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Agenda item

Questions from Members of the Council

Minutes:

 

Question a) from Councillor Williamson to Councillor Webbe, Executive Member for Environment and Transport:

 

What are the average daily, weekly and annual passenger numbers for the council’s own bus service, the plus bus?

 

Reply:

 

Thank you Councillor Williamson for your question about our wonderful plus bus. This runs a 30-minute service within Islington between 9.30am to 4.30pm on weekdays. The service is aimed at older and less mobile people who find it more difficult to use TfL bus services. 92% of the passenger trips in 2016/17 were made by Freedom Pass holders who are over 60.  It serves residents living in Canonbury, St Peter's, St Mary's, Barnsbury, Clerkenwell and Bunhill wards, connecting them with shops, services and community activities at the Angel and various venues along the route.

 

The average number of daily passenger trips in 2017, up to August, was 76 trips. The average weekly passenger trips made in 2017, up to August, was 382 trips. The annual passenger trips for 2016/17 was 20,789 trips. I think this is value for money, it serves a community who do not often have their voices heard, and it meets the needs of the community. It is a service which can be improved, there is no doubt about that, but it is a good service and is here to stay. 

 

Supplementary question:

 

Thank you for your reply. I am pleased to hear that the plus bus runs, as there is no way you can find this information on the internet. The council’s website page has been down for at least a month; the HCT website containing the information is currently down; there is a Wikipedia page, but it does not tell you where the bus stops. Bearing in mind that there is little information about where the bus stops or where it goes, passenger numbers are not going to increase. Has the council looked at the cost benefit analysis of replacing the service with taxi cards for the individuals who use it most? This would offer a more flexible service to those who need it.

 

Reply:

 

I don’t want to make any announcements about taxi cards and I’m not sure how that could be funded, but needless to say the 812 bus is a service we can rely on into the future. It is one that we have control over, one we can direct, one we can support, and one whose funding we will fight for. Very few councils have control over their bus services and I think that is a crying shame. We need to make sure that we have public transport, including buses, back into public ownership, into customer control. It is only through councils like our own, and other pioneering councils, that we will provide cleaner, more efficient, safer, more reliable and more accessible routes for those that need it. In regards to accessing the timetable; it is available on a number of travel apps.

 

Question b) from Councillor Poole to Councillor Watts, Leader of the Council:

 

With the centenary commemoration of the end of WW1 less than 12 months away, what progress has there been on securing the Memorial Arch at Manor Gardens and facilitating public access?

 

Reply:

 

Thank you for your question. You are absolutely right to raise this issue; the Memorial Arch is the old Metropolitan Borough of Islington’s war memorial, and it marks the 1,307 Islingtonians who made the ultimate sacrifice in the Great War.

 

Since you asked me about this at a previous Council meeting we have written to the owners of the memorial, Bellway Homes, requesting them to restore the monument and allow public access. We are taking a ‘carrot and stick’ approach with Bellway; the ‘carrot’ is that we are very keen to work with them and support their application to the War Memorials Trust to seek funding for the work, indeed I have lobbied personally on this, but the ‘stick’ is that this is a planning enforcement case, as we believe they are in breach of their Section 106 agreement to maintain the memorial.

 

I share your strong desire to make sure the war memorial returns to the condition you would normally expect of such an important monument, in time for next year’s commemoration of the end of the Great War. I would like to carry on working with you, Islington’s Heritage Service and our Planning Service to make sure that Bellway fulfils its legal duty. 

 

Supplementary Question:

 

Thank you for campaigning on this issue and for attending the commemoration of the Battle of Passchendaele earlier this year. The Memorial Arch is our own version of the Millennium Gate, it is a significant memorial for our borough, and it is important that Bellway gets this right. Will you deliver a Neville Chamberlain style ultimatum to Bellway Homes, and if they do not respond in the affirmative, issue an order to the Islington Veteran’s Association to march?

 

Reply:

 

I think the ultimatum we issue should be more effective than that issued by Chamberlain, but yes, I will certainly take this issue up with Bellway Homes and I would be happy to work with Islington Veteran’s Association on this. I hope the necessary improvements are made.

 

Question c) from Councillor Russell to Councillor Hull, Executive Member for Finance, Performance and Community Safety:

 

I note the cost of delaying the trampoline park to allow for an election count at the Sobell Centre in May 2017 was £200,000.  Where will you hold future election counts and how much will it cost?

 

Reply:

 

Thank you for your question.  As I am sure you are aware, where and when an election count takes place is not a decision for me or any other member, rather it is the decision of the Returning Officer, a statutory role which is independent of the Council, which ensures that elections are administered effectively.

 

I am aware that the Returning Officer has issued a letter to Party Agents setting out a timetable for the local elections in 2018, and also setting out when and where the election count will take place. The cost of elections, including the cost of count venues, are paid for by the institution or body on behalf of whom the election or referendum is being run. So national elections are funded by central government, London Mayoral and Assembly elections are funded by City Hall, and local council elections every four years and by-elections are paid for by the local authority. 

 

Supplementary question:

 

Thank you for that answer. Local authority elections need a place to be held; we’ve lost the Sobell Centre, has the cost of those future election counts been factored in to the budget for the trampoline park, and if so, when will that project break even?

 

Reply:

 

The count for the local elections in 2018 will be held on Friday 4th May at the Sobell Leisure Centre. In terms of how much it costs, it depends on whether it is a daytime or evening count, because that impacts on how long the centre has to be closed for, but it normally costs in the region of £25,000 - £35,000.   

 

Question d) from Councillor Russell to Councillor Ward, Executive Member for Housing and Development:

 

Will you fix the damp in existing homes on Park View estate before the new build programme begins?

 

Reply:

 

Thank you for your question. We are aware of the issues on the Park View estate, which we believe is being caused by a leak. We are currently carrying out tests and once we’ve identified the cause of the leak we will carry out any remedial work as quickly as possible to resolve the problem; that will be alongside the new build works.

 

We are also aware of some instances of condensation at Park View. In these cases, we have made sure that there are no building defects contributing to the condensation and have given advice to residents about how to prevent and manage condensation issues.

 

Supplementary question:

 

Can you please clarify if these works will begin before the new build works?

 

Reply:

 

We are currently investigating what remedial works are required, and new build works are due to start around summer 2018.

 

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