Agenda and minutes

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2017 as an accurate record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 September 2017 were agreed as an accurate record.

In accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that it is a requirement to register disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) and gifts and hospitality to the value of which exceeds £50 or multiple gifts and/or instances of hospitality with a cumulative value of £50 or more when received from a single donor within a rolling twelve month period. In addition, Members and co-opted Members are reminded that unless their disclosable pecuniary interest is registered on the register of interests or is the subject of a pending notification to the Monitoring Officer, they are required to disclose those disclosable pecuniary interests at the meeting. This should be done by completing the Disclosure of Interest form and handing it to the Democratic Services representative at the start of the meeting. The Chair will then invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3. Completed disclosure forms will be provided to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion on the Register of Members’ Interests.

There were none.

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no items of urgent business.

Question Time with the Cabinet Member for Clean Green Croydon, Councillor Stuart Collins.

The Cabinet Member for Clean Green Croydon gave the Sub-Committee a presentation on his portfolio, which can be found in the Presentations supplement, and stated that it was the ambition for Croydon is lead the way on innovation, service delivery and enforcement.

While it was noted that there were more reported flytips through the app it was stressed that it did not mean that flytipping was more prevalent, rather that people were reporting them. Furthermore the Cabinet Member informed the Committee that 82% of reports flytips were cleared within 48 hours and the new waste contract would require them to be cleared within 24 hours.

The Cabinet Member noted the importance of community involvement and informed the Sub-Committee that there had been over 120 Don’t Mess With Croydon clean up events and there were 300 Street Champions.

The priorities for the portfolio were stated to be ensuring that the new waste contract through the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP) contract was successful and further developing the IT systems and the app. The Council would continue to work with the SLWP and review the work of other councils to introduce further good practice.

The Cabinet Member informed Members that he had spoken to a number of residents associations across the borough regarding the new contract and had received positive responses. While financial pressures continued it was stressed that it was important that there was a strong enforcement team, and that the SLWP efficiency savings were being directed into improved services.

In response to Member questions the Cabinet Member stated that maps had been drawn up of the flytipping hotspots and covert surveillance had been started to try to catch those committing the crime. It was anticipated that it would take around 18 months to completed surveillance in each ward, and Members were advised that if they had areas they thought were a hotspot that they should inform the Director of Safety.

Members queried the communication around bulky item collection and whether assisted collections could be provided to the elderly. The Cabinet Member assured the Sub-Committee that if the resident informed the Council then Veolia would assist in collecting bulky items. Whilst the information on the website was considered to be clear, particularly when booking a collection, it was suggested that a line should be added to any leaflets to make the distinction between the cost and volume of items for bulky items and white goods.

The Cabinet Member, in response to Member concerns, stated there were stickers for shops to advertise that they were responsible however officers would visit traders to discuss their responsibilities in keeping the area clean. Furthermore the Cabinet Member committed to put Kenley on the list of centres for a deep street clean.

In response to Member questions the Cabinet Member stated that flytipping was necessarily the governments or the council’s fault and that it was wrong to use it as ‘political football’. The Keep Britain Tidy campaign was noted as a charity, and not a government  ...  view the full minutes text for item 42/17

This report details the arrangements for the forthcoming South London Waste Contract with Veolia, and the improvement it will have on Croydon’s existing services, the governance arrangements for the new contract and the investment being made in environmental services prior to the commencement of the new contract.

The Sub-Committee received a presentation from officers which can be found in the Presentations supplement.

The Veolia representatives stressed that the issues experienced in the London Borough of Sutton were due to it being a large scale change taking place on a single day; including the transfer of 330 staff, new vehicles and new technology being introduced. Members were assured that lessons had been learnt and that the contractor would not attempt such a large scale change in one day.

Members were informed that the new vehicles would be arriving in Croydon three months early and would be introduced one at a time so that any faults could be identified and rectified. Furthermore, the street cleaning kit would be delivered ahead of the contract start date.

The Sub-Committee were informed that Veolia were working to have flat waste collections on the same day which would not be day with bank holidays, and that work was underway to review the communications that were to be sent to residents so it was more descriptive.

While it was acknowledged there had been issues with the introduction of new technology in Sutton, the Echo system had been used by the teams in Croydon for some time. Additionally, Veolia had all the data on waste collections as it had been shared by the Council and that performance monitoring had already been undertaken. While it was acknowledged by Veolia that there would be challenges with the roll out of the new contract it was noted that performance in Sutton had been higher than expected after three months.

Members queried whether Christmas trees would be collected from the kerbside this season and were informed by the Director of Streets that discussions were taking place with Veolia as to whether the introduction could be brought forward. However, the community collection points would be in place if the kerbside collection could not be introduced.

The Sub-Committee were informed that there were a number of KPIs with the new contract including; flytips to be cleared within 24 hours, no more than 30 missed collection per 100,000, and streets to be cleaned to a grade A and maintained to be grade B. The Director of Streets agreed to share the KPIs within the redacted contract with Members.

In response to Member questions officers stated that the Council had made a recent investment of new equipment which would be used by Veolia, however the payback had been the improvements to the service including additional afternoon collections and improved street cleaning. Members were assured that the equipment had not been bought for the benefit of the boroughs within the South London Waste Partnership, and that a decision had been made across the Partnership to invest in new kit.

Officers noted that the literature and communication of the new street cleaning standard would be important as residents were used to a frequency service and the new service would be concentrated on the standard of street cleanliness. As such it was felt that pictures showing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 43/17

To note the responses from Cabinet to recommendations made by the Streets, Environment and Homes Scrutiny Sub-Committee at its meetings on 28 February 2017 and 28 March 2017.

The Sub-Committee noted the responses from Cabinet following the recommendations made at the meetings held on 28 February 2017 and 28 March 2017.

The Director of Streets informed the Sub-Committee that a capital investment of £180,000 per annum for four years had been achieved which would concentrate on replanting trees in empty pits and where there was high air pollution. Furthermore officers were looking to procure a single asset based system for the management of trees in the borough. The Sub-Committee were informed that the reason vacant tree pits were being prioritised was that it cost ten times more to plant trees in new pits due to the investigative work that needed to be undertaken in regards to utility lines.

The Chair requested that at the meeting on 20 February 2018 the Cabinet Member provided more information on the responses to the crossover recommendations following the meeting on 28 February 2017.

The Sub-Committee NOTED the responses from Cabinet.

To note the Work Programme for the 2017/18 municipal year.

The Chair noted that the meeting scheduled for 20 February 2018 would be focussed on transport and environment and so requested updates on the impact of the scrutiny deep dives on the Air Quality Action Plan, Vision Zero and the Cycling Strategy.

The Sub-Committee NOTED the work programme for the 2017/18 municipal year.

The following motion is to be moved and seconded where it is proposed to exclude the press and public from the remainder of a meeting:

“That, under Section 100A(4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the press and public be excluded from the meeting for the following items of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information falling within those paragraphs indicated in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972, as amended.”

This item was not required.