Meeting documents

Apologies for absence were received from Bill Bendyshe-Brown, Bill Chapple and David Carroll.

To disclose any personal or disclosable pecuniary interests.

There were no declarations of interest.

of the meeting held on Friday 6 December 2013 to be confirmed as a correct record

The minutes of the meeting held on Friday 6 December 2013 were agreed as a correct record.

Matters Arising

Environmental Green Deal

A meeting to discuss the EU bids and funding with relevant officers has been re-scheduled for the 20 February 2014. 

An email has been received from Stephen Walford advising that the full bid made for EU funding is the same funding referred to for the Local Enterprise Partnership.

Customer Focus Project

The project is ongoing.

Chairman’s Report

Cabinet met on the 3 February to discuss the Budget Scrutiny recommendations.

Waste and Recycling update

Stephen Boddy has provided the following update to Committee Members;

The research mentions nearly 2000 customers were surveyed. What percentage of this figure are visitors to Bucks waste sites and was the survey conducted at particular sites on particular days? The exact percentage of customers can be reported back to the Committee

Response: All customers were surveyed whilst at one of our 10 HWRC’s. Surveys were carried on a Friday, Saturday and Sunday in October / November 2013 in half day sessions over a range to dates due to resourcing / weather.  On average a total of approximately 190 customers were questioned at each site. Over the same period each our sites saw between 900 and 2500 customers at each site over a three day period with up to 977 on any one day.  Approximately 10% of customers were therefore surveyed on average over a full ‘weekend’ of sessions. 

Members of the Committee agreed that they would like attend the workshops. An invitation and further details are to be circulated to Committee members in January 2014.

Response: An invitation will be sent our shortly to tie in with completion of the Options modelling work which is delayed whilst completing tasks required of the Project Board and incorporating data collected from  the above survey – my apologies.

The community skip schemes run by some the District Councils are coming to an end.  Is there going to be a review on the affect this could have on HWRC sites? The focus of this project is on household waste services but this issue can be taken away and looked into.  If the service is taken away by the District Council this might encourage individuals to bring the waste to HWRCs.

Response:  AVDC Officers have confirmed that provision of community skips by Aylesbury Vale was withdrawn as part of the rollout of their kerbside recycling scheme from April 2012 with resident being encouraged to recycle more at the door.  The WAAP project tonnage figures include HWRC data in the financial year April 2012 – March 2013 and we will continue to monitor variations in tonnages through this and our other contracts.

of the meeting held on Wednesday 18 December 2013 to be confirmed as a correct record

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 December were agreed as a correct record

How can I have my say?

There is a dedicated public platform item where members of the public can register to speak on any agenda item or suggest matters which they would like the Committee to look at.  Written notification must be received at least 7 working days in advance of the committee meeting that you would like your issue raised. 

For further information please see:

http://www.buckscc.gov.uk/assets/content/bcc/docs/overview_scrutiny/public_platform.pdf

The Chairman welcomed Councillor Robin Stuchbury to the meeting.

Mr Stuchbury explained that he had formally submitted several questions which he wanted to raise under Public Questions. 

The questions submitted were as follows:

·         Further information is needed on the policy and actions to be put in the public domain for public consultation.  Any actions need to be in the public domain.

·         There needs to be a discussion about the economic impact on property.

·         Will the Council be making a decision to be a 'pro fracking' or 'anti fracking' Council' and will the choice be explained to the public?

·         What is the Council's opinion on the Government offering money to Councils to undertake fracking prior to a full consultation

·         If fracking take place under people's homes will they have the right to object and if there is an impact on their property how will they be compensated

·         Will the fracking harm the water table and fresh water aquifer we drink from

·         The decision made by the County Council needs to be ‘open’ for public scrutiny – Government have chosen the decision

Mr Stuchbury thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to speak at the meeting.

The Chairman explained that Lester Hannington, Lead Officer for Waste and Minerals Planning is attending the meeting today to give an update on hydraulic fracking (agenda item 8) during which the questions raised by Mr Stuchbury should be addressed.

For the Chairman of the Committee to provide an update to the Committee on recent scrutiny related activity, including the Cabinet response to the Committee’s TfB inquiry recommendations.

The Chairman gave the following update.

The report from the TfB inquiry was presented at the Cabinet meeting in January. The recommendations in the report were accepted in the majority by Cabinet which reflects on the detailed of the work done by the Committee during the inquiry.  An update on the progress will be given at the meeting today.

An audit report into TfB was presented to the Regulatory and Audit Committee on the 28 January 2014. The report took place in spring 2013 and was quite detailed. The report identified similar issues to those raised by the Environment, Transport and Locality Select Committee. KPIs are also dealt with in the report.

A meeting took place with Members of the Committee, County Council and TfB prior to Christmas. A further meeting is scheduled for the 13 February.

2014 is a very busy year for the ETL Committee.  Future work will look at the environment, locality services (libraries, trading standards etc) as well as other areas of transport.

The ELT Committee is also the designated Crime and Disorder Committee.  A statutory update will be given before July.

For Members to receive an update on the progress of the work taking place under the TfB Service Improvement Plan (The McCabe Review).  This will be the first of the updates as requested within the Committee’s inquiry recommendations.

Sean Rooney - Senior Manager, PLACE

Bob Cook – Interim Highways Manager

Kim Hills – Head of Highways and Transportation

Dr Joe Nethercoat – Senior Manager, PLACE

Papers:

·         TfB Improvement Plan

·         Cabinet Response; Select Committee Inquiry – TfB (Ringway Jacobs Contract)

The Chairman welcomed Sean Rooney, Senior Manager, Place, Bob Cook, Interim Highways Manager, Kim Hills, Head of Highways and Transportation and Dr Joe Nethercoat to the meeting.

Mr Cook began the update by explaining that part of his responsibility is the delivery of the improvement plan at a good achievable pace and to make sure the correct actions are embedded in the service.

Mr Cook took Members through the TfB Improvement Plan update on progress, during which the following key points were highlighted.

Sections 1-4 of the report explain the background, details, progress of the Improvement Plan and progress with the Service, the strategic objectives and direction of the contract.

The seven key themes of the Improvement Plan as follows;

Theme A – Architecture, roles and structure

Theme I – innovation/transformation

Theme P – progress

Theme S – strategy

Theme C – customer focus

Theme E – ETL Inquiry report issues

Theme U – Audit report issues

The early focus of the work was defining the strategic objectives for the contract and setting the direction of where the service wants to move in terms of improvement. Work has also taken place on the organisational structure within TfB.

The Local Area Technician (LATs) service has been re-organised.  The new structure and operating methods were implemented from the 2 January 2014 following consultation with Members. Consultation is currently taking place with employees on the proposals for a wider reorganisation of TfB.  The restructure will better align services with the client and create a more client facing approach to the organisational structure.

Good progress has been made with the Customer Focus Project.  One large piece of work undertaken is an independent Customer Journey mapping exercise.  This exercise was carried out by an external consultant and is now nearing completion.  A workshop took place last week at a senior level and actions are being planned to take the findings forward.

KPIs and benchmarking are part of the current focus.  There were actions from a recent audit report in terms of quality assurance and bringing more innovations to the contract.  It is hoped that the management information section of work will be completed by the next financial year.

Work on reviewing key policy areas has also begun.   A prioritised list of key policy areas which require reviewing and updating has been prepared.  A draft of the new Safety and Inspection Policy has been completed.  The aim is for the new policy to be submitted as a Cabinet Member decision in March.

Appendix A is a snapshot of the current status of the TfB Improvement Plan and detailed actions.  The plan is a live document which is updated constantly.  Thirteen further tasks have been completed since the report was written.

Section 4, Appendix C give some evidence of the service improving with extracts from recent emails, phone calls and tweets regarding the TfB Service.

During discussions, the following points made and questions asked;

The Chairman thanked Mr Cook for the very useful and helpful report  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

A question and answer session with the Lead Officer for Minerals and Waste Planning, to understand and examine the Council’s most up to date position (in light of recent Government announcements) in relation to ‘fracking’ as agreed at the 6 December Committee meeting.

Lester Hannington – Lead Officer for Waste and Minerals Planning

Papers:

·         Update report – recent developments concerning ‘Fracking’ for shale gas

·         Briefing note on Fracking and Shale Gas

Lester Hannington, Lead Officer for Waste and Minerals Planning Policy was welcomed to the meeting.

Mr Hannington began by explaining that Buckinghamshire County Council is reviewing their existing Minerals and Waste Local Plan with a view to begin work to replace it in 2014.  The County Council adopted the Minerals and Waste Core Strategy in November 2012 which provided some overarching policies on where mineral extraction and development should take place.

The 2006 adopted Minerals and Waste Local Plan is out of date, and the National Policy Framework has since been published.  One key area of work is revisiting the policies, and bringing them up to date, as well as identifying new sites for mineral working and for certain small scale kinds of waste development. The oil and gas industry is one element that needs to be taken into account when the review is carried out and the plan is brought up to date.

There have been a continuing number of developments recently, which are included in statements from Members of the Government, and other reports. There has been a recent announcement by the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the autumn statement 2013 of changes to the tax regime in respect of shale gas exploration and production.

There are two exploration licences in the East Midlands in a geological basin known as ‘the Gainsborough Trough’ which is historically an area of oil and gas extraction, and has been part acquired by a French company, Total.

In January 2014, the Government announced that local Councils where shale gas ‘fracking’ is allowed will be able to received 100% of Business Rates from the operation (the current rate is 50%).  Buckinghamshire County Council is a Mineral Planning Authority and would determine any applications that come forward for shale gas exploration or production. There are no applications at present for determination, no pending applications, and none submitted in the past.

Local residents and communities affected by ‘fracking’ for exploration or production, are now being offered a compensation scheme which includes at the explorations stage, £100,000 in community benefits per well-site where fracking takes place.

In October 2013, Public Health England published a ‘Review of the Potential Public Health Impacts of Exposures to Radioactive and Chemical Pollutants as a result of Shale Gas Extraction’.  The review considered various chemicals involved with shale gas exploration using hydraulic fracking and the risks associated.  It concluded that the risks are acceptable so long as the practice of exploration by hydraulic fracturing is appropriately regulated.

The clear message is that Government historically continues to rely on the effectiveness of the regulators, which means especially the Environment Agency and the Health and Safety Executive.  This is expressed very strongly in the National Planning Policy Framework and the Planning Policy Guidance in respect of hydrocarbons.

The next steps are;

·         The Government is to undertake a further round of licensing for onshore oil and gas exploration later this year.  The Council should wait for this licensing round and at that time review  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

For Members to discuss and agree the Committee’s Work Programme for 2014 including potential topic areas for further research and development.

The Committee Draft Work Programme for 2014 was discussed during which the following comments were made;

4 March meeting

The ‘Green Deal’ item will be re-visited.

Information gathering will commence on the Local Enterprise Partnership and the S106 and its role.

8 April meeting

Library services in Buckinghamshire have undergone significant change over the last few years. The Cabinet Member recently announced that the intention is for libraries to have a greater face to face role communication with residents.

The Chairman asked Members if there were any specific items they wished to be added to the work programme.

·         As part of the budget setting process there were discussions about the Citizens Advice Bureau and the Equalities and Human Rights part of the service.  Should the Committee review how the impact of the removal of ECHR from the CRB contract and services can be addressed.

A report is to be requested for the April meeting to tie in with the update on Libraries

Action: Kama Wager

·         The Crime and Disorder Strategy is to be brought forward to the April meeting to give the Committee time to consider this issue as there is a statutory July timeline for the ETL Committee to meet as the Crime and Disorder Committee a minimum of once a year.

A statutory update can be requested from the Community and Safety Partnerships and Police and Crime Panel on their work programmes. Susie Yapp, Trevor Egleton to be invited to the May meeting

Action: Kama Wager

·       Does the Youth Offending Service and work with re-settlement process link in with the Police and Crime Panel?  Should a written paper to be requested.

Action: Kama Wager

The next meeting is due to take place on Tuesday 4 March 2014 in Mezzanine 2, County Offices, Aylesbury at 10.00am.  There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members at 9.30am.

Future meeting dates for 2014

Tuesday 4 March

Tuesday 8 April

Tuesday 13 May

Tuesday 17 June

Tuesday 2 September

Tuesday 14 October

Tuesday 18 November

The next meeting is due to take place on Tuesday 4 March 2014 in Mezzanine 2, County Offices, Aylesbury.  There will be a pre-meeting for Committee Members are 9.30am.

Meeting dates for 2014

Tuesday 8 April

Tuesday 13 May

Tuesday 17 June

Tuesday 2 September

Tuesday 14 October

Tuesday 18 November