Agenda item

Questions from the Public

 

To receive any questions from members of the public addressed to Members of the Executive in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.  There is up to 5 minutes for each question, one supplementary question may be asked arising from the original question.

 

Questions must relate to any matter the Council has power or which affects the Borough, except no questions may be asked in relation to

 

a)     A specific planning or licensing application

b)     A specific staffing appointment or appeal, or Standards determination

 

Public question time will last up to 30 minutes; questions will be taken in the order of receipt.

 

The deadline for submission of questions is Friday 1 April 2022 at 12 noon. Questions to be submitted to democratic.services@adur-worthing.gov.uk   

Minutes:

The Mayor announced that there were 4 registered questions and 1 question from a member of the public in the gallery.

 

1)     Submitted Question from Mr Phil Abbott, a Worthing Resident

           

A blot on the Worthing landscape - Dumped, long term, short term parking of caravans, converted lorries, camper and commercial vehicles along West Parade is impacting on local residents, tourism and the wider Worthing economy.

What are you proposing to do about the situation?

 

The Leader replied that West Sussex County Council, as the Highway Authority, was responsible for setting policies that govern on-street parking and enforcement.  Worthing Borough Council carried out parking enforcement within that framework on behalf of the County Council. 

 

Within that context, Worthing Borough Council can only take enforcement action by issuing penalty charge notices against vehicles that were parked in contravention to existing restrictions.  Enforcement officers regularly patrolled West Parade and took appropriate action where necessary. 

 

If any vehicle was not parked in contravention, whether commercial or otherwise,the council had no power or jurisdiction to have them removed from the highway. 

 

Where vehicles appeared to be abandoned on the highway, a report would need to be made through http://www.operationcrackdown.org/  which is a joint initiative between the police and local authorities.

 

The Leader advised Mr Abbott to raise the issue with his County Councillor, providing examples of similar issues that had been successfully resolved in this way.

 

 

2)     Submitted Question from Mr Dan Hermitage, a Worthing Resident

 

Does the Leader think that Members’ social media activity should be held to the same standards as other public communication methods, for example such as direct speech?

 

The Leader replied that social media could be a challenging area. It remained in many respects an unregulated (even lawless) arena, with an abundance of those who were all too ‘trigger happy’. Content posted on social media had the potential to reach a wider audience than ever before, rather than being confined to the locality in which the content originated. This meant that content could have a much more significant impact, with a degree of permanence.

  

It was becoming increasingly common for standards complaints to be made on the basis of comments councillors had made on social media. Section 27(1) of the Localism Act 2011 placed a positive duty on councils to promote and maintain high standards of conduct of members and officers, and so this council sought to do so wherever its members used social media.

 

Mr Hermitage asked a supplementary question regarding Cllr Cochran’s suspension from the Conservative Party in relation to his social media activity and whether the Leader thought it acceptable that internal Conservative enquiries into this activity were still outstanding, leaving the town with an independent councillor who had demonstrated prejudicial views on his social media channels.  

 

The Leader replied that the question was factually inaccurate and the statements made were defamatory, therefore, he could not comment on them any further.

 

3)     Submitted Question from Ms Pauline Fraser, a Worthing Resident

 

During the pandemic, Worthing Borough Council refuse and recycling workers kept the service going and were widely recognised and praised by the public as key workers for doing so. Is it not the case that the leadership of the Council failed to take this support into account when the strike started and anticipated that any sympathy from the public for their action would drain away as the bins overflowed, and that despite several statements and press releases from WBC on the strike that have sought to divide GMB and Unison members and to paint the refuse workers’ strike action in a negative light, residents recognise that the strikers have a valid case for better pay and conditions?

 

The Leader replied that he recognised that refuse, recycling and cleansing staff had always provided a fantastic service in the Borough, and their efforts during the pandemic were particularly appreciated as demonstrated by the public support. 

 

Many other council staff, who were also key workers, also rose to the challenge during the pandemic, supporting our communities and people in crisis, coordinating volunteers, helping the homeless community and those at risk of homelessness, establishing and supporting food banks, maintaining open spaces on which we were even more dependent, setting up systems to process and quickly pay covid grants to businesses and residents, and providing essential support through the Council’s contact centre. The Council was grateful to each and everyone of them who went above and beyond during the pandemic.

 

The strike in the refuse and recycling service had caused significant disruption to residents and businesses just as we were starting to emerge from the pandemic.  The Leader was very grateful to the cleansing crews who had worked throughout and had done a great job in keeping our environment as clean as possible in very difficult circumstances.  All minds should now be focussed on bringing the strike to an end.

 

As a supplementary question, Ms Fraser asked whether the Chief Executive should have been on holiday during the dispute as it gave the impression that the GMB were not being taken seriously and that their demands were not being addressed properly. 

 

The Leader replied that he would dearly love to hear the demands from the GMB, however, they had failed to represent workers in any of the talks held so far. It was also noted that the Chief Executive had delegated authority to a Director to undertake negotiations during her absence and any remarks in regards to competence were defamatory. 

 

4)     Submitted Question from Mr Samuel Baeza, a Worthing Resident

 

Does the Leader of the Council think that the current Code of Conduct for

Members is fit for purpose?

 

The code of conduct adopted by the council was based on the Model Councillor Code of Conduct, developed by the Local Government Association after extensive consultation last year, as part of its work on supporting all tiers of local government to continue to aspire to high standards of leadership and performance. It was a template for all councils to adopt in whole and/or with local amendments. The Council undertakes an annual review of this Code to ensure it continues to be fit-for-purpose, incorporating advances in technology, social media and changes in legislation. The sanctions available to enforce the Code were limited and were based on those permitted by legislation, which was outside the Council’s control.

 

As a supplementary question, Mr Baeza asked the Leader whether Councillor Steve Wills was currently suspended from the Conservative Party and if so, when did the Leader know about that.

 

The Leader advised that he had not received any official notification of any matter involving Councillor Steve Wills and therefore could not answer the question.

 

5)     Question asked by Mr Andy Whight, a Worthing Resident

 

Could the Executive Member for Digital & Environmental Services confirm when he last consulted with business owners on the Goring Road shopping parade, what problems were raised, what was done to address the issues raised and when.

 

The Executive Member replied that he was happy to have an email conversation with Mr Whight and provide a written response to any specifics, as it was unclear what the thrust of the question was. 

 

The Leader advised that the question had been directed to the Executive Member for Digital & Environmental Services, but the question was not related to their portfolio.