Issue - meetings

To consider a report of the Cabinet Member for Communities & Housing.

At the 3 October Cabinet Meeting an update on the Council’s Inclusive Growth and Reform Programme was presented. This was the latest report outlining the Cabinet’s response to the Medium Term Financial Plan.

This report outlines a summary of the suite of proposals for the Communities and Housing Portfolio which form part of the Cabinet’s response to the Medium Term Financial Plan (MTFP). 

The Cabinet are committed to ensuring transparent Scrutiny engagement on its plans. This report outlines a summary of the suite of proposals relevant to this scrutiny committee which form part of the Cabinet’s response to the MTFP. This report builds on the update shared with Scrutiny in September. These proposals will deliver savings against the non-pooled budget and form a pipeline of proposals, building on those proposals presented at the Cabinet meetings in July, August and most recently in October.

The Scrutiny Committee is recommended to comment on the proposals.

Officer contact: Caroline Simpson on 0161 474 3501 or email: caroline.simpson@stockport.gov.uk

The Cabinet Member for Communities and Housing (Councillor Sheila Bailey)  submitted a report (copies of which had been circulated) outlining a summary of the suite of proposals for the Communities and Housing Portfolio which formed part of the Cabinet’s response to the Medium Term Financial Plan and built on the update shared with the Scrutiny Committee in September. The proposals would deliver savings against the non-pooled budget and formed a pipeline of proposals, building on those proposals presented at the Cabinet meetings in July, August and October.

The following comments were made on the proposals contained within the report as follows:-

(i)         Waste Environmental Campaign

·         The changes to waste recycling facilities within the civic complex was welcomed.

·         There would be a comprehensive publicity campaign introduced which would include physical materials such as leaflets in addition to face to face discussions with the public.

·         The Waste Environmental Campaign was a two year programme which would evolve and include testing a number of different approaches.

(ii)        Highways Reactive Maintenance

·         Savings would be generated following the reengineering and automation of processes which would reduce administration for processing permits and work; provide for more accurate specification of work meaning jobs are completed right first time; more appropriate prioritisation so that jobs can be completed in batches; and improved quality control resulting in fewer failed jobs requiring repeat intervention.

·         There was a need to ensure that transaction costs between the Council and Solutions SK remained under control.

·

(iii)       Income Generation and Cost Recovery

·         The new charging model for wheelie bins would reduce the costs associated with the replacement of black bins, but include the introduction of a charge for the replacement of other bins in circumstances which had not previously been chargeable.  In response it was stated that it was easy to circumvent the current charging arrangements but that residents would not be charged for replacement bins where damage had been caused by the refuse collectors.

(iv)       District and Town Centre Centre Parking Tariffs

·         It needed to be easy for users of car parks to pay the appropriate fee.

·         The wide car parking strategy report that had been submitted to the Economy & Regeneration Scrutiny Committee on 2 November 2017 needed to be circulated to members of this Scrutiny Committee.

·         There was a need to regularise the charges for parking in the various car parks across the Borough.

·         There was a tension between harmonising parking charges to provide a more equitable charging regime, and the need to reflect differing local needs within the districts and the consequences of introducing charges with regard to displacement onto streets within the vicinity.

·         The introduction of parking restrictions and residents permit parking schemes to mitigate against the impact of the introduction of charges would be expensive and complex.

·         Some of the car parks adjacent to railway stations which would be subject of new parking charges also served other community facilities.

·         The Council needed to cover its own costs to ensure that car parks were maintained.

·         It was commented that the reference to the ‘Middlers Car Park’ within the report was an obsolescence.

RESOLVED – That the report be noted.