Agenda and draft minutes

Councillors Huw Hilditch-Roberts, Brian Blakeley, Graham Timms, Glenn Swingler, Huw Williams, Meirick Lloyd Davies, Tina Jones, Emrys Wynne, Peter Scott and Anton Sampson declared a personal interest in Agenda item 5 – School Cluster Arrangements as they were all School Governors in local schools.

Co-opted Members Mike Hall and David Lloyd declared a personal interest in Agenda item 5 – School Cluster arrangements as they were School Governors in local schools.

No urgent matters were raised.

To receive the minutes of the Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 18 January 2018 (copy enclosed).

10am – 10.05am

The minutes of the meeting of the Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 18 January 2018 were submitted.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting held on 18 January 2018, be received and approved as a correct record.

To consider a report by the Head of Education (copy enclosed) detailing the feedback received in relation to the development of a process whereby schools could request consideration be given, by the Local Authority, to moving cluster.

10.05am – 10.35am

The Lead Member for Education, Children and Young People introduced the report (previously circulated) which provided members with feedback on the work undertaken by officers in response to a request by the Committee, in June 2017, that consideration be given to the development of a process to facilitate schools, if they so wished, to request to review their school cluster arrangements.  During his introduction the Lead Member advised that the Committee’s request had stemmed from consideration of the Council’s new Learner Transport Policy, effective from September 2018, and in particular in response to concerns from parents of pupils at Ysgol Pantpastynog, Prion and Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch, Llanrhaeadr on whether, dependent upon their home address, they would be entitled to free school transport to either Ysgol Glan Clwyd or Ysgol Brynhyfryd.  During the development of the new Learner Transport Policy it became apparent that school cluster arrangements and the ‘feeder school’ relationship with the secondary schools was extremely important to pupils, parents/carers and schools alike.  Consequently, provision was made within the new Learner Transport Policy to recognise the ‘feeder school’ relationship and provide discretionary free transport to either the nearest suitable secondary school or the recognised ‘feeder’ secondary school, providing the learner’s address and nearest pick-up point was further than three miles from the secondary school.  Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch had particular concerns in relation to parents/carers opting for Welsh-medium faith based education in order to access provision at Ysgol Pantpastynog and consequently transfer to Ysgol Glan Clwyd under the feeder school arrangements if Bro Cinmeirch pupils could not be given discretionary travel to Ysgol Glan Clwyd.

Members were advised by the Head of Education and Children’s Services that in order to progress the Committee’s request for consideration to be given to the development of a process for primary schools who wished to change their school cluster arrangements a Working Group was established.  An overview of the Working Group’s remit was attached at Appendix 3 to the report.  Each ‘secondary school cluster’ across the county was invited to appoint two representatives to serve on the Working Group.  The cluster representatives appointed constituted a cross-section of school expertise i.e. head teachers, business and finance managers and governors.  Local authority representation on the Working Group was made up of members from the School Finance and Passenger Transport teams.  The Head of Service informed the Committee that the Working Group at the conclusion of its work had deemed that there was no need to develop a process to enable primary schools to request to change their cluster arrangements.  In their view the Council should continue to focus on the School Modernisation Agenda.  This view was similar to that of the Council’s Education Service.

In response to members’ questions the Lead Member, Head of Service and the Planning and Resources Manager (Education Resources & Support) advised that:

·         whilst legislation stipulated that local authorities were required to provide free school transport to pupils who opted to receive Welsh-medium education, provided they attended the nearest suitable school and met the distance criteria, the provision of free school transport to faith-based schools was at the local authority’s discretion.  However, Denbighshire treated both Welsh-medium and faith-based choices on a par when determining school transport entitlement;

·         learner transport legislation stipulated that the amount of time a pupil should be expected to travel in order to receive an education had to be reasonable;

·         parental choice was a priority when parents/carers choose a school for their child, the Authority’s duty in relation to this extended to the provision of free school transport to the pupil to the nearest suitable school if it exceeded  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider a report by the Head of Planning and Public Protection (copy enclosed) which details the progress made in delivering the Seagull Management Action Plan and seeks the Committee’s views on proposed future actions to be taken

10.35am – 11.05am

The Lead Member for Housing, Regulation and the Environment introduced the Head of Planning and Public Protection’s report and associated appendices (previously circulated) the purpose of which was to update members on the progress made to date in implementing the Seagull Management Action Plan and proposed future actions to mitigate the nuisance caused by seagulls in the county.

Members were advised by the Head of Planning and Public Protection that the Action Plan, Appendix 3 to the report, was a Council-wide plan with actions allocated to a number of services to take forward and implement.  The priority at present was delivering the public awareness campaign, outlined in Appendix 4, and working with food businesses to reduce the availability of food waste which enticed seagulls.  Currently the focus was on educating the public and persuading residents, visitors and businesses to work with the Council in a bid to reduce the nuisance and destruction caused by seagulls.

The Council’s Team Leader:  Communications and Campaign Management outlined the actions and initiatives underway as part of the public awareness campaign, which had been approved in February 2018.    These included:

·         social media campaign which would include awareness raising videos;

·         contacting city, town and community councils to seek their support for the work and to encourage them to support the Council’s work by sharing information with residents and ensuring that streets and public areas were kept clean and tidy;

·         encouraging businesses, residents and visitors to dispose of any food waste responsibly and in a secure manner;

·         contacting schools with a view to educating children about the nuisance caused by seagulls and other animals and of the need to safely dispose of food waste and other rubbish.  It was envisaged that this approach would be useful for communicating the same messages to parents etc. as they were likely to listen to their children’s views on matters;

·         through the Education Service’s Enrichment Programme to run a poster designing competition with the winning entry being used for the Council’s awareness campaign

Councillor Anton Sampson shared with the Committee photographs of a poster used by Great Yarmouth Borough Council in a bid encourage people to dispose of food waste etc. responsibly, whilst Councillor Brian Blakeley shared a number of complaints and comments he had received from residents.

Responding to members’ questions the Lead Member, Corporate Director:  Economic and Community Ambition, Head of Service, and Team Leader:  Communications and Campaign Management confirmed that:

·         food waste was the main cause of concern as it attracted the seagulls. If access to food waste could be reduced it was anticipated that the problems caused by the seagulls would diminish;

·         duty of care inspections on businesses to ensure that they had commercial waste disposal contracts and were using pest-proof containers for food waste were currently underway.  Similar checks were being undertaken on food outlets during routine food hygiene inspections.  Consideration was currently being given to whether to include securing food waste as one of the compliance areas for food hygiene inspections;

·         street cleaning work was being undertaken on a regular basis in coastal towns with a view to reducing the amount of litter and keeping the streets and street furniture clean and tidy;

·         whilst falconry had been used successfully as a deterrent in recent years to scare away the seagulls, its effects were short-term and once the birds of prey were withdrawn the seagulls returned.  Using falconry was also quite expensive and therefore not sustainable in the long-term;

·         the Council intended to lobby the WG, Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) and National Resources Wales (NRW) with a view to having a national or regional cross-organisational  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider a report by the Traffic, Parking and Road Safety Manager (copy enclosed) which updates members on the implementation of the car park asset management register and the associated investment programme, whilst seeking their views on them and on the work of the cross-service Car Park Task and Finish Group

11.15am – 11.45am

The Lead Member for Highways, Planning and Sustainable Travel introduced the Traffic, Parking and Road Safety Manager’s report (previously circulated) the purpose of which was to update the Committee on the progress made with the implementation of the Car Park Asset Management Register and Investment Programme.  Also included in the report were details of the progress made by the Car Park Task and Finish Group in developing measures to improve the visitor experience for car park users.  Members were given an overview of various elements of the work undertaken to date as part of the development of the Asset Management Register and proposed Investment Programme (outlined in Appendix B to the report) and on the interventions identified by the Task and Finish Group by the Traffic, Parking and Road Safety Manager.

Responding to the Committee’s questions the Lead Member, Corporate Director:  Economic and Community Ambition and the Traffic, Parking and Road Safety Manager advised that:

·         they were satisfied with the progress made in developing various aspects of the work that required to be undertaken.  Undertaking the car park surveys had taken some considerable time, but the majority of the planning work had now been completed.  Officers had visited each Member Area Group (MAG) to brief them on the proposals and seek their support for the plans;

·         it was anticipated that the improvement programme in its entirety would take five years to complete.  Implementation was at an early stage with only approximately 12 new pay and display machines installed to date.  The cost of this work was being met from within the Car Parking Service’s budget;

·         the investment programme required further budget profiling prior to being developed into a Business Case for submission to the Council’s Strategic Investment Group (SIG) for approval; 

·         a phased approach would be taken for undertaking the work.  During the first two years present pay and display machines would be replaced with machines that would accept card payments and produce better data profiles of each car parks usage.  Signage would be improved in car parks during the early stages of the plan’s implementation as this would help improve the visitor experience by providing clear information on whether they were short or long stay car parks/areas of car parks.  More cosmetic improvements i.e. lighting and landscaping would be upgraded during the latter stages of the investment plan’s implementation;

·         further work was required in order to impact assess some of the interventions put forward by the Car Park Task and Finish Group i.e. transferable pay and display tickets between long stay car parks across the county, paperless parking permits etc.;

·         the investment plan constituted an investment in excess of £1.3m over a five year period in 44 of the county’s Council owned car parks.  Whilst the plan was fluid, work would be undertaken following a prioritisation exercise;

·         the Council’s contract for pay and display machines that accepted payment by telephone calls would run for another two years.  However, this facility was not widely used therefore the pay and display machines may be replaced with machines providing different functions when the contract expired;

·         the refurbishment works to be carried out on the underground car park in Rhyl would not form part of this investment plan.  The business case for that work had been approved by both SIG and Cabinet recently; 

·         the five year Car Park Investment Programme was aimed at maintenance and upgrading work on current Council owned car parks, any proposed plans to change car parking facilities or increase car parking capacity in any areas of the county would require to be based on a separate business case which  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To consider a report by the Flood Risk Manager (copy enclosed) which seeks the Committee to consider whether the Council requires, in view of the lessons learnt from the July 2017 flooding, to implement or revise working practices in order to mitigate against future risk of flooding in the county

11.45am – 12.15pm

The Lead Member for Highways, Planning and Sustainable Travel introduced the Flood Risk Manager’s report (previously circulated) which presented the Committee with the findings of the investigation into the 19^th July 2017 floods in the north of the county.  Attached to the report was a copy of the final report produced in accordance with Section 19 of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010.  Under the Act’s provisions the Council was required to investigate, prepare and publish this report in response to incidents of flooding within its geographical boundaries.

The Flood Risk Manager outlined the Council’s duties with respect of investigating the floods that occurred and advised that the amount of rainfall that fell in the northern part of the county on 19^th July 2017 equated to a 1 in 50 year event.  He proceeded to outline the process undertaken to investigate the cause and extent of the floods and advised that, due to the large geographical area affected, it had taken some considerable time to collate and analyse all the evidence and information gathered.  The investigation had concluded that the cause of the flood was a pluvial event due to an excessive volume of surface water being unable to enter the drainage and sewage systems at a fast enough rate to enable it to drain away.  The volume of rainfall that day exceeded the amount of capacity within the local drainage and sewage systems to continually flow.  This lack of capacity was further exacerbated by blockages in pipes and problems encountered in pumping stations, both of which were the responsibility of Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water (DCWW).  The Flood Risk Manager emphasised that both  DCWW and Natural Resources Wales (NRW) had worked closely with the Council when undertaking the flood investigation work and the Lead Member informed the Committee that the officer had forged a good working relationship with both organisations, both of whom had accepted that all partners had responsibilities in relation to flood risk management in this area.

Members from the Rhyl area detailed a number of long-standing flood related problems in the Rhyl area including the camber of the road in Ffordd Derwen, water flowing off Ysgol Dewi Sant’s playing fields, fly tipping on Network Rail owned land and problems with drains and soakaways in its ownership, problems on Ffordd Elan and the new Rhyl Rugby Club pitch.  The Head of Highways and Environmental Services and the Flood Risk Manager advised members that the cause of a number of these problems were very complex.  Due to the complexities involved the Council had been able to secure funding from the WG to undertake an in-depth study into the type of work that would be required to improve the situation.  Nevertheless, no one could give an absolute guarantee that such an event would never happen again, all that could be done was to reduce the risks of flooding in future.  The results of the drainage study at Ffordd Derwen, Rhyl was expected in September 2018.  Similarly the results of the collaborative work with DCWW and NRW to investigate whether improvements could be made to the management of the Rhyl Cut and Prestatyn Gutter as well as adjacent drains and sewers was expected around the same time.

Responding to members’ questions officers advised that:

·         DCWW was undertaking a study in the Bro Berllan area of Rhuddlan with a view to understanding the extent of the flood and drainage problems there;

·         Council-owned gulleys were emptied on at least an annual basis, with those known to cause problems being emptied on a more regular basis.  If members  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider a report by the Scrutiny Coordinator (copy enclosed) seeking a review of the committee’s forward work programme and updating members on relevant issues.

12.15pm – 12.30pm

The Scrutiny Coordinator submitted a report (previously circulated) seeking members’ review of the Committee’s work programme and provided an update on relevant issues.

Discussion focused on the following –

• the three items on the work programme for the Committee’s next meeting were re-affirmed and it was agreed to invite the relevant Lead Cabinet Members to that meeting;

·         members noted that the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs Group had met to consider a number of potential items for scrutiny, which had been included on the Committee’s work programme;

• members were encouraged to complete the Scrutiny questionnaire which had been circulated, to evaluate the effectiveness of Scrutiny;
• the Scrutiny Coordinator explained to members that a change in membership of Communities Scrutiny Committee had created a vacancy on the Finance Service Challenge Group. Appointment of a member was sought to represent the Committee, Councillor Timms nominated the Chair Councillor Huw Williams to represent Scrutiny. The Committee were all in agreement with the appointment.
• reference was made to the Committee’s information brief which included an update on actions from the last meeting together with further information as requested

It was:

Resolved: - subject to the above to confirm the Committee’s forward work programme

To receive any updates from Committee representatives on various Council Boards and Groups

12.30pm – 12.45pm

Committee representatives reported upon their attendance at meetings as follows –

Councillor Graham Timms had attended the Service Challenge for Facilities, Assets and Housing and noted that an update report had been included in the information update brief.

The meeting concluded at 13.15 p.m.