Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda.

Members were invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests they may have in the business on the agenda.  None were declared.

To approve and sign the minutes of the meeting of the committee held on 28 March 2012.

RESOLVED:       That the minutes of the meeting of 28 March 2012 be confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

At this point in the meeting, members of the public who have registered their wish to speak regarding an item on the agenda or an issue within the committee’s remit can do so.  The deadline for registering is Tuesday 26 June 2012 at 5.00pm.

It was reported that there were no registrations to speak under the council’s Public Participation Scheme.

Discussion around the following issues:

·        New ways of working and of monitoring City of York Council performance

·        Director update on planned service reviews for 2012/13

·        Agreed CYC related topics (CCTV, Animal Enforcement on CYC land and public highway, and Commercial Waste Services/Commercial Waste Recyling/Incinerator Plan B (Commercial Waste topic focus to be agreed)

Consideration was given to the committee’s draft work plan for 2012-13.  Discussion took place around the following issues:

(i)           Monitoring of City of York Council Performance

The Chair of Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee explained that each scrutiny committee was being asked to consider how best to monitor City of York Council performance in respect of the areas within the committee’s remit, including whether the committee would wish to continue the arrangement whereby performance monitoring reports were regularly presented at committee meetings. 

Members agreed that it was useful to receive the monitoring reports, particularly if these highlighted challenges being faced in specific areas.  The reports were also useful to identify possible issues for scrutiny review.

The Chair requested that, if possible, Members identified any questions regarding the reports in advance of the meeting and contacted the officer concerned.  This would ensure that the necessary information would be available at the meeting.

(ii)          Director Update on Planned Service Reviews for 2012/13

Details were given of planned service reviews for the areas within the remit of the Cabinet Member for Environmental Services and the Cabinet Member for Crime and Stronger Communities. The reviews would focus on the following areas and recommendations arising from the review would be considered by the Cabinet or by the relevant Cabinet Member:

·        Highways and civil engineering (including practices, procurement and efficiencies)

·        Waste Services – the rationalisation of waste rounds (including consideration of a move away from the policy on same day waste collection arrangements)

·        Policies at household waste sites

·        Greenwaste collection

·        Street level waste services (including street cleaning and street environment services)

Members agreed that when determining the topics for review in 2012/13, it was important that the Committee did not duplicate work that was already taking place as part of the planned service reviews.   They did, however, note that there may be opportunities for the Committee to contribute to some of the service reviews.

(iii)        CYC Related Topics

It was noted that, following discussions at previous committee meetings and at the scrutiny planning event, the following had been identified as possible topics for scrutiny review:

·        CCTV

·        Animal enforcement on CYC land and the public highway

·        Commercial waste/recycling/incinerator

Consideration of the topics in respect of CCTV and Animal enforcement on CYC land were considered under items 5 and 6 on the agenda (minutes 5  and 6 refer).

Discussion took place regarding the proposed topic on commercial waste.  Officers provided an update on the situation in respect of the waste incinerator plan and the arrangements that would be in place depending on the outcome of the planning application.  Details were also given of the issues that were to be considered as part of the service review into commercial waste, including the reasons why income targets were not being achieved and the charging structure.  At Members’ request, officers agreed to circulate information on commercial waste services, including data on the amount collected and the costs and charges involved.¹   

In view of the planned service review of commercial waste,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

Members will receive a briefing on CCTV.

Members had received a briefing note which outlined the present arrangements in respect of the City of York CCTV system and which detailed current and planned developments of the system.  The report suggested that it may not be an appropriate time to carry out a scrutiny topic regarding CCTV, as the service was about to undergo significant changes.  The report recommended that scrutiny of the CCTV service after April 2013 may be more worthwhile as, by that time, the service would have been moved into new accommodation and would have implemented new digital technologies.

Discussion took place regarding issues relating to the costs of the provision.   Members suggested that consideration should be given as to whether it would be appropriate to seek financial recompense from North Yorkshire Police in respect of the utilisation of CCTV to assist in crime and disorder management.  Members also commented on the possibility of exploring a public private partnership in respect of elements of the provision.  It  was  also recognised that some cameras had been  provided through ward committee funding on the understanding that ward committees would also pay the relevant licenses but that there had subsequently been significant changes to ward committee funding.

RESOLVED:       (i)      That a task group be established to look

informally at issues in respect of the financial aspects of CCTV provision.

(ii)      That the members of the task group be Councillors Barnes, Steward, King and Douglas.

(iii)     That, in April 2013, the task group would consider whether there was a need to carry out a more formal review of other aspects of CCTV provision.

REASON:  To progress the work of the committee in accordance with agreed scrutiny protocols and procedures.

Members will receive a briefing on animal related health, safety and enforcement issues, in support of a proposed scrutiny topic for this municipal year.

Members received a briefing on animal related health, safety and enforcement issues, in support of a proposed scrutiny topic.

The Chair suggested that, although the initial topic suggestion had focussed on animals on council land/verges and the public highway (incorporating enforcement around tethered horses), consideration should be given to extending this remit to include the way in which the council dealt with all animals on the highway.

Officers gave details of the work that the Animal Health Team carried out including:

Dog Warden Service

·        A statutory duty to collect stray dogs

·        Enforcing dog-fouling legislation (a non-statutory function)

·        Seeking control orders through the Magistrates Courts in respect of dangerous dogs

Officers gave details on new legislation in respect of dog control orders but explained that the City of York Council had historically implemented a significant number of dog control orders and hence was already well-served in this respect.

Animal Health and Welfare

Details were given of the duties of the Council in respect of the welfare of animals, including livestock entering the food chain.

Horses

Members were informed of the situation in respect of tethered horses, including the following:

·        It was lawful to tether a horse providing this was done correctly.

·        It was acknowledged that horses could be a nuisance or danger if by the roadside. 

·        The law permitted a land owner to detain for 48 hours, a horse placed on their land provided that the Police or the owner were notified.

·        Horses could be seized on welfare grounds if they were not tethered correctly or there were concerns about their health.

·        Most roads are owned by City of York Council but CYC cannot act if the road is owned by the Highways Agency or if the horse is positioned beyond the verge on private land.  The Council cannot “adopt” cases on behalf of others.

·        There were huge costs involved in detaining horses, including vehicle costs, food and vets fees.

·        A project was currently underway to consider how the Council could better address the issue, including seeking examples of good practice in other local authorities, and looking at the possibility of making land available for this purpose as an alternative to the tethering of horses on verges.

Members agreed that it would be appropriate to carry out a scrutiny review into issues in respect of the animal related health, safety and enforcement.

RESOLVED:       That, at the next meeting, a remit be agreed for a

scrutiny review on animal related health, safety and enforcement.

REASON:            To set a remit for a scrutiny review on this topic.