Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Deputy John Bennett, Karina Dostalova, Deputy Billy Dove, Deputy Bill Fraser, George Gilon, Brian Mooney, Hugh Morris, Deputy John Owen-Ward, Sherriff & Alderman Dr Andrew Parmley, Deputy Michael Welbank and Mark Wheatley.

There were none.

To agree the public minutes and non-public summary of the meeting held on 20 January 2015.

That the public minutes and non-public summary of the last meeting held on 20 January 2015 be agreed.

To note the list of Outstanding Actions.

The Committee received the list of Outstanding Actions:

Heathrow Animal Reception Centre (HARC) Annual Review of Charges

The Schedule of Charges to be adopted by HARC from 1 April 2015 which were agreed by the Committee in January 2015 was approved by Court of Common Council on 5 March 2015.

Prudent Passage, EC2

Members were informed that Prudent Passage is currently swept once a day, it has cigarette bins fitted and signage in place and Street Environment Officers (SEO) patrol the area regularly and speak to smokers to encourage responsible behaviour, SEO’s issue FPNs and request ad hoc sweeps from Amey when the passage is found to heavily soiled. Amey managers have been asked to monitor the passage for a month and advise if it requires extra scheduled sweeps.

Members asked officers about how often businesses in the City are spoken to about cigarette related litter.

Members also asked about enforcement on this issue, suggesting a joint approach combining traffic wardens and the City police to tackle this issue as they could not see why corporation officers were not enforcing corporation. The Transportation and Public Realm Director explained that the civil enforcement officers were the most effective and safest option when encouraging responsible behaviour. Deputy Regan was dissatisfied with this answer.

Members asked about the enforcement powers of the SEO’s when dealing with litter. The Transportation and Public Realm Director explained that they were able to issue fixed penalty notices. He explained further that this method is actively enforced and that the City had received between 40 and 45K of income from these. SEO’s are also able to report offenders for further prosecution.

Members enquired about possibly targeting officers to monitor specific areas and that local SEO’s should be easily contactable by Member’s as this would be beneficial in locating

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Committee received a report of the Town Clerk investigating the possibility of providing a non-statutory service of Public Conveniences through City's Cash funding. It outlined the results of the investigation and sought Members views going forward.

Members raised questions over the toilet provision and that the increasing amount of bars and restaurants within the City, should equate to an appropriate amount of facilities. Members enquired further about whether night time provision should also come from the Community Toilet Scheme. The Transportation and Public Realm Director explained that concern over the safety of staff and the clientele that would want to use the facilities to engage in illicit behaviour, which had happened in the past. The Director of Built Environment answered queries on the Community Toilet Scheme explaining that although it was difficult to get feedback, they have used a ‘Red, Amber, Green’ system in order to gather data and have received a reasonable response so far. He went on to advise the committee who agreed that developing larger signage would help raise visibility of toilets in the scheme.

A Member asked the Director of Built Environment for a breakdown of the percentages of pubs and restaurants involved in the scheme, and enquired to how often participants facilities are assessed.  The Director agreed to provide a breakdown of the figures and stated that the toilets were initially inspected quarterly and now were inspected monthly to maintain corporation standards. He further explained that when a business is joining the scheme, officers will judge if it’s reasonable accessible considering the layout and location.

A Member stated that Westminster Council operate 24/7 toilet facilities and questioned why the City was unable to do this. The Director of Built Environment explained that there have been many cases where staff have been made to feel

Report of the Town Clerk.

Members were provided with the details of a delegated decision taken since the Committee’s last meeting in January 2015, in accordance with Standing Order 41(b).

Members asked about what thought was given to giving concessions to cleaner vehicles operating in the City. Members were informed by the Town Clerk that the City of London Corporation was in talks with TfL about this matter and the potential of a scrapping scheme.

Resolved.That the contents of the report be noted.

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

The Committee considered a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection. The City’s contaminated Land strategy fulfils the City of London’s statutory obligation to set out its wider approach to contaminated land and its inspection duties within the Square Mile.

A Member asked a question about Crossrail’s archaeological/contractors’ dig across the 16^th century burial grounds of Bedlam Hospital. Since many victims of the plague were buried with the disease following outbreaks over the centuries, cadaver's teeth would be examined for cause of death. In view of the findings of live plague bacteria in the burial ground of St. Luke's Church, Old Street in recent years, which was closed off whilst contamination was removed, the Member questioned at what stage was the City of London’s involvement with this potentially dangerous site central to City activity and what was the programme in place to protect the public over the lengthy period of Crossrail's works there. The Member further asked   whether Crossrail would be funding the related costs of officers' time and whatever precautionary safeguard measures were required.

The Port Health & Public Protection Director responded that plague contamination was not a problem and the Museum of London Archaeological Service, which carries this work regularly, had a licence. Furthermore, the bodies buried on the site were not in coffins which meant that any potential disease bacteria or viruses would not survive. 

RESOLVED – That approval be given to the proposal for the contaminated land inspection strategy to undergo external consultation until 25^th May 2015, subject to any comments received at the meeting. A further report would be presented to the Committee’s meeting on 22 September 2015 to approve the subsequent new strategy.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

Members received a report from the Director of Built Environment on The City of London’s 2013 Waste Strategy setting a local target to achieve a 45% recycling rate by 2015 and 50% by 2020. Initially, from 2013, the City’s recycling rate had increased and was on track to achieve this. However, due to the introduction of the Materials Recycling Facility Code of Practice in October 2014, which set stricter quality standards for recyclable materials sent for reprocessing, it was necessary for officers to investigate the quality of the recycling being sent for onward processing. In addition to the issues detailed above, it was reported widely in the industry press that national recycling rates have flat lined. 

The Renew on-street recycling bins and those maintained by Parks and Gardens were identified as having a consistently high contamination rate which affected the quality of the recycling. As a result, these two streams of recycling were removed from City’s recycling and the recycling rate decreased accordingly to 30%.

A Recycling Action Plan has been devised setting out the actions the City will take to get back on track to reach its recycling targets. 

Members highlighted the use of incentives to prompt participation in the Recycling Action Plan from businesses and amongst schools and young people. The Director of Built Environment explained that the City was utilising schemes looking for financial waste, as well as working towards reminding businesses that it is cheaper to recycle than to dispose of waste. The Committee were also informed that the corporation was working closely with educational establishments to increase Dry Mixed Recycling (DMR).

Members enquired as to why recycling bins have been taken away from particular areas within the City. The Director of Built Environment explained that the corporation only wanted to use recycling bins if waste

There were none.

MOTION – That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following items on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 20 January 2015.

That the non-public minutes of the last meeting held on 20 January 2015, be agreed.

Joint report of the Director of the Built Environment, the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection, and the Director of Open Spaces.

The Committee received a report that informed of the arrears of invoiced income outstanding as at 31 December 2014.

Resolved. Members noted the contents of the report.

There was one question.