18 July (Part 3) - Full Council meeting : Councillor Questions
In a demonstration that Full Council meetings are rehearsed theatre,
Councillors asked Cabinet Members 32 questions that they could have asked
privately at any time but that would not have allowed Labour Councillors to attempt
to embarrass Tories or Conservative Councillors to show their lap dog
propensities.
Of the 32 questions, 14 were from Conservative, 18 from Labour and none at all
from Reform UK. Whether this means they have not yet learned the rules of this
silly game or decided not to participate in it I have no idea.
Newly promoted Cabinet Member Cameron Smith was on the receiving end of more
than his fair share of the 32 questions and given his responsibility for the
ever-popular dust bins, housing, parking and holes in roads, that is pretty much inevitable.
Labour Councillor Chris Ball
(Erith) attempted the embarrassment route. How many home
starts have there been in Bexley this year? Answer; 591 in 2024/25. Later
figures not available.
Councillor Ball said that at that rate it would take more than ten years to
accommodate the current waiting list.
Councillor Eliot Smith
(Conservative, West Heath) treading the Brownie Points route asked Cabinet Member Rags Sandhu about investment in
playgrounds. It’s about £2 million over the next few years. Just over a million
this year. Howbury Lane and Danson Park have been completed with arson damage
due for repair/replacement next month. £180,000 will be spent on West Heath Park
over the coming Winter period.
New Councillor Graham D’Amiral (Conservative, Crook Log) may not have fully understood the rules of the game
because he asked about transport infrastructure priorities which is a tricky one
in a borough so frequently gridlocked.
Cameron Smith said he had not expected to be immediately confronted by TfL bus cuts but the
Elizabeth line to Ebbsfleet and the DLR to Belvedere remained important
issues. Unfortunately Thameslink has decided to cut services to hourly on
Department for Transport instructions and nothing could be done about it.
Fortunately the 96 bus route to Darenth Valley Hospital and Bluewater has been saved
until at least 2030 but maybe “not permanently saved”.
Councillor D’Amiral thought that TfL
owed Bexley residents an apology for the stress they have caused by their poor communications relating to bus route 96
tactics. Cameron agreed. The Deputy Mayor for Transport never bothered to reply
to Bexley Council’s protestations. The clash between a Labour run TfL and a Reform run
Kent County Council was “to the detriment of Bexley residents”. Councillor
Jeremy Fosten (Labour, Belvedere) said he was disappointed that stopping Thameslink
trains at Erith and
Belvedere was not mentioned among the Cabinet Member’s priorities.
Councillor
Terry Barcock (Conservative, Sidcup) asked Cabinet Member Brian
Bishop about investment in libraries. About £2 million over the next four years
and opening hours will be extended. Crayford will get an extra two hours from next month.
Councillor Sean Brackstone (Reform UK, Northumberland Heath) slipped in an unscheduled question. Given the £25 million the
Council has just had to borrow can they really afford the library investment?
Caught off guard the Cabinet Member floundered but eventually came up with a very definite yes.
Labour Councillor Nicola Taylor (Erith) asked the Council Leader about the
decision to rent out the flats in West Street which BexleyCo was unable to sell
but he only referred her back to Public Cabinet and left the question hanging.
Nicola responded “Wow” and reminded the Leader that BexleyCo “stole”
much needed
green space, delivered no affordable homes and has not delivered a profit for the Council.
Nicola was accused of being a broken record and the failings of BexleyCo could
in part be attributed to “the dreadful policies and economic chaos of this awful
Socialist government and Mayor of :London”. The Mayor specifically refused to
help fund affordable homes in West Street while doing so in other parts of London.
Councillor
Fosten asked the Cabinet Member for Children to comment on the statement made by
Councillor Barry Saunders (Conservative, Falconwood & Welling) at a recent Planning meeting that “some of our youths
are not nice youths” to which I would have referred him to
some of the Facebook
posts (click for image) made by his residents and in adjacent wards about marauding knife
wielding robbers, including earlier today, and maybe the number of Dispersal
Orders regularly imposed by the police.
It is not often that I agree with Cabinet Member Taylor, but he said that Councillor Fosten
was making “a cheap political shot”. And for once he may be right. To my surprise Councillor Taylor
said that Jeremy could have asked Barry Saunders directly for an explanation which
sort of supports my contention that the same applies to all questions and they
are all a bit of a waste of time.
If they were not reported here maybe even a total waste of time.
And next, another bloody Motion!
