QUESTIONS

B7. Councillor Shabbir Can the portfolio holder for Culture tell us if she has had any discussions with Bradford One project and does she recognize the importance of the Bradford One project as vehicle for establishing Bradford as a premier cultural destination as well as a vehicle for promoting community cohesion and cultural diversity within the district?

B9. Councillor Ahmed Can the portfolio holder for culture give a progress report on Bradford’s city centre attractions and how many new visitors it is attracting to the city?

B11. Councillor Karmani Can the Portfolio Holder give us a progress reports in relation to ‘Getting Bradford back to work’ initiative in particular the number of jobs, placements and training opportunities that have been created especially in the light of research undertaken by the Guardian that only 3.5% of people referred to work programmes find long term jobs and the fact the joblessness and youth unemployment is on the rise in Bradford District and at rates that are amongst the highest in the UK?

B13. Councillor Ahmed What plans are there for culturally diverse events at the City Park in the coming year? Also, please extend our thanks to the City Park events team for a splendid job they are doing in staging successful events as well as winning the award for Urban Lighting Project of the Year at the Lux Awards.

C10. Councillor Shabbir Would the Leader of the Council extend, on all our behalf, season’s greetings to all council staff for their hard work in these difficult times?

C16. Councillor Shabbir Can the Leader of the Council tell us if there are any plans for schools within the Heaton area to be expanded to cope with the increased demand for places at Heaton Primary School?

C24. Councillor Karmani Ofsted recently announced that Bradford has the second worst secondary schools in the country – in particular that 71% of secondary school students attend schools deemed “not good enough” by the Government. Hasn’t this gone on for long enough; what radical solutions do the Council have to make a significant change in the quality of education for all in the District?

C31. Councillor Ahmed Can the portfolio holder for culture report on what dialogue there was with the BBC before they announced the decision to pull out of Bradford, and if there wasn’t any contact, what representations are being made to ensure that the BBC stay within Bradford ?

C37. Councillor Collector Can the leader of the council inform us, in light of the recent flooding across the country, if there are any contingency plans to deal with this problem – noting that there are only two gully wagons for Bradford and that block gullies have exasperated the problem of house floodings ?

C40. Councillor Karmani Will the leader join in congratulating the Palestinians in being recognised and awarded state hood by the General Assembly of the UN with the resolution being approved 138 for and 9 against and also explore the possibility of under taking some twinning work between Bradford schools and schools in Palestine?

C43. Councillor Faisal Khan Will the Leader applaud the recent success of MP Stella Creasy who highlighted the devastating impact of extortionate payday loan companies, that prey on the poor and vulnerable through charging crippling levels of interest as high as 4000% APR and getting the Government to change the law to curb the exorbitant levels of interest that are charged by these companies. Can he also highlight the support that is been provided to poor families who are at risk of debt and have been affected by these immoral companies and ensure measures are in place that prevent poor families and individuals resorting to loan sharks and other immoral lending?

C46. Councillor Collector Can the leader of the council explain what practical measures have been put in place to advise and support the most vulnerable people in Bradford who are currently having their welfare benefits reassessed in the run up to introduction of universal credits next year?