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 10 questions had been received under Procedure Rule 10.2.

 

(a)    Councillor G. Carter had given notice of the following question:

 

“The cost of living crisis poses profound challenges to workers. Can the Leader of the Council explain Trafford Council’s approach to the Real Living Wage?”

 

Councillor Ross, the Leader of the Council had responded directly to the questioner in advance of the meeting as follows and there was no supplementary question:

 

“Thank you for your question Councillor Carter.  This Labour Administration has been committed to bringing in the Real Living Wage for some time and I am delighted to confirm that Trafford Council is now at the stage where we can apply for Real Living Wage accreditation.  This decision was taken to our Public Executive meeting on 23 January 2023.  Accreditation will mean that 320 staff across the council and schools, who are on the lowest pay scales, will receive additional payments at a time when many are faced with increasing living costs.

 

The Council will join 5 current local authorities in Greater Manchester who have been accredited by the Living Wage Foundation as paying the Real Living Wage.  We will also be joining 55 Real Living Wage Accredited organisations in the Borough.”

 

(b)    Councillor Zhi had given notice of the following question:

 

“Can the Executive Member for Environmental Services please tell me how many complaints have been made directly to the Council since I was elected in May 2022 regarding the location or timing of road works in the Bowdon ward?”

 

The Executive Member, Councillor Adshead had responded to the questioner in advance of the meeting and the response had been published on the Council’s website as follows:

 

“The Council records requests for service, enquires and complaints relative to highway services in the CRM/C360 system that unfortunately cannot be broken down into wards or type of service such as roadworks due to the way the data is currently captured. Hence, we are unable to give that level of detail without reading all the text in the complaints that we have received relative to highway works. Since May 2022 last year (for the whole borough) the council received 232 Stage 1 complaints and 48 Stage 2 complaints logged as Highway’s complaints. These complaints will cover many different topics linked to problems with the highway. The replacement for the CRM/C360 system that is currently being developed with IT will include additional functionality to allow more detailed reports to be produced going forward and this is anticipated to be in place during 2024.”

 

Councillor Zhi, having received several residents complaint about street works, asked as a supplementary question what steps the Council could undertake to ensure better co-ordination between utility companies so that tax payers money was spent fairly and efficiently. Councillor Adshead advised that there was no cost to the public purse since they were private companies and indicated that he was aware of one complaint from the Bowdon Ward which he understood Councillor Zhi to have had a satisfactory answer to. The Executive Member believed that communication had improved between utility companies and referred all Members to the GM Roadworks website that provided extensive details of all the works being undertaken in the conurbation.

 

(c)    Councillor Welton had given notice of the following question, the first of two questions he had submitted for the meeting:

 

“The Council has a comprehensive gritting programme for keeping carriageways clear, but in December’s cold spell many pavements were left icy and dangerous for days. I know of older and vulnerable people who were trapped in their homes for over week, for fear of falling. Will the Executive Member for Environmental Services consider developing a strategy for clearing pavements when long periods of cold weather are forecast?”

 

Councillor Adshead, Executive Member had responded to the questioner in advance of the meeting and the response had been published on the Council’s website as follows:

 

“There is already a strategy in place for dealing with clearance and treatment of footways when there are prolonged periods of ice and snow conditions. It is unaffordable and logistically impractical to have teams standing by to undertake treatment of all footways routinely during prolonged spells of cold weather. There is a priority list of footways that are treated during prolonged cold weather and the approach to gritting is included on the website. These footways are treated by staff who are redeployed from the highways, street cleaning and grounds maintenance staff whilst they are unable to undertake their routine tasks due to the cold weather. The footways that are treated are predominantly in and around shopping areas, around schools and hospitals. Treatment involves hand spreading of grit hence why they are unable to undertake this on all footways and is only undertaken as and when those other services are unable to be delivered due to the cold weather. Compacted ice and snow, however, is difficult to remove once it has taken hold and will often remain in place until after the thaw hence there is likely to be some footways that will have residual ice and snow during prolonged severe weather periods. During these times we would follow government guidance on additional community support to ensure vulnerable members of Trafford are catered for: Guidance on community action during severe weather - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Gritting (trafford.gov.uk)”

 

Councillor Welton asked as a supplementary question whether the Executive Member would consider conducting a review and consultation to better understand the impact of prolonged cold weather on the safety and mobility of vulnerable residents with a view to informing Council policy in that area. The Executive Member drew members attention to the link provided in his response that provided an explanation of work undertaken particularly in heavy weather and advised that in general terms the Council’s Scrutiny function that can decide to review the service which he would welcome should Scrutiny decide. Councillor Adshead also re-affirmed that he would also welcome any concerns that Councillor Welton may wish to raise.

 

(d)    Councillor Welton had given notice of the following question, the second of two questions he had submitted for the meeting:

 

“Like other members I would like to pay tribute to the work Eleanor Roaf has done for Trafford as Director of Public Health. Please can I ask the Executive Member for Climate Change and Transport Strategy if he has read the Greater Manchester Active Travel Public Health Manifesto, of which she was co-author?”

 

The Executive Member, Councillor Williams had responded to the questioner in advance of the meeting as follows and the response had been published on the Council’s website:

 

“Thank you for your question Councillor Welton. I can confirm that I have read and am familiar with the Greater Manchester Active Travel Public Health Manifesto which has in part informed the ambitions of the administration regarding Active Travel.”

 

As a supplementary question, Councillor Welton asked whether the Executive Member agreed that the best leaving present the Council could give Eleanor Roaf in tribute to her many years of service would be a commitment to implement the actions set out in the Active Travel Public Health Manifesto in full.

 

Councillor Williams indicated that he certainly agreed with the spirit of the question and went on to explain that there were several actions recommended in the manifesto that linked to the work that Trafford was already delivering on Active Travel, in partnership with Transport for Greater Manchester and the Greater Manchester Combined Authority.

 

Trafford was presently consulting on its Walking, Wheeling and Cycling Strategy which identified the approach that the Council would be undertaking and was linked to the Greater Manchester Transport Strategy 2040. Trafford was actively progressing several schemes and initiatives as part of that work, which the Executive Member provided a brief update on:

-       In respect of Low Traffic Neighbourhoods, Urmston had been identified as an area that would benefit from a range of measures to support active travel and was being progressed with funding via Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM). Other localities had been introduced including Longford Park and a public consultation and scoping exercise had been competed in respect of the Walton Road Estate in Sale.

 

-       In respect of 20mph zones and safer streets, there were many requests for such measures and Trafford could progress several 20mph streets in areas and were focusing in and around schools. There was a funding consideration around this area of work and the Executive Member suggested that more funding was needed to accelerate the programme.

 

-       In respect of safer pedestrian areas – All new public realm development work was being designed in line with Transport for Greater Manchester’s Streets for All Strategy and design guide. The Council had been working collaboratively with TfGM to ensure Trafford’s review of its own Design Guide aligned with the streets for all principles to ensure future developments were safe for pedestrians.

 

-       In respect of parking enforcement, it was a difficult area to tackle as significant resource was required, additionally there were competing demands for parking in many of our streets; a situation that was not unique to Trafford. Obstruction of the highway was also a Police function to enforce. Having a zero-parking policy on pavements would potentially cause issues with access for emergency vehicles in some of our older narrower streets that were not designed for the number of cars that were presently being used by households. In particularly bad areas, the Council looked to introduce yellow lines to protect junctions and streets of footfall. Government guidance was still awaited on this however, with the ambition to move to 50/50 modal shift there should be a reduction in car ownership in the medium to longer term that would allow enforcement to be undertaken with reduced consequences as described, subject to resources being available. Councillor Welton would also be aware of changes in the Council’s approach to enforcement, as approved at the meeting of Executive Committee earlier that week.

 

-       In respect of better access to cycling and walking opportunities – there were several schemes that were reaching detailed design and delivery stage across Trafford which were linked to the Active Travel Funding of £20 million which was currently allocated to the Council and those schemes were offering better access to cycling and walking. These were being delivered in collaboration with TfGM. There was also a large pipeline of areas that Trafford would progress in the medium and longer term, but any progression would be subject to funding from Active Travel England.

 

Councillor Williams hoped that Councillor Welton could appreciate that as he had said earlier, the administration did very much agree with the spirit of the question.

 

(e)    Councillor Maitland had given notice of the following question:

 

" I very much welcome the Council’s multimillion-pound Leisure Strategy, as this is already having a hugely successful impact within the borough - as we move into the next phase, which will see Altrincham Leisure Centre completely transformed to replicate the flourishing Move Urmston: Could I please ask my colleague, Councillor Harding, Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Strategic Partnerships, how will this strategy coupled with her vision – make further strides to improve the health, fitness and well-being for all residents across the borough?"

 

The Executive Member, Councillor Harding had responded directly to the questioner in advance of the meeting and the response had been published on the Council’s website as follows, to which there was not a supplementary question:

 

“Trafford Moving is the boroughs strategic approach to Sport and Physical Activity and takes a whole system approach. A whole system approach provides the opportunity to align the boroughs leisure centres and wider physical and community assets, partnership, clubs, voluntary sector and sporting NGBS to deliver universal and targeted programmes of activity, providing accessible, affordable opportunities for all residents to move more each day.

 

Building on the recent success of Urmston Moving, Trafford Council’s proposed leisure investment programme is informed by Trafford Moving and will deliver fit for purpose facilities that are embedded in local communities, offering a broad programme of activities, and mix of facilities tailored to local needs. The refurbished centres will act as local hubs of activity that deliver programmes to encourage and support residents to be more physically active, focused on delivering health and wellbeing outcomes for Trafford communities.

 

This includes the recently announced successfully bid for nearly £20 million to help revitalise Partington Sports Village through Levelling Up funding. The investment will safeguard the future of vital leisure facilities in the town and help deliver significant health and wellbeing benefits.”

 

(f)     Councillor Walsh asked the following question for which he had given notice:

 

"In Gorse Hill Ward many residents have approached me asking what is the Council doing to support the community in these difficult times. Can I ask the Executive Member for Culture, Leisure and Strategic Partnerships to explain what her department is doing to support residents around the “cost of living crisis?”

 

The Executive Member, Councillor Harding had responded directly to the questioner in advance of the meeting and confirmed her response to the meeting as follows, to which there was not a supplementary question:

 

“Trafford Council was quick of the mark in responding to the Cost of Living crisis and supporting residents through

 

   Trafford Assist – providing financial and local welfare assistance to help provide food, furniture, white goods and extra support to help with Fuel Bills

   Free School Meals – supporting children and young people

   Citizens Advice Trafford – offering advice and guidance to residents

   Welfare Rights Services – providing tailored support to access benefits and Budgeting Support Advisors based in Community Hubs

   Living Rooms – providing a safe, warm space in over 50 sites borough-wide, with hot drinks, refreshments, wi-fi and activities

   Community Hubs – funded to support and signpost residents to services

   Winter Wellbeing Packs – 3,000 packed and distributed to residents, with blankets, hot water bottles, hats, gloves and information about local services to help keep them warm and well

   Assistance for people at risk of homelessness and support with rent and household costs

   Real Living Wage – additional payments for 320 staff on the lowest pay bands working in our schools and across the council, being uplifted to the Real Living Wage rate

   Energyworks – offer free energy advice and equipment to improve fuel efficiency of homes

   Money Advice Referral Tool – developed to boost household income and access the relevant support service

   Pension Credit – promoting uptake to support pensioners to access eligible financial support

   Help with School Uniform – grants and second hand uniforms

   Launched Trafford Poverty Truth Commission to bring people with lived experience of poverty together with leaders from partners, to develop policy solutions and recommendations which will inform a refreshed Trafford Poverty Strategy led by the Poverty Action Group

 

We are working closely with partners, who have helped respond to this impact, such as Trafford Housing Trust who have also launched a Winter Support Fund to help residents. Whilst I applaud the excellent partnership work that is being done to address the Cost of Living Crisis, this Labour administration can never settle for food banks and living rooms to be an accepted part of our society. The work we are doing as part of the Poverty Truth Commission and Poverty Action Group will set out bold plans for the future to strive to eradicate poverty.”

 

(g)    Councillor Duncan had given notice of the following question:

 

“On 19 November 2022, the Secretary of State for Levelling up Housing and Communities wrote to all Local Authority Chief Executive and council leaders following the tragedy of the little boy, who died at two years old as a direct result of mould in his family home. The letter highlighted the urgent need to ensure a decent standard of properties for tenants in all sectors.

 

Can the Executive Member for Housing and Neighbourhoods please tell me what action the Council has taken since May 2022 to prioritise the improvement of housing conditions for the thousands of private and social tenants in Trafford, in line with existing duties in the Housing Act 2004?”

 

The Executive Member, Councillor Wright had responded to the questioner in advance of the meeting and the response had been published on the Council’s website as follows:

 

“Trafford has the benefit of a comprehensive stock condition survey to help inform our approach to arising housing standards in our Borough. The Survey carried out just before the pandemic found that 84.3% of the private sector homes in Trafford met the requirements of the Decent Homes Standards – compared with 79.9% nationally. It also found that 5.5% of occupied dwellings in Trafford experienced Category 1 hazards, well below the national average of 12.1% - with dampness mould accounted for around half of these Category 1 hazards.

 

Whilst the position of housing in Trafford is better than average – any property with such problems is one home too many. Our small but effective housing standards team respond to around 350 housing complaints each year. Over the past three years Damp and Mould problems have accounted for between 9.6% and 15.5% of all complaints received.

 

Since this tragic incident was brought to public attention, we have changed our complaints process so that damp and mould issues are given a higher profile. All complainants now receive an immediate advice leaflet so they are better able to address the issue, regardless of what formal action may subsequently follow. We do not yet have full figures from May 2022 but I can advise that since we changed our processes in November we have dealt with 30 damp & mould complaints across the Borough.

 

At the same time the Government has written to all registered providers to ensure they are actively managing this issue. We are aware that THT have altered their procedures as a consequence to be more responsive to this type of complaint.”

 

Councillor Duncan indicated that the letter from the Secretary of State requested a full response by 27 January 2023 and as a supplementary question if the response would be shared with Members and more widely with Trafford citizens and appealed for the Council to take action in properties where damp and mould issues still existed and to promote the needs of existing residents.

 

Councillor Ross, Leader of the Council responded to the supplementary question, In the absence of Councillor Wright and advised that he was aware of the letter and that a response would be submitted by 27 January he would check whether it could be published. As part of the letter, the Council would be asking government for more resource to provide greater enforcement and inspection of inadequate properties.

 

(h)    Councillor Holden had submitted the following question for which he had given notice:

 

"How many agreed crossing patrol points are there in the Borough and how many are currently vacant?"

 

Councillor Adshead, Executive Member for Environmental Services had responded directly to the questioner in advance of the meeting and confirmed his response to the meeting as follows:

 

“Trafford Council currently operates and funds 71 crossing points across the borough. All of our current sites have been categorised using the National Guidance published by Road Safety Great Britain (RSGB).

 

The provision of school crossing staff is not a statutory duty for councils. However, we recognise that they make a valuable contribution towards pupils’ safe and sustainable travel to schools.

 

There are four categories of SCP Site as defined by the guidance:

 

   Category P: A SCP is justified at the site, though it is recommended that a signal controlled crossing is installed instead.

   Category A: A SCP is justified at the site.

   Category B: A SCP site is not initially justified but further factors (such as proximity to junctions and the age of the children using the crossing) may be considered and may potentially move the point into category A.

   Category C: No justification for a SCP site unless exceptional circumstances exist

 

Trafford has 66 Cat A crossings, i.e. a SCP is justified. The other 5 are Cat B but have additional traffic / road juncture issues.

 

The guidance also states that where there is a fully automatic traffic signal (ATS) crossing, there is no need to have a staffed crossing point, unless there are exceptional circumstances.

 

We currently have 12 School Crossing Patrol vacancies that we have not managed to recruit to, despite continuing to run recruitment campaigns.  We are also seeking to recruit mobile staff to enable us to cover staff that are unavailable due to sickness absence.  

 

Our objective is to have a full staff compliment to ensure we can cover all 71 of our staffed crossings as it is extremely difficult to move staff from one crossing to another when we do not have adequate staff.

 

In conjunction with Road Safety a Transport for Greater Manchester survey is to be commissioned on a small number of suitable crossings to assess the possibility of placing automatic traffic signal crossings to mitigate the need for a school crossing patrols.”

 

Councillor Holden asked as a supplementary question what additional methods had the Council put in place since 2018 to improve recruitment and thereby decrease the vacancies and what interventions, such as additional light controlled crossings have been installed.

 

Councillor Adshead advised that there was ongoing advertisement but for a long time prior to 2018 recruitment to certain areas of the borough had been a long standing and growing problem across Greater Manchester and perhaps nationally for a whole variety of reasons. An easy solution was not apparent and he would be happy consider all suggestions.

 

In terms of a programme for controlled crossings a number, as mentioned in the response, were now being examined by Transport for Greater Manchester (TfGM) and each year the Council considered schemes as part of its capital programme with priority given to those in close proximity to schools. Larger junctions were more expensive and bids for government schemes were submitted through TfGM rather than by the Council itself.

 

(g)    Councillor Axford had given notice of the following question:

 

"In view of the urgency of tackling the climate emergency and our aspiration to reach zero carbon by 2038, can the Executive Member for Climate Change and Transport Strategy please let us know if it is possible to have additional council officer resource?"

 

The Executive Member, Councillor Adshead had responded directly to the questioner in advance of the meeting and the response had been published on the Council’s website as follows, to which there was not a supplementary question:

 

Since the Council first declared a Climate emergency in November 2018 we have been working to ensure Climate Change action is at the heart of the Councils activities. Notable milestones include our first Carbon Neutral action Plan in December 2020, the establishment of Climate Change Commission and significant de-carbonisation works on our public buildings. Our revised Corporate Plan establishes “Addressing our climate crisis” as one of our three priorities for the Council – and so whilst tackling climate change is the responsibility of all services across the authority, I recognise this agenda needs to be properly resourced.

 

With that in mind, I am pleased to announce that resources have been identified to boost the dedicated officer team – with both a more senior officer role at Head of Service level, commensurate with this high-profile activity, alongside an additional officer within the team to progress ongoing activity. Full details will be within the Budget Report to be submitted to Council next month.

 

(h)    Councillor Newgrosh had given notice of the following question:

 

“Having just passed the third anniversary of Trafford Council’s Empty Homes Policy, with the most recent Council report stating the long term empty housing have risen to 912 (as of December 2021), and with my residents still blighted by the threat of New Homes and Offices on the Greenbelt of Timperley Wedge: 

How many long term empty homes have been brought back into use by this important Council initiative? And, can the Executive Member inform us what December 2022’s Long Term Empty figures are?”

 

Councillor Wright, Executive Member for Housing and Neighbourhoods had responded to the questioner in advance of the meeting and the response had been published on the Council’s website as follows:

 

“I agree with Cllr Newgrosh that empty properties are a cause of concern – and that we need to work pro-actively to ensure as many are brought back into effective use as possible. As an example of this I’m pleased to say that Trafford Housing Trust will be starting work next month on refurbishing the empty flats at Lindow Court in Sale, utilising £540,000 from our Trafford Affordable Housing Fund. this will provide 9 one and two bedroomed flats, re-fitted to modern standards.

 

Unfortunately, it wasn’t possible to collate the figures to December in time for this meeting, but I undertake to provide those in writing as soon as possible.

 

Meanwhile I cannot agree that development at Timperley Wedge will be in any way a blight – of course we should be prudent with the use of our precious greenbelt land, but the delivery of much needed affordable housing alongside a mix of conventional family homes should only be viewed as a benefit to the local community.”

 

Councillor Newgrosh asked as a supplementary question that if building homes and new office space on green belt was not a blight as asserted but in fact a benefit to the local community, why has William Wroe been placed in a Fields in Trust instead of those residents sharing in the claimed benefits.

 

Councillor Ross, Leader of the Council responded to the supplementary question, In the absence of Councillor Wright and wished to restate what the Executive Member had put in his written answer. Trafford had a housing shortage with people desperate for housing in the Borough, people waiting a long time and people living with their families waiting to move in to somewhere. The Council had to look at places to build houses and Timperley Wedge was one of those assets that had been looked at over the long term. The Leader made no apology at looking to increase house building and it continued to be a priority for the administration, as was building a number of affordable houses. He hoped in the longer term that Trafford would become a more affordable place for people to live, to raise their families and to call home.

 

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