Questions to be asked by Members of the County Council of the Leader of the Council, a Cabinet Member, or a Chairman of a non-Scrutiny Committee. The question will be answered by the relevant Member and the Member asking the question may then ask a follow up question which will also be answered
Minutes:
Mr. Locke asked the following question of the Cabinet Member for Assets, Performance and Organisation:
Question
It is clearly important that the needs of religious minorities should be accommodated if reasonably possible. But concern has been expressed elsewhere in the country that, with a view to satisfying such needs, all meat served in schools or other institutions is now halal-compliant. What is the situation with regard to halal meat in meals for which Staffordshire County Council is responsible?
Reply
In Staffordshire, halal-compliant meat is not served in County Council establishments but can be specifically ordered through our suppliers if required.
Mr. Nixon asked the following question of the Cabinet Member for Highways and Environment:
Question
I find that I have a constant battle with Staffordshire County Council’s gully emptying department. to get grids emptied. In 2008 when I asked for the grids in Lower Milehouse Lane to be emptied I was told that they had been emptied but, on inspecting them, I found that 36 out of 40 grids were still blocked. The above has repeated itself over the last two years but I find that the latest saga needs to be brought to the Council’s attention. Blocked grids in Liverpool Road pavement Cross Heath (ref.No. 1075285 and 1076946), Kimberley Road pavement, (Ref No. 1075286), grid at junction of Albany Road and Baden Street (ref No.1076853), Liverpool Road pavement at Milehouse (Ref. No.1076948), the last grid in Coppice View (Ref No.1070694) although are all still blocked I have been told have been emptied or in one case the job has disappeared off the screen. However, the news that Hempstalls Lane grids are not blocked and it is only leaves over the top of the grids that needs sweeping away by Newcastle Borough Council takes some beating. Last week I counted 12 blocked grids in this Lane. When are the residents in my ward going to get the service that they pay for through their community charge?
Reply
One of my senior officers has met Cllr Nixon to discuss and resolve the issues on Lower Milehouse Road. As he knows there are problems with broken connections due to either tree root ingress or damage by utility company installations. We undertake follow up schemes to rectify those but there are a great many of them over a number of sites across the county.
All but one of the other reports are in close proximity to each other and are all as a result of a blocked drain on the A34. We have already commenced work on this but replacement of new manhole covers and significant investigation work is required. It is not simply a case of gully emptying.
All the gullies in the County are routinely emptied on a frequency corresponding to the road hierarchy. However some gullies can become blocked in between the emptying programme. When these are reported to us the locations are inspected and if simple gully cleansing is required this is arranged immediately. Where more extensive works are required drainage investigations and dig down repairs are arranged and prioritised according to the likelihood of flooding.
Leaves are clearly an issue for us in the Autumn and if the road hasn't been swept then there is little point in us clearing out gullies just for them to be refilled with leaves at the next rainfall. We are currently in discussions with Newcastle Borough Council to work better together on street scene services and one aim of this will be to tie together these activities to reduce this type of problem.
Supplementary Question
I completely disagree with that answer as every three months I do actually check to see that the job I has asked for has been done. Last October, I did check to see whether the job I reported along St. Michael’s Road had been done. I was told that it had been completed on 13 July which was actually two weeks before I had reported the issue. Last Thursday, when I went along Milehouse Lane, there weren’t any leaves on top of the grids at all, and when I asked Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council how many times this lane had been swept, they said five times since October. So the problem isn’t to do with the leaves, it is to do with blocked grids. I have drawn a map showing the location of the blocked grids and should be grateful if this could be looked into further.
Reply
I will pass on the information as requested. My only comment is that there does appear to be a communication gap between the County Council’s Highways service and the Newcastle-under-Lyme Borough Council’s Streetscene service. I would however refer you back to the answer to your written question in that some blockages may be due to either tree root ingress or damage by utility company installations and therefore, if a gulley is emptied, it may fill up again after rainfall due to that blockage.