Agenda item

(1)          Question by Councillor J Taylor to the Cabinet Member – Economy Portfolio (Councillor Mather)

“Can Cllr Mather let me know what the current rate of recycling is in Kirklees, how that performance compares with its peers and whether the trend is positive or negative?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(2)          Question by Councillor J Taylor to the Cabinet Member – Corporate Portfolio (Councillor Khan)

“Could Cllr Khan please update Council on the delays to the Library Consultation and the consequent budgetary impact?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(3)          Question by Councillor Armer to the Cabinet Member – Adults and Public Health Portfolio (Councillor Kendrick)

“Can the Cabinet Member confirm that this Council has a robust evacuation plan in place which is capable of catering for the need to evacuate and accommodate hundreds of people?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(4)          Question by Councillor J Taylor to the Cabinet Member – Corporate Portfolio (Councillor Khan)

“Can you advise me of the number of new Play Areas which have been built in the last 20 years and also the number of existing play areas which have been refurbished in that time frame?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(5)          Question by Councillor Lawson to the Leader of the Council –

Councillor Sheard

“Will Cabinet undertake to review its decision to demolish the oldest building at Whitcliffe Mount School?

Will it also undertake to do everything in its power to explore ways of keeping part or the whole of the building, through negotiations with future developers?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(6)          Question by Councillor Lawson to the Cabinet Member – Corporate Portfolio (Councillor Khan)

“Will the Cabinet Member confirm that associations of friends of borough-wide open spaces will be consulted in the Play Review at the same time as Councillors, before the consultation with the public begins?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(7)          Question by Councillor Bellamy to the Cabinet Member – Economy Portfolio (Councillor Mather)

“Can the Cabinet Member please give the Council an update on fly tipping in Kirklees and tell us if there has been an increase since the tip changes were implemented?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(8)          Question by Councillor N Turner to the Cabinet Member – Adults and Public Health (Councillor Scott)

“Would the Cabinet member give us an update as to the safety of Kirklees buildings, in the light of the awful fire in Grenfell Tower, and what plans are in place to ensure something similar could not happen here?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(9)          Question by Councillor Lawson to the Cabinet Member – Corporate Portfolio (Councillor Khan)

“How many enquiries and complaints have there been about this year’s Council Tax ‘single persons allowance’ reminder letter?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(10)       Question by Councillor J Taylor to the Cabinet Member – Economy Portfolio (Councillor McBride)

“Can Councillor McBride confirm how the Council ensures social value and promotion of the local economy factor in selecting suppliers for catering and entertaining within Kirklees?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(11)       Question by Councillor Holmes to the Leader of the Council –

Councillor Sheard

“Why is there no route of appeal within the Community Asset Transfer process?”

The Leader replied thereto.

(12)       Question by Councillor Holmes to the Leader of the Council –

 Councillor Sheard

“I am now being forced into making a formal complaint against the Council, regarding how the Gomersal Community Group Expression of Interest to take over Red House Museum was rejected.  

Will the Cabinet review its approach before I am possibly also forced to take this to the Ombudsman?”

The Leader replied thereto.

(13)       Question by Councillor Holmes to the Cabinet Member – Childrens Portfolio (Councillor Hill)

“What is the current position regarding Kirklees Council Children’s Services?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(14)       Question by Councillor Armer to the Cabinet Member – Corporate Portfolio (Councillor Khan)

"I am informed by an elderly widowed Kirkburton resident that she has received a letter from Welfare & Exchequer Service advising her that she is required to use the Council website to confirm her continuing qualification for single occupier discount on her Council Tax assessment. She is threatened with a penalty of £70 plus loss of her Council Tax discount if she fails to respond by 25th July.

In previous years she has been offered an option to do this by telephone, but this is not offered now. She is instead advised to have a friend or relative use the web service on her behalf or, despite her advanced years, make her way to a Customer Service Centre.

My resident does not possess any equipment capable of accessing the internet and does not have an internet service provider. She has no relatives living in the Borough and no friend she would feel comfortable with asking to do this. In desperation, she has asked me to complete the online form for her.

Does the Cabinet Member think that this menacing missive is an acceptable standard of service provision?"

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(15)       Question by Councillor Watson to the Cabinet Member – Corporate Portfolio (Councillor Khan)

“I recently attended a training session on safeguarding for councillors which was run at Dewsbury Town Hall.  The session was an afternoon one with refreshments provided and this included bottles of mineral water.  Does the council purchase mineral water centrally and if so how much is expected to be spent on mineral water during this financial year?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(16)       Question by Councillor  Watson to the Cabinet Member – Economy Portfolio (Councillor Mather)

“There is a domestic recycling point at Leys Lane at Emley.  This is a site where containers are placed for recycling bottles and so forth but the site is now being used as a dump with waste simply being piled up at the side of the road.  Much of this appears to be waste of a commercial nature.  Should this site be used for this purpose and if not what should be done to prevent this?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(17)       Question by Councillor Watson to the Cabinet Member – Economy Portfolio (Councillor Mather)

“There is a textile factory in Scissett by the name of Phoenox Textiles in respect of which there have been a number of complaints locally about smells emanating from the site.  There is currently work under way to remediate this problem by way of the installation of a new chimney.   Does the regulation of emissions from a site such as this fall within the council’s remit and in any event does the council know what chemicals are emitted from the site and causing the smell?

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(18)       Question by Councillor Watson to the Cabinet Member – Childrens Portfolio (Councillor Hill)

“The OFSTED report on Services for Children in Kirklees which was published in November of last year recorded that;

“Current placement sufficiency arrangements are not meeting the needs of all children looked after. A very high percentage – 42.5% (277) – of the looked after population is placed outside Kirklees.”

The report went on to state with regards to foster carers:

“not enough potential carers are being identified and recruited to meet identified need.”

Foster care can be a challenging vocation and therefore it is understandable that it may be difficult to recruit carers and this leads to out of area placements but nevertheless the inspectors considered Kirklees to be inadequate in this regard.  Is the team responsible for recruiting foster carers sufficiently resourced and is the situation improving?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(19)       Question by Councillor Watson to the Deputy Leader of the Council (Councillor Pandor)

“At one of the meetings of council recently, April I think, a briefing was presented by the deputy leader to the Council on the Key Cities group.  The Key Cities Group is about providing our cities with more opportunities to boost the economic prosperity of the country.

Can the Deputy Leader please give some examples of how membership of the group has helped boost economic prosperity in Kirklees?

The Deputy Leader replied thereto.

(20)       Question by Councillor McGuin to the Cabinet Member – Corporate Portfolio (Councillor Khan)

“Can the Council assure me that the problems with bin collections in the Almondbury Ward area are being sorted out?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(21)       Question by Councillor McGuin to the Cabinet Member – Corporate Portfolio (Councillor Khan)

“Has the Council got any nearer to identifying a building to replace Tolson Museum?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.

(22)       Question by Councillor McGuin to the Leader of the Council (Councillor Sheard)

“Will the money left over from District Committees be passed to Ward Councillors?”

The Leader replied thereto.

(23)       Question Withdrawn

(24)       Question by Councillor Wilkinson to the Cabinet Member – Economy Portfolio (Councillor McBride)

“Is there any progress regarding the future of the Co-op Building on New Street?”

The Cabinet Member replied thereto.