Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received on behalf of Councillors Curry and Nixon.

To be apprised of any changes to the membership of the Committee in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4.

There were no changes to the Membership.

Note:  No other business is permitted unless, by reasons of special circumstances, which shall be specified at the meeting, the Chairman is of the opinion that the item(s) should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

If a member requires advice on Declarations of Interest, he/she is advised to contact the Borough Solicitor in advance of the meeting.  (For the assistance of members a checklist for use in considering their position any particular item is included at the end of this agenda sheet.) 

There were no declarations of interest.

In accordance with Overview and Scrutiny Committee Procedure Rule 16, Members must declare the existence of any Party Whip, and the nature of it, when considering any matter in the following categories:

 

-        The review of any decision of Cabinet or

-        The performance of any Member of the Cabinet

 

N.B. The Secretary of State believes whipping is incompatible with Overview and Scrutiny.

There were no declarations of a Party Whip.

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 12 October 2017.

RESOLVED:     That the Minutes of the Corporate and Environmental Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 12 October 2017 be received as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Residents of West Lancashire, on giving notice, may address the meeting to make representations on any item on the agenda except where the public and press are to be excluded during consideration of the item.  The deadline for submissions is 10.00am Tuesday 2 January 2018.  A copy of the public speaking protocol and form to be completed is attached.

There were no items under this heading.

To consider a presentation by Mr Steve Howell, Asset Manager, United Utilities, at the request of the Committee, following consideration of a Members’ item raised on Hurlston Brook Flood Risk study, to attend in relation to this and other flooding Borough concerns.

The Committee received a presentation from Mr Steve Howell, Asset Manager, United Utilities, in relation to flooding and the wastewater network operations and services in the Borough, requested by the Committee to attend following consideration of a Members Item raised on Hurlston Brook Flood Risk study.  The presentation referred to the following:

 

1. The waste water network – managing flood risk and who is responsible for what:

·       Lancashire County Council – Developing, maintaining and applying a strategy for local flood risk management; managing the risk of flooding from surface water, groundwater and ordinary watercourses; and providing and maintaining highway drainage such as road gullies/grids

·       Environment Agency – Responsible for taking a strategic overview of all sources of flooding and managing the risk of flooding from main rivers

·       West Lancashire Borough Council – Managing the risk of flooding on its land and approving planning applications and ensuring it's drained in a sustainable way

·       United Utilities – Managing the risk of flooding from surface water, foul and combined sewer systems that provide drainage from buildings and yards

 

2. An overview of the wastewater system, including the sewers, pumping stations and treatment works.
3. West Lancashire drainage area, including inspections, planned maintenance visits and cleaning of sewers.
4. Performance statistics in relation to customer satisfaction, internal flooding and pollution incidents and spend on operating, maintaining and enhancing the wastewater network
5. Sewer flooding strategies and the calculation for ongoing risk analysis
6. Developers and development and the pressure on existing sewerage infrastructure, given their legal right to connect to both foul and surface water and to choose the point of connection
7. Partnership working:

·       Attendance at the Lead Local Flood Authority Making Space for Water meetings

·       Working closely with Local Authority Planning Departments and developers

·       Meet with Flood Action Groups such as ARRCCHS

·       Meetings with Councillors and MPs

 

8. Problems associated with flushing oil/fats, wipes and cotton buds

 

9. Reactive resolution units availability

 

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the following:

• The size of the sewerage pipes
• Closure of pumping stations
• The amount spent on improvements in the West Lancs area
• The programme or works for cleaning pipes
• Surface water outlets
• Problems associated with flushing oil/fats, wipes and cotton buds and campaigns to reduce this
• Hurlston Brook Flood Risk study
• Disruption to footpaths/surfaces during works

 

Steve Howell gave an undertaking to find out:

(i)              What the level of investment is in the West Lancs area

(ii)             If a programme of work for cleaning sewerage pipes is available to circulate to members

 

RESOLVED:   A.   That Steve Howell from United Utilities be thanked for his informative presentation and be asked to return once the report on Hurlston Brook Flood Risk study had been published.

 

                      B.   That in view of the pressure placed on local authorities to meet government house building targets and the right of developers to connect to the sewerage system, Cabinet be asked to consider lobbying the government in relation to the reduction in funding for statutory services, in particular the general under investment in improving the waste sewerage systems.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

There are no items under this heading.

There were no items under this heading.

There are no items under this heading.

There were no items under this heading.

To consider the report of the Director of Housing & Inclusion.

Consideration was given to the report of the Director of Housing and Inclusion, as contained on pages 259 to 272 of the Book of Reports, which presented performance monitoring data for the quarter ended 30 September 2017.

 

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the following targets:

• NI157a 'Processing of planning applications' R3 '% of Non-domestic Rates Collected'
• HS1 '% Housing repairs completed in timescale'
• WL90 '% of Contact Centre calls answered'
• WL19bii 'Direct dial calls answered within 10 seconds'
• WL08a 'Number of Crime Incidents'
• WL01 'No. residual bins missed per 100,000 collections'

 

RESOLVED:   A.   That the Council's performance against the indicator set for the quarter ended 30 September 2017, be noted.

 

B.   That Cabinet be asked to review the target level for NI157a 'Processing of planning applications' at its meeting in March 2018.

 

                      C.   That in relation to WL08a' Number of Crime Incidents' the Community Safety Partnership be asked to include facts and figures at the next meeting of this Committee when they are scheduled to give their annual presentation on the work of the Partnership.

 

To consider the following three items:

The Committee considered the following 3 items as part of the review being undertaken entitled 'Community Involvement in Service Delivery':

To consider a presentation, on behalf of the Director of Leisure and Wellbeing, on the experience of transferring a community service to a local community group.

The Committee received a presentation from Steve Kent, Leisure Operations Manager, which provided details of previous experience in transferring a Community Service to a Local Community Group.  The presentation included:

 

1. Examples of community transfer:

 

Community Buildings          Civic Hall : The Civic

Skelmersdale Community Resource Centres

-      Digmoor: Evermoor Enterprises

-      Birch Green: Artz for All

-      Tanhouse: Tanhouse Community Entrerprises Ltd

-      Greenhill: Greenhill Community Hub

Skelmersdale Meeting Rooms

-      Ashurst: Skelmersdale Taekwondo Academy

-      Heversham: Skelmersdale Boxing Club

-      Tanfields: Tanfields Association/Closure

-      Hall Green: returned to Housing

-      Liverpool Road: Skelmersdale Players

-      Flimby: Skelmersdale Baptist Church

-      Carfield/Acregate: Hope House/Dream Centre

-      Yewdale: LCC Counselling Services

-      Inskip: Inskip Community Association/LCC Nursery

-      Pennylands: Ilyo Taekwondo

-      Ormskirk Community Centre : Chapel Gallery

 

Outdoor Sports Facilities    Abbey Lane Playing Fields

 

Outdoor Activity Facility     Platts Lane Fishing Lake

                                        Skelmersdale Allotments

                                        Liverpool Road Allotments

                                        Richmond Avenue Allotments

 

2. The process undertaken and the lessons learned, particularly in relation to the Community Resource Centres in Skelmersdale, the Civic Hall, Ormskirk and Abbey Lane Playing Fields, Burscough, ie:

 

(i)    Purpose - to reduce revenue or to generate external capital funding or a combination of both

(ii)     Suitability of the group – training requirements, management history, local support, consultation, business plans,  

(iii)   Required background investigations and other matters:

·       permissions in relation to ownership/covenants

·       drafting documents for leases/licences

·       scrutiny

·       group legal support

·       accountability of public assets/best value

·       the disposal process

·       liabilities    (insurances/responsibilities)

·       financial viability                                

·       risk assessments

·       timescales

·       consideration as to whether continued support to groups following transfer is required

                                       

(iv)     Potential transfer opportunities for consideration in the future:

 

Community Buildings           Banks Leisure Centre

                                          Chapel Gallery

Housing community/meeting rooms

 

Outdoor Sports Facilities      Blaguegate Playing Fields

                                                      Chequer Lane Playing Fields

                                                      Whitemoss Playing Fields

                                                      Whittle Drive Playing Fields

                                                      Aveling Drive Playing Fields

 

Outdoor Activity Facility        Abbey Lakes Fishing Lake

                                                      Chequer Lane Fishing Lake

                                                      Tower Hill Allotments

          Clucas Gardens/Owen Avenue

Allotments

                                                      Tawd Valley Park

                                                      Beacon Country Park & Golf Course

                                                      Coronation Park

                                                      Richmond Park

                                                      Other Parks

                                                      Playground Maintenance

 

Other Facilities                    CCTV

Dog fouling/littering enforcement 

                                           

 

RESOLVED:   A.   That the presentation be noted.

 

                      B.   That the following recommendations be considered for inclusion in the Committee's final review report:

 

(i)      "That in relation to the transfer of assets to community groups, consideration should be given to a formal in-house support mechanism being established as part of the process, for groups to access support following the transfer of facilities, with bi-annual or quarterly monitoring meetings put in place for this purpose."

 

(ii)     "That in the interest of prudent financial management, the £15k revenue funding given to Abbey Lakes each year be reviewed in the context of the overall programme of grants given to voluntary organisations."

 

C.   That the Leisure Operations Manager be asked to invite to a future meeting of the Committee a representative from one or two organisations to give their views on the overall process and to invite the CVS to discuss support services.

 

 

 

To consider a presentation, on behalf of the Director of Street Scene, on that Service’s experience in relation to the transfer of service delivery

The Committee received a presentation from Phil Samosa, Deputy Director of Street Scene who provided details on the Services' experience in relation to the transfer of services delivery.  The presentation advised that experience was limited as services didn't lend themselves easily to transfer as groups in the main did not have the necessary infrastructure to support such involvement.

 

The Committee was advised that Street Scene were currently working in partnership with Total Reuse, a local social enterprise organisation based in Skelmersdale, providing the physical collection part of the bulky household waste collection service, with the Council providing the administration.  Items are refurbished, when appropriate, and offered for sale or donated to community groups and good causes.  Income generated from sales is used to create training programmes. 

 

The Committee was further advised on the work undertaken with local volunteer groups such as the Scouts', parish councils and neighbourhood clean-up campaigns in providing equipment, materials and the removal of any waste collected.  National clean-up campaigns are promoted by the service such as the Keep Britain Tidy initiatives "The Great British Clean" and "Clean for the Queen" offering local action groups advice and once again the provision of equipment and the removal of waste.  Requests are dealt with on an individual basis.

 

Comments and questions were raised in respect of the following:

• Insurance  and liability issues
• The possibility of a site visit to Total Reuse
• Price determination of bulky waste items

 

RESOLVED:   A.   That the Deputy Director of Street Scene be asked to organise a visit to Total Reuse, with an invitation to all Members.

 

                      B.   That the following recommendation be considered for inclusion in the final review report of the Committee:

                            "That the option of offering groups insurance under a bulk insurance scheme be investigated."

To review the Project Plan.

Consideration was given to the Project Plan contained on pages 273 to 278 of the Book of Reports.

 

RESOLVED:     That the Project Plan be amended to take into account the matters raised above and subject to the inclusion of engagement with Parish Councils and the Council for Voluntary Services, which may require an extension to the timescales.

To note the Work Programme for future meetings.

Consideration was given to the Committee's Future Work Programme, as contained on pages 279 to 280 of the Book of Reports.

 

RESOLVED:   That the Committee's future Work Programme be approved.