In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9, to allow Members to ask questions about Council activities. A question may only be asked if notice of seven clear working days has been given.
a)Question submitted by Councillor Peter Roberts to Councillor Steve Fritchley, Leader of the Council:
Point 1
We are proposing to use environmental budget money to provide parking spaces for a housing project when we could simply add it to the cost of the project an get it back through the rent.
It is a subsidy to the builder when the money should be for the wider community
Point 2
We are proposing to charge £1637 each to resurface a road for 8 private tenants other residents are council tenants so no additional charge to them They do not know the terms of payment, They have not be informed about the specification of work to be done and whether it is good value They are having to paying when they already pay council tax and it’s BDC land
Is it right to not charge new tenants point 1 while at the same time charging existing ones point 2 and are we happy as a council conduct ourselves as indicated above.
Minutes:
In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 9, Members of Council were able to ask questions about the Council’s activities to either the Chair of the Council, Chairman of a specific Committee or a relevant Portfolio Holder.
One question had been submitted by Members of Council under Council Procedure Rule 9.
a) Question submitted by Councillor Peter Roberts to Councillor Steve Fritchley, Leader of the Council:
Point 1
We are proposing to use environmental budget money to provide parking spaces for a housing project when we could simply add it to the cost of the project an get it back through the rent. It is a subsidy to the builder when the money should be for the wider community
Point 2
We are proposing to charge £1637 each to resurface a road for 8 private tenants other residents are council tenants so no additional charge to them They do not know the terms of payment, They have not be informed about the specification of work to be done and whether it is good value They are having to paying when they already pay council tax and it’s BDC land
Is it right to not charge new tenants point 1 while at the same time charging existing ones point 2 and are we happy as a council conduct ourselves as indicated above.
The Leader of the Council thanked Councillor Peter Roberts for his question, and addressed his first point by explaining how the “Environment budget” Councillor Peter Roberts referred to was an Environmental Scheme fund within the HRA (Housing Revenue Account). He clarified that the fund was worth £50,000 and Members could bid to use it annually, and car parking space schemes was one of the areas it could be spent on. He also clarified that the parking scheme mentioned by Councillor Peter Roberts was for the housing development on Mill Lane in Bolsover.
The Leader of the Council stated that in this particular case, there were two procurement contractors with different types of work, so one could build new houses and one could operate a Civil Engineering Graduate Scheme. He added that both had different budget codes but both were within the Environmental Scheme fund and the HRA. This was how the parking scheme was funded for the Mill Lane parking scheme.
Councillor Peter Roberts was informed by the Leader of the Council that with all of this in mind, the Mill Lane parking scheme had to be funded from the Environmental Scheme fund and HRA, rather than his suggestion to add it to the cost of the project and get it back through the rent.
The Leader of the Council addressed the second point by explaining how the road Councillor Peter Roberts referred to was Jubilee Place in Whitwell, and the Council was responsible for the road’s maintenance. He explained that the Council picking up the road resurface cost through the Housing Revenue Account would be illegal, because the houses on the road belonged to private residents. He added that after the Council charged the residents on the road, the Council would find a contractor to carry out the resurfacing work as part of a transparent and competitive procurement process.
The Leader of the Council believed that although he sympathised with the tenants on Jubilee Place, it would be unfair to use Council money provided (in part) by Council tenants to repair roads for private tenants, and charging the private tenants for road repairs directly was much more fair.
The Leader of the Council requested that because there had been some confusion between different budget types, officers should clarify the differences for Members between the General Fund and HRA via Scrutiny Committees.
SUPPLEMENTARY QUESTION
Councillor Peter Roberts exercised his right to ask a supplementary question of the Leader of the Council, and asked if anything could be done to mitigate the costs that residents of the road would have to pay.
The Leader of the Council responded by stating that he felt sorry for the tenants who would have to fund the road, but the only thing the Council could do to mitigate this would be for Council Directors to look after the residents as much as possible.