Agenda and draft minutes

To agree the minutes of the previous meeting on 10^th November.

The minutes of the Strategic Planning and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 10 November 2015 were confirmed by the members present and signed by the Chairman. 

To receive any apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Matthews.

To receive any declarations of interest.

There were no declarations of interest.

An opportunity for members of the public to make statements or ask questions in accordance with the rules as to public participation

None.

None.

Councillor G Adshead asked officers if there was any scope in the budget to organise waste collections for the community centres at the weekends. He said that after the halls have been hired, there is a lot of mess on a Monday and the bins are filled up quickly.

C Thorpe said it was possible to collect bins on a Saturday and Sunday but there was no cleansing service for the squares such as Queens Square in Adeyfield. Collecting bins at the weekend would mean a change in terms and conditions for staff.

Councillor G Adshead asked what the cost of that would be.

C Thorpe said he did not know but a change in terms and conditions for staff has been done previously.

Councillor Anderson said that the service has limited resources and it is not possible to be in every area all the time and that is why there is a rota.

Councillor G Adshead said he appreciated that but the Queens Square did get in quite a mess on Sunday.

Councillor Anderson stated that it is important to strike the right balance, Dacorum is not as big as the centre of London or Edinburgh where they have the resources to clean the streets and empty the bins overnight.

Councillor G Adshead asked if it was possible to look into cleaning the precincts over the weekend.

Councillor Marshall said this can be looked into.

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe referred to Appendix B and the efficiency savings in relation to the budget for the Sports Trust. Do we know how they will mitigate and reduce dependence on Council grants.

D Skinner said they were aware that it was coming and it has been discussed to give them adequate warning and they have been accepting of the fact that it would have been inevitable.

Councillor C Wyatt-Lowe was concerned at their running costs and would not want to see a reduction in public provision and it might be of help to discuss and explore how to deliver services with a reduced budget.

Councillor Anderson said that this did not come under the remit of this committee and so would discuss with Councillor Harden, the Portfolio Holder for Residents and Corporate Services, on behalf of this committee.

Councillor Marshall said that the Housing and Community OSC receive a presentation every year from Sportspace and the Finance and Resources OSC look at the financial support.

Councillor Hicks said he was the new trustee on this board and he said that they were shocked that the cuts were such a high percentage of their grant.

Councillor Anderson asked S Whelan if she felt that the proposed budget gives enough for what the department needs for software development.

S Whelan said that with regards to software for planning officers, they are looking to upgrade to a better product and there is a reserve amount of money to be spent on this project. In addition to this, the department is looking at rebranding the Council’s website  ...  view the full minutes text for item 277.

The work programme for 2015/16 was agreed