Minutes:
(A) Dr Hill asked the following question of the
Leader or his nominee:
“Can the Leader or his nominee supply the following:
1. A
list of holdings in terms of acreage and the capital value of County farms?
2. The
value of farm land sold in the last 3 years and details of what these capital
receipts were spent on?
3. Confirmation
that the farm rental revenue is still used for re-investment in the farms or,
if not, what it is used for?
4. What
the County’s strategy is for County farm holdings in terms of delivering LCC/LAA priorities?”
Dr Feltham replied as follows:
“1. The County Farms Estate comprises 82
2. In the past 3 years the value of sales
of
3. The revenue surpluses of the County Farms Trading Account, to which rents contribute, are used to fund the general revenue expenditure of the County Council and cannot be identified as having been spent on anything specific.
4. Whilst
the primary aim of the farm strategy is to support an effective and efficient
estate making a positive contribution to the Authority, it also supports a wide
range of LAA/LCC priorities in the form of safer
environment, thriving towns and villages, stronger communities and the economy.
Examples include community benefit such as affordable housing, rural businesses
and direct and indirect employment.”
(B) Mr Bailey asked the following question of
the Leader or his nominee:
“1. How many of Leicestershire County
Council's School Crossing Patrol posts are currently vacant?
2. How many of these posts have been
unfilled for over three months?
3. (i) Is the Leader aware that a School Crossing Patrol post at Grove Road, Blaby has been vacant for over a year, and that another Crossing Patrol post on Leicester Road, Glen Parva has been vacant since September, 2006?
(ii) What measures does the Leader intend to take to fill these posts, since their continued vacancy leaves young children and their families at risk on a daily basis?"
Mr Ould replied
as follows:
“1. There are
currently 48 vacant posts, from a total number of 152 approved sites. However, 5 of these have patrols appointed but
are awaiting CRB clearance before being allowed to
take up their duties.
2. All 48 have been vacant for
over 3 months.
3. (i) I would
like to thank Mr Bailey for bringing this information to my attention. I was not previously aware of this. The 2 posts have indeed been vacant for the
periods stated by Mr Bailey.
(ii) There have already been recruitment leaflet drops in the local
vicinities of the crossing sites.
Newsletters and individual letters have been sent by the relevant
schools directly to parents seeking volunteers but with no success.
A survey of the Council’s current patrols was
recently undertaken to ascertain what attracted them to the post. Many
responded that their children attended the school and the hours suited their
lifestyle. This is why parents are being
targeted.
Officers are planning to visit schools
with patrol vacancies to speak to parents and offer information about the post
of Crossing Patrol.”
Mr Bailey asked the following supplementary
question on the reply to question 2:
“In view of the fact that a third of all of
our Leicestershire School Crossing Patrols have been unfilled or vacant for
over three months, does he not believe that there is a need to have an urgent
review of the conditions of service of these Crossing Patrols and of our own
recruitment processes for these posts, which are essential for children’s
safety?”
Mr Ould replied as
follows:
“I would not disagree with what Mr Bailey
has just said. We are looking into the
issue of appointing of School Crossing Patrols.
We do labour under the fact that we pay less in the County than they can
afford to pay in the City but most of the information that we get in terms of
the satisfaction that people have with this is to do with the fact that they
have relatives or children actually at the school. When we have been into this in the past,
before Mr Bailey in fact became a County Councillor, one of the issues at the
time that caused us a loss of applicants and indeed a lot of people in post,
was the arrogant, abusive attitude of motorists, many of whom were actually
dropping children off at school and parked very badly on zig
zag lines. I
do not honestly know how we get round that particular problem but I will
undertake to go into this again and to come back to him in the future.”
(C) Mr
Galton asked the following question of the Leader or
his nominee:
“Could the Leader please provide
answers to the following questions relating to waste management.
1. How many tonnes of waste were sent to landfill in each
of the 7 district council areas during the last year for which
figures are available?
2. What was the average cost per tonne of disposing of this
waste?
3. What is the current level of landfill tax per tonne and what
was the total amount of landfill tax paid by the County Council during the
last year?
4. Is any information available on how much landfill tax will
increase by over the next few years?
5. How much money will be received by the County and District
Councils if the LAA target for recycling is met,
how will this money be shared out and how much additional waste must be
recycled to meet the target compared to current recycling levels?
6. What will be the cost per tonne to this authority if
the County Council incurs penalties as a consequence of the introduction
of Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS)?
7. Based on anticipated waste arisings
and recycling levels, what is the estimated amount of waste which needs to be
diverted from landfill to avoid incurring LATS
penalties?”
Prof
Preston replied as follows:
“1. We have
figures for 2006/07 for how many tonnes each District Council sent to landfill:
-
|
District |
MSW tonnage sent
to landfill in 2006/07 |
||
|
District |
County Council Civic Amenity Sites |
Total (tonnes) |
|
|
BDC |
23,144 |
16,326 |
39,470 |
|
CBC |
33,200 |
16,405 |
49,605 |
|
HDC |
21,960 |
9,154 |
31,114 |
|
HBBC |
23,411 |
8,892 |
32,303 |
|
MBC |
11,753 |
5,760 |
17,513 |
|
NWLDC |
28,431 |
10,464 |
38,895 |
|
OWBC |
10,782 |
5,313 |
16,095 |
|
Total |
152,681 |
72,314 |
224,995 |
From Wastetrac figures with PI adjustments included.
2. In
2006/07 the average cost per tonne for Landfill Disposal was £19.28.
3. In 2006/07
the Authority paid £4,346,114 in Landfill Tax.
This was at a rate of £21 per tonne for active waste and £2 per tonne
for inactive waste.
Landfill Tax has risen to £24 per tonne for active waste and remained at £2 per tonne for inactive waste 2007/08.
4. From
This means Landfill Tax will be: -
|
Year |
Standard Landfill Tax Rate £ per tonne |
|
2007/08 |
24 |
|
2008/09 |
32 |
|
2009/10 |
40 |
|
2010/11 |
48 |
5. The forecast gross tonnage increase required in Recycling
and Composting to meet the LAA is approximately
25,000 tonnes.
If all
the three elements of the LAA waste management target
are met reward monies of £1.28m will be received. Leicestershire Together will
consider where this funding will be invested along with the reward funding
received from the achievement from the other 11 LAA
targets. The total amount of reward funding that could be received is £15.4m.
The first call on the reward funding will be the repayment of £1.4m of pump
priming funding made available from the County Council to establish projects to
aid the achievement of all 12 targets.
6. The penalty for exceeding the landfill allowances will be
£150 per tonne together with a proportion of the potential fines that would be imposed
by the European Union to those member states in breach of the Landfill
Directive in the target years.
7.
|
Year |
Minimum reduction in Landfill required (nearest 10,000 Tonnes) |
|
|
2008/09 |
0 |
|
|
2009/10 |
20,000 |
|
|
2010/11 |
50,000 |
|
|
2011/12 |
80,000 |
|
|
2012/13 |
110,000 |
|
|
2013/14 |
120,000 |
|
Further years’ estimates are available. The above figures assume 2% gross waste growth; no further increases in recycling; and that no additional allowances are purchased by the County Council.”
Mr
Galton asked the following supplementary question:
“Would the Leader agree with me that the recent press coverage and
debate on refuse and waste has concentrated on service delivery and collection
arrangements but very little has been said about the increasing financial cost
of waste and, in particular, the massive bill facing the Council Tax payer if
we fail to divert more waste from landfill and recycle more?”
Prof
Preston replied as follows:
“I entirely agree with Mr Galton. We are currently sitting in a position where
if we do not manage to divert waste and, as you can see from the answer, in
2009/10 I think we have probably got that covered but the remainder of it gets
worse as you can see. I do believe one
of the problems we have got is that there seems to be an attitude in central
Government that it is the collection authorities who take most of the problems,
in terms of recycling, but the County has got the problem of disposing of
it. I do believe over the course of the
next nine months or so we will have a much stronger strategy to handle that,
but we do need some much stronger guidance from central Government.”
(D) Mrs
Camamile asked the following question of the Leader
or his nominee:
“1. Would
the Leader care to comment on the wholly inaccurate and misleading statement
contained in recent election material being circulated in the Hinckley area
published on behalf of the Liberal Democrats suggesting that there were plans
to close The Limes and that “Local people will be forced to move away from
their families and loved ones”?
2. Would
he agree with me that scaremongering of this nature is not only extremely
distressing to vulnerable elderly people but also brings the whole of local government
into disrepute?”
Mr Parsons replied as follows:
“1. My
concern is for the people who were alarmed and misled by this irresponsible
statement. The Director of Adult Social
Care and Health has indicated that managers, staff and residents were all taken
aback by the report which was contrary to the information which the County
Council had provided in the consultation document and at the consultation
meeting at the home. He has confirmed
that it caused unnecessary anxiety, particularly for the residents. I am grateful for the professionalism shown
by the Director and his staff in responding quickly to put the record straight
and reassure the people affected.
2. Yes,
absolutely, and I would add that if behaviour of this nature is not already against
the law or the relevant codes of conduct I certainly believe that it should
be.”
Mrs
Camamile asked the following supplementary question:
“Does the Leader not agree that an apology
would be in order from the Liberal Democrats in
Mr Parsons replied as follows:
“It was a most disreputable campaign run by the Liberal Democrats and it
grieves me to say that to this Chamber.
I think a little humility on their part would go a long way to redress
the balance within
(E) Mr
Jennings asked the following question of the Chairman of the Constitution
Committee:
“In view of the concerns expressed by Liberal Democrat and Labour Councillors at the large increase in the Basic Allowance now paid to all members, financed mainly by a reduction in Special Responsibility Payments to Conservative members, would the Leader please tell me how many Liberal Democrat and Labour Councillors have refused to accept this increase?”
Mr Parsons replied as
follows:
“None.”