Agenda item

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO. 1

 

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor G Coates will ask the following question:-

 

What are the levels of Bin provision in the Spital and Mercian Wards?         I would like either a new bin or one relocated to an area that has a lot of litter gathering around it daily. This area depending on the side of the road is either Spital Ward or Mercian Ward, the idea location of the bin is at the top of Thackeray Drive by Comberford road.

 

Answer

 

An Officer has been tasked to visit Thackeray Drive by Comberford Road, to determine if there is a location suitable for a new litter bin, if there is a suitable location I will arrange the installation of a new litter bin will be arranged and Cllr Coates will be updated.

 

Supplementary

 

Is there a timescale on when they are going to check and I would like to thank all the residents who litter pick and take pride in our Town.

 

Answer

 

Officers have visited the location and can certainly look into putting a litter bin on the slabbed area at the top of Thackeray drive, this area has good accessibility for our vehicles to pull up safely to empty and too install, this would be multi use bin, for dog waste and litter.

 

The timescale for instillation will depend how quickly we can get the litter bin from the suppliers, hopefully we can have the bin installed within the next 4 weeks, 

 

 

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO. 2

 

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor Carol Dean will ask the following question:-

 

Could you please tell me how long the backlog is for council house repairs in the Bolehall Ward?

 

Answer

 

We don't carry a known backlog of repairs in any area of Tamworth. When tenants report a repair through the contact centre that is our responsibility it will be issued to the contractor for completion within the prescribed response times (1,5 or 26 days).

 

Supplementary

 

Thank you that doesn’t seem to be the perception of residents I have spoken to.  Could you tell me the average waiting time between a complaint being received and repair being finished and what can be done to reduce that time and how many times a resident as to contact the council before a contractor arrives.   

 

Answer

 

Tenants report repairs through our own call centre. Our call centre staff determine which priority to allocate a repair to and issue this to the contractor.

 

Attached is a KPI report that gives an indication as to the number of jobs completed on time. The report relates to April 2023 but the numbers have generally been consistent.

 

	Total	KPI Figures		Target
KPI3a Priority emergency completed within 24 hours	311	298	95.82%	100%
KPI3b Priority urgent completed within 5 days	196	183	93.37%	90%
KPI3c Priority routine completed within 26 days	526	497	94.49%	90%
KPI5 Average time to complete voids			69.19 days	8.6 days
KPI7 Repairs completed on first visit	1033	897	86.83%	85%
KPI8 Recalls to previous repairs		37	3.1%	8%

 

Tenants should only need to make contact with us once to report their repair; at the time of calling, they will be advised of the priority.

 

The average time between reporting a repair and it being completed is dependant upon the priority it is given at the time of reporting. As can be seen in the report a higher proportion of jobs reported sit in the 26 day category. In order to reduce the overall waiting time for repairs additional resource would be needed on the ground which will have cost implications.

 

We have identified some areas for improvement, in particular relating to appointments and communications.

 

 

 

 

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO. 3

 

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor Sarah Daniels  will ask the  following question:-

 

Can you please give details on the state of and plans for the disused community centre on Masefield Drive?

 

Answer

 

The Commercial & Industrial Team have been engaged in negotiations with a potential tenant for some time now. The prospective tenant is a sport-based community organisation and is currently waiting on confirmation of Sport England grant funding before they are able to formalise a lease.

 

Supplementary

 

Thank you, Councillor Turner that is really good news I stand here following on the work of several Councillors who have been exploring this issue as many of you have over the years I ask, as someone who grew up on the border of Spital /Mercian Wards my mum lives there too and she is also involved in several charities, Mr Mayor thinking of your plans for the year Councillor Turner do you think that through the council’s communications channels we could make groups and citizens aware of our community centres and can you tell me ways that you might action this.  

 

Answer

 

Thank you for your question.  We do want to use all the assets within the borough so some co-ordinated conversations what’s available when and how, we will be communicating more effectively more efficiently will the help of everybody. 

 

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO. 4

 

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor Craig Adams  will ask the following question:-

 

Is the portfolio holder for Homelessness Prevention and Social Housing aware of any structure problems with council housing in Belgrave ward?

 

Answer

 

We are not aware of any wholesale structural issues with properties in Belgrave.  But if you do specific details please come back to me lets focus on and lets put it right. 

 

Supplementary

 

I will get back to on this I have been talking to quite a few different people when out campaigning and noticed there are quite a few problems around.

 

Answer

 

Thank you for that yes it is attention to detail without the evidence without the documentation we can’t provide details

 

 

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO.5

 

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor Chris Bain will ask the following question:-

 

Residents who attend St Editha's Church have expressed concern that the recent practice of Tamworth Borough Council's switching on of the Christmas lights on the same weekend as Advent Sunday will continue. Can the switching on of the lights be held on the weekend 24th to 26th November to avoid clashing with Advent Sunday and the Darkness to Light service which will take place in St Editha's Church from the 1st to the 3rd December.

 

Answer

 

The Christmas Lights Switch On Event has been held on the last Sunday of November for the past 6 years, and all stakeholders, including the town market, Church and businesses have been communicated with. Therefore the event will take place on Sunday 26th November 2023 which coincides with Councillor Bain’s suggestion.

 

Further to this as St Editha’s Square and the old Co-op building are part of the town regeneration plan, the Square itself is unavailable for this and any other events for the next two years. Therefore the Christmas Lights Switch On Event will be taking place in the Castle Grounds, away from St Editha’s Church.

 

Supplementary

 

Thank you that it what the people I spoke to were asking for.  I think it is important there are three iconic buildings in Tamworth.  There is the Castle , this magnificent town hall and St Editha’s and I think it behoves us to talk on a regular basis with the custodians of one of those three buildings which is the people of St Editha’s so keeping open those lines of communication I think will avoid any misunderstanding in the future and can I thank you Councillor Turner for your answer today.  

 

 

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL NO.6

 

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor Lee Wood will ask the following question:-

 

What consultation has taken place with the retailers involved in the regeneration work on the Middle Entry?

 

Answer

 

The FHSF bid to government which sets out the detail of all of the projects in the Programme was approved, unanimously by Full Council in July 2020.

In general terms, the FHSF programme of works has been communicated via the Borough Council’s communications team on a number of occasions and also through articles in the Herald. The Borough Council held a business meeting in October 2021 and invited the town centre businesses to attend and ask questions about the FHSF Programme and approximately 30 attended. Each attendee was given a pack of useful information including the details of the Borough Council’s Transforming Tamworth website which has been widely publicised, dedicated to the various regeneration projects across the town. In addition to the website the Borough Council held drop-in sessions at the TEC centre on the first Wednesday of every month between 4-7 to assist any businesses with queries. Unfortunately, and despite running for about a year, no one attended.

The landowner Peer Group have been keeping their tenants up to date with progress on the programme and have been in regular communication with the Borough Council. Most recently, about 3 weeks ago.

 

There are two parts to the Middle Entry project.

 

Part 1: Demolition of units 9 Middle Entry and 18, 18a and 19 Market Street and Nos 20, 20a and 21 George Street and redevelopment to provide a flexible, multi use building. 

The Borough Council took vacant possession of these units in October last year following a number of years of discussion and negotiation with the landowner, Peer Group. Peer Group negotiated with the existing tenants to ensure that their tenancies were terminated to allow for the FHSF project to proceed. A number of tenants re-located to other premises in the town centre. For this part of the project the tenants were aware of plans early on in the project and the landowner Peer Group have kept them up to date as the project has progressed.

 

Part 2: Removal of existing glazed roof, demolition of projecting canopies and first floor gantries

A planning application for this part of the project was determined by Planning Committee in January2023. As part of that process 70 neighbours were notified. No comments were received by the Local Planning Authority. Again, the landowner Peer Group has been in regular communication with their tenants about the FHSF proposals which they fully support.  That’s latest I have please let me know if you need anymore.

 

Supplementary

 

Having gone round the town centre earlier and having spoken to some of the businesses their understanding of the plans is sketchy at best would it be prudent to use one of the empty local properties we seem to have to display the plans for those who don’t go on social media and its for people as they are walking past to have a look and perhaps go from there. 

 

Answer

 

We are open to all suggestions but as you know we ran an open event and if people don’t attend so lets have a chat and knock the doors as we come to the next rebuild stage of the project which is going to be very, very exciting for the town.