Agenda, decisions and minutes

Purpose: To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest.

A decision of the Cabinet meeting on 15 December 2015 relating to Hope Household Recycling Centre has been called in.  Attached is a copy of the procedure for dealing with a called in item.

The Member Engagement Manager explained the procedure for the Call-In of a Cabinet decision. 

Report of the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) – Cabinet Member for Waste Strategy, Public Protection and Leisure

To assist Members, the following documents are attached:

·         Copy of the report of the Chief Officer (Streetscene & Transportation) – Hope Household Recycling Centre (HRC) Site

·         Copy of the Record of Decision

·         Copy of the Call In Notice

That having considered the decision, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was satisfied with the explanation received and the decision could be implemented.

The Chairman referred to the Call-In to the decision of the Cabinet  from its meeting held on 15 December 2015 relating to Hope Household Recycling Centre (HRC) Site.  The Call-In notice had been signed by four Members of the Council.  To assist Members, the following documents had been circulated with the agenda:

            (a)     A copy of the procedure for dealing with a called in item.

            (b)     A copy of the report considered by Cabinet on 15 December 2015.

            (c)      A copy of the Cabinet Record of Decision No.3250.

            (d)     A copy of the Call In notice  signed by Councillors Tim Newhouse, David Roney, David Williams and Phil Lightfoot.

The Chairman invited Councillor Tim Newhouse, as spokesperson for the signatories, to address the Committee.  Councillor Newhouse detailed the reasons for the Call-In.  He explained that the initial business case which had been submitted  to enable a community bid to be put forward to take over the HRC site had been inadequate.  A revised business plan had been presented, however, further work was required to make ‘fit for purpose’.  He referred to the active promotion of Community Asset Transfers by the Authority to achieve financial savings and said that a short term extension had been agreed with the Cabinet Member and Chief Officer (Streetscene & Transportation) to the deadline to allow time for a more cohesive and robust business plan to be presented to the Authority by 31 January 2016.

Further to the statement made by Councillor Newhouse the Cabinet Member for Waste Strategy, Public Protection and Leisure, provided background information and emphasised that the Authority would support the  development of the business case through regular meetings with the interested parties and senior officers of the Waste team, to ensure the case was substantially completed by the agreed deadline. The Case would be reviewed on an ongoing basis and all parties informed of any issues or concerns arising.  In the event that the business case was determined to be credible a report would be taken to the meeting of Cabinet to be held on 16 February 2016 for consideration. 

The Member Engagement Manager explained the Committee’s options for reaching a decision.  Councillor Chris Dolphin proposed Option 1 which was seconded and on being put to the vote the proposal was carried.

RESOLVED:

That having considered the decision, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee was satisfied with the explanation received and the decision could be implemented.

Purpose: To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the last meeting

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

The minutes of the meeting held on 3 December 2015 were submitted.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

That the Committee recommends approval of the outcome of the final review

of the Public Convenience service provision to Cabinet.

The Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) introduced a report to update the Committee on the final stage of the Public Conveniences Review.  He provided background information and advised that the final step of the review would consider the future of the remaining public convenience facilities in the County.

The Chief Officer referred to the five dedicated public convenience facilities which were operated by the Authority.  He reported that a further review of service had taken place and drew attention to the recommendations for future provision as detailed in the report.  He explained that it was proposed that the Authority promote the use of existing toilet facilities within Council buildings and cited leisure centres, libraries, and Connects Centres as examples, instead of the dedicated and sometimes isolated facilities which had been previously provided.  The Chef Officer advised that expressions of interest had been received from some Town and Community Councils in taking over public convenience facilities which could form part of Corporate Asset Transfers.  He also referred to the use of commercial facilities such as local businesses, which with the assistance of grant funding from the Welsh Government, could make their facilities available to the general public.

The Chief Officer emphasised the need for clear and consistent signage to be provided in town centres so the public were made aware of where public conveniences were available.

The Chief Officer drew attention to the Public Health Bill unveiled by the Welsh Government in June 2015 which placed a duty on local authorities to prepare and publish strategies for the provision of toilets for public use within their area.  He advised that whilst the Authority had closed a number of dedicated facilities access to their Council owned toilets had been improved.

Councillor Chris Dolphin commented on the need for easily accessible public convenience facilities to be provided for the elderly, disabled people, and young children.  These needed to be situated close to shops and local amenities.  He expressed the view that there should be a public convenience located in every town centre.  Councillor Clive Carver commented on the implications for people who had health problems. 

Councillor Dolphin raised further concerns around meeting the needs of a large number of people during public events and said that some of the Council owned buildings which had been suggested could be used as an alternative facility to isolated buildings, for example Connects Centres, were not open at evenings or weekends.  He also referred to the £500 grant from the WG to assist local businesses and shops with existing facilities to make provision for the public and said the amount was inadequate to support or encourage use at such premises.  Councillor Dolphin said he supported the initiative of liaison with Town and Community Councils to consider the feasibility of taking over the maintenance and operation of public conveniences.   

In response to the concerns raised by Councillor Dolphin concerning access and availability, Councillor Bernie Attridge commented on the proposal to consider use of the public facilities which were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

(a)       That the Committee recommends approval of the proposed core network of bus routes to Cabinet; and

(b)       That the Committee supports the withdrawal of the existing subsidised journeys and routes that are poorly used and no longer sustainable or affordable and the mitigating actions that are intended to reduce the impact of the proposals in the community currently serviced by each route.

The Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) introduced a report to update the Committee on the proposed review of subsidised bus services and outline the proposed approach for consulting with local communities on the development of Community Transport.  He provided background information and referred to the Council’s current spend on subsidised bus services for provision that would not be commercially viable.  He reported that there was no statutory duty on the Council to provide local bus services or any other form of public transport, however, the Authority had a statutory duty to keep the bus network under review and intervene where appropriate.  He introduced Katie Wilby, Transportation and Logistics Manager, and Ceri Hansom, Integrated Transport Unit Manager, and invited them to report on the key considerations.

The Transportation and Logistics Manager advised that a summary of all the Council’s subsidised services and other types of bus services was appended to the report.  She  referred to the workshops which had been held to assist in identifying the core bus routes across the County and the frequency and standard of service each route should provide.  A list of the proposed core network of bus routes has been produced and a map of the core routes attached at appendix 2 to the report.  She referred to the next step for the review of service to deliver the 2016/17 savings, as detailed in the report, and advised that the final stage of the review would involve extending the arrangements to all other subsidised routes to deliver the required savings for 2017/18.

The Transportation and Logistics Manager advised that to assess which routes are no longer sustainable a review of the existing subsidised services, including utilisation and passenger number per journey, had been undertaken.  This had identified a number of routes or sections of routes which are not sustainable and it was recommended that the subsidy for these routes (or sections of the routes) was withdrawn from 1 April 2016.  A list of the routes (or sections of route) was provided in appendix 3.  The Transportation and Logistics Manager explained that consultation with the Town and Community Councils affected by the unsustainable routes would be undertaken and a commitment/expressions of interest sought  to take forward the development of community based transport schemes which to feed into the core network of bus routes prior to the withdrawal of the subsidy.

The Integrated Transport Unit Manager commented on the research undertaken to determine the provision of community transport in other areas  and explained that details of good practice elsewhere  in the County would be shared with Town and Community Councils to meet the needs of a wider group of residents.  This would ensure the development of a sustainable community transport system.  She also referred to a  series of ‘drop in’ events to be held across the County to engage with the wider community and stakeholders to explain how people can get involved in the project and what financial and other support may be available to set up new  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme as submitted with the verbal amendments be approved and

(b)       That the Facilitator in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair be authorised to alter the Forward Work Programme between meetings

The Member Engagement Manager introduced the current Forward Work Programme for consideration by the Committee. 

Members referred to the item on design of drainage for new development sites scheduled for consideration at the meeting of the Committee to be held on 9 February 2016.  Members were keen for an item on Flooding, to also involve Welsh Water, to be included as soon as possible and it was suggested that this could be amalgamated into the topic “design of drainage for new development sites”.  The Member Engagement Manager said that the Chief Officer (Planning and Environment) would be approached about widening the remit of the report. 

RESOLVED:

 (a)      That the Forward Work Programme as submitted with the verbal amendments be approved and

(b)       That the Facilitator in consultation with the Chair and Vice Chair be authorised to alter the Forward Work Programme between meetings

There were two members of the press and no members of the public in attendance.