Agenda, decisions and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2013.

That, subject to the above amendment, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 February 2013 had been circulated with the agenda.

Accuracy

Councillor V. Gay said that in paragraph 2 of page 4 of the minutes, she had asked why £9000 was in the Saltney budget for the public conveniences when they had been closed.

RESOLVED:

That, subject to the above amendment, the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

That the Committee note the 2012-13 Quarter 3 performance reports.

Public Protection

The Interim Public Protection Manager introduced the report for Public Protection and highlighted the following areas where targets had not been achieved:

Animal Health reported an improvement on the previous quarter but had not reached target with High Risk Businesses.  The indicator needed to be re-profiled.

Trading Standards – High risk businesses – performance not reached due to a vacant post, but the department was confident they would achieve 99% by end of year.

The Interim Public Protection Manager then highlighted developments in a number of areas including awareness raising about cold callers and consumer rights, an illegal money lending case going to Crown Court and a farmer who had been given a custodial sentence for persistent flouting of TB regulations.

Councillor A.I. Dunbar asked if the government were due to relax restrictions on cold calling.  The Interim Public Protection Manager said that he was not aware of any proposals but would check with Trading Standards and get back to him.

Councillor C. Hinds asked about the numbers of prosecutions for dog fouling.  The Head of Public Protection said that incidents had to be witnessed in order for tickets to be issued which did prove difficult. Councillor Hinds said that offences were more likely to occur early morning and late at night. A Dog Watch scheme had been set up in Mold, Broughton and Connah's Quay. He confirmed that there were no pending prosecutions at the moment.

Councillor N.M. Matthews said that wider publicity was needed to ensure wider participation in Dog Watch.  Councillor V. Gay asked if small flyers could be left in community settings to advertise Dog Watch and to encourage the public to report incidents/regular timings of incidents.

The Chair said that some Members might not be aware of Dog Watch and asked that a note be circulated to Members of the Committee.

Councillor J. Johnson asked if there were any examples of good practice in enforcement from other local authorities.  The Interim Public Protection Manager said that all authorities acknowledged the difficulty in issuing fixed Penalty Notices and that Flintshire was adopting a long term strategy. He agreed to check with the Welsh Local Government Association to see if they could offer any examples of good practice.

Councillor Matthews asked if there had been any health and safety issues with tattoo parlours in Flintshire.  The Interim Public Protection Manager said that the Council were looking at putting in place a rating scheme for Tattoo parlours, similar to the one in place for food premises.

Councillor P. Shotton said that there was a lack of awareness in the community of the work of the Anti Social Behaviour Co-ordinator. He asked if the service could be advertised in the next edition of Housing News and the Council newspaper. The Interim Public Protection Manager said that it was an excellent suggestion and that he would action it.

Councillor Gay said that she had not received Neighbourhood Warden Neighbourhood reports recently.  The Interim Public Protection Manager said that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 69.

(a)       That a further, detailed report about Energy Switching Schemes be submitted to the committee within 3 months; and

(b)       That a marketing plan be produced and submitted to the committee within 3 months.

The Head of Assets and Transportation introduced the report which was compiled in response to a Council resolution passed in January 2013 to bring a report on Energy Switching schemes to a meeting of the Committee.

Collective energy switching models allowed residents to register online via a web based auction system and a specialist company would then bid for the best deals from energy suppliers.  Officers had recently held discussions with South Lakeland District Council to ascertain whether Flintshire should get involved in a bulk switching scheme ran by iChoosr. The iChoosr Bulk Purchase Scheme was available for electric and gas mains (where available) customers but did not accommodate pre payment customers.

Councillor N.M. Matthews thanked the Head of Assets and Transportation for the report.  She said that there were a number of online energy comparison websites and that the Council should support the scheme.  She asked if the Council intended to send a representative to the National Energy Action Cymru Conference in Llandudno on 21 March 2013.  The Head of Assets and Transportation confirmed that a staff member was due to attend and that they would report back to the Committee.  He added that there was a great deal of apathy with customers about energy websites and some customers were not comfortable in changing supplier.

Councillor C.J. Dolphin voiced his disappointment at the lack of progress to date on this matter and that the support of the Council was pivotal to the success of any local energy switching scheme.  The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member For Environment said that the Council would do all it could to assist with this scheme and was concerned that 90% of people in fuel poverty had pre payment meters which made them ineligible to join the scheme.

Councillor J. Johnson asked if residents in Flintshire could join schemes in other areas, such as Liverpool.  The Head of Assets and Transportation said that this was feasible.

Councillor C. Hinds asked how vulnerable people without home computers could register for the scheme.  The Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment said that advertisements could be placed in the Housing News, the Council Newspaper, local press and posters in libraries.  Computer facilities were available in libraries and Flintshire Connects offices.

Councillor C.A. Thomas asked if the Energy Manager would meet with Gary Jones in the South Flintshire Housing Office was assisting communities to access gas mains schemes, as many customers in fuel poverty were not on gas mains.  The Energy Manager said that he was due to attend a meeting in the Sealand area, which Gary was due to attend.

The Chair said it was the moral obligation of the Council to be more proactive in this matter, in the light of so many residents struggling financially.

The Committee agreed that a more detailed report was required along with a proactive marketing plan for switching schemes.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That a further, detailed report about Energy Switching Schemes be submitted to the committee within 3 months;  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

That the Committee approve the Forward Work Programme including the amendments listed.

The Environment & Social Care Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator introduced a report to enable the Committee to consider the Forward Work Programme.

It was proposed that at the meeting on 10 April 2013, there would be an update on the Food Waste Project as well as the North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project.  The missed collections technology agenda item would be deferred until the recycling site visit.

The meeting on 22 May 2013 would not be held at Loggerheads Country Park, but in County Hall.  Councillor C.A. Thomas asked that David Sheil, AONB Manager, be invited to the meeting.

Councillor V. Gay asked that the Mersey Dee Alliance be put as an item on the Forward Work Plan.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee approve the Forward Work Programme including the amendments listed.

There was one member of the press in attendance.