a)    Questions to the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member (Health, Wellbeing and Leisure)

Councillor Alan Ogilvie requested an update on the opening of the borough’s leisure centres following the COVID-19 lockdown. The Cabinet Member, Councillor Mick Titherington, informed members that Leyland Leisure Centre, including its pool, would reopen from 25 July 2020 with reduced hours to allow for extra cleaning to take place. Bamber Bridge and Penwortham Leisure Centres did not yet have a date for reopening due to issues with the internal air flow.

b)    Questions to the Cabinet Member (Finance, Property and Assets)

Councillor Damian Bretherton requested clarification on the meaning of value-for-money, as referenced in a Cabinet report from October 2019 on the McKenzie Arms site which implied a permanent loss of capital of £750,000.

In response, the Cabinet Member, Councillor Matthew Tomlinson, explained that options for use of the site were limited but he was confident that the property would deliver a return. Councillor Tomlinson assured Councillor Bretherton that he was happy to discuss the subject further with him and that further details on the history of the site would be available in autumn 2020.

c)    Questions to the Cabinet Member (Planning, Regeneration and City Deal)

Councillor Michael Green asked the Cabinet Member if he knew of the implications of the appeal decision regarding development on Chain House Lane in Whitestake and requested a copy of the decision.

In response, the Cabinet Member, Councillor Bill Evans, stated that he was not aware a decision had been made on the appeal.

Councillor Phil Smith requested a progress update on Leyland Town Deal, to which the Cabinet Member informed the Council that the Town Deal Board had met four times and had appointed a local businessowner as the Chair. An initial £164,000 and additional £750,000 worth of funding had been received to date. Officers and consultants were currently working on a bid to be submitted in October 2020.

Councillor Phil Smith then followed up by asking the Cabinet Member if he could clarify that the £750,000 received was for separate projects and not for the Town Deal fund. In response, the Cabinet Member stated that the money had been earmarked to buy land for the Leyland Masterplan but he would confirm this in writing.

d)    Questions to the Cabinet Member (Environment)

Councillor Colin Clark asked several questions around the Council’s tree policy that was adopted in March 2020, relating to the amount of backlogged inspection work; the number of trees in the database; the timescale for implementing a digital record system; how many of the 110,000 trees planted will be on Council-owned property; and the current and predicted costs associated with the inspection and maintenance of these trees.

Due to the volume of questions posed by Councillor Clark, the Cabinet Member, Councillor Susan Jones, committed to responding in writing.

Councillor Michael Green asked the Cabinet Member if she would accept an invitation of a tour of play areas in need of improvement in his ward, Moss Side. The Cabinet Member, Councillor Sue Jones, accepted the invitation in response.

e)    Questions to the Cabinet Member (Community Engagement, Social Justice and Wealth Building)

No questions were received.