To provide an opportunity to pose questions to Cabinet Members in line with Standing Orders.
Process:
No more than 10 minutes will be allocated at the Council meeting for questions to each Cabinet Member.
Members must submit their proposed questions in writing in advance in accordance with Standing Orders. If members are unable to ask their question orally within the allocated time, remaining questions will be answered in writing. The question and response will be appended to the minutes.
The question must be addressed through the Mayor or the person presiding at the meeting and not directly to the person being questioned.
Questions will be posed to Cabinet Members in the following order:
i. Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Education and Early Years
ii. Cabinet Member for Community and Wellbeing
iii. Cabinet Member for Strategic Planning, Regulation and Housing
iv. Cabinet Member for Social Services
v. Cabinet Member for Organisational Transformation
vi. Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Bio-Diversity
vii. Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Assets
Minutes:
Question 1: Question to the Cabinet Member for Infrastructure and Assets
Councillor Fouweather:
Can the cabinet member report on the progress that she has made with regard to reviewing the 20mph speed limit on all arterial routes into the city?
Response from Councillor Lacey:
As you will be aware from previous correspondence, Newport City Council has consistently applied Welsh Government guidance when considering where the “place criteria” would dictate the defaulting of the speed limits to 20mph, and exceptions where the 30mph speed limit should remain.
The Deputy Minister for Climate Change has advised local highway authorities that Welsh Government is reviewing how the “place criteria” has been used across the whole of Wales, with a view to whether further guidance is required by local highway authorities in the excepting of certain roads.
During November 2023, a series of meetings were held, led by the WLGA to gather feedback on the application of the exceptions guidance by highway authorities’ officers. The aim was to gain a better understanding of how the exceptions guidance had been applied, whether the officers had encountered any difficulties when applying it and how that feedback could help shape any revisions to the exception’s guidance going forward.
Therefore, until the review is completed and revised guidance is received on the use of the “place criteria” in the setting of excepted speed limits in Wales, there are no immediate plans to revisit the original assessment of any roads within the city.
I provide a link to a recent Welsh Government statement which includes preliminary speed data since the 20mph roll out and information on Welsh Governments ongoing review into the exceptions process, which may be of interest.
The link provided for inclusion in the minutes can be found here:
Reduced speeds on 20mph roads a ‘turning point’ says Deputy Minister (gov.wales)
Supplementary Question:
Councillor Fouweather felt that this would be a disappointment to the residents of Newport by comparison to Cardiff which had arterial routes of 30mph.
Response:
A full review had taken place and as an example, Western Avenue residents wanted 20mph. This was not an easy process, but the Council needed to listen to feedback.
Question 2: Question to the Cabinet Member for Organisational Transformation
Councillor Mogford:
In December 2023 the South Wales Argus ran an article which outlined: - “The council's contact centre received 148,362 calls in the first three quarters of 2023. From July, more than one in three callers hung-up the phone due to lengthy wait times.”
Could the Cabinet Member share what measures have been or are being put in place since December to improve the quality-of-service levels at the Council’s Contact Centre and at what level is the CM involved in ensuring real improvements are made to these services in their portfolio?
Response from Councillor Batrouni:
As Councillor Mogford had mentioned this information is available in the public domain, as the Council and public expect an excellent service.
At the moment the average waiting time is 6 minutes and 52 seconds; we receive around 700-800 calls a week and at peak times, a thousand plus.
In terms of actions, before December 2023, we commissioned an independent review into the contact centre and the compliments and complaints procedure to ensure that the systems in place are working within response times and whether we are meeting the expectations of Councillors and residents. We look forward to that review concluding next month. An interim review briefing took place earlier this month to discuss the results and there are ongoing actions.
Supplementary Question:
Councillor Mogford was surprised by the large number of calls that came into the Council and did not know the nature of the calls by breakdown. It is a huge challenge to cope with this demand, what methods are being used to try to reduce the large number of calls.
Response:
Councillor Batrouni mentioned that we needed to increase the online presence and we are seeing just over 80% of our new website being used. However, there was still an increase in demand and pressure. Part of the work being carried out was to improve the website, led by myself and officers; that was phase one and we were rolling out phase 2 to improve other parts of the website. There was also an App to make online access more efficient, speedier, and more accessible to residents so that they can resolve matters as quickly as possible.
There was no other business.
The Presiding Member declared the meeting closed at 8.45pm.