Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 22 February 2018 be confirmed.

Please note that, in accordance with the Members' Code of Conduct, when declaring interests members must disclose the existence and nature of the interest, and whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI) or personal and/or pecuniary.

No declarations of interest were received.

Nicola Collins, Heritage and Planning Enforcement Team Leader:

(a)       Presented a report which updated the Committee on Section 106 Agreements in respect of what had been collected and what contributions had been negotiated.

(b)       Reported that a Section 106 group made up of officers from across the Council met quarterly to monitor the contributions coming in to the authority and allocate them to the projects that the money had been collected for.

(c)        Highlighted that these projects had been identified by Portfolio Holders and chief officers through the delivery of their various service areas and in line with the relevant Vision 2020 initiatives.

(d)       Reported that Section 106 Agreement monies were collected once the development reached certain milestones and must be spent within a period of 5 to 10 years depending on the type of infrastructure it had been collected for.

(e)       Outlined the contributions negotiated up to the end of quarter three, December 2017, at paragraph 4.2 of the report which totalled £560,731.

(f)        Outlined the amounts allocated or spent on projects at paragraph 4.3 of the report which totalled £753,546.

(g)       Reported that the Community Infrastructure Levy would be collected and administered alongside Section 106 contributions.

(h)       Invited members’ questions and comments.

Question: Why was there no reference to the NHS in the list of classifications for contributions negotiated or amounts allocated or spent?

Response: There had previously not been any requests from the NHS for monies as part of Section 106 Agreements, however, over the last few months the team had been approached by the NHS.

Question: How much Section 106 Agreement funding had been allocated to the Romangate development?

Response: Affordable housing and a play space were being delivered onsite so no contributions through Section 106 Agreement funding would be received for those elements. A commuted sum for offsite playing field provision of £841 per dwelling had been agreed which would be calculated when the number of dwellings to be built on the City Council’s part of the site was confirmed.

Question: The same question was asked in respect of the old allotment site on Riseholme Road.

Response: There would potentially be funding arising through a Section 106 Agreement in respect of this proposed development, however, a planning application had not yet been received. Details around any potential for Section 106 Agreement contributions would depend upon the content of the planning application.

Question: Paragraph 4.2 of the report under contributions negotiated up to the end of quarter three showed £0 allocated to open spaces, yet in paragraph 4.3 under amounts already allocated or spent funding had been allocated to Boultham Park and Hartsholme Country Park. An explanation was sought.

Response: Open space was a different category to play space, with open space normally being provided onsite as part of development. In some circumstances, such as with Bunker’s Hill, developers include play space as part of the development. Contributions through Section 106 Agreements are allocated to the Council should it adopt the play space and be responsible  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84.

Pat Jukes, Corporate Policy Business Manager:

(a)       Presented a portfolio performance overview of Environmental Services and Public Protection which covered the following main areas:

·         customer satisfaction regarding:

-       the number of complaints in respect of overflowing bins;

-       the percentage of Citizens’ Panel respondents who were aware of the Council’s food hygiene rating scheme for food businesses;

-       the percentage of Citizens’ Panel respondents who were satisfied with the standards of hygiene in restaurants, cafes, shops and takeaways in Lincoln;

·         the percentage of NO2 diffusion tubes in Lincoln that were showing NO2 levels within the national air quality objective for 2017/2018;

·         volume of household waste sent for recycling, compost and re-use and percentage comparison with the East Midlands and local authorities within the East Midlands region;

·         kilograms of non-recycled household waste per household compared to the mean for all local authority districts in the East Midlands over the last eight years and in 2016/17;

·         decrease and increase in the number and type of crimes in Lincoln;

·         crime severity in England, East Midlands and Lincoln;

·         reported anti-social behaviour incidents;

·         number of customer complaints split by electoral ward;

·         number of cremations and burials carried out in Lincoln per year;

·         quarterly performance measures;

·         annual satisfaction measures from the Citizens’ Panel.

(b)       Provided contextual performance on Environmental Services and Public Protection as follows:

·         in quarter 3, the Council’s CCTV operators had handled 3,374 incidents;

·         53% of Citizens’ Panel respondents in the July 2017 survey said that they felt safe in the city centre at night time;

·         98% of food supplying premises were fully or broadly compliant with guidance;

·         the Lincoln Transport Hub had the first public changing places facility in Lincoln;

·         Lincoln had been awarded three Platinum Awards, one Gold Award and three National Awards for the cleanliness and quality of its public toilet facilities;

·         Lincoln had been awarded two Green Flag Awards for Hartsholme Country Park and the Arboretum;

·         the percentage of household waste sent for recycling had stabilised over the last two years at around 38%, although this was at a lower rate than the East Midlands average;

·         in the crime summary for Lincoln, nine categories were getting better and eight were getting worse, but overall there was a slight increase in total crime numbers of 128 in the previous year;

·         there had been a drop in all electoral wards for the number of complaints received on fly tipping incidents.

(c)        Invited members’ questions and comments.

Comment: Further to last year’s meeting of the Crime and Disorder Committee, the performance of the Police was under scrutiny. In challenging poor performance based upon the performance information available at that meeting the Police responded by saying that the statistics had probably been measured in a different way to the other areas being compared to. It was concerning that these statistics were not a like for like comparison.

Response: This issue did need to be addressed, taking into account that Lincoln was an urban area whereas some of the other areas it was compared to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85a

(Including two short video presentations highlighting health and safety issues for Waste Collection Operatives)

The Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services and Public Protection, Councillor Fay Smith:

(a)       Presented her report and highlighted the activity and performance within her portfolio, particularly in relation to the following:

·         waste and recycling;

·         cleansing;

·         public toilets;

·         CCTV;

·         public protection and anti-social behaviour;

·         licensing;

·         food safety;

·         health and safety (enforcement);

·         bereavement services;

·         carbon reduction;

·         air quality.

(b)       Presented two short video clips to the Committee regarding waste collection vehicles and the safety of operatives. One of the video clips was promotional material from Biffa which included numerous examples of members of the public mounting footpaths with their cars to dangerously undertake or overtake stationary waste collection vehicles, putting operatives’ health and safety at risk. The second video clip was footage from a camera on a waste collection vehicle in Lincoln which showed a member of the public mount a footpath with their car to overtake a waste collection vehicle. Police had used footage such as the examples provided to successfully prosecute drivers in other parts of the country although Lincolnshire Police would not currently use footage obtained to prosecute. Biffa was currently negotiating with Lincolnshire Police on this matter.

(c)        Invited members’ questions and comments.

Comment: The Biffa publicity video should be shared on the Council’s social media platforms.

Question: Referring to non-recycled household waste it was noted that some areas in the city had been designated as red zones and that the trend was going upwards. Were there more areas in the city not recycling, or was this as a result of the same areas in the red zones not recycling?

Response: There were numerous reasons for people not recycling, whether that be due to a lack of interest or a lack of understanding, which was difficult to address. People often placed recyclable waste in black bags and non-recyclable waste in the recycle bin, causing the whole bin to be rejected due to contamination. It was acknowledged that people were confused as to what items could be included in the recycle bin, however, due to austerity, Councils had reduced the amount of time and resources dedicated to education and enforcement. The County Council also had a problematic disposal contract which gave opportunity for wider interpretation of contamination, with this contract subject to change in 2020. This could mean that the items collected in the recycle bin may be subject to change when the contract was renewed. Education had to be linked to the County Council’s disposal contract to avoid any confusion and it was also noted that the City Council was a committed partner of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership, with any educational activity needing to be consistent and properly programmed in accordance with that Partnership. It was considered that any deviation from a partnership approach in this respect would be a detrimental step for the authority and that particular arrangement. The industry was also changing and the new County Council contract was likely to reflect this, with reference made to the recently announced plastic bottle deposit schemes in the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 85b

Angela Andrews, Chief Executive:

(a)       Presented a report which updated the Committee on progress with the Vision 2020 objective of maintaining ‘professional high performance service delivery’ since the launch of the Vision in January 2017.

(b)       Reported that the Council’s Corporate Management Team sat on the new High Performing Services Board which had been in place since May 2017 to consider a holistic view of the important indicators of progress and performance across the organisation.

(c)        Reported that a key aim was to develop and deliver innovative programmes of work which would allow the authority to protect and invest in the public services its customers relied upon. The first of these programmes was the Towards Financial Sustainability programme.

(d)       Reported that the Towards Financial Sustainability programme, in the current 2017/18 financial year, would over-achieve the £3.5million savings target by £30,390, with a further £33,310 savings possible by year-end subject to finalised business cases. Further plans in development for the next phase would be considered by the Executive for approval for 2018/19.

(e)       Reported that the second programme had been developed from the ten High Performing Services projects identified in Vision 2020, as well as a number of projects highlighted throughout the year as areas of general performance that could still be improved. These were set out in Appendix B of the report, with eight projects on target and two having been completed. Six further activities, set out in part (ii) of Appendix B, had been added throughout the year from various sources such as quarterly performance reports, audits on services, risk registers and opportunities within the business development work plan. Of the six other activities, five projects were on target and one had been identified as an area of concern. This related to levels of staff sickness, with further work having been commissioned by HPS to understand the underlying issues.

(f)        Reported the following areas for improvement in relation to High Performing Services:

·         there remained a £250,000 financial target to achieve either through savings or new income streams;

·         the High Performing Services board would focus the skills of the Business Development Team to those Vision 2020 projects requiring support;

·         a focus would be given to equipping staff with the right skills and tools to deliver success, and the physical and mental resilience to work through change.

(g)       Reported that the following had been delivered in respect of High Performing Services and Towards Financial Sustainability:

·         the phase 4 programme had been completed and the financial target had been achieved for 2017/18;

·         the Council had proposed a new and innovative programme for delivering income and savings for the next Medium Term Financial Strategy, as well as a programme for improving the Council’s performance and services delivered to its customers;

·         significant levels of staff welfare support had been introduced over the last year, which should start to show results in decreasing sickness levels in 2018/19;

(h)       Highlighted that the asset rationalisation strand covered a review of the Council’s existing assets and also sought  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

Simon Walters, Director of Communities and Environment:

(a)       Presented a report which provided the Committee with an update on progress towards the ‘Let’s enhance our remarkable place’ strategy priority in Vision 2020.

(b)       Reported that the Remarkable Place Vision Group led on delivering the Council’s aspirations under the ‘Let’s enhance our remarkable place’ strategy priority which included:

·         let’s show the world what Lincoln has to offer;

·         let’s cherish and enhance our natural environment;

·         let’s preserve the unique character of our city;

·         let’s deliver a rich and varied cultural experience;

·         let’s provide interesting, exciting and vibrant places to enjoy.

(c)        Reported that the position statement attached to the report at Appendix A captured the ‘day to day’ work by the Council that was integral to delivering this strategic priority. This ensured that the current baseline was understood for delivering the priority and to recognise how staff across the authority had a role in delivering Vision 2020.

(d)       Highlighted that a Remarkable Place project monitoring table was appended to the report, which provided an overview of the projects being delivered in the first phase of the strategic priority.

(e)       Highlighted a number of key achievements in the first phase of Vision 2020, as set out in paragraph 5.3 of the report.

(f)        Reported that of the 15 projects included as part of the priority, one had already been completed, ten were on track for delivery, two had slightly slipped their milestones and two had either stalled or intentionally been put on hold to prioritise resources elsewhere. Those projects that had slightly slipped their milestones were:

·         the Birchwood Leisure Centre renovation project. Despite completion of the internal works and successful opening to the public, a number of works to the outside of the building were ongoing. This, in part, was due to discovery of asbestos in a number of locations;

·         the CCTV installation project. Despite successful implementation of the new CCTV system, the free public Wi-Fi system for the city centre had not yet become operational due to a need for further work to ensure General Data Protection Regulation and other data protection legal requirements compliance. A suitable partner company had been identified and was awaiting confirmation that the system they proposed was acceptable to the Council.

Those projects that had stalled or intentionally been put on hold were:

·         the project to explore options for a new leisure village. This was intentionally placed on hold to prioritise work on Birchwood Leisure Centre and Lincoln Transport Hub;

·         the Christmas lights replacement project. Despite successful delivery of phase one, talks were ongoing to secure agreement with partners regarding funding of phase two.

(g)       Highlighted that a monitoring table was attached to the report at Appendix C which provided an update on the Sincil Bank regeneration project. This was a large programme of work which cut across all four strategic priorities but was most closely aligned to the strategic priority of ‘let’s enhance our remarkable place’. The scheme had seen a number of successes over the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

RESOLVED that the work programme be noted.

Councillor Gary Hewson, Chair of the Performance Scrutiny Committee, took this opportunity to thank Councillor Tony Speakman for his contributions in his role as Vice-Chair, with this being his last meeting of the Committee following his decision not to stand in the City Council elections in May 2018. Councillor Hewson praised Councillor Speakman’s knowledge and commitment as Vice-Chair, adding that he put a lot into the role and that he would be missed. On behalf of the Committee, Councillor Hewson thanked Councillor Speakman for everything he had done for the Council.

Councillor Speakman responded by saying that he had enjoyed his time on the Committee, which provided members with a valuable understanding as to how services were being delivered and their respective performance. He praised the good quality of reports from officers which he said helped members make better decisions.