To answer questions received under Council Procedure Rule 6.2.
NB In accordance with the provisions of Council Procedure Rule 6.2.9 there will be a maximum of 30 minutes allowed for questions and answers. Any question not answered within the 30 minute time limit will receive a written reply within 5 working days.
Minutes:
The following questions were asked under Council Procedure Rule 6.2.2:-
(a) Councillor T L B Janke asked the following question of Councillor R A Overton, Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member: Housing, Enforcement & Transport:
“Newport residents have been left devastated by the news that the Royal Victoria Hotel is potentially set to be demolished, a situation that has come about by developers claiming viability issues with their original plans and the building left to rot to its foundations. What, if anything, can this council do to prevent such a scenario happening going forward now the same developer has put forward a new application to prevent this vicious cycle of plans being watered down?”
Councillor Overton responded that the Royal Victoria Hotel was a Grade 1 listed building; the site benefitted from planning consent to convert the building into apartments. With regards to the developer’s proposals, these would not be looked at favourably by the Council and any application would need to be submitted to Historic England.
The owner of the property had not completed the required work to make the site safe so the Council had instructed specialist contractors to undertake this work. The contractors were due to be on site within the next two weeks.
(b) Councillor P J Scott asked the following question of Councillor R A Overton, Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member: Housing, Enforcement & Transport:
“I applaud what the council have done to provide new rural buses but this has come at the expense of the Wrekin Rider Red Bus which many people local to Newport depend on. Dial a Ride does help some with specific disabilities but many elderly now feel cut off from the town centre and face, in many cases, a difficult walk into town. The new bus routes do not help these people. Will the council consider bringing the Red Bus service back to Newport?”
Councillor Overton stated that bus services impacted every community in the Borough. Following the Motion which had been passed by Council in January 2023, Cllr Overton had written to the Secretary of State seeking their support to improve local bus services but had yet to receive a response.
The Council had launched a new bus route for Newport, in addition to the Express 100 and Western 101 services. The service had been well received with over 250 trips made in the first two days of operation.
Councillor Scott asked a supplementary question asking for clarification on the red bus service.
Councillor Overton responded that there was an ongoing conversation with Newport Town Council regarding this service.
(c) Councillor P J Scott asked the following question of Councillor R A Overton, Cabinet Member: Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member: Housing, Enforcement & Transport:
“Following on from the ongoing Royal Victoria Hotel and Greggs/Get Connected stability issues in Newport High Street and the collapse of the Tuckers building in the not too distant past, can the Cabinet Member explain what the Council can do to ensure that property owners / Landlords are aware of the potential for structural issues to occur in some of the older buildings in Newport to prevent a similar thing happening in the future?”
Councillor Overton advised that these two cases were very different. The works in relation to the Greggs building was unexpected and noted that the responsibility for property maintenance was the owners. Any contractors for buildings have a duty to ensure the work they carry out is appropriate. The Council does provide guidance on which works are appropriate.
Councillor Scott asked a supplementary question and asked if it was possible for daily communication to be given to residents of Newport on the progress of the building.
Councillor Overton stated that the local Councillors were regularly
updated by the Council and the Council would continue to update the
community as and when the situation changed.
(d) Councillor V A Fletcher asked the following question of Councillor S A W Reynolds Cabinet Member: Children, Young People & Families:
“Following the discussion at full Council in July 2021 regarding the June 2021 OFSTED report in which it was found that 90% of children and young people reported they had been sexually harassed, what action has been taken by Telford & Wrekin schools to address this?”
Councillor Reynolds stated that the report was a national report and was not specific to Telford and Wrekin, the report was based on a small sample of schools, none of which were in the Borough. Nonetheless, the conclusions of the report was extremely important and all Local Authorities were asked to review their policies and procedures; the Education Safeguarding Team locally had led the response. All Schools had been provided with the Brooke Traffic Light toolkit free of charge.
(e) Councillor V A Fletcher asked the following question of Councillor P R Watling, Cabinet Member: Stronger and Safer Communities:
“What is the current state of safety for women and girls in our Borough?”
Councillor Watling advised that most residents of the Borough agreed that their neighbourhood was a safe place to live in the recent community survey. A further recent survey specifically focused on the safety of women and girls had taken place.
(f) Councillor T L B Janke asked the following question of Councillor K Middleton, Cabinet Member: Leisure, Public Health and Well-being, Equalities and Partnerships:
“In a recent BBC program, it was highlighted that children as young as 9 years old have been using vaping products in the UK. In addition, concerns raised by the Local Government Association and the wider community about the sale of vaping products to children, even in our very own borough. We are certainly no exception when it comes to this trend. It is clear that the colourful alluring packaging and different flavours such as bubble gum are designed to attract a young demographic. Does the cabinet member for public health agree with me and many residents in the borough that vaping products should be regulated in a similar way as tobacco products, with plain packaging and a requirement for products to be kept out of sight behind shop counters?”
Councillor Middleton advised that vaping supported adult smokers to switch from tobacco, however, it was illegal to sell any vaping product to anyone aged under 18. Councillor Middleton stated that she would write to the Secretary of State asking for action to be taken such as taxing disposable vapes, stricter regulation around advertising and prohibiting certain features such as light up or character vapes.
Councillor Janke asked a supplementary question if the Cabinet Member would be willing to work with the Health and Wellbeing Board and licensing committee to put forward a joint report on the dangers of vaping which could be shared with schools.
Councillor Middleton confirmed she would be willing to do so.
(g) Councillor N A Dugmore asked the following question of Councillor L D Carter, Cabinet Member: Neighbourhood Services, Regeneration and the High Street:
“After the revelation 8 months ago that over 1000 children in Telford and Wrekin were victims of child sexual abuse, why are there no public progress reports on the 37 recommendations made by the inquiry commissioned by this Council, not even as an agenda item at this meeting?”
Councillor Carter advised that the Crowther report contained 47 recommendations, rather than 37, which were broken down into 149 actions, over 100 of which were the sole responsibility of the Council. Almost a quarter of the actions had been completed so far, although a number of outstanding actions were linked to an annual report which was due to be published in July. All recommendations were on track to be completed by the autumn.
Councillor Dugmore asked a supplementary question.
Councillor Carter stated that the Conservative Group had not engaged with the cross-party Members group and offered reassurance to all parents that safeguarding and protection of children was the Council’s number one priority.
(h) Councillor J Gough asked the following question of Councillor L D Carter, Cabinet Member: Neighbourhood Services, Regeneration and the High Street:
“Will the cabinet member support a trial of free bulk waste collection or community skips in Donnington to monitor the reduction in fly tipping with a view to extending the scheme across the Borough?”
Councillor Carter stated that the Council took fly tipping very seriously. The Council offered bulk waste collections and noted that every collection had been subsidised in some way. The actions taken by the Council had demonstrated a reduction in fly tipping of over 40%.
Councillor Gough asked a supplementary question regarding costs of community skips.
Councillor Carter stated that there were various schemes in place, which had been costed for in the proposed budget.