Agenda item

Part I – To deal with written questions to the Executive.

Part II – To receive reports from the following Members of the Executive:-

a)    Councillor Federica Smith-Roberts – Leader of the Council

b)    Councillor Derek Perry – Deputy Leader & Sports, Parks, Leisure and Phosphates

c)    Councillor Benet Allen – Corporate Resources

d)    Councillor Christopher Booth – Community

e)    Councillor Caroline Ellis – Culture

f)      Councillor Dixie Darch – Climate Change

g)    Councillor Mike Rigby – Economic Development, Planning and Transportation

h)    Councillor Francesca Smith - Housing

i)      Councillor Andy Sully – Environmental Services

j)      Councillor Wakefield – Local Government Reorganisation

An Executive Councillor shall submit a report to an Ordinary Meeting of the Council as to current and future business of their portfolio for the information of and comment from the Council. Such reports are for discussion and comment only and no motion shall be put to the meeting as to any such item other than those closure motions described in Standing Order 5.

During the discussion, the following points were raised:-

·       Concern was raised on the use of the e-scooters at night due to the lack of visibility.  Councillors queried whether they could request that users wore high-vis clothing at night.

The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change agreed with the comments and advised that the lights could not be moved on the e-scooters due to logistics and that the company did encourage users to wear helmets and high-vis clothing.

·       Councillors queried the closure of Shop Mobility.

The Leader of the Council advised that the reason for the closure was a dramatic drop in number of people using the service. Since the Covid Pandemic, numbers had reduced by about 90%. It was thought that wider availability and lower costs of mobility scooters had also impacted use to the extent that a very small number of core users were using the service with numbers averaging less than 10 per week between January and August 2022. As a result, the service was running at a considerable loss.

The Council had supported the Shopmobility scheme for more than 10 years, with Compass taking over the service for the last 7 years. We would like to place on record our thanks to them for providing this service during that time. Compass had advised the Council that an exceptionally low number of individuals were affected by this closure (5 or less). We would be happy to help signpost any individuals that were affected by the closure to other support available.

·       Councillors queried what was happening with the installation of EV charging points in the rural areas of West Somerset.

The Portfolio Holder for Climate Change advised that officers had wanted to install some EV charging points in Dunster and Blue Anchor, but sadly the funds had not been available.  She further advised that as part of the CNCR work, funds had now been allocated to install charging points in Dunster.

·       Councillors were pleased to see the work on phosphates moving forward.

·       Councillors requested that the phosphates survey results be distributed and asked how the credits would be allocated.

The Portfolio Holder for Parks, Sports, Leisure and Phosphates was happy to circulate the survey responses and advised that the Phosphates Sub-Committee was working on how the credits would be allocated.

·       Councillors thanked officers for all their hard work in getting the parks ready for Britain in Bloom.

·       Councillors queried whether applicants would need to re-submit their applications due to the amendments made to the phosphates calculator.

The Portfolio Holder for Parks, Sports, Leisure and Phosphates advised that they were not sure as they were still in negotiations with Natural England.

·       Concern was raised on the abolition of youth services within the North Taunton area.

The Leader of the Council agreed and advised that the Unitary Council and the proposed Taunton Town Council would need to work on this in the future.

·       Councillors were pleased to see reduced bus fares being introduced in the area.

·       Concern was raised on the logistics of supplying broadband in the area.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning, Transport and Economic Development agreed and advised that sadly there were too many companies trying to use the lines which caused issues.  He was aware that Somerset County Council had tried to engage with the companies to try and rectify the situation.

·       Councillors queried how much land was being put aside for the phosphates work and asked for clarification on the calculations for homes per Kg.

·       Concern was raised on staff sickness and councillors queried how officers were feeling heading into the Unitary Council.

The Leader of the Council agreed that staff were in a state of flux and that the HR Teams were geared up to assist officers through the process.  She further thanked all staff for their hard work over the last four years.  Somerset West and Taunton had a very resilient work force who had gone through many different changes and challenges and were still working hard to provide a high level of service to the residents of the district.

·       Councillors thanked the officers and Portfolio Holders for their reports.