Agenda, decisions and minutes

Councillor C.A. Thomas declared a personal interest in agenda item 6, due to her involvement with the Flintshire Rural Partnership and Cadwyn Clwyd, not as a representative of County Council.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2012.

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

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 September, 2012 had been circulated with the agenda.

Accuracy

            Councillor C.A. Thomas said that on item 26, page 6, her question about vacant posts in Environment did not include her question about the possible employment of apprentices to train as Environmental Health Officers.

Matters arising

            The Chair advised members that there would be a North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project Workshop on 28 November.

            The Scrutiny Facilitator advised members that the Executive Director of Public Health Wales had provided the report regarding particulate matter standards and that she could email the report to members and also provide a hard copy in the members’ library.

Councillor D. Evans said that he had not yet received a copy of the Green Infrastructure action plan for the Lower River Dee.  The Director for Environment was not aware of this and said he would arrange for a copy to be forwarded.  Councillor C. A. Thomas asked if she could also receive a copy.

RESOLVED:

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

(a)       That Members of the Committee note the comments received on the service and the progress made during the first six months since its launch and advise that further public awareness of the telephone numbers be developed;

(b)       That Members note the content of the Action Plans for the service and that deadlines and persons responsible be incorporated into the Action Plans;

(c)        That point 4.03 of the report, concerning the Grass Cutting Policy be removed from the recommendation;

(d)       That a further report be presented to the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee during 2013-14; and

(e)       That the Director of Environment convey the thanks of the Committee to the Streetscene supervisors for their work.

The Head of Streetscene introduced the report to update Members on the outcome of the review of the Streetscene service six months after its launch in March 2012.

In order to assess the progress made by the service so far, feedback and comments on the service were requested from Council Members through the Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Environment, members of the public through satisfaction surveys, all Streetscene Staff, Trade Unions and Town and Community Councils.  The Head of Street Scene reported that 23 replies had been received from councillors with a total of 89 comments, 17 were complimentary and 29 suggested improvements to be made.  A total of 6 replies were received from staff and two replies from two trade unions.  In relation to the Customer survey, 50% of customers were aware of Streetscene and a third knew the phone number. Two thirds of respondents had noticed an improvement. The comments related to four main areas which fed into the following four action plans:

1. Staffing structure

2. Operational

3. Office and Depot and a series of Action Plans implemented.

            4. Contact Centre

The Head of Street Scene said that the action plans would be built into future service plans.  The Director of Environment then provided an update on the four main objectives of the project as follows:

Improving Customer Access to the Service

Streetscene now had one telephone number to cover the whole service.  It was recognised that initially there were not sufficient contact centre staff to deal with the high volume of calls.  The Director of Environment commented that changes were being made to the contact centre as the service evolved.

Raising Public Awareness of the Project

There had been a big media campaign around the launch date and lots of people now recognised Streetscene and the single number as a result of this.

Operational Changes

Operational changes had lead to a more joined up service.  Generic job roles had improved flexibility and enabled priorities to be met.

Office and Depot rationalisation

Previously there were five depots; there was now one operational depot at Alltami.

            The Director of the Environment said that there had been enormous changes to the service in the last six months and suggested that an update be submitted at some stage in the 2013/14 Forward Work Programme.

            Councillor C. A Thomas asked how the surveys had been carried out.  The Director of Environment in response said that customer surveys had been undertaken at roadshows and fetes during the summer.  Councillor Thomas asked about street lighting and the Director of Environment advised that the Committee’s FWP had timetabled a street lighting workshop in November.  She raised concern on the changes to grass cutting in rural areas which were not reflected in the Grass Cutting Policy and said that she expected the grass cutting policy to have been changed as a result of the grass cutting Task and Finish group in scrutiny.  The Deputy Leader of the Council and Cabinet Member for Environment  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

(a)       That Members of the Committee note the report and the progress made within the service since the service review in March, 2012;

(b)       That the Committee be supplied with financial information for the service outlining savings; and

(c)        That the Committee notes the positive achievements of a near 60% recycling rate.

The Chair advised the Committee that the following item referred to the Review of the Council’s Waste Collection Service and not the Review of the Council’s Waste Strategy as stated in the agenda.

                        The Cabinet Member for Public Protection, Waste and Recycling introduced the report to update Members on the progress made within the waste collection service, six months after the service review.

            The Cabinet Member for Public Protection, Waste and Recycling said that there had been initial problems after roll out in November 2011 and that service levels had improved on a month to month basis.  The issue of missed collections was the main concern of residents and this equated to 20-30 missed collections per 100,000 collections. It was hoped that performance would be further improved with the introduction of an electronic notification service to confirm that waste collections had been made.  This would be rolled out in January after an initial pilot with assisted collection rounds.  The Cabinet Member for Public Protection, Waste & Recycling said that in Quarter 1, Flintshire had achieved a recycling rate of just under 60% which was the second highest rate of recycling for a Welsh Local Authority during the period.

            The Head of Streetscene said that of the 30 recommendations highlighted in the Action Plan, all but three were on target.  There was an ongoing review into the use of sticker notifications on bins, the side waste issue was ongoing and negotiations were ongoing with the software supplier of a queue notification service on the telephone contact centre.  New weighted blue and white bags for recyclables were now available and had received good feedback. 

   The Cabinet Member for Public Protection, Waste and Recycling reported that a new service had been introduced for flats which involved a smaller “scatter” vehicle.  Saturday collections have been piloted and would be expanded following consultation and subject to availability of vehicles and funding.  Side waste continued to be an issue and officers would visit and advise residents who persistently left side waste.  The managed weekly collection service was anticipated to deliver a further £245,000 of efficiencies in 2012-13. The existing Household Recycling Centres are to remain

Councillor H. D. Hutchinson thanked the Cabinet Member and Officers for their report.  He asked if there had been any new refuse crews in the Buckley area as he had received reports that the service levels had dropped.  Councillor Hutchinson voiced concern at the crew’s practice of leaving food bin lids open after they had been emptied.  The Head of Streetscene said that operatives would be reminded about the need to leave bins tidily with the lids shut.  He said that he was not aware of a new team in the Buckley area and added that new members would be introduced one at a time into established rounds.  He advised members to contact him or Harvey Mitchell if they became aware of any issues.

Councillor C.A. Thomas said that collections could be missed in rural areas if the operatives were given house  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

That Members note the progress in implementing the Rural Development Plan in Flintshire and the briefing material on European Structural Funds.

The Economic Development Manager presented a report to update Members on progress made in implementing the Rural Development Plan for Wales (RDP) 2007-2013 in Flintshire and to provide briefing material on the current and future position with European Structural Fund Programmes.

            The Economic Development Manager informed members that the RDP programme was coming to an end.  The Welsh Government had offered extensions for projects, new projects or extended activities.   The European Structural Funds were due to finish in 2013, with project spend, including Flintshire projects running until 2015, subject to extension being approved.  The Flintshire Projects run under European Structural Funds were the Town Centre Regeneration Project, Strategic BusinessParks, which involved DeesideIndustrial Park, and the Genesis 2 Project to help economically inactive people overcome barriers to work.

            Councillor P.J. Curtis said that the Holywell Streetscape and Access Improvements on page 61 made reference to approval by the Town Partnership, but not the Town Council.  He asked if it was intended that the High Street be opened up to traffic.  The Economic Development Manager said that the Town Partnership referred to the funding side of the project and that any consultations about the scope of the project would be undertaken in conjunction with the Town Council and County Council.  He said that the area would see improvements for both pedestrians and traffic.  The High Street would continue to be closed to traffic as now.  Councillor Curtis said that he would expect full consultation for future plans.

            The Chair asked if all funding for the projects would be drawn down before the end of the Programme.  The Economic Development Manager reassured Members that projects would be completed, with the Talacre/Gronant project at the detailed design stage in negotiation with BHP, CCW and the land owner and the Mold and Holywell projects were at the scoping stage, and would move into design stage after Christmas.

RESOLVED:

That Members note the progress in implementing the Rural Development Plan in Flintshire and the briefing material on European Structural Funds.

That the amendments to the Forward Work Programme listed above be noted.

The Interim Environment Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator introduced a report to enable the Committee to consider the Forward Work Programme.

Following discussion, it was agreed that the North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project be removed from the Committee Meeting on 21 November and considered at a later date, following the workshop on 28 November at 10am.  The Committee also agreed that Civil Parking Enforcement be discussed at the 9 January meeting and that Contracted Bus Services be moved to the 6 February Committee meeting. 

The Facilitator advised the Committee that there had been a request from the Corporate Resources Committee that the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee submit a report into Recycling Income. The Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee had also invited the Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee to a future Joint Scrutiny Committee meeting, to discuss Assets and Estates in January or February 2013.

The Chair asked Members to note dates of the forthcoming budget rounds in their diary.

RESOLVED:

That the amendments to the Forward Work Programme listed above be noted. 

The meeting began at 10.00 a.m. and ended at 12.25 p.m.

There were no members of the public present and two members of the press present.