Agenda and minutes

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 24 January 2019 be confirmed.

Councillor Laura McWilliams declared a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest with regard to the agenda item titled 'Portfolio Holder under Scrutiny - Report by Councillor Fay Smith, Portfolio Holder for Remarkable Place'. Her partner worked for the Football Association. She stepped out of the room during the discussion of this item.

Councillor Pat Vaughan declared a Personal Interest with regard to the agenda item titled 'Financial Performance - Quarterly Monitoring'. Reason: His granddaughter worked in the Finance Section of the City of Lincoln Council.

Councillor Pat Vaughan declared a Personal Interest with regard to the agenda item titled 'Strategic Risk Register - Quarterly Review'. His granddaughter worked in the Finance Section of the City of Lincoln Council.

Pat Jukes, Corporate Policy Manager:

·         provided a presentation for information which outlined the performance of the Remarkable Place Portfolio which included:

·         contextual information on the Remarkable Place Portfolio:

-       The City of Lincoln Council had 27 play areas across the city

-       Lincoln made three million refuse collections every year, across almost 45,000 homes and 1200 public litter bins were emptied

-       There were 84,000 trees in the 13.8sq miles that Lincoln covered

-       Street cleansing was provided for over 200 miles of streets

-       There had been a £240k investment in the Lincoln Crematorium which started in 2016 and completed in 2018

-       The total number of registered food businesses in Lincoln was currently 1033

-       Both of Lincoln’s leisure centres had now fully re-opened after extensive investment and improvements over the last 18 months. They both achieved record levels of customer visits as a result. In Q3 alone: Yarborough – 162,202, Birchwood – 49,670. This was up from 158,419 and 12,177 respectively.

·      the presentation highlighted the following key points:

-       the total amount of waste collected in Lincoln had decreased from 0.38 to 0.36 tonnes per person, whilst the decrease in East Midlands had only gone from 0.49 to 0.48 tonnes per person.

-       The total number of Licensed vehicles in Lincoln had increased from 48,400 in 2016 to 48,800 in 2017, which was a total increase of 400.

-       The total number of licensed cars in Lincoln has increased from 38,200 in 2016 to 38,800 in 2017, which was an overall increase of 600.

-       Following extensive renovations and improvements, Birchwood Leisure Centre had seen a significant increase in visits from an average of around 23,000 before the enhancements to almost 50,000 visits in Q3, and satisfaction had also jumped around 10% since last year.

·      invited members comments and questions

Question: Members asked whether motorhomes were included in the other category of licensed vehicles.

Response: Yes, they were.

Question: Members asked where the very satisfactory areas were as a result of the citizen panel questionnaire.

Response: Unfortunately the exact areas could not be disclosed for confidentiality reasons. The information could be looked at per ward.

Question: Members asked if figures regarding the total waste in tonnes against the National total could be provided.

Response: This Information was to be sought by Officers.

Question: Members asked why composting recycling had decreased.

Response: The decrease in composting recycling was mainly down to contamination. Communication Teams from all authorities were meeting to discuss a recycling campaign.

RESOLVED that:

1.    Officers to source information regarding the total waste in tonnes against the National total.

Councillor Fay Smith, Portfolio Holder for Remarkable Place:

a)    presented a report which highlighted the following:

·         Open Space Management

·         Allotments

·         Equipped Play Areas

·         Parks

·         Hatsholme Country Park and Camp Site

·         PAGs

·         Commons

·         Volunteering

·         Arboriculture

·         Street Scene

·         Waste/Recycling

·         Street Cleansing

·         Public Toilets

·         Food, Health and Safety

·         Bereavement Services

·         Air Quality

·         Carbon Reduction

·         Sport Recreation and Leisure Services

b)    Invited member’s comments and questions.

Question: Members asked what the potential for other funding for the bus shelters was to stop them being removed due to maintenance costs.

Response: Officers were trying to work with other organisations but there would still be a reduction in bus shelter numbers as they fell into disrepair. There was no funding available for maintenance.

Question: members asked whether allotments were dug over when they were let.

Response: Yes they were dug out ready for the new tenants and if they were in disrepair then Officers would work with tenants to get the site up and running.

Question: Members asked how air quality was managed and whether there was anything that could be done to improve it.

Response: All areas were positively lower than the air quality standard. Work continued with partners as part of the Air Quality management action plan etc.

Question: Members asked when there would be any movement on the Hartsholme Park masterplan as the previous one was over 10 years ago.

Response: Due to current capacity available, officers couldn’t at present give a commitment as to when works would start. This would be reviewed as part of formulation of Vision 2025

Question: Members highlighted that Hartsholme Country Park Advisory Group had amended their constitution and had made it a good model for Park Advisory Groups. Members asked if the Commons Advisory Panel could become an advisory panel rather than a committee meeting.

Response: The constitutions of the three Park Advisory groups were being brought together and the chairs of each meeting were liasing more and helping each other. The Commons Advisory panel would not be changed due to a commons act that was in place so the group was established by law.

Question: members asked if the Birchwood Leisure Centre footfall stats could be broken down as to what facilities/classes were being used.

Response: Officers agreed to obtain the information requested if available and if not then a snapshot would be sought.

Question: Members asked whether there would be a management fee at Birchwood Leisure Centre.

Response: City of Lincoln Council was paying a reducing fee for three years and thereafter no management fee will paid across either site.

Question: Members asked why more money was being invested into allotment sites when they were at 82% capacity and not full.

Response: More allotments were being put in where the demand was needed. Allotments had trends so investment in allotment sites would help to bring them into use.

Question: Members asked whether talks had taken place with Lincolnshire County Council regarding weight restrictions on Broadgate.

Response: Talks with Lincolnshire County Council had taken place regarding  ...  view the full minutes text for item 62b

Simon Walters, Director of Communities and Environment:

a)    provided Performance Scrutiny Committee with an update on progress towards the Remarkable Place strategic priority contained in Vision 2020.

b)    explained that there had been strong progress within the strategic priority with a number of key achievements/completions:

·         Practical completion of the renovation of Boultham Park in early 2018, followed by an official opening in May 2018 and attended by several thousand people. This was also followed by a Royal visit from Princess Anne.

·         The City Centre CCTV installation had been completed. This had been supplemented by the installation of a city centre wifi system offering a free internet connection for anyone with a mobile device within the city centre.

·         The City Council had announced that the size of the air quality management area in the City Centre had been reduced as air quality generally in the city centre had been improving.

·         Protection of wildlife sites were important in the city and two initiatives had commenced in 2018/19 – one to record the vital characteristics of 52 sites in the city and another looking at the feasibility of a new tree planting scheme.

·         The Secretary of State had approved the application to remove the deemed planning consent for the display of ‘To Let’ boards in three terraced areas of the city.

·         The City Council had received the match funding required to pursue an innovative scheme with Historic England to focus on restoring shop frontages to their original look in the high street.

·         In order to ensure allotments were used well in the future, the Council commenced phase one capital investment of £650k in 2017/18.

·         The Council had been successful in achieving grant funding from the Football Foundation and Sport England to invest in outdoor sports facilities.

·         An intervention team to help tackle the issue of addiction fuelled ASB and begging within the City Centre had been introduced.

·         Work had started on developing the specifications for key ‘front door’ services of refuse collection, street cleansing and grounds maintenance.

c)    invited members comments and questions

Question: Members asked whether the Graffiti in Sincil Bank had been removed.

Response: Graffiti was an ongoing problem. CCTV had been installed in Hermit Street and Portland Street and was proving to be successful with 34 incidents across a range of issues being recorded since December.

Question: Members asked whether the Police were on board in Sincil Bank

Response: The Police were on board. There was more visibility in the area due to the Neighbourhood Office and CCTV.

Question: Members asked whether the graffiti project had been successful.

Response: The project had lifted resident’s spirits and brought people into the area to view the art trail. There were many benefits which helped bring communities together.

Question: Members asked whether the CCTV cameras in Hermit and Portland Street could be moved to different hotspots around the city.

Response: The cameras were wired in and not mobile so unfortunately this couldn’t be carried out.

Question: Members asked how much the CCTV cameras  ...  view the full minutes text for item 63.

Jaclyn Gibson, Chief Finance Officer:

a)    provided Performance Scrutiny Committee the third quarter’s performance (up to 31^st December 2018) on the Council’s:

-       General Fund

-       Housing Revenue Account

-       Housing Repairs Service

-       Capital Programmes.

and to provide a review of the key budget risk assessments.

b)    highlighted that the General Fund was currently projecting a forecast budget shortfall of £206,302. The key variances were as below:

-       Car Parking – Reduced Income/Reduced Expenditure £908,090

-       Christmas Market – Increased Expenditure/Reduced Income £85,950

-       Housing Benefit Overpayments – Reduced Income £225,280

-       Homelessness Bed & Breakfast – Increased Cost £157,990

-       Development Management – Increased Income £(114,190)

-       HIMO Fees Increased Income - £(65,930)

-       Borrowing Costs/Contingency – Reduced Cost £(272,050)

-       Balance Sheet Review – Increased Income £(70,170)

-       Earmarked Reserves – Released Increased Income £(280,220)

-       Contingencies Released – Reduced Cost £(175,930)

c)    explained that for 2018/19 the Council’s Housing Revenue Account (HRA) net revenue budget was set at break even, resulting in an estimated level of general balances at the year-end of £1,023,099.

d)    invited member’s comments and questions.

Question: Members asked whether there was a lot of dust from the building site near the new car park and whether the car park was being well used.

Response: The CO-OP were transforming their shops which would put the car park in a prime location. Car park income was going up but not as fast as predicted in the MTFS.

Question: Members asked for more detail regarding profiling projects.

Response: Most profiling was to do with the decent homes work. If no work needed to be carried out at a property then the money was re-profiled for a later date.

Question: Members asked if businesses within the high street where the works were taking place would get a reduction in their business rates.

Response: Businesses could ask for a reduction but would have to apply to the valuation office in order to do this.

RESOLVED that:

·         progress on the financial performance for the period 1^st April to 31^st December 2018 and the projected outturns for 2018/19 be noted.

·         the underlying impact of the pressures and underspends identified in paragraphs 3.2 (and Appendix B), 4.3 (and Appendix D), and 5.2 (and Appendix F) be noted.

·         the changes to the General Investment Programme and Housing Investment Programme as detailed in paragraphs 7.4 and 7.10 be noted.

Jaclyn Gibson, Chief Finance Officer:

a)    provided Performance Scrutiny Committee with a status report of the revised Strategic Risk Register as at the end of the third quarter 2018/19.

b)    explained movements within the Strategic Risk Register.

c)    invited member’s comments and questions.

RESOLVED that Performance Scrutiny Committee noted the Strategic Risk Register as at the end of the third quarter 18-19.

Pat Jukes, Business Manager – Corporate Policy:

a)    presented Performance Scrutiny Committee with a summary of the operational performance position for quarter three of the financial year 2018/19 (Sept to December 2018)

b)    highlighted the following key headlines:

·         The number of users logged into the self-service system MyInfo this quarter had increased from 6409 last year to 7,651 this year.

·         The in year collection rate for business rates had surpassed its upper target of 84.22% at a figure of 86.23%

·         The total number of users of our health and recreation facilities had increased by 55,176 users since Q3 last year.

·         The satisfaction of PPASB complainants relating to how the complaint was handled had seen a large increase of 12.4% increasing from 80.3% last quarter to 92.7 % in Q3

·         The percentage of premises that were full or broadly compliant with food health and safety inspections had improved on its target of 97% with a figure of 97.6%

·         The percentage of Non-Major and Major Planning Applications determined within the government targets were above their targets at 94.51% and 97.96% respectively

·         The rent collected as a proportion of rent owed had surpassed its target of 96.50% at 99.83%

·         The current level of tenant arrears was better than the target of 3.50% with a figure of 2.47% - but was still a little higher than at the same time last year (2.22%)

·         The percentage of reactive repairs completed within target time was above the target of 97.50% with a figure of 98.51%

c)    Highlighted the Key Headlines from the Corporate Measures:

·         The overall sickness data for Quarter 3 was 2.45 days per FTE (excl. apprentices). This brought the cumulative total of sick days to 7.28 days which was 2.56 days less than last year and was the lowest quarter three average in the last 5 years.

·         The cumulative average time across all directorates to respond to formal complaints was 7.9 days, which is an increase of 1.4 days from quarter two 2017/18

·         90.2% of all staff appraisals were completed by Q3 in the year 2018/19

RESOLVED that:

·         Achievements, issues and concerns were noted for Q3

·         Any areas were to be highlighted for which Performance Scrutiny Committee wanted to look at in more detail at a future meeting

·         The report be referred to Executive to ensure relevant portfolio holders were placing a local focus on those highlighted areas showing deteriorating performance.

The minutes from the Budget Review Group held on 6 February 2019 were noted.

The work programme was noted.