| OSC.888 | There were no declarations of interest. |
| OSC.889 |
There were no members of the public present at the meeting to ask questions under this item.
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| OSC.891 | A report was submitted by the Leader of the Council outlining the progress during quarter three of 2012-2013 for the corporate performance indicators and projects within the Bury Council Corporate Plan. The information is extracted from the Performance Information Management System (PIMS) and provided by the responsible services.
Questions and comments were invited from the Committee and the following issues were raised:
• In response to a query relating to assistance to SEN (Special Educational Needs) pupils, Amy Svensson, Improvement Advisor, referred to the 2013/14 funding reforms to Education Schools Funding and undertook to provide detailed information on this issue to the Committee.
• An undertaking was given at the meeting to provide further information in respect of the number of days lost to sickness by department; the progress of empty property grants and; a breakdown of non service specific items.
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| OSC.892 | Councillor Campbell, Cabinet Member for Neighbourhoods and Regeneration, submitted a report providing an update to the Committee on the Council’s Carbon Management Programme. The report included up to date information on the requirements to report on the Carbon Reduction Commitment, Greenhouse Gas Emissions and related activity in the Borough to tackle climate change.
A summary was provided on the following Council Carbon Reduction Projects:
• Salix projects
• Employee Awareness raising Campaign
• Schools Carbon Reduction Projects
• Building Rationalisation
• Renewable Energy
• Recycling and Waste Collections
• Libraries and Adult Learning
• Planning and Transport
The Cabinet Member also reported on a number of community initiatives and AGMA wide activity.
During discussion of this item, Members acknowledged to good progress that had been made in respect of Carbon Reduction. Councillor Cummings suggested visual graphs would be useful in future reports to highlight the progress made against targets.
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| OSC.893 | The Committee received the final report from the Recycling Overview Project Group which had been set up to review the work undertaken by the Authority in relation to the recycling of household waste. A project plan for the review was appended to the report.
The report set out details of the work of the Group along with the following recommendations for consideration by the Committee:
i. That this Group recognises and congratulates the hard work that has been undertaken by the Council Employees across the authority and the residents of the Borough to reduce the amount of residual waste being sent to landfill and to increase the amount of waste being recycled.
ii. That Ward Councillors are encouraged to become ‘Recycling Champions’ in their areas by promoting recycling wherever possible.
iii. That, to assist with ongoing work in relation to contaminated bins, all new bins are numbered by the Council before being delivered to properties and households where the bins are not numbered are encouraged to do so.
iv. That the use of enforcement in relation to contaminated bins be considered - this would only be as a last resort and for repeat offenders.
v. That all waste operatives are regularly reminded to use the software correctly as this may assist to reduce the number of complaints received and the number of missed collections.
vi. That Members should receive regular reports setting out targets versus actuals and highlighting where improvements need to be made and how this can be done.
vii. That the possibility of carrying out specific exception reporting or analytical research is considered to look at trends and highlight where improvements can be made.
viii. That complaints relating to missed bin collections are monitored by area to highlight any patterns.
ix. That something similar to the interactive games that were used on the visit to the recycling centre should be developed locally to be rolled out to schools across the borough. This would help to educate the young people within the borough who would then pass this on to the rest of their families.
x. That all Councillors are encouraged to attend a visit to the Customer Contact Centre.
xi. That all funding opportunities in relation to the promotion of recycling are researched and applied for.
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| OSC.894 | Councillor Heneghan, Chair of the Group, reported on the outcomes and recommendations of a detailed review into anti social behaviour in the Borough. The review had examined the current initiatives, partnership working arrangements and the implications of upcoming national legislation. A project plan for the review was appended to the report.
Councillor Heneghan reported on the following recommendations for consideration by the Committee:
i. That representations be made to the Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) in relation to the need for sustainable support for ASB over a 3 year budgetary period. In addition, that Bury CSP bids in to the fund controlled by the PCC that is currently unallocated to support initiatives to drive down ASB in Bury.
ii. To develop a detailed definition of anti-social behaviour and levels of service for complainants taking account of the statutory responsibilities and financial constraints of the Council. This will include self help advice when complaints do not fall into this definition of ASB.
iii. To achieve consistency in the reporting mechanisms and criteria across the different partner organisations and a more straightforward customer journey when a complaint is made, including a ‘no wrong door’ policy between the Council and Six Town Housing for taking and logging complaints.
To examine and explore the options around the role of the 24 hours call takers at Bradley Fold in responding to people reporting ASB to the council out of hours. The out of hours number is currently displayed on signage in parks and schools for use in emergencies and is used by people to report anti-social behaviour on or affecting council property.
iv. Develop a risk assessment process with pathways into support agencies to ensure vulnerable victims do not come to harm as result of anti-social behaviour.
v. To develop mediation services available to private residents of the borough, to help resolve the rising number of neighbour disputes being reported to agencies. Explore services and methods used by other agencies to determine the best type of service for Bury.
vi. Allow Six Town Housing ASB staff enhanced access to noise abatement powers. The most effective way of achieving this would be by having a multi-skilled co-located team. The team could have the capacity to work from a number of locations under agile working arrangements.
vii. That, subject to the approval of the recommendations set out above, an action plan be developed, with lead officers appointed and timescales set, to deliver the agreed actions
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| OSC.895 | Claire Jenkins, Head of Customer Support and Collections, gave a presentation setting out the Council’s approach to dealing with the welfare reforms. The presentation included details of the upcoming changes along with the steps taken to date by the Council. It was reported that the following new policies in place to help deal with the potential implications of the changes:
• Discretionary Housing Payments
• Social Fund
• Possible Council Tax Support Fund
• Council Tax enforcement policy re low debts
• Poverty Strategy
During discussion of this item, Members of the Committee acknowledged the work that had been done to help mitigate against the effects of the reforms but expressed concerns about the potential increase in rent arrears as a result of the introduction of the Universal Credit.
In response to a request from Councillor O’Hanlon, the Head of Customer Support and Collections undertook to provide a briefing note on the workings of discretionary housing payments following the receipt of final guidance from the Department for Work and Pensions.
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| OSC.896 | Councillors Bevan thanked the Chair, Councillor Hankey, for his commitment to the work of the Committee.
The Chair, Councillor Hankey, thanked all Members and Officers for their valuable contributions to the work of the Committee.
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