Agenda and minutes

To receive declarations of interest from Members in respect of items listed on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

To receive questions relating to items of business on the agenda from members of the public or press who are present at the meeting.

1)    Mr R Branagan asked that with regard to the amount of waste currently being taken to the site as part of the construction phase, what processes were in place for ensuring that the operator did not exceed the amounts of waste allowed by the permit that were currently being taken to the site.

In response the Assistant Director - Community Safety and Streetscene noted that the responsibility for monitoring compliance with the permit was that of the Environment Agency and referred the question to Jacqui Tootill, Area Environment Manager at the Environment Agency who was in attendance at the meeting.

Jacqui Tootill advised that material could currently be imported to the site under two authorisations, with one authorisation being an exemption that allowed inert waste to be brought to the site for the purposes of constructing the haul roads, the compound and other infrastructure, with the second authorisation was to bring in materials if it was suitable to create the required engineering works of the engineered bases on the waste cells. Jacqui Tootill advised that these authorisations were in place order to prepare the site to be fully operational with the amount of waste brought to the site being dependent on the size of the area being worked on. Jacqui Tootill advised there had been five inspections carried out by Environment Agency inspectors during 2021 and that no concerns had been raised regarding the amount or type of waste that was being taken to the site. It was noted that full records of the waste taken to the site were kept by the operator and that the Environment Agency had no concerns regarding compliance by the operator with regards to the waste currently being taken to the site.

As a supplementary question Mr R Branagan asked about the processes for the Environment Agency inspecting waste transfer records.

In response Jacqui Tootill advised that the Environment Agency did not hold these records and would only ask to see them if they had any concerns regarding the type or amount of waste being taken to the site, however as the Environment Agency did not have any concerns the Environment Agency would not be asking to inspect these records.

2)    Mr S McKenna asked that as the Council would not use its powers to issue a discontinuation order, and that as the Council also allowed the operator to use the access road that crossed Council owned land, what would the Council do to stop the operation of the site.

In response the Assistant Director - Community Safety and Streetscene noted that both the Council and the Secretary of State had the power to revoke a planning permission if it had been found to have been granted wrongly. The Assistant Director noted that the Council had considered the use of Section 102 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 in term of the potential for making a discontinuance order on the site, however any discontinuance would be subject to compensation which had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

To consider whether the press and public should be excluded from the meeting during consideration of any part of the agenda.

There were no items that required the exclusion of the public or press.

At this point Councillor Clark vacated the Chair. Councillor Barley then took the Chair for the following item.

The Assistant Director - Community Safety and Streetscene, the Strategic Housing and Investment Manager, the Head of Planning and Building Control and Jacqui Tootill, Area Environment Manager at the Environment Agency attended the meeting to provide a report on activity regarding the Grange Landfill Site.

The report noted that on 30 October 2019 the Council had received a petition from the Droppingwell Action Group calling on the Authority to take enforcement action in respect of the Grange Landfill Site. As the petition had met the threshold for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board a meeting had been held on 28 January 2020 to consider the petition. At that meeting the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board made eleven recommendations (Minute No.113) that were subsequently accepted by Cabinet on 23 March 2020 (Cabinet Minute No.140).

A further update report had been presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board on 18 March 2021 where it had been resolved: “That a further report on the latest situation surrounding the Grange Landfill be presented to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board in three months’ time.” (Minute No.341).

In introducing the report, the Assistant Director advised that the report provided a further update on activity surrounding the site since March 2021.

The report stated that over the last three months, the operator had continued to undertake works to prepare the site for full operation and to fulfil the requirements of the Environmental Permit that had involved the importation of inert waste for use in construction. It was noted that this was legally allowed under the terms of the Permit. It was noted that the conditions of the Environmental Permit for the operation of the tip had not yet been met, and as such full landfilling operations were not able to commence.

The Assistant Director advised that the Council had last written to the Secretary of State on 26 February 2021, to ask them to use their powers under the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 to revoke or discontinue the planning permission and to fund any compensation claims from the Government purse. On 14 July 2021 the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government had advised the Council that they: “…do not consider it would be expedient for the Secretary of State to exercise his powers to revoke planning permission or to discontinue use of land in this case.”

In addition to the update on the planning issue the report provided updates on:

·       Access issues related to the site

·       Public Rights of Way

·       the Borehole

·       Site Security and Monitoring

·       Disposal of Waste from Housing Development.

Jacqui Tootill, Area Environment Manager at the Environment Agency confirmed that the engineering works that were required to enable the site to accept waste were continuing and advised that once these were completed a report would be submitted to the Environment Agency for their consideration. Jacqui Tootill stated that only once the Environment Agency were happy with the construction and all of the arrangements at the site would  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

The Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health, the Strategic Director of Adult Care, Housing and Public Health and the Assistant Director of Adult Care and Integration attended the meeting to provide a progress report on the Adult Social Care Restructure and Pathway.

In introducing the report, the Cabinet Member for Adult Social Care and Health noted the restructure and pathway had been a success due to the clear vision that had been created at the outset.

The report noted that on 21 October 2019, the Council had implemented a new Adult Social Care operating structure and introduced new pathways for Rotherham residents to access information, guidance and support. At this time following a period of engagement and formal consultation, staff moved into new teams. The main aims of the new structure and pathways had been to ensure a more customer focussed and responsive offer to the residents of Rotherham, resulting in less waiting time at the point of contact; a stronger reablement offer that enabled more people to regain independence; increased continuity of council staff involved; a simpler structure for residents and partners to understand and to raise practice standards and overall performance.

The report provided an update on activity since the previous progress report to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board that was received on 2 December 2020 (Minute No.262).

The Assistant Director of Adult Care and Integration noted that the new pathway had been only four months into its implementation when the pandemic arrived, and as such the service had been operating under the pandemic procedures as well as working in the new ways of the pathway. The Assistant Director advised that as such it was still difficult to ascertain clearly what the impact had been of the pandemic on the delivery of the pathway had been, noting that significant challenges related to the pandemic still remained.

The Assistant Director advised that since the last report had been received by the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board that an Internal Audit had been carried out in January 2021. The overall objective of the audit had been to provide independent and objective assurance that the Target Operating Model/Social Care Pathway was being applied correctly and consistently by social workers. The Assistant Director advised that the results of the audit had demonstrated that Substantial Assurance could be shown that the controls were operating effectively.

Members noted some difficulties that they had experienced regarding the first point of contact processes online and by the phone when accessing services. The Assistant Director advised that these concerns would be investigated.

Members asked for further information on issues around staff vacancies that had been highlighted in the report. The Assistant Director advised that the delivery model had been based on expected levels of demand, but as demand had increased there had been difficulties in ensuring that there were sufficient social workers in post. The Assistant Director assured members that action had been taken to ensure that extra staff had been brought in as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31.

To consider the Board’s Work Programme.

The Board considered its Work Programme.

Resolved: - That the Work Programme be approved.

To receive updates from the Chairs of the Select Commission on work undertaken and planned for the future.

The Chairs of the Improving Places Select Commission, the Health Select Commission and the Improving Lives Select Commission provided an update on the work of their commissions.

To consider any issues referred for call-in from recent Cabinet meetings.

There were no call-in issues.

To determine any item which the Chair is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There was no urgent business.

The next meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board is scheduled for Wednesday 11 August at 11am at Rotherham Town Hall.

Resolved: - 

1)    That subject to a final decision being made by the Chair and Vice-Chair, that a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will be held at 11am on Wednesday 14 August 2021 at Rotherham Town Hall.

2)    That a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board will be held at 11am on Wednesday 15 September 2021 at Rotherham Town Hall.