Verbal Update
Minutes:
*Clerk’s note: The Chair requested that agenda items 10 and 11 be combined and that the Cabinet Member provide a short combined verbal update, followed by the scheduled question and answer session.*
The Panel received a verbal update from the Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods in relation to how the Council sought to engage with residents and communities and involve them in service delivery. The Panel also received a more general update on the Cabinet Member’s portfolio. This was followed by a question and answer session. The following was noted in relation to the verbal update:
a. The Panel were advised that the AD Stronger Communities was now responsible for the contract management of Veolia as well as waste enforcement. It was noted that the merging of those teams reflected a clear synergy and provided greater opportunities for joined up working across this area, including HMO licencing and ASB.
b. The Panel noted that work was ongoing with bringing the Street Enforcement Team back in-house, following the conclusion of the pilot with an outsourced service through Kingdom. Staff were being recruited and it was anticipated that this should be in place by May. The in-house service would have a wider remit than Kingdom and would be responsible for general flytipping and trade waste enforcement.
c. The Cabinet Member advised that 280 FPNs for flytipping had been issued since April 2019. Work was also continuing with increasing signage about flytipping/dumping across the borough.
d. The CPZ policy was due to be considered by Cabinet in March, which would provide an updated and refreshed strategy to reflect current parking pressures and new housing developments.
e. The Highways Plan was also due to be considered at Cabinet at the meeting taking place the following week. This would set out the planned highways maintenance works for the next 12 months and would reflect an increased investment in highways. The plan would also include the upgrading of around 4000 street lights. Some of which were identified as being over 30 years old.
f. The Cabinet Member advised that she was working to bring reactive highways maintenance back in house and that the additional investment into highways infrastructure would make this economically viable and allow significant improvements to be made.
g. The Cabinet Member advised the Panel that she was also seeking to bring the reporting of potholes back from Customer Services in order to improve the service and make it more joined-up.
h. The Cabinet Member characterised the overall strategy as one of ensuring that the Council responded to residents properly and that it did what it said it would.
The following was noted in discussion of this item:
a. The Panel sought assurance about the length of time it had taken to bring the street enforcement service back in-house. In response, the Cabinet Member acknowledged that initial discussion about insourcing of the service began two years ago. The Cabinet Member set out that a lot of work had been undertaken since then looking at a variety of different models and learning from best practice elsewhere. The proposed service would have a much broader role and remit than Kingdom, including enforcing timed waste collections. The Panel were advised that the recruitment process was underway and that interviews were taking place.
b. In response to a question, the Cabinet Member advised that the intention was that the Wood Green inner zone would be one of the first zones to be looked at as part of the review of CPZ policy.
c. The Panel raised concerns with the quality of pothole repairs in the Borough and suggested that cheap repairs resulted in cracks appearing and the work having to be redone. The Cabinet Member acknowledged these concerns and advised that there had been some issues with the LOHAC contract and the contract monitoring of this. The Cabinet Member advised that a new contract had been awarded and better contract management would be put in place to ensure improved service levels.
d. The Panel also raised concerns about recent flooding in the Borough, particularly in and around Green Lanes as well a recent spate of blocked drains. In response, the Cabinet Member acknowledged these concerns and advised that drains often involved a number of agencies including Thames Water and the Council. The Cabinet Member advised that work was underway to look at how improvements could be made in respect of responding to block drains and localised instances of flooding. The Panel were advised that Green Lanes was a principal road and managed by TfL, the Council was in discussion with TfL to try and agree greater investment and improvements to Green Lanes.
e. In response to further questions around roadworks and road closures, the Cabinet Member confirmed that most of the disruptive work was done by utility companies and tended to be unplanned emergency works.
f. In response to a question around the evidence base for the wall of shame, the Cabinet Member advised that Barking and Dagenham had a similar scheme in place for two years which had resulted in 28 prosecutions and let to a reduction in flytipping by a third. The Cabinet Member emphasised that the education/behaviour change aspect was the main driver. In response to concerns about whether there were performance targets in place, the Panel was advised that targets were set out as part of the Flytipping Strategy.
g. In response to a question, the Cabinet Member confirmed that all councillors had been given the opportunity to provide comments on the Highways Plan.
RESOLVED
That the update was noted.