Meeting documents

To sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 31 January 2018.

The Minutes of the meeting held on 31 January 2018 were agreed as a correct record and were signed by the Chairman.  It was noted that there was a minor error in the final paragraph which should have read “In response to a question, Members were informed that sports fields had been incorporated into the strategy and that the Council also has a playing pitch strategy which would be considered by Sport England.”

Councillor J Rush declared a personal interest in Item 12 - CDC and Paradigm Housing Principles of Co-Operation (Supplementary Agenda).  Nature of interest - Councillor Rush was currently supporting some Paradigm tenants in Chalfont St Peter. 

The Committee considered the 28 day notice and decided that there were no additional items to be added at this time.

RESOLVED

To note the 28 day Notice for Cabinet

Presentation on waste collection and recycling in the District.

The Committee received a presentation on the Food Waste and Recycling Initiatives being undertaken by the team.

Great British Spring Clean initiative 2 - 4 March 2018.  This had to be re-scheduled due to snow but still 22 community groups took part.  They were supported by the loan of litter pickers and provided with bag containers.

Communications.  In the form of Calendars, guides, stickers and targeted information for flats.  They were also receiving questions on Twitter and could respond quickly to these.

Digital.  There has been an increase in traffic on the website and now 40% of contact was coming this way.  They were constantly trying to make information easier to find for residents.  There is also a new Waste Wizard which was set up by Fighting Food Waste using a DCLG fund.  This helps residents identify the correct bin for their waste item.

Food Waste.  There has been a 45% increase in food waste collected since the change to allow plastic bags to be put in the food bin.  There has also been an increase in food caddy orders during the recent promotion.

In the community.  The team had been out during the Christmas period using competitions to engage with the public, into schools to run recycling workshops and attended a Freshers Fayre.

The team were nominated for Larac team of the year.

The team were asked where the waste collected was going.  It was advised that the information was within the public domain as it had to be reported using a Defra tool.  Plastic collected was a commodity and markets changed over time, particularly now with the change in Chinese regulations.  It was agreed that figures for the last quarter results could be provided for Members.  Most recycling was destined for European reprocessing plants but some would be going elsewhere.

The team were also asked about the promise of street wardens to engage with the community that had been discussed when the contract was first agreed.  The Community Champions scheme hadn’t been implemented and there had been no follow-up as there had been other issues initially.

There was a request for households that used blue bags (because wheelie bins were unsuitable) to have free replacements.  It was felt that the charge was a discouragement for recycling and unfair to these households.

The team were told about a company in Gretna Green that converted plastic bottles into pellets that could be used in mending the roads.  Members were reminded that the recycling materials were owned by the contactor under the waste contract and they could make their own arrangements to sell the plastic waste.

With regard to batteries, the collection teams often failed to replace the plastic bags for them but they could be taped to the top of a wheelie bin using any plastic bag.

RESOLVED

1.      To note the recycling initiatives undertaken.

2.      To request a report on the current destination of collected plastic.

3.      To request a further report outlining the destination  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.

To provide an update on the outcomes of the Performance Indicator (PI) review for 2018/2019 and to seek approval for the proposed changes to reporting.

The review had been undertaken as part of the service planning for each service area.  For 2018/19, there were 62 performance indicators (PI’s) of which 14 were priority indicators that would be reported to Management Team and this Committee.  There were few changes made to previous years; some had been made joint PI’s were possible and others had been split for clarity, for example in Healthy Communities the Leisure Centres were now separate.

RESOLVED

To note the Performance Indicator Review for 2018-19.

Members are asked to note the attached Cabinet report.

The six off-target PIs were briefly explained.  Planning & Economic Development were on target but, there was now a shared service and so new joint figures being reported.  The targets for environment were reported as being slightly below target but updated figures had brought this back up to 53.5%.  Long-term sickness was above target but was being managed by occupational health and HR.  The missed target in Support Services was due to physical movement from the old server room and service provider failures.  These had now been stabilised.

It was asked why the number of visitors to the website had doubled.  It was advised that a new mobile version of the website had been launched in September that was more user friendly on phones and tablets.   Members were impressed that the Planning and Economic Development targets had been met following the upheaval during the shared service and staff turnover.

RESOLVED

To note the performance reports for Cabinet.

To advise members on the outcome of the current public notice consultation on the transfer of CDC land to ATC and the transfer of ATC land to CDC, to enable the redevelopment of the site.

It was reported that although Chiltern District Council hadn’t received any objections to the proposed land swap, there had been one objection received by Amersham Town Council who would now have to assess that response.

The Committee were also informed that there would be further public consultation in relation to the design of the proposed Chiltern Life Centre before proceeding with a planning application.

To consider and adopt the Thames Valley police and Buckinghamshire County Council protocols for dealing with unauthorised encampments.

Following problems last summer with unauthorised encampments after the Oxon/Bucks service ended, a formal protocol has been drawn up between Bucks County Council and Thames Valley Police to clarify which agency would be responsible for taking the lead when these occur.  Bucks County Council were to be responsible for unauthorised encampments which include vehicles and caravans.  Thames Valley Police were to be responsible were there was crime and disorder.  District Council’s would be responsible for unauthorised encampments of tented communities under Environmental Health.  Advice to residents on the Chiltern and South Bucks websites give a single point of contact being the Buckinghamshire Gypsy and Traveller service or the police as necessary.

Environmental Health has an out of hours contact service which is available 7 days per week and they would be able to advise the general public.

It was reported that there had been 3 encampments in the area recently and all had been dealt with effectively by this process.

To consider the support that the Council can provide to asylum seekers.

In March 2016, all local authorities received a letter from the Director General of UKVI requesting assistance with housing asylum seekers.  A meeting was held with Bucks authorities and Home Office representatives on 13 March 2018 and a request was made for an agreement in principle.  Accommodation needs to be found in larger communities and not in rural areas.

Members wanted to know whether the Council had a choice about agreeing and it was advised that the government would have the power to impose a requirement but this had not yet been done.  There was concern that existing residents on the housing waiting lists would lose out and there were already homelessness pressures due to the high cost of housing in the Buckinghamshire area.  It was asked whether any extra resources would accompany the agreement but currently there was only extra funding for Syrian refugees.

It was noted that there would be no cost to the District Council unless the asylum seeker was given the right to stay.  This would entitle the claimant to permanent housing by the local authority with only 28 days notice.

An annual update was provided of the sums that have been received during the past year and how the section 106 funds have been allocated for expenditure.  Since July 2011, the Council has received just over £2.9 m of section 106 affordable housing contributions.  The table on page 99 shows that over £880,000 has been spent, the sum of £360,000 that has been committed and further proposals recommended for allocation.

The appendix showed the range of schemes for using the affordable housing contributions, including a subsidy for changing Paradigm properties from shared ownership to affordable rent, identifying potential sites for development and supporting other housing associations.  A Members’ Working Group has been established to first consider proposals, this is then taken by the Portfolio Holder to Informal Cabinet.

To resolve that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Paragraph 1 - Information relating to any individual

Paragraph 2 - Information which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual

Paragraph 3 - Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular  person (including the authority holding that information)

Paragraph 4 - Information relating to any consultations or negotiations, or contemplated consultations or negotiations, in connection with any labour relations matter arising between the authority or a Minister of the Crown and employees of, or office holders under, the authority

Paragraph 5 - Information in respect of which a claim to legal professional privilege could be maintained in legal proceedings

Paragraph 6 - Information which reveals that the authority proposes:

(a) to give under any enactment a notice under or by virtue of which requirements are imposed on a person; or

(b) to make an order or direction under any enactment

Paragraph 7 - Information relating to any action taken or to be taken in connection with the prevention, investigation or prosecution of crime

The private appendix gave details of the schemes being investigated by the Affordable Housing Members’ Working Group.  Many opportunities under investigation have been suggested by the Housing Associations.  In some cases a lease was due to expire which would allow for a change of use or a potential site that could be acquired.  Also some Green Belt sites would need very special circumstances to allow planning permission and Town Councils can help with gathering the evidence for this.

Paradigm Housing was currently the largest registered social housing landlord in Chiltern District with around 4,500 dwellings.  The Council has been working with Paradigm Housing on a site by site basis to deliver more affordable housing but this agreement was intended to help identify more opportunities and improve service delivery.

The Principles of Co-Operation Agreement was presented in appendix 1 for consideration.   It was drafted to set out the expectations for each organisation with the aim of delivering more housing.  The draft agreement had been reviewed and agreed by the Affordable Housing Member Working Group.

The review of the Deed of Covenant in relation to the Amenity Agreement was discussed as there may be potential for development on green spaces between existing housing.  It was advised that there would be no obligation from the review of covenants.