Agenda item

The Leader, or his nominee, to answer questions from Councillors on matters affecting the Borough, in accordance with Standing Order 14.

Two questions have been received from a Councillor Sider.

The Mayor reported that one general question had been received, in accordance with Standing Order 14, from Councillor R Sider BEM. This was considered with the question submitted from Councillor R Sider BEM that had been deferred from the previous Council meeting.

Question One from Councillor R Sider BEM:

Will the Leader of the Council share my concerns that Health and Safety legislation is having a serious effect on the morale of volunteers who are striving throughout the year to raise much needed funds for charity and other good causes.

Response from the Deputy Leader, Councillor Mitchell:

The invaluable role of organisations in delivering events across the borough to support our communities is, I know, applauded across this Chamber. Those events help bring residents in our towns and villages together, and I don’t think any of us would want to see them disappear because of the poor morale of volunteers. However, this needs to be balanced against a range of statutory health and safety requirements that must be in place to protect the public.  Sadly, when things do go wrong the consequences can be serious.  Many of us may recall some of the tragic deaths that have occurred because of poor health and safety practices at public events, such as children being killed by inflatables which have not been secured properly. As a Council, I do not believe that any of us would want to be in a position where this happened on our watch.  

Well organised and well-run events bring significant benefits to communities. However, to protect public health and well-being, local authorities are legally required to take steps to ensure that event organisers effectively manage the health and safety of all attendees, staff, and people off-site who may be affected by the event, as well ensuring compliance with other relevant legal requirements relating to food safety, animal welfare, noise control, and licensing. These duties also extend to Spelthorne as a landowner and any failure at events held on our land could result in the Council being liable for contributory negligence in respect of an accident or incident occurring. 

In most instances, public events are run by people who have experience of organising them and understand the process well. However, we do appreciate that the necessary form filling and processes can be daunting for some. Our officers across the Council have therefore recently been working together to review the documentation to improve and speed up the process, and our website has also been updated to provide more information and clear guidance for anyone considering arranging such events.

Question Two from Councillor R Sider BEM:

Will the Leader of the Council join me in congratulating the Council Housing Team in being finalists in the category of Best Council Services Team in the Local Government  MJ Achievement Awards 2023, being held in London in June 2023,and agree with me that this in itself is both a remarkable and outstanding achievement for such a small authority  as Spelthorne,  and reflects the care and attention that the housing team give to our residents, and will he wish them every success on behalf of all Members of the council in this national competition.

Response from the Deputy Leader, Councillor Mitchell:

We entered the competition as we felt that as a wider Council Team, we had a lot of good work practice examples and achievements to share. We’re delighted to be shortlisted for this prestigious award.

The entry recognises our achievements in producing creative solutions to substantial national challenges, such as - the success of KGE and the number of developments already delivered as well as impressive development delivery programme, the success of White House and Harper House in response to the demand for quality emergency accommodation with support, the success of our Step Down/Up Scheme, our approach to homelessness prevention and success rate in prevention of homelessness, our use of various funding streams to provide support to our most vulnerable clients (floating support, housing first style intensive support and more), our planned street property acquisition programme, our collaborative work with partner agencies and effective contract management, amongst other successes.

In the last 6 months, the housing team was also shortlisted for the prestigious UK Housing Award, where we got to the top 8 teams, but sadly didn’t win. We’re currently also shortlisted for the Local Government Award in the category of “Housing Project of the Year” and we await judges’ decision in June 2023 as well as the outcome of the MJ Award will also be announced in June 2023.