Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies were received from Cllr M Howell

To receive information on any changes in the membership of the Committee.

Note – When a member of a Committee is unable to attend a meeting of a Committee or Sub-Committee, the relevant Political Group Leader (or their nominated representative) may, by notice to the Monitoring Officer (or their nominated representative) prior to the meeting, appoint a substitute member from within the same Political Group. The contact details on the front of this agenda should be used for notifications. 

Cllr F Rice Substituted for Cllr M Howell

Councillors are requested to declare any interests on items included in this agenda. Please refer to the workflow on the preceding page for guidance.

Declarations received will be reported at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest received.

To receive any public questions, statements or petitions submitted in accordance with the Constitution, which is available to view at the following link:

https://democracy.bcpcouncil.gov.uk/ieListMeetings.aspx?CommitteeID=151&Info=1&bcr=1

The deadline for the submission of a public question is 4 clear working days before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a statement is midday the working day before the meeting.

The deadline for the submission of a petition is 10 working days before the meeting.

There were no public questions, statements or petitions.

To consider an update from the following Cabinet Portfolio Holder on current and proposed priorities within the remit of the Portfolio, including risks, challenges and opportunities:

·       Cllr Mark Anderson, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Environment, Cleansing and Waste

Questions to the Portfolio Holder are invited in advance from all non-Executive councillors to inform the Portfolio Holder’s discussions with the Board, please submit questions by Monday 25 January 2021.

Please note that the areas of the Council covered by this Portfolio are:

   Waste Collection - Household & Public Bins,

   Streets – Resurfacing, Potholes, Sweeping,

   Litter and Fly Tipping,

   Beaches and Seafront,

   Paddling Pools, Cleaning and Maintenance,

   Flood Resilience,

   Parks & Bereavement,

   Conservation – AONB, SSSI

   Cemeteries / Crematorium

A briefing report from the Portfolio Holder is attached to this agenda for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board

The Chairman advised the Board that this was the second Cabinet Member report which was being considered by the Overview and Scrutiny Board. A copy of the report had been circulated to the Board members and a copy of which appears as Appendix 'A' to these minutes in the Minute Book. The Chairman advised the Board that the purpose of the item was to help generate ideas for the future and consider those issues which the Overview and Scrutiny Board would want to get involved in or consider further. 

The Portfolio Holder for Environment, Cleansing and Waste outlined the key points from the Portfolio, the future projects which were coming forward and areas where the Overview and Scrutiny Board may become involved and add value. The Portfolio Holder also provided a response to the questions which had been submitted by other Councillors in advance of the meeting a copy of the questions and responses had been circulated to the Board members and a copy of which appears as Appendix ‘B’ to these minutes in the Minute Book. A number of issues were raised in the subsequent discussion including:

·     The provision of bins and whether there was an intention to increase or reduce the number of bins and what information did the Council have on the numbers, types and locations of bins. It was noted that a full review of the provision of bins was needed. Whilst the Council was broadly aware of the location of bins because there was a cleansing schedule there were over 3200 bins across the conurbation. In some areas there may be a need to remove bins and declutter the area but in others there may be a need to increase the number of bins but that this would need to be part of a significant piece of work.

·     Whether street cleansing was taking place at weekends and whether there was a specific schedule in place which covered the minor roads. It was noted that the street cleansing schedule was monitored closely and took into factors such as storms and whether impacts. The teams worked at different times throughout the day to attempt to mitigate various impacting factors such as parked cars. Where possible the team would try to get parked cars removed. Teams also coordinated to try to undertake other works during the same time, such as line painting. There were schedules in place for Bournemouth and Poole but Christchurch didn’t previously have a schedule and these were being reviewed. A Councillor asked about tying the street cleansing programme in with rubbish collection but it was explained that both areas operated very differently, the rubbish collection by necessity had to cover a large number of bins and was done on a repetitive basis but street cleansing had to react to a number of different factors at different times of year and different areas would have different requirements depending on the environment. In response to a suggestion regarding having bin crews monitoring areas for street cleansing  ...  view the full minutes text for item 147.

To consider the High Streets Strategy Cabinet Report, Scheduled for consideration by Cabinet at its meeting on 10 February.

The O&S Board is asked to scrutinise the reports and make recommendations to Cabinet as appropriate.

Cabinet member invited to attend for this item: Councillor Philip Broadhead, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning

The Cabinet report for this item is included with the agenda for consideration by the Overview and Scrutiny Board.

The Chairman invited the Portfolio Holder for Regeneration, Economy and Strategic Planning to present the report, a copy of which had been circulated to each member and which appears as Appendix 'C' to these minutes in the Minute Book. The Portfolio Holder introduced the item and asked the Lead Member for BCP Retail Strategy to provide further updates to the Board on the content of the paper. The Lead Member advised the Board that there was a Workshop held on 19 January, which provided an opportunity to share ideas, observations and thoughts on how to revive a high street. The Board were informed of the number and percentage of empty units across the three main town centres within BCP. It was noted that it was a difficult situation being faced by traders, but it was hoped that when lockdown was over there would be opportunities for high streets to bounce back. The Lead Member suggested that a kick start was needed to get confidence back into town centres and a number of different ideas were shared with the Board to help ensure that void spaces were occupied, help high streets recover and give confidence to landlords. The Chairman commented that it was great that we were being proactive on this by taking innovative steps and ideas and opened the item up to further discussion from Board members which included the following issues:

·       A Councillor commented that the link between transportation and high streets was important and that this needed to be included. In reference to the Workplace Parking Levy, introduced by Nottingham Council which had generated £64m to invest into sustainable transport methods, the Councillor commented that it would be good to see BCP doing something similar with this piece of work. It was noted that the scheme had also attracted external funding.  The Lead member noted that one of the issues with this was that the places most likely to survive the pandemic would be industrial estates and out of town retail parks. Furthermore, finance from car parking was baked into the forecast for BCP. However, there was a whole mix of things that the Council could be doing in this regard and this would come through in the retail strategy. The Portfolio Holder commented that making sure people could get around as part of an enjoyable experience. It was noted that of those living in Boscombe / Bournemouth town centres around half do not have access to a car and when seeking views of the area from young people a number said how easy it was to get around the local area using public transport.

·       With reference to charity shops, a Councillor advised that the shop set up to contribute to the Mayor of Bournemouth’s charities in Boscombe town centre was taking £1800 per week and was looking to increase trading further, and showed that some retail premises were still doing well, even in these difficult times. Charity shops formed a key part of economic recoveries and may  ...  view the full minutes text for item 148.

To consider and amend the Board’s Forward Plan as appropriate and to consider the published Cabinet Forward Plan.

The Chairman asked Board members if they had any comments on the proposed Forward Plan for the Board. A Councillor commented on the Call-in submitted with regards to the Cabinet Member decision on the ETRO for

Keyhole Bridge. The Chairman advised that he had not yet been formally notified of the decision as the call-in period had not yet expired but once this had taken place he confirmed that he would advise members when it would be considered by the Board.

It was confirmed that the requested items on Tree Management and Road maintenance would remain on the Board’s Forward Plan.

RESOLVED: That the Forward Plan for the Overview and Scrutiny Board be noted.

For the Overview and Scrutiny Board to consider an update from the Lead Member of the Local Plan Working Group which outlines the scope and aims of the group following its initial meeting.

The Chairman advised the Board that the Working Group had held an initial meeting and had agreed in principle that there was value in moving forward. The first formal meeting was set for 17 February. The Chairman outlined the key points from the scoping report, a copy of which had been circulated to the O&S Board members and a copy of which appears as Appendix D to these minutes in the Minute Book.

RESOLVED: That the scope and purpose of the working group as outlined in the report be agreed.

To note the following meeting dates and locations for the 2020/21 municipal year:

·       4 January 2021

·       1 February 2021

·       1 March 2021

·       1 April 2021

To note the following proposed meeting dates and locations for the 2021/22 municipal year (to be agreed by full Council):

·       17 May 2021

·       14 June 2021

·       19 July 2021

·       23 August 2021

·       20 September 2021

·       18 October 2021

·       15 November 2021

·       6 December 2021

·       3 January 2022

·       31 January 2022

·       28 February 2022

·       4 April 2022

All meetings will be held via video conferencing until further notice.

The Board noted the dates for future meetings and agreed that the January meeting in 2022 should be held on Wednesday 5 January as the previously scheduled date, 3 January fell on a bank holiday.