Meeting documents
Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Wednesday, 21st November 2007
Present
Chair
DE Roberts
Councillors
A Bridson, JR Cocker, PSC Johnson, DT Knowles, GD Mitchell
Deputy
GCJ Watt (for Cllr SD Moseley)
Cabinet member
G Gardiner
Index to Minutes
- Minute 25 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP
- Minute 26 - MINUTES
- Minute 27 - WIRRAL GLOBE PETITION SIGNATORIES - RESULTS OF CONSULTATION EXERCISE
- Minute 28 - TACKLING DOG FOULING
- Minute 29 - ACCEPTANCE OF TENDER - DEMOLITION OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCES AT ATHERTON STREET BIRKENHEAD
- Minute 30 - FIRST AND SECOND QUARTER PERFORMANCE MONITORING REPORT - APRIL/JUNE AND JULY/SEPTEMBER 2007 - 2008 TECHNICAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
- Minute 31 - PERFORMANCE MONITORING SECOND QUARTER - JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 2007 - REGENERATION DEPARTMENT
Minute 25 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST/PARTY WHIP
Minute Text :
Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were. Members were reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.
No such declarations were made.
Minute 26 - MINUTES
Minute Text :
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the minutes of the meetings held on 5 September and 22 October 2007, having been received or approved by the Council, be received.
Minute 27 - WIRRAL GLOBE PETITION SIGNATORIES - RESULTS OF CONSULTATION EXERCISE
Minute Text :
Further to minute 15 (5 September 2007), the Director of Technical Services provided a detailed analysis of the consultation exercise that had been undertaken with signatories to the Wirral Globe "Bin Campaign". The consultation referred to recycling targets that the Council was required to meet and highlighted the benefits of Alternate Weekly Collections. It also gave the opportunity for information to be provided to the Department in relation to levels of satisfaction, to specific problems with the service and to proposals to improve service delivery. Of the 510 responses received, 52% had stated that their satisfaction with the service had increased, 41% remained the same and only 6.6% were less satisfied. 70% of respondants believed that recycling was now easier under the new scheme, and 84% experienced less waste in their green bin. He commented that all respondents had originally signed the petition requesting a re-instatement of a weekly green bin collection service. However, when given an opportunity to suggest improvements to the service, only 42% suggested reverting to a weekly green bin collection. Other suggestions included more reliable collections, a summer weekly collection, additional green bins and bin cleansing.
The Director reported also upon the receipt of a further petition presented to the Council by Councillor A Jones on behalf of the lead petitioner Mrs R Jones. The petition requested the restoration of weekly collections of all refuse and the reasoning was stated as 'in many areas of Seacombe the roads are too narrow and the space in front of homes is too small for two bins to be left. Further, the consequential smells, and the risk of attracting vermin is unreasonable in densely populated residential areas. We note that in other areas of the UK similar policies have been rejected'. The lead petitioner and Councillor Jones addressed the Committee.
The Director reported that a spot check had been undertaken by officers in the area of the petition, which identified problems in relation to a lack of storage for bins that were being left at the front of properties. Officers intended to carry out an awareness raising exercise in conjunction with the Fire Service to ensure that bins were stored securely, preferably at the rear of properties in order to reduce the risk of bin fires being set. He commented also that smells and associated or perceived risks could be reduced through responsible waste management by householders. He indicated that a survey of the area had also concluded that the majority of households had enough storage space for two bins, which would be required whether collection was on a weekly or alternate weekly basis.
The Director recognised that the petition raised genuine concerns of residents living in high density housing areas with regard to the alternate weekly collection of waste and engagement with residents would be necessary to overcome those issues in the near future. However, there was substantial evidence that the majority of households were engaging well with the new scheme and were not causing any environmental problems.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
(1) That the results of the consultation exercise undertaken with signatories of the Wirral Globe petition be noted.
(2) That the Committee notes the petition presented to the Council on behalf of residents of Seacombe and the response of the Director of Technical Services, and recommends that no further action be taken in respect of it.
(3) That the officers suggestion to carry out further awareness raising activity in the Seacombe area be supported.
Minute 28 - TACKLING DOG FOULING
Minute Text :
Further to minute 261 (Cabinet - 19 February 2007), the Director of Regeneration reported upon the Council's 'Don't give a dog a bad name' campaign to combat dog fouling, which had been developed to make best use of the allocated budget and to promote the message of responsible dog ownership to maximum effect. The campaign had been launched on 21 August 2007 and activity had been focussed around Birkenhead Park, Central Park, Wallasey, Eastham Country Park and along the length of the Wirral waterfront including Hoylake and West Kirby. There had been an increased on street presence by both uniformed and non-uniformed officers and during the period of the campaign close to 1000 early morning and early evening walkers had been approached and spoken to in the targeted areas. Information leaflets had been distributed and posters displayed in the target areas to reinforce the message of responsible dog ownership, and officers also continued to develop the deployment of 'tri-signs', which were designed to be displayed on a temporary basis and moved from area to area as required. In addition, the distribution of 'poop scoop' bags had also been reported in the local press.
The Director commented that the majority of dog owners behaved in a responsible manner and fixed penalty notices were served on only four offenders, and reported in the local media. The effect of accepting a fixed penalty notice was to acknowledge that behaviour to a criminal standard had occurred and it was therefore essential to establish beyond all reasonable doubt, that the person had committed an offence. If a person provided with the notice chose to go to court rather than pay a fixed penalty charge there would be a need to demonstrate that an offence had occurred to the same standard as for prosecution. The level of proof typically demanded by the court effectively required officers to be standing in very close proximity to a dog and its owner in order to observe an offence at the moment it was committed. He commented that past prosecutions had failed when officers had only witnessed a likely offence from a distance.
The Director referred to other campaign opportunities and to continuing initiatives to tackle irresponsible dog ownership. He reported that whilst the subject continued to be an issue of concern there was a general consensus that more dog owners were acting in a responsible manner and the actual number of complaints received by the Council continued to reduce year on year. In response to a comment from a member, he agreed there was a need to follow up on reported incidents and to ensure that complaints made by way of the one-stop shops and the call centre were passed on to dog wardens for investigation.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the Committee welcomes and notes the report.
Minute 29 - ACCEPTANCE OF TENDER - DEMOLITION OF PUBLIC CONVENIENCES AT ATHERTON STREET BIRKENHEAD
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported upon the acceptance of a tender under delegated authority for the demolition of public conveniences at Atherton Street, Birkenhead, which had been closed for public safety reasons in 2006 following a steady deterioration and a partial collapse of the internal structure. More recently the local community, supported by Members in Birkenhead and Tranmere Ward, had called for early demolition of the facilities as a result of concerns regarding anti-social behaviour associated with, and in the immediate vicinity of, the vacant building. The cost of the demolition would be funded from the existing public conveniences budget and he indicated that demolition was expected to take place shortly after Christmas.
In response to comments from a member, the Director referred to work that had been undertaken in encouraging local businesses to make their toilet facilities available to the public. Many were increasingly recognising the value of providing good clean and accessible conveniences for customers and a number of major superstores, shopping precincts and large shops provided excellent facilities for customers and for the public. However, there had been some adverse reaction, particularly from smaller businesses and work was ongoing to address concerns that had been expressed.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the acceptance under delegated authority, in accordance with paragraph 14.4 of the contract procedure rules, of the lowest tender submitted by Technical Demolition Services Ltd in the sum of £11,500 be noted.
Minute 30 - FIRST AND SECOND QUARTER PERFORMANCE MONITORING REPORT - APRIL/JUNE AND JULY/SEPTEMBER 2007 - 2008 TECHNICAL SERVICES DEPARTMENT
Minute Text :
The Director of Technical Services provided an overview of performance for the first two quarters 2007/2008 in relation to the Technical Services Department. He outlined the structure of the report, which drew particular attention to areas of over/under performance by exception. In response to comments made by members, the Director provided update information with regard to measures to combat grafitti, the collection of leaf fall and problems of fly posting.
He provided a financial summary, which indicated that whilst no variance was projected in relation to the revenue budget, the capital programme was anticipated to be overspent by £0.260m, although this was fully funded by contributions from two external organisations and would be built into the programme subject to the approval of the Cabinet and the Council. The department had identified £0.807m of non-service re-engineering savings efficiencies in how the waste contract operated, energy efficiencies and a number of other changes. SRE planned to achieve £0.393m of savings in areas such as vacancy control and supplies, and services had been identified. Further SRE savings of £0.142m had to be identified but he anticipated that these would be found. The only area considered to be volatile was in relation to a share of the sale of recyclates and he indicated that discussions were ongoing with MWDA to resolve the situation. He reported also that current projections indicated that there was likely to be a shortfall in car parking income and a combination of reduced Planning fee income and Planning Delivery Grant would lead to a deficit for the Building Control Unit. In response to a comment from a member he indicated that a number of ways of accommodating the shortfall were currently being explored.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That performance for the first two quarters April - June 2007 and July - September 2007, be noted.
Minute 31 - PERFORMANCE MONITORING SECOND QUARTER - JULY, AUGUST AND SEPTEMBER 2007 - REGENERATION DEPARTMENT
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported upon progress made by the Regeneration Department during the monitoring period July, August and September 2007. He commented that the Performance Report was very wide-ranging and diverse in its content, which reflected the broad range of service areas within the Regeneration Department. In response to comments from members with regard to the volume of information contained within the appendix to his report, he indicated that it was based upon the corporate template and his summary report highlighted those areas that would be of principal interest to members of the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee, namely the work undertaken by Environmental Health and Trading Standards Divisions.
He highlighted the key outcomes achieved in the last quarter and indicated what action was being taken to address those areas where targets had not been met. In response to further comments from members, he provided more detailed information in relation to follow-up action taken by trading standards officers to re-inspect foods sold at convenience stores and commented also upon action taken to address complaints regarding noise nuisance. He also set out the key outcomes which would be focused upon over next quarter, and provided details of resource implications for the next and subsequent quarters.
The Department was currently forecasting a budget variation for 2007/2008 of £0.87m and he indicated non-SRE savings of £0.544m had been identified in areas such as the capitalisation of HMRI, the deletion of vacant posts and review of staff rotas. SRE savings of £0.546m had yet to be implemented, however savings of £0.507m were in the process of being implemented, which included the maximisation of external funding £79,000, the generation of additional income of £140,000 and the reduction of staffing budgets by £75,000. He identified policy options that were currently being implemented and highlighted those budgets that were regarded as volatile areas of expenditure.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the performance of the Regeneration Department between July and September 2007 be noted, and the priorities for service delivery for the third quarter of the current financial year be endorsed.
(Minutes Published: 3 December 2007)