Agenda item

QUESTIONS, STATEMENTS, PETITIONS AND DEPUTATIONS FROM THE PUBLIC

The Democratic Services Manager will announce any submissions received. The Council will be invited to decide what action it wishes to take, if any, on the matters raised in these submissions. As the questions received and the answers given will be circulated in written form there is no requirement for them to be read out at the meeting. The questions and answers will be published with the draft minutes.

Minutes:

The Chair made reference to the Q&A document which had been circulated.

 

Statements were made by the following people;

 

Bob Hollingdale made a statement updating Councillors on the situation with Uber in London where a cross section of MPs were calling on Uber to lose their licence, as had already happened in a number of cities around the world.  He highlighted various examples of attacks on passengers which Uber were not reporting and stressed that the safety of passengers should be at the forefront of any decision making.  In response to a question from Councillor Paul Crossley about what checks were made on the quality and accessibility of cars, Bob explained that only the Local Authority did checks and that some of the Uber cars were over 10 years old and in a poor condition.

 

Paul Roles made a statement explaining that they were moving forward on working with officers and Cabinet Members. He highlighted an article concerning problems with DBS checks being carried out and the need for measures to be put in place to stop TFL drivers working in Bath, at least until their DBS checks were sorted out. Councillor Paul Crossley asked Paul if it was true that the Mayor of London had banned his teenage daughters from using Uber, to which Paul responded that this question had been put to the Mayor on the radio and he’d responded that he categorically would not allow them to use Uber.

 

Following the above two statements, Councillor Paul Crossley sought the agreement from the Leaders of the Groups with at least 20% of Council seats, in accordance with rule 4A, 34 of the Constitution to allow a 10 minute debate on Uber.  This was agreed – the minute of the debate follows this item.

 

David Redgewell made a statement calling on the Council to work with the West of England Combined Authority to press for Government funds for the 2019 – 2024 period.  He also stressed the need for a bus strategy for the West of England area.  In response to a question from Councillor Neil Butters about David’s view of whether the Tram Forward initiative provided a solution, David responded that there was a place for it and it was worthy of a further look.

 

Robin Kerr, Chairman of the Lansdown Crescent Association, made a statement raising concerns about safety aspects of the hoardings in front of Hope House which were causing traffic problems, and called on the Council to take action to prevent a more serious accident taking place.  Further details can be read in the full statement which is attached to the online minutes.  In a response to a query from Councillor Dine Romero as to whether they had already raised this concern with any other parties, Robin explained they were exasperated with repeatedly doing so.  That morning, he had spoken to the Managing Director of Acorn, the company responsible for the hoardings, who claimed to be surprised at the concerns, although they had been raised 4 months previously.

 

Betsi Ifans, a pupil at Ralph Allen school, made a statement on behalf of the Save Bath Libraries campaign, calling on the Council to explore more creative ways of securing funding and gave some examples of successful Council projects via the Libraries Innovation Fund.  Further details can be read in the full statement which is attached to the online minutes.  In response to a query from Councillor Richard Samuel as to whether the campaign knew why the Council had not put in a bid to the Libraries Innovation Fund, Betsi replied that they did not.

 

Dionne Pemberton made a statement highlighting the necessary steps the campaign group felt had not been taken before any decision on co-location was taken, including an understanding of user needs, detailed operational plans and impact assessments, meaningful consultation etc.  Further details can be read in Dionne’s full statement which is attached to the online minutes.  Councillor Tim Warren asked Dionne if she would like to see the library put on a long-term stable footing, to which she responded that of course she would.  Councillor Richard Samuel asked, with regard to Dionne’s points in her statement, whether she felt that a major user survey should be carried out before or after consultation. Dionne responded that it should definitely be beforehand and outlined the very different needs of a library and a one stop shop.  Councillor Eleanor Jackson asked if Dionne considered that the principle of a sound evidence base being needed before deciding on co-location applied only to Bath, and Dionne responded that it appeared not.

 

Andy Halliday addressed the Council raising concerns about the stress and pressure on library staff from the staffing proposals in the Modern Libraries programme. Further details can be read in Andrew’s full statement which is attached to the online minutes.  Councillor Richard Samuel asked for Andy’s view on the appropriate level of professional library staff for Bath Central Library, and how many there were currently.  Andy responded that there were 4 full-time librarians and that when he had started working there in 2003, there had been 16.  Councillor Liz Hardman asked whether there was now more dependence on volunteers and whether this was a good thing; to which Andy responded that volunteers weren’t able to do the job of front line staff, but they were helpful in peripheral services such as deliveries to the housebound.

 

Paul Stansall addressed the meeting urging them not to proceed with a Lewis House conversion and change of use, setting out a number of concerns which can be read in full in Paul’s statement which is attached to the online minutes.  Councillor Tim Warren asked was it not better to have a library rather than closure, as some cities had been forced to do, to which Paul responded that he considered that a false argument.  Councillor Richard Samuel asked for Paul’s view of the deficiencies of Lewis House for this proposed use, to which Paul responded that he had visited and the staircases were too deep and didn’t meet building regulations.  Conversion of these alone would be costly and technically demanding.  Councillor John Bull referred to Paul’s point about appointing a champion and wondered if he had similar concerns for branch libraries, to which Paul responded that he was a Bath resident so needed to choose his battles!  Councillor Sarah Bevan asked Paul to explain his concerns about ‘design-and-build’ mentioned in his statement, to which he responded that this worked for simple problems such as warehouses and sheds, but this was a complex problem.

 

Luke Emmett addressed the Council and referred to the DCMS Library Task Force set of guidelines for any library move.  He outlined his view that the Council had failed to meet any of these 7 requirements and urged an evidence based decision.  Further details can be read in Luke’s full statement which is attached to the online minutes.  Councillor Tim Warren referred to Luke’s numbers and asked if he agreed that, based on population, it would appear that a higher percentage of people used the library in Keynsham than in Bath, to which Luke responded that it appeared so.  Councillor Richard Samuel asked what the ‘Libraries Deliver’ document was asking the Council to do, to which Luke responded that it asked for evidence based decisions and proper consultation with communities.

 

Angie Morgan addressed the Council and asked why they were proceeding with the plans to move the library in the face of such opposition.  She queried how the plans would meet the needs of the diverse range of library users and deliver the expected savings. Further details can be read in Angie’s full statement which is attached to the online minutes.  Councillor Tim Warren asked if Angie was aware that the consultation asked about keeping the library at the Podium, to which she responded that she was.

 

The Chair thanked all the speakers for their contributions.