Agenda item

Councillor M Storey raised a Point of Order in relation of paragraph 37 of the Council Procedure Rules. He stated that prior to the meeting, members of the Labour group had been advised that a number of the Executive Member questions submitted by the group had been ruled out of order, and in his view, they were relevant questions. He stated that not allowing the questions to Executive Members was not open and transparent. The Monitoring Officer later clarified, that the Point of Order raised by Councillor Storey was not valid as it did not comply with the requirements of a Point of Order, as set out in the Council's Constitution.

 

The Chair invited Members to raise items for general discussion arising from the Information Booklet of Executive Member reports which detailed activities carried out within the respective Executive Member portfolios (Section 1), Executive decisions taken (Section 2) or to be taken where known, prior to and following the meeting (Sections 3 and 4).

 

Councillor Mawston to Deputy Mayor and Lead Member for Children's Social Care regarding Youth Service

 

Councillor Mawston referred to the lack of youth services in the town and the fact that Councillor Davison had operated a successful youth club for over 19 years which was self-funded. The Deputy Mayor advised that the town did not have any youth provision and this was detrimental to young people. In response to the question from Councillor Mawston with regard to whether the new Youth Service contract would be up and running by April 2021, due to the COVID situation, the Deputy Mayor advised that following a senior management restructure, £250k had been saved and this would be targeted at youth services provision. It would cover 3 areas, Universal, Targeted and Transitional provision. The procurement process was on target and youth services should be functioning from April 2021.

 

Councillor Mawston to Deputy Mayor and Lead Member for Children's Social Care regarding Ofsted Improvement Journey

 

Councillor Mawston stated that he wished to thank the Deputy Mayor and all of the officers involved in bringing about improvements in the provision of Children's Services. He queried how confident the Deputy Mayor was, that the Council would continue on this path of improvement.

 

The Deputy Mayor advised that the improvements had been brought about by the hard work of Senior Officers, Managers and frontline staff. Ofsted had carried out a follow-up review following the report received earlier in the year. The review had been carried out in September by the same lead investigator from the original review and this provided consistency in the approach. The focus of the review was on frontline services, in particular, the front door e.g. safeguarding assessments and the quality of thresholds. Feedback from staff was that the review had appeared to go smoothly. The formal feedback was expected to be received on 16 October but that could be changed.

 

The Deputy Mayor advised that a further 6 month review from a commissioner from the Department of Education was due to be carried out in November 2020.

 

The Council was working with an Improvement Board which consisted of representatives from the Police, Health and Education and the Council was seeing that change and progress was being made.

 

 

 

 

Councillor J Thompson to Executive Member for Environment regarding Tree Planting/Whip Planting

 

In response to Councillor Thompson's question with regard to whether trees that had been lost in the town would be replaced, whether the cost had been budgeted for, and whether they would have tubes around the whips to protect them, the Executive Member advised that the trees that had been vandalised, damaged or had died, would be replaced and the whips would have tubes around them for protection. There would be no additional cost to the Council as the cost had been covered via a grant.

 

Councillor M Storey to Executive Member for Regeneration regarding Centre Square

 

Councillor Storey congratulated officers and the Council on getting businesses into the town and he congratulated the previous labour administration on building the offices in the first place and in relation to bringing about Tees AMP. He emphasised how important Tees AMP was to the town in terms of manufacturing. In response to the comments from Councillor Storey, the Executive Member acknowledged the work that the previous labour administration had done in building the offices. He congratulated the Mayor and Officers for encouraging businesses to take up space in the offices, particularly during the COVID pandemic. The Executive Member also congratulated the Tees Valley Mayor for his work on Tees AMP Development.

 

Councillor J Walker to Executive Member for Adult Social Care and Public Health regarding Sexual Health

 

In response to Councillor Walker's question on the contract for sexual health with regard to the location of the clinics and the advice provided, the Executive Member advised that the tenders were due to go out the following week. The Executive Member advised that she would take into account the comments from Councillor Walker.

 

**At this point of the meeting, connectivity to Councillor Furness was lost and the Mayor was able to return to the meeting. It was suggested that the Mayor provide his update to the Council.

 

The Mayor appeared to still have connectivity issues and at this point the Monitoring Officer sought clarification from Councillor Storey with regard to an earlier Point of Order. It was clarified that the issue raised did not meet the requirements of a Point of Order as specified in the Council Constitution.

 

**The meeting was adjourned at this point to try and re-establish connectivity with the Mayor.

Following the presentation of the Mayor's Report, questions on the Executive Member reports recommenced.

 

Councillor Furness to Executive Member for Regeneration regarding Future High Street Fund

 

 In response to the question from Councillor Furness regarding funding for businesses during the lock down period, the Executive Member advised that it was very important that the town did not lose jobs or businesses. The Revenues and Benefits team had been very proactive in assisting businesses with grants and in coming up with new ideas to help businesses. The Council had restarted its Recovery Groups and they were looking at ways in which to assist businesses. The Executive Member advised that along with the Mayor he would be willing to approach Central Government with regards to any potential grant assistance for businesses