Agenda and minutes

Due to technical difficulties, apologies for absence were received from Councillor Malcolm Colbran. However, Councillor Colbran did manage to join the meeting.

Members are reminded of their personal responsibility to declare any personal and prejudicial interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government and Finance Act 1992 relating to Council Tax, the Local Government Act 2000, the Council’s Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct

Note:

(a)  Members are reminded that they must identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest and

(b)  Where Members withdraw from a Meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chair when they leave

No Declarations of Interest received.

To consider the attached report

The Chair invited A Mogford to present the Scrutiny Work Programme 2022/23 report.  The Report was summarised and the Chair invited Committee to put forward items for the Programme.  The following matters were discussed for inclusion:

·       Progress on refurbishment of parks and playgrounds (to include Capital set aside to complete the work).

·       Keep Wales Tidy partnership work potential policy change

·       Recycling and HWRC Performance Review

·       Dealing with litter and fly tipping on privately owned land.

The following questions/requests were raised by Committee and answered in detail by the officers present:-

·       Can we have regular meetings with social landlords to discuss common topics e.g. litter/biodiversity?

·       Can a list of planned playground refurbishments be provided to Committee?

·       Where can a schedule of grass cutting to be carried out by RSL be obtained? 

·       Clarity sought on why litter and fly tipping are dealt with by different Scrutiny Meetings.

·       Update requested from Environmental Health with regard to the problem with rats.

The timing of the delivery of the Cabinet Forward Plan was discussed.

Resolved that:

a)    Scrutiny Members consider Appendix 3 and use this when planning the forward work programme.                                                                          

b)    Scrutiny Members agree the Forward Work Programme be developed and brought to the next Scrutiny Committee meeting.      

c)    Scrutiny Members agree items in the Forward Work Programme up to summer recess.

d)    That the following items be added to the Forward Work Programme:

·       Progress on refurbishment of parks and playgrounds (to include Capital set aside to complete the work).

·       Recycling and HWRC Performance Review

The Chair advised Committee there were no scrutiny referrals.

To consider the attached report

Councillor D Hughes, Portfolio Member presented the Environmental Wellbeing – Corporate Self-Evaluation report to Committee.

The following questions/matters were raised and answered in detail by the Officers present:-

·       Page 26 Waste Services – Do we have sufficient litter pickers and is everyone happy that this is done every ten days?

·       Clarity sought and concerns raised over inadequate staffing levels. 

·       Page 27 – How going forward are we going to increase the amount of recyclable materials?

·       Can we utilise staff working in the greenhouses?

·       How much damage is caused by our workforce on the bins being thrown about?

·       Discussion about the size of the reports being brought to Scrutiny.

·       Page 44 – Is there another Local Authority that has an in house solicitor dealing with development control and building control that we could tap into?

·       Page 50 – Clarity sought on the rationale of elected members reporting breaches of planning control/requesting further information on submitted applications and the impact on the workload of the department.

·       Page 34 – Concerns raised and clarity sought on employing external enforcement officers.

·       Page 35 – how far are we with the potential for accepting trade recycling at HWRC’s?

·       Page 47 – Highways – What is the problem in moving forward with administrative support?

·       Pages 32/33 - Traffic Management – request made for an update on the Active Travel Policy?

·       Query raised regarding new legislation enabling Local Authorities to fine companies for branded litter.

·       Page 35 – Street scene – can section 106 or CIL money be used for this purpose?

·       Page 47 – Parks and Countryside – Why is the splash park not fully open?

Resolved that:

a)    Scrutiny Committee Members review the summary report and key findings laid out in the report, debating its content.                                         

b)    Committee Members review the judgements reached, assessing these for validity with a view to agreeing them.

Did we address the recommendations in each report and how have we added value?

The Chair felt that reports need to be concise and clear, the self-evaluation that we looked at does not fall into these categories.  The report could have been split into departments and each scrutinised separately as they cover a wide range of services, possibly quarterly in workshops and brought back to this committee. Also, that officers should look at self-evaluation template and questions and how they are set out to make it clearer for the reader and avoid duplication of responses. 

The Chair proposed this as a recommendation following questions from Committee Members.

Committee Members agreed with the Chair’s comments and fully supported the recommendation.

Any outstanding actions?  Feedback from workshops / task and finish groups / enquiry days, etc.

The Chair advised there was no feedback as there were no outstanding actions.

No other business was deemed urgent by the Chair.