Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillors Kenneth Ball, Michael Davies, Doreen Dickinson, Adrian Lowe, Marion Lowe and Shaun Smith.

Members of the Committee are reminded of their responsibility to declare any personal interest in respect of matters contained in this agenda in accordance with the provisions of the Local Government Act 2000, the Council’s Constitution and the Members Code of Conduct.  If the personal interest is a prejudicial interest, then the individual Member should not participate in a discussion on the matter and must withdraw from the room and not seek to influence a decision on the matter.

No Members declared any interest in relation to matters under consideration at the meeting.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Environment and Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on Thursday 25 January 2007 (enclosed)

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting of the Environment and Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 25 January 2007 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

Members of the public who have requested the opportunity to ask a question(s) on an item(s) on the agenda will be asked to put their question(s) to the Committee.  Each member of the public will be allowed to ask one supplementary question within his or her allocated 3 minutes.

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No members of the public requested to speak at the meeting.

To consider the Business Plan Monitoring Statements for the services provided by the under mentioned Directorates, which fall within the responsibilities of this Panel (to follow)

·        Leisure and Culture

·        Housing Services

·        Development and Regeneration

·        Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment

The Panel received the third quarter Business Plan Monitoring Statements for the under-mentioned Directorates whose service and function all fall within the remit and area of responsibility of the Panel.

?       Leisure and Culture

?       Housing Services

?         Development and Regeneration

?         Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment

The Panel received the Business Plan for the Leisure and Cultural Services Directorate.  The Director informed the Panel that the areas of his service that had not reached the performance target was that of the number of visits by pupils in organised groups (BVI70C) and the processing of invoices within 30 working days which every directorate was currently coming to terms with and action taken to improve the service.

The Director of Development and Regeneration presented the Panel with her Business Plan for her Directorate.  All key projects set out in the Business Plan were on track.

Regarding the performance of Development Control and implementation of the action plan the performance with regards to major planning applications processed on time had improved and was now on track.

The Panel received the Business Plan relating to the Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment Directorate.  The Director indicated the performance variation for the number of missed collection per 100,000 collection of household waste had improved following various initiatives taken up with the contractor to drive up collection performance and reduce missed collections.

Other areas of poor performance which were 5% below target, were waste composted, which was a seasonal variation and sickness absence, where all practicable action was being taken to be addressed with action taken to support affecting staff members.

RESOLVED – That the third quarter Business Plan Monitoring Statements be noted.

The Director of Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment will report on the current position regarding the progress of the Inquiry and the timetable for the completion of the inquiry.

To receive the notes of the meetings of the Neighbourhood Working Sub- Group held on the following dates:

·        Thursday, 1 February 2007 (enclosed)

·        Thursday, 8 February 2007 (enclosed)

·        Wednesday, 14 February 2007 (enclosed)

·        Thursday, 1 March 2007 (enclosed)

The Director of Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment reported on the current position with regard to the Panel’s inquiry into neighbourhood working indicating that a drop-in day was taking place on 26 March 2007 in Chorley with staff available to meet representatives from Parish Councils, members of the public and elected Members.

Final witness interviews were scheduled to take place in the near future with the Executive Member for Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment, the Chief Executive and Director of Finance.  The Panel would also be invited to visit the Great Lever area of Bolton to see a good example of neighbourhood management partnership.

A draft report containing an action plan with recommendations would be submitted to this Panel early in the Municipal Year.

Members received for the information the notes of the four meetings of the Neighbourhood Working Sub-Group.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.