Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Nick Clarke, Pat Cooper, Natalie Hoy, Tom Munro and Ross Walker.

To note any urgent items of business which the Chairman has consented to being considered under the provisions of Section 100(B) 4(b) of the Local Government Act 1972.

There were no urgent items of business to consider.

Members should declare the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest and Non Statutory Interest as defined by the Members’ Code of Conduct in respect of:

a)  any business on the agenda

b)  any urgent additional items to be considered

c)  any matters arising out of those items

and if appropriate, withdraw from the meeting at the relevant time.

There were no declarations of interest.

To consider the minutes of the last meeting held on 18^th October 2019.

Moved by Councillor Janet Tait and seconded by Councillor Anne Clarke.

RESOLVED that the Minutes of a Healthy, Safe, Clean and Green Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 18^th October 2019 be approved as a correct record.

(Members should contact the officer whose name appears on the List of Key Decisions for any further information.  NB: If Members wish to discuss an exempt report under this item, the meeting will need to move into exempt business and exclude the public in accordance with the Local Government (Access to Information) Act 1985 and Local Government Act 1972, Part 1, Schedule 12a for that part of the meeting only).

Committee considered the ‘Key Decisions & Items to be Considered in Private’ document.

Moved by Councillor Evonne Parkin and seconded by Councillor Anne Clarke.

RESOLVED that the List of Key Decisions be noted.

Committee received a presentation to brief them on the Building Resilience Programme being undertaken by Bolsover Partnership. The Partnership Strategy & Policy Manager, the Consultant Programme Manager and the Building Resilience Project Manager delivered the presentation.

The presentation explained some of the work carried out already and detailed the next steps for the Programme, divided into ‘Phase 1’ and ‘Phase 2’. Committee was informed of how in2014/15, an influx of migrants from Europe into the NG20 area increased community tensions in Shirebrook. In response, Bolsover Partnership formed ‘Shirebrook Forward NG20’, a partnership of a wide range of sectors and services, community groups and key statutory partners. The partnership submitted an application for resources to the Department for Communities and Local Government’s Controlling Migration Fund, and were awarded £1.26m to begin the Building Resilience Programme.

The Partnership Strategy and Policy Manager presented the section of the presentation relating to Bolsover Partnership’s structure in relation to the Programme. She explained how the Partnership was split up into various bodies, like an Executive Board which ratifies decisions rather than making them, and a Commissioning Group where stakeholders decide what to commission for the coming year.

The Consultant Programme Manager presented the section of the presentation which explained Phase 1 of the Programme.

Phase 1 – Intended Outcomes and Current Position:

Healthy Workforce Programme (DCC and Public Health) – Completed

·         Improved wellbeing of employees

Improve Access & Quality of Private Sector Housing (BDC and Environmental Health) – Extended until March 2020

·         Reduction in unlicensed HMOs

·         Better working relationships in Private Sector Housing

Market Square Enlivenment (BDC Economic Development) – Extended until March 2020

·         Reduced incidents of ASB in the Shirebrook Market Square

·         Improved business relationships

Migrant Community Access (Shirebrook Contact Centre) – Extended until March 2020

·         Improved access to public services

·         Crisis situations are reduced through earlier intervention

A1 & A2 Community Resilience (Shirebrook Academy & Project Team) – Completed

·         Increased trust and understanding of communities’ diversity

·         Improved relations between public services and the community

·         EAL GCSE results at or above school average

Additional GP resources (Shires Health Care) – Extended until March 2020

·         Improved access to Health Services for both migrants and resident community

Social Norms & UK Laws/Vehicles (Derbyshire Constabulary and BDC Streetscene) – Completed

·         Reduction in traffic offences

·         Improved awareness of vehicle safety

·         Reduction in litter

·         Increased pride of place

The Consultant Programme Manager added to these points by explaining that a person had been employed to work within Sports Direct to ensure the wellbeing of its staff. Additional resources had also been allocated to the Shires Health Care and Shirebrook Contact Centre plans because of demand.

The Consultant Programme Manager presented the ‘Our Approaches to Sustainability’ section of the presentation. This included:

·         Securing additional funding

·         Measuring impact

·         Sharing learning and good practice

·         How learning from Phase 1 informed Phase 2 of the programme

·         Embedding learning

The Consultant Programme Manager also presented the ‘Securing Additional Funding’ section of the presentation. This included:

·         Funding secured independently by community groups (Community Action  ...  view the full minutes text for item 426.

The Improvement Officer presented the report titled ‘Corporate Plan Targets Performance Update – July to September 2019 (Q2 – 2019/20)’.

The report contained quarter 2 outturns for the Corporate Plan 2019-2020 targets beneath the ‘Supporting Our Communities to be Healthier, Safer, Cleaner and Greener’ corporate aim as of 30th September 2019. There were eight targets in total, with seven on track and one on alert.

The Improvement Officer explained that the one target on alert was titled ‘H 12 - Annually undertake 15 local environmental enforcement and educational initiatives in targeted areas to deal with dog fouling, littering or fly-tipping.’ He added that this was not on target because a number of the planned awareness events had fallen into October completion and would have to be captured in the quarter 3 update instead. However, it was still expected that the final target of completion for March 2020 would be met.

The Chair enquired what the plan was in 2019/2020 for education in schools on waste and recycling, and how the outcome of this education would be measured. 

The Joint Head of Streetscene explained that waste education events had been held at schools for hundreds of school children. He added that measuring the success of the education would be a long-term outcome, and eventually he would look to the littering figures and the quality of soil, because it absorbs toxins from litter.

Moved and seconded

RESOLVED that the report on ‘Corporate Plan Targets Performance Update – July to September 2019 (Q2 – 2019/20)’ be noted.

The Information, Performance and Engagement Manager circulated a draft version of the 2019/2023 vision produced by the Leader of the Council.

The key concepts and ideas in the vision were:

·         A flexible and adaptable approach, reflected by a vision for 2019 – 2023 instead of a Corporate Plan

·         Invest in staff, services and our District

·         Become a dynamic, self-sufficient and flexible Council that delivers excellent services

·         Adapting to local aspirations and acting as the economic and environmental driver for Bolsover District

·         Deliver the services promised and not hide behind legislation

·         Use the Transformation Programme to look at how the Council provides services and if they can be better managed

·         A dedicated team of officers whose sole aim is income generation

·         Become more business friendly

·         Increase the number of visitors who travel to see Bolsover District’s tourist attractions

·         Diversifying services and working collaboratively to build upon the Council’s excellent partnership working

·         Protect the quality of life for residents and businesses from environmental changes

The Chair advised the Committee to take the Leader’s draft vision away and consider it after the meeting. The Information, Performance and Engagement Manager explained how the Leader would consult the Scrutiny Committees in February 2020 on the details of a framework that would measure the targets within the vision. She stressed the importance of keeping scrutiny fully informed if performance management changed as a result of the vision and the revised framework.

The Chair thanked the Information, Performance and Engagement Manager for attending. The Information, Performance and Engagement Manager left the meeting.

Moved and seconded

RESOLVED that the Leader of the Council’s draft vision for 2019 – 2023 be noted and considered after the meeting.

The Portfolio Holder – Streetscene and Environmental Health joined the meeting for this item.

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer presented a report to Committee titled ‘Review of Enforcement action undertaken by Bolsover District Council to improve the quality of the environment across the District – Post Scrutiny Monitoring (Final Report)’.

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer explained how the Committee hadreviewed the Council’s enforcement action and put together 19 recommendations which aimed to look at potential service improvements. She added how this report acknowledged progress to date by officers in implementing the recommendations.

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer reported that to date, all 19 recommendations had been achieved. However, there were issues relating to two of the recommendations:

·         One recommendation (HSCGC17/18 1.6) aimed to ensure an improvement in performance levels for street cleanliness. While this had happened over the 12 month period, one of the indicators (SS03) was still not performing within the required target.  Members could continue to monitor this, either through an extension to the recommendation or via the new performance framework currently being developed

·         One recommendation (HSCGC17/18 1.10) aimed to continue regular use of CCTV and monitor the introduction of body worn video cameras. This work had experienced some delays to delivery and Members could extend the monitoring period to understand the outputs achieved via the new body worn video cameras

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer explained that recommendation HSCGC17/18 1.10 had been delayed because legal advice given to officers stated that the relevant policies and staff training should be in place before use of the equipment commenced.

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer also provided an update to recommendation HSCGC17/18 1.5, to establish if there was sufficient evidence to establish a Bolsover Districtwide Public Space Protection Order (PSPO) for dog fouling. She informed Members that public consultation on a draft Dog Management PSPO had ended, and the responses were now being considered by Legal Services and Environmental Health.

In relation to some of the issues regarding Environmental Health, the Environmental Enforcement Team Leader presented Members with a presentation on the Environmental Enforcement work undertaken by the Joint Environmental Health Service.

The presentation informed Members of:

·         Duties of enforcement team

·         Service requests

·         Achievements 2018/19

·         Business waste duty of care

·         Prosecutions

·         Fly-tipping hotspots

·         Use of deployable cameras

·         Body cameras

·         Abandoned vehicles

·         Nuisance parking

·         Initiatives and education

·         Littering, fly-tipping and dog fouling trends

·         Contact centre and reporting improvements

·         Communications

·         Public feedback on Twitter

·         Website

·         Intouch magazine

·         Going forward

The Environmental Enforcement Team Leader explained how a deployable camera had been left in a notorious fly-tipping spot in Shirebrook, and it caught someone fly-tipping there. He added that the body cameras will be beneficial because people are less likely to commit an offence when they’re being filmed.

The Portfolio Holder – Streetscene and Environmental Health clarified the earlier discussion about dog fouling PSPOs by updating Members on recent progress. She explained that after advice from Legal Services, they were working on the potential signage to be used once the PSPO was implemented.

The Chair enquired  ...  view the full minutes text for item 429.

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer presented a report to Committee titled ‘Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2019/20’ and explained how the report provided Members with an overview of the meeting programme of the Committee for 2019/20. She added that it also gave her an opportunity to make Members aware of any changes to the programme.

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer explained that for the meeting scheduled for 7th February 2020, the Corporate Plan targets update could be different if the performance framework for measuring them changed significantly, as part of the development of the new Vision.

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer referred to the ‘Annual Review of Community Safety Partnership’ scheduled for 6th March 2020 and reminded Members that the review would have to hold the Partnership to account, and she would circulate previous reviews to give Members an idea of what would be required. She added that the scrutiny function was required to carry out at least one review a year, so Members should consider any ideas they have for new scrutiny reviews. However, she stressed that Members should seek advice from relevant Council officers before pursuing an idea.

The Scrutiny & Elections Officer explained that a review of the Pest Control service was about to commence and a Working Group would be set up to complete an appraisal of the way forward, so she invited Members to join this Working Group. Councillors Anne Clarke and Janet Tait nominated themselves to join the Working Group.

It was moved by Councillor Anne Clarke and seconded by Councillor Janet Tait that the report be noted.

Moved and seconded          

RESOLVED that (1) the Work Programme report be noted,

(2) Councillors Anne Clarke and Janet Tait be added to the membership for the Pest Control review Working Group.

         (Scrutiny & Elections Officer)

The formal meeting concluded at 1235 hours and Members then met as a working party to continue their review work.  The working party concluded at 1300 hours.