logo
Medway Council cabinet to take public questions for first time

Medway Council cabinet to take public questions for first time

BBC News03-06-2025

Medway Council will begin offering members of the public an opportunity to question councillors during cabinet meetings.The local authority will allocate 20 minutes for public questions on every cabinet agenda in a six-month pilot project to offer more interactions with residents, starting with Tuesday's meeting.Previously the public could only ask questions at full council meetings.The council can reject questions that are frivolous, defamatory, offensive, or not related to a matter for which it has responsibility, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
The council administration will answer as many questions as it can within the allotted time and any left unanswered will receive a written response.Attendees must submit questions via the council's website at least three working days before a meeting.

Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Politics at Glastonbury a 'festival within a festival'
Politics at Glastonbury a 'festival within a festival'

BBC News

time31 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Politics at Glastonbury a 'festival within a festival'

As Glastonbury Festival enters its final day, with performances from Rod Stewart and Olivia Rodrigo to look forward to, so too is its political programme. While the festival has changed beyond recognition from its free-flowing, flower power roots, it has tried to retain its political edge, which is unashamedly site is covered with messages about climate change, environmental activism, international aid and human rights. Speakers this year include Gary Lineker, Deborah Meaden and a hustings for the leadership hopefuls of the Green Michael Eavis reportedly told journalists this week that people who do not agree with the politics of the event "can go somewhere else". But what do those who are at the festival think of its ideas and values? Glastonbury: The 1975 deliver a polished, but safe headline slotIn pictures: Glastonbury Festival day threeWhy there will be no Glastonbury Festival in 2026'We want to give you best seat in house for Glasto' Stood in front of a huge CND (Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament) sign in the Green Futures part of the site, Noma said: "As someone who is active on the climate space, for me it's really inspiring being in this sort of area." It is here that the festival most retains its 1970s roots, with workshops, political talks and messages supporting environmental activism. "It's like a festival within a festival," Noma adds. "I think Glastonbury has a reputation for being a hippy festival," said her friend Samerine."But there's a lot of cool stuff around and loads of information and people are getting to learn things here." The festival has long championed environmental causes, and slogans about the climate crisis can be seen all around. It's also true however that today's Glastonbury attracts the mega-rich, some of whom arrive on political commentator and author Ash Sarkar, another speaker at the festival this year, this is a problem."When it comes to the helicopters and yurts, not only do I find that disturbing in terms of ostentatious displays of wealth, you're also missing the best part of being here," she said. "You've got thousands of people having a good time together, a collective experience. So if you want to avoid all that, not only are you a mug for spending that much money, you're not going to have a very good time." Speaking to BBC Politics West, former conservative MP Jacob Rees-Mogg, said he would not enjoy Glastonbury Festival, which he added "isn't my scene". "I'd rather go frankly to Glyndebourne," he what a festival for people right of the centre would look like, Rees-Mogg replied: "Oh, it would probably be mock battles from the civil war and little bit of jousting, that sort of thing." Back in Glastonbury, Chris, from Oxford, went to the first event at Worthy Farm, then called Pilton Pop, Folk and Blues Festival, held in 1970. "I was at Catholic boarding school. I bunked off and wandered around carrying my school uniform in my bag. It was completely free and anarchic," he said. "It completely changed my life. A lot of the stuff that was being talked about 10 years ago is now mainstream."People thought you couldn't run a stage on renewable power, now it's really quite easy to do."Whilst the music has diversified incredibly over the past 20 years, the politics here remains steadfastly left-wing."Should the festival though become more welcoming to those with other political views?"There's probably a few Tories here, a sprinkling of Reform," Chris said."But this is about positive joy, fun, progress and creating a better world. Quite a lot of that tends to align with the left."Ms Sarkar agrees. "You can't have everything for everyone," she said."If you want, you can set-up your own Reform music festival and I'm sure the ever entrepreneurial Nigel Farage has considered it." For Jason, from Manchester, and Rowan, from Leeds, who are both part of the LGBT (lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender) community, the idea of being amongst similarly minded people having a good time, is part of the point of the waiting to be served a cream tea, they said there are two different sides to the festival, "the intense and the really wholesome"."A lot of us and our friends are very friendly, welcoming, open-minded people," said Rowan. "It's not just like-minded people, it's acceptance. You can be who you want here and the way people dress or hold themselves is incredible."

Staff left 'heartbroken' over Hull Sutton Fields pub fire
Staff left 'heartbroken' over Hull Sutton Fields pub fire

BBC News

time36 minutes ago

  • BBC News

Staff left 'heartbroken' over Hull Sutton Fields pub fire

Staff at a pub in Hull have said they have been left "heartbroken" after a fire in the early hours of the morning caused serious damage to the crews were called to the Sutton Fields pub on Oslo Road at about 02:25 BST, according to Humberside Fire and Rescue pub's occupants had left the property and were all accounted for by the time the crews arrived, a spokesperson said.A statement from pub staff which was posted on social media said the blaze had been a "devastating event for the whole team" and it would remain closed until further notice. "We are sorry for any inconvenience and may not be able to respond to your messages," the statement said."If you have bookings, please assume they are cancelled."According to the fire service, crews had arrived within six minutes of the emergency call and the blaze was extinguished by 05:45 alarms had alerted the occupants so they were able to get out of the building, the spokesperson said."The fire started outside, spreading to a pergola before reaching the property," they investigation into the incident had been launched, the spokesperson to highlights from Hull and East Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, watch the latest episode of Look North or tell us about a story you think we should be covering here.

EXCLUSIVE How many adults are on PIP in YOUR neighbourhood? Shock figures show up to a third of working age adults are claiming the disability benefit in parts of England
EXCLUSIVE How many adults are on PIP in YOUR neighbourhood? Shock figures show up to a third of working age adults are claiming the disability benefit in parts of England

Daily Mail​

timean hour ago

  • Daily Mail​

EXCLUSIVE How many adults are on PIP in YOUR neighbourhood? Shock figures show up to a third of working age adults are claiming the disability benefit in parts of England

Nearly a third of working-age adults currently get personal independence payments (PIP) in parts of England, analysis shows. MailOnline's audit of Government figures – presented in an interactive map below – names the PIP capital as a suburb of Plymouth. Neighbourhoods within Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Stockton-on-Tees have similarly high rates. Critics of Labour 's ballooning £143billion welfare bill said the figures should act as a 'wake up call' for the Government. The analysis comes after Keir Starmer completed a humiliating backtrack on his flagship welfare reforms package at the eleventh hour, following sustained pressure from over 120 MPs. The initial package of reforms was mooted to save around £5billion by the end of the Parliament and included a restriction on the eligibility for PIP. Existing claimants were to be given a 13-week phase-out period of financial support in an earlier move that was seen as a bid to head off opposition by aiming to soften the impact of the changes. It's understood now that around 370,000 existing PIP claimants will be able to keep their payments. But the change on Personal Independence Payment (Pip) is estimated to wipe up to £2billion off the £5billion savings by the end of the Parliament, and Universal Credit tweaks another £1billion. Chancellor Rachel Reeves is odds-on to hike taxes to pay for the financial shortfall, experts have said. If the legislation clears its first hurdle on Tuesday, it will then face a few hours' examination by all MPs the following week – rather than days or weeks in front of a committee tasked with looking at the Bill. Anyone with a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability that affects their day-to-day life can get PIP, including adults in full-time employment. Latest Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) statistics show 3.7million people in England, Wales and Northern Ireland currently receive it. This is up from around 2m before Covid struck. The number of young people aged 16-24 receiving PIP has also skyrocketed, as too have claims for anxiety and depression. PIP is split into two parts and claimants can be eligible for both. The daily living part goes to adults needing help with everyday tasks, whereas the mobility part is doled out to those who require assistance getting around. Whether they get one or both parts and how much they get depends on how difficult they find everyday tasks and getting around. Anyone nearing the end of life such as from a life-limiting illness will automatically get the daily living part – but the mobility part depends on their needs. Adults undergoing PIP assessments are scored on a scale of zero to 12 – based on how difficult they find everyday tasks such as preparing and eating food. Currently, someone who receives between eight and 11 points in total gets the daily living part of PIP at a standard rate, worth £73.90 per week. If they get at least 12 points, they get the daily living component at an enhanced rate, worth £110.40 a week. Under current rules, an applicant needs to be scored at least eight points in any combination to be awarded the lowest rate of PIP. If the package passes, they would need this to have scored four of these points in a single activity. MailOnline's analysis found the Victoria Park area of Plymouth to be the PIP capital. In that particular district, almost 32.5 per cent (1,336) of its 3,940 working-age adults receive the handout. Victoria Park was followed by Byker East in Newcastle-upon-Tyne (31.8 per cent) and the Central Stockton & Portrack region of Stockton-on-Tees (30.5 per cent). Our investigation revealed the rate stood above 20 per cent in 58 of 7,200 MSOAs – tiny communities across England home to around 5,000 people. All but four of these neighbourhoods were in the north. The DWP uses out-of-date 2011 boundaries for its benefits data, but the ONS uses 2021 boundaries for its population figures. To get correct figures for the current geographies, we have had to convert these to 2021 boundaries, which could lead to discrepancies in the calculations. John O'Connell, chief executive, at the TaxPayers' Alliance told MailOnline: 'These figures should be a wake up call for this government. 'When nearly one in three working-age adults in some areas are on disability benefits, its clear that something has gone badly wrong. 'PIP must be reformed to support those in genuine need, rather than becoming an easily accessible income stream.' Our investigation involved analysing DWP data on the number of working-age adults claiming benefits in all 7,200 MSOAs. We then compared these figures with the ONS's latest estimates of the working age (16 to 64) population in these areas, allowing us to calculate a percentage. Government data is still collected via 2011 boundaries set by the Census. MailOnline has converted it to the 2021 boundaries.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store