Agenda item

Questions By Members

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

Minutes:

The Mayor reported that 4 questions had been received under Procedure Rule 10.2, however, Councillor Butt had given notice that he wished to withdraw his question.

 

(a)    Councillor Welton asked the following question for which he had given notice:

 

“Despite being within two miles of several major population centres, the National Trust’s own statistics show that its visitor attraction at Dunham Massey is almost exclusively visited by car. Its estimated 800,000 and growing visitors per year are a major cause of congestion and air pollution on the A56 and surrounding roads. This situation is exacerbated by the absence of fit-for-purpose walking and cycling routes to the Hall and Gardens from surrounding towns and public transport hubs. Please can the Executive Member for Environment, Air Quality and Climate Change inform us what is being done by Trafford Council to support the National Trust’s Dunham Estate Future Project, and particularly their aim to create safe, attractive and accessible walking and cycling routes to the Dunham Massey attraction and across the wider National Trust estate?”

 

Responding to the question, Councillor Adshead, the Executive Member for Environment, Air Quality and Climate Change referred Councillor Welton to the written reply he had sent to him earlier in the day.

 

Councillor Welton asked as a supplementary question whether that once the National Trust report was produced whether the Executive Member would consider convening a working group of relevant agencies to bring its aims to fruition. Councillor Adshead advised that he had been briefed by the National Trust as to where things were up to and wanting to consider all matters hoped to work together in a constructive partnership.

 

(b)    Councillor Brophy asked the following question, the first of two questions for which she had given notice:

 

“With areas of Trafford hit by the tail end of Hurricane Lorenzo last Friday and severe rainfall over the weekend. Plus the recent unprecedented flooding in the Timperley area that directly impacted residents in Timperley and Village wards when Timperley and Fairywell brook both burst their banks.

 

And with more rainfall expected to follow this winter, attributable to our changing weather patterns and climate change.

 

Does Trafford Council believe that it has undertaken all necessary measures to be prepared for potential severe flooding, including the availability of pumps to help clear storm water?”

 

Responding to the question, Councillor Adshead, the Executive Member for Environment, Air Quality and Climate Change referred Councillor Brophy to the comprehensive written reply he had provided for her earlier in the day.

 

Councillor Brophy asked as a supplementary question, whether there was alleviation for people who had experienced flooding. Appreciative that the issue was concerning, Councillor Adshead again referred Councillor Brophy to his comprehensive written response and of the opinion that it was not an appropriate forum in which to discuss complicated case work, invited Councillor Brophy and her residents to meet with him at some point in the future.

 

(c)    Councillor Brophy asked the following question, the second of two questions for which she had given notice:

 

“In a report from 2017, Trafford’s delayed transfers of care were among the worst in the country.

 

Thus, Trafford’s system has been the subject of national scrutiny for its poor services. And this has led to welcome reductions in Trafford's overall delays of transfer of care. Every single delay is a person suffering and an added burden to our NHS services.

 

Whilst we welcome these improvements, does Trafford Council have any plans to further improve the standard so Trafford can move from being at the national average to becoming a leader in addressing delayed transfer of care?

 

Responding to the question, Councillor Harding, the Executive Member for Adult Social Services confirmed undoubtedly that there were plans as this issue was an ongoing collaborative endeavour and that as a Member of Health Scrutiny Committee in 2017, Councillor Brophy would be well cited on a lot of the work conducted by the Committee on delayed transfers of care. Cautioning on the use of language in referring to patients as a burden on the NHS, the Executive Member advised that she had prepared a written response to the question which would be forwarded to Members the next morning.

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