Agenda and minutes
Venue: Scaitcliffe House, Ormerod Street, Accrington. View directions
Contact: Ben Caulfield, Policy and Scrutiny Officer
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Apologies for Absence and Substitutions Minutes: There were apologies from Councillors Carole Haythornthwaite and Scott Brerton. There were also apologies from Co-optees Jenny Molineux, Jean Battle and Bernadette Parkinson. |
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Declarations of Interest and Dispensations Minutes: There were no Declerations of Interests or Dispensations. |
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Minutes of Last Meeting To submit the minutes of the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 19th October 2022 for approval as a correct record.
Recommended - That the minutes be received and approved as a correct record.
Minutes: To receive the Minutes of the meeting of the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on Wednesday 19th October 2022 for approval as a correct record.
Recommended - That the Minutes be received and approved as a correct record.
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Overview and Scrutiny Reports - Responses from Cabinet When Overview and Scrutiny Committees submit reports or recommendations to Cabinet or Council, it is a requirement to report back the responses to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Recommended - That the Committee notes the report. Minutes: The Scrutiny and Policy Officer providd an update. When Overview and Scrutiny Committees submit reports or recommendations to Cabinet or Council, it is a requirement to report back the responses to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee. This item relates to the decision regarding the Pest control subsidy and introduction of £30 charge for rodent calls, which was called into Scrutiny at the last meeting. The Committee recommended that the decision be released in part (introduction of a £30 charge) with the recommendation that Cabinet sets up a referral process into the Household support scheme for those that are unable to afford the fee, and that the scheme is reviewed in 12 months. The recommendations were accepted by cabinet.
Councillor McKenzie asked if the referal mechanism has now been set up. It was confirmed that this mechanism has now been set up.
The Committee noted the report. |
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Waste Services / Environmental Health Fly-tipping and Side Waste Enforcement
To respond to the questions raised by the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee;
“Fly-tipping is a major concern to Hyndburn Residents - How is the service tackling the issue including clean ups preventative measures and enforcement and how do we compare to other authorities.”
Recommended - That Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee note the report and raise any further comments. Additional documents:
Minutes: Councillor Smithson submitted the report to the Committee. All information is detailed in the report. Councillor Smithson said he was open to take questions from the Committee.
Councillor Cox asked about issues regarding the recruitment of an Enforcement Officer. Officers present explained the recruitment process, which included several rounds of advertising the post before the current successful recruitment, which is working well. Warning Letters and Fixed Penalty notices are now being issued more frequently when required due to the increased capacity in the service.
Councillor Haythornthwaite asked if the service is advertising, as a deterrent, that enforcement work is being carried out. Councillor Smithson highlighted the recent direct mail and social media campaigns which had gone out which provided in depth information. In the new year, likely in February, we will be running a big campaign about disposing of waste properly, specifically to try and steer people away from using illegal skip companies. We will be developing this campaign alongside environment agency, fire and police communications leads.
Councillor Cox asked if more information could be provided regarding enforcement on private land. Officers highlighted that enforcement on private land was carried out by the Environmental Health Department, and was a much slower process due to the service having to follow the correct legislation.
The Committee noted the report. |
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Parks and Open Spaces Report
To respond to the questions raised by the Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee:
“Sports pitches, grass cutting and plating programmes - To receive a general update on the councils strategy for sports pitches and programme of grass cutting and flower planting
Play Areas - Review of current provision, expenditure and planned upgrades across the Borough”
Recommended - That Communities and Wellbeing Overview and Scrutiny Committee note the report and raise any further comments. Minutes: Councillor Smithson submitted the report. He stated that again, all information was included in the detailed report. He wished to mention a couple of highlights, including funding for improvements to the tennis courts at Oakhill Park and a recent successful heritage bid to improve Memorial Park.
Councillor Smithson then responded to questions. Highams Playing Fields now sees an estimated 125,000 individual uses per year, compared with 5,000 in the year prior to ASCT taking over. They have also brought additional benefits to the site including employment and education opportunities.
Councillor Cox asked for an update on KGV Playing Fields. Councillor Smithson said that this was not within his portfolio and should be submitted to the relevant portfolio holder. Councillor Cox asked for the question to be submitted through the next Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee under the item Land Assets Update.
Councillor Cox asked if there were plans to increase grass cutting to include informal areas of land which were previously cut by the Council. Councillor Smithson answered that at present there were no such plans.
Questions were also asked relating to the maintenance/cutting on private land. Officers answered that this would be dealt with as an enforcement issue, but there is often difficulty establishing the owner of some areas of land, with even the land registry not holding some records.
Councillor Kath Pratt, who was in attendance at the meeting asked permission to make a statement on the subject matter. She gave the following statement.
“Baxenden Recreation Ground is the only area in Baxenden Ward where outdoor sports can be done. Unfortunately, the ground floods and is very uneven. No investment has been made in this area, either on the MUGA, which hasn’t had any, or very little TLC or investment spent on it since it was erected quite a few years ago. Further to this, the children’s play area, which was situated on Back Lane, was closed down several years ago without any investment in a ward that is very built up, leaving nowhere for young children to play. Manchester Road acts as a river, splitting the ward in half and even with crossings erected, it is still very dangerous for young children to play across the other side of Manchester Road. We talk of trying to prise children from their laptops and to play outside, but where do they play in safety when facilities are closed down? I would request that Cabinet is asked if they would rescind the order to build houses on the Back Lane play area and reinstate a play area there.”
The Chair thanked Councillor Pratt for the statement and said this would be reflected in the minutes.
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Citizens Advice Hyndburn Report To provide an update on Citizens Advice activities and the impact of the Cost of Living Crisis on Hyndburn residents. The 2019 Indices of Deprivation reveals that Hyndburn was the 18th most deprived area out of 317 districts and unitary authorities in England. Minutes: The Chair welcomed David Olgaza, Chief Executive of Citizens Advice Rossendale and Hyndburn alongside Nick Pilling, Chair of Trustees, who were invited to present this item.
People’s health, education, work and social lives have been affected in ways we could never have imagined before COVID-19 and the current cost of living crisis. The Citizens Advice service is a charity and has delivered independent and impartial advice for over 80 years. They’re at the forefront of advice delivery. The Citizens Advice service across Hyndburn has highly-trained, professional and experienced advisers assisted by trained volunteers, available to help with any issue, whoever you are and whatever your problem. They also have many specialist caseworkers who can provide information, signposting and complex casework in Welfare Benefits, Energy, Money & Debt, and Housing.
They remain located in the New Era centre on Paradise Street and receive a grant from Hyndburn Council of £25,000 per year. This enables them to leverage further funding from:
The National Lottery for dealing with clients in a crisis Energy companies for energy related advice to reduce usage and energy debt Henry Smith Foundation funding for homeless prevention advice Money and Pensions Service for debt and money advice
Advice was given to 1577 Hyndburn residents in the past 12 months and over 1800 Hyndburn residents were unable to contact us via telephone this year due to unprecedented demand for the service and lack of paid advisors due to a lack of funding. Volunteers also work on our advice line but the cost of recruiting, training and supervising a volunteer is over £1,000 each. They have a volunteer team of 20 volunteers and 12 full time paid advice staff across Rossendale and Hyndburn. Energy related queries followed by debt and personal independence payments were the Top 3 enquiry issues since October 2022. They have had the highest ever number of people contacting us for Charitable Support and Food Bank assistance with a 50% increase since 2021.
In addition to the grant from Hyndburn Council, Rossendale Council provides a grant of £35,000 per year, pays for an additional part time specialist debt advisor for Rossendale residents and provides offices in Bacup for a peppercorn rent of £1 a year.
The following achievements were highlighted:
1477 Hyndburn Residents Advised (1800 Rossendale) Benefit gains - over £200,000 of additional income brought into Hyndburn via new benefit claims, winning appeals, successfully challenging decisions Debts written off via insolvency options - £209,952 Debt Repayments rescheduled - £88,765 Social Value - For every £1 invested in Citizens Advice, we’ve delivered over £14 in public value, through economic and social benefits. We save government and public services money by helping stop problems occurring or escalating, we reduce pressure on public services like health, housing or out-of-work benefits. We launched a dedicated food and fuel voucher line on the 3rd of October 2022 and have received over 1000 calls so far across Hyndburn & Rossendale in just 2 months
David and Nick responded to questions from the committee.
The Chair ... view the full minutes text for item 229. |