The Council has to respect the legislation passed by the last government. One of the rights it gives is for Councillors to ask questions of those holding Cabinet/Executive responsibilities.
So at Thursday’s Council meeting around 50 questions have been tabled. Although some are mundane, others could provide information which could be of interest to residents. Some examples:
• EMPTY SHOPS “What proportion of retail and office space is currently empty in each of the City’s sub-urban wards and how does this compare to the City Centre? How much of the “Innovation & Delivery Fund” and the “Economic Infrastructure Fund” does the Cabinet Leader intend to allocate to regeneration initiatives in sub-urban employment centres such as Acomb Front Street?”
• COUNCIL HQ COSTS “Why is the Council purchasing 2405 new seats for the new Council offices when fewer than 1000 staff and visitors are likely to be in the building at any one time?” “What proportion of the furniture at the new HQ will be reused units from the existing offices?”
• CHARGES FOR SPORTS “Following the latest Cabinet decisions, the level of concessionary charges for pensioners playing bowls on public greens will have doubled since Labour took over the leadership of the Council 18 months ago. How many concessionary tickets for this activity have been sold in each of the last 2 years, how much income has this produced for the Council and what are the forecast sales for 2013?”
• CHARGES FOR SPORTS “In September the Cabinet promised to build on the legacy of the Olympics and improve sports participation in York. How does this fit with the plans to increase tennis court charges by 16.7% and 33% for concessions?”
• CARE VILLAGE DELAYS “The Cabinet agreed an April 2014 completion date for the new ‘Care Village’ which is to be built on the former Lowfields School site. When does the Cabinet Member now expect the new Lowfields Care Village will be completed and available for occupation? What are the reasons for any delay?”
• HOUSING WAITING LIST “How many people were registered on the housing waiting list in York when:
– The Cabinet Member took up post
– At the end of November 2012
How many additional social housing units have been occupied, and how many “new starts” on affordable housing units have been made, over the same period of time?”
• WONDERLAND “Following 2012’s ‘Illuminating York’ debacle, will the Cabinet Member assure the council that the 2013 event will revert to its previous successful format?”
• LIBRARIES “Can the Cabinet Member confirm when the public will be consulted on whether they want libraries to be transferred out of council control?”
• FLOODING “What improvements are planned to the council gully clearing regime in view of the experience of recent floods and periods of intense rainfall?”
• BUSES “How many ‘All York’ tickets have been sold each month since the launch?”
• BUSES “At the October Council meeting the Cabinet Member agreed to “look into” publishing reliability information provided by those bus operators providing services under Council contracts, as well as asking the bus operators to authorise the Council to publish the number of “All York” tickets sold each month. What progress has been made and where can bus passengers in York now access reliability information for the services that they use?
• BUSES “Why did the Cabinet Member decide to consider at a private meeting the Bus Improvement Study report which was only made available publicly after decisions had been made on its recommendations?”
• CHARGING FOR GREEN WASTE COLLECTION “At the October Council meeting the Cabinet Member said “Cabinet will consider a report on options for garden waste in December – there will be a consultation following consideration of this report”. Subsequently the report was withdrawn from the Cabinet agenda for December. Would the Cabinet Member confirm it is still his intention to publish such a report, what options it will consider and when, and how, members of the public will be consulted on any proposed changes to existing collection arrangements?”
• STREET LIGHTING “Street lighting standards have fallen in several streets following the recent installation of new lampposts, including Lendal Bridge and Gale Lane. Has the Cabinet Member visited these locations, can he confirm when the outstanding work will be completed and illumination levels returned to, at least, those enjoyed before the “modernisation” programme was started?”
• RESIDENTS CONSULTATION “Why has the Cabinet Member abandoned the annual ballot which the Council ran for over 10 years and which revealed residents spending priorities at a ward level?
• CREMATORIUM “Could the Cabinet Member update Council on the renovation work on York Crematorium, on Bishopthorpe Road. When is the work due to be completed, were all parts ordered and received on time, if there are any delays what has caused them, is the work still within the planned budget, and have any additional expenses been incurred?
Traditionally the media in York neither publish the questions that have been tabled or the answers provided. That is a shame.
A full list of questions can be found here: http://tinyurl.com/Questions-13th-Dec