Meeting documents

To receive a presentation on the role of the Healthy Communities PAG.

Members received a PowerPoint presentation on the role of the PAG and the services covered by the Healthy Communities Portfolio Holder. Members noted that a copy of the presentation would be made available in the Councillors Area on the extranet and hard copies of the slides were circulated at the meeting.

The presentation covered the following areas:

·        Leisure and Community

·        Licensing

·        Community Safety

·        Environmental Health

·        Housing Service

Members were given the opportunity to ask questions and make comments after each section. 

The Portfolio Holder requested that a more detailed report, on the issues raised as part of the Housing Service presentation, be submitted to a future PAG.

RESOLVED that the presentation be noted.

To receive the Part 1 minutes of the following meetings:

The minutes of the meeting of the Community PAG held on 3 March 2015 were received.

The minutes of the meeting of the Health and Housing PAG held on 19 February 2015 were received. It was noted that the first sentence of paragraph 4 of item 32 should read "Councillor Matthews stated that the Select Committee was not happy with the responses to the recommendations of the GP enquiry and was pursuing this further.’

To consider any reports/updates from the Portfolio Holder or Members on Outside Bodies.

Cllr Egleton provided a verbal update on the last meeting of the Crime Safety Partnership. He explained that crime figures for South Bucks were very good, but that there had been an increase in distraction crime, cybercrime and doorstep crime.

Cllr Pepler provided a verbal update on the last meeting of the Bucks Health Care Trust.  He advised that a new Chief Executive had recently been appointed and that the finances of the Trust seemed to be a in a good condition.

The Portfolio Holder and Head of Service to update members on Part I current issues relating to the PAG and to receive feedback from members.

None.

None.

The PAG considered a report which asked Members to advise the Portfolio Holder on whether to recommend to Cabinet to allocate £30k-£35k from the Capital Budget to replace the Beacon Centre lift which was currently out of service. 

The lift at the Beacon Centre has been out of use for the majority of the period over the last year with GLL finding replacement parts difficult to access. The lift has been repaired twice in recent months, following which it has become stuck between floors necessitating emergency call outs.

GLL lift engineers advised in April that repairs in excess of £20k would be required to the lift. Assessment by the Councils specialist contractor identified that following these repairs, the lift would require further upgrades to meet future requirements including Disability Access requirements. The estimated cost of repairs including upgrade to the lift would be £30k. Alternatively the council’s contractors have advised that a new lift meeting the proposed standards could be installed at an estimated cost of £35k.

The two options therefore available to the Council set out in the report are to:

1.          Repair and upgrade the existing lift at an estimated cost of £30k

2.          Replace the current lift at an estimated cost of £35k

Having considered the options above, the PAG were of the opinion that the most feasible solution would be to replace the current lift at an estimated cost of £35k.

The PAG considered a report which proposed a review of the current pest control charges and the entitlement to free treatments for people on benefits to maintain a sustainable level of service provision.

In the past, South Bucks were able to offer free pest control treatments for most pests to residents on a means tested benefits at no additional cost to the council under the relevant contract. Since joining the Bucks wide dog and pest control contract in 2014 all treatments have become chargeable.  In order to maintain the free services to those on means tested benefits, the Council planned to use a limited (£2500/annum) amount of the savings achieved by the joint contract price. However, this amount would not be sufficient to cover the full range of free treatments on offer through a busy year for pests which the coming year was likely to be. 

In order to continue to offer free means tested treatments for public health pests (rats, mice, cockroaches), a proposal has been received from the contractor to increase the general charge for all wasp nest treatments to reflect market price, increasing from £21.60 to £39.00 and to introduce a discounted fee for wasp treatments to residents on a qualifying benefit. The additional income would allow the contractor to guarantee free treatments for residents in receipt of a means tested benefit for all pests of a public health significance.

The report set out the following options:

1.          Increase budget available to cover free treatments to £5000, maintaining existing service provision and charges.

2.          Withdraw or cap free treatments to the existing level of £2500/annum.

3.          Accept the proposal put forward by SDK to enable free and discounted treatments to those on means tested benefits.

4.          Seek further income or cost savings from the contractor to ensure that free treatments are provided within the existing contract price.

5.          Remove free treatments to residents entirely.

Having considered the options above, the PAG were of the opinion that the most suitable option would be to accept the proposal put forward by SDK to enable free and discounted treatments to those on means tested benefits. 

The PAG considered a report which provided an update on the progress of the current publicity campaign in relation to dog fouling in public parks and open spaces and outlined options available to the Council for future controls including the introduction of the Public Space Protection Orders for South Bucks.

In the discussion which followed, the PAG welcomed the continuation of the current publicity campaign and the awareness building project.  The PAG were in support of commencing the work to identify appropriate Public Spaces Controls and set the policy around the controls to be included and the mechanism for enforcement.  This would involve a full consultation being undertaken with the police, local communities and a range of interested parties and representative bodies.

The PAG received a report which provided an update on the services which make up the Healthy Communities Portfolio.

Shared Housing Service – In response to a concern raised by a Member of the PAG, the Housing Manager explained that whilst the service operates surgery sessions at the South Bucks offices on Wednesday and Fridays by appointment for those customers who cannot attend the Chiltern District offices and need to see an officer, if a customer has an immediate homelessness situation and cannot attend Chiltern District offices, then they will be dealt with as an urgent case by the duty officer. If necessary, an officer will travel to the SBDC office to see the client on that day.

Community and Leisure - A concern was raised regarding the low target for customer satisfaction at the Beacon Centre and Evreham Centre.  The PAG agreed that this was a topic that they would like to discuss at a future PAG meeting. Following the PAG, Members were updated by email on the current customer satisfaction rates (Evreham – 81% Beacon – 92%).

The PAG welcomed the update report and asked that this update be provided at all PAG meetings. The Head of Healthy Communities agreed to change the format of the report to make it more user friendly on the Ipad.

RESOLVED that the update be noted.

The PAG received a report which provided Members with an update of the work undertaken by the Community Safety Team and set out the priorities of the service.

In the discussion which followed, the PAG were advised that the Team were looking to develop a youth club forum in South Bucks, similar to what operates in Chiltern. This was welcomed by Members of the PAG.

RESOLVED that the report be noted.

To consider any othe business the Chairman decides is urgent.

None

To receive the Part II minutes of the following PAGs:

The Part II minutes of the meeting of the Community PAG held on 3 March 2015 were received.

The Part II minutes of the meeting of the Health and Housing PAG held on 19 February 2015 were received.

The Portfolio Holder and Head of Service to update members on Part II current issues relating to the PAG and to receive feedback from Members.

None.