Agenda and minutes

Members are requested to advise the Democratic Services Officer of any  apologies for this meeting.

Councillor O’Brien.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2022 are attached.

The minutes of the meeting held on 30 November 2022 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Vice-Chairman.

Government guidance expected Members of Scrutiny Committees not to act in accordance with party whipping and that, if they did, they were to declare it.

Government guidance expected Members of Scrutiny Committees not to act in accordance with party whipping and that, if they did, they were to declare it.

Resolved: There were no declarations made.

Report of the Director – Environment and Director – Economy and Skills attached.

The Committee considered a report of the Director – Environment, Paul Barton and the Director – Growth and Economy, Aidan Thatcher, presented by the Joint Intelligence Unit Manager, Sean Melling, which detailed the current position against a number of key performance indicators across the Environmental Services and Growth and Economy Directorates.

During its discussions, the Committee raised the following salient points:

·         the positive nature of 95.63% of minor highway repairs being completed on time, which was above the current target of 90%;

·         whether the service was dealing with less minor highway repairs than in previous years;

·         how the Council measured the borough’s cleanliness score;

·         Section 106 monies being used to fund more affordable houses and to improve the infrastructure around the new homes that were built; and

·         the new traffic safety measures in Standish and when they would be implemented.

The Director – Environment informed the Committee that the Council still dealt with as many minor highway repairs, as it had in previous years. The Council had a new policy in place for dealing with repairs and worked in partnership with the private sector, and this new system had resulted in repairs being able to be turned around much faster.

The Director – Environment advised Members that the Council used the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE) – Land Audit Management System (LAMS) to measure the borough’s cleanliness score. This was a quality inspection system used to monitor grounds maintenance and street cleansing. The inspections were carried out by Council staff and were factual and evidenced based, which were then backed up with photographs.

The Director – Growth and Economy informed Members that Section 106 monies generally secured a percentage of affordable housing units on the development sites and that social landlords delivered these. Section 106 monies were also used to mitigate the impact of new developments in the surrounding area. This was determined via consultation through the planning application, with wider services such as the Integrated Care Partnership and School Organisation Team being consulted with, to determine the impact on GP services and school places. The projects for Standish had now been approved by the Cabinet and the programme and timetable of works was currently being developed.

Resolved: The Committee:-

(1)   thanks the for Joint Intelligence Unit Manager for presenting the report; and

(2)   notes the performance set out against the key performance indicators in the report.

(Councillor Palmer joined the meeting during the consideration of this item)

Report of the Director of Environment attached.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of the Director – Environment, presented by the Assistant Director – Infrastructure and Regulatory Services, Julie Middlehurst and the Licensing Manager, Joanne Brockley, which provided an update on the successful application for Purple Flag status for Wigan Town Centre, and the next steps to ensure that the Council retained this status.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

·         the postitive nature of the Council achieving the Purple Flag Award and the hard work that had been undertaken to achieve this, and the advertising of the Purple Flag celebration event;

·         whether issues identified via the Wigan Central Operations Group were linked in with the Purple Flag task force;

·         reassurances that other town centres within the borough would aim for this prestigious award;

·         the Council needing to do more to showcase and promote the achievement;

·         Evening Marshals being a fantastic resource and the beneficial nature of having the same resource during the day in Wigan town centre, and the need for more publicity in relation to the role;

·         working in partnership, with Councillors, residents, partners and businesses allowing the Council to achieve more, more quickly;

·         whether Cumulative Impact Assessments had now been withdrawn for the town centres; and

·         including schools and colleges in the work regarding the Purple Flag.

The Assistant Director informed the Committee that the issues raised at the Wigan Central Operations Group were working with the Service, the Town Centre Manager and Greater Manchester Police (GMP) in relation to the anti-social behaviour (ASB) at the Bus Station. ASB in the Town Centre was a key performance indicator for the Purple Flag accreditation.

The Assistant Director advised Members that the Council would work towards other town centres across the borough achieving the award and would learn from the work carried out in Wigan town centre when undertaking work in other areas.

The Assistant Director informed Members that the Council would look to publicise the role of the Evening Marshals on social media and through its notice boards, with anyone feeling vulnerable whilst on a night out having the ability to approach the Marshals for advice and support.

The Assistant Director advised the Committee that Cumulative Impact Assessments had now been removed from the town centres. They assessments had been necessary at the time of introduction and implementation, but the Council now worked to a new model, which to date had been very effective.

Resolved: The Committee:-

(1)   thanks the officers for their report and presentation;

(2)   endorses the progress to date in securing Purple Flag Status for Wigan Town Centre;

(3)   endorses the identified actions that will support the Council’s renewal application; and

(4)   requests that the Committee’s comments and feedback are taken into consideration when progressing the work in relation to the Purple Flag.

Report of the Director – Environment attached.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of the Director – Environment, presented by the Service Manager – Parks and Streetscene, Matt Kelly, which outlined the current service delivery standards delivered by the Council’s Parks and Streetscene Service.

The Streetscene Service was responsible for the maintenance and cleanliness of the borough’s parks, street and town centres. It was therefore important that officers and Members were aware of the standards to which the borough would be maintained for the benefit of its communities.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were:

·        the importance of keeping the boroughs greenspaces maintained and cleaned and the value that residents placed on these areas;

·        whether there were dedicated Streetscene staff members that would not be deployed to other service areas;

·        whether the Council planned to participate in ‘No Mow May’;

·        the hard work undertaken by and the dedication of the Streetscene team;

·        how the borough cleaning score was calculated and how the Council compared to other Councils;

·        enquiries via the Member Enquiry (ME) System being marked as ‘completed’ when jobs had not been undertaken;

·        whether the sensor bins would just be placed in town centres;

·        whether the Beat-It Team working would be reinstated;

·        whether more litter bins could be provided for large-scale events at Mesnes Park;

·        the Council advising Ward Councillors when trees had to be removed and options to fund a replacement tree in that area.

The Service Manager informed the Committee that teams across all the services worked closely together and staff and resources would be shared if necessary - however, there was a strong focus on Streetscene. In terms of ‘No Mow May,’ the Council would not mow targeted areas across the borough as rich grassland was an important part of the climate strategy, but residents and Members would be consulted with in relation to this.

The Service Manager advised Members that many enquiries were received via the ME System and Members should have been experiencing a much more responsive service, but some enquiries/queries may take a longer period of time to action due to the nature of the job.

The Service Manager informed Members that Beat-It Team was still in place, however now operated more as a reactive team. The work of the team was now undertaken in a more co-ordinated way and that all ME enquiries were undertaken in a consistent way across the whole of the borough. The week-long individual Ward clean ups may be revisited in the future.

The Service Manager advised the Committee that the Council did work closely with the organisers of large events held in Mesnes Park and additional Streetscene staff were deployed to work on these events. The possibility of putting additional bins in the park for the large-scale events would be fed back to the relevant staff for further consideration.

Resolved: The Committee:

(1)    thanks the Service Manager for his report and presentation;

(2)    endorses the Streetscene Maintenance Standards;

(3)    thanks Streetscene for their hard work and dedication; and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.