Agenda item

Councillor Mrs Cowling, the Leader of the Council, presented the following statement:

 

“On the 9^th July I visited the site above Pickering to see the progress being made with the flood defences, and I am pleased to report that progress is good.  The valve which will control the flow of water is a much bigger structure than I imagined, but little of it will be seen once all the soil is replaced.  It was good to see the results of what for a small district council was a massive investment for the benefit of our community.

 

On the 18^th July I was elected Chairman of the Local Government for North Yorkshire & York; a job which I am sure will be easy compared to chairing meetings in this council!

 

I also represented the council at the opening of the new extension to Rosti McKechnie at Pickering.  The factory is amazing - like a tardis – much bigger from the inside than it looks.  We are lucky to have companies who are investing so heavily in our district.

 

Although not in an official capacity, I went to the Ryedale Show. What  a wonderful event  and a real credit to the district and many thanks to the people who put so much effort into organising the show, and indeed to the organisers of the  many other shows in Ryedale.

 

The Malton Stables Open Day which the Chairman of Council and I attended last Sunday was a real eye opener.  The sheer size of the yards and the number of people employed is amazing, yet they are such an independent sector of our economy that makes a massive contribution to the success of our district.

 

You will also all be aware by now that SLM have been appointed to manage our leisure services, and that the savings made through this contract are quite extensive.  At the same time we are going to have some substantial enhancements to the services we offer to the public.  You are all invited to attend a presentation by SLM prior to the P&R meeting on the 25^th of September.

 

Planning permission has been given for the development which will provide a site for the relocated livestock market, which has got to be good news for the farming community of Ryedale. The decision has to be referred to the Secretary of State, because of the size of the proposed development.  It was unfortunate that the bid for money to the Local Growth Fund for the improvements to the road network at this location was unsuccessful, but the award of planning permission will help when this scheme is resubmitted.  It is hoped that there will be another round of funding before Christmas.  Of course the good news was that the Food and Environment Research Agency application at Sand Hutton was successful.”

 

The Leader added the following update on garden waste:

 

“Just to give you an update on the garden waste. We are £73,000 over what was budgeted for, that's an 11% increase over the amount of money we expected to take. On the back of that, many of you will be aware that we arranged the sale of composters at a much reduced price for the public and I'm pleased to announce that every last one of the composters has sold.”

 

The following questions were received on the Leader’s Statement:

 

1.    From Councillor Paul Andrews

 

“I notice that SLM have been appointed to manage the leisure services, you're saying that savings are quite extensive. I wonder if we could all have a written note of those savings, so that we can see if those savings are maintained over the years and we're not simply being induced to take the contract on the basis of a loss leader?”

 

The Leader replied:

 

“Scrutiny Committee will be dealing with that and I'm sure you will be seeing the figures.”

 

2.    From Councillor Mrs Burr

 

“Regarding the compost bins, it's good to know that people have taken that up. Could you tell me how many bins we actually offered for sale please?”

 

The Leader replied:

 

“350 bins.”

 

3.    From Councillor Clark

 

“The first question relates to SLM. It says here - and this is a wonderful arrangement, it's a great success and it announces in the press release and the Leaders Statement announces its success but it's a little bit difficult to see because as far as I know .................. could we please have some information on SLM not before 6.30 on the 25 September, not through Overview and Scrutiny, which I didn't realise Cllr Wainwright was being mandated to do. For those of us who are not on Scrutiny, for those of us...............”

 

The Leader replied:

 

“If you would like to go on the website and Google SLM, you will find lots of information about them.”

 

Councillor Clark then asked the following supplementary question:

 

“I'm not interested in what SLM have to say for themselves, I am asking the Leader of Policy and Resources, the Leader of the Council, if she will tell us what, in her opinion,  has produced all these wonderful press reports and statements to make her think this is a good deal. How it's going to work, how it's going to run? SLM is one side of it, this Council is another. We're not hearing anything from the Council. It is being hidden - smoke and mirrors job - is it not Chair?”

 

The Leader then replied:

 

“No it is not being hidden and its not smoke and mirrors. If you'd listened to my Leaders Statement, you would hear that SLM are coming to give a presentation to this Council prior to the P&R meeting. You will be able to ask them any questions you like on that date. It has not been my job, nor have I been part of that  function to evaluate everything that SLM are going to do for us. I am aware of some of the advantages that will accrue from their bid and as far as I'm concerned it sounds pretty good to me.”

 

4.    From Councillor Walker

 

“Will this Council have representation on the governing body of SLM?”

 

The Leader replied:

 

“I have no idea. I will get you a reply to that.” 

 

5.    From Councillor Clark

 

“I suspect Cllr Cowling hasn't the answer but we'll try anyway. On what basis was the number of bins decided for the recent sale? Why is that different from the sale that is to be organised in the west of Scarborough? Why is the size of the bins different? Why is the method of payment different? etc. Because one was heralded as a superb idea, the other was heralded as a superb idea and they both come from - it has been decided by the North Yorkshire and York Waste Partnership. I don't belive that there are any Councillors on that but if there are - who is our representative?”

 

The Leader replied:

 

“You are deliberately asking questions to which you know I do not know that answer. How would I know about Scarborough?... I don't know how that figure was arrived at.”

 

6.    From Councillor Richardson

 

“Relating back to the flood defences  - can I just ask what you mean by good progress? Were you talking in terms of budget or in terms of timescale of the delivery of the flood defences?”

 

The Leader replied:

 

“No I was talking about the delivery of the flood defences. The weather has been very kind overall this summer and it has allowed them to keep on time with the schedule of works.”

 

7.    From Councillor Clark

 

“My final question is simply why does Cllr Cowling introduce a subject to this Council about which she knows nothing at all?”

 

The Leader replied:

 

“That's a bit of a rhetorical question I think.”