Elected Members’ Questions and Answers - July 2025
Date: 21 July 2025 Full Council
| Elected Member | Tabled question in the name of Cllr A Skinner |
|---|---|
| Question |
"There was an agreement at the full council meeting on 17 February to hold a workshop for elected members on the plans for council transformation. "Could we please get an update on when this workshop will be held?" |
| Response |
“Following agreement at Personnel Committee on 14 January and ratification on 17 February, work to procure external support for the recruitment of new permanent directors for the Council has been progressed as part of the initial stages of taking forward the wider Transformation Programme for the Council. The Interim Chief Executive has set up a number of meetings with the individual political groups of Council to brief Members on progress.” |
| Elected Member | Tabled question in the name of Cllr A Barr |
| Question | "What progress has been made regarding the introduction of the Blue Light Card scheme into MEABC." |
| Response |
“At the Council meeting on 17 February, during the discussion about the Armed Forces Covenant, the minutes note the following: Cllr Barr, in supporting the renewal, requested that Council consideration be given to joining the Blue Light Card scheme for veterans and that it pledged to support ‘hard to reach’ veterans. The Blue Light Card is a discount service for the emergency services, NHS, social care sector, teaching communities and armed forces. The full eligibility list is set out below: 4x4 Response; Ambulance Service including retired; Blood Bikes; British Army; Cave Rescue; Community First Responders; Dental Practice; Fire Service including re-tired; Highways England Traffic Officer; Home Office; HM Armed Forces Veterans; HM Coastguard; HM Prison & Probation Services; Lowland Search and Rescue; MoD Civil Servants; MoD Fire Service; MoD Police; Mountain Rescue; NHS including retired & volunteers; Optometrists; Police including retired; Red Cross; Reserve Armed Forces; RNLI; Royal Air Force; Royal Marines; Royal Navy; Search and Res-cue; Social Care Workers; and Teachers. Members would need to consider the affordability and costing of providing such a wide discount. Following the Council meeting, contact was made with leisure to explore whether veterans could be included in any concession scheme. This has led to the discovery of a corporate pricing policy which dates from 2016. This policy would need to be re-viewed and updated. The policy would also need to go through the Council’s screening processes. Officers are currently looking at this and will bring a report back to CRPG by way of update.” |