Issue - meetings

(a)       That the report be noted; and

(b)       That the Environment and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator collate the comments made by Members and forward them to the Performance Unit and Directorate.

The Committee considered the 20011/12 Quarter 4/Year End service performance reports produced at the Head of Service level under the adopted business model of the Council.  The draft year end position of the Strategic Assessment of Risks and Challenges (SARC) and progress made against the Improvement Targets were also contained within the performance reports.

            The Heads of Service each gave a short presentation on the performance within each of the service areas, outlining work which had been undertaken to improve performance and areas where improvement was needed, as outlined within each report.

Streetscene

            Following the presentation, the Head of Streetscene circulated a timetable for new waste collection operations to the Committee.

            Councillor C.J. Dolphin raised concern on the waste collection service within his own ward and the Greenfield ward.  He commented on the pilot for Saturday working which he supported in principle but felt that there had been a lack of consultation with local Members and members of the public on how the pilot would be introduced.  He said that he had received a number of complaints concerning a letter which had been sent out to residents at Greenfield to clarify a mistake which had been made on the published helpline number as residents were still confused about elements of the waste collection service.

            The Head of Streetscene said that officers had recognised that there had been problems following the introduction of the changed waste collection service but all officers were working hard to address issues around missed collections.  The Council currently collected waste on a Saturday following bank holidays and had not received any complaints about Saturday working.  Consultation with members of the public had been scheduled to take place the week commencing 25 June, 2012 as detailed in the timetable and those Members affected by the pilot Saturday working would be invited to Alltami depot for individual meetings with waste staff to discuss operating arrangements.  He confirmed that a letter had been sent to residents as a result of an error but also a door knocking exercise had been carried out to ensure residents were aware of the error.  Feedback had been collated on the door knocking exercise and this could be provided to the Committee.

            Councillor Dolphin welcomed the opportunity to see the feedback as he had concerns on areas where door knocking had not been carried out.  He said that he did not blame the Cabinet Members for the problems with the waste collection service but felt that the blame lay with the Head of Streetscene.

            The Cabinet Member for Public Protection, Waste and Recycling said that the pilot for Saturday working had previously been agreed by Members with a view to potentially rolling out Saturday working once the pilot had been reviewed.  The three areas identified for the pilot had been chosen because of their close proximity to one another to enable staff to lend support to each other if necessary.

            In response to comments on the accessibility of streets on a Saturday morning, the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10