Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received on behalf of Councillor Julian Finch.

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

There were no changes to Membership of the Committee.

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, 21 September 2023.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 21 September 2023, 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, 8^th December 2023. A copy of the public speaking protocol and form to be completed is attached.

There were no items under this heading.

No requests received.

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 Transformation, Housing and Resources.

The Clean and Green Operations Manager presented the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing and Resources the purpose of which was to provide the Committee with an update on the actions completed for the Litter Clearance in West Lancashire, including Fly Tipping and Grot Spots.

An update for each project was provided as follows:

1.    To roll out Community Skip Days in other parts of the Borough in conjunction with Parish Councils

It was reported that no further communications had been received from Parish Councils.

2.    Eco Schools to invite the 58 Primary Schools within West Lancashire to enter a competition to design a Poster showing their 'Eco School Ethos'.  Winning schools will receive a Character Bin and will receive an educational visit by the Environmental Enforcement Team

The Committee was advised that 56 entries had been received from 4 primary schools as follows:

·                Burscough Village Primary School, Burscough

·                Pontville School, Ormskirk

·                Hesketh-with-Becconsall All Saints CE School, Hesketh Bank

·                St Johns RC Primary School, Burscough

The Committee was further advised that the 6 winning entries had been chosen by the Portfolio Holder for Street Scene.

Pontville School, Ormskirk had been presented with bins on 12^th October 2023.  The Clean and Green Operations Manager, Clean and Green Area Manager, Councillor Neil Furey and Mayoress Maureen Nixon and her consort, Mr Laughton Wilkinson had attended the presentation.  A photograph of the visit and presentation was appended to the report at Appendix 1. 

A bin presentation would be taking place at All Saints CE Primary School in Hesketh Bank during January 2024. 

3.    Volunteer Litter Picking

It was reported that there had been a slight drop off in requests for litter picking equipment and that this was normal during the Winter months. 

4.    Environmental Borough Improvements to tackle Grot Spot Locations, four locations

The Committee was advised that projects 1 (East Gillibrands, Skelmersdale), 2 (West Pimbo, Skelmersdale) and 3 (Old Boundary Way, Ormskirk) had been completed.  Project 4 (Elmers Clough, Skelmersdale) would commence on 25^th November 2024 and was expected to take approximately 4 weeks.

Photograph images of before and after completion of work of Projects 2 and 3 were appended to the report at Appendices 2 and 3.

It was anticipated that actions would be completed before the end of January 2024. 

RESOLVED: That the update be noted. 

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

The Outdoor Recreation Manager presented the report of the Corporate Director of Transformation, Housing and Resources the purpose of which was to provide an update on the actions completed to plant orchards at six sites in West Lancashire.

The Committee was advised that Council Officers had conducted a community consultation with the communities surrounding the short-listed sites.  The on-line survey had become live on Friday, 10^th February 2023 and closed on Monday 27^th February 2023.  Approximately, 260 letters and questionnaires had been hand delivered to residents directly surrounding the proposed sites on Friday, 10^th February 2023.  Postal responses had been accepted until Wednesday, 29^th February 2023.  Posters had been displayed in the six areas to promote the consultation to residents from the wider area.  The poster had included a QR code to the online survey.

In addition, residents at the Brookhouse Road and Cotton Drive site had completed a longer questionnaire and had been asked if they wanted a wildflower in addition to fruit trees.  To increase the response rate, the Community Connectors Team had knocked on residents' doors to complete the questionnaire with residents. 

It was reported that the consultation had received 164 responses and that overall, responses had been positive.   Details of the responses were outlined to the Committee. 

It was also reported that as agreed by the Task and Finish Group, the QR code signs had been attached to some of the tree stakes at each site which would link to the new Community Orchards webpage on the Council website.    

The Committee was advised that the Tree Policy had now been approved at a meeting of the Cabinet held on 21^st November 2023.

RESOLVED:  That the update be noted. 

·       Crime and Disorder Scrutiny – To consider a presentation from a representative of West Lancashire Community Safety Partnership (CSP) Paul Charlson / Cliff Owen

·       Items from the Members’ Update (as advised)

·       Members’ Items/CCFA (as advised)

·       Future Work Programme

RESOLVED: That the updated Work Programme be noted.