CC Questions




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	County Council Questions. KCC Labour Group continually question Kent’s Tories to make sure what they do if fair for all of Kent’s residents. Here you can read those questions and the responses from Tory Cabinet Members..

	COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING 16 October 2008 Question by Dr M R Eddy to the Leader of the Council Would the Leader of the Council please inform the Council of the total number of visits made to his blog in August and September 2008 and the average number of visits this equates to per day? Answer In August there were 1,515 visits, the equivalent of 48.8 visits a day In September there were 1,458 visits, the equivalent of 48.6 visits a day My blog is an opportunity for me to communicate directly with the public, give an insight into the key issues and challenges facing the county and what we are doing about them and show some of the work the county council is doing to make Kent an exceptional place to live, work and visit. It is also a simple way for people to contact me direct with their views and questions. A number of important issues have been raised in my blog, many of which have been followed up by the local press, including threats to Kent's farming industry, failure of government to refund our costs on asylum, government plans for increased housing figures in Kent and the need for adequate infrastructure and Operation Stack to mention a few. It has also been an opportunity to highlight some of KCC's many achievements in delivering excellent public services.

	COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING 16 October 2008 Question by Mr T J Birkett to the Deputy Leader of the Council Would the Cabinet Member for Finance please inform the Council of the taxi and chauffeur costs incurred by Cabinet Members and Chief Officers of the County Council for journeys in the last financial year, 2007-2008; and would he provide this information broken down to show the costs incurred by individual Cabinet Members and Chief Officers? Answer The total cost for chauffeurs for 2007/08 was 50,619; 9,391 of which was recharged to Directorates. The costs for taxis during this period amounted to 10,694. To break down the costs for use by all individuals would involve an unreasonable amount of work and cost (Appendix 4 Part 1 Paragraph 1.18(7) of the Constitution refers).



	COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING 4 September 2008 Question by Mr R J Parker to the Leader of the County Council Are there any proposals to remove the three elected County Councillors from the Board of Kent TV? Answer No - there are no proposals. Any changes to the Membership of Kent TV’s Board would be a decision taken by Kent TV’s Governors.

	COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING 4 September 2008 Question by Mr R Truelove to the Chairman of Cabinet Scrutiny Committee Would the Chairman of the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee inform the Council what lessons he has learned from the consideration of the Kent Concessionary Travel Scheme for the over 60s at the Cabinet Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 21 May? Answer There are three main lessons to be drawn from consideration of this particular issue: That the present administration, despite all its protestations to the contrary, is able to find whatever money it wishes for political stunts; That the present administration takes decisions on the hoof, and That the present administration failed in this case (and I suspect fails in other cases) to communicate effectively with Conservative district council colleagues, thus giving the lie to any notion of ‘enhanced two-tier working’.

	COUNTY COUNCIL MEETING 4 September 2008 Question by Mr T Maddison to the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Services With the imminent closure of the Queen Elizabeth Foundation Centre in Dartford on 17 October, would the Cabinet Member inform the Council of any mechanisms put in place by KCC to ensure that adequate respite care is being provided for the many carers who will be affected by service and venue changes? Answer Carer issues are a high priority for the department and as such are central to the reprovision plans. Identification of carers’ needs formed part of the individual assessment process that took place earlier this year. Consideration of carers’ needs, including transport issues, was also included in the individual care planning interviews which took place during August. The new networking sites will provide care for those attending them when required and care will be available, as now, for external activities such as bingo and ten-pin bowling, and other outings. A meeting was held with the Carers group which meets at the Queen Elizabeth Foundation Centre on 25 April 2008 and no issues were raised at the time. It has also been agreed that an officer will attend the Carers group meeting later this month to discuss the final arrangements that will be in place after the 17 October closure.