Agenda item

Question from Councillor Jacqueline Brown to the Portfolio Holder for Sustainable Environment:

“Residents tell me there is no longer a facility to renew their brown garden waste subscription by phone and they must have an email address/account to do this. Residents say that the staff, although trying to be helpful, have asked such residents whether they can get help from someone to do it online. One resident in this position was a woman in her 80`s who has never had children. Although her neighbours have been helpful in the past, she feels like `she does not want everyone to know her business`. With so much in the media concerning elderly and other vulnerable people being victim to scams, I could sympathise with her view.  I have heard of other cases where non digital customers get a neighbour/relative to set this up for them and then they give them the cash. Could I ask the portfolio holder:

Is there no facility for residents to pay for this service other than online?

If this is so, are staff advising residents to get members of the public to help them?”

The Portfolio Holder stated that It was quicker and easier for customers to renew their garden waste subscription on line, and this was the Council’s preferred route for such transactions.

This negated the need for customers to provide bank details over the phone and protected their privacy, and reduced the risk to the Council’s staff.

However, if a customer genuinely could not complete this by themselves, or with the help of a relative or friend, or by using the self-serve terminals in the reception at Castle House, the Customer Hub team could assist them to set it up.

Upon receipt of the question yesterday, the Portfolio Holder had met with Customer Services Supervisors and asked them to speak with every member of the Customer Hub team to ensure that they were all aware of the correct procedure in dealing with telephone requests, whereby the recording would be stopped whilst personal details were being given.

Councillor Brown was asked for the contact details of the resident in question so that their details could be passed to the Customer Hub team in order for them to be contacted, apologised to and the transaction carried out.

Councillor Brown asked a supplementary question:

“Did the Portfolio Holder have any further reasonable adjustments that could be made for vulnerable residents so that they could set it up from scratch in terms of the subscription.”

The Portfolio Holder stated that if someone was taking out a garden waste subscription from scratch they would follow the same procedure by telephoning the Council advising that they wished to subscribe and the procedure would be gone through as above.  It was hoped that next year, automatic renewals would be in place.

Question from Councillor Richard Gorton to  the Portfolio Holder for Strategic Planning:

“The consultation on the main modifications stage of the Borough’s Draft Local Plan ended on 17th December 2025. How many responses were received during the main modification stage and have these responses been forwarded to the planning inspector?”

The Portfolio Holder stated that a total of 197 representations were received from 71 respondents during the consultation on the schedule of main modifications. All duly made representations had been forward to the Inspector. The Inspector had confirmed receipt of the responses received and would provide an update to the Council in due course.

Councillor Gorton asked a supplementary question:

“Could Members look forward to receiving and considering the final version of the draft local plan before the elections in May”

The Portfolio Holder stated that unfortunately he could not guarantee that because it was not known when the Inspector would respond to us.  It was his understanding that the Inspector would consult other colleagues on legal matters during the process prior to contacting the Council and therefore the timescale was unknown.

Question from Councillor Andrew Parker to  the Portfolio Holder for Finance, Town Centres and Growth:

“The Cabinet sent a letter to Chancellor Rachel Reeves on August 1^st 2025 outlining pressures on local authority finance, including business rate deficits, cost?of?living impacts on council income, unexpected cost of local government reorganisation and the rising cost of providing temporary accommodation for individuals and families made homeless.

Has the Portfolio Holder received a response from the Chancellor?”

The Portfolio Holder stated that a letter had been received on 8 January, 2026 from the Chancellor’s Secretary.

Councillor Parker asked a supplementary question:

“What was actually in the response from the Chancellor’s Secretary”

The Portfolio Holder stated that the letter was split into four paragraphs, the first stating that local authorities would be getting an extra £3.3b over the next three years.  Newcastle would not be benefiting from that money and were actually losing £1,051,000 over the three years.

The second paragraph did not contain anything significant

The third paragraph stated that £3b was being provided to help homeless support.  Newcastle would receive £200,000 over three years which would keep the service level.

The final paragraph referred to the benefits of Local Government Reorganisation which the Portfolio Holder disputed.

Watch the debate here