Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

a)  To agree the Minutes of the last meeting held on 4 February, 2021

b)  Any matters arising

The Minutes of the meeting held on 4 February, 2021 were agreed and signed as a true record.

There were no matters arising.

Briefing Note of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services

The Scrutiny Board considered a Briefing Note about the Impact of Covid-19 on the Hot Streets Surveillance Project. Councillor P Akhtar introduced the item and emphasised the importance of stopping fly-tipping.

Key points raised included;

·  There was a focus on the top 30 hot streets. These were streets which saw the highest levels of fly-tipping. Very few residents reported fly-tipping on these streets.

·  The pilot involving cameras was agreed in recognition of the fact there were fewer on foot patrols.

·  The use of camera surveillance was not new but had predominantly been used to tackle commercial fly tipping as opposed to fly tipping in residential streets.

·  COVID meant there was a challenge and delay to implementing Safer Streets, as the procurement and installation of the cameras was pushed back and staffing resource had been challenged due to shielding, self-isolation and redeployment. 

The Scrutiny Board questioned officers and the Cabinet Member, and received responses on the following issues including:-

·  The streets were chosen due to high levels of fly tipping as well as good lines of sight for the cameras. Six streets were included in the pilot.
The highest levels of fly tipping in the City were in Foleshill ward.

·  Fly tipping in St Michael’s ward could be addressed through cameras installed as part of the safer streets fund which would be operational by April.

·  All wards had fly tipping hotspots. If the pilot was successful, then the service would look to expand it, should funding be available to do so. The pilot had been largely funded by fixed penalty notices for littering. Each camera cost around £8,500 which covered five years data and maintenance. The cameras could be redeployed to new locations.

·  The aim of the pilot was to engineer behaviour change so that enforcement was unnecessary.

·  Street Pride Officers letter dropped the areas in the pilot to explain the aims of the scheme. Street champions had been requested who would let the team know when there was flytipping so that the footage could be reviewed. Waste crews also knew to let the team know when there was a problem.

·  The footage from the cameras could be used as evidence in all criminal activity.

·  The 30 hotspot streets had remained in similar locations during COVID as pre-COVID.

·  There had been a rise in flytipping across the City. The last 12 months had been challenging as COVID had impacted on waste collections and access to the tip during a time when many people were spring cleaning.

·  Cameras were mounted on the lampposts to protect them from damage.

·  Camera locations were data driven.

·  The data could be accessed remotely.

·  There were 20 cameras in total – 12 for the pilot and 8 mobile cameras.

·  The list of current hot streets would be shared with Members.

·  Joint work took place with the housing association when flytipping took place on their land.

Members requested the following information:

·  Waste tonnage at the Recycling and Reuse Centre

• Share the 30 hot streets with Members

RESOLVED that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

Briefing Note of the Director of Streetscene and Regulatory Services

The Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities, Councillor D  Welsh,  introduced the item. There was a consultation taking place on the Draft Statement of Community Involvement and the Scrutiny Board’s comments would be considered as part of that process.  The Scrutiny Board considered a Briefing Note on the Draft Statement of Community Involvement and questioned officers and the Cabinet Member and received responses on the following issues including:-

·  Members expressed their pleasure at seeing the document which had last been refreshed in 2012.

·  The statement would help to engage communities with the planning process. With larger developments this would mean getting developers to engage at an early stage and better publicity and notification when applications were due to go to Committee.

·  There were opportunities to evolve how we engage with communities – continuing to use traditional methods when appropriate but also using technology to offer alternatives and attract input from a wider demographic

·  The planning framework was set national and the Council would work flexibly within the constraints of it to get as much involvement as possible

·  The Local Plan would be reviewed in December 2022.

·  It was possible for neighbourhoods to cross local authority boundaries but a forum which recognised the area would need to be created and recognised.

·  If the housing numbers were reviewed now, it would lead to an uplift in housing targets due to the Government recalculating the allocation of housing across the UK.

RESOLVED that the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4):-

1) Note the content of the report

2) Support the Statement of Community Involvement in principle

3) Support the updating of the Planning Portal to improve involvement of residents in the planning process

4) Recommend that the Cabinet Member for Housing and Communities arrange all Members briefings on the Statement of Community Involvement and on future changes to the planning process as prescribed by legislation

Briefing Note of the Director of Transportation and Highways

The Cabinet Member for City Services, Councillor P Hetherton, introduced the item. The last two years had seen wet winters which had impacted negatively on the state of the roads and pavements. The fund provided the Council with £400K to ensure the city roads are maintained to a safe standard. Examples of the improvements made to the pavements were shown.

The Scrutiny Board asked that their thanks be passed to officers for the work they had delivered using the funding.

RESOLVED that the Communities and Neighbourhoods Scrutiny Board (4)Note the progress on delivering the Challenge Fund programme.

Report of the Director of Law and Governance

The Scrutiny Board requested items on the impact of the introduction of a booking system on the use of the Recycling and Reuse Centre and the Statement of Community Involvement be included for consideration when developing the work programme for 2021/22.

There were no other items of urgent public business.