Agenda item

Please note that Councillors are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named on the first page of this agenda (acting on behalf of the Corporate Director not later than 5pm Tuesday 21 February 2012. Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Councillors prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

The Chairman reported receipt of questions from Councillors Ernie Clark, Jon Hubbard and Chris Caswill, details of which were circulated and attached as a Appendix 6 to these minutes together with the responses given.

Questioners agreed to take their questions as read and were given an opportunity to ask a relevant supplementary question to which the relevant Cabinet member responded. Supplementary questions are summarised as follows and should be read in conjunction with the questions and responses:

Cllr Ernie Clark – Recovery of “non pensionable honoraria” payments – Cllr Clark asked what timescale the Council’s legal team was working to to recover these payments.  Cllr Jane Scott asked the Monitoring Officer to send a written response to Cllr Clark on this matter.

Cllr Jon Hubbard – Payment of public sector workers through private companies – Cllr Hubbard asked how many people listed as Wiltshire Council staff had been paid in this way.  Cllr Jane Scott explained that no public sector workers in Wiltshire had been paid in this way but some consultants had been.

Cllr Chris Caswill – Health and Wellbeing Board – Cllr Caswill asked whether the Administration was fully supportive of the Health and Wellbeing Board initiative.  Cllr Jane Scott explained that Wiltshire would have to be ready for the Boards if this was approved by Government and that it was important to provide a joined up service for the people of Wiltshire.  Cllr Caswill also noted that there could be the possibility of allowing cross party representation on the Board and asked whether this was an opportunity that Wiltshire intended to pursue.  Cllr Scott stated that the outcome of the Bill was still awaited but this could be a possibility.

Cllr Chris Caswill – Changes to the Licensing system – Cllr Caswill asked for assurance that if changes occur in a piecemeal fashion then the review would happen as and when these were received.  Cllr Seed, Chairman of the Licensing Committee, confirmed that discussions would take place as changes came in and that Councillors would be involved.

Cllr Chris Caswill – Parking arrangements in the Market Quarter area of Chippenham - Cllr Caswill asked whether this was an opportunity to ensure that enforcement action would be taken as a priority relating to parking notices in the Market Quarter area of Chippenham.  Cllr Sturgis stated that it was for the local member to work with residents to take this up with the developers.

Cllr Chris Caswill – Parking provision in the Market Quarter area of Chippenham – Cllr Caswill asked what scope there was for urgent action regarding parking in this area as about 50-100 cars had been displaced.  Cllr Dick Tonge, Cabinet member for Highways and Transport stated that the parking policy had been agreed and the only exception to this was where parking prevented access for emergency vehicles.  Any concerns should be pursued using the current procedure.

Cllr Chris Caswill – Community Area Transport Groups (CATGs) – Will the Cabinet member encourage all Community Area Transport Groups to hold their meetings in public?  Cllr Tonge, Cabinet member for Highways and Transport, stated that it was up to the individual Area Boards if they wished to make their CATG meetings open to the press and public.

Cllr Chris Caswill – Core Strategy – Junction 17 of M4 – The exclusion of reference to Junction 17 of the M4 in the Core Strategy document was inconsistent with the strategy for transport.  What are the views of the Cabinet member?  Cllr de Rhe Philipe, Cabinet member for Economic Development and Strategic Planning stated that she would like to see opportunities developed for Chippenham and did not wish to exclude Junction 17.