Decision:
RESOLVED: That the Committee refer the following to the Public Accounts Select Committee:
N4: Provide a mobile, ‘as required’, response service for residential roads instead of traditional ‘beat cased’ sweeper.
· The Committee was unanimous in their view that accepting this saving proposal would seriously damage the corporate reputation of the Council and the image of the borough in the eyes of its residents and stakeholders.
· The Committee was concerned that the public could lose faith in the Council’s ability to run services if the Council was to accept this proposal.
· Residents may come to the view that the Council was not able to carry out other basic functions if it was not able to keep the streets clean as well as in the past.
· It is important to retain the lessons of the “broken window” philosophy – a situation where minor environmental degradation can escalate if left unaddressed and this would apply on a borough-wide scale should the council stop regular weekly street-sweeping.
· The introduction of a responsive ‘as and when’ service would further damage the perception of the council because residents would always end up phoning to report litter in their street as soon as it appeared.
· Littering and fly-tipping is bad enough at present and any untidiness would give offenders greater license for their bad habits.
· Residents may start to take less pride in keeping the borough clean themselves.
N6: To develop our Trade Waste customer base, improve efficiency and increase income. To negotiate an increased share of income from Parks Events.
· The Council should be looking at contracts where it is the commercial landlord to increase opportunities to increase income on Trade Waste.
· The Council should investigate whether it can enforce a requirement to undertake cleansing in an agreed zone of dispersal for park events.
· A ‘catch-them-young’ comprehensive borough-wide anti-litter campaign needs to be introduced to all schools in order to help residents adopt life-long anti-litter habits.
P2d: Review of Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) on the way in which the service consults on planning applications. Efficiency savings based on paper, printing and postage costs.
· If the Council is going to cease delivering planning notices to properties that neighbour planning application sites, improved alternatives should be in place before the change. These should be:
o Large, bright notices in the place of the current, small, old-fashioned ‘municipal’ style A4 notices that are currently used.
The Council should develop its use of technology to be able to contact residents with a singular ‘resident profile’ that could be used by services across the Council
G2: Income Generation
· The Committee supported the appointment of a designated commercially experienced officer or officers to develop the Council’s income generation strands.
Therefore, the Select Committee recommends that Public Accounts advise the Mayor of its view that:
· He should note the comments on N6, P2d and G2
· He should accept saving proposals: N3, N5, and N6
· He should reject the savings proposal N4
· He should accept saving proposals: P2a, P2b, P2c, and P2d.
· He should accept the savings proposal G2
Minutes:
4.1 David Austin, Head of Corporate Resources, presented the report to the Committee. The key points to note were:
4.2 In response to questions from the Committee, the following was noted:
N3: Review of Lewisham’s Waste Services (Doorstep collection & disposal)
Transfer of estates Bulky Waste disposal costs to Lewisham Homes
N4: Provide a mobile, ‘as required’, response service for residential roads instead of traditional ‘beat cased’ sweeper.
N5: Review of Lewisham’s Passenger Transport Service; to develop our Trade Waste customer base, improve efficiency and increase income. To negotiate an increased share of income from Parks Events.
N6: To develop our Trade Waste customer base, improve efficiency and increase income. To negotiate an increased share of income from Parks Events.
P: Planning and Economic Development
G2: Income Generation
4.3 RESOLVED: That the Committee refer the following to the Public Accounts Select Committee:
N4: Provide a mobile, ‘as required’, response service for residential roads instead of traditional ‘beat cased’ sweeper.
· The Committee was unanimous in their view that accepting this saving proposal would seriously damage the corporate reputation of the Council and the image of the borough in the eyes of its residents and stakeholders.
· The Committee was concerned that the public could lose faith in the Council’s ability to run services if the Council was to accept this proposal.
· Residents may come to the view that the Council was not able to carry out other basic functions if it was not able to keep the streets clean as well as in the past.
· It is important to retain the lessons of the “broken window” philosophy – a situation where minor environmental degradation can escalate if left unaddressed and this would apply on a borough-wide scale should the council stop regular weekly street-sweeping.
· The introduction of a responsive ‘as and when’ service would further damage the perception of the council because residents would always end up phoning to report litter in their street as soon as it appeared.
· Littering and fly-tipping is bad enough at present and any untidiness would give offenders greater license for their bad habits.
· Residents may start to take less pride in keeping the borough clean themselves.
N6: To develop our Trade Waste customer base, improve efficiency and increase income. To negotiate an increased share of income from Parks Events.
· The Council should be looking at contracts where it is the commercial landlord to increase opportunities to increase income on Trade Waste.
· The Council should investigate whether it can enforce a requirement to undertake cleansing in an agreed zone of dispersal for park events.
· A ‘catch-them-young’ comprehensive borough-wide anti-litter campaign needs to be introduced to all schools in order to help residents adopt life-long anti-litter habits.
P2d: Review of Statement of Community Involvement (SCI) on the way in which the service consults on planning applications. Efficiency savings based on paper, printing and postage costs.
· If the Council is going to cease delivering planning notices to properties that neighbour planning application sites, improved alternatives should be in place before the change. These should be:
o Large, bright notices in the place of the current, small, old-fashioned ‘municipal’ style A4 notices that are currently used.
The Council should develop its use of technology to be able to contact residents with a singular ‘resident profile’ that could be used by services across the Council
G2: Income Generation
· The Committee supported the appointment of a designated commercially experienced officer or officers to develop the Council’s income generation strands.
Therefore, the Select Committee recommends that Public Accounts advise the Mayor of its view that:
· He should note the comments on N6, P2d and G2
· He should accept saving proposals: N3, N5, and N6
· He should reject the savings proposal N4
· He should accept saving proposals: P2a, P2b, P2c, and P2d.
· He should accept the savings proposal G2
Supporting documents: