80 residents took opportunity to put council in the hot seat
Senior councillors were once again in the hot seat last week as more than 80 local residents took the chance to ask them directly about a range of local issues.
The second Leaders Question Time was organised by the council's overview and scrutiny committee to give people the chance to quiz senior councillors directly on a wide range of issues.
The panel was made up of:
• Leader of the Council Cllr Peter Thompson
• Deputy Leader Cllr Mark Bowen
• Director of Environment Mike Jordan
Cllr Thompson, said, “It was obvious the last time we held an event like this back in December that people are genuinely interested in what we do. We need to take the praise - and yes, the criticism - and make sure we use it so people know that their voice is important to us.
"There were issues that were raised that we thought had been dealt with, so it's important people know they can come back and tell us directly there is still a problem and we need to sort it out.
"Sometimes, there is genuinely nothing that we can do, but the audience seemed to appreciate the fact we were explaining why."
Questions were submitted to the scrutiny panel beforehand, to avoid duplication. The panel did not know any of the questions beforehand, and those that were not answered on the night, will be answered in writing within 10 days.
July 15, 2009