Agenda and minutes

To note any apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors J Bratherton, T Dean and H Whitaker. Councillors L Crane, J Clowes and A Heler attended as substitutes.

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

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting held on 26 September 2024.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 26 September 2024 be agreed as a correct record.

In accordance with paragraph 2.24 of the Council’s Committee Procedure Rules and Appendix on Public Speaking, set out in the Constitution, a total period of 15 minutes is allocated for members of the public to put questions to the committee on any matter relating to this agenda. Each member of the public will be allowed up to two minutes each to speak, and the Chair will have discretion to vary this where they consider it appropriate.

Members of the public wishing to speak are required to provide notice of this at least three clear working days in advance of the meeting.

Petitions - To receive any petitions which have met the criteria - Petitions Scheme Criteria, and falls within the remit of the Committee. Petition organisers will be allowed up to three minutes to speak.

Mr Stuart Redgard spoke in relation to item 7 – Libraries Strategy. Mr Redgard felt that the proposed changes were not in line with the Council's Corporate Plan which sought to reduce inequalities and support vulnerable residents and felt that the equality impact assessment appeared flawed.

Cllr David Kent, on behalf of Bollington Town Council, spoke in relation to item 8 – Residual Waste Collections. Cllr Kent raised concerns in relation to the awaited position of the current government around two-weekly collections, issues associated with the disposal of feminine hygiene and absorbent hygiene products and the validity of the projected savings. 

Mr Jon Park spoke in relation to item 8 – Residual Waste Collections and highlighted concerns of vulnerable residents. Mr Park asked that the Council commits to establishing a procedure in order to assure residents that a database of those eligible for two-weekly collections would be kept accurate and up to date.

Cllr Vince Fogharty, on behalf of Alderley Edge Parish Council, spoke in relation to item 7 – Libraries Strategy. Cllr Fogharty raised the following queries, to which it was agreed a written response would be provided:

-       Why would volunteer groups be charged for the issuance of a licence that permits them to open the library for an additional afternoon each week, as the license was already in use in Alderley Edge and other Cheshire East libraries

-       What contingency plans were in place for if a rostered employee failed to attend to open the library

-       Can Cheshire East Council provide a commitment that there will be no reductions in the currently agreed-upon funded hours for the library during the three-year term of the contract

-       Could assurances be given that there would be no further increases in the costs, other than those attributed to payroll costs, that the Parish Council would be required to fund for the agreed sessions throughout the duration of the three-year term

To receive a report on the current forecast outturn for the financial year 2024/25 based on income, expenditure and known commitments as at the end of August 2024. It also identifies actions that are being taken to address adverse variances to urgently address financial sustainability.

The committee received the report which provided the current forecast outturn for the financial year 2024/25 based on income, expenditure and known commitments at the end of August 2024. The report also identified actions that were being taken regarding adverse variances to urgently address financial sustainability.

Paragraph 28 of the report stated that any directorate identified as being off target by more than 5% was now subject to a detailed finance and performance review on a weekly basis through a financial recovery review process. It was queried why this was set at 5% and whether a lower percentage would be more beneficial in addressing overspend.  It was agreed that a written response would be provided.

Paragraph 85 of the report referred to the cost of short-term borrowing which was expected to reduce with falling interest rates. A request was made for more information about interest rates, and what had been built into the forecasting, to be shared with the committee. Officers undertook to provide this detail in a written response.

A further query was raised regarding the graphs on page 24 of the agenda which referred to weekly trends in finance monitoring for Adults Services with regard to distinct clients and total weekly costs. It had been noted that there appeared to be a drop in the number of clients during summer but it was not clear why there was no corresponding reduction in weekly costs. Officers undertook to provide a written response.

RESOLVED (unanimously):

That the Environment and Communities Committee:

1. Review the factors leading to a forecast adverse Net Revenue financial pressure of £20.1m against a revised budget of £395.4m (5.1%). To scrutinise the contents of Annex 1, Section 2 and review progress on the delivery of the MTFS approved budget policy change items, the RAG ratings and latest forecasts, and to understand the actions to be taken to address any adverse variances from the approved budget

2. Review the in-year forecast capital spending of £157.7m against an approved MTFS budget of £215.8m, due to slippage that has been re-profiled into future years

3. Note the available reserves position as per Annex 1, Section 5

4. To delegate to the Interim Director of Environment and Neighbourhood services to undertake all necessary steps to enter into a grant funding agreement with The Mersey Forest in order to accept a Trees For Climate grant offer of £647,173.91 for woodland creation at Buttertons Lane Farm

To receive a report outlining further development activity required before the final MTFS 2025-29 is presented for approval to the budget setting Council meeting in February 2025.

The committee received the report which set out progress and further development activity required before the final MTFS 2025-29 would be presented for approval to the budget setting Council meeting in February 2025.

RESOLVED:

That the Environment and Communities Committee:

1. Note the progress to date on the development of the MTFS for 2025-29

2. Note that officers will continue to challenge draft proposals and develop further proposals in consultation with Members prior to approval by Council

3. Note that Committees will be presented with the opportunity to review the full set of financial proposals, designed to achieve a balanced budget, as part of their January cycle of meetings prior to recommendations being made to Council for approval

To consider a report seeking approval to implement the final details of the Libraries Strategy.

The committee considered the report which sought approval to implement the Cheshire East Libraries Strategy 2024-28. This followed approval of the Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy 2024-28 by Full Council in February 2024 and a public consultation which was carried out between 5 August and 15 September 2024.

Cllr Ken Edwards attended as a visiting member and spoke as ward member for Bollington. Cllr Edwards was pleased to see the relationship between local communities and libraries working together and hoped this would continue.

Cllr John Smith attended as a visiting member and spoke as ward member for Handforth. Cllr Smith felt that the site assessment scoring matrix was biased towards towns with larger populations and did not account for the percentage of active library users in the towns. Cllr Smith asked the committee to secure the continued use of Handforth library by voting against the recommendations, and to ensure the matrix was reviewed.

An amendment to recommendation 4, as set out in the report, was put forward which sought the inclusion of the wording ‘in consultation with the committee Chair, Vice-Chair and Opposition Spokesperson’. This became part of the substantive proposition.

During the debate, it was proposed and seconded that a recorded vote be carried out. The following results were recorded:

For:

Cllr Liz Braithwaite

Cllr Mary Brooks

Cllr Laura Crane

Cllr Ashley Farrall

Cllr David Jefferay

Cllr Heather Seddon

Cllr Mick Warren

Against:

Cllr Janet Clowes

Cllr Stewart Gardiner

Cllr Alison Heler

Cllr Becky Posnett

Cllr Lesley Smetham

Abstaining:

Cllr Hannah Moss

RESOLVED (by majority):

That the Environment and Communities Committee:

1. Note the feedback from the recent public consultation exercise

2. Approve the Cheshire East Libraries Strategy 2024-28, as contained at Appendix C

3. Approve the final details of the changes to library opening hours, as included at Appendix E

4. Delegate authority to the Interim Director of Planning and Environment, in consultation with the committee Chair, Vice-Chair and OppositionSpokesperson to:

a)    take all necessary steps to implement the Libraries Strategy, and, to make all consequent changes to service provision including staff restructure and consultations

b)    take all necessary steps to enter into top up funding agreements with Town and Parish Councils

To consider a report seeking approval for the implementation of changes to residual waste collections, including feedback from a planned public consultation exercise.

The committee considered the report which sought approval to implement three-weekly residual waste collections. This followed a public consultation which had been carried out during September and October 2024.

Cllr Ken Edwards spoke as a visiting member and stated that there were currently 217 people in Bollington with special collection arrangements and asked would these special arrangements be looked at carefully and adapted to meet residents’ needs when the three-weekly collection would be introduced. The Chair suggested that a written response could be provided.

A statement was read out by Cllr Edwards on behalf of Cllr Dawn Clark. Cllr Clark was asking for the committee to write to government and local MPs to ask to halt the implementation of the weekly food waste collections until the impact on local authorities’ finances was understood and for an immediate review of the legislation.

A request was made for details of the weight limit for wheelie bins and whether the reason for the limit was mechanical or due to health and safety. Officers undertook to provide a written response.

A further request was made for information on the current gate fee for processing food and garden waste at the Council’s composting plant. Officers advised that this was commercially sensitive information which could not be provided in a public committee meeting. A written response could be provided on the basis that the information remained confidential.

An amendment was put forward which sought to make the following changes to the recommendations as set out in the report:

-       That recommendation 3 reads ‘Delegate authority to the Head of Environmental Services, in consultation with the committee Chair, Vice-Chair and Opposition Spokesperson, to:’

-       That recommendation 3b reads ‘introduce service improvements to the ‘Waste Management and Flytipping Policy’ to require a specific service level improvement by introducing a return for a missed bin within 3 days, amend criteria to permit a larger residual bin in specific circumstances and introduction of missed bins performance measures. Introduce those measures described on pages 258-260 of this report.’

-       That an additional recommendation be included to read ‘Delegate authority to the Head of Environmental Services to work with ward members through the Member Enquiries Service to mitigate any waste collection issues caused by the changes when identified, where practicable’

This amendment became part of the substantive proposition.

During the debate, it was proposed and seconded that a recorded vote be carried out. The following results were recorded:

For:

Cllr Liz Braithwaite

Cllr Mary Brooks

Cllr Laura Crane

Cllr Ashley Farrall

Cllr David Jefferay

Cllr Heather Seddon

Cllr Mick Warren

Against

Cllr Janet Clowes

Cllr Stewart Gardiner

Cllr Alison Heler

Cllr Hannah Moss

Cllr Becky Posnett

Cllr Lesley Smetham

RESOLVED (by majority):

That the Environment and Communities Committee:

1. Note the outcomes of the recent public consultation exercise

2. Approve the move to a three-weekly frequency for the kerbside collection of residual waste, for all properties within Cheshire East

3. Delegate authority to the Head of Environmental Services, in consultation with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.

To consider the work programme and determine any required amendments.

The committee considered the work programme.

It was noted that there was a Local Plan update report scheduled for January and that this would be subject to when national planning reforms would be announced by government.

A concern was raised regarding the planning appeals process when an application is refused by a planning committee in contrast to officer recommendations and it was queried whether this would fall under the remit of the Environment and Communities Committee or the Audit and Governance Committee. It was agreed that this would be looked into outside the meeting.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be noted.