Agenda item

a)      Public Questions (30 minutes)

To receive questions from the public gallery and questions submitted by residents in advance of the meeting.

 

b)      Leader and Cabinet Member Questions (105 minutes)

To receive questions from Councillors.

The Mayor explained that Croydon Question Time would be taken in two parts.

 

The first part was public questions to the Leader and Cabinet, which was followed by questions from Members to the Leader and Cabinet. Wherever possible, the Cabinet Member provided an answer during the meeting, but if a question required detail that the Cabinet Member did not have with them then a written response would be published on the Council website within the following three weeks.

 

Public Questions

 

There were 30 minutes allocated to public questions, firstly from those who were in attendance and had emailed in their questions in advance.

 

The first question was from Kostandinos Dexiades.

 

“Why is the complaints system at Croydon council so convoluted, whenever I submit a complaint I am told that I have to go to ‘My Account’ on the councils website to get a reference number. Once I get a reference number and try to get back in touch with the council I then receive an automated response telling me that I need to go back to ‘My Account’ in order to get a reference number and the cycle goes on and on. Throughout this whole process the initial issue that I complained about has gotten even worse. When will Croydon improve its ability to deal with the complaints of its residents? And specifically what changes do you intend to make in order to fix this issue moving forwards?”

 

In his response the Cabinet Member for Resources and Financial Governance, Councillor Young apologised for the experience that Mr Dexiades had experienced and offered to write to him with a full explanation. However, Councillor Young did set out all the methods that people could use to make a complaint. However, complaints cannot be made through the “My Account” function as that is for services such as ordering new bins or paying for services.

 

In his supplementary question, Mr Dexiades stated that he had received an email from the council’s complaints department that told him to go into the “My Account” function.

 

In response, Councillor Young stated that he would look into this specific case and include it with his written reply that he mentioned earlier.

 

The next question was from Samir Dwesar.

 

“Croydon residents overwhelmingly rejected the status quo in last Thursday's

referendum thanks to a residents-led campaign. In every single Council ward

there was a majority for a Mayoral system. But there are dozens of examples

of many Labour Councillors insulting, degrading and demeaning the

supporters of the successful campaign. One councillor took to social media to

attack 'elderly people'. One attacked 'white people, middle class people and

residents' associations'. Do you think this is acceptable? And if not, what are

you going to do about it?”

 

In her response, the Leader Councillor Hamida Ali stated the debate earlier had discussed the borough wide support for a Mayoral system. However the question highlighted  some very serious allegations about the use of social media and all councillors needed to take their responsibilities seriously in being respectful of others and the language used when using social media. The Leader requested that Mr Dwesar send through any particular examples  that he was concerned about to the councils Monitoring Officer.

 

In his supplementary question, Mr Dwesar asked what the Leader was going to do about the anti-Mayoral tweets from incumbent Labour councillors.

 

In reply, the Leader reiterated her request Mr Dwesar to bring forward any complaints to the Monitoring Officer.

 

The next question was from Colette Luke.

 

“Why did Croydon Council not apply for funding to reopen Purley Pool from

Sport England‘s Community Leisure Recovery Fund?

 

This funding would have enabled the council to reopen the pool and enable

local schools to provide swimming lessons for pupils.

 

Currently, the majority of primary school children in the south of the borough

have no access to school swimming lessons - what does the council propose

to do about this?

 

It is a statutory requirement of the National Curriculum that primary schools

teach swimming - and an important safeguarding issue for pupils.

 

How does the Council propose to give pupils in the south of the borough

access to a swimming pool NOW?”

 

In his response the Cabinet Member for Culture and Regeneration, Councillor Lewis stated that Croydon Council did apply for funding for eligible leisure centres but unfortunately Purley Pool was not eligible as it could not be reopened in line with Government Covid-19 guidelines. There are however, other facilities than can be used in Waddon and New Addington.

 

In her supplementary question Mrs Luke stated that neither Waddon nor New Addington were suitable so when was Purley Pool being reopened.

 

In his response, Councillor Lewis stated that a consultation will be undertaken soon so that all those affected residents can have their say and he encouraged Mrs Luke to raise her concerns as part of that process so that mitigation can be put into place.

 

 

The next question was from Dev Parashar.

 

“We have serious problem of "Homeless people" in Croydon-north (Thornton

Heath) who hang out on streets in groups and pose serious threat for women

and children (especially in the late evening and night).

 

At the same time, these homeless people are involved into organized-begging

activities and work in "SHIFTs".

 

Though, I have sympathy for them and always try to buy them food whenever

I can, they have become nuisance and follow pedestrians for long distance

for "money". Local police seems to be helpless.

 

What Croydon Council is proposing to tackle the problem of these Homeless people?”

 

In her response, the Cabinet Member for Homes, Councillor Hay-Justice stated the Administration was committed to ending homelessness and spoke about the Homeslessness Prevention Strategy. At the last count there were approximately sixteen people classed as rough sleepers in the borough. Rough sleepers are referred to Croydon Reach with the goal of addressing the issues and helping them into permanent accommodation.

 

In his supplementary question Mr Parashar stated that he believed that much more needed to done to assist these people and asked what the council was doing.

 

In her reply Councillor Hay-Justice stated that those who were classed as rough sleeping at the last count had been targeted with support and will continue to be supported to find permanent accommodation. However it should be noted that some of these people have complex needs.

 

The next question was from Siva Parameswaran.

 

“I live at 12 More Close, Purley and I have a question for Councillor Muhammad Ali concerning a development at 2 More Close, a few doors down from my house. After having obtained planning permission, I have put the reference in number in my question, he applied twice seeking planning permission to exchange the position of the garden with car parking spaces. The planning applications were rejected on both occasions but the developer has completely disregarded the decisions of the planning division and has switched the garden with parking spaces. He has now completed building car parking spaces in contravention of the approved plan.

 

Mr Philip, our MP, brought this matter to the attention of the Planning Management Team and a member of the Planning Management Team has responded to one of my neighbours, saying that he had spoken to the developer and the developer said that the work has not been completed. It was clear that no one from the Planning Management Team had visited the site. I can confirm that the developer has built the parking spaces, tarmacked it and has put in a number of lights to illuminate the car park contravening the decision of the Planning Division of the London Borough of Croydon.

 

My question is councillor, what action do you intend to take to ensure that the development in 2 More Close is completed in accordance with the approved planning permission?”

 

In his response, the Cabinet Member for Sustainable Croydon, Councillor Muhammad Ali stated he will ensure that this matter is taken to the planning enforcement meeting as it was a planning enforcement issue.

 

The Cabinet Member for Culture and Regeneration, Councillor Lewis added that this matter would be raised with officers to ensure that it complies with the agreed planning approvals.

 

The next question was from Gemma Patient.

 

“There have been Planning Applications submitted to Croydon Council for a proposed development to knock down Bungalows and build flats in Downsview Road, Upper Norwood. These applications do not meet the boundary restrictions of the Covenant Law within that area as all residents must agree to such developments and most are against it. I would like to ask the Council as to why they have granted planning permission to build flats which don’t comply with covenant rules and of which the residents have opposed?”

 

In his response Councillor Lewis stated he was not aware of this particular case but that officers had informed him that the presence of a covenant would not necessarily stop development but that it would be one of the factors taken into account during the planning process. The most contentious decisions are decided that the Planning Committee taking into account all the factors and representations received. He agreed to look into this specific case and provide a fuller response in writing.

 

In her supplementary question Ms Patient asked when will the council stop giving these developments planning permission.

 

In replying Councillor Lewis reiterated that the most contentious decisions are decided at the Planning Committee and it was important to recognise that it was independent of the Council’s Executive. He encouraged any residents who had concerns about any development to channel them through the normal planning process so that they can be considered by the Planning Committee.

 

The next question was from James Hillam.

 

“Across Croydon in the past few weeks, there have been a significant number

of bins that have not been collected by Veolia. This has been reported by the

council for being as a result of the national HGV driver shortage and

congestion around petrol stations. I understand that the council has decided

to prioritise landfill and food waste collections, leaving recycling missed.

 

Residents have been told by the Council, not to report missed bin collections

via the council website as usual. When you login to my account, the next

collection day displayed just rolls over to the following day every time it is

missed, giving residents no reassurance for when their recycling will be

collected.

 

The National driver shortage has been around for a long time, but it seems

quite coincidental that when there is a media frenzy on fuel driver shortages,

the council fails to be able to collect the bins. The only rational reason that

could be used so far, is that the queues around the petrol stations could slow

collections. The statement from the council seems much more like a cop out,

using the fuel driver shortage as an excuse, and as a result of Labour’s poor

contract management. I’d like to ask what is the council’s strategic direction is

for working with Veolia and other partners in the South London Waste

Partnership to resolve this issue and make sure collections are made on time?”

 

Before replying to the question, Councillor Muhammad Ali thanked both the council staff and Veolia for their hard work during this time. In response, Councillor Muhammad Ali stated that Veolia advised the council in June that they were experiencing difficulty in recruiting new drivers due to the backlog in HGV driver training and the loss of European drivers. It had therefore been necessary to deploy the Business Continuity Plan, together with Veolia to ensure that the service continued to be delivered. This meant that statutory services had to be prioritised but the website had been updated daily to keep residents informed.

 

Veolia have been working hard to recruit new drivers including offering bonuses to qualified drivers, funding aspiring drivers to obtain qualification and offering retention bonuses. The council was also working with Veolia to lobby the Government to ease restrictions on European HGV drivers coming into the UK labour market.

 

In his supplementary question Mr Hillam asked why Brexit was being used as the reason when this is just another failing in the Labour Administration.

 

In replying Councillor Muhammad Ali stated that the council was working very hard with Veolia to resolve the situation and again thanked the frontline service for the work that they were doing and that until 19 September all collections had taken place on time.

 

The Mayor confirmed that a number of written questions from people who were unable to attend had been received and a written response to these will be published on the Council website within the next three weeks.