To receive any questions from and provide answers to the public in relation to matters relevant to the Council’s activities.
Minutes:
Members of the public were invited to put questions to the Mayor and Councillors on matters within the powers and duties of the Council.
Five public questions were submitted as follows:-
· Relating to a recent article in British Medical Journal by David Oliver a consultant in geriatrics and acute general medicine which argues that endemic ageism exists in all health and social care settings and idea that seriously ill older people are best managed in their own home was ludicrous. In the light of this, how does the council defends its policy to close down hospital beds and shift care into the community?
The Executive Councillor for Health (Councillor Tom McGee) responded that he agreed that ageism within the health and social sector sectors has happened and may still exist in spite of countless attempts to eradicate it. Councillor McGee stated that he hoped that where such ageism was witnessed, that this would be reported through the adult safeguarding mechanisms that were already in place. However, he also referred to the same article in the British Medical Journal where David Oliver also stated that ‘no one doubts that we should do more to keep older people at home and that hospitals can be harmful, depersonalising environments’. Councillor McGee stated that Stockport had an increasingly ageing population and that as people get older the chances of them developing a long term illness increased rapidly such that 9 out of every 10 persons aged 85 and above had at least one long term illness and therefore people needed to be treated where it was appropriate.
· Relating to Stockport CCG’s Board Assurance Framework which deemed there was an extreme risk of failure to commission and design new models of care and of the capacity and capability to deliver the new models of care as envisaged, and whether the Council still considered it right to proceed with the Stockport Together plan to reduce hospital services and whether this would leave Stockport citizens deprived of the health care they need either in hospital or the community.
The Executive Councillor for Health (Councillor Tom McGee) responded that the Board papers being referred to did state that the ‘innovation theme’ was identified as a high risk activity but that measures had been identified within the report to mitigate against those risks.
· Relating to what actions the Council planned to take in relation to a rise in racism, sexism and homophobia that has followed the vote to leave the European Union and the recent election results in the USA. It was stated that this was a problem in Stockport as the questioner had recently experienced homophobia. It was further commented that reporting the incident after it happened did not deal with the root of the problem and that the Council needed to act properly on its duty of care to safeguard the people of Stockport.
The Leader of the Council (Policy, Finance & Devolution) (Councillor Alex Ganotis) expressed his concern at the personal experience of the questioner and that he would be happy to discuss further the particulars of the incident. Councillor Ganotis confirmed that he shared the questioner’s concerns about the impact of recent national and international events. It was stated that during the Summer the political Group Leaders on the Council had reaffirmed the Council’s commitment to its anti-discrimination charter to make clear that the Council did not tolerate hate in any form. It was further commented that the Council through the Safer Stockport Partnership was committed to raising awareness and tackling hate crime.
· Relating to a recent petition submitted by the Stockport Liberal Democrats relating to concerns over the future of the NHS and whether the Liberal Democrat Group intended to stand firm against the Greater Manchester Sustainability and Transformation Plan and the Locality pPan for Stockport, specifically Stockport Together, as they amounted to nothing less than cuts.
Councillor Lisa Smart responded that the Liberal Democrat Group considered that the NHS was something that everyone should be proud of and that everyone should fight to protect. Councillor Smart confirmed that she had visited Downing Street to deliver a petition with over 6,000 signatures on it along with Councillor Hunter and Lord Stunell as part of a campaign for proper funding for the local health service. Councillor Smart stated that the Liberal Democrat Group supported the Stockport Together programme and the brining together of health and social care was the right plan for Stockport.
· Relating to whether Councillor Hunter shared the questioner’s relief that the Executive looked set to change their mind and scrap proposals to change to a three weekly black bin collection in Stockport and that the Executive had listened to Councillor Hunter’s suggestion that recycling rates should be driven up by investing more in more public engagement rather than in a costly and wasteful replacement of the current bins.
Councillor Mark Hunter responded that he did share the questioner’s relief and that it had been an embarrassing climb down as it had formed a key part of the Executive’s budget proposals. Nonetheless, Councillor Hunter stated that the maths had always been debatable with there being no guarantee that any savings would be generated as a result of the introduction of the new three weekly collection regime and new waste containers and nor was there a guarantee that this would result in an increase in recycling rates. Councillor Hunter commented that the focus should be on further efforts to help Stockport reclaim its place as the highest recycler in Greater Manchester.
A further public question had been submitted where the questioner was not present at the meeting and in accordance with the Code of Practice, the Chief Executive was requested to respond to the questioners in writing.