Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

To invite Councillors to declare any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests or Other Disclosable Interests they may have in items on the agenda, and to confirm the nature of those interests.

There were no declarations of interest on this occasion.

The Minutes of the Cabinet meeting held on 21^st February 2018 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet held on 21^st February 2018 b e approved as a correct record.

(a)       To receive and note the minutes

(b)       To consider any recommendations contained within the minutes (it should be noted that the recommendations in respect of the Medium Term Financial Plan were considered at the Cabinet meeting held on 21^st February 2018).

It was confirmed that the recommendations within the minutes in respect of the Medium Term Financial Plan 2018/19 – 2021/22 had been considered at the Cabinet meeting held on 21^st February 2018.  It was agreed that it would be more appropriate to consider the recommendations in respect of the Air Quality Management Area, Kidderminster Road, Hagley under that item of the agenda.

The minutes of the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting held on 12 February were noted.

The Deputy Chief Executive gave a brief overview of the Performance Report and advised Members that officers from the relevant areas were present to respond to any questions that arose.  The Measures Dashboard was also displayed to assist Members.  This was the first Corporate Performance report, which would in future be presented every two months covering a specific strategic purpose at each meeting together with a set of key corporate measures.  This initial report considered the strategic purpose ‘Keep my place safe and looking good’.

The following areas were highlighted and discussed in detail:

·         Anti-Social Behaviour – example of data, which Safer Bromsgrove drilled down into with real time data being considered by the Group.  It was noted that there had been a spike which had referred to a particular individual and details of how this had been dealt with were noted.  Members discussed how this could have a huge impact on such data and on a particular area.  It was noted that often the school holidays also triggered a spike in incidents.

·         Environmental Services – the top 5 high profile demands were detailed for each of the Place Teams.  The main areas were fly tipping and litter and it was noted that following the move to the Place Teams, who were able to react locally, with positive feedback having been received. 

·         In respect of bulky waste, it was noted that there had been a change in the way this service was provided, with a central team now responding to requests, which had proved more cost effective.

·         Members thanked the Place Teams for their hard work and asked if there was any new initiative to deal with fly tipping.  It was confirmed that a greater use of covert cameras was being planned with resources being used to raise the profile of their use and a lesson learnt from how they had previously been used.  It was hoped that with additional cameras this would help combat the problem.  It was also noted that there had been a number of successful, high profile; prosecutions which it was also hoped would act as a deterrent.

·         Work was also being carried out with Safer Bromsgrove and the Police to obtain funding for signage to also be used as a deterrent.

·         Members questioned the formalities which businesses had to go through to legally use the tips and were concerned that this may lead to fly tipping as an alternative.  Officers were not aware of the bureaucracy that needed to be gone through for small commercial operators and agreed to investigate this matter further.

·         Members raised the issue of education for young children in respect of recycling and whether visiting schools was something which had been considered.

·         Members asked how the recycling rate compared with other authorities both locally and nationally.  Officers confirmed that Bromsgrove had the highest rate within Worcestershire, with the national highest figure being 65%.  This referred to those authorities who provided free garden and food waste collections.

·         There were a number of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 98/17

The Leader welcomed the Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Board, Councillor L. Mallett and Councillor S. Colella as a Member of the Board and as Ward Councillor for Hagley West.  He proposed that the Cabinet considered recommendation a) that Worcestershire Regulatory Services (WRS) reverse the proposal to revoke the Hagley AQMA after consideration had been given to the other recommendations.

It was noted that recommendation d) that the Council increase the AQ monitoring points in Hagley from Stakenbridge Lane to the B4187 (Worcester Road junction) had already been discussed and actioned following the Overview and Scrutiny Board meeting.

Councillor Colella was invited to speak and in so doing explained the reason for the request that the revocation of the AQMA be reversed.  He raised concerns around the current monitoring process and the use of the small test tubes which were analysed on a monthly cycle with a mean average being taken over a year.  It was stated that there was equipment available which able to produce both a maximum and minimum reading, this was important as there were peak traffic times and the impact of residents would be higher particular for those travelling to school on foot or cycling.  Hagley had carried out numerous investigations and research and had heard from experts. It was clear that traffic in the area had increased due to the recent developments and therefore it was difficult to understand how the current position had been reached.  It was acknowledged that financial support would be needed to carry out such testing, but it was understood that in the not too distant future Central Government would be making available a number of grants for local authorities who needed to improve air quality in their areas.

Mark Cox responded to a number of points raised by Councillor Colella and explained that the testing that was used provided robust quality assurance and meet DEFRA guidelines.  The monitoring to which Cllr Colella had referred was used to record measures with a rapid turnover and had a set up cost of around £30k this did not include the cost of maintenance, electricity etc or for the cost of analysing the data collected and calibration.  This method was currently being used on the Worcester Road in Wychbold in order to ascertain whether an AQMA was required in that location.  This method had also been used in Hagley initially to assess the area.  The monitors needed to be in place for 6 months.  It was accepted that air quality was a wide concern generally and that DEFRA had guidelines and protocols to follow in respect of AQMAs inception and revocation.  The national objective, which took into account “peaks and troughs”, was not being exceeded in the case of the Hagley AQMA and therefore it was not appropriate or necessary for it to be retained.

Members noted the availability of such equipment and commented that they had not been aware of this.  Mark commented that this had in fact been used initially in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 99/17