To agree the previous minutes as a true record
of the meeting.
Minutes:
The minutes from the previous meeting were
agreed as a true and accurate record.
3/17
DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST
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All Members present are
required to declare, at this point in the meeting or as soon as
possible thereafter,
(i)Any disclosable pecuniary interests and /
or
(ii)Other interests arising under the Code of Conduct in
respect of any item(s) of business being considered at this
meeting
NOTES:
·Members are reminded that they must not participate
in any item where they have a disclosable pecuniary
interest
·As well as an interest of the Member, this includes
any interest, of which the Member is aware, that relates to the
Member’s spouse or civil partner (or any person with whom the
Member is living as a spouse or civil partner)
·Members with a significant personal interest may
participate in the discussion and vote on that matter unless that
interest could be reasonably regarded as prejudicial.
Minutes:
None received.
4/17
QUESTIONS AND PETITIONS
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To receive any questions or petitions.
Notes:
·
The deadline for Member’s questions is 12:00pm four working
days before the meeting 24 February 2017.
·
The deadline for public questions is seven days before the meeting
23 February 2017.
·
The deadline for petitions was 14 days before the meeting, and no
petitions have been received.
Minutes:
Key
points raised during the discussion:
A Member question was
received from Councillor Victoria Young regardinggulley clearance and maintenance(a copy of the question with a response was tabled, attached at
Annex 1).
Members raised
concerns around the inability of Parishes to find out when roads
were scheduled for gulley maintenance. It was further added that
many villages in Surrey were not included in the gully cleansing
and maintenance schedule.
The Cabinet Member
for Highways, Flooding and Transport informed the Board that the
response tabled at the meeting was not satisfactory and a full
detailed response would be provided to the Board electronically
within 2 weeks.
Members further
queried details regarding the newgulley cleansing contract which would commence in
April 2017 and the maps used to identify the gullies in Surrey on
the website.The Cabinet Member for Highways,
Flooding and Transport stated that some issues had been identified
regarding the marking of gullies on maps.
It was noted that
Local Planning Authorities (LPAs) were responsible for managing the
drainage systems and that Surrey County Council were not legally
expected to be involved and their position was as a consultee.
Recommendations:
None
Actions:
EP14- For the Cabinet Member
for Highways, Transport and Flooding to provide the board with an
updated response to the Member Question submitted at the board
meeting of 2 March 2017 regarding gully clearance and
maintenance.
EP15- For the Cabinet Member
for Highways, Transport and Flooding to provide the board with
details of the new gully cleansing contract in place from April
2017 and details of where maps used to locate and report gully
cleansing issues on the SCC website are produced.
In relation
to Action EP8, the Board were informed that negotiations with Kier
were ongoing and under the current terms of the contract it was not
certain whether the Thermal Mapping proposals could be
delivered.
It was
noted that the £340k saving target from winter maintenance
would not be achieved this financial year and would be carried
forward by the directorate into next year.
The
Chairman indicated that the Thermal Mapping proposal carried an
‘invest to save’ element and if agreed, it would
increase savings and efficiency of winter service.
The Cabinet
Member for Highways, Flooding and Transport advised the Board that
due to the current financial situation no capital spending would be
permitted until the Council achieved a sustainable
budget.
It was
stated that a report on Civil Parking detailing performance per
Borough in relation to agency agreements would be provided to
Members in 2 weeks time.
The Cabinet
Member for Environment and Planning advised that the outcome of the
Surrey Chief Executives meeting on allocation of CIL funds was
available and would be circulated to the Board following this
meeting.
It was
highlighted to the Board that lane hire was not permitted in Surrey
and discussions had been taking place over the last 2 years to
introduce this and were still ongoing.
A Member
raised the issue with utility companies blocking roads and whether
this could be looked into. The Board were advised that any work
being carried out on the roads required permits and this scheme was
controlled. Members were advised that the authenticity of these
permits could be checked by the Traffic and Streetworks Team.
The Cabinet
Member advised that a draft report on permit schemes would be
coming to the Board in due course as the service were responsible
for reporting back on the scheme every 3 years. The Chairman
indicated that Officers ensure that this topic was put on the
agenda for the induction meeting after the elections so new Members
understood the licensing regime.
It was
noted that the Forward Work Programme appeared light due to the
elections and Members were advised to note the date of the
Induction meeting on 1 June 2017.
Recommendations:
The Board noted and agreed with
the proposed Recommendations Tracker and Forward Work
Programme.
Actions:
EP16- For the Cabinet Member
for Highways, Transport and Flooding to chase a response to Action
EP9 regarding Civil Parking Enforcement on the EPEH actions and
recommendations tracker.
EP17- For the Cabinet Member
for Environment and Planning to chase up a response to Action EP11
and EP13 regarding CIL on the EPEH actions and recommendations
tracker.
The
Chairman agreed to move Item 6 to the end of the agenda.
To receive a verbal update from the
Board’s Task and Member Reference Groups.
Minutes:
Key
Points raised during the discussion:
The
Spokesperson for Basingstoke Canal informed the Board that there
was nothing to report since the last meeting and that the task
group were due to report back to the Board in summer
2017.
Councillor
Mike Bennison was thanked by Councillor
Richard Wilson for acting as an interim Chair for the Customer
Services MRG in his absence.
The Board
noted that the Customer Service Excellence Member Reference group
met on 6 February 2017 to address partial compliances to obtain
renewal of accreditation.
Members
were further informed that Customer Service workshops had been
rolled out for new members of staff and group managers.
The
Spokesperson further advised the Board that an assessment would be
carried out later on in the month.
Further to
the above, it was highlighted that a new Members’ bulletin
has been launched and the service would welcome feedback from
Members.
It was also
highlighted that a number of enquiries had been received on street
lighting and it was suggested that a story be featured in Surrey
Matters to explain the rationale behind switching off street lights
and the savings it would produce.
The
spokesperson for the Highways for the Future Member Reference Group
advised that an update report would be circulated to Board Members
electronically.
The Surrey
Waste Partnership Future Member Reference group reported that the
joint arrangement between Mole Valley, Surrey Heath, Elmbridge and Woking for operating under one single
waste collector was producing savings. The remaining Boroughs and
Districts were advised that there was an open invitation to join
this arrangement going forward.
The Finance
sub-group met on 24 February 2017 to discuss budget planning for
the Environment and Infrastructure Directorate. The sub-group
received end of year Revenue and Capital summaries and also
considered existing and additional savings options.
This report provides
an update on the development of proposals to improve pedestrian
safety on Bridge Street, Guildford. This follows a road traffic
collision on 20 February 2016 that led to the deaths of two
pedestrians. This issue was the subject of a petition to the
council on 17 May 2016 and was considered previously by the
Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways Board on 9 June
2016.
George Bowen, Petitioner that attended the 9
June 2016 meeting
Declarations of
interest:
None.
Key
point raised during the discussion:
Mr Bowen, the
original Petitioner was invited to speak first and began
discussions by giving the Board a brief summary for his reasons for
attendance today. The Board were reminded that the petition was a
result of a road traffic collision that took place on 20 February
2016, subsequently demanding Guildford Borough Council and Surrey
County Council to take immediate action on Bridge Street,
Guildford.
Members were advised
that Bridge Street consisted of a 3 lane system which was difficult
to navigate for both road users and pedestrians. The purpose of the
petition was to prevent an accident where 2 people lost their lives
on 20 February 2016 from occurring again.
Mr Bowen expressed
the view that the lack of funding from the M3 Local Enterprise
Partnership should not prevent the saving of lives and
supplementary action should be made to ensure funding was in place
to improve road safety for pedestrians on Bridge
Street.
It was noted that
Bridge Street was subject to many road traffic collisions and on
average 3 collisions were reported every year.
Mr Bowen welcomed
improvements to Bridge Street and expressed the view that the
outcome the petitioners sought after was to ensure pedestrians
safety.
The Road Safety Team
Manager introduced the report by informing the Board that the
report was drawn together from an analysis based over 5
years, however the service
was aware of the number of casualties through out the
years.
It was noted that
that the collision that took place on 20 February 2017 was an
unusual occurrence where the vehicle mounted the
footway. The Board were advised that
Officers were waiting on the Coroners report for more details to
the cause.
Based on the
analysis, the Officer reported that the primary focus was at the
eastern end of Bridge Street at the junction with Onslow Street, where 31 road casualties were
recorded by the Police in just over 5 years.
The Officer informed
the Board that Surrey County Council were working with Guildford
Borough Council towards a long term solution in improving safety on
Bridge Street. The raised tables mentioned in the report would help
to direct people to cross the road in the right place rather than
in an unsafe place.
The Cabinet Member
for Highways, Flooding and Transport assured the Board that there
would be no issue with funding for any improvements to Bridge
Street as it would be provided from central budgets and would not
be expected to be allocated from Local Committee
budgets.
The Guildford Local
Committee Chairman acknowledged the problem with Bridge Street and
stated that the Local Committee had been actively looking for
funding to improve safety and was pleased with the assurances from
the Cabinet Member to support the issue financially. The Member
stated that he was happy with ...
view the full minutes text for item 7/17
Purpose of the report:Scrutiny of Services and Budgets and Performance
Management
To update the EPEH
Board on the changes to the Community Recycling Centre service
implemented as part of the council’s cost saving
measures.
Minutes:
Witnesses:
Richard Parkinson, Waste Operations Group
Manager
Nicholas Meadows, Change Consultant
Declarations of
interest:
None.
Key point raised
during the discussion:
The Waste
Operations Group Manager introduced the report by informing the
Board of the recent changes at Community Recycling Centres (CRCs)
as per the recommendations agreed by Cabinet in November 2015. The
first phase of changes were introduced in April 2016, effectively
reducing the operating hours/days of sites and the non-acceptance
of some non-household waste materials at certain CRCs.
It was
noted that charges for soil, rubble and plasterboard were
introduced in September 2016, Members were advised that these had
been closely monitored and were detailed in the report.
The Waste
Operations Group Manager reported that the volume of fly-tipping
collected by District & Borough Councils for disposal had
fallen in the period April 2016 – January 2017. It had
reduced by over 1,100 tonnes compared to the previous year saving
the council £125,000 in disposal costs. This reduction has
coincided with the launch of the fly-tipping prevention strategy in
June 2016.
A Member
sought clarification on whether there has been a decrease in the
amount of recycling material collected at CRCs and asked for
information on recycling at each CRC. The Member also asked if
there had been an increase in queuing at CRCs, where opening days
had been reduced. The Officer responded by confirming that there
had been a reduction in green waste volumes between April 2016 and
January 2017 and consequently a reduction in processing costs.
Changes in volumes of other types of recycled materials were less
significant,
It was
noted by the Board that there had not be any particular complaints
from the public about queueing as a
result of the change in operating hours and queuing at CRCs. It was
highlighted that since the introduction of the charging scheme, the
sites had become less busy and the Officer advised that data could
be drawn together to show vehicle counts at sites if
necessary.
The Waste
Operations Group Manager advised the Board that collecting data in
relation to fly-tipping was inconsistent as Borough and Districts
reported fly-tipping differently and getting this data accurate was
a priority going forward.
Further to
the above, the Officer informed the Board there was limited data
regarding fly-tipping on private land as this information is not
really collected by District and Borough Councils. This is an area
that the new partnership and intelligence officer is seeking to
understand more about, and has already been liaising with groups
such as the National Trust and the Surrey Wildlife
Trust.
A Member
expressed the view that the Board should consider a more detailed
report on each individual CRC site as it would be promote a broader
and better understanding of the impact of changes to
residents.
The Cabinet
Member for Environment and Planning informed the Board that that
the County Council had invested a lot of time into the creation of
a fly-tipping strategy and was one of the only local authorities
with a ...
view the full minutes text for item 8/17
9/17
EXCLUSION OF THE PUBLIC
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Recommendation:That
under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public
be excluded from the meeting during consideration of the following
item(s) of business on the grounds that they involve the likely
disclosure of exempt information under the relevant paragraphs of
Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act.
Minutes:
RESOLVED:
That under Section 100(A) of
the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the
meeting during consideration of the following item(s) of business
on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt
information under the relevant paragraphs of Part 1 of Schedule 12A
of the Act.
10/17
PARTIAL REFINANCING OF SURREY'S PFI WASTE CONTRACT
The
Chairman gave Members a brief summary to why this item had been
included on the agenda. The Board agreed and noted the content of
the report and supported Officers with next steps going
forward.
Recommendations:
The
Board noted the content of the report.
Actions:
None
11/17
DATE OF NEXT MEETING: THURSDAY 1 JUNE 2017
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The next meeting of the Economic Prosperity,
Environment and Highways Board will be held on Thursday 1 June 2017
at 10:30 in the Ashcombe Suite, County
Hall, Kingston Upon Thames.
Minutes:
The
next meeting of the Economic Prosperity, Environment and Highways
Board will be held on Thursday 1 June 2017 at 10.30am in the
Ashcombe Suite, County Hall, Kingston
upon Thames.