To answer questions submitted by Opposition Group Leaders on items on the agenda.
Minutes:
Question from Councillor Jones to Councillor Moore.
“What are the arrangements during the lock down period, which apply to rent owed by residential tenants in financial hardship, by charities and by SMEs in Rushcliffe?”
Councillor Moore responded by saying that the Council did not deal directly with residential tenants from a housing perspective but the Council was working very closely with Registered Social Housing Providers who were putting in significant measures to support tenants financially. In terms of Council Tax, the Council had introduced a Hardship Policy to allocate over £0.5m of funding and this was covered in the Delegated Decisions report. 1,800 residents who were in receipt of working age Council Tax reductions had been given a £150 reduction on their Council Tax.
Regarding SMEs, the Council had proactively applied retail, hospitality and leisure business rates relief totalling around £10m and paid out business grants to 1,395 businesses totalling £17m, which equated to 83% of all the businesses in Rushcliffe. There was a new Discretionary Business Rates Grant, which would also be allocated, and was covered in the Delegated Decisions report. Officers were thanked for their hard work and efficiency and the Council had received many grateful responses from residents and businesses.
For businesses that were suffering hardship, the Council had revised repayment arrangements and for the Council’s own commercial tenants, introduced payment holidays when requested. The Council had also sign posted businesses to the range of Government loans available. Retail charities were mainly covered by the grant and relief schemes as mentioned.
Councillor Jones asked a supplementary question to Councillor Moore.
“Thinking of tenants who get no financial help for lost income, such as private cleaners. Has the Council encouraged private landlords and Housing Associations, to which we have good relations, to forego rent for the period of lockdown and if not, would you consider doing so?”
Councillor Moore responded by stating that in respect of Housing Associations, considerable work had been undertaken to protect tenants and ensure that no one was evicted. He was unable to comment about the private sector, although he would be happy to supply an answer in the next seven days.
As a point of clarification, the Chief Executive advised that the Council had paid out over 83% of grants to eligible businesses and claimants in Rushcliffe and not 83% of businesses.
Question from Councillor Jones to Councillor Inglis.
“Has the establishment of track and trace arrangements resulted in the Council’s Environment Health expertise being in charge locally?”
Councillor Inglis responded by stating that the contact tracing arrangements were being led nationally by Public Health England and they were working with a range of professional bodies and the local Directors of Public Health (DPH). In turn the DPH’s would be working closely with local authority Environmental Health teams through the Local Resilience Forum to support the national response where required. However, the situation was evolving and in the early stages of information.
Councillor Jones asked a supplementary question to Councillor Inglis.
“Do I take it that we are confident that local people with local knowledge in Environmental Health will be involved, although you do not know the timescale?”
Councillor Inglis advised that currently timescales were unknown as it was being led at a national level and it would be filtered through to regional and borough level.
As a point of clarification, the Chief Executive advised that the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods had a background in Environmental Health and was involved in this work as it was progressing and developing. Local knowledge was key and the Council was working on that.
Question from Councillor Richard Mallender to Councillor Edyvean.
“When will the Council be re-opening the various contact centres around the Borough including the new one in West Bridgford?”
Councillor Edyvean responded by stating that the Council would only reopen its customer facing contact centres when Government guidance allowed it and no date was currently available. Some facilities were located in buildings not managed by the Council and the Council would work with those service providers. The Council was considering how it would provide the safest environment for visitors and staff at the West Bridgford contact centre and its other centres once they reopened. Although face-to-face access for customers was not currently possible, access to the Council’s advisors continued via telephone and email.
Councillor Mallender asked a supplementary question to Councillor Edyvean.
“Will the Council give consideration when the centres do reopen to constructing or putting in place shelters and possibly seating outside the contact centres as a number of shops have done locally to provide residents with shelter from the inclement weather?”
Councillor Edyvean confirmed that the Council was looking at measures for managing people and he would provide a written response within the next seven days.
Question from Councillor Gray to Councillor Robinson.
"I would first like to extend a thank you from the Labour group to the Cabinet and the officers of the Council for their hard work and decisive action in this unprecedented time.
We would like to support you as best we can in this time and would ask:
How can we fulfil our role as a critical friend and work together to look at the Council’s response to the COVID pandemic and be more involved going forwards?"
Councillor Robinson responded by thanking Councillor Gray for his comments and confirming that the Council’s cross-party scrutiny system was well established and the input from those meetings was welcomed. Scrutiny meetings would resume in July 2020, some member groups were being held in June 2020 and monthly Group Leaders meetings were taking place. Budget workshops were being arranged for September 2020 and all Councillors would be notified of those dates shortly. He would continue to be happy to respond to any queries from the opposition groups.
Councillor Gray asked a supplementary question to Councillor Robinson.
“Would you agree, in this new way of working it is going to take some significant cultural change in the Council for everyone to get used to distance and online working and the sooner we start to meet online, whether formally or informally the better and the easier we will adjust to this change?”
Councillor Robinson agreed that it was important to have this communication and confirmed that all Councillors would meet at the full Council meeting in July 2020. As referred to previously, scrutiny groups would resume their meetings in July 2020 and regular Group Leaders meeting would continue to take place.
Question from Councillor Thomas to Councillor Edyvean.
“As stated in Para 5.3 of the report on emergency decisions:
"reopening leisure facilities will be a challenging operation with elements of social distancing likely to be in place for the foreseeable future".
With this being the case, and given the challenges developing in the budget, is the council reconsidering the timetable for the Bingham Leisure Centre capital project, and if so, are there plans for the relevant member group to meet to discuss before tender documents go out?”
Councillor Edyvean responded by stating that at the Cabinet meeting in June 2020, a report would be considered where permission to proceed with tender would be covered, subject to the Covid-19 impact. The Council would need to review all capital projects not yet started and it was anticipated that a revised budget would be reviewed in September 2020. The Bingham Leisure Centre Member Working Group would be reconvened shortly for a full update.
Councillor Thomas asked a supplementary question of Councillor Edyvean.
“Has consideration been given to the fact that the design may need to be altered to facilitate social distancing going forward?”
Councillor Edyvean advised that he would provide a written response within the next seven days.
Question from Councillor Thomas to Councillor Moore.
“Are there any plans to resume car park charges?”
Councillor Moore responded by stating that the Council would continue to follow both Government advice and adopt a ‘common sense’ approach in terms of when it would be the appropriate time to re-introduce car parking charges. The Council would balance the impact of the decision in terms of supporting the local retail sector, and most importantly still considering the health and well-being of the community and lastly the ongoing financial impact to the Council. The community would be notified of when that was planned in due course.