Agenda and draft minutes

Communities Scrutiny Group - Thursday, 21st March, 2024 7.00 pm

Venue: Council Chamber, Rushcliffe Arena, Rugby Road, West Bridgford. View directions

Media

Items
No. Item

16.

Declarations of Interest

Minutes:

Councillor Barney declared a non-pecuniary interest as a Nottinghamshire County Council Councillor who had supported funding for Nottingham Energy Partnership and as an employee of Geopura who work with hydrogen.

17.

Minutes of the Meeting held on 18 January 2024 pdf icon PDF 191 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2024 were agreed as a true record and were signed by the Chair.

18.

Carbon Management Plan Update pdf icon PDF 303 KB

Report of the Director - Neighbourhoods

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Community Development Manager presented an update on the Carbon Management Plan. He explained that carbon emission information was separated into the three categories, being Scope, 1 (direct emissions from the Council’s activity), Scope 2 (indirect emissions, for example from electricity) and Scope 3 (indirect emissions from supply chains and services).

 

The Community Development Manager explained that the Council had developed a roadmap towards achieving net zero as a business, but that emissions had increased slightly recently due to a variety of factors, including a return to business as usual following the pandemic, the in-sourcing of the Streetwise company and the opening of Rushcliffe Oaks crematorium.

 

The Community Development Manager said that the Council had also made a commitment, in line with national and international governments, to be Net Zero as a Local authority Area by 2050. He noted that public sector emissions contributed 9% and towards the overall carbon output for the Borough, with the largest contributor being transport at 33%.

 

The Group was updated on the successful completion of a number of projects, including heat decarbonisation for all non-leisure stock estate, a Swimming Pool Support Fund Award at Cotgrave Leisure Centre, completion of energy mapping work for assets and that the Council was hoping to replace the gas boilers at Sir Julian Cahn pavilion and Gamston community centre with air source heat pumps.

 

The Group was updated that the Council was mapping its transport and emissions, taking into consideration current technologies and the rural nature of the Borough to inform its vehicle replacement programme. The Community Development Manager said that the Council was also looking at working with Zest Energy regarding installation of EV charge points across the Borough.

 

In relation to contracts and procurement, the Community Development Manager said that the Council had written policies into its procurement strategy and was considering its supply chains and had employed a new biodiversity net gain (BNG) assistant to support introduction of the new legislation.

 

In relation to policy and regulation, the Community Development Manager said that the Council was currently reviewing its Review of Air Quality Strategy, had set up a Big Business Carbon Club and had been commended by a recent Peer Review for the work that it had completed to date.

 

In relation the waste and recycling, the Service Manager Neighbourhoods said that the Council was looking at how it collected waste, in line with expected changes to national guidance, with it likely that weekly food collections would be introduced later in 2027 and kerbside glass collection by 2026 as part of the Smarter Recycling initiative. He said that the Council was collectively working with local authorities across the County to take a whole system approach as much as possible.

 

The Community Development Manager said that the Council was looking at its data centre emissions, staff travel and had moved to procure its electricity from renewable sources. He said that the Council was also working with RCAN and parish and town councils supporting them with their asset  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

Streetwise Update pdf icon PDF 115 KB

Report of the Director - Neighbourhoods

 

Minutes:

The Service Manager Neighbourhoods introduced the Streetwise Report which provided a high level overview of the insourcing of Streetwise, future focus and performance information. He introduced the Streetwise Manager appointed a year ago who presented an update to the Group

 

The Streetwise Manager said that initial tasks of the Council had been to review various operations of Streetwise, including the management structure, the existing business including asking customers for feedback, scheduling of works, forward planning of works, the consistency and quality of work and the embracing of technology to improve and streamline operations.

 

The Streetwise Manager explained that a focus for the Council was Health and Safety due to the number of high risk works carried out by the Teams and as such it had created eight golden rules, which included new floor markings to segregate vehicles and pedestrians, a new induction and onboarding process, refreshed Toolbox Talks and regular staff briefing sessions, updated risk assessments and working practises, creating a competency matrix for different departments, investment in training, investment in machinery and equipment servicing and implementation of electronic driver checks to monitor compliance.

 

The Streetwise Manager said that the Council had invested in depot improvements, such as creating an open plan office to help with communication, closer working and sharing of best practice. This was also well used as a central base for recent flooding responses. He said that Streetwise also had a new website which allowed it to streamlined enquiries through the Customer Contact Centre and create a resource for all Streetwise related information. He said that it also provided facility to report problems online which then came directly to the Team.

 

In relation to the works programme, the Streetwise Manager said that Streetwise were carrying out splitter cleansing removing weeds from roads and were about to apply for funding to support chewing gum cleansing which would be focused on town centres within the Borough.

 

In relation to high speed road cleansing, the Streetwise Manager said that the Team were working in partnership with agencies such as Highways England to close roads overnight to allow work to take place as much as possible. He said that Streetwise were supporting litter picking through the Rushcliffe Litter Champions providing equipment to community groups and school volunteers. He said that Streetwise had also purchased five 2 Minute litter picking stations which provided litter picking tools for residents to use, which were currently being trialled in Ruddington, Radcliffe on Trent and Bingham.

 

The Streetwise Manager informed the Group about successful grounds maintenance work and noted that there 30 no mow areas across the Borough and that the Teams managed the grounds for the new Rushcliffe Oaks crematorium and Bingham Arena. He said that the Tree Team had reduced to one team of four which had allowed it to focus on Rushcliffe work. He also noted the successful unscheduled and more reactive work carried out by the Teams, such as delivering sand bags or dealing with paint spills and fly tipping.

 

In relation  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

Work Programme pdf icon PDF 91 KB

Report of the Director – Finance and Corporate Services

Minutes:

The Chair explained that the Accessible Housing item scheduled for October had been discussed at the last Corporate Overview Group as falling within both the Communities and the Growth and Development Scrutiny Groups remit and as such consideration was being given as to how to best facilitate a joint review.

It was RESOLVED that the Group agreed the work programme for next year 2023 – 2024 as set out below:

 

xx July 2024

 

·       Use of Community Facilities

·       Annual Report on Scrutiny

·       Work Programme

 

xx October 2024

 

·       Accessible Housing [TBC]

·       Work Programme

 

xx January 2025

 

·       Work Programme

 

xx April 2025

 

·       Work Programme

 

 

Actions – 21 March 2024

 

Minute No

Action

Officer Responsible/ Update

19

Provide information on how many homes and the age of properties that had received solid wall insulation

26 properties circa 1946

19

Provide contact details for the Team Manager for Environment so that town and parish councils could contact him

Ed Leddy-Owen eleddy-owen@rushcliffe.gov.uk

19

Provide information as to whether the Council could make housing developers introduce BNG measures at the outset of development and information about triggers for when developers could be made to deliver BNG measures

BNG is now in law for both large (12/03/2024) and small (02/04/2024) developments.  A trigger is any development outside of a small extension  

19

Provide a list of all housing providers in the Borough and any known information about their decarbonisation plans

 

There are 21 Registered Providers operating in RBC with MPTV being the largest.  The Team Manager – Environment is working closely with the Housing Strategy Team to identify all of their policies on Climate Change.  It is worth noting that MPTV have a net 0 target of 2050 and are installing 90 EWI (external wall insulation) systems in East Leake

20

Provide a list of litter picking groups for Councillors to help them join and link in with them.

A link will be sent to Councillors via Councillor Connections

20

Assess the feasibility of providing an overview of the various agencies responsible for various pieces of land across the Borough

This is a longer term aspirational aim should it be possible to achieve

20

Streetwise educational information to be shared with the Group

Information will be sent to Councillors via Councillor Connections