Agenda item

A report is attached that presents the Council’s Organisational Plan 2019/20 to the Panel for consideration and feedback as part of the Council’s operational planning and budget development process.

David Trethewey, Director of Partnerships and Corporate Services introduced the report.

Councillor Charles Gerrish, Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiency, Martin Shields, Corporate Director, and Mandy Bishop, Director of Environmental Services, were also present to answer questions.

Panel members asked the following questions and made the following points:

Councillor Anketell Jones asked, regarding the Organisational Plan, what the critical point was if the amount in the pound spent on adult and children services kept on rising. The Director of Partnerships and Corporate Services explained that there is no categorical answer but that a Fair Funding Review was in place.

Regarding the Core Offer (page 61), Councillor Evans referred to the middle section and stated that he was concerned that safety was becoming the only criteria regarding roads rather than travel. The Director of Partnerships and Corporate Services explained that the Council has resources for core delivery but it can still influence others to affect results.

Councillor Anketell Jones asked about the PREVENT agenda and the Director of Partnerships and Corporate Services explained that the Council would continue to work with partners and the community.

Councillor Samuel stated that the Council had a long way to go to make it’s online services more transactional which would lead to huge savings. He added that the One Stop Shop is not a comprehensive service and the current website is not fit for purpose. The Director of Partnerships and Corporate Services responded by explaining that there is a proposal in the digital transformation plan a move to a transactional service around parking and a new website is being worked on. Councillor Bull raised an equalities issue with transactional services by stating that not all people have access to or can use online services. Councillor Hale sought assurance that we never move away from the human voice on the phone system. The Director of Partnerships and Corporate Services stated that this would be considered in the roll out of services and residents access needs would be assessed but could not give an ongoing assurance regarding the phone system. Councillor Hale stated that an automated phone system would be a backwards step. Councillor Symonds gave an example that there were 650 members of Dial a Ride in his area and only 50 have access to email so many would have problems accessing the Council if any services were online only.

Councillor Samuel asked why the parking strategy (page 63) was marked as high risk. Mandy Bishop, Director of Environmental Services explained that this will now be reassessed as medium risk.

In response to a query from Councillor Neil Butters regarding parking income, Martin Shields, Corporate Director explained that the income can be used to support the highway (for example safe routes to schools).

Councillor Bull noted the large savings that were predicted from ‘Getting from A to B’, the officer confirmed this and added that the savings will be mainly in 2020/21.

Regarding a query about pothole repairs, the Director of Environmental Services explained some permanent pothole repairs would become part of the Capital programme. She explained that the CIPFA guidelines had changed recently. The Panel supported this.

There was some discussion on Green Waste collections. Councillor Gilchrist stated that there was a proposed increase in charges but reduction in this service and asked if some residents could pay more to get a full 12 month service. The Corporate Director explained that there had been a review of the service which found that it would not be cost effective to pick up small amounts of waste. Councillor Samuel pointed out that if it the service operates on a cost recovery basis, it would not matter if there was a gap in the service. He added that when services are intermittent, they are not used. Councillor Charles Gerrish, Cabinet Member for Finance and Efficiency, stated that he had heard the points made.

Councillor Samuel stated that the ‘Fix my street’ App is a great innovation but still did not provide adequate feedback on what had been reported. The Corporate Director explained that it was a mechanism to make clear what was in the system but in the future it could be refined to link with back office systems to give more information. The Director of Environmental Services said she would check out Councillor Samuels’s suggestion of sending a picture of a repair to the complainant.

In response to a question from Councillor Butters, the Cabinet Member explained that strategic work is funded by WECA and local work by BANES.

The Cabinet Member confirmed that the gulls nest removal programme will continue in response to a query from Councillor Gilchrist.

Regarding Air Quality monitoring, Councillor Samuel explained that he had asked if the Council had considered bidding to DEFRA for real time monitoring in the city. He explained that diffusion tubes were in place currently and they only looked backwards. The Corporate Director explained that the Council was in detailed discussion with DEFRA regarding what they would fund.

The Panel RESOLVED to pass on the following comments to the Cabinet:

·  Regarding the digital transformation and core service redesign – consideration be given to those residents who cannot access or use online services.

·  Consideration be given to the possibility of giving residents the option of paying more for a full 12 month green bin service.

·  Consideration be given to refining the ‘Fix My Street’ App, which is a great innovation, so that it can provide adequate feedback to complainants.

·  Consideration be given to getting real time monitoring (regarding Air Quality) across the city.