Agenda and minutes

There were none.

Members to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 28 January 2014 and the meeting held on 10 February 2014.

The minutes of the meetings held on 28^th January 2014 and 10^th February 2014 were agreed as a true record.

There were none.

Councillor Suresh Patel declared an interest in Item 11 as a Northamptonshire County Council Cabinet Member for Adult Care Services.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to undertake performance management scrutiny:

·         ESC02 missed bins corrected within 24 hrs of notification

·         ESC04 household waste recycled and composted

·         ESC07 land and highways assessed falling below acceptable levels - graffiti

Councillor Mike Hallam addressed the Committee and provided a verbal update on the following points:-

Missed Bins

He confirmed that in recent months there had been a significant increase in performance and they were now meeting the targets.

Councillors Lee Mason and Suresh Patel reported that they had noted an improvement in their wards.

Graffiti

Councillor Mike Hallam confirmed that there had been a new approach taken to tackle this problem where an officer takes the lead and an Action Plan is then taken forward with the relevant parties.  This method had been successful in the Town Centre and they would extend it to include the Wellingborough and Kettering Roads.  A similar action plan would be set up in Exeter Place.

In response to a question, Councillor Mike Hallam confirmed that there would not be a wall set up in Abington Park where people would be allowed to graffiti and would like a zero tolerance approach.

Councillor Phil Larratt requested the graffiti be removed at the electricity sub station near Sainsburys.  This was noted.

Recycling

Recycling rates had stayed the same although the food recycling had dropped over the past 12 months.  This was due to people wasting less food or doing more home composting.  There was also less packaging from manufacturers.  Comparable to other Local Authorities  Northampton was 44.34%, Cambridgeshire was 42.85% and Leicestershire was  41.5%.

Councillor Phil Larratt confirmed that as the Chairman of Development and Control at Northamptonshire County Council waste and recycling was restricted in areas and wanted to change planning conditions to draw in a wider area.

Councillor Mike Hallam reported that there had been a 10% increase in recycling and 9000 recycle containers had been issued which was a positive step forward and final figures would be available in June.

Councillor Jamie Lane thanked Councillor Mike Hallam for his quick responses.

Agreed:  That the report be noted.

The Committee to consider a progress report regarding raising sponsorship to offset the cost of NBC events and conditions.

Councillor Brandon Eldred addressed the Committee and presented the report.  He confirmed that they had met all of the targets and congratulated the team for their hard work over the last 12 months.

It was suggested that the Committee would not monitor raising sponsorship in the immediate future but would consider re-visiting it during the budget consultation period.

AGREED:  That the report be noted.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to receive an update on the management of Community Centres.

Councillor Brandon Eldred confirmed that all of the Community Centres had been handed over to the relevant groups and would visit the current community groups to continue to work closely with them.  He congratulated the Community groups who had taken this on.

AGREED: That the report be noted and that monitoring is complete on this Scrutiny report.

The Committee to receive an update on the grants process.

Councillor Brandon Eldred confirmed that the small grants fund had been operating well and had an application for CEFAP.  Over the last 12 months all of the people who had applied for a small grants had met the targets.  In response to a question, he confirmed that any money which had been underspent would be carried forward.

Councillor Lee Mason commented that the small grants were extremely valuable to organisations.

Agreed:  That the report be noted and that monitoring is complete on this Scrutiny report.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to note Cabinet’s response to its reports and include the reports on the Overview and Scrutiny Monitoring Work Programme:

·         Serious Acquisitive Crime, Violent Crime and Community Safety

·         Infrastructure Requirements and S106 Agreements

·         Improving the Town’s Parks

Councillor Jamie Lane reviewed Cabinet’s responses and confirmed that all of the responses were commented on and accepted.

Councillor Lee Mason noted that the summary of duties had not been circulated to all Councillors and requested the information.

Agreed: 

1.    That the report be noted and that the summary of duties of the Neighbourhood Wardens be circulated to all Councillors.

2.    That the Committee monitors the implementation of the accepted recommendations contained within this report in six months’ time.

Councillor Jamie Lane confirmed that Cabinet had noted their report and a response would be made at a future meeting.

Agreed:

1.    That the report be noted.

2.    That the Committee monitors the implementation of the accepted recommendations contained within this report in six months’ time.

Councillor Jamie Lane confirmed that they had received a good response from Cabinet and all of the recommendations had been agreed.  He noted that this was a good example of how Scrutiny and Cabinet could work together for a better town.

Agreed: 

1.    That the report be noted.

2.    That the Committee monitors the implementation of the accepted recommendations contained within this report in six months’ time.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to approve the Work Programme 2014/2015.

Councillor Jamie Lane confirmed that the suggested reviews were Interpersonal Violence, Keep Northampton Tidy and Poverty.

The Committee membership was as follows:-

Interpersonal Violence  -Councillor Sivaramen Subbarayan Chair

Keep Northampton Tidy – Councillors Tony Ansell (Chair), Sivaramen Subbarayan (Deputy Chair), Mick Ford, Phil Larratt and Jamie Lane

Poverty in the town – Suggested Chair Councillor Elizabeth Gowen, Lee Mason

An invite would be sent out to all Councillors to request what panels they would like to go on.

The Briefing Note was presented to the Committee and its contents noted.

Agreed: That the report be noted.

The Briefing Note was presented to the Committee and its contents noted. Councillor Phil Larratt expressed a concern that there were people in Northampton dwelling in their garages or sheds.

Councillor Jamie Lane confirmed that this would be investigated further.

Agreed: That the report be noted.

Councillor Matt Lynch to provide an update on the work of NCC’s health, Adult Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.

Councillor Matt Lynch was our representative on the NCC’s Health, Adult Care and Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee and Councillor Lee Mason was elected as a Deputy.

Agreed: 

1.    That the update be noted

2.    That Councillor Mason be nominated as Deputy representative to NCC’s Health and Adult Care Wellbeing Scrutiny Committee.    

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider any potential issues for future pre decision scrutiny.

There were none.

There were none.