Agenda item

Subject to the required notice being given, Members of the Council can ask questions of the Chairman of the Council, the Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holders or Chairmen of Committees or Sub-Committees.

 

The time allocated for receiving and disposing of questions shall be a maximum of 45 minutes. Any question not disposed of at the end of this time shall be the subject of a written response, copied to all Members unless withdrawn by the questioner.

 

Four questions have been received, on notice, from Members.

Subject to the required notice being given, Members of the Council could ask questions of the Chairman of the Council, the Leader of the Council, Portfolio Holders or Chairmen of Committees or Sub-Committees.

 

Four questions had been submitted as set out below:

 

Question One

 

From Councillor Calver to Councillor M Skeels Snr., Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Tourism:

 

“The Labour Group supports the £355,000 restoration of Clacton’s Venetian Bridge and agrees with the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Tourism when he described the bridge as being an iconic focal point for visitors.

 

Will the Portfolio Holder agree with me that the Victorian lighthouses in Dovercourt Bay, both scheduled ancient monuments, represent an even greater iconic focal point for visitors to Harwich and Dovercourt and, therefore, will he advise the Council as to what action is being taken to restore them to their former glory and how long it is likely to be before they once again offer a positive visual impact on Dovercourt Bay’s Blue Flag beach rather than a negative one?”

 

Councillor Skeels replied as follows:

 

“I would like to thank Councillor Calver for his question and appreciate his support with the restoration of the Venetian Bridge.  I concur completely on the subject of the Victorian Lighthouses in Dovercourt Bay, which are a key landmark for the District and an instantly recognisable feature for one of our Blue Flag Beaches.  You may recall that a condition survey of the lighthouses was commissioned earlier on this year, to establish what it would take to bring the lighthouses back to their former glory.  You will appreciate this is very specialist work and there have been a number of tasks to complete in advance to ensure the safety of contractors prior to any survey commencing.

 

Once the survey is complete, which is likely to be later on this year, we will have a clear picture of the condition the lighthouses are in and importantly what the cost will be to restore them.  At that point, we will be able to consider how we go forward in possession of all the appropriate facts.”

 

Councillor Calver then responded to Councillor Skeels’ reply with a supplementary

question:

 

“I thank the Portfolio Holder for that answer. I’m a little bit concerned that the Portfolio Holder has suggested that the survey will be completed later on this year as we are only five weeks from the end of the year. Can he be a little more specific on when this information is going to be available please?

 

Councillor Skeels responded to Councillor Calver’s supplementary question as follows:

 

“Thank you Councillor Calver. I haven’t got an answer to that question but I can find out from the Officers and come back to you.”

 

Question Two

 

From Councillor I J Henderson to Councillor Honeywood, Portfolio Holder for Housing:

 

“Will the Portfolio Holder responsible for dealing with homelessness advise the Council of the annual number of people contacting TDC to declare themselves as ‘homeless’ but who fall outside of the council’s legal obligation for assistance?

 

Would the Portfolio Holder further agree to introduce a location within Harwich and Dovercourt where a person requiring such assistance can present themselves as, at present, such individuals, often without the means to pay for transport, are required to get to Clacton or Colchester before they can be given support?”

 

Councillor Honeywood replied as follows:

 

“Thank you for your question Councillor Henderson. The legal obligations that the Council has towards the homeless are set out in government legislation and not policy adopted by the Council. The legislation defines homelessness, who is eligible to apply, who is owed a duty with accommodation and how that duty can end or be ended by the Council.

  

In 2016/17, 1397 households approached the Housing Options Team for advice or assistance with their housing. Of this figure, 270 were assessed as being homeless or threatened with homelessness as defined in the homelessness legislation set out in Part VII Housing Act 1996 (as amended). These households made formal homelessness applications to the Council.

 

Of this figure of 270 households, 92 were accepted as being owed a full housing duty. 107 were found to be not homeless following enquiries or alternative assistance being provided. 37 were found not to have a priority need as set out in the legislation and a further 34 were found to be intentionally homeless.

 

I can you advise you that such a provision did exist until fairly recently at the Harwich Job Centre one day a week but it was found that on a consistent basis only half of the booked appointments actually turned up. On this basis the arrangement was not proving to be an effective use of officer time so it was withdrawn. The Housing Benefits Team does however continue to have a presence at the Job Centre on Wednesday and Thursday each week and anyone presenting there with a homelessness problem is phoned through to the Housing Options team at the Town Hall.”

 

Councillor Henderson then responded to Councillor Honeywood’s reply with a supplementary question:

 

“I will give the Portfolio Holder an example of what I meant and perhaps he will come back again. Every Councillor dreads the phone call from a person who does not meet the priority need for the Council as there is currently nothing else out there at the moment to support them. Such a case came to me recently and I phoned up the office in the Town Hall and he was not one of those who met the criteria and he was told that his only option was to go to, possibly, the Colchester night shelter but that he should ring in advance as most of the time that’s full. And if he could not get in there to, possibly, go to the Chelmsford but make sure he rang there first as he might not get in there either. But for him to get to any of those night shelters he needed money and I was told that he would need to come to Clacton to get a voucher to actually go into a night shelter so I would ask the Portfolio Holder if he would look at the whole situation again because the answer to that person that came to me was actually you are going to have to live on the street as there is no other provision for you if those other places are full.

 

Can I also, as well all know the impact of the roll-out of Universal Credit on people and families around the country and it will especially impact on the people of Tendring, have an assurance from the Portfolio Holder that if contacted by people who are threatened with eviction because of being forced into arrears by the Government’s introduction of Universal Credit his officers and the Council will do all that they can to support those individuals at that hour of need?”

 

Councillor Honeywood responded to Councillor Henderson’s supplementary question as follows:

 

“Thank you Councillor Henderson for your supplementary question. In answer to your first part, yes, I am happy to look at that and if your resident still has issues if you would like to forward me the details I will be happy to see what we can do to help.

In answer to the future I am going to be frank there has been a slight increase in rent arrears in this Council, something that I have raised with housing officers. It is believed that the main issue is around Universal Credit where there is a delay in receiving the rent from the claimant and the delay in the money being paid to the claimant. However, I am told that the Universal Credit situation is likely to stabilise. But I would also like to say to Councillor Henderson and other councillors that we do have a hardship policy in place which is proving to be quite effective and, yes, we will do what we can to help our residents. It’s the right thing to do and as Councillor Henderson knows, if anything, I believe in putting local people first.”

 

Question Three

 

From Councillor Parsons to Councillor McWilliams, Portfolio Holder for Health and Education:

 

“Could the Portfolio Holder for Health and Education, update this chamber on the work that has been carried out by this Council to raise awareness of, as well as the work to support, the services that deal with mental health within our District? In addition could she comment on the work that the Council has done to promote World Mental Health Day and the #helloyellow campaign?”

 

Councillor McWilliams replied as follows:

 

“I would like to thank Councillor Parsons for raising this issue as it is an area which the Council has been very proactive in driving forward in its community leadership and partnerships role and I would take this opportunity to thank all Councillors who have contributed to the different initiatives aimed at helping those with mental health problems.

 

Mental Health has been identified as a key priority for the Council’s local Health and Wellbeing Board which seeks to focus on key health issues that affect our area by bringing together partners and agencies to focus on health concerns, especially where we are not the lead authority.

 

A key project developed through the Board is the Mental Health Hub.  This is operated by the Tendring Citizens Advice Bureau and seeks to provide mental health support and stop mental health issues escalating for individual clients.  In addition support is offered around financial issues, housing, volunteering opportunities, isolation, parenting and physical health.   

 

Over 130 new clients were seen in the second half of 2016/17 providing holistic assessments of their mental health need and where required signposting clients into the mental health caseworker service.  

 

The Hub is based on Old Road [Clacton-on-Sea] in a very significant area of deprivation for those with mental health issues and so is ideally suited for clients to be able to pop in to share their struggles.

 

Funding is provided by a number of organisations including Tendring District Council, Essex County Council, The Clinical Commissioning Group and the Police and Crime Commissioner’s Office.  All these agencies understand the needs in this area and the impact those with mental health can have on the public sector and so are keen to develop ways to assist in terms of prevention. 

 

This initiative is seen as providing significant support for those with mental health difficulties and wider partners are hoping to upscale this project into a county wide initiative

 

Another inspirational project the Council has been involved in is a wellbeing Hub pilot, which has also been explored through the local Health and Wellbeing Board and has been set up at Great Bentley Primary School.  This has been supported by the Council’s Executive Projects Officer who, following attendance at the Instructor Training for Youth Mental First Aid provided by Mental Health First Aid England, delivered training to the staff at Great Bentley Primary School to support them in the valuable work they are doing.

 

The Hub launched in April 2017 and is crucial in assisting young people as mental health affects all aspects of a child’s development including cognitive abilities, social skills and emotional wellbeing.  Following evaluation and subject to identifying additional funding the Wellbeing Hub model and training may be able to be cascaded through the clusters to enable other schools to be able to facilitate their own individual Wellbeing Hubs.  This has also attracted county wide interest.

 

The Council is looking to sign up to the Time to Change campaign which would demonstrate the Council’s commitment to change how it thinks and acts in terms of mental health in the workplace.  This would include mental health first aid training for staff and support as well as developing staff focussed activities and events as part of an holistic plan of action to better prepare, inform and support staff.

 

The Council has also promoted information to staff on World Mental Health day via our on-line portal and the Human Resources Committee (on 1^st November 2017) agreed to support the Council’s commitment to the Time to Change agenda.”

 

Councillor Parsons then responded to Councillor McWilliams’ reply with a supplementary question:

 

“I’d like to thank Councillor McWilliams for that detailed response to my question. I do have a couple of questions that wasn’t raised in your response. A number of documents have been sent through the Essex Health and Well-being Board with regards to mental health in particular the strategy for mental health and well-being for 2017-2021; the Southend, Essex and Thurrock Dementia Strategy report, the “Open Up, Reach Out” Children’s Mental Health Local Transformation Plan as well as the prevention strategy for reducing the number of admissions into hospital and the suicide prevention strategy report. I just wondered what the Council was doing to assist with the implementation of these strategies.”

 

Councillor McWilliams responded to Councillor Parsons’ supplementary question as follows:

 

“We are already looking at one of the main strategies for our own benefit obviously. As far as the other ones are concerned I will look into those and come back to you.”

 

Question Four

 

From Councillor Winfield to Councillor M Skeels Snr., Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Tourism:

 

“The recent cycle Tour of Britain event enthused people to take up cycling. That is until they realise that they would have to share the road with a heavy traffic emitting pollutants, stealing their health enjoyment of the sport.  The existing unsatisfactory system which forces cyclists and pedestrians to share the top promenade on Clacton seafront fails to please either group and is clearly just a token gesture. SUSTRANS is a national cycling organisation, funded by Government, to provide designated cycling paths for Towns like ours.  This organisation has even allotted a token number of 150 which appears on their maps which are supposed to have cycling routes along.

 

I would like to ask the Portfolio Holder for Leisure and Tourism if he will do all he can to achieve safe designated cycle routes from Clacton Station and along our seafront from Holland Haven to the Town Centre.”

 

Councillor Skeels replied as follows:

 

“I would like to thank Councillor Winfield for his question and I agree that cycling in our District appears to be growing rapidly.  I am pleased to let you know that my Officers are working with county wide partners, including Sustrans and Essex County Council on the production of a cycling strategy programme.  Although it’s at an early stage, we will continue to influence this important piece of work for the benefit of our residents.  I would also add that when we have the strategy in place we will also look at any physical changes which will be required to enable us to fully implement the strategy. I am sure that this will probably include a review of the use of the area raised by Councillor Winfield.

 

We will continue to work with all our partners to improve access to cycling right across the District; and if you would like to discuss this specific matter further, I would welcome the opportunity to meet with you and appropriate Council officers in the near future.”