Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors D Bailey, M Hardy, O Hunter and N Mannion.

To give consideration to the minutes of the meeting held on 4 May 2017

Consideration was given to the minutes of the meeting held on 4 May 2017.

RESOLVED

That the minutes be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

To provide an opportunity for Members and Officers to declare any disclosable pecuniary and non-pecuniary interests in any item on the agenda.

Councillor S Hogben declared a pecuniary interest in minute number 8, due to being a director of ANSA. In accordance with the Code of Conduct he left the room during consideration of this item and did not return.

To provide an opportunity for Members to declare the existence of a party whip in relation to any item on the agenda.

There were no whipping declarations

A total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to make a statement(s) on any matter that falls within the remit of the Committee.

Individual members of the public may speak for up to 5 minutes, but the Chairman will decide how the period of time allocated for public speaking will be apportioned, where there are a number of speakers.

Note: In order for officers to undertake any background research, it would be helpful if members of the public contacted the Scrutiny officer listed at the foot of the agenda, at least one working day before the meeting to provide brief details of the matter to be covered. 

There were no members of the public present wishing to speak

To receive a presentation on the key strategic issues which fall within the remit of the Committee.

The Strategic Director – Place, gave a presentation on the strategic issues facing the borough which fell within the remit of the Committee. The presentation highlighted that Cheshire East had a top performing economy and had the second highest gross value added outside of London. There were challenges to sustain that position including:

·         An increasingly older population

·         Housing, including the cost, type and quality

·         Quality of place including leisure, retail, education and transport

·         Technical and vocational skills shortage

The Councils strategic response to tackle these issues was to:

·         Provide quality of place, including quality of housing and town centres.

·         Connectivity, including HS2, regional rail and buses.

·         infrastructure investment, including major roads, energy and power and employment sites.

·         leveraging existing strengths, including key sectors and supply chains, rural economy, business support, skills development, inward investment.

·         Leadership, national, regional and local partnerships, a deal with government and creating the conditions for growth.

RESOLVED

That the presentation be received.

To receive a presentation of the Commissioning Manager for Highways – to follow.

Consideration was give to a presentation on the performance of the Highways Service.  The presentation detailed an overview of the contract including performance, social value, revenue, capital, audits, accreditations, staffing and community engagement.

It was noted that rather than repairing pot holes, the highway service would be moving towards structural repair which involved patching and resurfacing larger areas of the road and trying to align the gullies and street cleansing programme.

RESOLVED

That the highways service performance report be received.

To receive a report of the Commissioning Manger for Waste and Environmental Services

Consideration was given to the quarter 4 performance report for Ansa and Orbitas. It was reported that overall Environmental Operations including the Bereavement Service, reported a £534,000 overspend for 2016/17 against a net £27.3m budget. The two main pressures relating to the contract with Ansa related to £173,000 due to increased disposal costs associated with increased tonnage of residual household waste and £150,000 due to non achievable savings relating to the suspension of services at Arclid Household waste and Recycling Centre. There was also a shortfall in markets income which related to a reduction in trader occupancy and building works at Crewe market, there has also been an in year increase of £104,000 in the bad debt provision. Members requested further details on how much of the bad debt was not recovered.

In regard to the Bereavement income there had been an 11% increase from 2015/16, this was due to Crewe Crematorium being fully operational from May 2016 following the extensive refurbishment.

RESOLVED

1.    That the performance reports be received.

2.    That further details on how much of the bad debt provision was recovered be circulated to Members.

To give consideration to the areas of the forward plan which fall within the remit of the Committee.

consideration was given to the areas of the forward plan which fall with the remit of the Committee.

RESOLVED

That the work programme be received.

To give consideration to the work programme

Consideration was given to the work programme. It was agreed that the Cheshire East Housing Strategy 2018/2022 would be added to the work programme for the meeting scheduled to be held on 16 November 2017.

RESOLVED

That the Cheshire East Housing Strategy 2018/2022 be added to the work programme for the meeting scheduled to be held on 16 November 2017.