Agenda item

 

(i)      Questions on Notice to the Executive:-

 

None received for this meeting.

 

(ii)     Questions without Notice to the Executive and the Chairs of Committees.

 

A.   Questions on Notice

 

No questions on Notice from Elected Members had been received for this meeting.

 

B.   Questions Without Notice

 

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 15.2, the Chair of Council sought questions from Elected Members during Question Time.

 

A.    Questions to the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones

 

There were no questions put to the Mayor of Doncaster, Ros Jones

 

B.   Questions to the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Glyn Jones, Cabinet Member for Housing and Equalities

 

There were no questions put to the Deputy Mayor, Councillor Glyn Jones, Cabinet Member for Housing and Equalities.

 

C.     Questions to Councillor Nigel Ball, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Leisure and Culture

 

There were no questions put to Councillor Nigel Ball, Cabinet Member for Public Health, Leisure and Culture.

 

D.     Questions to Councillor Joe Blackham, Cabinet Member for Highways, Street Scene and Trading Services

 

There were no questions put to Councillor Joe Blackham, Cabinet Member for Highways, Street Scene and Trading Services.

 

E.     Questions to Councillor Rachael Blake, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care

 

In the absence of Councillor Rachael Blake, Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care, the Chair of Council informed Members that any questions for Councillor Blake should be submitted in writing to the Executive Office after the meeting, and a response would be provided accordingly.

 

F.     Questions to Councillor Nuala Fennelly, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools

 

In the absence of Councillor Nuala Fennelly, Cabinet Member for Children, Young People and Schools, the Chair of Council informed Members that any questions for Councillor Fennelly should be submitted in writing to the Executive Office after the meeting, and a response would be provided accordingly.

 

G.    Questions to Councillor Chris McGuinness, Cabinet Member for Communities, Voluntary Sector and the Environment

 

There were no questions put to Councillor Chris McGuinness, Cabinet Member for Communities, Voluntary Sector and the Environment.

 

H.     Questions to Councillor Bill Mordue, Cabinet Member for Business, Skills and Economic Development

 

There were no questions put to Councillor Bill Mordue, Cabinet Member for Business, Skills and Economic Development.

 

I.       Questions to Councillor Jane Nightingale, Cabinet Member for Customer and Corporate Services

 

There were no questions put to Councillor Jane Nightingale, Cabinet Member for Customer and Corporate Services.

 

J.      Questions to Councillor Austen White, Chair of the Audit Committee

 

There were no questions put to Councillor Austen White, Chair of the Audit Committee.

 

K.     Questions to Councillor Phil Cole, Chair of the Elections and Democratic Structures Committee

 

There were no questions put to Councillor Phil Cole, Chair of the Elections and Democratic Structures Committee.

 

L.      Questions to Councillor Rachael Blake, Chair of the Health and Wellbeing Board

 

In the absence of Councillor Blake, the Chair of Council informed Members that any questions for Councillor Blake should be submitted in writing to the Executive Office after the meeting, and a response would be provided accordingly.

 

M.    Questions to Councillor Jane Kidd, Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Committee

 

Q. Councillor John Mounsey asked the following question:-

 

“I would like to take the opportunity to endorse what Mayor Ros Jones said and pay thanks to our fantastic staff for doing a tremendous job during the floods in local communities.  I would also like to endorse what Councillor Chris McGuinness has said regarding the floods.  I was Chair of OSMC in 2007, last time there were floods in Doncaster.  We carried out a thorough review and another one needs doing now.  It needs OSMC to go out into the communities and to look and listen.  A review needs to be done with both them and with the Environment Agency and we need for the public voices to be heard.  Will you do that?”

 

A.   Councillor Jane Kidd gave the following response:-

 

“Thank you John; the answer is yes.  I fully appreciate that OSMC did a major review, and I actually attended the public meeting myself in Carcroft.  Additionally, two years ago when I was Chair of the Communities and Environment Panel, we carried out a big review that looked at what could be done to make flooding less of a catastrophe when it did happen, but unfortunately, we cannot stop the rain.  We do however, have a full set of recommendations agreed with the Environment Agency, the Drainage Boards and DMBC Officers, so we need to go back to those recommendations and see if they were carried out and if not, why not and what can be done better.  We are not going to stop flooding unfortunately, but we can alleviate the suffering as much as we possibly can.”

 

Q.   Councillor Charlie Hogarth asked the following question:-

 

“Can I ask, when they are doing the Scrutiny Review, if you can give all Councillors, not just the Members of the Scrutiny Panel, full and limitless time to ask questions and not limit their time to ask questions?”

 

A.  Councillor Jane Kidd gave the following response:-

 

“Yes Charlie and we always do.”

 

Q. Councillor Richard Allan Jones asked the following question:-

 

“Thank you, I can see where Councillor Chris McGuinness is coming from and I can see where Councillor John Mounsey is coming from, and there are a number of lessons we need to take on board.

 

I personally do not believe the Environment Agency does enough to support the process as we would not be where we are now. Some would probably argue the opposite, but my experience with the Environment Agency is that they do not work very well.  Consequently, as soon as Chris gets his report, I think it should be brought back to Scrutiny with haste as next week, it may rain again, and then we will be back in exactly the same position again.”

 

In response to the comments regarding the floods, Councillor Chris McGuinness made a brief statement to provide more information:-

 

“I was not going to say anything, but with regard to the floods, I would like to share a few snippets of information.  There were three warnings placed on the River Don last week, but over a six-week period, there had been three significant periods of rainfall that had already resulted in much higher levels than normal.  Over the past 6 weeks, there had been much more rain than normal.  On the 7th November, it was forecast between 40 and 60 milliliters (ml) of rain, but in fact there was approximately 80 ml of rain.  The Environment Agency had acknowledged there was going to be rain and had Field Teams on standby, but there was more rain than had ever been anticipated, and since then, the pumping stations have been pumping 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, with pumps working at 8 different locations across the Borough.”