Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Pat Cooper, Tom Munro and Peter Roberts.

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 15^th November 2019.

Moved by Councillor Anne Clarke and seconded by Councillor Evonne Parkin

RESOLVED that subject to the inclusion of Councillor Janet Tait’s apologies, the Minutes of a Healthy, Safe, Clean and Green Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 15^th November 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 List of Key Decisions and items to be considered in private document.  Members were advised that the item in relation to ‘Appointment of a contractor to the 4 year new build framework – Bolsover Homes’, had now been deferred to a future meeting of the Executive.

Moved by Councillor David Downes and seconded by Councillor Evonne Parkin

RESOLVED that the List of Key Decisions and items to be considered in private document be noted.

Committee considered a report with regard to the Council’s Corporate Plan Targets Performance Update for the Quarter 3 period of 2019/20 (October to December 2019).

The report provided outturns for the Corporate Plan 2019-2020 targets which sat beneath the‘supporting our communities to be healthier, safer, cleaner and greener’ corporate aim as of 31^st December 2019. 

There were8 targets in total.  Seven targets were on track and 1 was on alert.

H09 - Achieve a combined recycling and composting rate of 47% by March 2019, was on alert as itwasn’t expected to reach its target by 31^st March 2020.  The Quarter 3 estimate was 36.9%.  The combined Q1, Q2 & Q3 performance was estimated at 43.75%.  It was noted that the figure was affected by the seasonal collection of green bin waste.  The Portfolio Holder for Streetscene and Environmental Health noted that new regulations were awaited with regard to disposal of food waste which may affect the future scheduled collection of green bins.

The Portfolio Holder for Streetscene and Environmental Health and the Portfolio Holder for Housing and Community Safety left the meeting.

A Member queried how the assessments were carried out in relation toH10 - Sustain standards of litter cleanliness to ensure 96% of streets each year meet an acceptable level as assessed by Local Environment Quality Surveys (LEQS), as she received many complaints regarding dog fouling in her ward.  The Scrutiny & Elections Officer would email a spreadsheet to Members which set out the areas in the District that Streetscene had assessed in Quarter 3 and how they had come to grade them.  The Joint Head of Partnership and Transformation requested that Members encouraged their residents to report issues such as dog fouling through the self-service portal on the Council’s website as this would not only raise awareness corporately of the hotspots in the District but may also change the baseline data that was being monitored.

A Member noted that residents with large gardens were permitted to have 2 green bins, however, the Council would carry out an assessment of a resident’s garden before a second bin was issued.  The Chair requested that clarification be sought regarding this and also if a second green bin would need to be purchased by a resident.

Moved by Councillor David Downes and seconded by Councillor Natalie Hoy

RESOLVED that (1) the report be noted,

(2) clarification be sought on whether residents with large gardens were permitted to have 2 green bins and if a second green bin would need to be purchased by a resident.

Committee considered a report which gave Scrutiny the opportunity to help develop a new performance framework to support the Council’s ambition statement for 2019 – 2023.

Committee suggested that the following additions, highlighted in bold, be added to the Aims and Values;

Aims

We will focus on:

·         Our Customers by providing excellent services.

·         Our Economy by driving growth, promoting the District and being business friendly - Include a reference to tourism.

·         Our Environment by protecting the quality of life for residents and businesses and meeting environmental challenges - Include a reference to biodiversity e.g. wildlife, habitat.

Values

We:

·         Will show respect, honesty and openness in everything we do – add in transparency.

·         Will challenge ourselves and change for the better.

·         Are proud, comparing and compassionate and passionate about what we do

·         Will continue to work with partners to provide quality services

Priorities - Customers:

·         Prepare a Customer Satisfaction Survey for members of the public attending Planning Committee for implementation by May 2020

In response to a Member’s question, theHead of Partnership and Transformation felt that in relation to this priority, the Council should hear people’s views.

·         Achieve an overall annual satisfaction rate of 80% or above for leisure, recreation and cultural activities and services

In response to a Member’s question, the Head of Partnership and Transformation advised that 80% was industry standard for this priority.

·         Improve the overall performance and usability of the website by achieving a maximum score of 4 on ‘Better Connect website report’ by Dec 2022

Member’s agreed that the Council’s website was not user friendly.  A Member also raised concern regarding the tone of letters sent to customers in relation to the payment kiosk in the Contact Centre which had failed during December 2019 - a number of customers who had made payments for rent and council tax had received late payment letters and this had upset some elderly customers.  The Scrutiny & Elections Officer noted that Scrutiny should be able to contribute to the revision of letters sent out to customers when this was being looked at in the future.

·         Ensure that at least 50% of transactions are made through digital channels by December 2024

In response to a Member’s question, the Head of Partnership and Transformation advised that customers had always been encouraged to direct their enquiries to departments through the Contact Centres and the number of these enquiries had been monitored.  However, other departments such as Revenues and Benefits, Environmental Health and Leisure also received enquiries directly from customers and this had been estimated to be around 10%.

A Member raised concern at the lack of confidentiality in the contact centres for customers speaking to a customer service advisor.  The Head of Partnership and Transformation replied that signs were posted in all 4 contact centres advising customers that they could request a meeting room if they wished to speak in confidence.

·         Provide an electronic Single Person Discount form for Council Tax by XX (date to be provided)

Committee considered their Work Programme for 2019/20.

The Scrutiny Officer advised Members that if they had any suggestions for their 2020/21 Work Programme they could email these to her. 

Members were reminded that they had previously agreed to carry out a second review topic in relation to Air Pollution, however, Members were advised that the focus of this may need to be altered due to similar work now being carried out by other officers in the Authority since the topic was originally identified.  A Member raised the issue of ‘idling’ cars outside schools.  Further to a short discussion, it was felt that Committee should receive a briefing after the pilot had been carried out to decide whether Members wanted to go ahead with the review of air pollution. 

Moved by Councillor David Downes and seconded by Councillor Natalie Hoy

RESOLVED that the Work Programme 2019/20 be noted.