Agenda item
Public Questions
To deal with questions from the public within the open forum question and answer session of fifteen minutes in total. Questions from each member of the public should be no longer than two minutes each and relate issues under the Committee’s remit.
Minutes:
(a) Question from Mr. David Fowles to Councillor Joe Harris, Leader of the Council
‘As you are aware, in recent weeks there have been media reports both nationally and locally about political campaigning principally by the Liberal Democrat party.
This has come to
a head in Gloucestershire this week with the police stating that
campaigning is illegal
Nationally, your leader Ed Davey has consistently said that your
party interpreted the Covid19 guidelines such that leafleting by
individual volunteers was permitted.
At the beginning of January you were asked what the Liberal
Democrat position was
locally and you stated that your party was continuing to leaflet
because it was in the public interest.
On 22nd January
the position clearly changed with Chloe Smith, the Minister of
State for the Constitution and Devolution issued a letter to
members of the Parliamentary Parties Panel stating the
following:
‘Current national lockdown restrictions in England say
‘ you must not leave, or be outside of your house except
where necessary. The Government’s
view is that these restrictions do not support door to door
campaigning or leafleting by individual part political party
activists.
This position has now been endorsed by Gloucestershire Police this
week.
Can you explain why at least two of your candidates were seen campaigning in the last few days and can you confirm that the Cotswold Liberal Democrats are complying with these restrictions and have ceased campaigning locally?
Response from Councillor Harris
The Leader responded by confirming that no Liberal Democrats in the Cotswolds had been delivering election leaflets or canvassing and that he considered the question was an example of the Conservatives playing party politics.
He added that some local Councillors had been delivering Covid-19 information leaflets for residents who may need help or advice during lockdown, but that the leaflets contained no reference to the Liberal Democrat party.
The Leader concluded by explaining that some election leaflets had been delivered by Royal Mail in accordance with the current rules and that he had not been contacted by Gloucestershire Police regarding any break of lockdown rules by local candidates canvassing.
(b) Question from Mr. Rob Gibson to Councillor Mike Evemy, Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Finance
Despite reassurances of grants being processed last Monday 1 February by Jenny Poole, no progress was made in respect of grants with which my company and many others were entitled.
I sent an email on Thursday 4February for an update and no reply was received until Friday 5 February at 5.00pm, the explanation in my opinion is completely unacceptable in light of the email I received on 1st February when I was assured grants would be paid by last Friday (5 February).
On Facebook of 4 February, it was indicated that most of the business grants would be paid by Friday 12 February. I’d like indication later as to how many of the loan applications have been paid and why the remaining have not been processed.
Finally, as time waits for no business, the demands on business increases which places substantial pressure on the viability of many. This impacts on employment opportunities and individual’s mental health which the Leader Councillor Joe Harris has put huge emphasis on recently.
Why is CDC posting statements about grants and then not auctioning these posts and why are businesses being misled on the progress of payments to which they are entitled.
In April Councillor Evemy assured me in an email that processes had been put in place to ensure that grants would be paid seamlessly in the future. Did this happen and if not, why not? Are there underlying issues with the systems that are being used by the finance department of CDC and is additional resources required to action these grant payments?
I have been contacted by more than 70 businesses in the Cotswolds within the last week who have all experienced the same issues I am experiencing with a lack of grant payments processed by CDC. We as individuals can’t all be wrong as there appears to be a common thread to everybody’s complaints and they are that promises are being made by email and phone which are not being kept. The publicity of how many payments have been made by CDC on Facebook and in Barn Theatre productions are false. This happened in April and it has happened again and unacceptable delays are resulting in increased stress levels for business owners and adding to existing mental health issues at present.
I look forward to some response to these statements that I have made this evening and all my supporting documentation is attached to the questions which I submitted earlier today.’
Response from Councillor Evemy
The Deputy Leader responded that he had had sight of the documentation referred to by Mr. Gibson but only shortly before the meeting, so confirmed he would provide a full written response after the meeting.
He explained that the Council understood the pressures that businesses were under and were trying to make grant payments as soon as possible within the confines that had to be followed and on guidance from the Government, the latest of which had been received on 15 January 2021.
The Deputy Leader added that Officers were working on grants and who he considered were doing a good job in processing the 2,000 applications against the eight government schemes that had been received by the Council. He continued that 95% of grants received following an email sent to previous grant recipients by the Council would be paid by 12 February 2021 in accordance with previous statements by the Council.
The Deputy Leader concluded that the Council was doing everything it could do and that every business who had not received a grant and were eligible to do so would receive one as soon as possible.