Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

Councillor Tudor Jones referred to previous meetings where he had declared an interest in lieu of his links with Holywell Leisure Centre and asked should he do so again.  The Chair commented a note in the minutes would suffice.

Councillor Tudor Jones referred to previous meetings where he had declared an interest in lieu of his links with Holywell Leisure Centre and asked should he do so again.  The Chair commented a note in the minutes would suffice.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 1 July and 9 July, 2019.

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

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 1 July and 9 July, 2019.

RESOLVED:

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

The Chair sought the Committee’s approval to move item 7 on the agenda forward to become item 6 to enable the agenda to flow better.  This was agreed and seconded by the Committee members present.

To consider the Forward Work Programme of the Organisational Change Overview & Scrutiny Committee and to inform the Committee of progress against actions from previous meetings

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be submitted as approved;

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)        That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted.

The Environment and Social & Health Care Overview & Scrutiny Facilitator presented the report which outlined the Committee’s current draft Forward Work Programme.  She then provided an update on the outstanding items on the Action Tracking appendix and information on the progress of other items.

            The Chief Officer (Housing & Assets) referred to the Council’s Closed Circuit Television Service (CCTV) and confirmed discussions with the Police & Crime Commissioner concerning higher financial contributions would take place once the CCTV had been successfully relocated to Wrexham.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be submitted as approved;

(b)       That the Facilitator, in consultation with the Chair of the Committee be authorised to vary the Forward Work Programme between meetings, as the need arises; and

(c)        That the progress made in completing the outstanding actions be noted.

(a)                   That the Committee support the second phase of the Alternative Delivery Model programme; and

(b)                   That the Committee receive further reports, alongside Cabinet, which evaluate each of the proposed service models for more detailed consideration prior to any formal decision on their future, noting that several of the models are well advanced and that one (the CCTV Monitoring Service) has been given a separate and prior approval.

The Chief Officer introduced the report which was presented to seek the Committee’s support.  Cabinet had approved the priority list and there were also links with the Council Plan.  He then provided an update on each of the different Alternative Delivery Models (ADMs):-

·                CCTV Monitoring and Control Service

·                Theatr Clwyd.

·                Micro Care (Community based domiciliary care services)

·                Streetscene and Transportation Trading Services

·                Housing Revenue Account Trading Services

·                Food Poverty Enterprise

·                Green Energy Company

Councillor David Wisinger asked the following questions on the proposed MOT testing at Alltami and proposal to provide domestic gas and electrical servicing:-

·                Was there sufficient parking for clients at the Depot?

·                Would other work be considered such as servicing of vehicles?

·                With regard to gas and electrical servicing would this be carried out by one officer?

             In response to the first point the Chief Officer clarified that this was still at the concept stage but the proposal was that once the Council vehicles had left the depot in the morning there would be available space for parking at the back by the workshop for this.  With regard to the car servicing question he said there could be opportunities to include other work but it was an unknown at present as the project was at concept stage and to be developed further.  With regard to the Gas and Electrical Servicing proposal (Housing Services) he said this was again at a very early stage and would seek to utilise and grow the service within the Housing Direct Labour Organisation (DLO).  Councillor Wisinger said this was a very positive move as there was the demand for this type of service especially by private landlords.

            Councillor Geoff Collett referred to Theatr Clwyd and asked if the proposed model was the most tax efficient for the Theatre.  He referred to Chester Zoo where patrons were asked to sign a document to enable the Zoo to claim an extra 26% back from the Government.  The Zoo was not an Independent Trust Model but asked if the Theatre would be able to claim some tax back similar to the Zoo.  

            In response the Chief Officer confirmed the model would enable the Theatre to receive benefits from Corporation Tax and Value Added Tax.  There were opportunities for Business Rate Relief, access to charitable funding and alignment of employment models with other theatres which would also be beneficial. This would give the Theatre more freedom to plan how they operated.  There was a lot of work being undertaken but a detailed report on this would be presented to the Committee in the autumn.

            Councillor Tudor Jones sought clarification on the following points regarding the Housing Revenue Account Trading Services ADM

·                Would this be established similar to the Aura ADM or managed by the Council?  

·                Would this impact on other existing charitable organisations such as Care and Repair and could consideration be been given to partnering with those operators as he felt it was important not to disadvantage them? 

·                With regard to employment of staff which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

To review the levels of progress in the achievement of activities, performance levels and current risk levels as identified in the Council Plan 2018/19.

That the committee approve the Year-end Council Plan 2018/19 Monitoring

Report.

The Chief Officer introduced the report which analysed the performance against the Improvement Plan Performance Indicators.  There were no performance indicators which showed a red RAG status for current performance against targets. 

The recommendation was proposed Councillor Martin White and seconded by Councillor Geoff Collett.

RESOLVED:

That the committee approve the Year-end Council Plan 2018/19 Monitoring

Report.

That the committee endorsed and supported the proposal for a new Social Enterprise model which will make a significant contribution to reducing food poverty in the County.

The Chief Officer presented the report which provided information on the development of the food enterprise and response to food poverty.  The project had developed from the holiday hunger campaign into a partnership with Clwyd Alyn, Can Cook and Flintshire County Council to form a social enterprise.  He referred Members to section 1.09 of the report which set out the aims of the social enterprise and that the meals on wheels model would also provide a social aspect delivering to communities especially rural areas whose residents would probably would, on a day to day basis have little social contact and interaction. He then provided information on the domiciliary care food provisions services saying the aim was to move from food aid to food purchase for vulnerable groups which in turn would support people in communities thus tackling loneliness. He referred Members to page 27 point 1.11 in the report which outlined the initial investment with Flintshire aiming to build and develop a production kitchen to deliver food to communities and housing associations. 

Councillor Jones sought clarification on a couple of phrases within the report:-

·                On page 26 at point 1.01 “people do not have access to good fresh food by choice” and asked what that referred to.    In response the Chief Officer clarified there were people who used food banks and that whilst providing an excellent service they did not provide good fresh food. The by choice was that they had nowhere else to go.  The Benefits Manager added there was an issue with people not being able to access good fresh food especially in rural areas.  She added everyone whatever their background had a right to access good fresh food.  Councillor Jones suggested it should be changed to “may by circumstance”.

·                He then referred to the next paragraph “it is known that for every £1 spent on food 37p was added for diet related disease that required treatment later” and asked for clarification.  In response the Benefits Manager explained that this was taken from a piece of research carried out by health professionals looking at the wider impact on the health service because of diet related illnesses.   The comment was made as a consequence of poor diets or people not having enough to eat then 37p from every £1 would be required to treat those people.    Councillor Jones commented that the 37p was what society had to pay to compensate for those choices made in earlier years.

            The Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Countryside said these measures were important especially when applying for funding and outlined the work being undertaken by local authorities and the Health Service with regard to prevention.   The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management and Assets added that this was a great initiative especially for those living in rural areas who would not only received a good nutritious meal and but would also have contact with another person.  We also need to reduce the number of cancers caused by bad diets.

Councillor Paul Johnson raised the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

RESOLVED:

That the press and public be excluded for the remainder of the meeting for the following items by virtue of exempt information under paragraph(s) 14 of Part 4 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972 (as amended).

Questions on Business Plan

            Councillor Geoff Collett complimented the team on a really good presentation.  He referred to the time a family took to prepare a meal had reduced from 2 ½ hours to 6 minutes which highlighted there was a need to educate people.  He felt this was a generational thing with children not engaged with cooking.

            The Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Countryside referred to a visit to a green food bags project in Mold where they had to put instruction cards on how to cook vegetables in the bags.  She agreed there was a need to teach Children how to prepare food and peel vegetables etc.  

            The Benefits Manager explained the social enterprise model was designed to cover all areas of food insecurity from food equipment, knowledge and skill, affordability and time to cook.  She provided information on the Liverpool model and said this was not food aid but a long term change.  She added that people in crisis who were hungry could not deal with the other issues going on in their lives.

            The Cabinet Member for Corporate Management and Assets agreed with everything that was being said and recalled his childhood where domestic science was a big part of school and that at home the grandparents taught their grandchildren how to cook and bake.  In contrast there was now a reliance on convenience foods, home deliveries of readymade meals etc. 

            Councillor Johnson agreed and was in favour of the social value aspect and added there was the issue of fuel poverty.  He referred to the convenience store at the top of the Holway where people had to struggle to carry large items whilst dealing with a pushchair or walker.  He asked was there any way to incorporate the delivery of the larger items within this service and ensuring access to public transport. 

            The Benefits Manager responded to say this was not something that would be considered at this stage but this could come out of the community resilience work and referred to what Councillor Mullin said about families or neighbours looking out for each other.  Maybe the outcome of the community resilience work would be asking the convenience store if they would deliver.

            The Chair referred to the foods that have no nutritional value at all and reported on an experiment in the 1960s where rats who ate the fast food boxes did better than the rats who ate the fast food.   Maybe it needed to be highlighted how little nutritional value there was in these fast foods.

            Councillor Jones wondered what the difference between nutritional and dietary value.  He referred to the food selection on page 75 of the report and asked if the committee would have an input into the ingredients.  He also asked if food had fewer preservatives would it have a shorter shelf life.  With obesity concerns over sugar rich diets, high carbs, pastries and cakes it may be it should be stated that this was what we provided if you  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

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