Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed everyone to the meeting.

The Chair drew attention to the emergency evacuation procedure.

There were none.

At this point in the meeting declarations of interest are received from Members in any of the agenda items under consideration at the meeting. Members are asked to indicate:

(a) The agenda item number in which they have an interest to declare.

(b) The nature of their interest.

(c) Whether their interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an other interest,  (as defined in Part 2, A and B of the Code of Conduct and Rules for Registration of Interests)

Any Member who needs to clarify any matters relating to the declaration of interests is recommended to seek advice from the Council’s Monitoring Officeror a member of his staff before the meeting to expedite dealing with the item during the meeting.

The Panel were notified that a number of questions had been submitted by the Chew Valley Flood Forum. The Chair announced that a written response would be circulated to the Forum and members of the Panel within five working days of the meeting. A copy of the questions can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book and online as an appendix to these minutes.

Mr David Redgewell had registered to address the Panel regarding Agenda Item 11 (Network Rail Electrification Briefing) and would do so directly before that item was discussed.

The Panel confirmed the minutes of the previous meeting as a true record and they were duly signed by the Chair.

The Cabinet Member(s) will update the Panel on any relevant issues. Panel members may ask questions.

Councillor David Dixon, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods addressed the Panel.

Food Waste Recycling – In May the Council will commence this service in flats and schools.

Solar Compactors – A further 30 of these receptacles will be distributed across Bath and Keynsham. He added that only 5% of what was inside the compactors now went to landfill.

Allotments – He informed them that the overall waiting list for plots was down and that within the south of Bath there were some empty plots that were vacant.

Bereavement Services – He explained that a figure of £100,000 had been allocated in the budget to provide a café at Haycombe Cemetery. He wished to now inform the Panel that due to the relocation of some members of staff, their former offices would now be used to provide this service at a much reduced cost.

River Safety – He said that he had been in discussions with the Canals & River Trust regarding the ladders that are in place along the river. He explained that they are not official safety ladders and that he has asked the Trust to report back on how many need to be put in place and how much this would cost. He also said that discussions were on-going with regard to placing safety messages on life buoys along the river.

Councillor Douglas Nicol suggested that some form of scramble netting might be a better idea to be put in place as finding a single ladder could prove to be quite difficult.

The Chair asked where the allocated funds for the café at Haycombe Cemetery would now be spent.

Councillor Dixon replied that any remaining funds would go back into the central budget.

Councillor Lisa Brett asked if he’d received any negative feedback relating to the solar compactors from the public with regard to touching their handles.

Councillor Dixon replied that he did not feel that the public saw this as a problem. He added that litter on the street had reduced greatly since their installation and informed the Panel that every time a compactor was emptied the handle was cleaned thoroughly.

Councillor Liz Richardson asked if the Council had considered placing a message on the compactors to highlight the amount of recycling that they enable.

Councillor Dixon replied that messages and branding would be placed on them in the future following good discussions with the supplier.

Councillor Liz Richardson asked if they all needed to be that large.

Councillor Dixon replied that the current model needed to be that size to house the solar panel required to compact the refuse inside. He added that a slim-line version has been discussed with the supplier.

Councillor Douglas Nicol commented that he had noticed that a rather large amount of cigarette ends were being deposited in a particular area of the Bath Bus Station which he attributed to the bus drivers.

Councillor Dixon replied that he would pursue that matter with the appropriate officers.

Councillor Caroline Roberts, Cabinet Member for Transport addressed  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

Following extensive research and consultation via a Scrutiny Inquiry Day on 27 November 2013, the PTE panel developed a set of recommendations for change. These were posed to the relevant Cabinet members who have worked closely with service manager to develop their response. This report introduces these responses, the full details of which are outlined at Appendix one.

The Chair introduced this item to the Panel and asked Councillor Dixon to go through the responses he had made to the recommendations.

REC 1.3 – Introduce night-time refuse collections to limit the length of time food waste is left on the streets.

Councillor Dixon said that the amount of disruption this would cause to residents, coupled with the steps required through gaining planning permission and a new license did not make sense to him. He added that there would be nowhere to deposit the waste even if it was collected.

Councillor Douglas Nicol commented that he felt the Council should be allowed to change the rules on when it collects rubbish.

The Chair suggested that this response be amended to defer and to ask for a report to be produced that states what steps would need to be taken to allow night time refuse collections.

REC 1.4 – Pilot red plastic refuse sacks to ascertain whether this discourages gulls from attempting to get waste and, if successful, roll out to all appropriate city residents.

Councillor Dixon commented that good progress was already being made with the gull proof sacks that had been issued to some residents. He also reminded the Panel of the intention to expand the food waste collections.

Councillor Lisa Brett acknowledged the current work but felt the introduction of red sacks should be pursued.

Councillor Dixon said that he would have a discussion with officers on the matter.

Councillor Liz Richardson suggested that red sacks could be issued for the collection of commercial waste.

Councillor Dixon replied that he would consider that suggestion.

REC 5.1 – Promote and lead a joined up approach to tackling the gull population through development of a cohesive gull strategy

Councillor Dixon commented that officers were already working with Property Services with regard to egg replacement and use of the bird free gel on Council buildings. He added that through some of the recent work gulls were being displaced to some extent with numbers increasing in the Windsor Bridge / Saltford area. He said that officers would take part in a door knocking exercise to emphasise the use of the food waste collections so that no food is placed in a regular black bag.

The Chair suggested that this recommendation be re-written in such a way that it shows that this is a piece of work to be carried out by the Council and not Natural England.

The Chair added that she thought the Council in some areas could supply the replacement eggs and ask communities to work together to put them in place.

Councillor Dixon replied that a Gull Champion may be in place soon.

The Policy Development & Scrutiny Lead Officer commented that the use of red sacks for normal refuse was also suggested in the recommendations.

Councillor Dixon said he would be happy to investigate that as a piece of work.

Councillor Lisa Brett asked for the rationale for recommendation 2.2 to be amended in two places to include  ...  view the full minutes text for item 66.

The Scrutiny Inquiry Day was held on the 10th October 2013. Cabinet members have been asked to consider the recommendations of the scrutiny inquiry day. Their response now returns to each of the respective PDS Panels for the consideration of members.

The Policy Development & Scrutiny Project Officer introduced this item to the Panel. She explained that the Single Inquiry Day was the work of four Panels coming together in October 2013 to look at the matter.

She added that the draft report and recommendations came to the Wellbeing Panel before being put to Cabinet Members for comment. This Panel now had the opportunity to comment on those recommendations that fall within its remit.

REC 6.c. – Early Morning Restriction Orders in areas based on resident demand.

Councillor Lisa Brett called for this recommendation to not be rejected as she didn’t feel that under the Social Responsibility Bill the Council would have a legal right to do so. She added that she did not believe one was necessary currently, but was worried about ruling it out completely.

The Chair asked that Councillor Dixon be informed of the view expressed by Councillor Brett.

A briefing note has been prepared for the Panel for information only.

The Chair introduced this item and explained that if Panel members had any questions they would be fed back to officers who would seek to get a response from Network Rail.

Mr David Redgewell, South West Transport Network addressed the Panel. A copy of his statement can be found on the Panel’s Minute Book or as an appendix to these minutes online.

He informed the Panel that the project was on course and on budget and that the line between Swindon and London would be tested next year. He said that works were underway on bridges in Marksbury and areas within Bath, Saltford, Keynsham and Bathampton would be affected.

He called for the Council to act swiftly and positively while money was on the table for the project.

He also wished to highlight the importance of working under the Equalities Act and called for CCTV to be installed in all stations.

He said that the Council and the Police needed to be made aware of the potential increase of metal theft while the project was in progress due to the equipment and materials that would be involved.

He strongly suggested that the Council has a designated Rail Officer.

Councillor Douglas Nicol asked if the Central Devon line was to re-open.

Mr Redgewell replied that it has been considered and that the Council should be involved in any future discussions.

Councillor Lisa Brett commented that another objective for the Council should be that the project compliments its future strategies.

The Chair thanked Mr Redgewell for his statement.

This report presents the latest workplan for the Panel.

The Chair introduced this item to the Panel. She proposed that the Bath Transport Strategy be added to the agenda for the meeting on 6^th May.

The Panel agreed with this proposal.