This is an opportunity for Members of Council to ask the Mayor, Members of the Executive or the Chairman of any Committee or Sub-Committee a question on notice under Procedure Rule 10.2.

The Mayor reported that 6 questions had been received under Procedure Rule 10.2.

(a)    Councillor Jarman asked the following question, the first of two for which he had given notice:

“The early year’s foundation data has just been published for 2017. The statistics for Good Level of Development (GLD) are particularly disturbing with apparently the most disadvantaged children getting left further behind with the gaps between the highest and the lowest increasing each year since 2014. This is particularly reflected in the figures for pupil premium and English as an additional language children.

What is particularly shocking to me is that the ward that I represent, Longford, has by far the lowest level of GLD in Trafford. Starting at a markedly low base, the figures have decreased by a further 12% in just one year.

Would the Executive member be able to identify the reasons for this poor level of attainment and would he accept that the closure of Children’s centres in the most badly affected areas has contributed to the downturn in outcomes?”

Councillor Whetton, the Executive Member for Children and Families acknowledged that the results for the Longford Ward showed a disappointing low figure for 2017, however, he did not believe overall there had been a general decline in Trafford. For the period 2014-17 GLD had risen by 4.7% although within that figure many dynamics were at play. With marked rises and falls over the past 4 years, the volatile nature of the statistics reflected that in essence the subject was very young children.

The Executive Member stated that there was not a discernible link with the results and the changes to the operations of children’s centres. Services for parents and young children were still available without necessarily being based in buildings across the borough. Stretford Children’s Centre was available to residents of Longford and showed a high level of engagement, however, evidence suggested that effective interventions had to be delivered by a range of professionals and in the community. Councillor Whetton was also mindful that a greater level of black and minority ethnic people and language diversity in certain wards led to a lower GLD performance score.

Councillor Whetton was cautious about single year on year fluctuations in figures at ward level, particularly as they related to relatively small numbers, however, given the marked reduction, he did intend to requisition an investigation into Longford’s 2017 figures to determine whether there were any influencing factors and would share the outcome with Councillor Jarman and his ward colleagues.  

As a supplementary question, Councillor Jarman wondered whether the Executive Member could commit to a timescale for the strategies and targets for improvement he intended to oversee. Councillor Whetton qualified that in his response he had not committed to oversee an improvement but to get a better understanding of the circumstances and would then, in that light, decide upon the next course of action.

(b)    Councillor Bennett asked the following question for which she had given notice:

“Could the Executive Member tell me how many Council funded residents are being cared for in Nursing or Residential care outside of the Borough?”

Councillor Stephen Anstee, the Executive Member for Adult Social Care reported that currently 245 residents were receiving residential or nursing care outside of the Borough which represented 36% of all placements. Of the 245, 100 were in Manchester and 41 in Salford. The predominant reason for placements outside of Trafford was family choice based on proximity and ease of access to the home for maintaining contact.

Indicating that residents were telling her that it was becoming increasingly difficult to find a home close by, Councillor Bennett asked as a supplementary question whether there were any plans to expand the number of home beds within the Borough. Councillor Stephen Anstee assured Councillor Bennett that assessments were undertaken in the best interests of residents with logistics taken into account and that he would be happy to investigate any individual cases that Councillor Bennett wished to share.

(c)    Councillor Jarman asked the following question, the second of two for which he had given notice:

“Please will Trafford Council withdraw its current planning application for Turn Moss and work with local residents and users of Turn Moss to draw up a better plan?”

Councillor Hopps, the Executive Member for Housing and Strategic Planning confirmed that the Council would not be withdrawing the planning application for Turn Moss, for which a statutory consultation was being undertaken as part of the planning process. The Executive Member indicated that the Council would continue to listen to and work with all sectors of the community to ensure that the facilities, if approved, provided the maximum possible community benefit, a principle which the Council, Trafford Leisure and Salford City Football Club had all made a firm commitment to in the planning application.

In light of over 1000 objections now submitted, Councillor Jarman asked as a supplementary question why Trafford Council, which prides itself on listening to residents, would want to press ahead with the application and if it did and with new and complex documents still being added to the application, requested that the consultation be extended for a further 21 days to allow for the new documents to be scrutinised properly. Councillor Hopps was aware that the Planning Team was actively engaged on the many representations received and would determine the appropriate timescale for proceeding to the next stage of the process. The Executive Member affirmed that delivery of the Stretford Masterplan, as part of the UA92 proposals, remained a priority of the administration which was also committed to a multi-million pound investment in leisure.

(d)    Councillor O’Sullivan asked the following question for which she had given notice:

“Can the Executive Member for Trafford Council please tell me how much in hard cash and Officers time has been invested in the Town Centre in Altrincham compared to Stretford Town Centre in the last five years?”

Councillor Hopps, the Executive Member for Housing and Strategic Planning advised that it was not possible to provide an exact figure on time and money invested in each of the Borough’s Town Centres since officer timesheets were not kept and work on securing investment and regeneration occurred via a combination of means, which included local businesses and civic leaders. In many respects the Council and its staff were often the facilitators for driving investment in the town centres. Securing the successful regeneration of town centres right across the borough was a key priority and Councillor Hopps stated that whilst in his current role, a vast amount of time had been spent by the Strategic Growth and Planning Teams on Stretford and this would continue to be the case in the months and years ahead.

Councillor Sullivan asked as a supplementary question whether, in view of the boost to Altrincham recently reported regarding the public realm transformation project and the buyout of the Grafton Centre, the Council could expect the Conservative Party Chairman to praise investment in Stretford Town Centre any time soon. Having seen how Altrincham had been transformed over the past years, Councillor Hopps hoped that the Stretford Masterplan investment would have the same effect for Stretford and that the national party Chairman could be invited in the future.

(e)    Councillor Mrs. Brophy asked the following question, the first of two for which she had given notice:

“In light of the Carillion collapse and Amey having been fined for inadequate service in Trafford and facing complaints in boroughs around the country, does the council think the contract with Amey provides good service and value for money, or should this contract be reviewed?”

Councillor Shaw, Executive Member for Highways, Parks and Environmental Services stated that the collapse of Carrillion did not have a direct correlation to fines incurred by Amey in the One Trafford Partnership and had no bearing on the contract other than to highlight that robust contract management and open book accounting were key to partnership contracts. The contract was robustly and effectively managed by an experienced client team within the Council. The Executive Member reported that additional resources and funding provided by the Council’s partner Amey for key milestone projects had been identified for delivery and implementation during the current year and 2018/19. He believed that the contract represented good value for money and achievement could be seen in key service areas such as the highways and greenspaces capital programmes. The Council continued to drive and monitor contract performance and compliance across all service areas and would continue to do so throughout the current contract.

Councillor Mrs. Brophy asked as a supplementary question, whether the Council had provision to protect residents from fallout should the Amey Company collapse. Councillor Shaw did not believe it was expected and indicated that the Council would respond appropriately if that was to occur.

(f)     Councillor Mrs. Brophy asked the following question, the second of two for which she had given notice:

“What action is planned from Trafford Council to raise awareness and take action to prevent the significant environmental impacts of plastic waste in our local waterways and the negative impact this plastic waste is having on the global marine ecosystems?”

Councillor Shaw, Executive Member for Highways, Parks and Environmental Services reported that on 11 January 2018 the Government published 'A Green Future: Our 25 Year Plan to Improve the Environment', which included a range of activities aimed to reduce plastic waste in waterways and the marine environment. The Council supported the plan to eliminate all avoidable plastic waste by 2042 and a key aspect would be to increase the proportion of plastic packaging collected and recycled with targets set by the Council. The Executive Member outlined a range of ongoing projects in the Borough which included, trio bins to encourage on street recycling at source; the ‘Right Stuff Right Bin’ scheme; the Environment Enforcement Team’s educational work with school children; and the Kingdom Enforcement Initiative introducing a fixed penalty system for those that litter and fly tip.

Mentioning a recent report of a river in Greater Manchester with the worst ever recorded levels of microplastic pollution, Councillor Mrs. Brophy asked as a supplementary question what Trafford was going to do to encourage the tightening of regulation and enforcement to prevent the release of harmful plastic particles into waterways. Councillor Shaw advised that the Council would continue to work with the agencies.