Minutes:
(A) Mr Crooks asked the following question of the
Leader or his nominee:-
“The 159 route runs between Coalville and
Hinckley, via local villages of Ibstock, Nailstone, Barlestone, Newbold
Verdon, Market Bosworth, Stapleton and Barwell.
Some villages such as Stapleton will have no buses at all if this service is
cut!
The service is used by School Children/Students who go to College in
Hinckley, people who work and more senior residents who have no other means of
transport to go shopping, etc. With local Post Offices, Pubs and Shops closing
in the rural areas, the loss of this service will only increase isolation of
villagers who do not drive.
Could the Lead Member advise me what the Council intends to do to ensure
that the residents served by the 159 bus route will continue to have a public
bus service?”
Mr Pain replied as follows:-
“On 16th October 2018 the Cabinet adopted its new passenger
transport policy and strategy. This
policy and strategy sets out how the County Council will meet its statutory
duties and deliver (where the policy need is established) fit for purpose and
value for money passenger transport services across Leicestershire.
The County Council fully appreciates the importance of people being
able to access key services. This is why
the new policy and strategy affords priority to connecting people to food
shopping, primary healthcare and employment opportunities at local centres.
I can confirm, following Roberts Coaches registration to withdraw the
159 service from 22nd December 2018, that the County Council has
agreed to provide a subsidy to enable them to continue running the service
until the end of June 2019. This is in line with the majority of the
other services currently subsidised by the County Council. This extension
to June 2019 also allows time for a full review of this, and all other
subsidised services, against the new policy assessment criteria with the
results of that assessment being used to decide on the most
fit for purpose passenger transport outcome for each service from mid 2019.
The County Council will continue to provide transport funding support
for eligible school pupils and community transport continues to be a service on
offer for those people unable to use conventional passenger transport.”
(B) Dr
Eynon asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:-
“Despite increasing prevalence of Type 2 Diabetes in Leicestershire many public events still rely on unsuitable sweet-biscuits and cake as the default snack option. What are the barriers and enablers to developing this Council’s public-facing catering offer so that it demonstrates our Public Health priorities?”
Mrs Posnett replied
as follows:-
“The catering ordering page on the Council intranet has options such as wraps and fruit readily available to order. Therefore the issue is down to changing the behaviour of people placing the order.
To promote healthy eating alternatives a paragraph has recently been added to the online order form:
“Before you order your refreshments we thought you may be interested to know that more healthy options are available in buffets, and fruit is available as well as/instead of biscuits. Also please do contact us if you have any special dietary requirements or need information about allergens.”
The head chef has also been asked to review the range of alternatives on offer.
Ultimately diet is a matter of individual responsibility, but by making healthy alternatives more prominent on the order form the Council would seek to encourage healthy eating. Members can play their part by taking a lead in putting down the custard creams and picking up the carrots.
Across the Council the Workplace Health and Well Being Strategy Group, co-chaired by Corporate Resources and Public Health and supported by voluntary departmental health and wellbeing coordinator and champions, helps develop plans and activities to promote the wellbeing of staff.”
Dr Eynon asked the
following supplementary question:-
“Are there any plans to both celebrate and promote this change to audiences beyond this Council, perhaps to our District and Borough Councils and other public partners?”
Mrs Posnett replied
as follows:-
“We are at the moment looking at producing a Food Strategy so we are talking with district councils, retailers, food producers, local cafes and restaurants. It is not necessarily just about people’s weight, it is about food from field to fork and what we can do to improve that for where we live. I think it is well worth reminding people that you do not have to eat that biscuit, it is your choice whether you eat it or not.”
(C) Mr
Welsh asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:-
“With regard to Education, Health and Care Plans (EHCPs) could the Leader let me know for each academic year since 2014:-
(a) The number of plans requested?
(b) The number of assessments carried out?
(c) The number of appeals made by parents or carers to the Special Educational Needs and Disability Tribunal and how many of these appeals were successful?”
Mr Ould replied as
follows:-
(a) 2014/15 - 516
2015/16 - 576
2016/17 - 640
2017/18 – 887
(b) 2014/15 - 354
2015/16 - 395
2016/17 - 396
2017/18 – 635
|
(c) |
2014/2015 |
2015/2016 |
2016/2017 |
2017/2018 |
|
|
Total tribunals |
30 |
21 |
84 |
80 |
|
|
Tribunal outcome |
Resolved prior to
tribunal |
18 |
15 |
63 |
52 |
|
Tribunal ordered
in favour of parent |
6 |
4 |
17 |
13 |
|
|
Tribunal ordered
in favour of LA |
6 |
0 |
3 |
2 |
|
|
Ongoing |
0 |
0 |
0 |
13 |
|
|
Transferred to
another LA |
0 |
2 |
1 |
0 |
|
Mr Welsh asked the
following supplementary question:-
“Firstly, can the Lead Member speculate as to why we have seen a 166% rise in the number of appeals and the second part of my question is, in the very useful table it says that we resolve a large number of these prior to tribunal, I just wondered how do we do that?”
Mr Ould replied as
follows:-
“I'll take the second one first if I may? In terms of how it is done it is on an individual case-by-case basis taking into account the evidence that parents provide and that other professionals provide. It is after all an Education, Health and Care Assessment Plan and dependent upon the individual circumstances will be the final conclusions that go into that. In terms of the increase in numbers, I have been asked to speculate. I have therefore no evidence to substantiate what I am now saying but there are potentially three reasons. One is unintended consequences by the Department for Education in the introduction of Education, Health and Care Plans because this situation is not unique to Leicestershire, it is nationwide. Secondly, the use of social media: we have very clear evidence that parents of children with similar disabilities communicate with each other and frequently try to recommend schools. The third is, I think, fairly clear that as our society expands and the quality of our schools goes up so parents try and exercise greater choice than actually the parameters of making an Education, Health and Care Assessment allow.”
(D) Mr
Miah asked the following question of the Leader or his nominee:-
“Could the Lead Member inform the Council on how many road traffic
collisions involving pedestrians have occurred in Loughborough in the past
three years? Of those reported how many resulted in fatalities?
Could the Lead Member advise what actions the Council takes in
terms of investigations and any preventative measures following a serious or
fatal accident?”
Mr Pain replied as
follows:-
“In the past three years (1st October 2015 to 30th September 2018) 43 injury accidents involving pedestrians were recorded within the area of Loughborough. There were no fatalities.
Accident reports submitted by the Police are usually three months behind
although preliminary notifications for fatalities are reported
immediately. As such we are aware of the
two recent fatal accidents. On 11th November 2018, a 64 year old man
tragically lost his life on Holt Drive and then on 13th November
2018 a 12 year old boy tragically lost his life on Meadow Lane.
Following any fatal accident officers undertake urgent investigations
to ensure that there is no highway defect which could have been a contributory
factor in the incident. In doing so they
will analyse the information provided by the Police, to determine if the Police
have highlighted any cause for concern regarding the highway. The investigations for the above two
fatalities concluded that there were no highway defects found to have been a
contributing factor.
Each year a Casualty Reduction report is produced for Leicestershire.
This report analyses all the reportable injury accidents in the county. The report is presented annually at the
Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny meeting in February/March. Any areas of significant concern are
highlighted in this report and officers will then request funding to carry out
works based on the evidence contained in the report. Whilst it is fully appreciated that one
accident is one too many, the adopted process for dealing with reportable
injury accidents is clearly set out in the Casualty Reduction Report and is
based on an evidence led approach which ensures parity across the county.
As part of business as usual all safety concerns highlighted to the
Council by members, parishes, residents or other bodies are investigated and
appropriate action taken where necessary.”
Mr Miah asked the
following supplementary question:-
“The background for this question is a tragic death in a road traffic accident of a 12 year old boy on his way home in the early evening of 13 November. It also centres on a cluster of other road traffic accidents involving pedestrians in Loughborough around that time last month. This incident has been very difficult and the Police, Ambulance Service and County Council officers have been magnificent so I cannot fault them there. However, I am seeking assurances from Mr Pain as the Lead Member that, following concerns raised by myself and local residents and who live near to the scene of the accident, everything that can be done will be done to make that area a safer place for our children?”
Mr Pain replied as
follows:-
“First of all, my condolences to both of the people that tragically lost their lives in accidents in November including the young boy that you spoke about. In terms of giving assurances, as you will see from the response, the Department does investigate as to whether there are highway defects that may be a contributory factor towards accidents. In this instance that does not seem to be the case. I can give you with the assurances that we do investigate, we do a thorough job, and if remedial works and other improvements are needed then through the normal processes those bids will be put in and we will seek to ensure that our roads are in the safest possible condition.”