Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no substitute members.

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§  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.

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This applies to all members present at the meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the Environment and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee meeting on 1 March 2016 be confirmed as an accurate record of proceedings and the Chair be authorised to sign them.

Public Questions would be taken during the relevant agenda items.

There was no chair’s report.

Dr Terry Norman, Wireless Explorers gave a presentation on the Internet Of Things.

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         The internet of things was the enabling technology of smart cities.

·         In smart city designing, it was important to combine data, make it available to others, record times, places, locations, people and numbers to see how people were using the city.

·         Assets could be put on a network with information being collected from each asset through the network and applications used to optimise performance by monitoring, controlling and enriching.

·         The internet of things optimised business processes, led to efficiency improvements and cost savings. It also had the potential to improve the environment and could have health benefits.

·         There was a need for a holistic approach to the internet of things to combine various types of data together. A technology strategy should straddle departments and bring about transformational change in procurement, business models and project approval – business case assessment.

·         Concern was raised about councils selling WIFI as they would need street furniture for the internet of things in the future. It was important to protect the council’s right to earn revenue from data and focus on long term rather than short term gain.

·         Projects should be made Internet of Things Ready by:

1)    Aligning the project with the wider strategic objectives of the authority e.g. citizen engagement, management of the environment, sustainability etc.

2)    Establishing the project within a strong data management policy framework to ensure data integrity, protection of an individual’s privacy and secure storage.

3)    Understanding he opportunity to effect transformational change upon existing business processes, e.g. choice of funding, procurement approach.

4)    Analysing the financial benefits in full, including indirect and long term benefits.

·         It would be at least 5 years until the internet of things would be sufficiently mature to provide technology infrastructure. Currently data science and data management policies were immature.

·         There was a need for a trusted organisation to take responsibility for individuals’ data.

·         In time, legislation would have to be updated to address privacy and security of data.

·         In the long term technology would create employment although there could be a displacement from lower skilled jobs to higher skilled jobs. Technology would create training opportunities. Work was being done in schools to teach children coding which would help with technology in the future.

·         The council had tight controls on personal data. A lot of organisations wanted data but monetising it had to be an opt in process for the individual.

·         In the future CCTV analysis would become more advanced and would monitor road usage, cycle usage, HGV usage, the safest route to travel for cyclists etc.

·         It was important to manage peoples’ perceptions when managing data and ensuring it was made anonymous.

·         Smart cities and the internet of things had three tangible benefits:

1)    It would help to deal with population growth and sustainability without additional resources.

2)    The cost of services would reduce.

3)    There would be a lot of new  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

Councillor Webbe gave a presentation on the work of the Environment and Regeneration Directorate. A copy of the presentation would be interleaved with the agenda.

In the discussion the following points were made:

·         Fuel poverty was a key priority. Work was taking place to improve the energy efficiency of homes.

·         An innovative high rise insulation project would be starting soon.

·         SHINE (Seasonal Health Interventions Network) worked with the 2,475 vulnerable residents referred in 2015, each one being offered an average of four to five interventions.

·         Energy Services had commenced work on Bunhill Heat and Power (phase 2) which would supply a further 500 council homes. Phase 2 involved extracting waste heat.

·         The diesel surcharge had been implemented to improve air quality in Islington.

·         Work was taking place with neighbouring boroughs and businesses to improve air quality.

·         Four gyratory removal programmes were taking place and there had been a positive consultation response to their removal.

·         There was £2m TfL funding to improve local cycling routes.

·         Smart waste management systems were in place.

·         Recycling rates remained a priority. The rate was currently 32.8% which was the third highest of the 12 inner London borough. The North London Waste Authority target was 50% by 2020.

·         There had been a successful communal food and garden waste collections pilot in Tollington Ward.

·         Islington had one of the lowest residual waste rates of the inner London boroughs. It was important to innovate to reduce this further.

·         The Clean Islington app made it easier for people to report problems.

·         Missed bin collections had halved since taking the service in house in 2013 and work would be undertaken to reduce this further.

·         Islington had won Gold in “London in Bloom” and Borough of the Year with very few resources and a large voluntary effort.

·         There were major projects to extend East Finchley Vaults and Mausolea and a scheme to increase Trent Park burial capacity would start in the summer.

·         Concern was raised about inadequate bin storage on the Andover and Six Acres Estates. Some bins did not fit in the stores and were left outside. Councillor Webbe advised that where problems were identified, improvements were being made. Ward improvement money could be used. A member reported that some TRAs had concerns about a lack of engagement from the council. Concern was also raised that communal recycling bins could be difficult for older people to open. Councillor Webbe would ask officers to take action on the specific bin problems raised.

·         The council was charging supermarkets to pick up and either return or dispose of abandoned shopping trolleys.

·         A suggestion was made that more could be done to encourage cycling i.e. bicycle parking, a scheme to rent out cargo bikes. Councillor Webbe advised that secure cycle storage was provided on many estates and this would continue to be rolled out. Secure bicycle storage would be trialled in Tollington and St Georges. One would be a pavement build out and one would be on the road. Work would take place with  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

The Committee requested that Recommendation 1 be amended to refer to bush pruning and not just tree pruning, that Recommendation 2 be reworded to state that tree pruning and camera repositioning should take place rather than the removal of the trees and that it be clarified which service was responsible for Recommendations 3 and 4.

RESOLVED:

That the recommendations be agreed subject to the above amendments.

RESOLVED:

That the work programme be noted.