Agenda item

(a) The Chairs of Committees to answer any questions upon items of reports of Committees when those items are being received or under consideration by the Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10.1 of the Constitution :-

*to follow

(b)  In accordance with Procedure Rules 10.3 and 10.5, a Member may ask the Mayor, Leader or the Chairman of any committee or sub-committee, a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties or which affects the Melton Borough.

No questions were received by the deadline.

(a) Members had before them the reports of Committees upon which the Chairs of those Committees could be asked to answer any questions when those items were being received or under consideration by the Council in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 10.1 of the Constitution :-

(b)  Councillor Pearson apologised for his late attendance, explaining he had been at site visits for the final three bidders for the housing repairs contract;

(c)  In accordance with Procedure Rule 10.5 (c), the following question from Councillor Blase was accepted as an urgent matter due to the closure of the service coming to light after despatch of the agenda:

In light of the recent announcement of the current bus company withdrawing operating services 14 and 15 in the town, what is MBC’s plan to get the service reinstated/maintained, as this affects residents of all ages, of which this is their only means of transport into and out of town for work and leisure etc.?  For the elderly it allows for them to get out of their homes and socialise with other people in the town.

The Leader responded stating that he shared Councillor Blase’s concern about the impact on Melton.  Anything which reduced connectivity for residents, particularly the more elderly or vulnerable members of the community was something the Council should question and work to minimise the impact.  The Leader stated he would be writing to the Managing Director of Centrebus to express concern about the proposals and would be working with his County Council colleagues to see if there was a way to mitigate the impact of this proposal.

Contributions were also made by Councillors Pearson and Posnett: Councillor Pearson confirmed that consultations with Centrebus were taking place at County level and it was important that residents’ concerns were  represented and that they were kept informed.  Councillor Posnett clarified that Centrebus had notified the Traffic Commissioner of its intention to stop the Monday to Friday service, except for the last bus of the day.  The Saturday service would remain as this was subsidised.  The County Council was considering what form of transport it could provide from 1 June onwards and assured the Chief Executive she would keep him up to date with developments. 

[Councillor Pearson entered the meeting at 7.21pm during consideration of the above item.]