Agenda item

The Chief Executive reported there were questions from Councillors Anne Dorrian and Brian Rush.

Question asked by Councillor Anne Dorrian pursuant to paragraph 10 of the Rules of Procedure as set out in the Constitution.

“You recently reported that you visited the COVID testing stations to say ‘thank you’ to volunteers. Given the current restrictions, isn’t that something which could have been done in writing or by hosting a virtual meeting?”

Response by Councillor Paul Skinner

“Cllr Dorrian,once again you seem confused, I visited the Tollfied Road facility as a customer and thanked them in my brief and via the bulletin.

“I, as Leader of the Council, was invited by the NHS to visit the Vaccination Centre.  A number of other Leaders from across the County were also invited to attend their local sites.  I took the opportunity to say thank you to those working there on behalf of the Council to show our collective appreciation for their hard work.”

Supplemental question asked by Councillor Dorrian pursuant to paragraph 10.6 of the Rules of Procedure as set out in the Constitution:-

“Thank you for that, Councillor Skinner.  I appreciate your answer.  Currently we’re under COVID restrictions and, just watching the presentation on TV this evening, we’re still under “Stay At Home, Protect the NHS and Save Lives”.  So, my question’s in two parts if you will, Councillor Skinner.

Part A is, local residents have complained to me that people are getting cabin fever and one local resident complained to me that her neighbour leaves home upwards of 12 times a day – what advice would you give that member of our local community?

Part B is that numerous local residents have contacted me, wishing to express their gratitude to Jonathan Van Tam, especially as he seems to have single-handedly painted this town in a very favourable light.  Would you commit, Councillor Skinner, to participating in a cross-party working group within our Council so that we could find a way to honour his contribution to the public health of our community and the public health of the UK in general?”

Response by Councillor Paul Skinner

“Thank you, Councillor Dorrian, for your question.  

When people are abiding by the restrictions and see other people not complying it’s extremely frustrating and not everybody wants to be the nosy neighbour and dob them in, but obviously you’ve got the opportunity to use 101, or e-mail 101, and that would be the correct route. 

As regards JVT, as he’s known in the trade, absolutely fantastic gentleman, an absolute asset to this town and, yes, I would be quite, quite willing to take part in anything to actually honour him because he honours the town every time he stands up. 

Thank you very much.”

Question asked by Councillor Brian Rush pursuant to paragraph 10 of the Rules of Procedure as set out in the Constitution.

“Can the residents and ratepayers of Boston Borough Council, be provided with a clear and concise explanation as to why and when this Administration has unilaterally curtailed the ‘democratic rights’ of the Public to engage personally in delivering questions to their Elected Representatives, and instead obliged the Worshipful Mayor, to present their questions on their behalf, what was the reasoning behind this?”

Response by Councillor Paul Skinner

 “The introduction of The Local Authorities and Police and Crime Panels (Coronavirus) (Flexibility of Local Authority and Police and Crime Panel Meetings) England & Wales Regulations 2020, provided local authorities the ability to hold meetings remotely  to avoid having to meet face to face and risk the further spread of covid-19.

In response to those Regulations the Chief Executive, in consultation with all Group Leaders, used emergency powers to implement the Remote Meetings Procedure Rules which, to aid the management of remote meetings, suspended the requirement for members of the public to attend meetings in person to ask their questions and instead are directed via the Mayor or Chairman of the meeting.”

Supplemental question asked by Councillor Rush pursuant to paragraph 10.6 of the Rules of Procedure as set out in the Constitution:-

“I want to thank Councillor Skinner for his answer.  However, I would like to say, are we really so dependent on Big Brother that our peers consider us incapable of participating in a virtual reality exercise or is this yet another surrender by our ruling Conservative Group who have forgotten how to lobby our own MP?”

Response by Councillor Skinner

“Thank you, Councillor Rush.  We have had quite a national pandemic.  It has not allowed people to meet face to face unless you’ve got the space round them.  And, quite frankly, until the four tests that the Government have set, all the early restrictions, the earliest date is 21^st June.  And, basically, it is a way the questions can still be asked, but I, like you, would prefer to see people face to face and let’s hope people will value our freedoms and, therefore, actually follow the rules so we can get out this crisis quite quick because I, like you, I prefer face to face, thank you.”

Question asked by Councillor Brian Rush pursuant to paragraph 10 of the Rules of Procedure as set out in the Constitution.

“Can You tell me, when it was, that this Council passed a directive to begin allowing vehicles to park overnight in Boston Market Place, and what charge is levied to the owners for doing so?”

Response by Councillor Tracey Abbott

“The Council has not passed a directive to allow vehicles to park overnight in Boston Market Place.

The Markets team have allowed the butchers van to park in the events space the night before Markets on a trial period, if this is causing an obstruction, issues or complaints we will happily review this process. No charge is currently levied for this van.”

Supplemental question asked by Councillor Rush pursuant to paragraph 10.6 of the Rules of Procedure as set out in the Constitution:-

“Thank you Councillor Abbott.  So is this overnight accommodation being provided free of charge to this particular vendor?  If so, maybe we can begin to allow all our stallholders to pull up and stay overnight before the market.  I have many photographs of bad practice being allowed to take place in the market place.  I thought we already had a stopover site at the stock entrance, but they are maybe charging for that.  So, Councillor Abbott, tell me, how much do we charge him for stopover electric?  Whose responsibility is it if his truck gets broken into in the dead of night and his stock gets stolen or infected?  What if a resident trips over one of his unprotected cables that are left out in the market place?  Does our liability really cover such events?  Don’t you think it’s time our Markets Manager started properly applying all the regulations within our markets policies before someone gets injured or killed?”

Response by Councillor Abbott

“Thank you for your supplementary.  As I have just stated, there is no charge being levied for the van.  As for the electric, I do not know, I can find that out for you.  As I believe, anybody who would approach us who, especially during COVID, needs this requirement, I’m sure our staff and team will listen to every effort to make it possible.  I shall get back to you about your second part of your supplementary.  Thank you Councillor Rush.”