Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on Tuesday 20 March 2018 were approved as a true record.

A presentation will be provided by the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods.

The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods delivered a presentation to the Group which explained the role and remit of the Partnership Delivery Group.

The report of the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods is attached.

The Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods submitted a report to provide a report on the performance of the Council’s cooperation agreement for Fleet Maintenance and Garage Services Provision with Nottingham City Council for 2017/18. It was noted that the partnership was now in its fourth year of operation and that Nottingham City Council maintained both the Council’s fleet as well as vehicles owned by Streetwise Environmental Ltd.

The Executive Manager advised that it was important to note that performance in the last year had been adversely affected by some changes in staffing levels and resources at Nottingham City Council, which had led to some areas of performance being negatively impacted on.  It was also noted that some work referenced in the report on outstanding invoices for Streetwise had now been resolved. The Executive Manager advised that expenditure incurred as part of the cooperation agreement in 2017/18 was higher than in previous year due to more vehicle breakdowns with a small overspend of £3,000 against a budget of £284,500.

Mr Gooding – Head of Service for Parking, Fleet and Transport and Mr Parr – Interim Fleet and Commercial Operations Manager of Nottingham City Council attended the meeting and provided a presentation on performance of the cooperation agreement covering the period 2017/18. The presentation covered:

·         Nottingham City Council’s Commercial Ethos

·         Commercial Fleet – The Story so far

·         The Origins of the Co-operation Agreement

·         The Objectives of the Co-operation Agreement

·         Scope of Services Delivered

·         The Governance of the Co-operation Agreement

·         Key Performance Indicators

·         Issues and Improvements Made

·         Streetwise

·         Next Steps

Members of the Group asked several specific questions regarding the lifespan of the vehicles and whether prolonging the use of the vehicles was causing additional financial problems. Members of the Group were informed that an increase in the quality of materials meant that vehicles had an increased life span which created efficiencies and less frequent replacement of vehicles but that this did mean that there had to be an increase in the maintenance budget. However this was more than offset by a reduction in the capital expenditure for new vehicles.

Members of the Group asked several questions regarding the use of electric vehicles and were advised that Nottingham City Council had recently received £1.5 million in funding from DEFRA to fund electric vehicles. Members were also informed that charging points for electrical vehicles would be installed at the depots with the help of the funding from DEFRA. Members of the Group were also pleased to note that there were currently four apprentices working in fleet maintenance at Nottingham City Council.

The Chairman members of the Group thanked the officers for attending the meeting and for answering their questions.

It was RESOLVED that:

a)    the report of the Executive Manager – Neighbourhoods be noted.

b)    the presentation made by Nottingham City Council be noted.

c)    that the work of the cooperation agreement be endorsed.

The Environmental Sustainability Officer presented the report of the Executive Manager – Communities to report how the Council had been working with the

Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT) to deliver the Rushcliffe Nature

Conservation Strategy and Biodiversity gain in Rushcliffe. It was noted that Rushcliffe Borough Council had a Nature Conservation strategy since 1995 that had been refreshed in 2010 and 2015 and was due for renewal in 2020. It was noted that the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust was making a significant contribution to delivering the nature conservation strategy in areas including: 

·         Promoting Landscape Scale Conservation to create a more resilient natural environment

·         Promoting the maintenance and enhancement of nature reserves

·         Promoting sympathetic land management for wildlife in rural and urban areas

·         Supporting continuous surveying, monitoring and reporting of Rushcliffe’s biodiversity

·         Raising awareness of nature conservation issues

·         Seeking to influence the impact of development on wildlife.

The Environmental Sustainability Officer provided information on some of the achievements against key performance indicators of the Service Level Agreement with the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust. These included an increase of the original 210 hectares being managed as nature reserve to approximately 460 hectares since 2004, and the significant increase in the number of hours recorded as voluntary practical nature conservation work from 3,138 hours in 2004 to 10,219 hours in 2016.  It was noted however that even if a site was managed at a nature reserve that it did not necessarily mean that the site was open to the public.

Ms Janice Bradley - Head of Conservation at Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust, attended the meeting and delivered a presentation to the Group which focused on delivery of the service level agreement with the Council. The presentation covered:

·         The Service Level Agreement

·         The Service Level Agreement Targets

·         The Service Level Agreement Sites

·         The Service Level Agreement Outputs

·         Training Provisions

·         Multiple Output Projects

·         The Benefits to Rushcliffe in Partnership Working

Members asked several questions regarding the nature reserve at the East Leake quarry site. Ms Bradley advised that the quarry was now undergoing its fourth extension and that at each extension the trust had been successful in ensuring that the amount of habitat provision had been maximised at each stage of the restoration. It was noted that because the land at the quarry site was privately owned and that the quarry was still in operation, it was difficult for members of the public to gain access to the site but that there were public access paths available and that these would be increased over the coming years.

Members of the Group noted that the SLA with the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust provided excellent value of money for the Council with the wide-ranging services that it provided and welcomed how well it engaged with volunteers and local schools. Members of the Group asked several questions regarding the tuberculosis vaccination programme for badgers and received verbal responses. Members also welcomed the work that the Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust had done is assisting to establish Friends Groups at new nature reserves sites such as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

The report of the Executive Manager – Finance and Corporate Services is attached.

Members of the Group considered the Partnership Delivery Group Annual Report 2017/18.

It was RESOLVED that the Partnership Delivery Group Annual report be approved and submitted to Council for consideration.

The report of the Executive Manager – Finance and Corporate Services is attached.

The Group considered its Work Programme

It was RESOLVED that the Work Programme, as detailed below be approved.

16 October 2018

·         Review of Metropolitan Housing Partnership

·         Building Control Agreement with South Kesteven District Council

·         Work Programme

8 January 2019

·         Review of Waterloo Housing Partnership

·         Review of Positive Futures/YouNG

·         Work Programme

19 March 2019

·         South Notts Community Safety Partnership

·         Grantham Canal Partnership with the Canal Rivers Trust

·         Work Programme