Agenda item

(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 said that it was not within the remit of scrutiny to make policy. He explained that policies went to Cabinet for authorisation and that at the time it was not allowed to go to Cabinet.  He agreed to go back to Cabinet to discuss this.  Councillor Thomas said that she was impressed by the work of the Streetscene supervisor in her area and the pride in my patch initiative.

            Councillor P. Shotton said that it was a good report and that if all actions were undertaken it would lead to a much improved service.  With reference to 68% of residents not being aware of the existence of Streetscene, he asked if letters could be sent out to publicise it and if the Contact Centre would be moved to Alltami.  The Director of Environment said that a letter had been circulated with Council Tax bills in May, but that we would look at further ways of informing the public and that the Contact Centre would be moved to Alltami.

            CouncillorN.M. Matthews asked if future action plans could include details of the RAG status, a timescale and officer responsible.  She added that she was very happy with the work of her local Streetscene Supervisor. The Director of Environment said that all future action plans would contain RAG status, dates and Officers responsible columns.

            Councillor H.D. Hutchinson said that the local supervisor in his area worked well. He voiced his concern that when grass was cut at sheltered accommodation schemes, the cuttings were not removed.  The Deputy Leader of the Council said that Housing were responsible for grass cutting at council owned sheltered accommodation and that the Head of Housing had previously researched the cost of removing grass cuttings and found the cost prohibitive.  He added that the Cabinet Member for Housing was looking at a budget pressure bid for grass cutting and that it was an item on the Housing Overview and Scrutiny agenda.  The Chair welcomed the news that the issue would be pursued by the Housing Overview and Scrutiny Committee.

            Councillor I. Dunbar asked about the future use of the now vacant Queensferry Depot.  The Director of Environment said that the Queensferry Depot had become the salt store for regional resilience stocks for the A55 and trunk roads on behalf of the Welsh Government.  He added that the intention was to ultimately dispose of the depot and to have discussions with the Welsh Government to see if the site was needed as part of any road widening plans.  Councillor I. Dunbar asked about which department had responsibility for litter picking on playing fields before the grass was due to be cut.  The Deputy Leader said that currently, responsibility lay with various departments and that he wanted to integrate all litter picking into Streetscene.

            Councillor P.J. Curtis said it was a good report and acknowledged that surveys could only give limited feedback.  He asked for information about out of hour’s council contacts and procedures for emergency situations such as localised flooding. A recent flooding incident in Bagillt had exposed a lack of awareness about who could coordinate assistance.  The Director of Environment said that there was an out of hours service called Care Connect with supervisors on 24 hour standby.  On the day of the flooding in Bagillt, there had been a problem with contacting the Care Connect Service and this was under investigation.  Councillor Curtis reported that parking penalty signs had been removed from council car parks in the Holywell area.  The Director of Environment asked that Councillor Curtis forward details to him about the incidents.  Councillor Curtis referred to a letter received by the Town Council which stated that damaged salt bins in the area would be removed, but did not state if they would be repaired or replaced by the council. The Head of Streetscene asked Councillor Curtis to forward to him the correspondence and confirmed that damaged council owned salt bins would be replaced with new ones.  He added that Town and Community Councils had the option to purchase further bins.

            Councillor D. Butler said that he welcomed the changes to the service and praised the work of his local supervisor.  He said that grass cutting removal should be prioritised for elderly residents in council accommodation.

            Councillor D. Evans said that performance in the contact centre had improved 100% since its introduction and that staff were very helpful.  He asked if Councillors could be issued with the council mobile phone number of the area supervisors.  The Director of the Environment said that he would re-issue the information to Councillors.

            Councillor V. Gay said that she wanted to see more detail in the Call Centre performance graphs.  She asked if an Equality Impact Assessment had been carried out for the project.  The Head of Streetscene said that an Equality Impact Assessment had been carried out initially and was being updated.

            Councillor G.H. Bateman suggested that artificial grass could be used in sheltered accommodation schemes. He also said that he had been disappointed by the service provided by some Call Centre staff and that when he visited the Depot, he noticed there were no rooms available for private conversations.  The Chair advised that if Members had any staff concerns, that the matter be raised outside of Overview and Scrutiny with the relevant officer and managers.

            Councillor C. Hinds acknowledged the work of the local supervisors.  She asked if emails to the contact centre were dealt with as quickly as telephone calls.  The Head of Streetscene confirmed that response times were the same for emails as well as telephone calls.

            Councillor C.A. Thomas proposed that point 4.03 of the proposed resolution concerning the adoption of the new Grass Cutting Policy be removed.  This was seconded and approved by a show of hands.

RESOLVED:

(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.