Agenda item

Attached are the questions of which notice had been given and the responses given.

The Mayor advised that ten questions had been received from Councillors and that they, together with responses, had been tabled in accordance with the Constitution.  The questions would be taken in the order in which they had been received.

Councillor Malpas thanked Councillor Church for the answer to his question that had been tabled and declared a personal interest insofar as the question and answer related to disabled applicants for concessionary bus passes.

Councillor Palethorpe thanked Councillor Beardsworth for the answer to his question that had been tabled and asked whether a strategy would be put in place to help tenants in respect of arrears in the light of the economic downturn.  Councillor Beardsworth commented that advice would be given not only in respect of arrears but also in terms of managing energy costs.

Councillor Larratt thanked Councillor Crake for the answer to his question in respect of the public bench at the junction of St Edmunds Street, Alfred Street and Stockley Street, which had been tabled.

Councillor Palethorpe thanked Councillor Woods for his response on behalf of Councillor Glynane to his question in respect of Northampton Rape and Incest Crisis Centre that had been tabled.

Councillor Flavell thanked Councillor Crake for the response to her question that had been tabled and requested further information in respect of the local businesses that had been contacted and the dates that that contact had taken place; what length of time constituted “persistence” in respect of rats and what money had been budgeted to deal with this issue.  Councillor Crake indicated that she would send Councillor Flavell a written response.

Councillor Flavell thanked Councillor Beardsworth for her response to her question which had been tabled and sought further information about the criteria for the installation of security doors and gates.  Councillor Beardsworth commented that the installation programme was run by the Housing Officers who would be pleased to run through the criteria with Councillor Flavell and that an officer would attend the next Neighbourhood Partnership 9 (St Crispin) meeting in order to appraise the Partnership of the situation.

In the absence of both Councillors Reeve and Glynane, Councillor B Hoare reported that he would send a copy of the response to Councillor Reeve’s question in respect of crime figures to him.

Councillor Palethorpe thanked Councillor Beardsworth for her response to his question about homelessness and noted that he had originally made this query via the Councillor Contact Centre on 30 May but had not received a response.  Councillor Beardsworth undertook to find out what had happened to Councillor Palethorpe’s query.

Councillor Scott thanked Councillor Crake for the response to her question that had been tabled and queried whether there were any short or medium term plans to recruit an officer to enforce flytipping regulations.  Councillor Crake commented that there were no plans to recruit a specific officer for this role but consideration was being given to the better use of existing enforcement resources to cover this issue.

Councillors Church and Simpson declared a personal and prejudicial interest as members of the Friends of the Racecourse and left the Council Chamber during discussion of the following question and answer.  Councillor Scott thanked Councillor Woods for the response to her question that had been tabled and queried which Cabinet member had given permission for the sculptures to be erected and whether they had sought advice from the Planning Officers.  Councillor Woods commented that he had been consulted on this issue but he was not clear if the Planning Officers had been consulted and as the tabled answer stated further investigations were taking place as to whether the erection of the sculptures were within permitted development rights.