Agenda item

1.

Question from Councillor Chard to the Leader of the Council

Further to my question at the last meeting of the Council, can the Leader of the Council confirm that he has received representations from Leckhampton with Warden Hill Parish Council addressed to the Highways Agency on the subject of proposed changes to the Air Balloon Roundabout, does he agree with them and, if so, will he be making similar representations to the relevant transport ministers Norman Baker MP and Stephen Hammond MP on behalf of the Borough Council?

Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Jordan

I have received a copy of the letter referred to and share many of the concerns expressed. As Cllr Chard will be aware a motion on this issue, proposed by Cllr McKinlay, will be debated later in this meeting. I hope the whole council will support it and I will be happy to ensure the Highways Agency and anyone else relevant is aware of it.

2.

Question from Councillor Garnham to the Leader of the Council

The Leader of the Liberal Democrats in the Cotswold called the decision to cancel waste collection after the recent snowfall as “crazy”.  Cheltenham’s MP has also said, “I think they were just bad decisions. Councillors should read the riot act to Ubico's senior management, get them to prioritise clearing the backlog and make sure this kind of thing never happens again.”  Can the Leader please tell us if he has indeed read the Riot Act to Ubico and what action he has taken to ensure this situation does not happen again?

Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Jordan

The Riot Act was repealed in 1967 so would not be appropriate.

Understandably any suspension of the collection service causes concern. The cabinet member's working group will review how everything operated during the bad weather and what improvements can be made for when similar conditions occur.

Councillor Garnham accepted that the Cabinet Member working group had been convened to review the issue but in a supplementary question he queried what measures were in place for informing the public if the snow that was being forecast on Sunday caused similar disruption.

The Leader would not attempt to forecast the weather but assured members that communications would be made as appropriate.

3.

Question from Councillor Driver to Cabinet Member Sustainability

All Cheltenham Borough Council’s staff do a fantastic job, especially in these days of challenging resources and a council reducing in size.  They can only work with the resources they are given and operate in accordance with the policies that Council has set. It is important therefore that all staff are treated with the utmost respect and when the public call for answers, as happened with the recent refuse collection service problem, it should be politicians who appear in the press and on TV.  Can the Cabinet Member please explain why his appearance was sadly lacking and it took days of Ubico staff being put in the media spotlight before he came out of his hiding place and began to answer questions?

Response from Cabinet Member Sustainability, Councillor Whyborn

When the council receives a media enquiry the communications team will liaise with relevant officers and cabinet members as to who is available and who is the most appropriate person to respond given the lines of enquiry and the issue at hand.  This practice was followed during the recent disruption to the refuse and recycling service which is why on occasion officers were interviewed by the press.  I did two television interviews, one radio interview, and answered several calls from the Echo.

In a supplementary question Councillor Driver asked whether the Cabinet Member would agree that he was hiding behind Officers.

The Cabinet Member entirely disagreed with this suggestion and felt he had already answered the question. 

4.

Question from Councillor Garnham to Cabinet Member Sustainability

Gloucestershire County Council’s recycling targets are 60% by 2020 and 70% by 2030.  The local MP Martin Horwood has described Cheltenham’s target of 60%  as unambitious.  Can the Cabinet Member please tell us the administration’s target for recycling in Cheltenham, for each year to 2030 and how will it achieve each increase? 

Response from Cabinet Member Sustainability, Councillor Whyborn

Cheltenham Borough Council (CBC) does not have corporate waste targets set beyond 2014/15, because CBC is a member of the Gloucestershire Waste Partnership, and signed up to the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS) during the previous administration in 2007. Each authority is required to set performance targets for the amounts of waste being recycled and composted, but at present these are only agreed for the next two financial years - 2013/14 & 2014/15. It is within this context that Gloucestershire County Council’s recycling target is 60% by 2020 with an aspiration of 70% by 2030.  Martin Horwood MP is right to describe a target of 60% as unambitious within that overall County context. However within that same overall County context, a 60% re-cycling target for an urban borough such as Cheltenham, and which is collecting segregated recyclate, would be very ambitious indeed by the standards of today.

It is therefore not possible to provide Cllr Garnham with the recycling performance target information for the next 17 years. As new technologies develop within the waste industry, new opportunities become available, so it would be impractical to set such defined targets for such a long period of time

CBC introduced a service redesign in 2011, which included weekly food waste collections along with plastic bottles and card being added to the list of material accepted in the recycling collection service along with residual waste switching to a fortnightly frequency instead of weekly. As a consequence, CBC's recycling performance has had a stepped increase from 34% to 46% (in excess of a targeted 42%), and in one quarter peaking to 50%. This step increase has been commended in the industry because CBC is the fourth most improved UK authority for reduction of waste to landfill in 2011/12.

However it is commonplace in the industry following a service redesign for the levels of recycling presented by households to drop off slightly as the new service settles, so in an attempt to build on the success of the recycling service to date, we are now appraising a business case on whether or not the authority could introduce a mixed rigid plastic recycling collection, much the same as recently introduced by Cotswold District Council in 2012. If introduced, this would further enhance the recycling services provided in Cheltenham and increase the amount of waste diverted from landfill, thus having a knock-on effect in increasing the authorities recycling performance even further.

In a supplementary question Councillor Garnham queried how the Cabinet Member expected Gloucestershire County Council to achieve their target if CBC would not set one. 

The Cabinet Member stressed that the 70% figure was entirely aspirational and not a set target by GCC.

5.

Question from Councillor Garnham to Cabinet Member Housing & Safety

Can the Cabinet Member confirm if Martin Horwood MP has lobbied the Council to ensure adoption of his idea that all Hackney carriages in Cheltenham should be re-sprayed white?

Response from Cabinet Member Housing & Safety, Councillor Jeffries

Mr Horwood MP has not lobbied this council, but when the Taxi Licensing policy review gets underway I would welcome any views that he has. I believe it would be irresponsible not to listen to any interested party whatever their views, comments or suggestions.

In a supplementary question Councillor Garnham queried who had been mistaken, Mr Horwood MP or the Gloucestershire Echo.

In response the Cabinet Member explained that he could not speak for either, he could only speak for himself or on behalf of Cabinet. 

6.

Question from Councillor Garnham to Cabinet Member Housing & Safety

Can the Cabinet Member confirm that the ridiculous idea of ensuring all Hackney taxis are painted white, which at a cost of £2,000 per re-spray could mean many taxi drivers being put out of business,  will not be discussed by Cheltenham Borough Council and that the idea is now dead in the water?

Response from Cabinet Member Housing & Safety, Councillor Jeffries

This proposal can be investigated as part of the planned licensing policy review later in the year, and as always comments will be welcomed during the public consultation before any decision is taken by Cabinet and then Council.

In my view there could be positive benefits if Cheltenham’s Hackney Carriage fleet were of a uniform colour.

A uniform colour would make licensed Hackney Carriage vehicles easily identifiable for residents and visitors to the town.  This could promote public safety and raise the quality standards of the fleet. 

This would also enhance Cheltenham’s street scene further, adding to the look, feel and friendly atmosphere of the town.

Adding additional costs for the Hackney Carriage drivers during these tough economic times would be undesirable, so any proposal to adopt a uniform colour scheme should systematically be implemented, as and when licensed vehicles are replaced. This would enable Cheltenham’s Hackney Carriage fleet to change naturally over a longer period of time with no additional costs for the drivers.

7.

Question from Councillor Regan to the Leader of the Council

There was a visit on 2nd April 2012 to Weihai for Educational Business links.  In addition there was a visit to us by 5 Twinning town representatives to the Olympic celebrations in 2012.  Business links established 2 business links out of the 28 Twinning events.

Can we be informed what is the total financial benefit to the town of these two business links? What permanent financial gain have 411 Twinning visitors provided to the town other than a good relationship and a cultural programme?

Response from the Leader of the Council, Councillor Jordan

 In 2012, there were 28 separate twinning events that involved 411 participants with 288 visitors to Cheltenham. Many of these were for educational or cultural benefits, but 5 were identified to be of particular benefit to the local economy. In terms of forming business links, the two most significant events were:

Visit to Weihai:

This visit, which was totally self-funded by all the 14 participants, included the following people:

• The international recruitment officer for Gloucestershire College
• A teacher from Cheltenham LadiesCollege
• A travel agent, specialising in tours to more unusual places
• The owner of a private language school
• The Chief Executive and Mayor of Cheltenham Borough Council

All these people had meetings with people in Weihai with a view to developing educational and business links for the benefit of Cheltenham. For example:

• Andrew North discussed links and opportunities on behalf of the University and Chamber of Commerce, including the establishment of a Confucius Centre and a link with the Harbin WeihaiUniversity.
• GloucestershireCollege received 13 Weihai students to their international summer school for 2 weeks in the summer and as a result of this visit they hope the numbers will increase again this year.  The cost of the 2 week summer school, including tuition and accommodation is £935 per person which creates valuable income for the College.

The visit was considered a success and has prompted the Cheltenham Chamber of Commerce to take on a local student who is looking to improve business opportunities with Weihai. She is currently exploring the potential for local businesses to take stands at Weihai’s food and building material exhibitions in 2013.

Olympic Torch Visit;

Representatives from all of our twin towns attended the Olympic Torch relay in Cheltenham and during the final day, we held a “Business and Tourism opportunities with Cheltenham’s Twin Towns” seminar. This enabled Andrew North, Michael Ratcliffe and Donna Renney to make presentations about doing business in Cheltenham and in turn each twin town made a presentation about the economic merits of their towns.

As a result of this visit, the profile of our overseas link towns and what they have to offer was raised and many educational, cultural and business links were made.

Financial benefit to the town

The two activities described above may not have resulted in immediate business co-operation or financial gain, but gives local leaders the opportunity to establish contacts and mutual links between businesses.

It is impossible to calculate exactly the permanent financial gain to the town of twinning, but we know that education, cultural and business links are being formed which can only be healthy for our local economy.

In addition, having 288 extra twinning visitors to Cheltenham helps boost the economy directly through them spending money in the shops, restaurants, hotels, bars and cultural establishments. 

Thus, if every one of our 288 visitors spent just £100 in the town, the total financial benefit to the town would be nearly £30,000.  Many will have spent much more and this figure does not include the economic benefit to local educational establishments such as GloucestershireCollege, the University, other language schools and local host families.

In a supplementary question Councillor Regan queried whether, given the austerity being faced by the Council, it would consider outsourcing Twinning to a ‘Friends of’ group which had been so successful with the Art Gallery and Museum.

The Cabinet Member reminded members that this approach had been attempted some years ago and it had become clear that it wasn’t going to work.