Agenda and minutes

Please note that this meeting may be filmed or recorded by the Council for live or subsequent broadcast via the Council’s internet site or by anyone attending the meeting using any communication method. Although we ask members of the public recording, filming or reporting on the meeting not to include the public seating areas, members of the public attending the meeting should be aware that we cannot guarantee that they will not be filmed or recorded by others attending the meeting. Members of the public participating in the meeting (e.g. making deputations, asking questions, making oral protests) should be aware that they are likely to be filmed, recorded or reported on. 

By entering the meeting room and using the public seating area, you are consenting to being filmed and to the possible use of those images and sound recordings.

The chair of the meeting has the discretion to terminate or suspend filming or recording, if in his or her opinion continuation of the filming, recording or reporting would disrupt or prejudice the proceedings, infringe the rights of any individual or may lead to the breach of a legal obligation by the Council.

The Chair referred Members present to agenda Item 1 as shown on the agenda in respect of filming at this meeting, and Members noted the information contained therein’.

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Davies and apologies for lateness were received from Cllr Ahmet.

The Chair will consider the admission of any late items of urgent business (late items will be considered under the agenda item where they appear. New items will be dealt with as noted below).   

There were no items of urgent business.

Cllr Culverwell advised the Panel that he was a member of the Friends of Finsbury Park.

To consider any requests received in accordance with Part 4, Section B, Paragraph 29 of the Council’s Constitution.

None.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting on 11 June.

The Chair requested that the minutes refer to the name of the Cabinet Member as well as their title. (Action: Clerk).

In response to the previous action around an update on additional police resources, officers advised that this equated to 10-15 new police officers a month but that they were unsure of the breakdown of the Mayor’s uplift versus the recent announcement by the Government. Officers would provide a further update to the Panel via email. (Action: Eubert Malcolm).

The Clerk advised the Panel that in relation to the previous action around  community conversations on youth violence and engagement with the Kurdish community, the Cabinet Member (Cllr Blake) had advised that that he had met with representatives from the Kurdish community to discuss their concerns. There were six community conversations held between March 2019 and September 2019. The community conversations were facilitated through a panel discussion, including Cabinet Members, senior officers and the police. Approximately 250 individuals were in attendance across all six events. The community conversations would continue and a communications plan was being developed.

The Clerk also advised the Panel that Cllr M. Blake was due to attend the next schools forum to raise this issue of what could be done to link up with schools around youth services. This was also something that was raised at a recent workshop attended by the Cabinet Member on reducing the numbers of young people entering the youth justice system.

RESOLVED

That the minutes of the meeting on 11^th June be agreed as a correct record.

Verbal Update.

The Chair advised that he was going to take the Cabinet Member Q&A session before the Veolia performance update. *The minutes reflect the order in which the items were considered, rather than the order on the published agenda*.

The Panel received a verbal update from the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods, Cllr Chandwani on her portfolio area. The Cabinet Member thanked the Panel members for their support and their involvement with  evidence gathering for the implementation of dedicated disabled bays and the Blue Badges report. It was noted that phase two of the project was to be developed. The Cabinet Member also gave a brief update around the Wall of Shame scheme to educate and deter would be fly-tippers. The Cabinet Member advised that the response to the scheme so far had been overwhelmingly positive,  and there had been a good number of hits generated. In response to a question, the Panel were advised that there had been over 140 FPNs issued for flytipping in the quarter from July to September 2019. The Cabinet Member also provided an introduction on the implementation of the new Parking Management IT System and the service improvements that were expected as a result of the improvements in both front and back office parking services.

The following was noted in discussion of this agenda item:

a.    The Chair sought clarification around the upcoming review of green waste charges, in response it was noted that the review would take place over the winter period once the busy autumn period had finished and that it would look at the level of charges as well any possible shortfall in the income target. The Panel was also advised that HfH were in the process of having a fresh rollout of their own bulky waste collection service on estates, with an accompanying communications campaign.

b.    In response to concerns around the flow of traffic and parking availability arising from the liveable streets project in Crouch End, the Cabinet Member advised that this area was the responsibility of Cllr Hearn. It was also noted that this was a rapidly developing policy area and that there was a lot of learning to be done across London.

c.    In response to the new flytipping campaign, the Cabinet Member set out that overall a much tougher approach had been adopted with the communication messages and through adopting the Wall of Shame scheme. The Chair enquired whether it was possible to share some of the videos and communications messages with Councillors in order for them to be shared more widely. The Cabinet Member agreed to consider this. (Action: Cllr Chandwani).

d.    In response to concerns around offensive graffiti, the Cabinet Member advised that under the Veolia Contract, Veolia would remove this within 24 hours. The Cabinet Member suggested that the easiest and quickest way of reporting graffiti was through the app.

e.    The Panel also raised concerns about dumped rubbish on Parkland Walk and a concern that some of the neighbouring properties were responsible. In  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

The Panel received a report which set out current performance on waste and recycling. The report also set out progress against Borough Plan commitments for waste and street cleansing such as fly-tipping, as well as the reduction, reuse and recycling of products. The report was introduced by Zoe Robertson, Head of Commissioning and Client Services as set out in the agenda pack. The following was noted in response to the discussion of the report.

a.    In response to a question, the Panel was advised that the number of fly-tips had reduced by around 2000 from the year before. The performance scorecard included in the report was made up of a number of contractual performance indicators and the Panel noted that overall Veolia was meeting these targets. The recycling rate was the key performance indicator that was underperforming. Officers advised that the Mayor’s waste plan was scheduled to come to November Cabinet.

b.    In response to a question, officers confirmed that the Veolia contract contained provision for leaf clearance and that this was undertaken as part of street cleansing operations. Officers advised that due to the mix of trees, it was not possible to plan leaf collections around specific tree species. In response to a follow up question, officers advised that Veolia did sweep fallen leaves from around drains but would not pump the drains to clear leaves that had fallen in there.

c.    In response to concerns about the level of engagement with residents groups, officers acknowledged that there was active engagement work undertaken with the community and that this proved be a valuable source of local information as well as providing a targeted service that produced value for money. Officers conceded that there was further scope for additional engagement work and that they would like to see more of this undertaken. In response, a Panel member highlighted that reductions had been made in recent years in Veolia’s community engagement team. The Cabinet Member acknowledged this and emphasised that a number of very difficult decision had been made in recent years in relation to both the client and the contract. The Cabinet Member advised that she was happy to consider recommendations from Members of active residents’ groups within the borough who could be engaged with going forwards. (Action: Panel Members to note).

d.    In  response to a question, officers advised that they also had performance data at a ward and, in some cases, a street level. However, the indicators included in the report were contractual performance measures and therefore represented borough-wide performance. The Chair of the Panel and the Chair of OSC agreed to speak with the Cabinet Member and officers to pick up which ward level data they would like to pick up going forwards (Chair/Cllr Das Neves).

e.    In response to a question about measuring waste, it was confirmed that waste was measured and broken down into categories such as dry recycling, green waste, food waste etcetera. The overall volume of waste had not decreased, however the amount  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

The Panel received two reports which provided an update on the Parking Transformation Programme as well as an update on parking related reports that were scheduled be considered by Cabinet over September and October: The Parking Management IT System (PMIS) and Civica extension; Blue Badge and Disabled Bay Operational Review; and the Nuisance Vehicle Contract. The two reports were introduced by Ann Cunningham, Head of Operations for Neighbourhoods and Environment. The following was noted in discussion of this agenda item:

a.    The Cabinet Member advised the Panel that many of projects listed under the Parking Transformation Plan were at a fairly embryonic stage and that she would welcome the Panel’s input. The Chair requested that the Parking Transformation Plan come back to the next meeting for a further discussion on these proposals and how the Panel might get involved.

b.    In response to a question, officers confirmed that parking revenue income was due to increase over the next three year period and that this was largely as a result of an expansion of Controlled Parking Zones and the introduction of a number of moving parking controls. Officers set out that an extension of the existing CPZ network was only done in response to support from local residents  and that they there was a 2 year waiting list due to the demand. CPZ coverage of the Borough was at around 80%.

c.    In response to a question, the Panel was advised that parking restrictions were enforced from 8am to 10pm and as part of the Parking Transformation Plan, officers were looking at extending this to 24 hour controls in and around Wood Green, in response to the growing demand on parking spaces from the night time economy.

d.    The Panel welcomed the additional investment in to parking controls and made a plea for a strategic approach to be adopted in response to CPZs. Officers acknowledged this and advised that this was one of the main reasons for examining the policy, in order to adopt a strategic approach and formalise some of the polices and learning that had been adopted.

e.    The Panel raised concerns about the potential impact of CPZs and the knock-on effect it could have on parking in neighbouring roads that were not part of a CPZ.

f.     In response to comments about abandoned cars and a perception that cars were not being taken away even after being reported, officers advised there were a series of checks and criteria that had to be met before a car could be removed. Officers set out that in a number of cases, following further investigation, vehicles were found not to be abandoned and could, for example, just have been sat there for a couple of weeks.

g.    The Cabinet Member agreed to send round a short briefing that she had drafted previously around abandoned vehicles. (Action: Cllr Chandwani).

h.    In response to further questions, the Cabinet Member commented that Ward Councillors could instigate a local petition to have a CPZ installed and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.

Verbal Update.

The Panel received a verbal update from Simon Farrow, Highways, Parking, Parks & Open Spaces Manager around parks and street tree maintenance. The following was noted in discussion of this agenda item:

a.    In response to concerns raised by the Chair prior to the meeting, the Highways, Parking, Parks & Open Spaces Manager advised that parks security was dealt with by controlling access through using different gates and access points at different time of the year. The Panel noted that the Parks team were working with Community Safety to put in place more robust gates and locks to parks and open spaces and to remove some of the access points that were no longer required. Officers elaborated that they were also exploring a new type of digital lock used by the Fire Brigade which only allowed one person to have the key at any time.

b.    In response to a recent incidences, officers advise that the travellers who used Haringey’s parks tended to do so seasonally and tended not to be using them for commercial activities. As a result, the level of dumping and rubbish was limited. The Panel was advised that the families that tended to use Haringey parks tended towards relatively short stays. Officers worked proactively worked with them to collect rubbish and install temporary toilets were necessary, as well arrange visits by social workers if required.

c.    The Chair suggested that he had received some complaints from residents that there were some commercial activities taking place in Priory Park. Officers requested that any evidence of this be forwarded on to them and that they would investigate and take the necessary actions. (Members to note).

d.    The Panel was advised that in general, the police had more powers than the Council to remove travellers. If there was more than 6 vehicles, police colleagues could move them on in 24 hours. However, if there were less than 6 vehicles, the Council had to secure a Court Order,  which invariably took a bit of time. 

e.    The Panel commented that there had been a previous Scrutiny Review undertaken by the Panel around this issue and one of the recommendations raised was around securing borough-wide Court Orders, which had been used by other boroughs including Enfield. The Panel sought clarification as to whether any progress had been made on this issue since it was first identified some time ago. The Clerk to chase the AD for Stronger Communities for an update. (Action: Clerk).

f.     The Panel was advised that although there was a budget for the maintenance of street trees, the reality was that the level of resources available was not sufficient to undertake the entire planned schedule for this year. Instead, officers were prioritising cases of dying or damaged trees or where an insurance claim had been made. Officers advised that they were in the process of putting in a bid for additional funding.

g.    In response to a question about staffing levels, the Panel were advised the team would, as of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

RESOLVED

     I.        That the Panel noted its work programme, attached at Appendix A, and considered whether any amendments are required.

    II.        That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be asked to endorse any amendments at its next meeting.  

To consider any items admitted at item 3 above.

N/A

November 5^th

17^th December

November 5^th

17^th December