Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Vivienne Littlechild, Alastair Moss, Deputy John Owen-Ward, Deputy Gerald Pulman, Deputy Michael Welbank and Philip Woodhouse.

There were no declarations.

To agree the public minutes and summary of the meeting held on 9 September 2013.

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2013 be approved as a correct record.

To receive the list of outstanding actions.

The list of outstanding actions was received.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The committee considered a report of the Town Clerk that invited members to review the committee’s terms of reference ahead of these being submitted to the Court of Common Council on 1 May 2014.

Members agreed that no amendments were required, noting that the current terms of reference had been thoroughly reviewed the previous year.

RESOLVED –

·         That the terms of reference of the committee be approved for submission to the Court of Common Council on 1 May 2014, and that any further changes required in the lead up to the Court’s appointment of committees be delegated to the Town Clerk in consultation with the Chairman and Deputy Chairman; and

·         No change was required to the frequency of the committee’s meetings.

Report of the Director of Public Relations.

The Director of Public Relations introduced his written update on Port Health and Environmental Services public relations. He noted that the current update was the third annual report to come before the committee, and that he would welcome any comments and critique on members on its presentation and structure.

He proceeded to highlight some sections of the report:

Media Coverage

He noted that copies of the main media cuttings relevant to the committee were available for members to consider.

Website

He commented that the City of London Corporation website had been updated in the past year to make its structure more user friendly.

Polling - Public Conveniences

He noted that the only City of London service to receive a negative satisfaction rating was public conveniences and the community toilet scheme, and that this had been the subject of a summary report to the Policy & Resources Committee. He informed members that a presentation would take place on the topic at a date in mid-December. He pointed out that there was no historic data with which to compare the current results and therefore it was difficult to establish the reason for the low rates of satisfaction. Nevertheless he noted that more work would be done on raising awareness of the community toilet scheme for the time being.

The Chairman thanked the Director for his update to the committee, and said that the overall high rate of satisfaction with the City of London Corporation was a tribute to the hard work of officers and members of the committee.

In response to a question from a member over the disparity in satisfaction between residents and businesses regarding recycling (78% versus 35%), the Transportation and Public Realm Director replied that this was likely due to residential collection being carried out by the City of London

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

The Senior Accountant introduced a report of the Chamberlain on revenue and capital budgets for 2014/15, noting that its recommendations had been made in light of the City of London’s wider review of its use of resources.

In response to a query from a member over the nature of staffing budgets, the Senior Accountant replied that these were necessary due to the need to cater for long-term staffing requirements.

RESOLVED, that –

·         The committee reviewed the provisional 2014/15 revenue budget, noting that it met the committee’s objectives and approved its submission to the Finance Committee;

·         The draft capital budget be approved.

·         The Chamberlain be authorised to revise these budgets to allow for further implications arising from the potential budget developments including PP2P reviews, developments in the Port Health service relating to changing trade, changes to the Additional Works Programme and changes in respect of recharges.

Oral report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Chairman noted that the issue of public conveniences had been comprehensively discussed as part of Item 6.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

In response to a question from a member regarding the potential to raise awareness of recycling with young people, the Assistant Director of Streetscene and Strategy replied that the Recycling Action Plan included work being done to promote recycling in schools.

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Chairman introduced the report on the Bishopsgate Bin Trial, noting that it had come before the committee for information rather than for decision given that the committee’s agreement had been given, in principle, on a previous occasion, and that ward members had been consulted throughout.

In response to congratulations from a member over the achievement of c.98% of Bishopsgate being rated category A-B, the Chairman concurred and noted that the trial appeared to have been successful.

In response to a query from a member over why City of London Police advice had stated that blast resistant bins were no longer required, the Assistant Cleansing Director replied that the use of litter bins for deployment of terrorist devices had been a historic IRA tactic and that this tactic did not reflect the current pattern of terrorist threat, hence the updated police advice.

The Assistant Cleansing Director went on to note that Keep Britain Tidy was keen to embark upon a national campaign entitled Which Side of the Fence during which cleansing authorities would only cleanse one side of a given street at weekends. He added that a 200 yard stretch of Minories was being considered for part of the campaign.

In response to concerns from a member that the weekends were not a suitable time to carry out such a campaign due to reduced footfall and corresponding lack of scope to educate the public, and that a mid-week campaign along a busier stretch of public highway such as Bishopsgate would be more appropriate, the Assistant Cleansing Director replied that the timing of the proposal was in keeping with the wider Keep Britain Tidy campaign and that Minories had been chosen due to the Night Time Economy of the local area.

Members also observed that it would perhaps be best to

Report of the Director of the Built Environment.

The Chairman introduced the report of the Director of the Built Environment on the progress made on the Love the Square Mile app since the last report in April 2013, noting that the app was progressing well and that it would be further reviewed in six months.

To receive a response from the Planning and Transportation Committee.

The committee received a response to its resolution to the Planning and Transportation Committee.

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

The committee approved a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection regarding the 2013/14 Food Safety Enforcement Plan for the London Port Health Authority.

RESOLVED, that –

·         The London Port. Health Authority Food Service Enforcement Plan 2013-14 be approved.

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

The committee approved a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

RESOLVED, that –

·         Members approve the continued working of the City Corporation’s Trading Standards Service within the new national framework, utilising both in-house resources and whenever possible, securing external resources from the Tri-Regional Scambusters Team through the National Trading Standards Board for projects and investigations affecting the City and beyond.

Report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

The committee approved a report of the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection.

RESOLVED, that –

·         The City Corporation should continue its risk based regulatory approach by supporting, encouraging, advising and where necessary taking enforcement action against businesses to ensure that;

·         They effectively manage the occupational health & safety risks they create and;

·         That this should be based upon a greater gathering and use of intelligence to inform service planning intervention and project selection in the future.

Awards

The Chairman informed the committee that the City of London had recently received awards from Keep Britain Tidy for its No Ifs, No Butts campaign and for the Animal Reception Centre at Heathrow, from the International Pet and Animal Transportation Association.

Any items of business that the Chairman may decide are urgent.

Thames Estuary Partnership (TEP)

The representative of the Town Clerk clarified the nature of a member of the committee’s appointment to the Thames Estuary Partnership, noting that by virtue of his membership of the partnership, he qualified as a Director of the TEP.

A member noted that in future it would be important to be mindful of precisely what a member of the City of London was being required to do before they were appointed to outside bodies, and that appropriate insurance arrangements were in place. The Chairman agreed that this should form a report to come back to committee at a future date.

RESOLVED, that –

·         A report be prepared on the appointment of members to outside bodies for consideration by the Committee at a future date.

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 the Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act.

RESOLVED – 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 the Schedule 12A of the Act.

To agree the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2013.

RESOLVED – that the non-public minutes of the meeting held on 9 September 2013 be approved as a correct record.

Report of the Town Clerk.

The Chairman introduced a report of the Town Clerk.

RESOLVED, that –

·         A marriage portion of £150 be awarded to the recommended recipient.

·         The Town Clerk to make suitable arrangements for the presentation of the award, in consultation with the Chairman.

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

The Chairman introduced a joint report for information of the Director of the Built Environment, the Director of Markets and Consumer Protection, and the Director of Open Spaces, on debt arrears affecting Port Health and Environmental Services for the period ending 30 September 2013.

There were no questions.

There was no other business.