Agenda, decisions and draft minutes

In the absence of the Chair of the Committee it was necessary to appoint a Chair for this meeting of the Environment and Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

It was moved and seconded and subsequently RESOLVED that Councillor Adrian Lowe be appointed to Chair this meeting of the Panel.

The Panel Members wished it to be placed on record their disappointment at the change in the date of the Panel meeting and that the Chair Councillor Greg Morgan had been unable to attend the re-arranged meeting because of work commitments.

The Panel AGREED that consideration be given to the appointment of a Vice-Chair for future meetings of the Panel.

Apologies for absence were submitted on behalf of Councillor Greg Morgan (Chair) and Councillors Judith Boothman, Magda Cullens, Mike Devaney, Catherine Hoyle, Mick Muncaster and Shaun Smith.

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 Members declared an interest in relation to matters under consideration at the meeting.

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 Panel. Each member of the public will be allowed to ask one supplementary question within his/her allocated 3 minutes.  

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

To confirm as a correct record the Minutes of the Environment and Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 24 January 2008 (enclosed)

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting of the Environment and Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 24 January be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the meeting of the Environment and Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel held on 24 January 2008 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

A representative of Landscape Projects will attend the meeting to make a presentation on the initial findings of the Town Centre Audit.

Any documentation produced by the Consultants in advance of the meeting will be circulated to Panel members.

Noted

Further to Minute 08.ECS.05 (24 January 2008) the Panel Members received a presentation from a representative of Landscape Projects commissioned to undertake a town centre audit.

The audit involved information gathering, collation and analysis as well as consultation with stakeholders and the public.

The presentation outlined the results of the audit following the consultation and listening to the views of stakeholders including Councillors and their opinions.

A good response had been received following the Placecheck event that took place on 17 February 2008 in the Town Centre.

The consultation had centred around the undermentioned topics setting out the negative and positive comments that had been received.

?    Buildings

?    Streets

?    Open Space

?    Transport

?    Market

?    Shopping

?    Town

?    Parking

?    Security

The Consultant was currently working with the Council’s Officers to draw up key recommendations for the Design Strategy which would be reported to Members.

To consider the third quarter Business Plan and Performance Monitoring Statements for the following services which fall within the responsibility of this Panel.

• Leisure and Culture (People Directorate) (enclosed)
• Development and Regeneration (Business Directorate) (enclosed)
• Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment (Neighbourhoods Directorate) (enclosed).

Noted

The Panel received the third quarter Business Plan Monitoring Statements for the period 1 October 2007 to 31 December 2007 relating to the undermentioned Directorates whose services and functions all fall within the remit and area of responsibility of the Panel.

?    Leisure and Culture

?      Development and Regeneration

?      Streetscene, Neighbourhoods and Environment

The Corporate Director (People) informed the Panel that his Directorate had made good progress across all areas in the first nine months with no significant variations to report.

As had been reported at previous meetings it was noted that the performance target for the processing of invoices within 30 working days had now improved following changes made to the process.

The report indicated that progress had been made in a number of areas, with Members requested to be kept up to date on the progress on the management of capital projects.

Members would be kept up to date on 6 monthly intervals with the use of the new publication “In the Know” providing the information to Councillors.

The Corporate Director (Business) informed the Panel that the third quarter of the year had seen excellent progress on meeting the Directorate’s targets set out in the Corporate Strategy and the Business Improvement Plan.

A number of projects had been completed including an actioned proposal for an enterprise/green technology centre on the Strategic Regional Site at Buckshaw, implementation of the investment strategy had commenced with the appointment of a Town Centre Manager as well as the Design Audit for the Town Centre.

Concern had been expressed at previous meetings at the continuing problem with housing allocations and the use of Bed and Breakfast accommodation.  It had been agreed with Chorley Community Housing that the Housing Allocation Team be brought back into the Council.

The Panel received the Business Plan Monitoring Statement relating to the Neighbourhoods Directorate.

The report indicated that it was during this third quarter that the new Neighbourhoods Directorate was formed and consequently it was in a transition period whilst the placing of work activities were agreed between Directorates.

The report set out the service developments of the Directorate.

The Directorate had performed well during the third quarter, with the majority of indicators being on target or showing improvement.  Those areas such as graffiti removal and sickness absence had shown poor performance.  Action Plans had been completed to address these issues.

Members raised concern that the Pest Control Service performance was down, with the service not responding quick enough to reports of rodents.  It was noted that this service was already being examined to address the concern.

To consider the Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme for this Municipal Year indicating the items for this Panel (enclosed)

The Panel received the current Overview and Scrutiny Work Programme for 2007/08 Municipal Year and in particular the item relating to the Environment and Community Overview and Scrutiny Panel.

RESOLVED – That the Programme be noted.