Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors T Eynon and D Harrison.

Under the Code of Conduct members are reminded that in declaring disclosable interests you should make clear the nature of that interest and whether it is pecuniary or non-pecuniary.

No interests were declared.

To receive questions from members of the public under rule no.10 of the Council Procedure Rules. The procedure rule provides that members of the public may ask any question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the District, provided that three clear days’ notice in writing has been given to the Head of Legal and Support Services.

No questions were received.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2016.

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2016.

It was moved by Councillor J Geary, seconded by Councillor N Smith and

RESOLVED THAT:

The minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2016 be approved and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

The Chairman welcomed the Leader of the Council, Councillor R Blunt, to the meeting as an invited guest of the Committee.  He also announced a change in item order on the agenda and bought forward item 6.  

Discussion Item

The Chairman reminded Members of the discussion had at the previous meeting regarding the effectiveness of scrutiny and that the Leader of the Council, Councillor R Blunt was in attendance to discuss the matter with the Committee as requested.  The Chairman invited Councillor R Blunt to address the committee.

Councillor R Blunt thanked the Committee for his invitation as he believed scrutiny was a very important issue.  He went on to say that the scrutiny needed to be Member lead and it was for the committee to decide what to scrutinise rather than being told by officers, that way Members would get more from it.  He explained that after he was made aware of the concerns from the Committee he took a number of steps to address them.  He introduced Andrew Hunkin, the interim Director of Resources who would be the single point of contact for the Policy Development Group and had direct responsibility.  He also explained that after discussion with the Labour Group Leader, it was decided to appoint Councillor J Geary as their Scrutiny Lead Member, who would work with the Chairman and the Interim Director of Resources to move things forward.

Councillor J Geary explained that he raised the issue at the previous meeting because he had read an article about the role of scrutiny and it referred to it as being ‘a talking shop’ and ‘toothless’.  He felt that it sounded familiar and that the Cabinet did not listen to the views of the Committee.  He gave a number of examples of matters that he believed should have been scrutinised but were missed including the closure of Snibston Discovery Park and the Council Offices move that did not occur.  He concluded that it was imperative for the Council to have a good scrutiny system and he felt it was currently failing.  He was looking forward to seeing the outcomes of the initial changes made by the Leader to improve the process of scrutinising. 

Councillor R Blunt stressed that the article Councillor J Geary mentioned did not refer to North West Leicestershire.  He valued the time committed by Members to scrutiny and agreed that issues such as Snibston Discovery Park should have been scrutinised.  He added that if there was a particular issue that Members would like further information on, for example the proposed office move that did not come into fruition, he was happy for Members to contact him for further discussion and any information he could share, he would.  He believed the decisions made by Cabinet should be scrutinised and encouraged Members to do so.  He referred to Leicestershire County Council’s process as the Cabinet was scrutinised by all parties and he enjoyed it.  He referred to the role of Lead Scrutiny Member and assured that with regular briefings with the Interim Director of Resources improvements would be made.

Councillor J Clarke stressed that transparency was vital and he believed that the committee could work together without politics.  He added that the Coalville Project  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

Report of the Director of Services

The Head of Community Services presented the report to Members highlighting how recycling performance was measured, comparisons with other local authorities in Leicestershire and issues that affect recycling levels.  He explained that North West Leicestershire was not a poor performing authority and that statistics provided evidence of that, but he assured Members that he would still continue to make improvements to the service and referred Members to the next steps as detailed within the report.  He added that the Leicestershire Waste Partnership was looking at the recycling of food waste but it was in the very early stages and not near implementation yet.

Councillor A C Saffell felt that there was a problem with the way household recycling was monitored and gave himself as an example.  As he lived by himself he did not put his bin out for every collection as it often was not full, therefore it could look like he did not recycle.  The Waste Services Development Officer explained that waste was monitored over three collections and an average was taken, this was due to households not always presenting their bins.  He added that demographics were also used when making comparisons and then particular areas could be targeted; the current area being looked at was Greenhill.

Councillor N Smith asked what was being done about people who refused to recycle as he was aware that they could not fine individuals.  He referred to a resident in his ward that had refused to move away from solid fuel and as it generated a lot of waste, asked if there was any kind of allowance available to encourage people to move away from solid fuel.  He also added that he had a food cone in his garden which was excellent which he obtained from Leicestershire County Council.  The Head of Community Services confirmed that the Council could not impose fines for not recycling but they did focus on educating people and targeting the lower performing areas.  He reported that officers go into schools to educate the children on recycling and this has proven to be a good way of getting the message across.  Regarding any kind of allowance to move away from solid fuel, the Head of Community Services was not aware of anything but would look into it.

Councillor N Clarke thanked officers for the amount of time spent on trying to improve recycling performance as he could see that a lot of work was being undertaken but he still had concerns that targets were not being reached.  He understood that the District’s solid fuel waste was higher than most but when compared with South Derbyshire District Council which was very similar, their performance was better.  The Head of Community Services explained that South Derbyshire District Council mixed green waste with food waste which was why they achieved better targets.  Unfortunately, North West Leicestershire District Council could not do this as the refuse site was an open facility which would encourage vermin.  In response to a further question  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider any items to be included in the work programme. The plan of forthcoming Cabinet decisions and the current work programme are attached for information.

Councillor N Clarke requested that an update report be placed on the work plan for the next meeting regarding the current position of the building of new council homes.

Following on from the discussion earlier in the meeting regarding the plans for installing a gas supply into the rural areas of the district, Councillor J Geary requested that the appropriate representative be invited to the next meeting of the group.  This was to allow further discussion on any plans for connection, the costs involved and the process to be aware of.

Councillor A C Saffell referred to an ongoing issue regarding the lack of action of planning enforcement in protected conservation areas as important features were being lost.  He explained that he was currently working with officers from the planning department to resolve the matter but he would request an item on the work plan at a future meeting if he was not successful.

RESOVLED THAT:

The following items be placed on the work plan –

a)    Update Report on Position for New Homes Build

b)    Invite representatives from the appropriate agency to discuss the gas supply in the rural areas of the District.