Agenda and minutes

Apologies had been received from Cllr Lynne Allen, and was substituted by Councillor Beulah East.

There were no declarations of interests notified.

It was confirmed that all items on the agenda marked as Part 1 would be considered in public.

The minutes of the meeting held on 6 December 2012 were agreed as an accurate record and noted that the draft recommendations listed at the bottom of page 2 would from part of the recommendations in the final report of the Committee’s first Review of Regulations and Byelaws Relating to Cemeteries and Burial Grounds within Hillingdon.

The Chairman of the Committee welcomed Ed Shaylor – Community Safety and ASB Investigations Service Manager, Paul Richards - Green Spaces, Sport and Leisure Senior Manager, Shabeg Nagra - Public Protection Services Manager and Colin Russell - Waste Division Manager as witnesses to their second Review of Local Pest Control Services and the Impact of Waste Management Processes on these.

In response to concerns raised about residents living in social housing, Ed Shaylor raised the points listed and responded to queries from members as follows:

·        A free pest control service was available to tenants provided by Housing Repairs

·        Residents would be obliged to comply with their tenancy conditions with regard to managing waste properly.

·        All occupiers are obliged to take reasonable steps to keep their individual areas clean but some private tenants and tenants of social landlords are confused with regard to who is responsible for dealing with rats and mice. Tenants often believe that the landlord is responsible for eradicating rats and mice

·        Responsibility for management of waste would normally rest with the tenant but the landlord would be responsible for any repairs necessary to the property, eg hole in a wall or around pipes, provision of bin stores etc. Where the issue was related to the storage of waste, land lords would say that the responsibility lay with the occupier of the property.

·        Notices can be served by the Council on owners and occupiers giving 21 days to remove waste products such as soft materials and baiting to kill rats and mice. If this is not done and the Council does the work, payment for the removal of such products and for baiting would be required to be paid for by the householders.

·        It was noted that a concession for this service applied for residents over the age of 65 for whom it would be free after April 2013.

·        With regard to pests inside a property, such as fleas and bugs, the landlord would be informed by the Council and would be asked to assist and were usually sympathetic. There would be a dialogue to establish the cause of the infestation and a contractor would be engaged to fumigate or eradicate the pests. For Hillingdon Council tenants in a Council property, the service would be provided free. However, if the tenant was housed by a social landlord, the tenant would be responsible for payment. 

·        It was highlighted that where the Council housed residents through social landlords, why the responsibility for payment lie with the tenants? Members were advised that although the Council accepted the duty to house, with regard to tenants placed in private property, the tenants had a tenancy agreement with the Council but not on Council land, where as Council tenants would have a tenancy agreement on Council land.

·        Advised that where tenants were housed on land owned by the Council, the Council provided a free service due to its duty to keep its own land clear of rats and mice.

·        Tenants housed in private properties  ...  view the full minutes text for item 57.

Members indicated insufficient time had been given to consider the summary of the budget report (circulated prior to the meeting), which had been inadvertently omitted from the Residents Services 2013/2014 Budget Proposals papers that were included in the agenda for this meeting. 

 It was noted that some Members had not had the opportunity to read the paper and agreed that officers would take Members through the report, to provide a briefing. Members would then submit any comments they may have by Friday 25 January 2013. 

The Committee also agreed that any comments submitted would be collated and sent to the Chairman to be agreed before putting forward to Corporate Services and Partnership Policy Overview Committee meeting on 6 February 2013 and subsequently submitted to Cabinet on 14 February 2013.

The Chairman of the Committee welcomed Andy Evans, Head of Finance to the meeting.

It was noted that the 2013/14 Residents Services Budget Proposals had been considered at the 20 December 2012 Cabinet meeting. The budget proposals, including comments received from Policy Overview Committees would then be considered at the Cabinet meeting being held on 14 February 2013.

The following points were noted:

• The Council had delivered approximately £60m of savings over the past three years and initial plans had been developed to deliver £12.8m savings required in 2013/2014. However the long-term outlook continued to be challenging.
• This would be the fifth successive year of a zero increase in Council tax.
• The delivery of savings within Residents Services was driven through the transformation and the HIP Business Improvement Delivery Programme. This included reorganisation and re-structure to remove duplication and examining alternative methods of service delivery.
• Alongside this opportunities have been taken to bid for external grants, and there continued to be a focus on procurement improvements.
• Fees and charges had been reviewed and there continued to be an emphasis on the differentiations between Hillingdon residents and non- resident charges.
• The 2013/14 draft savings include £536.000 based on a new contract for dry recycling waste services, which had been facilitated by a successful application for DCLG grant funding to enhance facilities at New Years Green Lane Civic Amenity site.

The Committee was informed that much of the budget work had necessarily concentrated on savings. However on a more positive note members wereasked to note the Priority Growth items set out in Appendix B. The following were highlighted:

• A dedicated officer at Ruislip Lido
• A Planning for Business Co-ordination
• Provision of £108k for Community Safety projects and £65k for enhanced Litter Collection

In response to a question about the Planning Business Co-ordination post, Members were advised that the post holder would look at applications at the pre-application stage when businesses were looking to develop in the Borough. This was intended to encourage businesses to locate in the Borough, with the resulting economic growth having potential benefits for the council through the new business rate retention scheme.

With regard to the gap shown in the proposed charges for non-residents in relation to exclusive  ...  view the full minutes text for item 58.

Resolved

The Committee agreed the Forward Plan.

Resolved

The Committee agreed the work programme and possible witnesses for the forthcoming witness sessions.