To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2022.

In considering the minutes of the previous meeting the Committee noted that as part of the Council’s budget setting it had been agreed to permanently fund the Climate Change Officer posts.

A Member informed the Committee that the funding for the Climate Change Youth Board would be ending and she called for the continued funding of this Board.

Decision

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 10 February 2022 as a correct record.

Report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing

This report provides the annual update on the delivery of the Green and Blue Implementation Plan together with information on the delivery of the Tree Action Plan. It looks back at the progress made during 2021 and sets out how the Green and Blue Implementation Plan has been refreshed to ensure it remains relevant and in the context of the current challenges faced by the city.

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Planning, Building Control and Licensing that provided the annual update on the delivery of the Green and Blue Implementation Plan together with information on the delivery of the Tree Action Plan.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Describing the relationship of the Green and Blue Infrastructure (G&BI) Strategy to other Council strategies and action plans;

·         The objectives and long-term vision of the Strategy;

·         Governance arrangements and G&BI stakeholder Group;

·         The contribution the strategy had in relation to the Climate Emergency and Social Inclusion and Equality;

·         An overview of the Green and Blue Infrastructure Strategy Action Plan refresh;

·         Describing the Greater Manchester IGNITION Project and the GrowGreen Project;

·         The G&BI Implementation Plan 2021 Delivery highlights by Objective; and

·         The G&BI Implementation Plan Refresh and Future Priorities.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         Welcoming the clear and detailed report and requesting that an easy read version was produced to ensure this was accessible to all residents;

·         Welcoming the inclusion of ‘Objective Three: Improving access and connectivity for people and wildlife, focusing on: Green routes – neighbourhoods and travel routes’;

·         Noting that trees planted in residential streets had caused damage to the pavements as the roots had grown, and consideration needed to be given to using the planting technique adopted in Albert Square to reduce this damage;

·         An exercise should be undertaken to understand residents’ access to green space, calling for equity of access to quality green space for all residents;

·         Equitable access to quality green space needed to be considered in conjunction with active travel schemes;

·         Welcoming the inclusion of the Bee Line information that was included within report;

·         Recognising that planning policies and developments were key to the delivery of quality green space;

·         Priority should be given to delivering green schemes in those wards that had historically not benefited from such schemes, adding that officers should support residents and interested community groups to bid for all available funding to deliver green schemes;

·         Noting that the recent IPCC report stressed the importance and urgency to address climate change;

·         The need to engage local schools on the issue of green and blue space, as part of the wider issue of climate change to influence behaviour change;

·         A strategy was required to ensure that all Registered Housing Providers across the city took responsibility for managing the green spaces they were responsible for, noting that the approach adopted was currently inconsistent across the city;

·         Consideration needed to be given to promoting the benefits of grass verges as a way of supporting bio diversity and this needed to be communicated so they were not used for car parking;

·         Residents and community groups should be encouraged, with the support of local Neighbourhood Officers, to take responsibility for local green spaces,

·         An assurance was sought that appropriate consideration had been given to flood risk management as part of the Victoria North development;

·         The communications strategy  ...  view the full minutes text for item 46.

Report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods)

The management of household waste is one of the key functions of the Local Authority and is a service of significant importance to every resident of the city.  It is recognised that the current cleansing service standards are inconsistent across the city and do not meet the expectations of members and residents.  The future delivery arrangements for the service need to ensure that the additional investment identified within the budget generates the maximum return and improvement. 

The current contract for waste collection and street cleansing expires in 2038 but has two extension periods (2023 and 2031). As part of the commissioning cycle, the Council has reviewed the priorities for the next period and considered which delivery model can achieve these and Best Value. The continuation of the contract with Biffa has been assessed as the most effective option.

A service improvement programme and monitoring mechanism is being developed to ensure that arrangements for the next period deliver against the required improvement in outcomes.

The Committee considered the report of the Strategic Director (Neighbourhoods) that described that the management of household waste is one of the key functions of the Local Authority and was a service of significant importance to every resident of the city.  It was recognised that the current cleansing service standards were inconsistent across the city and did not meet the expectations of Members and residents. The future delivery arrangements for the service needed to ensure that the additional investment identified within the budget generated the maximum return and improvement. 

The current contract for waste collection and street cleansing expired in 2038 but had two extension periods (2023 and 2031). As part of the commissioning cycle, the Council had reviewed the priorities for the next period and considered which delivery model could achieve these and Best Value.

Key points and themes in the report included:

·         Providing an introduction and the Policy Framework background;

·         An overview of the GM Refuse & Recycling Contract (Pre-2009)

·         Information relating to the Greater Manchester Waste Levy;

·         An overview of the current service;

·         Performance information and feedback;

·         A description of the Resources & Waste Strategy (RaWS) for England (2018);

·         Service Improvement and the Service Improvement Programme Timescales, noting that this was subject to final approval;

·         The delivery model;

·         Conclusions and the decision making process; and

·         The continuation of the contract with Biffa had been assessed as the most effective option.

Some of the key points that arose from the Committee’s discussions were: -

·         Requesting Quarterly update reports on the Waste and Recycling Service, including Biffa performance data;

·         The need to monitor activities such as the collection of side waste from communal containers;

·         A strategy was required to ensure that all Registered Housing Providers took responsibility for managing and removing waste from all of the spaces they were responsible for;

·         A report was requested that described the implications of Household Waste and Recycling Centres’ policies and incidents of flytipping;

·         Consideration needed to be given to the timely issuing of licenses for the positioning of skips on highways and the lifting of parking restrictions to allow reputable waste management companies to access locations to remove waste;

·         More needed to be done to improve recycling rates, noting the impact this could have on carbon emissions and further promotion of the circular economy;

·         The sweeping of cycle lanes needed to be improved and be future proofed to manage the demand on this service as more active travel schemes were delivered;

·         The need to recognise that the types of waste issues experienced were different in different wards and a ‘one size fits all’ approach was not appropriate, adding that meetings should be convened with ward Members to understand their specific issues and challenges experienced;

·         The staff behaviours of Biffa crews needed to improve to ensure they delivered the levels of service that was expected;

·         CCTV should be used to identify perpetrators of fly tipping in hot spots, noting that this would also assist with any subsequent convictions;

·         More needed to be done to promote  ...  view the full minutes text for item 47.

Report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit

This is a monthly report, which includes the recommendations monitor, relevant key decisions, the Committee’s work programme and any items for information.

The report of the Governance and Scrutiny Support Unit which contained key decisions within the Committee’s remit and responses to previous recommendations was submitted for comment. Members were also invited to agree the Committee’s future work programme.

The Chair noted that the new Chair and Committee would hold a work programming session at the meeting in May, in the first meeting of the new municipal year to consider the Work Programme. Noting the comments and requests for future reports when the Committee considered the previous agenda items.

Decision

The Committee note the report and agree the work programme, noting the above comments.