To receive any questions from members of the Council, of which due notice has been given in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10, to be submitted and answered.
Minutes:
The Mayor advised that 2 questions and 1 urgent question from members of the council had been received under Council Procedure Rule 10.
1. Question from Councillor Chapelard
“What is the total loss of income to Tunbridge Wells Borough Council for each missed fortnightly garden waste collection due to the current suspension of this service?”
Answer from Councillor Bailey
“We took the difficult decision to suspend the garden waste service to protect our main waste and recycling collections that all households in our borough – regardless of income level – need and expect the council to provide. This decision to prioritise our statutory services has come at a financial cost to the council with gross income reduced by approximately £45,000 each fortnight whilst the suspension continues.”
Supplementary question from Councillor Chapelard
“With that £45,000 loss of income, what is the split between Tunbridge Wells Borough Council and its contractor Urbaser?”
Answer from Councillor Bailey
“That £45,000 figure is the figure for Tunbridge Wells Borough Council.”
2. Question from Councillor Wormington
“In light of the huge public outcry against violent crimes towards women and a clear public desire for safer spaces for women, do you agree that Tunbridge Wells Borough Council’s long standing custom and practice, which is simply to repair and replace park lights, not to install new ones, is no longer fit for purpose?”
Answer from Councillor Scott
“Freedom from fear of attack is extremely important, a matter I take very seriously and have discussed this internally and with the Police. We are very keen to act together with the Police and through our community groups. We have considered various steps to actually assist in this, in terms of looking at various systems in determining areas of concern and, in fact, working with the Police in that and we hope to have details of that system we are developing soon. The question of lights in the parks is quite a complex question which I’m more than happy to go through. The actual responsibility for street lights and parts of the park actually is subdivided between Kent County Council, Tunbridge Wells Borough Council, Housing Associations and private landowners. We have some responsibility for repairing and maintaining lights for which we are responsible. We have not actually had a request from the Friends Groups of the parks yet for change of those lights. I am concerned about them, however, we also have various other conflicting interests in terms of heritage of the various units, etcetera. Some of our parks do not actually have any lights and whether we want to actually move to a point where lights are there, or not, is an open question of some concern to a lot of people who prefer darkness. So, I think that the question of heritage, how we’re actually dealing with the lights is an open question and one that is not a simple rush to actually replace all heritage lights or add a large number of additional lights when the public may not wish that. I think the main concern is how do we actually reduce fear and the potential of criminal action anywhere in our borough.”
Supplementary question from Councillor Wormington
“Do you have any plans for the installation of any new lights and, if not, what would need to take place for you to consider doing so.”
Answer from Councillor Scott
“Most of the lights in the borough have either been replaced or are being replaced with LEDs – that’s been an ongoing programme for quite some time – and downward facing lights to actually ensure the light is conducted in the correct areas. The concern is when you put lights in areas that have not been previously lit you’ve got to be very careful that you don’t actually accentuate the dark areas as opposed to actually improving the pure lighting. So, it is complex about where you put lights, how you put lights and how you actually deal with the areas. I think the whole lighting issue and the various other actions we are taking to look at safety and freedom from the fear of attack needs to be looked at as a combined whole, which we are actively pursuing.”
3. Urgent question from Councillor Everitt
“Given the increase of the Covid alert level to four, a potential rapid increase of Covid-19 cases in our community and the Prime Minister’s new target for booster vaccinations, can the Leader please advise what additional support is being offered by central government and what our Council will do to help deliver the booster program, support our residents and help businesses disrupted by increased restrictions?”
Answer from Councillor Dawlings
“I had intended to give an update under agenda item 5 (Announcements) but I’m happy to do this in response to your question. Clearly we’re facing a very concerning situation and we’ll be facing some challenging times in the weeks and months ahead. Infections are increasing across the country, and the county, and there are also signs of increased admissions to hospital. Thankfully, mortality rates are remaining flat. Members will be aware from the recent announcement that the government is responding to the vastly increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant by moving to ‘Plan B’ and by increasing the rate that people are receiving the booster vaccination. In Kent this means increasing the number of vaccines delivered from 13,500 per day to 30,000 per day. I’m pleased to say that in Kent we have a good coverage with 675,000 booster jabs delivered, covering 56 per cent of the adult population and, crucially, 87 per cent of high-risk residents and three-quarters of the those who are over 50. You’ve asked how the Council can help deliver the booster programme and support residents and businesses. The Council meets regularly with NHS colleagues and other partners through meetings of the Kent Leaders, Kent Chief Executives and the Local Resilience Forum. We have used those meetings to call for greater capacity and more venues for both testing and vaccination in the borough and we have offered support in terms of premises, staff and any other assistance as we can provide. I’ve had a meeting today with other council leaders across the county and was told by the head of the Care Commissioning Group that we should have further details tomorrow of their plan to be able to offer booster vaccinations to everyone who is eligible by the end of the year. At that meeting I expressed my concern of the lack of a vaccination centre in Tunbridge Wells where we had offered the NHS a facility. In terms of support we are providing, we continue to provide eligible residents who have had to self-isolate as well as a host of other things that the Chief Executive outlined at last-weeks Members’ Briefing. As for businesses, we are continuing to manage historic schemes and readying ourselves to manage any future support schemes that the government announces in response to either current or possible further restrictions.”
Supplementary question from Councillor Everitt
“Could I clarify that the Council will not be receiving direct financial support from central government to support businesses in our community disrupted by restrictions and also to support our residents.”
Answer from Councillor Dawlings
“We have received financial assistance throughout the restriction periods up until now. We have no idea as to whether further finance is going to be provided.”
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