Source: https://cds.bromley.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=127&MId=6138
Timestamp: 2020-07-02 17:49:32
Document Index: 45411399

Matched Legal Cases: ['art 1', 'art 1', 'art 2', 'art 1', 'ART 2', 'art 2']

Agenda for Environment and Community Services Policy Development and Scrutiny Committee on Tuesday 30 January 2018, 7.00 pm
Tuesday 30 January 2018 7.00 pm
Apologies were received from Cllr Terence Nathan and Cllr Michael Tickner. Cllr Teresa Te attended as alternate for Cllr Tickner.
In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to this Committee must be received in writing four working days before the date of the meeting. Therefore please ensure that questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Wednesday 24th January 2018.
MINUTES OF THE ENVIRONMENT PDS COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 15TH NOVEMBER 2017 PDF 358 KB
ENV PDS 300118 Appendix A to Previous Part 1 Minutes , item 43. PDF 66 KB
Env PDS 300118 Appendix B to Previous Part 1 Minutes , item 43. PDF 2 MB
In accordance with the Council’s Constitution, questions to the Portfolio Holder must be received in writing four working days before the date of the meeting. Therefore please ensure that questions are received by the Democratic Services Team by 5pm on Wednesday 24th January 2018.
A total of 12 questions had been received – three for oral reply and nine for written reply. Details of the questions and replies are at Appendix A.
CAPITAL PROGRAMME MONITORING - 2ND QUARTER 2017/18 PDF 171 KB
Appendices for Capital Programme Monitoring - 2nd Quarter 2017/18 , item 45a PDF 51 KB
Report FSD18007
At its meeting on 6th December 2017, the Executive agreed a revised Capital Programme from 2017/18 to 2020/21. Changes in respect of the Environment Portfolio were outlined and a revised programme for the portfolio presented. Report FSD18007 also included actual spend against budget at second quarter stage and comments on progress for individual schemes/projects.
RESOLVED that the Portfolio Holder be recommended to note and confirm the changes agreed by the Executive on 6th December 2017.
HIGHWAY INVESTMENT PDF 172 KB
View the background to item 45b
ENV PDS 300118 Highway Investment - Appendix A , item 45b PDF 96 KB
Report ES18011
Following the Council decision on 12th December 2016 to approve capital funding of £11.8m for investment in planned highway maintenance, Members considered future schemes of planned carriageway and footway maintenance, comprising Phase 4 of the investment programme. Works associated with the first three phases had progressed well and current commitments/expenditure at December 2017 totalled £6.52m.
Improving the condition of the borough’s non-principal and unclassified roads and footways would reduce reactive maintenance and enable annual revenue savings of £2.5m, totalling £12.5m over a five year period from 2017/18 (partly offset by an estimated £167k reduction in treasury management income over the period).
Priorities for the initial phases were based on a condition survey completed in October 2015 and a further borough-wide assessment had recently been commissioned to identify carriageways and footways needing repair. The Phase 4 schemes (estimated cost value at £2.45m) were identified as highest priorities in the latest survey results. A further report proposed for March 2018 would seek approval for the project’s final phases.
Any necessary on-going maintenance would be funded from the routine and reactive highway maintenance budgets (revenue budgets).
Cllr Tim Stevens (Farnborough and Crofton) highlighted that all Farnborough and Crofton Members supported proposed schemes in the ward.
As the current highway contacts now end in June 2018 (it had been necessary to change the procurement strategy and timescale of the new highway contracts), final phases of the proposed footway programme were likely to be carried over to the new contracts. As such, Members proposed that the footway works concerned be replaced with further carriageway works in the current phase to take advantage of existing contract rates (carriageway works being more expensive and quicker to complete than footway repairs). Funding could be diverted to carriageway works although the level of works would not be known until mid-April.
A list of Phase 5 carriageway/footway schemes was being compiled and it was intended to complete as much work as possible under the present contract. There was no major footpath problem in the borough but work was ongoing to identify structurally unsound footways. Any road highlighted by Members for repair would be inspected again and considered.
(1) agree that, subject to (2) below, the schemes listed at Appendix A to Report ES18011 form the next phase of the Council’s investment programme of planned highway maintenance for 2017/19 to be undertaken by the Council’s existing highway term maintenance contractors;
(2) agree that where any footway work at (1) above is likely to be carried over to the new highway contracts, this be replaced with further carriageway work to achieve best value under rates offered by the current contracts; and
(3) as much work as possible under the investment programme (including Phase 5 and any further works) be undertaken before the start of the new highways contracts.
ELECTRIC VEHICLE (EV)/ULTRA LOW ELECTRIC VEHICLE (ULEV) CHARGING POINTS PDF 325 KB
View the background to item 45c
Report ES18010
Agreement was sought to trial residential on-street charging points and increase the 2018/19 LIP budget allocation for the trial to £20k.
Through the Source London Scheme, EV Public Charging Points were already installed at the following locations (funded from TfL LIP monies):
One-off installation costs (£)
2018/19Income per annum (£)
Bromley, Civic Centre car park
Bromley, The Hill car park
Beckenham, St Georges car park
Penge, Penge East Station
Beckenham, New Beckenham car park
Sundridge, Burnt Ash Lane car park
Hayes, Hayes Station Approach
Chelsfield, The Meadway
Bromley, South Hill Road
Upon each charging bay unit being active for a year, L B Bromley receives £300 annually per bay from BluePoint London (BPL). As such, £6k will be received in 2018/19, of which part will be necessary for annual maintenance of the units (estimated to be £100 per unit per annum). Penalty tickets for misuse might also bring additional revenue.
Customers pay a monthly subscription for Source London membership and are able to charge their vehicle at any Source London location. L B Bromley incurs no costs for the chargers and electricity use is paid by customers (normal parking charges continuing to apply in public car parks). In certain locations, not subject to pay and display parking, and following consultation with the Portfolio Holder and Ward Members, further potential charging point locations under Source London are proposedfor installation in the next year (again funded by existing TfL LIP monies). The sites are listed below and income of £7.2k should be received during 2019/20.
Income per annum (£)
Bromley, Ravenscroft Avenue
Bickley, The Avenue
Crystal Palace, Brunswick Place
Penge, Clevedon Road
Orpington, Homefield Rise
Shortlands, Valley Road
Petts Wood, West Way
For residents with off-street parking, the Government currently offers a grant of up to £500 towards a home charging unit, with some manufacturers offering units at no additional cost when purchasing a new electric/ULEV vehicle. For those without off-street parking, a number of Councils, including
R B Kensington and Chelsea, L B Westminster and L B Hounslow, have successfully trialled trickle-charging points in lamp columns using funds from the Go Ultra Low City Scheme (GULCS). Similar residential charging points were proposed for roll-out in L B Bromley (funded initially from £20k LIP funding) with a trial commencing in 2018/19 for 8 to 20 ... view the full minutes text for item 45c
SCADBURY PARK MOATED MANOR PDF 213 KB
Appendix 0 for Scadbury Park Moated Manor , item 46. PDF 511 KB
Appendix 1 for Scadbury Park Moated Manor , item 46. PDF 150 KB
Appendix 3 for Scadbury Park Moated Manor , item 46. PDF 157 KB
Report ES18008
For urgent repairs and brickwork stabilisation at the Medieval Moated Manor House, Scadbury Park, Executive approval was sought to apply to Historic England (HE) for a Heritage at Risk (HAR) Grant of £95k. Match funding of £60k would be required (£53k from the earmarked reserve for Friends Groups and £7k from existing revenue budgets), resulting in a total cost of £155k.
The Manor site and fishponds was designated by HE as a Scheduled Ancient Monument (SAM) in 2013 and in 2014 was added to the HAR Register, classified as having “Extensive significant problems with a declining trend and vulnerability for collapse”. The standing remains of the manor house have a variety of structural problems with the walls increasingly under stress and the fragile brickwork in need of attention.
L B Bromley previously secured a three year £20k Management Agreement from HE for periodic maintenance and capital works, including the control of vegetation, felling of trees threatening the moat, soft capping and propping of sensitive walls with HE and L B Bromley each providing up to £10k. The arrangement would end in January 2018.
In 2016, a £12.6k HAR Grant for a Condition Survey (with £3k match funding from L B Bromley) detailed key areas at risk from further deterioration and proposed a timescale of works estimated to cost in excess of £1.3m for capital works (taking the highest estimate in cases of different conservation options). However, it was now necessary to refine indicative costings for the most urgent work and obtain up-to-date prices.
There was now potential for an additional three-year £20k Management Agreement jointly funded by HE and L B Bromley and HE would welcome a further HAR Grant application (£95k) for the first stage of repair works to address the most urgent stabilisation works (Large Cellar, Narrow Passage and South Moat Wall). Conditions would include maintaining the property and having a condition survey of the property every five years. Should indicative costings in a maintenance plan exceed the current site maintenance budget (£3.3k), alternative funding options would be sought. Although HE would expect a commitment to the conditions, there would be no obligations to deliver remaining phases of works outlined in the condition survey. Although match funding for the grant could be lower than 50%, other potential funding sources would need to be explored including The Chislehurst Society, Orpington District Archaeological Society (ODAS), and Friends. L B Bromley was expected to be the main funder for the current application with others contributing to any subsequent phases.
To enable the HAR grant application it was intended to recruit a Conservation Accredited Professional at £35k and have a further £25k of match-funding expenditure towards capital costs for the Phase 1 repair works. For this second HAR Grant application, the professional would need to secure tender prices of capital works for the three identified areas of the Moated Manor and be expected to project manage the Phase 1 repair works to deliver a successful second grant application. The ... view the full minutes text for item 46.
ENVIRONMENT PORTFOLIO PLAN 2017/20: HALF-YEAR PROGRESS REPORT FOR 2017/18 PDF 456 KB
Appendix for Environment Portfolio Plan 2017/20: Half-Year Progress Report , item 47. PDF 277 KB
Report ES18003
Members considered a six-month update on progress against aims/commitments in the latest 2017/20 Environment Portfolio Plan.
Particular highlights outlined to Members included:
· 98.6% (rather than 90%) of streets in the first six months of 2017-18 meeting acceptable cleanliness standards;
· 74% public satisfaction with the cleanliness of streets in 2017/18 (increasing from 71% in 2016/17);
· fewer fly-tipping incidents in the first two quarters of 2017/18 compared to the previous three years;
· 23,660 Green Garden Waste customers (an increase of 12% on the same period last year);
· 49.63% of household waste recycled/composted for the first six months of 2017/18 with a 50% target for the second six months of 2017/18;
· total amount of waste landfilled at an all-time low;
· over ten illegal traveller incursions into LBB parks and open spaces dealt with by L B Bromley, Ward Security and the Police;
· public realm schemes progressing to timetable and budget for Beckenham High Street, Penge High Street, Bromley High Street and Walnuts Shopping Centre, Orpington;
· the number of Fixed Penalty Notices and Defect Notices issued to Utilities has fallen;
· measures to help reduce congestion;
· fewer parking appeals against PCNs issued by L B Bromley heard by London Tribunals (formerly PATAS).
The Portfolio Holder also referred to leaf clearance last autumn, street cleansing, parks and greenspace, recycling, and residual household waste. The Priority 1 Audit recommendations were addressed or almost addressed and a budget underspend was projected for the Portfolio. Traffic schemes were also progressing and consultation was near completion for two cycle Quietway schemes through the borough (Lower Sydenham to Bromley and Kent House to Greenwich).
It was necessary for the Portfolio to achieve as well as possible - little scope existed for further efficiencies but incentivising contractors might assist. Challenges included the Mayor of London’s aim to make London a zero waste city and by 2026 the Mayor intends that no biodegradable or recyclable waste is sent to landfill. In this regard, private waste contractors (e.g. Biffa) might help by taking recyclable material from trade waste. The Mayor also intends that 65% of London’s municipal waste is recycled by 2030. Another potential challenge concerned vehicles not meeting Ultra Low Emission Zone standards in central London moving to outer London boroughs and measures might be necessary to limit such a risk.
Reasons for a reduced level of fly-tipping this year included: effective working between the Council and Police; seizure of vehicles owned and used by offenders; more evidence at national level; issuing Fixed Penalty Notices; and fly-tip offenders being taken to court.
To further promote the Green Garden Waste Scheme, the Chairman suggested that information is included with annual Council Tax letters and asked if this could be explored.
A successful waste treatment trial had been conducted at a specialist Mechanical Biological Treatment (MBT) plant during 2016/17 (by 30th September 2017, 5539t of waste had been diverted from landfill to MBT) and the Council will further develop the programme in 2017/18. Using mechanical and biological processes to sort waste, ... view the full minutes text for item 47.
DRAFT 2018/19 BUDGET PDF 255 KB
ENV PDS 300118 Draft 2018-19 Budget Appendix 1 , item 48. PDF 123 KB
ENV PDS 300118 Draft 2018-19 Budget Appendix 2 , item 48. PDF 125 KB
Report FSD18010
Members considered the Portfolio Holder’s Draft 2018/19 Budget incorporating the full year effect of savings agreed as part of the 2017/18 Council Tax Report and any further savings approved during the year resulting in reductions in the Council’s medium term “budget gap”.
Executive requested that each PDS Committee consider the proposed initial draft budget savings and cost pressures for their Portfolio with the views of each PDS Committee reported back to the Executive’s next meeting when recommendations were expected to be made to Council on 2018/19 Council Tax levels. There continued to be outstanding issues and areas of uncertainty for the Draft 2018/19 Budget and any further updates would be included in the Council Tax report to Executive.
In supporting the draft budget, reference was made to an increasing number of properties in the borough - the level now rising on average by about 1000 properties annually. The annual additional cost of collection (refuse, recycling and food waste) and waste disposal for the new properties amounts to approximately £134k to the waste budget. Although this represented a growth item for the budget, Council tax revenue was also received for the properties and the waste budget (set centrally each year) reflected waste and recycling collection costs.
(1) the update on the financial forecast for 2018/19 to 2021/22 be noted;
(2) the initial draft 2018/19 Budget be noted as a basis for setting the 2018/19 Budget; and
(3) the Committee’s comments on the initial draft 2018/19 Budget be provided for the Executive to consider at their meeting on
PARKING SERVICES - CONTRACTOR PERFORMANCE REVIEW, APCOA PDF 363 KB
ENV PDS 300118 Parking Services Contractor Performance Review APCOA - Appendix 1 , item 49. PDF 415 KB
Report ES18007
Report ES18007highlighted a number of performance issues at the start of the ten-year Parking Services Contract awarded to APCOA Parking (UK) Ltd on 3rd April 2017 (jointly procured between L B Bromley and L B Bexley with
both authorities having separate contracts).
The contract provided a number of challenges for APCOA in the first two months given:
· the scope of the contract;
· delivering services for two boroughs; and
· a number of services traditionally undertaken by the Council being handed over to APCOA on a single date.
A number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) address key areas of the contract with monthly invoice deductions made for poor performance.
On enforcement and deployment of Civil Enforcement Officers (CEOs), APCOA fell below minimum standards on several occasions during initial months of the contract and a number of significant deductions were made from monthly contract payments. A number of CEOs employed by the previous contractor opted not to transfer to APCOA creating a knowledge gap and logistical/operational weakness. New managers, supervisors, and CEOs were sought with a consequent settling in period and with the lease for a permanent base not secured until September 2017, APCOA moved in the meantime from a temporary office for three months to the Civic centre for a six-week period.
To help fill the knowledge gap, officers offered advice and instruction on local matters and best operational practice. Although APCOA’s revised deployment plan will help meet contract requirements, officers will continue close working to stabilise and build on improvements in recent months, ensuring satisfactory geographical coverage, deployed hours and shifts, and agreed modes of transports (moped, car or foot).
Between April and May 2017, some payment machines were unable to take customer payments due to familiarisation with collection schedules and collecting and transporting cash for payment. Machine repair times were also an issue as additional training was undertaken to manage and repair machines. APCOA completed additional training in May and June ensuring that all engineers are capable of repairing machines. Enhanced training was also provided to Kiosk Attendants for fixes normally completed by engineers at the Civic Centre and Hill multi story car parks. APCOA also improved their service agreement with machine manufacturers to provide a better service when local engineers are unable to fix a machine.
Although ACPOA are now responsible for many business processes previously undertaken by the Shared Parking Service (e.g. scanning/logging appeals, printing official PCN recovery documents, email enquiries, Enforcement Agent Warrants, IT management, and reconciling banked monies) considerable work was necessary to fine tune the processes and ensure the full integration of many IT systems. On occasions, some KPIs in this area were not met and KPI penalties applied.
APCOA also underestimated the level of litter which can quickly accumulate in car parks, including instances of fly tipping. Close performance monitoring and officer advice assisted APCOA understand local issues and hotspots but it took a number of weeks for KPI standards on cleaning and maintenance to be met.
Areas where APCOA ... view the full minutes text for item 49.
CONTRACTS REGISTER PDF 219 KB
Appendix for Contracts Register , item 50. PDF 38 KB
Report ES18002
Members received an extract related to Environment contracts from the November 2017 Contracts Register. A further copy considered under Part 2 proceedings included commentary for each contract.
Of 230 active Council contracts greater than £50k in value, 21 contracts related to the Environment Portfolio.
Members were advised that the Council Fleet Hire contract had been extended to May 2019 (a contract end date of 5th November 2018 being recorded on the Contract Register extract).
For Members unable to distinguish colours in Red/Amber/Green codes, it was suggested that the colours are also identified by other means e.g. highlighting the colours in words or initials (with a short key).
RESOLVED that the Part 1 Contract Register extract appended to Report ES18002, covering contracts for the Environment Portfolio greater than £50k in value, be noted.
Enc. 1 for Risk Register , item 51. PDF 133 KB
Report ES18004
Based on information to the Audit Sub-Committee on 8 November 2017, Report ES18004presented a revised Environment and Community Services Risk Register.
It was intended to present Risk Registers to each Departmental Management Team, relevant PDS committee, and the Audit Sub-Committee twice a year for scrutiny of risk management activity. Risks should also be reviewed (by Risk Owners) at a frequency proportionate to the risk they presented.
RESOLVED that the Environment and Community Services Risk Register appended to Report ES18004 be noted.
ORAL UPDATE ON PRIORITY 1 AUDIT RECOMMENDATIONS
Except for implementing a direct debit payment system for Green Garden Waste (subject to delay), the Director of Environment was confident that outstanding Priority 1 audit recommendations in his area would be signed off at the Audit Sub-Committee’s next meeting (7th March 2018).
FORWARD WORK PROGRAMME AND MATTERS ARISING PDF 145 KB
Report ES18001
Members agreed the Committee’s remaining work programme for 2017/18, noting progress on requests made at previous meetings.
An item for the Committee’s first meeting of the 2018/19 Council Year was also highlighted at Appendix 1 to Report ES18001.
(1) the Committee’s remaining 2017/18 work programme be agreed; and
(2) progress concerning previous Committee requests be noted.
EXEMPT MINUTES OF THE ENVIRONMENT PDS COMMITTEE MEETING HELD ON 15TH NOVEMBER 2017
CONTRACTS REGISTER - PART 2 APPENDIX
Members considered a Part 2 Contracts Register extract (for the Environment Portfolio) which included exempt commentary for each contract listed.
Appendix A PDF 84 KB
ENV PDS 300118 Neighbourhood Management staff structure for reply to question from Cllr Dunn for Oral Reply , item PDF 38 KB
ENV PDS 300118 Spreadsheet for reply to Cllr Dunn's written question on roads surfaced in Clockhouse Ward , item PDF 24 KB
ENV PDS 300118 Drawing for reply to Question 1(i) from Colin Willetts , item PDF 189 KB
ENV PDS 300118 Drawing for reply to Question 1(ii) from Colin Willetts , item PDF 202 KB