if those who found the machine out of order were not required to pay.  Unfortunately, the machines and the cashless systems are not linked so we can’t block payments for those using cashless.

Clearly the best way to deal with the problem is minimise the times when no working machine is available. Fortunately, we have very few machine breakdowns that last longer than 2 hours. Our contractors attend and fix a high percentage of faults within that period. We also try to have two machines in each car park to allow further resilience. Blue-badge holders are able to park in our car parks without charge. In addition, over 30% of our customers already pay by cashless means and this proportion is increasing every year.

Car parking services are expensive to provide and occupy large areas in our town centres. They do not come free. Therefore, residents should not expect to receive free parking when they are using a space and there is a means to pay that is accessible to most residents. We make reasonable adjustments by not requiring disabled drivers to pay for parking. Ultimately the current policy is reasonable.

I understand that that the 88 year old lady that you mention experienced difficulty paying for her parking. I would encourage her to appeal as we have both an internal review process and then independent Parking Tribunals Panel that oversee this type of thing.

In the future, we will explore the possibility of using new technology to allow card payments in our car parks.

Supplementary Question and Response

In response to a further question about the use of mobile technology by certain age groups, the Cabinet Member reiterated the response he had given and advised that if the 88 year old lady wished to appeal then the full circumstances could be taken into consideration.

Question 8 – Councillor Steve Davey

Can you give me a breakdown of the expenditure so far of the £150,000 received from the Governments Rough Sleeping Initiative Fund, and the Council’s plans to support the increasing numbers of homeless people in the Borough, particularly rough sleepers?

Response – Cabinet Member for Housing

The bid to the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) comprised of funding a Rough Sleeping Co-ordinator, a complex needs worker (specialising in Mental Health and Substance Misuse) and 1.5 FTE outreach workers, this totals £129,587.  The remainder of the funding has been allocated for accommodation.  We have already secured a 4 bed property which is providing emergency accommodation for 4 rough sleepers and on 1^st September secured accommodation at the Quays to support more individuals.  The team are working with the residents to help them to move to more permanent accommodation

A requirement of this funding is to carry out bi-monthly night street counts.  The first count was carried out on 1^st August where 8 rough sleepers were verified.  Our outreach team will be working with these people and putting plans in place to support and assist them into accommodation.

Supplementary Question and Response          

In response to a question about what more could be done to provide an immediate response to help rough sleepers, the Cabinet Member advised that there were budget restraints, but he had been in discussion with partners and spoken to many charities to explore options about how the service could be improved.