Agenda and minutes

At this point, Members are asked to declare:

·        any personal interests not included on the Register of Interests

·        any prejudicial interests or

·        any disclosable pecuniary interests

which they may have in respect of business on this agenda.

At this point in the meeting, Members were asked to declare any personal interests not included on the register of interests, any prejudicial interests or any disclosable pecuniary interest which they might have in respect of the business on the agenda. No additional interests were declared.

It is at this point in the meeting that members of the public who have registered to speak can do so.  The deadline for registering is 5.00pm on Friday 18 October 2013.  Members of the public can speak on agenda items or matters within the remit of the committee.

To register to speak please contact the Democracy Officer for the meeting, on the details at the foot of the agenda.

It was reported that there had been no registrations to speak at the meeting under the Council’s Public Participation Scheme; however one Member of Council had requested to speak in respect of the winter maintenance review.

Councillor Doughty confirmed that following representations one concession had been made in his ward in relation to the winter maintenance programme, adjacent to the primary school. Concerns were raised however that no consultation had been undertaken with Strensall Parish Council. More general city wide concerns were expressed regarding the restrictive online survey which gave residents little choice. It was felt that basic, essential services were being cut affecting vulnerable residents and he asked that the decisions were referred back to the Cabinet Member for further consideration.

To approve and sign the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 16 September 2013.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the last meeting of the Committee held on 16 September 2013 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

To consider the decisions made by the Cabinet Member for Environmental Services at his Decision Session held on 9 October 2013 in relation to the above item, which has been called in by Cllrs Reid, Ayre and Aspden and Cllrs Richardson, Doughty and Barton in accordance with the Council’s Constitution.  A cover report is attached setting out the reasons for the call-in and the remit and powers of the Corporate and Scrutiny Management Committee (Calling-In) in relation to the call-in, together with the original report and the decisions of the Cabinet Member.

Members received a report which asked them to consider the decisions made by the Cabinet Member for Environmental Services at his meeting held on 9 October 2013, in relation to amendments to the winter maintenance services for the 2013/14 season. It was reported that this option had been chosen to address the majority of gritting route concerns following an analysis of the consultation data and in response to resident’s feedback.

Details of the Cabinet Members decision were attached as Annex A to the report and the original report to the Cabinet Member attached as Annex B. The decision had firstly been called in by Cllrs Reid, Ayre and Aspden on the grounds that:

·     The consultation on the proposed changes was inadequate. It was only available online so excluded residents who do not or cannot use the internet, there was limited choice, leading questions, and no room for “any other comments”. Throughout the process there has been a consistent lack of proper engagement with residents on the proposed cuts.

·     The key issues identified by residents, based on the comments from the consultation, were the concerns over cycle routes, elderly and vulnerable residents, and schools and shops. However, there is a lack of evidence that resources have been targeted to address these issues.

·     The report confirms that the Council will be treating a lower percentage of the road network than our APSE family group and around two-thirds of salt bins will be lost.

·     The consultation and approved report lacked information and were difficult to understand for residents, residents groups or opposition councillors. They should have included:

1. List of current salt bins and a simple yes/no as to whether they will continue.

2. List of primary gritting routes and a simple yes/no as to whether they will continue.

3. List of secondary routes and a simple yes/no as to whether they will continue.

·     It is difficult to understand how this can be a comprehensive winter maintenance report when salt bin provision by other organisations such as Parish Councils and Residents Associations or even by other parts of City of York Council (such as Housing and Parking) were not included.  

·     The report talks about an “adopted criteria” for salt bins, but does not explain precisely what this criteria is, who approved it, or when it was approved.

·     We do not believe that even this criteria has been applied consistently – the report ignores the fundamental difference between gritting roads for traffic and providing self-help bins for pedestrians. Gritting a road does not help pedestrians and justifying the removal of another 8 bins because they are now on a PGR (Primary Gritting Route) is nonsense. Either a location meets the criteria or it doesn’t.

·     Cllr Levene was quoted in the paper as saying that bins would be provided where there are schools, elderly people's homes and gradients. However, many of the bins being removed meet this criteria. Just taking the west of York this includes:

o             On inclines - Barkston Avenue, Chapelfields Road/Marston Avenue,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 21.