Agenda, decisions and minutes

No declarations of interest were made.

Nominations will be sought for a Vice-Chair for the Committee.

That Councillor N.M. Matthews be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.

The Chairman sought nominations for a Vice-Chair for the Committee. 

            Councillor P. Shotton proposed that Councillor D. Butler be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.  He spoke in support of his proposal and said that Councillor Butler had a wealth of experience across a range of Council services.  Councillor Butler thanked Councillor Shotton for the nomination and said that as a new Member he would be able to provide a new perspective on the work of the Committee.

            Councillor C.J. Dolphin proposed that Councillor N.M. Matthews be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.  He spoke in support of his proposal and said that as the former Executive Member for Waste Management, Councillor Matthews had built up a good working relationship with the officers and had gained a great deal of experience in a range of Environment Directorate services.  Councillor Matthews said that she had worked well with the officers and would like to see that continue.

RESOLVED:

That Councillor N.M. Matthews be appointed Vice-Chair of the Committee.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 7 and 21 March, 2012.

That the minutes of the meetings held on 7 and 21 March, 2012 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The minutes of the meetings held on 7 and 21 March, 2012 had been circulated with the agenda.

7 March, 2012

Matters arising

            Councillor G.H. Bateman commented on minute number 79 and asked if the Council was continuing to collect side waste.  The Director of Environment advised that the Council continued to collect side waste and this was a consistent approach across the County.  When a decision would be made to revert back to the Policy and stop collecting side waste, all Members, Town and Community Councils and residents would be informed.  If Members had any concerns within their own wards he asked that they contact the Head of Streetscene following the meeting.

            Councillor P. Shotton asked whether residents in Flintshire would be penalised if they did not adhere to the Waste Collection Policy.  The Director of Environment said that a decision on enforcement action would need to be considered by the Cabinet and the Committee in due course.  The Chairman reported that an update report on the Waste Collection Service would be presented to the Committee in September, 2012.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meetings held on 7 and 21 March, 2012 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

That the report be noted.

The Environment and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator introduced a report to inform the Committee of its Terms of Reference, set in the context of Terms of Reference of all of the Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

Following the Annual Council meeting held on 15 May, 2012, the Council now had a Constitution Committee and six functional Overview and Scrutiny Committees as detailed in the report.  The Terms of Reference of all six Overview and Scrutiny Committees were attached at Appendix 1 of the report and Members were asked to note its contents to assist them in understanding the remit of all Overview and Scrutiny Committees.

Specific Overview and Scrutiny training sessions would be held on 6 and 7 June, 2012, to which all Members of the Council had been invited.  The Environment and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator encouraged Members of the Committee to attend the training sessions as there would be the opportunity to ask questions.

            The Chairman invited the Director of Environment and Heads of Service to give a brief presentation on the work within each of the service areas.  The Director of Environment circulated a fact sheet on the Environment Directorate and the Head of Assets and Transportation, Head of Streetscene and Interim Public Protection Manager gave a brief overview of their areas of responsibility and the services provided by the Environment Directorate.

            Councillor D. Evans asked if the Council had been using a smart phone application and the ‘Fix My Street’ website to access requests from members of the public as he was aware of requests that were outstanding.  The Head of Streetscene reported that the ‘Fix My Street’ website was still in use and any requests made by members of the public should generate an e-mail to the Streetscene Service.  He said that he would look into the outstanding issues following the meeting.  He commented that the use of a smart phone application was an excellent idea that could be progressed.   

            The Director of Environment gave a brief overview of the areas of responsibility on behalf of the Head of Planning and Head of Regeneration.  He also provided a detailed update on the following key areas for priority in the year ahead:-

·        Civic Parking Enforcement

·        North Wales Residual Waste Treatment Project

·        Food Waste Project

·        Enterprise Zone

·        Town Centre Regeneration

·        Highway Transport Infrastructure

·        Local Development Plan (LDP)

The Committee thanked the Director of Environment and Heads of Service for the information they had provided to Members.

RESOLVED:

That the report be noted.

(a)               That the Facilitator arrange a Workshop to enable the Committee to discuss the forward work programme for the coming year; and

(b)               That the next Committee meeting scheduled to be held on 13 June, 2012 be re-arranged to 21 June, 2012.

The Environment and Housing Overview and Scrutiny Facilitator introduced a report which detailed work which had been left outstanding at the end of the municipal year.  The report also outlined how topics could be brought to Overview and Scrutiny and suggested items to be included on the forward work programme for the successor Committee to consider.

                        The Facilitator suggested that a Workshop be arranged to allow Members the opportunity to discuss the Committee’s forward work programme for the coming year which could be informed by the Cabinet’s Priorities.  The Cabinet Member for Environment welcomed the opportunity to feed key priorities into the Committee’s forward work programme.

                        The Facilitator also suggested that the next Committee meeting scheduled to be held on 13 June, 2012 be re-arranged to 21 June, 2012. where the Committee would receive the end of year performance outturns for improvement targets against Directorate indicators.  The Committee supported this suggestion.

            Following a question from Councillor C.A. Thomas, the Facilitator confirmed that any current outstanding issues could be raised with the Cabinet Member or during consideration of the performance outturns at the next meeting.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Facilitator arrange a Workshop to enable the Committee to discuss the forward work programme for the coming year; and

(b)       That the next Committee meeting scheduled to be held on 13 June, 2012 be re-arranged to 21 June, 2012. 

The meeting began at 10.00 a.m. and ended at 11.15 a.m.

There were no members of the press or public in attendance.