Agenda and minutes

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

Councillors Guest and Wailes.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 November are attached.

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 November 2023 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

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.

Please find attached, a link to the Council’s Forward Plan, which details the forthcoming Key and Non-Key decisions that are due to be taken by the Cabinet, a Member of the Cabinet (Portfolio Holder) or a Designated Officer relating to the service areas of this Committee, at this time: Forward Plan of Key/Non-Key Decisions

The Committee considered the Council’s Forward Plan of forthcoming key and non-key decisions to be taken by the Cabinet, an Individual Portfolio Holder or delegated officers, in relation to the Resources Directorate.

Resolved: The Committee notes the forthcoming decisions, with no items being requested to be placed on a future agenda of the Committee.

Report of Director – Environment is attached.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of the Director – Environment, Paul Barton, presented by the Service Manager - Environmental Education and Enforcement, Andrew Bond, which outlined the impact of the recently launched “Keep it Clean” programme which included the provision of waste amnesties, and  also provided an update on the newly deployed “Whitespace” in-cab technology which now supported the Council’s waste collection service.

Some of the key areas included in the Committee’s discussion were:

·           plans to improve fly tipping response throughout the Borough;

·           enforcement of fines;

·           replacing damaged and defective bins; and

·           plans to upgrade bins throughout the Borough.

The Portfolio Holder for Planning, Environmental Services and Transport, Councillor Prescott, informed the Committee that the Council had seen a positive impact as a result of the changes made to the Council’s bulky waste collection offer. The Council now provided two  free bulky waste collections per year of up to five items. The revised scheme was designed to help those residents who could not access the Council’s recycling centres and it was hoped that it would help reduce the level of fly tipping across the Borough.

The Portfolio Holder also highlighted the importance of spreading the message to residents that fly tipping was an environmental crime and prosecutions would be made where necessary.

The Director advised Members that a review and audit had been carried out which reported that 10-15% of the 2.5K bins throughout the Borough were unused, therefore, there were plans in place to allocate them to areas where residents would benefit more from them.

The Director informed Members that, as part of ongoing service improvements there were plans to install double sized bins in a bid to ease pressures on staff and allow longer periods of time between emptying. A sum of £55K had now been allocated for the provision of new street bins across the Borough.

There were also plans to install new bins with sensors that connected to the Council’s computer system to enable analysis of the usage of each bin and their fill rates.

The Director advised the Committee that more street bins were being installed in identified litter hotspots leaving no excuse for members of the public to litter the streets, and that all street bins should be inspected every time they are emptied by a member of the Streetscene Team, with any defects  being reported.

The Assistant Director – Environmental Services, Dave Lyon, informed the Committee that when fly tipping was identified on private land, the Council would use Land Registry to identify the land owner and make contact with them. The Council undertook work with land owners to help and support them in removing fly tipped rubbish as they were also a victim to environmental crime.

The Service Manager advised Members that the Enforcement Team consisted of 14 Officers, including 2 Early Intervention Officers. Their key focus was to target members of the public who were fly tipping and provide environmental education. The Environmental Education and Enforcement Team were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

Report of Assistant Director - Skills and Enterprise is attached.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of the Assistant Director – Skills and Enterprise, Claire Burnham, which provided an overview of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) People and Skills delivery in Wigan Borough.

Some of the key areas included in the Committee’s discussion were:

·           funding apprenticeships throughout the Borough;

·           ensuring all young people were supported when leaving school; and

·           monitoring home educated children.

The Assistant Director informed the Committee that the Council work with local businesses to look at opportunities in providing apprenticeships for young people. The Council had made funds available through the ‘Future Apprentices for Business (FAB) grants. Grants of £3,000 or £5,000 were made available to local businesses to support them to recruit apprentices, the funding could help to top up the young person’s salary or help overcome any barriers, such as travel.

The Assistant Director advised Members that the Council had a statutory duty to track all the young people in the Borough, aged 16-18, to ensure that the right support and guidance were provided to anyone who was not in education, training and employment (NEET). The team had also worked alongside schools to identify those at risk of becoming not engaged in education, employment or training (NEET). Work had been undertaken with schools and colleges, throughout the Borough, to establish which students were highlighted at risk of becoming NEET, the students then meet with Progression Advisors who provided support and guidance.

Work was also undertaken alongside other services, such as Mental Health teams and Social Care teams, to gain an insight into a young person’s circumstances and needs in order to ensure the correct support was provided.

A question was raised in terms of home educated children. The Assistant Director informed Members that whilst there had been an increase in children being home educated, the Council were aware of every child in the Borough who was home educated and there had been targeted work carried out via the Education Inclusion Team and Aspiring Futures Team to provide support to prevent  young people from becoming NEET.

A question was posed enquiring about the increase in young people who were NEET but still not ready to engage in education, employment and training. The Raising Participation Manager, Suzanne Gilmore, advised the Committee that post pandemic, there had been an increase in young people experiencing additional barriers, such as challenges with mental health, as well as  an increase in school phobias and social anxiety.

This increase had led to some young people post 16 finding it challenging to engage in college environments due to them not having been engaged in school. Positive work had been undertaken alongside the Inclusion Team and Wigan and Leigh College, reviewing qualifications and providing extra support to Year 11’s to support them onto the most appropriate courses in college.

The Assistant Director informed the Committee that there were some extremely positive examples of parents providing excellent home education to their children throughout the Borough. The Council held data outlining the reason for  ...  view the full minutes text for item 26.

Report of Director – Place and Director – Environment is attached.

The Committee considered a report and presentation of the Director – Place, Aidan Thatcher and the Director – Environment, presented by the Joint Intelligence Unit Manager, which outlined information in relation to the newly established Office for Local Government (OFLOG) and provided an update of the organisation’s relative performance for key performance indicators across the Place and Environmental Services.

During its discussions, the Committee highlighted whether the Council were effectively benchmarking against the Performance Strategy.

The Joint Intelligence Unit Manager informed the Committee that the team would set performance indicators to establish how well the Council were performing and that a variety of benchmarking tools would be needed to effectively compare data. Engagement was also undertaken with the OFLOG to understand what their intentions were regarding performance data.

Resolved: The Committee:-

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

(2)      endorses the performance across the Place and Environment directorates.