Shepway Liberal Democrats

Questions asked by Lib Dem Councillors at Shepway

At every Shepway District Council Meeting the Lib Dem Group get the opportunity to ask questions on any subject they feel is relevant.

It's a chance for our Group to hold the Conservative Leadership of the Council to account.

After each meeting we will post the questions our Group has asked here, along with the replies we receive.

Council Meeting 24th November 2004

Question from Cllr John Hughes to the District Secretary responsible for Town Centre

Cabinet decision 04/40 of 8th September 2004 "Area Investment Framework, - Submission of Regeneration Programme", includes the following decisions:

2) To agree to commit £285,000 2006/7 from the SDC Regeneration Capital Budget to contribute to the Streets and Squares programme.

3) To agree a virement of £5,000 from the Enterprise Gateway/Creative Quarter budget into the Regeneration Capital budget to support the Streets and Squares programme.

For what is the additional contribution and support required?

Answer:

Taking Folkestone Forward is a programme of projects designed to support the regeneration of Folkestone over the short to medium term. The programme is funded from a variety of different sources e.g. European, Heritage Lottery, SEEDA etc. Shepway District Council's capital funding is required to support the Streets and Squares projects e.g. finish off Guildhall Street, as there are no other sources of external funding that will match fund the SEEDA funding for the improvement of these municipal spaces. Shepway District Council funding has therefore been directed at Streets and Squares rather than the Creative Quarter, Seafront or Harbour etc as there are other external funding sources that will support these projects and developments.

Taking Folkestone Forward aimed to form the background document to support bids for SEEDA devolved funding available through the Channel Co-Corridor Partnership. The scale of the programme was based upon the three year indicative funding profile expressed in the Performance Plan and agreed by SEEDA earlier this year. The package of projects delivered a range of Tier 3 Outputs required by SEEDA and Strategic Added Value impacts. However SEEDA has recently informed the Channel Corridor Partnership that there will be less money available through devolved funding in the future than originally indicated in the Performance Plan. This has meant that the package of projects in the Taking Folkestone Forward programme have had to be divided into individual projects. The Streets and Squares project does not produce Tier 3 outputs but offers Strategic Added Value. By itself this project is less likely to attract SEEDA devolved funding on the scale originally profiled. SEEDA have said that devolved funding is not the only source of finance from SEEDA and additional support could be available through SEEDA Land and Property and SEEDA Skills divisions etc. It likely that this will impact upon the delivery timetable for the Taking Folkestone Forward programme.

Phases 1 and 2A were now completed and phase 2B would start in January 2005 and include Rendezvous Street to the Old High Street. Plans were also in place for works to link to the new shopping development and the South East of England Development Agency (SEEDA) was being approached for funding support.

Supplementary Question:

By way of a supplementary question Councillor Hughes questioned the wisdom of committing so much funding to one scheme if SEEDA funds were likely to become more limited in the future. Councillor Mrs Newlands (the District Secretary responsible) replied that the Council's available funding was being used to help attract and qualify for additional funding from SEEDA.

Question from Cllr Lynne Beaumont to the district secretary for Finance.

Could you please provide the date of the signing of the contract between Shepway District Council and Kent County Council for the carrying out by the county council of grounds maintenance, cleansing and other services?

Answer:

The transfer of services in respect of grounds maintenance, street cleansing and other related services were transferred to the County Council during July to September 2004 (Report Number C/04/25 refers). At the time of that transfer there was no formal contract and the transfer successfully took place following the establishment of joint district and county project teams to ensure a smooth transition. All staff were transferred to the County Council under the Transfer of Undertakings Regulations (TUPE) as planned in August 2004. Since that time both the District and County Council project teams have worked closely together to resolve outstanding difficulties as they arise. In all, some £2.8m worth of services have been transferred to the County council and specifications are currently being firmed up with a view to formally completing contract documents in the near future. In the meantime, discussions are continuing with the County Council in respect of the transfer of other services as set out in the Cabinet Report for 2005/06.

Supplementary Question:

I would like to request that the District Secretary for the Environment guarantees, that the contract will not be re-negotiated in any way, and will reamin unchanged.

Answer:

The Contract is still being completed.

Question from Cllr David Callahan to the district secretary responsible for the Environment.

Would the member like to comment on the finding of the toilet sub committee , as reported to Cabinet Scrutiny Committee on the 3rd November?

Answer: (From Conservative Cllr George Bunting)

As Councillor Callahan is aware, I have given assistance to the Public Toilets Advisory Group and support their conclusions. Yesterday I considered the recommendations from the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee and confirm that I have asked officers to:-

(a) Draw up DDA specifications for each public convenience and begin the tender process for works that need to be carried out to ensure that Shepway's public conveniences are DDA compliant.

(b) Develop a five year action plan for the future of the District's public conveniences prioritising the ones to be retained.

(c) Ensure that appropriate signage is affixed to those public conveniences that will not be retained and that overall signage for public toilets be reviewed within the five year plan.

(d) Continue to investigate any expressions of interest in providing a public convenience service by the private sector.

I would like to thank the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee for its work on this topic and will be pleased to report progress to the Committee on in the new year.

Question from Cllr Julie White to the district secretary responsible for the Environment

Could you please explain why the cabinet as a whole chose to ignore the recommendation of the performance review committee, on the issue of un adopted roads as set out in paper CO4/46

This question was not asked on the night of the Council meeting since Cllr White could not attend due to illness. The question will instead be answered in writing.

Written answer from Conservative Cllr George Bunting:

The Cabinet has not ignored the recommendations of report C/04/46.

The Highway Unit continues to monitor new developments where the developer has entered into a Section 38 agreement ensuring the roads are adopted as public highway. The Highway Unit has also reduced the backlog of Section 38 developments over the past nine months.

Information on unadopted roads, both new developments and existing roads, is available on the Council's website.

I have raised the issue of unadopted roads at the Joint Transportation Board. Kent County Council is aware of the issue and has stated that it is not an issue unique to Shepway. The cost of dealing with unadopted roads across the County is significant and the County believes that investment is better targeted to maintaining the public highway network.

Read about questions asked by the Lib Dems in Kent County Council