Agenda, decisions and minutes

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 8 December 2020 and 12 January 2021.

That both sets of minutes be approved as an accurate record.

(i)         The minutes of the meeting held on 8 December 2020 were submitted.

The minutes were moved by Councillor Joe Johnson and seconded by Councillor Owen Thomas.

(ii)        The minutes of the meeting held on 12 January 2021 were submitted.

The minutes were moved by Councillor Paul Shotton and seconded by Councillor Joe Johnson.

RESOLVED:

That both sets of minutes be approved as an accurate record.

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

None.

None.

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be approved;

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

(c)       That the Committee notes the progress made in completing the outstanding actions.  

The Facilitator presented the current Forward Work Programme.  She reported on the items scheduled for consideration at the next meeting of the Committee to be held on 9 March.  She advised that updates on the Integrated Transport Plan and Climate Change would be added to the FWP as appropriate and a virtual site visit to Parc Adfer was also to be arranged.   She invited Members to put forward any further items they wished to be included on the Programme.  Councillor Chris Dolphin suggested that an item on Public Footpaths/Rights of Way be scheduled for future consideration and this was agreed by the Committee.

Referring to the item on borderland train services Councillor Dennis Hutchinson asked if there was any progress on the electrification of the Wrexham to Bidston line.  The Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) provided a brief  update and advised that a number of options were being considered including battery operated trains. 

The Chief Officer suggested that a report on the Winter Maintenance Policy  be brought to a meeting of the Committee in September.

Councillor Joe Johnson asked that an update on litter and fly tipping be added to the FWP.

The Facilitator reported on progress on the actions arising from previous meetings.  Some actions were completed and progress ongoing on the remaining.  

Councillor Owen Thomas referred to work on Ash Dieback and expressed concerns around the closure of the A541.  The Chief Officer (Planning, Environment & Economy) said he would arrange for an update on the Ash Dieback programme to be provided to Councillor Thomas following the meeting.

In response to a question from Councillor David Evans on the trial pot-hole programme the Chief Officer (Streetscene & Transportation) explained that he would provide a report on the results of the trial to a future meeting of the Committee.  

Councillor Carolyn Thomas referred to a Welsh Government consultation - A Litter and  Fly-tipping Free Wales which was currently open until April.

Councillor George Hardcastle asked if the Authority could provide assistance to local town/community councils who had suffered flooding and asked that an item on this be scheduled on the FWP.  He asked if a one off delivery of sand and sandbags could be provided to be used by the response team at Hawarden Community Council. In response the Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) provided an explanation on why the sandbag policy was brought in effect, the costs involved and also outlined the potential storage problems communities could face by storing the bags and large amounts of sand.  He reassured Councillors that in the event of flooding, assistance would be provided.

The recommendations were moved by Councillor Paul Shotton and seconded by Councillor Joe Johnson 

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the Forward Work Programme be approved;

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

(c)       That the Committee notes the progress made in completing the outstanding actions.  

That the Committee notes the further developed themes of the Council Plan 2021/22 prior to sharing with Cabinet in March 2021. 

The Chair introduced a report on  the proposed Council Plan for 2020/21 with specific focus on the Committee’s respective portfolios.  She invited the Strategic Performance Advisor to present the Plan. 

The Strategic Performance Advisor provided background information and reported that the Plan had a refreshed structure of six themes and supporting priorities, as detailed in the report,  which set ambition with measured realism. He explained that the work on the priorities had progressed well and the draft Plan (Part 1) was appended to the report.  He advised that  Cabinet had agreed to the content and all Scrutiny Committees were  to be consulted over the next cycle.  Following this consultation the Plan would be presented to Cabinet in the second stage prior to adoption by County Council in April/May.

The Chief Officer  (Streetscene & Transportation) reported on the main areas where Streetscene and Transportation supported the Council Plan.  He referred to the Green Society and Environment, Active and Sustainable travel growth, development of the County’s electric vehicle charging points, achieving safety targets, developing waste transfer stations as standard, composting facility at Greenfield, supporting the Re-use and Repair Café under construction and supporting the Authority’s need to abolish some of its plastic use.  He also reported on work to develop a transport infrastructure to sustain economic growth. 

The Chief Officer (Planning, Economy & Environment) reported on Town Centre Regeneration, Business support, Local Development Plan targets, reducing worklessness, and spending money for the benefit of Flintshire.

The Chair referred to the priority Child Poverty and commented that there was a need to raise awareness on parental entitlement to claim free school meals.  She also referred to Housing Needs and asked if residents in rent arrears were prevented from swapping to a smaller property to meet their needs.  The Strategic Performance Advisor agreed to pursue the matters raised and respond to Councillor Dolphin following the meeting.

The Strategic Performance Advisor explained the process for reviewing progress of the Plan once adopted and said a performance report on  the whole Plan would be presented to each Overview & Scrutiny Committee with the relevant areas highlighted for consideration.

The recommendation in the report was moved by Councillor Chris Dolphin and seconded by Councillor Owen Thomas.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee notes the further developed themes of the Council Plan 2021/22 prior to sharing with Cabinet in March 2021. 

That the Committee notes the content of the report and supports the ambition of the Council to introduce low emission vehicles across the Council’s operational vehicle fleet.

The Chief Officer (Streetscene & Transportation)  introduced a report to consider the proposals for fleet electrification.  He provided background information and advised that the report sets out the ambition of the service and identified the various projects being progressed to introduce low emission vehicles within the fleet and the development of infrastructure to support that uptake. 

Referring to the development of electric vehicle (EV) charging points across the County the Chief Officer reported that the Council was working closely with the Welsh Government to explore the benefits of adopting a regional and national approach to ensure consistency for users of the EV charging network in Wales.  He advised that an initial 17 sites for installation of  fast charging points had been identified across the County which could be used by the general public. 

Councillors Owen Thomas and  Dennis Hutchinson asked questions around how electric vehicles would be charged, the arrangements for  charging electric vehicles if kept at an employee’s home address, and off-street parking restrictions.   The Chief Officer explained that it was intended that charging points would be available in depots and said when employees were on duty out-of-hours  charging points would be provided around the County.  He advised that  discussions would be held with Trade Union representatives regarding how  to facilitate charging points at an employee’s home address.  The Chief Officer invited the  Highway Network Manager to present the report.

The  Highway Network Manager reported that the domestic and commercial demand for EV was increasing and commented on the significant developments in  technology.  The opportunities  for front-line services was being explored and cited buses, refuse collection vehicles, and road sweepers, as examples and the infrastructure to support this was being investigated.  He reported that the Council had also engaged with its Fleet contractor to review the usage and journeys of its own vehicle fleet to identify optimum locations for ‘charging hubs’ to support service delivery.  The contractor was reviewing the tracking data to identify vehicles and journeys that are best suited to electric vehicles and the charging infrastructure required to support vehicle movements in daily use by individual services.  He also commented on the need to consider the capacity of the local grid to support such growth (specifically at certain times of the day). 

The  Highway Network Manager advised that the Council was in discussion with its current Fleet supplier concerning the expiry of the existing contract in 2023.  The  aspirations of the Council and the supplier were being discussed  to ensure that every aspect of new technologies was considered and built into any possible extension to the contract to meet the change in procurement that a move to an EV fleet would entail. 

The  Highway Network Manager reported that following a successful bid WG funding had been secured to introduce a limited number of EV charging points at the Standard Yard site, Buckley.  He explained that future expansion of the site would offer an opportunity for the Council to develop a ‘Sustainable Transport Hub’ on site which would support  ...  view the full minutes text for item 41.

(a)       That the Committee notes the report and supports the further mitigating actions which are proposed; and

(b)       That a further update report be brought to the Committee in nine months.

The  Chief Officer (Planning, Environment and Economy) introduced the report.  He provided background information and explained that the report sets out the structure of the Planning Enforcement team and where it sits within the Development Management service and the Planning, Environment and Economy portfolio.  The adopted Planning Enforcement Policy was appended to the report and advised how it had been implemented and the Council’s performance against the Welsh Government Planning Enforcement indicators.

The Chief Officer commented on recent priorities for service delivery within the Planning, Environment and Economy portfolio in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.  He also referred to the need to progress the Local Development Plan to meet the Examination deadlines.  The Chief Officer advised that Development Management, which included the Planning Enforcement service,  was not identified as a priority within the Council Plan.  The report outlined the implications of the Covid-19 pandemic on service delivery, the mitigating actions taken. and further actions proposed.

Councillor Paul Shotton commented on the need for better communication in response to the queries raised by Members.  In acknowledging the need for some improvement the Chief Officer said action had been taken to address this and the need for Cabinet Members and Group Leaders to escalate matters on Members’ behalf if a response had not been received within the timescales in place. The Development Manager referred to the mitigation measures and future service improvements during 2021 as detailed in the report.

Councillor Chris Dolphin asked if Planning Enforcement was fully staffed.  He also expressed concern around the number of cases lodged with Legal Services awaiting prosecution and asked for an explanation of the back-log of work.  The Development Manager explained that the Planning Enforcement Service has 14 permanent officers split into two teams, one managing the North and the other the South of the County and reported on workload arrangements for the service.    Referring to the cases awaiting prosecution with  Legal Services, the Chief Officer explained that Legal Services worked in conjunction with other Services provided either within the Council, other local authorities, or external statutory bodies which impacted on progress.  He also commented on the greater demand on Legal Services due to active enforcement processes.

Councillor Derek Butler drew attention to section 1.21 of the report and commented on the time spent addressing unnecessary enquiries and complaints when no breach had been committed.

Councillor Chris Bithell commented on the additional  pressures on services as a result of the pandemic and emphasised that, unlike some other local authorities, service delivery had continued despite the impact  of reduced staffing due to illness or bereavement.    Councillor Bithell referred to a new back-office system to be provided in the near future which would enable Members and residents to be better informed of enforcement matters and the actions taken to address them.   Councillor Bithell commented on the time and resources required to investigate enforcement breaches.  He paid tribute to the Chief Officer and his team for maintaining a high level of services in very difficult circumstances.

The Chair  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42.

There was one member of the press in attendance.

(The meeting started at 10.00 am and ended at 11.31 am)