Agenda item

To provide Members with an update on the out turn performance against the corporate plan and local service targets for 2018-2019. That the Group reviews the Performance Indicators and Risks that are outlined in the report and feeds back any areas of concern to the Cabinet.

The Group received and NOTED the *Performance and Risk report from the Group Manager for Performance Governance and Data Security who explained this was the final out turn report for 2018-2019 and that it showed the highlights for the whole of the year. She highlighted key achievements including:

·         Reduced costs

·         Fixed penalty notices for the year

·         Waste transfer station

·         Reduction of carbon footprint

·         Increased electric car charging points

In response to a question asked by members with regard to LED lighting she explained that this referred to changes to lighting in Council owned properties. The Director of Operations explained that the floodlights at the leisure centres were turned off when clubs had finished their activities but these did sometimes go on later in the evenings.

The Group Manager for Street Scene and Open Spaces explained that the measure for the amount of residual waste sent to landfill was determined during the last administration and that the Council no longer sent any waste to landfill and that the performance indicator description would be adjusted to reflect this.

He explained that enforcement for fly tipping was difficult as officers were reliant on intelligence from members of the public or evidence left. In some instances residents had paid a contractor to take rubbish away and this had subsequently been fly tipped by the contractor but that the household was still responsible for the correct disposal of their waste. A campaign had been run in 2018 to encourage people to use only registered waste carriers who supply paperwork of the end destination.

In response to a direct question he confirmed that he would provide the Group with a breakdown of the 17 fixed penalty notices issued in 2018-2019.

The Group Manager for Street Scene and Open Spaces then addressed the specific questions raised by the public and stated that there was a 2 man litter busting team introduced in 2018/2019 which responded to fly tipping and littering reports within 5 working days. With regard to enforcement he explained that 3.8 officers were employed by the Council to carry out enforcement and car parking enforcement and that the Environment PDG decided how much time was spent on each activity via the District Officer Discretionary Time report brought to the Group annually. He stated that littering enforcement was taking place in the towns but officers were in uniform and that enforcement activity was not covert. He explained to members that the Council could do whatever the Group wanted in relation to enforcement but they would need to be mindful of the cost of providing an increased service.  With regard to the request for a dedicated telephone number for public to report littering he explained that the Council policy was to provide a single number for the public to contact the call was dealt with by the customer contact team (all calls are then logged. There was a dedicated email address streetscene@middevon.gov.uk where the public could report instances of littering and fly tipping.

There was a discussion about the amount of food waste which was not currently being recycled and Members felt that the Council should be taking a tougher stance. The Group Manager for Street Scene and Open Spaces explained that we already provide weekly food waste collection from residents but not for trade premises. That the Waste Education and Enforcement policy was adopted by the Environment PDG and that if Members wanted to make changes to current enforcement practices for homes and recycling they could recommend them at the review of the policy which would be coming back for review later in the year.

The Group then discussed further details on the report and gave consideration to:

·         Devon Waste Authorities – working with other authorities and community groups to educate the public to reduce, reuse and recycle

·         Clean Devon – a group being set up with county, district and local authorities to tackle litter issues jointly

·         3 weekly collections – Has not been proposed at this time. To make these changes would require changes to the waste fleet and that if the Council mandated receptacles such as wheelie bins for residents to store increased waste the Council would need to fund them

·         Garden Waste figures were over target

Note: * Report previously circulated and attached to the minutes