Agenda and minutes

Venue: Committee Rooms 2 & 3, Trafford Town Hall, Talbot Road, Stretford M32 0TH

Contact: Chris Gaffey, Democratic & Scrutiny Officer 

Items
No. Item

29.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members to give notice of any interest and the nature of that interest relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the adopted Code of Conduct.

Minutes:

No declarations of interests were made by Members.

30.

CALL IN OF EXECUTIVE DECISION: M/08.11.17/HPES - PILOT FOR ENHANCED LITTERING AND ALLEYWAY DUMPING ENFORCEMENT IN OLD TRAFFORD AND THE WIDER STRETFORD LOCALITY pdf icon PDF 99 KB

The Committee are requested to consider the call in of the above Executive decision in relation to the Pilot for Enhanced Littering and Alleyway Dumping Enforcement in Old Trafford and the Wider Stretford Locality.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee had been called to consider a call in of Executive decision number M/08.11.17/HPES in respect of the Pilot for Enhanced Littering and Alleyway Dumping Enforcement in Old Trafford and the Wider Stretford Locality. The Decision was made by the Executive Member for Highways, Parks and Environmental Services, on Wednesday 8 November 2017. 

 

The call-in had been submitted by Councillors Carter, Cordingley, Harding, D. Western and Whyte, and was based on the grounds that: inadequate consultation had been carried out; alternative options were not given sufficient consideration; and insufficient information was available to make the decision. The Chairman had permitted consideration of the request to explore the issues raised on the grounds that inadequate consultation had been carried out, and insufficient information was available to make the decision.

 

The Committee had received the initial report and supporting documentation to the Executive, the decision notice, and the call-in proforma. The Executive Member for Highways, Parks and Environmental Services, the Deputy Executive Member for Highways, Parks and Environmental Services, the Corporate Director, Economic Growth, Environment and Infrastructure, the Director of Legal and Democratic Services, the Interim Director, One Trafford Partnership, and the Head of Environmental Services were in attendance to respond to the Committee’s enquiries.

 

The Committee confirmed that they were in favour of more enforcement, but raised their concerns with the decision and how this was taken. Members’ main concern was the possible reputational risk involved with awarding the contract to Kingdom, who had received some adverse publicity earlier in the year following a BBC Panorama report on the company. Officers were confident that any issues raised during the programme were isolated incidents. Members were advised that Kingdom issued circa 18,500 Fixed Penalty Notices (FPNs) per month, meaning a small number of incorrectly issued FPNs could be expected. The Council had contacted the other 8 authorities working with Kingdom for feedback on their performance and practices. All eight Authorities gave Kingdom a score of 4 out of 5 or better. Most of the feedback received from these Authorities had been positive, which gave the Council the required confidence that Kingdom would provide a good service.

 

Members also raised their concerns about the type of enforcement that would be pursued by Kingdom. It was noted that Kingdom would be enforcing existing Council policies, and the pilot scheme would be constantly monitored and reviewed to ensure that it worked for all. Kingdom had been advised that this was not an exercise for raising revenue for the Council, meaning they would not be pressured to hit financial targets. The immediate objective would be to reduce fly tipping and littering in the Old Trafford area, with Kingdom applying the relevant legislation in a consistent manner to achieve this.

 

The Committee requested further information in relation to contract performance and how this would be measured. Members were assured that that monitoring the scheme would be of high priority and crucial to its success. Work was ongoing on the Service Level Agreements that would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.