Agenda and minutes

Venue: Meeting to be held in accordance with SI 2020/392. Link to live stream will be found at https://www.tendringdc.gov.uk

Contact: Keith Simmons Email:  democraticservices@tendringdc.gov.uk or Telephone  01255 686580

Items
No. Item

81.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions

The Committee is asked to note any apologies for absence and substitutions received from Members.

 

Minutes:

There were no absences or substitutions.

82.

Minutes of the Last Meeting

To confirm and sign as a correct record, the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee, held on 3 September 2020.

Minutes:

The Minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on Thursday 3 September 2020 were approved as a correct record and were then signed by the Chairman.

83.

Declarations of Interest

Councillors are invited to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Personal Interest, and the nature of it, in relation to any item on the agenda.

 

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

84.

Questions on Notice pursuant to Council Procedure Rule 38

Subject to providing two working days' notice, a Member of the Committee may ask the Chairman of the Committee a question on any matter in relation to which the Council has powers or duties which affect the Tendring District and which falls within the terms of reference of the Committee.

Minutes:

On this occasion no Councillor had submitted notice of a question.

85.

Recommendations Monitoring Report pdf icon PDF 108 KB

To present to the Committee the updated Recommendations Monitoring Report, outlining any recommendations the Committee have sent to Cabinet. The Committee is requested to consider the report and determine whether any further action is required on the recommendations submitted.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it the current Recommendations Monitoring Report. The Committee were aware that this report outlined any recommendations it had made to the Cabinet, the Cabinet’s response and any relevant updates.

 

After some deliberation it was RESOLVED that an update was required in relation to an item from the Committee meeting from 22 June 2020 (minute 62) regarding the cliff stabilisation survey, clarification is sought to know if his response included a district wide survey.

 

It was also RESOLVED that the Committee would like to know if its recommendation in relation to a public engagement plan as well as more information to the public in relation to the grants available, and if either of these have started yet, this is in reference to the Committee held on 22 June 2020 (Minute 68 refers) about Housing Issues.

 

The Committee discussed the maintenance contract discussed at the Committee on the 22 June 2020 (Minute 68 refers) where the Portfolio Holder responded that the contract is a 7 year contract with a review after 1 year, it was RESOLVED that the Committee seeks to be part of that review.

 

The Committee held on 22 June 2020 (Minute 63 refers) recommended that all funding to NEGC ltd. be suspended, as the company is in the process of being dissolved they RESOLVED that this matter is closed.

 

 

 

86.

Report of Acting Corporate Director (Operational Services) - A.1 - Scrutiny of the Waste and Recycling Collection Service pdf icon PDF 89 KB

To submit to the Committee the future ambitions for the waste and recycling service including improving recycling levels (as requested by the Committee at its meeting on 17 February 2020). 

 

The report will also address a proposed site visit to a waste and recycling centre.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee was informed that prior to the COVID pandemic, invitations for a select number of Councillors were about to be made by the Portfolio holder for site visits to the Veolia plastic sorting and processing plants based in both Rainham and Degenham Essex, along with a site visit to the ECC transfer site located on the A120 at Ardleigh. As COVID restrictions remained in place Veolia were currently not offering site visits to any of their sites, policies were under constant review in line with government guidance and once the authority and Veolia were in a position to offer site visits suitable arrangements would be put in place to resurrect the intended site visits.

 

Photography and video recording was prohibited at their sites and due to that, live streaming or educational video was not an option. 

 

Future ambitions of the service to further improve the recycling rates:

 

Members heard the last of the main delivery of approximately 58,000 wheeled bins was completed by the end of August 2019 and as such the wheeled bin service had been in operation for just over a year. The report of the Portfolio Holder for Environment placed before Cabinet on the 16th February 2018 it was anticipated that the fortnightly collection of residual waste from a wheeled bin would reduce the amount of waste sent to landfill by an estimated 16% (4,500 tonnes) whilst increasing recycling by an estimated 3,100 tonnes and increasing the recycling rate by an estimated 8%.

 

The latest audited data supplied by ECC for the period of April 2019 to March 2020 had reported a reduction of waste sent to landfill by 7363 tonnes, increasing recycling by 2899 tonnes and increasing the recycling rate from the 2018/19 figure of 27.4% to 2019/20 figure of 36.6%; an increase of 9.2%.

 

Those figures not only meet or exceeded the predicted ambitions of the new service, the new waste service had not become fully operational until the last week in August 2019, this indicated that with the first 5 months data based either fully or partially on the old weekly collection service, that the future performance of the fortnightly collection service would continue to over achieve the initial targets set for the service.

 

With the introduction of wheeled bins having clearly promoted waste minimisation and increased participation in recycling, that since the roll out of the 58,000 wheeled bins the authority and Veolia have continued to work towards increasing the wheeled bin participation of households within the District. The initial audit of the properties in the district indicated approximately 11,000 properties which should remain on a weekly bag collection service, TDC Officers continued to reassess and where practicably possible, introduce wheeled bins to these 11,000 properties, with numerous blocks of flats and properties in rural locations being transferred over to a fortnightly wheeled bin service.  Additionally to those properties, as all new build developments became occupied the residents were automatically provided with not just a wheeled bin but also a full  ...  view the full minutes text for item 86.

87.

Report of Corporate Director (Place and Economy) - A.2 - Leisure Provision by the Council in the District pdf icon PDF 141 KB

To set out the position concerning the emerging District-wide Leisure Strategy, the refurbishment of Clacton Leisure Centre , the sale of land for use by Clacton County High School at the open space adjacent to the Clacton Leisure Centre and the refurbishment of the Skate Park also adjacent to the Centre.

 

 

Minutes:

The Committee was updated on a number of items on the Sport and Leisure work programme.  The Assistant Director for Economic Growth and Leisure # provided this background report.

 

 

UPDATES ON THE WORK PROGRAMME FOR THE COMMITTEE

 

a)    The emerging district-wide Leisure Strategy as previously reported to it – progress with the development of the Strategy

 

Members were informed that the Sports Facilities Strategy was due to be presented for consideration by Cabinet earlier in the year.  One of the key focusses of that plan was a wholesale review of pricing and recommendations for a change in direction, based on an external review of the local fitness market and an evaluation of the number of the volume and value of pre-paid members.  Due to the pandemic, that strategy had been postponed and was likely to be brought forward for consideration early in 2021. 

 

Membership numbers had fluctuated significantly due to the forced closure and phased approach to re-opening.  In that state of flux, membership subscriptions had been halved to recognise the reduction in services available to those who pre pay, wither annually or through bank transfer.  Further to that, the wider market has been drastically effected by the pandemic and it would not be an appropriate time to make radical decisions, without a clear understanding of when stability will resume.

 

b)    The refurbishment of the Clacton Leisure Centre – to review arrangements for the refurbishment since they were last presented to the Committee.

 

The Committee heard that in July 2019, Cabinet committed a budget for the refurbishment of the swimming pool changing rooms and health suite areas at Clacton Leisure Centre.

 

A tender process for those works was postponed earlier in the year due to the forced closure of the Sports Facilities.  A full specification had been prepared by a specialist organisation acting on behalf of the Council and was then in a position to be advertised to prospective contractors.  This Architectural Design and Contract Administration company would also act on behalf of the Council during the evaluation of tenders and throughout the construction phase.

 

Followed by the receipt and evaluation of the subsequent submissions, it was anticipated that the work would be undertaken at the end of the year, which was historically the quietest period.

 

c)    The sale of land to Clacton County High School, community access to the pitches on that land, management of that community access and the conditional works on the existing 3G pitches at the Leisure Centre – progress/timescales.

 

The Committee was informed of the transfer of land to Clacton County High School (CCHS) had yet to be concluded and final agreements were not at that time, in place.

 

In anticipation of conclusion however, agreement had been reached with the school and Essex County Council (ECC) on arrangements for community use.

 

Grass Pitch

The grass pitch which was marked out on the ‘new’ school land, would remain available for community use outside of school hours.  That would be booked through the same process as all  ...  view the full minutes text for item 87.

88.

Scrutiny of Proposed Decisions pdf icon PDF 57 KB

Pursuant to the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 13, the Committee will review any new and/or amended published forthcoming decisions relevant to its terms of reference and decide whether it wishes to enquire into any such decision before it is taken.

 

Matters may only be raised on those forthcoming decisions at Committee meetings where the Member has notified the Committee Services Manager in writing (or by personal email) of the question they wish to ask, no later than Midday, two working days before the day of the meeting.

 

Minutes:

Pursuant to the provisions of Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rule 13, the Committee reviewed any new and / or amended published forthcoming decisions relevant to its terms of reference with a view to deciding whether it wished to enquire into any such decision before it was taken. The relevant forthcoming decisions were before the Committee. The Committee was advised that the report referenced the lead Officers rather than the decision maker. The Committee was advised that rather than the officers identified in the report, the decisions would actually be taken by Cabinet in a meeting or by the relevant Portfolio Holder.

 

The Committee heard the proposed decisions and RESOLVED that they would add the following to their work agenda:

 

1.    Draft Climate Change Action Plan

2.    Financial Performance Report - Quarter 1 2020/21

3.    Back to Business Initiatives -  Covid-19 Recovery

4.    Housing Development and Acquisitions Strategy

89.

Review of the Work Programme pdf icon PDF 110 KB

To present to the Committee a draft detailed Work Programme 2020/21, to consider the detail and ordering of the Work Programme.

Minutes:

The Committee had before it an updated Work Programme 2019/20 that outlined the scrutiny to be undertaken by this Committee in the remainder of that Municipal Year. It had been expanded from that originally approved work plan.

 

After some deliberation it was RESOLVED that:

 

1)    the Committee meeting for the 16 November 2020 be amended to include Back 2 Business and the Financial Performance Reporting on the agenda.

 

2)    Housing Acquisition/Development Strategy Review – right to buy numbers, values, type and age of housing and impact on risk appetite for Council building.  Plus progress with Pension Provider discussions to build and lease back housing be the focus of the meeting scheduled for the 1 February 2021.

 

3)    scrutinises the draft Tourism Strategy as approved by Cabinet on 11 September 2020