Agenda and minutes

Councillor L Kelly declared an ‘Other interest’ in the matter the subject of Minute 3 below headed “Water Quality” as her son works for an environmental company who undertake water sampling.

a)  To agree the Minutes of the previous meeting held on 7 March 2024

b)  Matters arising

The Minutes of the meeting held on 7 March 2024 were signed as a true record.

There were no matters arising.

Briefing Note of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Scrutiny Board considered a briefing note and received a comprehensive and informative presentation by representatives of Severn Trent Water. This was to provide an update on the progress of the 5-year plan to reduce surface water entering the sewage system, mitigate flood risk, and improve water quality, including a pilot programme for use of Sustainable Drainage Systems (SUDS).

This provided an opportunity for the Board to question Severn Trent about the 5 year plan which covered:

·  A 5-year plan to 2030 and a pilot program for the use of sustainable drainage (SUDs) over a wider area.

·  A £65m investment which aims to reduce surface water entering the sewage system, mitigate flood risk, and improve water quality

·  A Green Futures project based on a pilot in Mansfield that has been included in the 5-year business plan

The Plan has yet to be finalised as Ofwat would not provide comment due to the pre-election period for the General Election. This therefore provided an opportunity for the Board to consider and raise comments which would be considered as part of the public consultation on the draft plan.

Councillor P Hetherton, Cabinet Member for City Services introduced the item by explaining that given the change in weather, every effort has to be made to mitigate against flooding and this would mean having to change the city’s urban environment for protection in the long run. Local flooding has been exasperated by the fact that front gardens were being replaced with hard standing driveways, making it difficult for the water to drain naturally. A pilot project was being undertaken whereby a sustainable drainage system was being trialled in an urban area by developing a garden for some of the flood water to drain into and the rest would go into the drainage system. A visit was going to be undertaken to see a completed project in Mansfield with a view to introducing them in other areas of the city.

The presentation by Severn Trent provided an overview of the Midlands based company, their workforce, the projects, monitoring and their future targets.

Some of the points covered included:

·  Clean, safe drinking water is supplied to over 500,000 customers in Coventry and Warwickshire and over 8 million overall. Two billion litres of clean water is delivered every day and the waste water taken away to be treated at the swage treatment works.

·  The headquarters based in Coventry with around 1000 staff would continue to grow over the next few years due to biggest ever investment programme.

·  The company was on track to maintain the highest four-star Environmental Performance Assessment for the fifth consecutive year.

·  Great Big Nature Boost plans to revive 12,000 acres of land, plant 1.3m trees and restore 2,000km of rivers by 2030.

·  Company have signed up to the Carbon Triple Pledge to be carbon neutral by 2030.

·  £566million being invested into the company’s green recovery programme

·  Since 2020, the company’s Community Fund has supported over 1.2million people in Coventry and Warwickshire with over £950,000  ...  view the full minutes text for item 3.

Report of the Scrutiny Co-ordinator

The Board considered and noted the priorities outlined by Councillor D Welsh, Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities. These included amongst other matters delivering housing need, rough sleeping and support, winter planning, temporary accommodation, the Local Plan and regulation 19 consultation, culture gateway, community advice service and planning reform and other associated matters that may emerge from the new government. It was noted that the homeless and rough sleeping strategy, temporary accommodation and exempt supported accommodation were already scheduled in the work programme.

RESOLVED that the following items be added to the Work Programme:

1)  Delivering housing needs

2)  Local Plan – Regulation 19 consultation

There were no other items of business.