Agenda item

(Report of the Director of Finance & Director of Environmental Services) To update Members on the financial planning process and to consider the pre business plan reviews for the following business units: Streescene business unit, Enforcement business unit, Recreation business unit, PEPPs business unit.

The Director of Environmental Services passed on apologies from the Executive Member for Environment & Conservation, and introduced the report. The report covered the following business units: Streetscene, Enforcement, Recreation and PEPPs. The cost base had changed due to higher expectations and more people in the borough, and the budget concentrated on the Council’s priorities.

The Committee raised a number of issues regarding the report. The issue of participation in the organic waste collection scheme was raised, and it was commented that the next user survey after Christmas would pick these figures up. The issue of permit schemes for utilities road work was raised, and it was commented that the Council agrees in advance what is expected in each instance. The issue of allotments was raised, and it was commented that there was a need to improve access  to plots, and it was commented that the findings of the Scrutiny Review of Allotments could inform next year’s business plan.

The issue of funding for improvements to Tottenham Leisure Centre was raised, and it was commented that the funding for this had been raised through prudential borrowing, for which the regulations had only come into place in that past year. The proposed funding figure for the Borough Spending Plan was raised, and it was commented that this was a bid to Transport for London, and the exact figure received would be known in December. The issue of spending on solar power was raised, and it was commented that savings would be made in the long-term, and that it would be a step forward in the Council’s goal of improved sustainability.

The issue of funding new Controlled Parking Zones was raised and it was commented that there would be income from the selling of permits and that CPZs were a popular measure. The Next Day Fix scheme was discussed, and the Committee commented on the amount of revenue invested in a scheme that they had concerns over the quality of repairs and the monitoring of the work undertaken. It was commented that the Council was monitoring the work and additional investment was required to improve this and expand the scheme. It was agreed that Committee Members would be informed of repairs taking place in a report before 12 December 2005.

The issue of the publicity spend on the Better Haringey programme was raised, and Councillor Davies’s concerns over the increase in this figure were noted. The proposed increase in allotment premium charges was discussed, and the Committee commented that the running cost of allotments roughly equated to the revenue from current allotment charges. The Director of Environmental Services representative commented that improvements could be made to allotments with increased revenue. Councillor Davies, seconded by Councillor Bull, moved that the proposed increases in allotment charges be withdrawn from the spending plan as it would pre-empt the outcome of the Scrutiny Review of Allotments, and on a vote this was carried.

RESOLVED:

That the Committee approved the financial planning position set out in the report and the pre-business plan reviews covering Streetscene business unit, Enforcement business unit, Recreation business unit and the PEPPS business unit with the exception of New Cashable Efficiency Saving no.3, Increased Allotment Premium Charges. It was agreed that this would be postponed pending the recommendations of the Scrutiny Review of Allotments. Concerns were noted over the quality of repairs under the Next Day Fix system, and it was agreed that a report would be prepared covering the Next Day Fix system before 12 December 2005.