Agenda and draft minutes

Cramlington, Bedlington and Seaton Valley Local Area Committee - Wednesday, 24th January, 2024 5.00 pm

Venue: East Hartford Community Centre, Institute Buildings, Scott Street, East Hartford, Cramlington, NE23 3AP.

Contact: Heather Bowers 

Items
No. Item

50.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ferguson, Flux, Taylor and Wilczek.

51.

MINUTES pdf icon PDF 267 KB

Minutes of the meeting of the Cramlington, Bedlington & Seaton Valley Local Area Committee held on 22 November 2023, as circulated, to be confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting of the Cramlington,Bedlington & Seaton Valley Local Area Committee held on 22 November 2023, as circulated were confirmed as a true record and signed by the Chair.

52.

PETITIONS

Minutes:

No petition had been received, there were no reports or updates to consider.

53.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

To reply to any questions received from members of the public, which may be received in writing in advance of the meeting or asked at the meeting.  Questions can be asked about issues for which the Council has a responsibility.  If questions are received in advance of meetings it will increase the likelihood of an answer being provided at the meeting. (Public question times take place on a bimonthly basis at Local Area Committee meetings: in January, March, May, July, September and November each year.)

 

As agreed by the County Council in February 2012, the management of local public question times is at the discretion of the Chair of the committee.

 

Please note however that a question may possibly be rejected if it requires the disclosure of any categories of confidential or exempt information, namely information:

 

1.    relating to any individual;

2.    which is likely to reveal the identity of an individual;

3.    relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person;

4.    relating to any labour relations matters/negotiations;

5.    restricted to legal proceedings;

6.    about enforcement/enacting legal orders;

7.    relating to the prevention, investigation of prosecution of crime.

 

And/or:

 

·       is defamatory, frivolous or offensive;

·       it is substantially the same as a question which has been put at a meeting of this or another County Council committee in the past six months;

·       the request repeats an identical or very similar question from the same person;

·       the cost of providing an answer is disproportionate;

·       it is being separately addressed through the Council's complaints process;

·       it is not about a matter for which the Council has a responsibility or which affects the county;

·       it relates to planning, licensing and/or other regulatory applications;

·       it is a question that town/parish councils would normally be expected to raise through other channels.

 

If the Chair is of the opinion that a question is one which, for whatever reason, cannot properly be asked in an area meeting, he/she will disallow it and inform the resident of his/her decision.

 

Copies of any written answers (without individuals' personal contact details) will be provided for members after the meeting and also be publicly available.

 

Democratic Services will confirm the status of the progress on any previously requested written answers and follow up any related actions requested by the Local Area Committee.

Minutes:

Joe Coyne, East Hartford referred to lack of demarcation lines in the East Harfford area.

 

Kris Westerby, Highways Delivery Manager stated that roads were inspected and prioritised.  He would take back as an action and check if any work was planned for the area.

54.

FIX MY STREET

To receive a presentation on Fix My Street by Kris Westerby, Highways Delivery Manager.

Minutes:

Kris Westerby, Highways Delivery Manager, gave a presentation on the new web based reporting system, Fix My Street (FMS), which had been launched in May 2023.  (A copy of the presentation is enclosed with the signed minutes.) 

 

The presentation outlined: 

 

  • The limits of previous systems used by Local Services and other departments with minimal integration of back-office systems and lack of feedback to customers. 
  • The benefits of FMS which included asset based reporting, use of photographic evidence, accuracy of locations, integration with other systems, ability to produce reports for users and respond to FOI / EIR information. 
  • The implementation timetable. 
  • The benefits for users and staff with slides which demonstrated views of the web and mobile apps and ability to monitor reports made. 
  • Data on reports logged using FMS from May to September 2023 and comparison with issues logged for the same period in 2022 (there had been an increase of 143%). 
  • The ability to monitor trends by ward or postcode and obtain a detailed breakdown by category. 
  • The top 5 reporting categories were: 

                         i.            Roads – potholes 

                       ii.            Flytipping 

                      iii.            Hedges / Overgrown vegetation 

                     iv.            Blocked gullies 

                       v.            Grass cutting 

  • Next steps including ongoing enhancements such as inclusion of grit heaps and bins, developments to aid defence of insurance claims, improvements to consistency and feedback to users, increased front end automation of responses with reference to policies, use by more departments such as housing etc. 
  • The demonstration included a brief overview of the system as viewed by officers, how the system interacted with Alloy (the system used by Highways Maintenance) and how reports could be reassigned between users and departments. 
  • Users were able see whether the same issue had already been reported. 
  • Residents could continue to report issues by telephoning the Contact Centre who would enter the details on Fix My Street. 

 

 

Following the presentation, members raised the following questions/comments: 

 

  •  Several  reports of dead trees had not been actioned.  The Trees and Woodland Team were overstretched, and the budget should be increased for the service. 
  •  Fix My Street should be promoted more to the public so they could take ownership and report an issue. 
  •  Data should drive performance to drive investment 
  •  It would be a better way to inform residents, but staff training was required in some areas. 
  •  The reported grit bin at North Ridge had never been replaced. 
  •  Potholes next to the old Swan Pub in Choppington need repairing for a second time. 
  • The reporting system worked well, but some jobs were not carried out fully. 
  • Any action needed a timescale. 
  • The team was thanked for their quick response to a reported path issue. 
  • Further investment was required into the road infrastructure. 
  • Polices for different areas was not a one size fits all 
  • Members generally agreed that Fix My Street was a good way of reporting issues. 
  • The way of reporting issues required more information, eg forwarding to a third party to resolve or the use of Power BI. 

 

Mr Westerby gave the following responses: 

 

55.

PARISH/TOWN CLERK DISCUSSION

Discussion item to ask how the LAC can look to improve communication and relationship where possible between NCC and the town and parish councils.

Minutes:

This item was to ask how the LAC could look to improve communication and relationship where possible between NCC and the town and parish council. 

 

Bob Baker, Clerk of Cramlington Town Council was in attendance and made the following comments: 

 

  • There was difficulty understanding the role of the format of local area committees. 
  • One of the key issues was local area committees did not have devolved powers and limited impact of influence. 
  • The Terms of Reference referred to “regular liaison with town and parish councils”. 
  • There  should be a regular arrangement with Clerks/Chairs to identify common problems. 
  • Town and Parish Councils had a number of issues which could not be presented to the County Council and they should be consulted on budget priorities. 
  • Local area committees should be able to scrutinise service standards and certain functions. 
  • Previously, there had been one Senior Officer assigned to identify issues the local area committees covered and could put forward an independent view.  This could be something considering and assigning a person at Assistant Director level to champion the needs of the committee. 
  • A strategic view should be taken as to how the local area committees can influence the Executive and ensure service standards were maintained. 

 

Rob Murfin, Director of Housing and Planning stated that as part of the LAC review, working with NALC, a survey had been carried out with parish and town councils, which had asked questions about the relationship.  From the results of the NALC survey, there had been no consensus.  Some of the smaller parish and town councils had wanted to be communicated via the local area committees. 

 

The Review report would be circulated to Parish and Town Clerks. 

 

An area of interest to the public was that if Local Area Committees had a more strategic local role, eg Neighbourhood Planning, Affordable Housing.  But the role for each local area committee, eg rural areas would not work here. 

 

Members raised the following: 

 

  • As services had been reduced, there was no Senior Officer role and most issues raised could be done by email.  The best way forward would be by Championing. 
  • It was not a one size fits all as each Local Area Committee would have different issues.
  • The Terms of Reference gave the ability to shape and theme what the Local Area Committee did. 
  • The Local Area meetings were not what they should be  and should include validity. 
  • The LAC was not the best forum to discuss how to improve communication (with Town and Parish Councils) and workshops would be a better format.? 

 

(Councillor Chicken left the meeting at 6.47 pm). 

 

Mr Murfin stated that he would raise the suggestion of assigning officer support with the Executive.  However, there was no single approach as different areas would have different issues, eg, Leasehold issues in Cramlington and Holiday Homes in Berwick. 

 

With regard to legal issues, the main issue was Parish and Town Councils were 3rd party.  Local Area Committees were not statutory consultees in licensing matters but could give  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

56.

BUDGET 2024-25 AND MEDIUM-TERM FINANCIAL PLAN

This presentation will outline the Council’s strategy to the 2024-25 Budget within the context of the Corporate Plan.?? The presentation will provide details of the approach to setting the budget for the next financial year and the broad impact this will have on the delivery of services.

Minutes:

Councillor Wearmouth, Deputy Leader of the Council and Portfolio Holder for Corporate Services gave a presentation to outline the approach being taken to set the budget for the next financial year with focus on its key priorities including achieving value for money, tackling inequalities and driving economic growth as well as working towards net zero. 

 

He outlined the consultation process taking place between 12 December 2023 and 26 January 2024 which included presentations at all 5 of the Local Area Committees, an online questionnaire, policy conference, briefings for the political groups and individual meetings, and an online Question and Answer session by the Leader on 31 January 2024.  The detail regarding initiatives and schemes would be presented at a meeting of the Corporate Services Overview and Scrutiny Committee which all members would be invited to.  (A copy of the presentation is enclosed with the signed minutes.) 

 

Members were referred to 3 important documents which provided relevant information to the budget consultation: 

 

  • Budget Engagement 2024/25 
  • Agenda papers for the meeting of Cabinet on 16 January 2024 
  • Capital Programme 

 

The presentation outlined:  

 

  • The sources of revenue funding: 
  • Council Tax; 
  • Government grants; 
  • Business Rates; and 
  • Fees and charges for services 
  • Options for achieving a balanced budget. 
  • Background to the Council’s finances. 
  • Proposals for all the service areas including details of current budget pressures, investments planned and proposals for what could be done differently (the details were contained within the online Budget Engagement documentation): 
  • Enabling Services – savings proposed of £2.854 million. 
  • Adults – a budget £235 million which included support to vulnerable adults to live independently, a real living wage for adults. 
  • Children, Young People and Education – budget £269.2 million; savings proposed of £2.084 million. 
  • Public Health, Inequalities and Stronger Communities – budget £32.8 million; savings proposed of £0.7 million.  A new provider Places for People Leisure Management would take over Active Northumberland next year. 
  • Place and Regeneration – budget £131.7 million; with a budget of £26 million for the LTP and £26.9 million for cycling and walking. 

 

Many areas of the Council were experiencing: 

 

  • Increasing costs for supplies and services including energy. 
  • Increasing demands on Children’s and Education budgets. 
  • Increasing demand for care and support to vulnerable adults and older people. 
  • Interest rates had also increased leading to a review of the Capital Programme.  The programme was funded by borrowing; for every £1 million borrowed, the cost to the revenue budget was approximately £0.088 million. 

 

The following comments were made in response to members questions:-  

 

  • The Authority’s allocation for the social care budget would be £3million.  He was usure whether that money would be used to reduce that part of the precept and would find out if the funds being made available by the Government  would be ringfenced. 
  • Councillor Jeff Watson should be contacted regarding the Innovative Library query. 
  • With reference to the cycling network being neglected in Cramlington and the use of cycling routes for health and wellbeing .  The cycling and walking provision in Cramlington would be made available  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

57.

LOCAL AREA COMMITTEE WORK PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 142 KB

To note the latest version of agreed items for future Local Area Committee meetings (any suggestions for new agenda items will require confirmation by the Chairman of Council after the meeting).

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the work programme be noted.

58.

DATE OF NEXT MEETING

The next Local Area Committee meeting will be held on Tuesday 20 February 2024 in the Council Chamber, County Hall, Morpeth immediately following the Cramlington Bedlington & Seaton Valley Local Area Planning Committee.  This is an additional meeting to discuss the Draft Local Transport Plan.

Minutes:

Tuesday 20 February 2024.

59.

URGENT BUSINESS

To consider such other business, as in the opinion of the Chair, should, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

Minutes:

Councillor Daley raised the issue of fallen trees in Cramlington and residents’ concerns over safety and requested that an audit of trees be taken. 

 

The Chair would raise this at the LAC Chairs meeting.