Agenda and minutes

Any Member who is substituting for another Member should so indicate, together with the name of the relevant absent Member.

The following substitution was declared:

Councillor Patricia Warby for Councillor Wayne Hailstone.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Wayne Hailstone.

To confirm the minutes of the meetings held on 22 July 2015 and 15 October 2015 (copies attached).

The minutes of the meetings held on 22 July 2015 and 15 October 2015 were confirmed as correct records and signed by the Chairman.

Members of the public who live or work in the Borough are invited to put one question/statement of not more than 3 minutes duration relating to items to be discussed in Part 1 of the agenda only.  If a question is asked and answered within 3 minutes, the person who asked the question may ask a supplementary question that arises from the reply.

A person who wishes to speak must register at least 15 minutes before the time the meeting is scheduled to start.

There is an overall limit of 15 minutes for public speaking, which may be extended at the Chairman’s discretion.

There were no questions/statements from members of the public.

Gary Downie (Managing Director) from Streetkleen Bio Limited has been invited to the meeting to give a short presentation outlining the PooPrints Dog DNA Program; how it works and to answer questions from the Committee.

The Chairman welcomed Gary Downie (Managing Director) from Streetkleen Bio Limited who had been invited to the meeting to give a short presentation outlining the PooPrints Dog DNA programme and to answer questions from the Committee.

The presentation covered the following areas:

·         What is PooPrint

·         Rationale for Dog DNA Registration

·         A Blueprint of overall service

·         Communication of the proposition

·         Engaging with key stakeholders (RSPCA/Local authorities)

·         Timeline and recommended next steps.

Mr Downie explained that the PooPrints DNA programme was available world wide.  The United States and other countries had experienced reductions in dog fouling by as much as 90% after introducing the programme, which was now available in the United Kingdom (UK) and worked within the framework of existing UK legislation. 

Barking and Dagenham Borough Council was set to become the first UK local authority to introduce PooPrints to help achieve their corporate priorities of civic pride and social responsibility.  It was estimated that there were 18,000 dogs in the borough Barking and Dagenham and that 50% of dogs would be registered in the first year.

DNA analysis was an affordable solution in tackling anti-social dog ownership.  The cost involved a £30 registration fee to register the dog, and £70 for carrying out a DNA matching, which could be recouped from the irresponsible dog owner with a Fixed Penalty Notice. 

Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO) could also be created and enforced to require owners to have their dogs registered to use any protected areas.   Registered owners could then walk their dogs in protected spaces as normal and provide evidence of dog DNA registration to wardens, if required.

PooPrints UK was asking local authorities to consider creating a benefit led message approach and DNA testing.  DNA registration was a permanent, long term solution to eradicate dog waste for aspirational communities.  Enforcement was the driver, but there needed to be effective measures in place to challenge irresponsible behaviour dog owners.

Members discussed the presentation in detail and asked a number of questions of Gary Downie, to which comprehensive responses were provided.  In particular discussions were held on the DNA registration process and costs.

Members agreed that DNA registration was a good idea, but it needed to be made compulsory as it was felt that irresponsible dog owners would not register their dog(s).  

Members also discussed the cost solution and sampling versus prosecutions. 

The Chairman on behalf of the Committee thanked Gary Downie for an informative presentation, and summarised that until Central Government helped by making it law for owners to DNA register their dogs, there were limitations with the scheme. 

There being no decision required, the Committee noted the presentation.

Report No: OAS/SE/15/015

The Cabinet Member for Operations has been invited to the meeting to give a short presentation / account of his portfolio and to answer questions from the Committee.

As set out in the Council’s Constitution, at every ordinary Overview and Scrutiny meeting at least one Cabinet Member would be invited to attend to give an account of his or her portfolio and answer questions from the Committee.  Therefore, to carry out this constitutional requirement, members were asked to consider the responsibilities of the Cabinet Member for Operations, who had been invited to the meeting.

Report No: OAS/SE/15/015, set out the overall responsibilities of the Cabinet Member for Operations, which were:

• Car parking
• CCTV
• Cemeteries
• Fleet management
• Ground maintenance
• Land drainage
• Markets (delivery)
• Operations
• Property services and estate management
• Public conveniences
• Refuse/recycling
• Street scene
• Tourism (operations)

Councillor Peter Stevens, Cabinet Member for Operations opened his presentation by thanking the Committee for the invitation.  He then set out the areas of responsibility; structure; key facts; and current major projects.  There were three broad services areas with split Portfolio responsibility for the West Suffolk service with Forest Heath District Council:

-    Waste and street scene   (Cllr Stevens and Cllr David Bowman)

-    Property services            (Cllr Stevens and Cllr David Bowman)   

-    Leisure, cultural services (Cllr Jo Rayner and Cllr Andy Drummond)

A  breakdown of operational costs was provided for waste and property only, and total operations including leisure for St Edmundsbury; Forest Heath and West Suffolk.

A number of statistics and major projects covering waste and property services were included, such as for West Suffolk:

·         5.7 million bins emptied each year containing 64,000 tonnes of material;

·         Maintaining a fleet of 200 vehicles covering 1 million miles each year; 

·         West Suffolk Operational Hub

·         Bartec (back office system and in-cab technology)

·         Owning 410 varied property assets;

·         CCTV control room dealt with over 1,600 incidents each year (mostly unreported) and new CCTV control room

·         Car parking reviews

Members discussed the presentation in detail and asked a number of questions of the Cabinet Member and officers to which comprehensive responses were provided.  In particular discussions were held on the following:

(1)     Street lighting – the Council was looking to reduce the operational cost of street lights  by upgrading the Borough owned street lights so that the majority of them could be transferred to Suffolk County Council Highways and those remaining with the Borough would be cheaper to run. 

(2)     Waste transfer stations - The Council currently used three waste transfer stations (Thetford; Red Lodge and Haverhill).  As and when the West Suffolk Operational Hub was operational, one transfer station would be located in the Bury area with the intention of retaining the Haverhill site.

(3)     A14 cleansing – It was acknowledged this was an issue.  The service continued to maintain a full team clearing the A14 and A11, and continues to seek to work more closely with the Highways Agency in co-ordinating cleansing when road closures were in place.

(4)     CCTV - A member tour was being organised to enable members to look at the new CCTV set-up at West Suffolk House.

(5)     Tree ownership - Officers confirmed there was a definitive map available showing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

Report No: OAS/SE/15/016

(Councillor Paul Hopfensperger declared a non-pecuniary interest as owning a business in Bury St Edmunds town centre, and remained in the meeting.

Councillor Andrew Speed declared a non-pecuniary interest as a member of Our Bury St Edmunds and owning a business in Bury St Edmunds town centre, and remained in the meeting).

On 10 June 2015, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee resolved to establish a Task and Finish Group to complete a review of the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre and to adopt a five-year operational plan for the event.  The prompt for the review came from the Council’s acknowledgement that the Christmas Fayre had grown to be a nationally recognised event and that a review of the current principles and arrangements was therefore opportune.

Report No: OAS/SE/15/016, summarised the review of the Bury St Edmunds Christmas Fayre and presented a draft five-year operational plan for taking forward the recommendations from the Christmas Fayre Task and Finish Group.

The report included the background to the review; the current position of the Christmas Fayre, statistics; venues and stalls; timings; health and safety; marketing; entertainment; employment; finance; Christmas Fayre Working Group; traffic management and car parks.  Also attached to the report were a number of appendices, namely:

·         Appendix A: analysis of Christmas Fayre stalls;

·         Appendix B: Christmas Fayre stakeholders and review reporting structure;

·         Appendix C: Christmas Fayre impact survey.

·         Appendix D: five-year operational plan.

The Christmas Fayre review covered a wide range of areas of the planning and management of the Fayre.  The recommendations in the report were based on findings from discussions with Fayre stakeholders; desk research and an online survey.  All the recommendations that the Task and Finish Group had agreed on in response to the findings of the review were brought together into a five-year operational plan, attached as Appendix D. 

The Committee was asked to consider the Christmas Fayre Review Report and supporting five-year operational plan prior to being presented to Cabinet on 8 December 2015.

The Committee considered the report in detail and asked a number of questions to which responses were provided.  In particular discussions were held on the following:

(1)        Stall holders – 76% of stall holders came from East Anglia.  The plan going forward was to look at a pricing structure to future benefit local businesses.

(2)        Neutral cost – Members wished to see the event make a small profit margin.  Officers confirmed that the aspiration was to make a small profit.

(3)        Format of the market – Members discussed the format of Christmas Markets abroad, which lasted for a whole month.  Officers advised that changing the current format and dates of the Christmas Fayre could be looked at as a longer term aspiration and would be a major review.

(4)        Transport – The Council was working closely with transport providers to advertise the availability and frequency of bus and train services to the fayre and had started to promote a campaign to encourage people to walk, cycle or use public transport.

The Market  ...  view the full minutes text for item 49.

Report No: OAS/SE/15/017

(Councillor Paul Hopfensperger declared a non-pecuniary interest as owning a business in Bury St Edmunds town centre, and remained in the meeting).

(Councillors Terry Buckle, Frank Warby and Patricia Warby left the meeting at 6.20pm during the consideration of this item, and prior to voting.

Councillor Jeremy Farthing left the meeting at 6.25pm during the consideration of this item, and prior to voting.

Councillor Clive Springett left the meeting at 6.27pm during the consideration of this item, and prior to voting

Councillor Angela Rushen left the meeting at 6.35pm during the consideration of this item, and prior to voting).

In 2012, the Overview and Scrutiny Committee undertook an extensive review of car parking provision and charging in St Edmundsbury.  A significant number of recommendations were endorsed by Cabinet on 12 December 2012.  This included the need for a full periodic review of car parking across the Borough every 3-4 years. 

A Task and Finish Review Group was therefore established by the Overview and Scrutiny Committee on 22 July 2015 to undertake this review, including the setting of tariffs and the consideration of pay on exist/Automated Number Plate Recognition operating systems.

In commencing the review, the Task and Finish Group undertook extensive consultation with car park users; key stakeholders and local businesses.  In addition, specialist advice was sought from an independent consultant, Alpha Parking on existing and future capacity of car parks across Bury St Edmunds and Haverhill.

Councillor Jim Thorndyke, Chairman of the Task and Finish Group presented Report No: OAS/SE/15/017, which included the Task and Finish Groups conclusions and fifteen recommendations, which addressed the issue of capacity; service delivery and proposed investment in the delivery of the car parking service, as follows:

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Directed Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources) Order 2010 requires that Members should scrutinise the authority’s use of its surveillance powers on a quarterly basis.

The Monitoring Officer advised that in Quarter 2, no such surveillance has been authorised.

The Regulation of Investigatory Powers (Directed Surveillance and Covert Human Intelligence Sources) Order 2010 required that Members should scrutinise the authority’s use of its surveillance powers on a quarterly basis.

The Monitoring Officer had advised that in Quarter 2, no such surveillance had been authorised. There being no decision required, the Committee noted the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act, Quarter 2 update.

Report No: OAS/SE/15/018

The Committee received Report No: OAS/SE/15/018, which requested that Members peruse the Cabinet Decisions Plan for the period November 2015 to May 2016, for which it would like further information on or which might benefit from the Committee’s involvement.

The Committee considered the Decisions Plan, and there being no decision required, the Committee noted the contents of the Decisions Plan.

Report No: OAS/SE/15/019

The Committee received Report No OAS/SE/15/019, which updated Members on the current status of its rolling work programme of items for scrutiny during 2015-2016 (Appendix 1).

Members were reminded to complete the Work Programme Suggestion Form when submitting future items for potential scrutiny (Appendix 2).  This enabled suggestions received to be considered by the Committee at each meeting.

The Committee considered it’s rolling work programme, an there being no decision required, noted the items expected to be presented to the Committee during 2016.