Council - lots of questions, less answers
Last night was Full Council, when the 51 Councillors from across the Borough come together. It was a slightly unusual meeting in that there were no motions for debate, and so the entire evening was given over to questions to The Leader.
First there was public question time, with questions received about a variety of topics from speed-humps to elderly care. It was great to see that, because sometimes there aren’t any questions from the gallery and I wonder whether anyone knows or cares about our meetings. I was slightly disappointed that the elderly care question was brushed off with a bland “we’ll take your views into consideration” type response. The member of the public asking the question was really in some distress, and I think that it may have been more appropriate to arrange a private meeting for a more detailed discussion on what is clearly a troubling issue.
Normally the Lib Dem group try to ask about five questions to the Leader when members get the chance, and there often are a few others scattered about the place from other members. Last night there were nineteen (!) written questions, including six from a single Councillor, each with at least one supplementary question. There were also about four verbal questions afterwards. The whole process lasted a good hour and a half, and sapped the will from my very soul towards the end.
I asked two questions. First about the promised “deep-clean” of Prestwich, and the general littered natured of our streets. The second was about what powers the Council is using in relation to dog fouling. I wasn’t expecting an answer to the dog question because I gave no advance notice. But the answer I got on street cleaning was very disappointing indeed, and a slap in the face for Prestwich residents who were promised a deep clean which hasn’t happened and which now probably won’t. I was very annoyed.
The final part of the meeting was questions to outside bodies. In the absence of the Council’s Passenger Transport Authority spokesman, I stood in as his Deputy and answered two questions on the TIF bid and congestion charging, and answered a couple of questions on congestion charging, which I will post about in a second.
All in all, an a-typical meeting, but one which covered a lot of subjects, and highlighted the huge agenda which the Council has to deal with.
Rick
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