Agenda and draft minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

a)  To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 11 July, 2018

b)  Any matters arising

The Minutes of the meeting held on 11 July, 2018 were agreed and signed as a true record.

Further to Minute 4/18, relating to “Unauthorised Encampments”, the Scrutiny Board received and noted comprehensive feedback following a site visit to a transit site in Sandwell by the Deputy Cabinet Member for Policing and Equalities, Councillor P Akhtar. 

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Scrutiny Board considered a Briefing Note, together with a presentation at the meeting, which detailed current activity in relation to the development of Coventry’s year of European City of Sport 2019.

The Briefing Note provided background to Coventry’s bid, which was a partnership bid supported by the Coventry Sport Network and officers across the Council. The bid was endorsed by the Coventry City of Culture Trust and West Midlands Combined Authority and was formally supported as part of the build up to the Commonwealth Games 2022 in which Coventry will be a host for Netball. The Coventry Sport Network is a group of strategic stakeholders that supports the delivery of the 10 year Coventry Sports Strategy, working collaboratively to deliver against its aims and strategic objectives. The bid was a collaboration of all partners in the City to highlight the achievements of the City and to indicate the approach to the delivery of 2019.

European City of Sport 2019 in Coventry is based on the following three key themes, details of which were provided in the Briefing Note and at the meeting:-

  • Culture and Sport

  • Year of Wellbeing

  • Celebrate

The presentation outlined the themes of the bid and highlighted some of the projects that will be central to the delivery of a successful European City of Sport 2019.

The Scrutiny Board questioned officers on aspects of the Briefing Note and presentation including:-

  • Engagement with local communities, particularly those where there are

high levels of social depravation, and how information will be provided for local communities

  • Engagement with local sports Clubs and schools, together with

    promotional campaigns and the use of social media

  • Work being undertaken to ensure that major projects associated with

    the Year, such as the new waterpark and the 50m pool, are delivered

  on time

  • Work with national organisations, such as the England Cricket Board

  • Work being undertaken to tackle inequality and barriers in sport

RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Board:-

1)  Notes the content of the Briefing Note and presentation in relation to the European City of Sport 2019

2)  Confirms their support for the Cabinet Member for Public Health and Sport in the delivery of a successful European City of Sport 2019 for Coventry

Briefing Note of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Scrutiny Board considered a Briefing Note which outlined progress that is being made to tackle fly tipping in the City.

The Briefing Note indicated that fly tipping has increased in the City in the last 12 months. An appendix to the Briefing Note compared the number of fly tipping episodes in the years 2016/17 and 2017/18, which needs to be set against a rising trend nationally and locally. A further appendix compares Coventry’s total fly tipping episodes with those near neighbours and as a factor of population size. The increase in fly tipping and the Council’s response was exacerbated by the following factors, details of which were highlighted in the report:-

  • Change in legislation and the cost of waste disposal

  • Savings made on waste collection, street cleaning and enforcement

The Scrutiny Board noted that the Street Enforcement Team is a multi-disciplinary service, which responds to a wide variety of issues and not just fly tipping. Further appendices to the Briefing Note detailed the number of issues managed by the team and an indication of the total work that falls to the team and increase to the individual officer’s case load. In the year to date the total amount of work completed by the team compared to previous 12 months increased from 12,706 cases to 13,785 cases, an increase of 8.5%.

The Briefing Note outlined measures taken to address the increase including:-

• A restructure of the Street Enforcement Team in February 2018 to better align the service to tackle fly tipping, creating elements of the service that could respond rapidly to collect evidence and catalogue fly tipping incidents and allow other elements of the service to more effectively case manage incidents. These changes have resulted in an increase in the number of enforcement actions.

• The introduction of the Clean Streets Programme, designed to deal with parts of the City where there is poor compliance with the Council’s waste collection rules. The Programme is designed to educate local residents but enforcement is used where poor compliance continues.

• Projects such as “Hot Streets” which involves early intervention and an education initiative with residents in specific areas.

• The introduction of new surveillance equipment which will be deployed at areas that are frequently fly tipped on.

• Engaging residents with the aim of recruiting them as Street Champions.

The Scrutiny Board questioned officers on aspects of the Briefing Note including:-

• Work undertaken in this regard with partner organisations, such as the Police

• Encouraging residents to recycle or use charity organisations who will often collect unwanted goods

• The use of surveillance equipment at various locations across the City

• Work undertaken with new residents to the City, including the work done with the 2 Universities and students

• Support received from Courts in relation to enforcing legislation

• The Team’s preparations for the City of Culture 2021

RESOLVED that the Scrutiny Board:-

1)  Notes and welcomes the actions and programmes in place to tackle fly tipping  ...  view the full minutes text for item 10.

Report of the Deputy Chief Executive (Place)

The Scrutiny Board considered their Work Programme for 2018/19.

RESOLVED that the Review of 20mph Zones in Urban Areas be considered at the meeting in October 2018.

There were no other items of urgent public business.