Agenda item
Questions by Members
The following questions have been submitted by Members of Council to Members of the Executive, in accordance with the Council Procedure Rules (Constitution Part 5, rule 10).
Oral responses will be provided at the meeting.
Following receipt of the answer to their question, Members are entitled to ask one supplementary question at the meeting.
The Questions and Answers will be detailed in the minutes of the meeting.
Q1. Councillor Thomas Ashby to Councillor Joy Aitman, Executive Member for Stronger, Healthy Communities:
For some time, it has been the belief that both the play area and recreation ground on Ralegh Crescent would be transferred to Witney Town Council. It is disappointing that only the play area has been transferred. There is a significant amount of Section 106 Money from the Windrush Place development which is designated for an “Offsite MUGA” and the current location of the basketball court and green shelters would be ideal.
Enabling Witney Town Council to undertake a design and build procurement would mean that our young people in West Witney would have a new fantastic outdoor space built reasonably quickly. Now that West Oxfordshire District Council have not transferred the land, what are the plans to procure a MUGA for Ralegh Crescent?
Q2. Councillor Julian Cooper to Councillor Duncan Enright, Deputy Leader of the Council and Executive Member for Economic Development:
Can the Executive portfolio holder for Tourism (Visitor Economy) please update the Council as to what progress is being made to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill’s birth in November 2024?
Q3. Councillor Jane Doughty to Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Leisure and Major Projects:
The Town Centre office has been closed since May with no indication displayed on the window as to when the office is reopening. Please can you tell me the reopening date?, and in the meantime, what provision is being made for residents who do not have access to the internet and need to speak to an officer in customer service face to face?
Q4. Councillor Martin McBride to Councillor Joy Aitman, Executive Member for Stronger, Healthy Communities:
The District Council owned Kilkenny Country Park is still closed to the public. Many people used to travel to this park and it had a fantastic reputation as a great destination to visit. This has very quickly changed and is disappointing that after several site visits by officers and members, the park is still out of use. Can you give a date for when the repairs will be carried out?
Q5. Councillor Michele Mead to Councillor Lidia Arciszewska, Executive Member for Environment:
Carterton has suffered with many streets not having their bins collected. This has gone on for four consecutive weeks. Why has this problem gone on for so many weeks, and what action are you taking to improve the service?
Q6. Councillor Hugo Ashton to Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council:
With regards to the requirement for Voter ID at last May’s elections, please could the Leader of the Council provide any data obtained on the following:
• The number and age profile of voters who were turned away from polling booths because they had not brought the appropriate ID with them?;
• The proportion of those turned away who subsequently returned to vote with their ID?;
• The number of polling stations where WODC employed somebody to address residents before they reached the polling area asking whether they had the necessary ID?;
• How many people were turned away by these greeters before being formally registered as being without the required ID?
Minutes:
Questions by Members, as listed on the agenda, and the responses to those questions, which had been circulated in advance, were taken as read. The Chair invited the questioners to ask a supplementary question and then invited the relevant Executive Members to respond. The questions and responses were as follows:
Q1 – Councillor Thomas Ashby, to Councillor Joy Aitman, Executive Member for Stronger, Healthy Communities.
For some time, it has been the belief that both the play area and recreation ground on Ralegh Crescent would be transferred to Witney Town Council. It is disappointing that only the play area has been transferred. There is a significant amount of Section 106 Money from the Windrush Place development which is designated for an “Offsite MUGA” and the current location of the basketball court and green shelters would be ideal.
Enabling Witney Town Council to undertake a design and build procurement would mean that our young people in West Witney would have a new fantastic outdoor space built reasonably quickly. Now that West Oxfordshire District Council have not transferred the land, what are the plans to procure a MUGA for Ralegh Crescent?
A1 – Officers meet with Officers from Witney Town Council every month to monitor progress transferring playgrounds and sports facilities to the Town Council as well as using s.106 funding to deliver new facilities like the proposed MUGA (Multi Use Games Area) in West Witney. Because of the nature of the s.106 agreement for the proposed MUGA, Officers from the District and Town Council are working together to deliver this facility. The intention is for West Oxfordshire District Council to transfer the land of the proposed MUGA to Witney Town Council in the future.
Q1a – When the play area was transferred to Witney Town Council, the Ralegh Crescent Recreation Field was not transferred also. Can a date be given for when this will be done, so that the dedicated Section 106 money can be spent quicker than it would be here at WODC?
A1a (answered by Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council) – I believe a written reply is needed to full address this detailed question, and that it needs a very precise answer. So we will get that to you very quickly, in light of what you said about expedition, and on that basis, a written reply will come.
Q2 – Councillor Julian Cooper, to Councillor Duncan Enright, Deputy Leader and Executive Member for Economic Development.
Can the Executive portfolio holder for Tourism (Visitor Economy) please update the Council as to what progress is being made to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Sir Winston Churchill’s birth in November 2024?
A2 – As of yet, we are not aware of any plans to commemorate the anniversary locally or nationally. Blenheim Palace have indicated that they intend to run related activity - though as yet no information is available.
The Tourism and/or Communications Teams will promote any relevant events.
Q2a – I would like to ask the Deputy Leader of the Council to assist to try and pressurise the leader of the Estate, as it would appear that the estate are going to do virtually nothing to commemorate the 150th Anniversary of Churchill’s birth. My intention is try and get people into West Oxfordshire hotels, and also to do an education programme about this great man. I realise that we are battling against the Estate, but I wonder if the Deputy Leader will assist in that effort?
A2a – Thank you Councillor Cooper, the second most famous resident of Woodstock, 150 years after Councillor Cooper himself. I would be happy to contact the Chief Executive of the Blenheim Estate and find out if there is more we can do.
Q3 – Councillor Jane Doughty, to Councillor Alaric Smith, Executive Member for Leisure and Major Projects.
The Town Centre office has been closed since May with no indication displayed on the window as to when the office is reopening. Please can you tell me the reopening date? and in the meantime, what provision is being made for residents who do not have access to the internet and need to speak to an officer in customer service face to face?
A3 – Customer Services have relocated to Woodgreen whilst the work is being carried out at Welch Way, and the team are available to speak to customers face to face, do scanning of evidence/documents, collect recycling containers and provide similar services. Customer Services are providing the same services as at Welch Way, so there has not been any impact on the customer other than needing to visit a different location. There is a poster in the window at Welch Way advising customers that Customer Services are currently based at Woodgreen, or alternatively to telephone Customer Services to obtain help over the telephone. A reopening date will be made available to residents and councillors around the time of the Full Council meeting.
Q3a – We have recently had an email at Witney Town Council, telling us that our town offices are going to be open again on 24 July. Is that still going to happen?
I have also looked through the finances, and can you tell me how much exactly the alterations and renovations to our town Council offices are going to cost?
A3a – I can confirm that the offices will reopen on Monday 24 July 2023. The teams have been moving back into the offices ahead of this date. I am not able to confirm those numbers, but will be happy to get back to you on those.
Q4 – Councillor Martin McBride, to Councillor Joy Aitman, Executive Member for Stronger, Healthy Communities.
The District Council owned Kilkenny Country Park is still closed to the public. Many people used to travel to this park and it had a fantastic reputation as a great destination to visit. This has very quickly changed and is disappointing that after several site visits by officers and members, the park is still out of use. Can you give a date for when the repairs will be carried out?
A4 – Kilkenny Country Park in the Parish of Brize Norton has never been closed. An estimated 100,000 people visit the play park in the Country Park every year. A press release was published on 5 July 2023 updating Members and the Community that the Executive has committed over £80,000 of Section 106 funding for improving the play park with new equipment and the refurbishment of some of the existing apparatus.
Q4a – I would like to thank Councillor Joy Aitman for the written response, and it was quite useful to get that. I think it is important for the residents to see progress is being made.
What are the three most important lessons that the Executive Member has learnt from this situation, so that moving forward into the future, we don’t end up with similar situations where significant parts of play parks are out of action for such a long period?
A4a (answered by Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council) – I do understand the tenor of what Councillor McBride is saying. I will come back on that one as it asks the question in a different way. We will come back with a more detailed answer, if helpful to you.
Q5 – Councillor Michele Mead, to Councillor Lidia Arciszewska, Executive Member for the Environment.
Carterton has suffered with many streets not having their bins collected. This has gone on for four consecutive weeks. Why has this problem gone on for so many weeks, and what action are you taking to improve the service?
A5 – The overall performance of the waste collection service remains very high with over 99% of household bins being collected when they are scheduled. The current collection vehicles are in the final stages of their usable life, which is leading to increased numbers of vehicle breakdowns. When this happens collection crews in the surrounding area are sent in to assist, but it’s not always possible to make all of the collections on the scheduled day due to vehicle capacity and HGV driving hour restrictions - This leads to them being delayed. There has been increased oversight by the management team who recognise the issues and there were fewer service failures last week. The increased monitoring will continue.
Q5a – As you may have realised by this, this is personal to me as it was my bin that was missed 4 weeks in a row. I live on the straightest, longest road in Carterton. A third of the town was missed 4 weeks in a row. You say that 99% of the household bins are collected when scheduled, so you’re rescheduling our bins. Take that word away, what is the percentage of bins being missed? Are you registering them? As soon as our bins are missed, I go online, it states that missed collections are known, so we don’t then have the right to register our bins as being missed, because you’ve already decided that you’re not coming. That can happen at 10 o’clock in the morning. You’ve already decided that you’re not coming that day. So how are you registering the statistics for the ones you’re rescheduling, because as far as I am concerned, that’s my bin being missed?
A5a – The bins are occasionally missed, yes. We are tracing which bins are being missed. We currently have some problems with our waste and recycling service resilience, and if the bins are missed, it may not necessarily be possible for the collection crews to return the next day due to other collection patterns. We are working very hard to resolve these issues as soon as possible. Part of the problem here is that the National Government is delaying provisions in the Environment Bill, where councils would be able to go and plan a waste and recycling collection service properly. Therefore, we have a fleet that is ageing. When there is a breakdown, it is difficult to catch up. If you would like any data, I would have to provide this to you in writing.
Q6 – Councillor Hugo Ashton, to Councillor Andy Graham, Leader of the Council.
With regards to the requirement for Voter ID at last May’s elections, please could the Leader of the Council provide any data obtained on the following:
• The number and age profile of voters who were turned away from polling booths because they had not brought the appropriate ID with them?;
• The proportion of those turned away who subsequently returned to vote with their ID?;
• The number of polling stations where WODC employed somebody to address residents before they reached the polling area asking whether they had the necessary ID?;
• How many people were turned away by these greeters before being formally registered as being without the required ID?
A6 – 54 electors applied for a ballot paper and were initially refused, 35 of these electors later returned with accepted ID and were issued with a ballot paper. The Returning Officer is not required to record age profiles of voters, either in the polling station or by way of ‘greeters’.
The proportion of those initially turned away, who subsequently returned to vote with their ID, was 64.8%.
The Returning Officer employed 26 additional staff members to ‘greet’ voters. These included all multi stations and those with a greater proportion of electors.
The Returning Officer is not required to record the number of voters turned away by the polling station ‘greeter’ and therefore no information is available in this regard.
Q6a – Thank you for the full answers on the data. My question relates to the lack of recording of the number of voters turned away before they enter the polling booth areas. Is states that the Returning Officer is not required to record that number, however is the Returning Officer permitted to record that number, as if it were possible, there would be a fuller estimation of the impacts of Voter ID?
A6a – As we all know, the Voter ID has actually disenfranchised a number of people who weren’t able to actually produce the necessary photo ID, and this has been a serious problem for those who couldn’t do it. Whilst the staff did themselves follow the guidance and the processes that were set and laid out by the Electoral Commission, we don’t have that discretion, so we are following the guidelines as set.
What it does underpin, however, is the inaccuracies of data when it is produced, because you are only counting those who got to the point of being in the polling station and are about to vote, and there are those people, as you say, who came to the door and were turned away and not recorded.
We also have those people who didn’t even go to the polling station at all, as they felt they were disenfranchised, and that quite frankly, from a Council point of view, is not good enough. The principles of democracy are based on the fact that we can all vote, and that we all that equality of opportunity, to make our views known when at the ballot box.
The way forward, I would suggest, and that it may be for a future Council meeting, is that we do make these views known to the Secretary of State, because it is them who actually set this up more than the Electoral Commission, who set the guidance following a directive from the Secretary of State.
So that’s the answer, Chair, and although it is unsatisfactory, we feel for those who felt that they were unable to go to the ballot box and express their vote.
Supporting documents:
PDF 44 KB