Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive any Declarations and advise Members accordingly.

There were no declarations of interest

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on 11^th June, 16^th July and 30^th July, 2024.

MINUTES  (link to recording)

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meetings held on:

11June 2024  minutes

16July 2024 minutes ; and

 30July, 2024. minutes

16 July 2024

Councillor David Coggins-Cogan requested that the minutes be amended on page 11 as follows:  “The Facilitator explained that Emergency Planning matters were within the terms of reference of Corporate Resources Overview & Scrutiny Committee.  She agreed to ask the Democratic Services Manager if the item could be considered by that Committee and if so, members of the Environment and Economy Committee could be invited to attend the meeting”.

RESOLVED:

(a)      That the minutes of the meetings held on 11 June and 30 July 2024  be approved as a correct record;

(b)      That the minutes of the meeting held o 16 July 2024 be approved as a correct record subject to the above amendment.. 

RESOLVED:

(a)    That the Forward Work Programme be noted;

(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 Committee notes the progress made in completing the outstanding actions 

FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME AND ACTION TRACKING  (link to recording)

The Facilitator presented the Forward Work Programme and Action Tracking report.  Forward Work Programme

Following discussion it was agreed that a briefing note be provided to members on Weed Control.

In response to a question regarding the status of the Access Barrier Review, the Chief Officer (Planning, Environment and Economy) advised that it was still work in progress.  It was expected that an update report would be submitted to the Committee before the end of the calendar year. 

RESOLVED:

(a)    That the Forward Work Programme be noted;

(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 Committee notes the progress made in completing the outstanding actions 

RESOLVED:

That the Annual Report for 2023-24 be noted.

NORTH WALES ECONOMIC AMBITION REPORT(link to recording)

          The Chief Officer (Planning, Environment and Economy) introduced the report to present the Annual Report for 2023-24 of the Economic Ambition Board.

          The Chief Officer provided background information and invited Hedd Vaughan-Evans, Head of Operations, Ambition North Wales, and Kirrie Roberts, Digital Connectivity Budget Manager, to give a presentation on the Annual Report.

RESOLVED:

That the Annual Report for 2023-24 be noted.

RESOLVED 

(a)      That  the 2023/24 Annual Performance Report, combined with the Council Plan End of Year 2023/24 Performance Report, be supported noting the performance achieved;

(b)      That the first paragraph on page 79 be removed; and

(c)      That a briefing be arranged for Members by the Performance Team.

ANNUAL PERFORMANCE REPORT 2023/24 TO INCORPORATE THE COUNCIL PLAN END OF YEAR PERFORMANCE REPORT 2023/24(link to recording) 

The Chief Officer (Planning, Environment and Economy) introduced the report.  The Committee was asked  to consider the Annual Performance Report 2023-24, noting the Council Plan (2023-28) end of year performance for 2023-24.

It was requested that the following paragraph on page 79, right side, be removed:  “Flintshire County Council continues to pride itself on being a Council which performs highly for its local communities and one which is guided and motivated by a set of strong values”.

The Committee felt that the  report needed further work prior to presentation at full Council, including formatting and hyperlinks on pages to all actions.  It was also suggested that commentary be used rather than red mark for red risks.

It was felt  that a Members briefing would be helpful to assist Members understanding of the revised format for the Performance Report & Annual Performance report

RESOLVED 

(a)      That  the 2023/24 Annual Performance Report, combined with the Council Plan End of Year 2023/24 Performance Report, be supported noting the performance achieved;

(b)      That the first paragraph on page 79 be removed; and

(c)      That a briefing be arranged for Members by the Performance Team.

RESOLVED:

(a)      That the Committee supports the proposal to transition to a domain-based approach for decision making for gritting action with a step change proposed for the 2024/2025 season; and

(b)      That the Committee supports the proposal to a full migration to domain-based treatments from the 2025/2026 season following the outcome of the step change over the 2024/2025 season.

WINTER MAINTENANCE – DECISION MAKING REVIEW 2024  (link to recording)

          The Chief Officer (Streetscene and Transportation) introduced the report.  She provided background information and advised that the report outlined the current winter maintenance policy (see Appendix 1) and proposed alterations to the decision-making process and treatment routes, the legislative requirements for providing such a service, risks, and actions taken by the Streetscene and Transportation portfolio to support winter service operations.

Members welcomed the proposed transition to a domain based approach for a trial period with a view to progressing to a full migration in 2025/26.

RESOLVED:

(a)      That the Committee supports the proposal to transition to a domain-based approach for decision making for gritting action with a step change proposed for the 2024/2025 season; and

(b)      That the Committee supports the proposal to a full migration to domain-based treatments from the 2025/2026 season following the outcome of the step change over the 2024/2025 season.

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

(The meeting started at 10.00 a.m. and ended at 11.23 a.m.)