Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 2, the Council Offices, High Street North, Dunstable

Contact: Rebecca Preen  0300 300 4193

Note: Please note that this meeting will not be webcast. 

Items
No. Item

1.

Members' Interests

To receive from Members any declarations of interest and of any political whip in relation to any agenda item.

 

 

Minutes:

 

None.

 

2.

Chairman's Announcements and Communications

To receive any announcements from the Chairman and any matters of communication.

 

 

Minutes:

 

The Chairman announced that there would be a minute’s silence held at 11am in memory of the victims of the Manchester Arena bombing and that the Committee would be scrutinising the recent Bedfordshire Police PEEL HMIC (Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Constabulary) report at a special meeting on 5 July 2017.

 

3.

Minutes pdf icon PDF 68 KB

 

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 16 March 2017 and to note actions taken since that meeting.

 

Minutes:

 

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Sustainable Communities Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 16 March 2017 be confirmed and signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

 

4.

Petitions

To receive petitions from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 2 of Part A4 of the Constitution.

 

 

Minutes:

 

None.

 

5.

Questions, Statements or Deputations

To receive any questions, statements or deputations from members of the public in accordance with the Public Participation Procedure as set out in Annex 1 of part A4 of the Constitution.

 

 

Minutes:

 

None.

 

6.

Call-In

To consider any decision of the Executive referred to this Committee for review  in accordance with Procedure Rule 10.10 of Part D2.  

 

 

Minutes:

 

None.

 

7.

Requested Items

To consider any items referred to the Committee at the request of a Member under Procedure Rule 3.1 of Part D2 of the Constitution.

 

 

Minutes:

 

None.

 

8.

Executive Members Updates

To receive a brief verbal update from the Executive Member for Community Services and the Executive Member for Regeneration.

Minutes:

 

The Executive Member for Community Services provided details with regards to the closure and refurbishment of Dunstable Leisure Centre, the recent upgrade to leisure facilities in Houghton Regis. It was also confirmed that the Library strategy would be added to the committee work programme later in the year.

 

The Executive Member for Regeneration advised that the backlog of work in relation to HGV signage across the region was being addressed and that the Committee would receive an update in relation to a directorate restructure in due course. Measures were being considered to strengthen the Planning Enforcement service and the Committee would again be asked to assess any proposals.

 

The Deputy Executive Member for Community Services provided an update with regards to the opening of the Thorn Turn depot which would be completed on 10 July 2017 with the official opening in September. The directorate were considering the introduction of a commercial cost element to be included at some Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC’s) confirming that there was no correlation between offering a commercial service and fly tipping, with separate plans in place to address this issue.

 

9.

Highways Asset Management Plan pdf icon PDF 280 KB

 

To review and comment on the Highways Asset Management Plan.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

The Team Leader for Highways Business Support delivered a report which set out changes to central government funding of the highways network and the need for the Council to demonstrate compliance in order to secure ‘Band 3’ grading which would enable the bid for additional funds.

 

In light of the report Members discussed concerns regarding customer responsiveness, to which it was confirmed that measures were being taken to improve the service delivered.

 

Members expressed frustration at the lack of a mobile application to log defects and potholes and that tracking a reported complaint was very difficult.

 

RECOMMENDED:-

1.     That the Highways Service utilises the principles set out in the Draft Highways Asset Management Policy to develop a Highways Asset Management Strategy, Communications Strategy, undertake a Service Review and develop any other supporting documents relevant to the Incentive Fund Bid.

2.     That the Executive adopts the updated Network Maintenance Management Plan and approves the Resilient Network for public consultation.

3.     That the Council, as Highways Authority, adopts Sustainable Drainage Systems (SuDS) that are situated within the highway boundary and which only receive highway run off and agrees the criteria as set out in Appendix B.

4.     That a review of the contractor, Ringway Jacobs be included within the Committee Work Programme.

 

10.

Review of the 2011 Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment (PFRA) pdf icon PDF 335 KB

 

To assess and comment on the proposed review of the 2011 Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment.

 

Minutes:

 

The Executive Member for Community Services delivered a report which set out a refresh to the 2011 Preliminary Flood Risk Assessment (PFRA), explaining the screening exercise which involved collecting information on historic and potential future floods in order to identify areas with an increased risk of flooding and to manage and mitigate the associated risks.

 

In light of the report Members discussed the following in summary:-

·           The national policy implications at a local level and how each area was categorised.

·           That additional funds be made available to map and clear gullys.

·           That the Council had a coordinating role in order to identify those responsible for drainage systems.

·           The importance of considering climate change and sharing data with strategic partners.

 

RECOMMENDED that the Executive support the 2017 review and submit the report to the Environment Agency by the statutory deadline of 22 June 2017.

 

11.

Work Programme 2017/18 and Executive Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 58 KB

 

Members of the Committee will receive information regarding the Work Programme 2017/18 and Executive Forward Plan.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

 

RECOMMENDED that the Committee Work Programme be agreed subject to the following amendments:-

·           HMIC PEEL (Police) Report – 5 July 2017

·           Partnership Working with Anglian Water to include Flood Risk Management and Drainage Maintenance – 14 September 2017

·           Review of Highways Contract Performance – 14 September 2014

·           Library Strategy – TBC