Agenda and minutes

The Chair wished all the members of the Group a Happy New Year.  The Group congratulated Councillor Ralph Snape on receiving an MBE.  People present introduced themselves and their role at the meeting. 

The Group were advised that Harold Rimmer sadly passed away and commended the enormous contribution Harold made over many years.  Eileen Bee reported the Disability Forum would institute a 'Harold Rimmer Memorial Award' to be presented annually to the local shop/business/service that has done the most to improve its services for disabled people.  The Group gave this heartfelt support. 

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Nora Ball, Nancy Banks, Adrian Beardmore, Ivy Carroll, Christine Crankshaw, Albert and Rita Jeffery, David Lyon, Peter Mounsey, Terry Reynolds, Maurice Waterhouse. 

Members are reminded of their responsibility to declare any personal interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda. If the interest arises only as result of your membership of another public body or one to which you have been appointed by the Council then you only need to declare it if you intend to speak.

If the personal interest is a prejudicial interest, you must withdraw from the meeting. Normally you should leave the room before the business starts to be discussed. You do, however, have the same right to speak as a member of the public and may remain in the room to enable you to exercise that right and then leave immediately. In either case you must not seek to improperly influence a decision on the matter.

No Councillors declared an interest in relation to matters under consideration at the meeting.

To consider the minutes of meeting of the Disability Liaison Group held on 10 October 2007. 

A schedule is enclosed listing issues that have been considered at past meetings of the Liaison Group and summarising the action that has either been taken by Officers or is proposed to be instigated on matters in respect of Pavements, Dropped Kerbs, Road Crossings, General Highway Issues, Parking and Other Issues.

The minutes of the meeting of the Disability Liaison Group held on 10 October 2007 were confirmed as a correct record, subject to the inclusion of apologies for absence from Alison Hansford.

The Group considered a schedule listing issues that have been considered at past meetings of the Liaison Group and summarising the action that has either been taken or is proposed by Officers.

Parking

5, a:  Cars parking on Coronation rec.  A car is being parked inside the rec when the gates are closed.  A request will be made to the Parking Manager to patrol the area.

5, b: Disabled Bay outside the One Stop Shop.  Alan Capstick advised there is support for an increase from half an hour, but there is a Traffic Regulation Order process to go through which could take 12-18 months. 

It was noted that in Chorley blue badges could be used only for 3 hours, in other areas the use was unlimited.  Gary Hall undertook to investigate this.

What is the purpose of the item?

Officers from Waste Management will attend to provide an update on the re-letting of the Waste Management Contract and how this impacts upon people with disabilities in the Borough.  This will include a demonstration of receptacles to be used for general collections.

Officers wish to gain the group's view on how well the assisted collection service currently operates with a view to improving this through the re-letting of the contract and to gain a more detailed understanding of the issues experienced by those with disabilities around the waste collection service and how these can be addressed going forward.

Questions for the Group:

Assisted Collection Scheme

1.             How well does the scheme currently operate?

2.             How could the scheme be improved?

3.             Is the scheme targeting the right individuals?

4.             Should we involved the PCT and/or social services in identifying potential beneficiaries of the scheme?

5.             Could we get views on if people would object to been contacted to ask them whether they still require assisted collection?

6.             Question for officers - How is the scheme currently maintained, do we have any proposals for the future?

New Contract

7.             What is the group's feeling about the proposed containers?

8.             Would there be a need for different containers for certain groups/ individuals?

9.             What are the major issues in terms of receptacles blocking the street? How would this best be addressed- e.g. guidance for Householders?

10.        What experience do members of the group have of contacting the Council about the service- how could this be improved?

General

11.        Is there anything we could do to facilitate improved recycling for this group?

12.        Would large print calendars be helpful to members of the group?

What are we going to do with the information?

Current experience of contacting the service will be feed straight back to those responsible for delivery so that processes can be adjusted if necessary and this information will be incorporated into training.

Additional information will be fed into the contract letting process to ensure that any current problems are addressed and we have strong mechanism for addressing where this is failing.  The new contract will be operational as of April 2009.

The Group will be given the opportunity to feed into the monitoring of the contract on an on going basis which will help us to understand whether the issues raised have been full addressed and take action as necessary.

The Chair introduced Jo Oliver from the Neighbourhoods Directorate to discuss options for the waste and recycling contract. 

Jo outlined the alternate weekly collection and kerbside collection service currently provided by the Council and noted the excellent recycling rates in Chorley.  Assisted and point of storage collections were available for people on request. 

The waste and recycling contract is currently out to tender.  The preferred option included a wheeled bin for glass, plastics and canswith a pod within the bin for paper or cardboard to enable collection of paper and bottles from one container.  This should reduce clutter and litter on collection days.  The wheeled bin and pod were demonstrated and received a positive response. 

Feedback was received in the following areas:

Assisted collection scheme on occasion receptacles were picked up but not returned.

Recycling collections broken glass was dangerous for guide dogs and children in particular. 

Receptacles left across the kerbs were a trip hazard for partially sighted people. 

Any issues could be reported to the contact centre (01257) 515355. 

A suggestion was made that calendars for waste collection dates in large print be widely available. 

The Chair thanked Jo for her attendance.  Developments in this area would be reported to future meetings of the Group. 

The Chair introduced Cath Burns from the Business Directorate and Danny Manicolo and Neil Houlihan from Liberata. 

The officers explained they were looking at the development of the covered market, to make it safer and more appealing.  The current plans were outlined to the Group and included the installation of a clear plastic roof over the central walkway, new ceiling and low energy lighting.  Aspects such as signage and flooring would be chosen with consideration to the needs of people with disabilities.  The outside of the market would also be redecorated.

The aim would be to make the market a centre piece and there would be further consultation later in the year.

The Group raised several issues, including the need to mark out the walkways to ensure people could pass between stalls and that it would be ideal to increase the gap between stalls in a particular area where there were often queues. 

It was AGREED that the officers meet with Alison, Judy and any other volunteers to identify issue with walkways in the Covered Market and the Flat Iron. 

It was noted that the flooring used would be non-slip and cleanable.  Officers would attend a future meeting to consult on issues such as signage. 

The Chair thanked the officers for their attendance. 

What is the purpose of the item?

Officers from Housing Benefits will attend to update the group on changes to benefits rules and how this may impact upon them and those they represent.  To seek the advice of members of the group on what we may be able to do to mitigate any impact on particular groups and individuals of changes.

Questions for the Group:

1.             Do members of the group know of any groups or individuals who may be particularly vulnerable as a result of these changes and what we can do to mitigate this?

2.             Do members of the group know of any key contacts we may need to be in touch with on this matter?

What are we going to do with the information?

The Council will contact any groups identified and feed information about potential impact into processes.

The Chair introduced Julie Riding from the Business Transformation Directorate. 

Julie explained that from April there would be changes to the Housing Benefit system and the Council would like to talk to those organisations that would be involved with customers affected by the change. 

The main change was that housing benefit would be paid to the claimant rather than to the landlord.  Only be a small percentage of people would be affected by the change as the majority of housing benefit recipients rent through social housing which is not affected by the change. 

It was noted that there was a discretionary housing fund and if a shortfall occurred information would be provided about the fund, for example, a member of the family was disabled.

A leaflet would be sent out to Members of the Group and Councillors with further information.

The Chair thanked Julie for her attendance. 

What is the purpose of the item?

To agree a way forward with the group about how they would like to see consultation operate.

Questions for the Group:

1.             Which types of planning applications do they group feel it is most important that they are consulted with regards to on specific disability issues?  General categories?

2.             Are there particular triggers which would necessitate consultation with the group?

3.             What is the preferred method for consultation?

4.             Would the group have any objections to being part of a general consultation mechanism?

5.             What assistance would members of the group require to become involved in the process?

6.             How much time could members of the group give to becoming involved in consolation?

7.             What type of feedback would the group require- at quarterly meetings?

What are we going to do with the information?

Whatever consultation methodology is agreed as the most beneficial/ manageable will be implemented.

The Chair introduced Paul Whittingham from the Business Directorate who discussedoptions for the group about consultation on planning issues as currently this was limited.  Paul could be contacted on paul.whittingham@chorley.gov.uk or (01257) 515349. 

Eileen advised that the Forum would be keen to have an input on major applications but would not be able to comment on all applications.  The Forum would be particularly interested in applications relating to public spaces.

It was AGREED to set up a small focus group to look at the criteria for planning applications, who to consult, how plans are presented and the Council’s web site generally.  It was noted that plans were currently published to the web site in pdf format.  It was AGREED that other formats would be investigated that worked better with screen readers. 

Consultation letters could not yet be published on the web site as the letters inviting consultation required amendments to highlight their publication the web site.  It was suggested that a disabled champion could be appointed within parish council’s. 

It was noted Members would be contacted for volunteers to join a focus group on Astley Park.

A suggestion was made that cards could be produced for people with disabilities to use to ask for assistance, for example, in shops.  This would be investigated.