Agenda and minutes
Venue: Committee Room 4, Town Hall, Upper Street, N1 2UD. View directions
Contact: Ola Adeoye 020 7527 3044
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Apologies for Absence Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Doolan and Clarke-Perry. |
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Declarations of Substitute Members Minutes: There were no declarations of substitute members. |
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Declarations of Interest If you have a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest* in an item of business: § if it is not yet on the council’s register, you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent; § you may choose to declare a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest that is already in the register in the interests of openness and transparency. In both the above cases, you must leave the room without participating in discussion of the item.
If you have a personal interest in an item of business and you intend to speak or vote on the item you must declare both the existence and details of it at the start of the meeting or when it becomes apparent but you may participate in the discussion and vote on the item.
*(a) Employment, etc - Any employment, office, trade, profession or vocation carried on for profit or gain. (b) Sponsorship - Any payment or other financial benefit in respect of your expenses in carrying out duties as a member, or of your election; including from a trade union. (c) Contracts - Any current contract for goods, services or works, between you or your partner (or a body in which one of you has a beneficial interest) and the council. (d) Land - Any beneficial interest in land which is within the council’s area. (e) Licences- Any licence to occupy land in the council’s area for a month or longer. (f) Corporate tenancies - Any tenancy between the council and a body in which you or your partner have a beneficial interest. (g) Securities - Any beneficial interest in securities of a body which has a place of business or land in the council’s area, if the total nominal value of the securities exceeds £25,000 or one hundredth of the total issued share capital of that body or of any one class of its issued share capital.
This applies to all members present at the meeting.
Minutes: There were no declarations of interest. |
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Minutes of Previous Meeting PDF 227 KB Minutes:
RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 14 November 2017 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them. |
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Public Questions For members of the public to ask questions relating to any subject on the meeting agenda under Procedure Rule 70.5. Alternatively, the Chair may opt to accept questions from the public during the discussion on each agenda item. Minutes: The Chair informed the meeting that public questions will be taken during consideration of each item on the agenda. |
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Chair's Report Minutes: The Chair advised that she would be updating Members of a number of issues during consideration of item 9, Recycling Scrutiny Actions. |
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Smart Cities Scrutiny Review - Report Back PDF 486 KB Additional documents: Minutes: Jo Barker, Assistant Director of Digital
Partnership, John Saul, Business Relationship Manager and Lynn
Spendilow, Business Analyst updated Members on progress of the
recommendations in a report produced in May 2016 following the
review undertaken by the Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny
Committee on Smart Cities.
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The Smart Cities Advisory Board provides leadership in implementing
the Council’s Digital Collaboration Strategy, together a
panel of citizens, key partners, private sector experts and
technology providers including technology specialist such as
InLinks UK, Microsoft, Three, private
consulting firms and local authorities have been brought in to
provide expertise and knowledge.
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The Advisory Board has produced an action plan.
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Members welcomed the inclusion of representatives of Age UK on the
advisory board so that everyone’s views are taken into
consideration while shaping the strategy.
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The Council continues to retain ownership of data collated through
the internet of Things and Smart cities. It was suggested that that
officers should ensure that valuable data shared and in the
possession of third parties is not lost. It could be used by the Council in the future
especially as it plans for the delivery of or shaping its
services.
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In response to a question on the baseline audit, the Business
Analyst informed Members that Internal Audit is reviewing all
Council services that have potential for smart cities involvement,
as it was important not to reinvent what is working. Members were
informed that having other local authorities on board was a
positive thing as lessons and experiences are shared so as to avoid
pitfalls.
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With regards to consultation, its methodology and community
engagement, two years ago the committee received a presentation on
an interactive consultation tool called ‘Common Place’
and it was suggested that officers liaise with their counterparts
in Waltham Forest which employed the tool while undertaking a
transport project.
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Members were advised of the ‘soft’ launch of the Clean
Islington app which was still being tested. The intention is that it would be integrated with
other Council systems.
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In response to concerns about digital exclusion, the meeting was
informed that this was an ongoing discussion with their various
partners and is also being addressed through the Council’s
apprenticeship programme, various online forums and
training.
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With regards to the impact of Digital Champions, Members were
advised that the initiative was
successfully taken up by council officers when launched especially
with the provision of tablets, however interest faded especially
when it involved community engagement.
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The possible extension of digital services into the issues around
anti-social behaviour would be considered as the present system
which involved calling a telephone hotline is not for purpose in
today’s modern digital society and that victims should be
offered an online platform where it is easy to log and report cases
quickly. Officers welcomed the suggestion and indicated that this
would be fed back to the Advisory Board · Members were advised that housing officers were piloting an app to monitor noise nuisance in their estates. If ... view the full minutes text for item 178. |
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Household Recycling - Presentation by Housing Services PDF 185 KB Minutes: Billy Wells, the Neighbourhoods Services Manager
provided an insight into the relationship between Housing and
Street Environment Services.
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Regular meetings are held between officers of Street Environmental
Services and Housing Services to ensure that there was a joined up
approach on issues around collections in estates and over the last
12 months there had been significant progress in addressing
recycling issues.
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Members were advised that the introduction of technology especially
on some of the recently acquired refuse collection vehicles would
enable officers to identify levels of recycling participation in
different areas and help them direct resources to address the
different challenges around participation and
contamination.
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In response to a question on how to improve recycling rates on
Estates, the Neighbourhood Service Manager advised that this could
be done by using the caretaker app that is being developed for the
caretaking services; working with and supporting caretakers to be
recycling ambassadors; providing regular training to caretakers;
siting of recycling sites closer to residents; introducing
competitions amongst estates and resident involvement.
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The Head of Homes and Neighbourhood Services reiterated the
importance of resident’s involvement as the key to
participation levels with the view to getting resident volunteers
to be recognised as ‘resident champions’.
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In response to concerns that recycling bins were being placed in
locations that had no clear signage, thereby confusing residents,
the Chair requested that when this is brought to the attention of
Members that this should be reported to officers so they could
investigate and address it. The Street Scene Strategy Manager
reassured Members that although there were differences in
management style by TMO’s or TRA’s, the decision
regarding the siting and design of bins would have been agreed
following a consultation process with residents.
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With regards to residents’ complaints about the condition and
state of the bins especially damaged lids and untidiness, the
Street Scenes Strategy Manager acknowledged that both operators and
caretakers would need to be proactive in reporting these cases.
Members were advised that the Council was in the process of
replacing more bins with better designed bins through it’s Capital programme.
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With regards to the Caretakers app, Members were advised that this
tool would enable caretakers to identify residents who were not
participating or reluctant. The Housing Officer informed the
meeting that although the app is still being developed, it is
considered a good tool for identifying low rates of recycling and
reporting missed collections etc.
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On the issue of community engagement and consultation, officers
were asked to consider seeking views beyond those regular residents
who attend Tenant and Residents Association meetings by using
online forums so that feedback is more representative.
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There was concern that some businesses were using communal bins
designated for household recycling and some estates received both
estate and street type collections which caused
confusion. A Member queried why the
Council only provided residual bins for properties managed and
owned by Southern Housing as this would not encourage recycling by
residents. · The Neighbourhood ... view the full minutes text for item 179. |
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Recycling Scrutiny Actions - Update Minutes: Matthew Homer, the Street Scene Strategy Manager
circulated notes he had prepared on various topics, activities
undertaken and evidence gathered during the scrutiny and on planned
meetings and activities.
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Members were informed that following a request by Committee, an
online survey regarding recycling was placed on the council website
which generated just over 120 responses. In summary comments were
positive, there was a recognition that Islington was better than
most London boroughs however there were concerns about the
different services provided to street properties and purpose built
flats. Residents suggested that more education and communication
targeting residents who were not participating would result in an
increase in the recycling rate.
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With regard to resident recycling champions, the officer advised
that feedback from other local authorities on this issue was mixed,
and it was notable that many schemes started but were subsequently
dropped. The recycling champion scheme is effective for simply
spreading the word, assisting at events or outreach and obtaining
feedback for the service. However it would not be suitable for
facilitating wider outreach to estates and communities as these
areas would require a dedicated,
trained and paid staff.
·
The Council currently provides a food waste collection service to
some 18,000 households in purpose built blocks of flats and that an
expansion to the remaining approximately 21,000 households would
cost about £413,000 with an annual cost of
£120,000. A large portion of the
initial cost is attributed to providing new sites with wheelie bins
enclosed in new metal enclosures. The estimated cost of a new
vehicle is £70,000 and is apportioned over 7 years to the
revenue estimates. The estimated annual savings, taking into
account the cheaper disposal costs of recycled food as opposed to
waste, would be £18,000.
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Members were informed of the good working relationship with the big
social landlords such as Peabody Housing Association especially
joint participation in an estates project in partnership with
London Resources. The focussed work with the landlords has been on
providing recycling facilities, agreeing local improvements to
recycling facilities and developing joint communication with
residents.
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With regards to addressing the low participation in the private
rented sector especially houses in multiple occupation (HMOs), the
Council would through its Public Protection Team continue to
communicate with HMO landlords through its licensing schemes to
ensure that landlords are aware of their responsibilities to
provide recycling facilities for their tenants and to encourage
their residents to recycle. · In response to a question on support available for organisations that manage street properties such as Partners, the officers advised that clear sacks could be provided, an action plan and a template tenancy pack to help improve communication.
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Additional Committee Meeting An additional meeting to consider draft recommendations ( date to be confirmed) Minutes: The Chair advised Members that in light of
time constraints before the end of the Municipal year, an
additional meeting would be required to enable the Committee
consider the evidence gathered during the review and draft
recommendations before the report is finalised. |
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Work programme 2017/2018 PDF 66 KB Minutes: RESOLVED:
The work programme was noted
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