Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D Maycock, P Turner and S Peaple. Councillor A Cooper attended as Councillor D Maycock’s substitute.

Councillor S Doyle, Portfolio Holder for Skills, Planning Economy and Waste had sent his apologies for the item on the Dual Stream (recycling service) update.

RESOLVED that Councillor P Turner be elected as vice-chair.

(Moved by Councillor A Cooper and seconded by Councillor R Rogers)

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 November 2022 were approved as a correct record.

(Moved by Councillor J Harper and seconded by Councillor B Price)

There were no declarations of interest.

There was no update from the Chair.

The Chair reported that following the meeting of this Committee on 22 November 2022, he took the Committee’s recommendation on the Transport Integration Update item to Cabinet and Cabinet supported the recommendation and agreed to task relevant Officers to liaise with the partner organisations to identify any funding sources for the development of additional public transport links within the Borough.  Cabinet agreed a further recommendation in respect of which the Leader of the Council confirmed he would liaise with the relevant County Councillors to progress.

(Discussion item)

None.

(Report of the Assistant Director, Partnerships)

The Assistant Director, Partnerships attended the meeting to present to the Committee a report recommending the extension of the Public Space Protection Order on the access road to Dosthill Hall and to support delegation to the Portfolio Holder for implementation.

RESOLVED that delegation to the Portfolio Holder, Voluntary Sector, Town Centre, Evening Economy and Community Safety for the extension of the of the Dosthill Park Public Space Protection Order (as attached as Appendix 1 to the Report) be approved.

(Moved by Councillor J Harper and seconded by Councillor B Price)

(Report of the Leader of the Council)

The Chair welcomed the Leader of the Council, Councillor J Oates and the Assistant Director, Growth & Regeneration, Ms A Miller and the Future High Street Funds Project Officer, Ms A Poulton to the meeting to present the quarterly progress report to the Committee.

Councillor M Cook joined the meeting at 6.12pm.

The Leader introduced the report and reminded members that work on this project had started in late 2018, and that significant work had been done.  It was reported that the project had progressed well since the last quarterly update; including demolition work on old Co-op retail store site, with the tenders for the main contractor for the Flex, Middle Entry improvements, Enterprise Centre and Peel Café underway, and on the Market Street Properties and Castle Bridge designs. 

It was reported that:

1.    Liaison with the Council’s Arts & Events team was underway to understand any interactions between any FHSF works with any planned events.  The current timetable expected the works to widen the Castle Bridge to be undertaken between September and November.

2.    There was careful monitoring of the budgets and timelines to deliver the project within the cost envelope.

3.    There were monthly meetings of the Programme Board providing updates on progress against key milestones.

4.    A preferred contractor had been identified for the tendered works to refurbish the Enterprise Centre, to demolish and rebuild the Flex space and for the renovation of the Peel café and an inception meeting was expected in January 2023.  This tender provided for the potential for this contractor to deliver further works, or alternatively for there to be flexibility to procure from elsewhere.

The Committee sought and received the following clarifications:

1.    The Committee sought a more detailed overview of the timelines for delivery of each area of the works, including the works related to Peel Café, the Flex space and the Castle Bridge.  The Assistant Director reported that the programme was under discussion with the contractor and that a programme chart would be provided as part of the next update to the Committee expected in June 2023.

2.    The use of time lapse camera footage and the sharing of this more widely, where it was reported that the cameras were in place and would be shared.

3.    The Committee requested that where possible the works were programmed to avoid clashes with any key events in the town and that communications over the expected work and interactions for planned events and more generally on the town centre, be made early so that residents would be able to plan.  The Leader confirmed that early communication was important as well as ensuring that key messages were repeated closer to events.

4.    Whether any consideration had been given to designating any of the Market Street properties as a heritage asset to assist in any funding applications.  It was reported that these three units were Grade II listed and that the project included funding works related to these relevant Market Street properties that were within the scope  ...  view the full minutes text for item 84.

To receive an update on the dual stream recycling service.

The Chair welcomed the Chief Executive, Mr Andrew Barratt, the General Manager of the Joint Waste Service, Mr Nigel Harris, and the Customer Relations and Performance Manager of the Joint Waste Service, Ms Victoria Woodhouse to this meeting.  The Chair noted that the Portfolio Holder for Skills, Planning, Economy and Waste, Councillor Doyle had sent his apologies.

The Chief Executive provided an overview of the Implementation review report and the key learnings from the implementation phase.

The General Manager provided an overview of the quarterly performance report including the additional data previously requested by the Committee. 

The Committee commented and sought clarifications in the following areas:

1.    The improved data and its graphical presentation was welcomed by the Committee, which requested that data for pre-COVID years be also included in future updates to aid comparisons and trends.  The General manager agreed that this could be provided going forwards.

2.    Data on a route basis was also requested, where the General manager reported that it could be possible to provide further breakdowns in the data, and he agreed to bring forward some suggested breakdowns to the next meeting.  He reported that the service did have the data for where bins were not presented to the kerbside for collection.

3.    Whether there was data which could be presented to show climate change impacts of the service, in terms of loads rejected and more broadly.  The General manager reported that currently the service did not have the data for the climate impact of the whole life cycle of waste, and was waiting to see how the national picture develops in terms of waste metrics.  He reported that it could be possible to start to look at the potential decarbonisation of the trucks in future meetings.

4.    How the service was communicating the availability of replacement or additional blue bags where it was reported that once replacement stock of blue bags had been sourced, it would be possible to more proactively communicate the availability of additional blue bags.  Furthermore, during the Christmas campaign there had been communication of the availability of additional blue bags, however this remained an area where there could be further communication.  The importance of ensuring that there was sufficient stocks of blue bags available for residents was reinforced by the Committee and assurance was received from the Chief Executive in this regard.

5.    How the service was communicating to residents that any surplus blue bins could be collected by the service, where the General manager reported that this was being communicated, but that there had not been a significant take up by residents.

The Committee thanked the Officers for the report and the data included and the performance by the service.

RESOLVED that both reports be endorsed.

(Moved by Councillor S Goodall and seconded by Councillor B Price)

The Officers left the meeting.

(Discussion item – link to Forward Plan is attached)

Browse plans - Cabinet, 2023 :: Tamworth Borough Council

No further items were identified form the Forward Plan.

To receive updates from any Working Groups

There were no further updates on the current working groups.

(Update and discussion on the Infrastructure Safety & Growth Scrutiny Work Plan)

The Committee considered its work plan and added the following items as set out in the work plan below:

·         Staffordshire Sustainability Board Update, to include an update on EV Charging in council car park

·         Committee Annual Report (draft)

·         Castle Grounds Festival

·         Assembly Rooms

Infrastructure, Safety and Growth Scrutiny Work Plan