Agenda item

For a period of up to thirty minutes, a Member of the Council who has given prior notice in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15, may ask (a) the Mayor, (b) the Leader of the Council or (c) a Member of the Cabinet a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the Borough.

The questions received for this meeting are attached.  A Member asking a question may ask, without giving notice, one supplementary question of the Member to whom the first question was asked.  The supplementary question must arise directly out of the reply.

Question to the Leader from Councillor Bernard Sarson

“Could the Leader of the Council please explain what the other party in the administration meant in their election leaflet promising “Free parking on small business SATURDAYS to help the high street “. Can we have an update when this due to commence and how many Saturdays this would entail in a year?”

Answer from Councillor L Chesterman, Deputy Leader:

Thank you for your question. Since taking control of the Council, the joint administration has already begun working with Officers on a number of joint priority areas, which reflect what is important to residents in our Borough and the mandate that we have been elected on. This has and will require compromises, given that the two parties had separate election campaigns but are now working together. Through the steps we have taken so far we have already started to show residents that we are willing to work together to give them the best possible Council we can, despite some of predictions to the contrary from other parts of this chamber before the election.  With regards to parking and town centres, our work will include initiatives to support the vitality of our town centres including recent events in Hatfield Town Centre and our continuous support to Welwyn Garden City BID.  We are exploring how some of our parking regimes could be better aligned with the events that are taking place in our town centres. I would be happy to update my fellow Councillor on specific proposals once they are at a suitable stage.

Councillor Sarson asked the following supplementary question:

“As the Leader said, “budgets are under pressure” how will you fund this?”

Councillor Chesterman responded with the below:

“We are looking to start with two Saturdays - one in Hatfield and one in Welwyn Garden City, and I’m quite interested you've picked it up now and haven't asked about funding before because it's actually been in our manifesto for the last few years, so I think it's quite telling that you've only been reading it in the last couple of months.  How it will be funded is part of the work we are looking at, we are doing everything and I'm quite surprised bid, never actually spoke about this or you worked with them to do it - seeing that it was in our manifesto for the last few years - that we expect the small businesses to benefit from the trade that's coming in, and that would be quite negligible to the amount of car parking put, we actually want to make our two town centres much busier and much more productive.”

Question to the Leader from Councillor Kasumu

“On 19th June of this year, when asked about recent bin strikes the Leader said on the radio “I thought 6.8% was a pretty decent offer to be honest. As I say the nurses have got 5%. How come these guys think they are getting a duff deal with 6.8%... I am very very disappointed in the attitude of the unions”. In contrast his Labour group coalition colleagues stated that “workers are striking due to unfair pay and conditions”. This paints a confusing picture for our residents in relation to the approach to dealing with future disputes when they inevitably arise considering inflationary pressures on the council, contractors, and the wider public. Can the Leader please clarify whether he still believes 6.8% was a fair offer or whether sticking to 6.8% would have left waste management workers experiencing unfair pay and conditions?”

Answer from the Leader:

“Thank you for the question.

I’m sure our residents are extremely happy that the Joint Administration worked with all key stakeholders to resolve the strike action very swiftly indeed and I am therefore struggling to understand why they would be confused by any of our actions. We were always clear that our focus was to encourage both sides to talk and resolve the strike quickly, which thankfully was the outcome.

Your question might of course cause rather more confusion for residents about your Party’s position on the tsunami of strikes our country faces due to the soaring inflation your party’s various governments have caused. You end your question by suggesting 6.8% might be viewed as leaving workers experiencing unfair pay and conditions, but only yesterday junior doctors completed their latest period of strike action, leaving many patients on years long waiting lists with even longer to wait, their strike having come about after your government offered them just 4% initially.

Tomorrow rail workers will cause many Welwyn Hatfield residents difficulties when they go on strike, yet again, a dispute your MP failed to resolve when, three jobs ago I believe, he oversaw the start of that disruption as Transport Secretary, offering them 4% and then refusing point blank to negotiate. Less than a week ago, the Public Sector pay award by your government offered teachers 6.5%, consultants, dentists and GP’s 6%, senior civil servants 5.5% and the current negotiations on Local Government pay suggest the ‘full and final offer’ from the Conservative dominated employers side of the NJC offering staff right here at Welwyn Hatfield Borough Council a median increase of just 6.5%.

I think residents’ confusion might be more to do with what your government is (or actually isn’t) doing to resolve the tsunami of strikes our country and our residents now face.”

Supplementary question from Councillor Kasumu:

“There are tough challenges ahead and the administration will need to not only be courteous when speaking publicly about workers but also eventually you'll need to make tough decisions yourself, so would the Leader now apologise to Waste Management staff for his words on the radio in the 19th of June, and would he also confirm if he will be offering council staff similar pay increases should they request it?”

Answer from the Leader of the Council:

“Apologise well, I think my response to that was just as soon as [Rt Hon] Grant [Shapps MP] does to the rail workers, yes, absolutely.

In terms of offering council staff, as you should well know, the NJC, the council staff pay award is a nationally negotiated structure and is not something that I am in a position to influence.”