Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies received.

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

In accordance with Council Procedure Rule 4, the Committee noted the termination of Councillors Turpin and Owen and the appointment of Councillors Howard and Burnside for this meeting only, thereby giving effect to the wishes of the Political Groups.

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 urgent items of business.

If a member requires advice on Declarations of Interest, he/she is advised to contact the Legal and Democratic Services Manager 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 Party Whip.

To receive as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on Thursday, 9 June 2022.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on Thursday 9 June 2022, 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 on Friday 9 September 2022. A copy of the public speaking protocol and form to be completed is attached.

There were no items under this heading.

To receive a joint presentation from the Interim Head of Wellbeing & Place and Mark Snaylam from Serco.

An introduction was received from the Interim Head of Wellbeing and Place, who also introduced Keith Tierney and Brian Taylor from More Leisure Trust (formerly West Lancashire Community Leisure Trust) who appoint Serco as the Management Agent to deliver the services on behalf of WLBC. An overview of the existing arrangements was provided to the Committee Members and the Leisure Procurement Project Co-Ordinator gave a presentation, supported by a series of slides, the aim of which was to provide the Committee with details of the role and function of the Leisure Trust and the current financial position of the four leisure facilities in the borough.

The presentation included reference to:

• Trustees
• Financial Performance
• Memberships
• Patronage
• Utilities
• Repairs and Maintenance 
• Partnership Working
• Partnership Working Future Activities

In discussion Members raised comments and questions in respect of a third of repairs costs being spent on Beacon Park and the reasons for this being vandalism and stolen equipment, amongst other causes.

The Leisure Procurement Project Co-Ordinator Informed Members of several initiatives in place offering reduced rates to youths in order to try and reduce nuisance behaviour, reduced rates to include food vouchers to spend in  partner cafes in the borough and reduced rates being offered to asylum seekers.

RESOLVED:  That the Presentation be noted.

The following item from the Members Update submitted at the request of Cllr A Owens:

To consider the report of the Legal & Democratic Services Manager.

Consideration was given to the report of the Legal & Democratic Services Manager as contained on pages 23 to 31 of the Book of Reports, which informed Members of the Council's performance in respect of the Local Government Ombudsman statistics 2021/2022.

The Admin and Electoral Services Manager gave Members an overview of the report, detailing the number of complaints received by the Ombudsman and advised that a build u[p of complaints occurred due to the Ombudsman being closed for a period of time due to the Covid pandemic.

RESOLVED: That the Council's performance against the indicator set for the quarter ended 31 March 2021 be noted.

The following item has been submitted at the request of Cllr Upjohn:

To consider a submission from Cllr Upjohn

A Members item was submitted in respect of "Allocation of Clean & Green Services and the cleaning schedules across the Borough" by Councillor Upjohn.

In discussion Members raised comments and questions in respect of:

·         the existing rotas and availability of sweepers and drivers with a HGV licence, as well as mechanical failure issues.

·         Possibility of increasing budget

·         Voluntary groups for litter picking

·         Targeting resources to grot spots

·         Involvement of Parish Councils

RESOLVED: That a report be brought back to Members at the December meeting, to provide more detailed figures for consideration.

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Housing, Transformation and Resources

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Housing, Transformation and Resources as contained on pages 35 to 57 of the Book of Reports, which presented the performance monitoring data for the quarter ended 30 June 2022.

The Performance Improvement Lead provided an overview on the report performance, with specific focus on matters with a red or amber status.

RESOLVED: That the Council's performance against the Council Plan for the quarter ended 30 June 2022 be noted.

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Place & Community

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Housing, Transformation and Resources as contained on pages 59 to 74 of the Book of Reports, which provided members with an update of the Council's public conveniences.

The Environmental Works Officer provided an update on the five public conveniences within the Borough and the associated costs of maintaining the same.

During discussion comments and questions were raised as follows:

·         Expensive associated costs

·         Alternative options

·         Vandalism

·         Charging and associated new types of vandalism

·         Repurposing of buildings

·         Facilities for those with disabilities

·         Hiring of toilets for events

RESOLVED:

A.   That the report and Appendix be noted

B.   B. That a further report be submitted to the Committee and Cabinet, which will provide a full appraisal of the four options contained in paragraphs 9,10,11 and 12 of the report and will seek views from members on their preferred option.

To consider the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing & Resources.

Consideration was given to the report of the Corporate Director of Housing, Transformation and Resources as contained on pages 75 to 94 of the Book of Reports, which provided Members with an update in relation to the topics not selected for review by the Task and Finish Groups

The Democratic Services Officer provided an overview of the report referring to the table at Appendix A of the report.

RESOLVED: That the actions taken in relation to each topic at Appendix A of the report, be noted.

Consideration was given to the Work programme at page 95 of the Book of Reports.

RESOLVED: That the item "Review Topic Selection" be moved to June 2023 in light of there being 4 Task and Finish Groups already, instead of the originally planned 1 group.