Agenda item - Written questions from members of the public.

A list of public questions received by the due date of the 12 March 2009 will be circulated separately as part of an addendum at the meeting.

64.1       The Mayor reported that five written questions had been received from members of the public and invited Mr Elkin to come forward and address the council.

64.2       Mr. Elkin asked the following question:

“Hove Town Hall Housing Benefit.  To reopen the office will cost almost nothing.  By opening it 3 days a week (Mon - Wed - Fri) from 10am to 4pm, and I am sure either using staff from King's House or Hove Town Hall to staff it.  All it would cost is a few hours, a photocopy machine, and Brighton Town Hall will not be so busy.  In Hove there a number of old people (80's & 90's) that find it difficult to get to East Street, nearly three miles away."

64.3       Councillor Fallon-Khan stated that “The decision to close the Benefits Enquiry counter at Hove Town Hall was a very difficult one.  The closure was proposed because of a reduction in the grant the Benefits Service receives from Central Government.  The council believes a comprehensive service is offered by the Revenues and Benefits Team at Priory House, adjacent to Brighton Town Hall.  Services are fully accessible to all customers.  Facilities are in place to welcome customers with disabilities, including wheelchair ramps and appropriate interview accommodation.  Customers aged 60 or over are also entitled to free bus travel.  The 11X bus service directly links Hove Town Hall and Priory House. 

A telephone enquiry and advice service is available to customers throughout the week between 9.00am and 5.00pm.  Additionally, a home visiting service is available to all customers who are not able to come into the office because of a disability or incapacity to travel.  Appointments can be made by customers who contact the Benefits telephone enquiry team on Brighton 292000.  The service at Priory House is currently experiencing an increase in customers wishing to access the service, which is to be expected in the current economic climate and the council recognises that this has made the office extremely busy.  These are exceptional times.  From our peaks in January we are now experiencing a gradual decline in demand.

The decision to close the service at Hove Town Hall was made by Councillors at a meeting of the full Council on 28 February 2008, having consideration of all of the above.  It was made as part of the council's modernisation of services agenda, with the ultimate aim of achieving value for money across all services.

As a service recently rated at the maximum Four Stars by the Audit Commission in the recent CPA assessment the council has the highest assurance that the Benefit Service is performing well.  There are currently no plans to open any further public service offices.  However, I would like to assure you that the council will monitor the impact of the changes to its provision of services and remains committed to providing access to all services in the most cost effective and efficient way.”

64.4       Mr. Elkin asked the following supplementary question:

“In the house that I live in there are six flats, all with elderly people including a 93 year old, an 86 year old and an 83 year old).  The 86 year old has just had heart trouble and cannot travel.  It is very, very difficult for people to do that.  You say about home visits, you cannot get a home visit.  We have just had a rent review that starts on 4 May.  Now I can get to Brighton but because I am unemployed I walk, that’s two miles there and two miles back, I cannot afford bus fares all the time.  With elderly people like that, with a pension and heart trouble and things like that it’s so difficult for them.  All you need really is a photocopy machine in Hove Town Hall, where you can ask questions, so it could be photocopied and the photocopy then sent to Brighton.”

64.5       Councillor Fallon-Khan responded, “In terms of being able to get a home visit, we will look into that for you.  If it’s alright with you Mr Elkin, I will have a quick chat with you after you leave the Chamber.  Obviously, there are rules and procedures on part of the agenda and that is set very widely, so we will look into that for you.  If you are a pensioner you can apply for a free bus pass but in terms of the home visits I’ll have a chat with you afterwards and we will see what we can do in the Benefits Team and if there are people that are on benefits that need a home visit we will make sure that they get one.”

64.6       The Mayor thanked Mr. Elkin for his questions and invited Mr. Hawtree to come forward and address the council.

64.7       Mr. Hawtree asked the following question:

"Could Councillor Smith please tell us when work will begin on providing the Jubilee Library with the much-needed, well-filled proper shelving for whose illumination more than two hundred electrical outlets were installed across the ground floor when the building was opened?"

64.8       Councillor Smith stated “I think Mr Hawtree you have been misinformed.  There are not two hundred electrical outlets across the ground floor of the Jubilee Library.  The floor boxes that people can see are part of the conduit grid that was installed to enable us to be more flexible with the location of the IT points in the building.  Only those that are needed for the existing computers have any sockets in them, and the rest of the boxes will only be used if we need to move anything to a new location.  The floor boxes have nothing to do with the shelving units that are freestanding across the whole building.”

64.9       Mr. Hawtree asked the following supplementary question:

“In light of this electrical sockets are adaptable and they would certainly suit the shelving which was intended for the building instead of the rather meagre provision which ended up and which needs to be improved.

In light of your apparent unwillingness to provide this shelving, I am wondering whether you are disassociating yourself from David Cameron, whose Culture Spokesman, Ed Vasey, has recently said in a key library speech on World Books Day: ‘It is in books that writers make and have made the most intimate communication, not just in information but in the subtleties and creation of life and experience.  Libraries are about books: a library without books, lots of books is not a library.’

Councillor Smith could you reassure readers by offering your view of the emphasis Mr Vasey has made in his keynote speech and whether we can see this exemplified in due course in Brighton?”

64.10    Councillor Smith responded, “We have just had the Local Government Association Culture, Tourism and Sports Conference in the city.  Chief Officers and Leaders of Councils all over the country have congratulated Brighton’s Library Service on the ability we have to service the public here and if you remember, because you weren’t here at the last Council meeting, unanimously this council supported the Library Plan for 2009 to 2012 and a lot of these things will be investigated in the next three years and I will tell you this now, our libraries are good and they are very good in this city.”

64.11    The Mayor thanked Mr. Hawtree for his questions and invited Mr. Poole to come forward and address the council.

64.12    Mr. Poole asked the following question:

"Last year, leaflets distributed to residents in East Brighton announced the coming of street bins in the summer of 2009.  An illustration showed a bin with a pedal?operated lid, yet rumour suggests those installed will lack this facility and be of inferior design.  Will Councillor Theobald state the prices of each design, and the overall saving envisaged by this apparent cutback?"

64.13    Councillor Theobald stated “Thank you for your question.  There are no savings as the bins are exactly the same price.  Some people had complained that the lids on the bins with a pedal had a tendency to catch in the wind, flap open and cause a banging noise.  In Craven Vale and Donald Hall we tried a new design and have had no reported problems.  That is why the new design has been introduced: it has nothing to do with the question of price, they are both exactly the same.”

64.14    Mr. Poole asked the following supplementary question:

“Lids have been ripped off the new street bins and seagulls trapped inside.  Will the council pause in its implementation of these bins until resources allow the purchase of a better design (I accept what you said Geoffrey that they may be the same price) featuring a pedal operated lid rather than squander money on items that are already failing?”

64.15    Councillor Theobald responded, “They are not failing.  There are a considerable number of these bins right across the city and obviously we have had to choose what is the type which is going to be the most acceptable to most people and this was the type of bin that came out.  As I have said it wasn’t a question of price at all.  We find the satisfaction rates with the bins themselves, how they work, are extremely high indeed.

In terms of your question the answer is ‘no’.”

64.16    The Mayor thanked Mr. Poole for his questions and invited Ms. Paynter to come forward and address the council.

64.17    Ms. Paynter asked the following question:

"Can the Administration confirm to me, please, that Corporate Objectives do not take precedence over any legal instruments such as Acts of Parliament, or over-ride adopted long-term policies such as The Local Plan or the emerging Local Development Framework as this would obviously compromise the integrity and effectiveness of professionally trained officers and their recommendations?"

64.18    Councillor Hyde stated that “Of course, I can confirm that.  The Council’s Corporate Priorities and other policies are subject to Acts of Parliament.  They were drafted so as to comply with the law and any statutorily adopted plan such as the Local Plan.”

64.19    Ms. Paynter asked the following supplementary question:

“Under the previous Administration differences of opinion over the King Alfred planning application led to three Senior Planning Officers being banned from the planning decision meeting of 23 March 2007 and their quick resignations and departures followed.

Can this Administration assure me that Planning Officers are able to determine planning applications entirely free of pressure from Corporate Objectives and financial incentives from Central Government to deliver affordable housing?”

64.20    Councillor Hyde responded, “As you know my Group were not in Administration at that time and I can assure you that this Administration do not at any time intend to compromise any officer whatsoever.”

64.21    The Mayor thanked Ms. Paynter for her questions and invited Ms. Tompkins to come forward and address the council.  The Mayor noted that Ms. Tomkins was not present at the meeting and therefore a written response would be given by Councillor Theobald.