Agenda item

Consideration was given to a report, presented by the Director of Streetpride, outlining details of a range of issues which will have an impact on the ‘Cleaner, Greener’ agenda. It was noted that this agenda is a priority subject area for the Improving Places Select Commission, as identified by the Government-appointed Commissioners to this Council. The specific issues identified within the report were:-

- Waste Management (including household waste recycling centres and ‘bring’ sites; waste collection; recycling rates);

- Leisure and Community Services (including grounds maintenance; street cleansing; fly-tipping and enforcement);

- Network Management (parking services, especially parking in and around the Rotherham town centre);

- Rotherham town centre (the impact of the night-time economy).

Members discussed the following salient matters:-

: waste collection including charging arrangements for elements of the service being considered as part of the 2015/16 budget process;

: waste collection arrangements must be by way of separate collection, where separate collection is Technically, Environmentally and Economically Practicable – this is known as the TEEP assessment (per the Waste (England and Wales) Regulations 2011 and in subsequent years);

: collection of recycled material (eg: clothing; shoes) by charitable organisations and whether such organisations should be charged a fee for the siting of their collection bins;

: grass cutting, including green open spaces in Council-owned housing areas (eg: sheltered bungalow schemes) funded from the Housing Revenue Account; positive comments received about the use of wild flowers in some highway verges and central refuges; the practice of cutting only sections of highway verge, adjacent to the carriageway, rather than the whole verge;

: the increasing incidence of fly-tipping, both in the Rotherham Borough area and nationwide; enforcement practices, including the use of (covert) closed circuit television systems and recording; possible devolution of enforcement powers either to Parish and Town Councils or to community and voluntary groups;

: a question about the possible use of private sector contractors of fly-tipping enforcement duties; the ‘zero-tolerance’ approach of some private contractors (this matter will be discussed further by the Members’ Task and Finish group);

: the clearance of weeds, which occurs twice per year and includes the grubbing-out of silt and detritus from the highway (in which the weeds grow);

: the Council does not accept vehicle tyres for disposal (such facilities are available from the private sector); vehicle tyres are classed as notifiable waste and should have consignment notes as evidence of their correct disposal (with an auditable trail; it was noted that this matter is enforced by the Environment Agency rather than local authorities;

: street cleansing and litter enforcement in areas which already have closed circuit television systems (CCTV) in place (eg: Town Hall frontage, Moorgate Street); it was noted that the quality of CCTV recorded footage in these areas is not always good enough for enforcement purposes;

: the Government-appointed Commissioners to the Council have proposed changes to the organisational structure which will include the management of the Council’s enforcement arrangements;

: the ‘responsible retailer’ scheme, encouraging the clearing up of litter from outside retail premises (eg: the Tidy Britain Group campaign and the ‘tidy business’ and ‘tidy school’ awards schemes).

Resolved:- (1) That the report be received and its contents noted.

(2) That the Improving Places Select Commission shall establish the following Task and Finish Groups, comprising the Councillors and co-opted members listed below, in order to undertake appropriate scrutiny of this Council’s Service delivery in respect of Cleaner, Greener agenda:-

(a) Waste Management (Councillor Godfrey (Chair) with Councillors Reeder, Wallis and Wyatt and co-opted member Mr. P. Cahill);

(b) Leisure and Community Services (Councillor Atkin (Chair) with Councillors Buckley, Cutts, Jepson, Smith, C. Vines and Whysall and co-opted members Mrs. L. Shears and Mr. B. Walker – with Councillor Cowles also co-opted);

(c) Network Management, which shall include issues relating to the Rotherham town centre (Councillor Rosling (Chair), with Councillors McNeely, Pickering and Whelbourn and co-opted member Mr. B. Walker).

(3) That, with regard to the establishment of the Task and Finish Groups listed at (2) above, Councillors and co-opted members are invited to inform the Scrutiny Officer of their preference of Groups (one or more preferences are permitted).