Agenda, decisions and minutes

Resolved to note that an apology was received from Councillor M Pengelly.

Resolved to note that an apology was received from Councillor M Pengelly.

The following councillors made a declaration:

The chair invited those members who wished to do so to make a declaration on an item on the agenda.

The following councillors made a declaration:

Resolved that the interests be noted.

Resolved that Place and Environment Scrutiny Committee:

(i)              Note the comments and suggestions made by the committee, as further detailed in the minutes above, particularly around, mould, tenancy support, domestic violence, winter shelters and the dissemination of awareness;

(ii)             Note and recommend to the Executive that the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024-2029 be adopted.

The committee received and reviewed the report from Evonne Coleman-Thomas, Assistant Director Strategic, Housing, Development and Property Services, along with the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024-2029.

Mrs Coleman-Thomas introduced her housing colleagues, Claire Davis, Sarah Laycock and Suzanne Jackson to the committee who were present to support and answer any questions.

She explained that the Homelessness Act 2002 placed a legal requirement on all local authorities to undertake a review of homelessness in their area and develop and publish a Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy based on a review and necessary development every five years.

She informed the committee that in the last three years there has been a 25% increase in people requesting homelessness provision and support. This increase needed to be managed and supported for all those who seek help, much advice given can be preventative, to point an individual on the most suitable journey for them.

Public consultation on the new strategy had been undertaken during February and March 2024 and the Homelessness and Rough Sleeping Strategy 2024-2029 was appended to the report.  Also appended was the Homelessness Data Review and the Climate Change Impact Assessment.

The five key priority areas of the strategy, were detailed below to:

·         Increase the availability of and access to suitable accommodation to meet local need;

·         Embed early and effective upstream prevention, reaching people earlier to reduce homelessness;

·         Support people to sustain current or find suitable accommodation;

·         Make rough sleeping rate, brief and non-recurring through a comprehensive and multi-agency Rough Sleeping Service;

·         Maximise opportunities for funding and collaboration to develop effective pathways and make the best use of resources.

Included in the strategy, within each priority area, were details of what had been achieved since April 2021, to evidence how the transformation of services and provision locally has developed in North Northamptonshire.  The strategy also detailed the actions planned to tackle the challenges faced locally and the impact they will have, along with the monitoring that will be undertaken.

The chair and committee thanked the officers for the comprehensive and informative report, which was welcomed and fully supported the move to preventative work.

The following comments and suggestions were also made:

·        Mould – this appeared to be a nationwide issue, could details of how this would be managed locally be included in the strategy.  Officers confirmed this was possible to do.   

·       Housing allocations – a comment was made that automatic updates to the system would be beneficial and would help with tenants being able to understand the allocations process, and free up the team from constant phone calls if there was an automatic update.  Officers confirmed that Keyways as the provider was working on this.  

·       Domestic violence – it was suggested that if funding was available that details of Eve or ENDAS could be disseminated across the county.  This could potentially be arranged by working with town and parish councils to provide the public with information on preventative work.  Officers confirmed they could provide advice on the subject, and noted that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 51.

Resolved that the Place and Environment Scrutiny Committee:

(i)              recommended the Local Air Quality Strategy to the Executive for approval, taking into consideration the comments of the committee;

(ii)             request officers to investigate finding funding for the Kettering LCWiP within a 12-month period and report back with any information.

The committee received Iain Smith, Assistant Director of Regulatory Services, report   detailing North Northamptonshire’s inaugural  Local Air Quality Strategy  which was appended at Appendix A to the report. He highlighted the strategy and acknowledged the interdepartmental efforts in enhancing local air quality and, although not mandated by law, its significant advantages.

Mrs Clooney, Environmental Protection Manager, presented the report to committee and explained that following the Government introducing new legislation and policy on air pollution local authorities had a duty to take a proactive approach to ensure that target values are achieved and maintained. She confirmed that there were no air quality problems nor an air quality management area in North Northamptonshire, so the strategy would ensure that the council maintains and continues to reduce pollution levels.

The strategy appended, detailed what the council was doing to maintain pollution levels, below government objective levels, following collaboration across those council departments which play a role in improving air quality.  Relevant measures include:

·         Promoting and providing infrastructure for electric vehicles and active travel;

·         Dealing with traffic congestion;

·         Bus Improvement Plan;

·         Carbon management measures;

·         Domestic burning restrictions;

·         Taxi Licensing policy for NetZero vehicles.

A four-week consultation had taken place and the responses thereto had been evaluated and these were also appended to the report.

The strategy had also been presented to the Sustainable Communities Executive Advisory Panel, who had been in favour of the document.

The chair thanked the officer for her report and opened it for debate.

The following questions/comments were made:

·       Measuring of industrial or commercial premises – a question was asked about how this was carried out.  The officer clarified that this was detailed within the strategy and was regulated through various regimes such as Environmental Permitting, Clean Air Act and via the planning process to minimise their impact on the environment and health.

·       Taxis – the number of low carbon vehicles was question as there appeared to be a reduction from nine to six.  Officers clarified that the policy encourage the greening of fleet to meet emission standards, but market forces were challenging for the industry as the supply of second-hand vehicles on the market was limited. The purchase price of a new vehicle was also a significant investment.  

·       There were very little incentives or options available to those who wished to purchase a new vehicle. The council offered on-street charging but that didn’t help to purchase. Wider consideration by the government to incentivise taxi trade to move to electric vehicles was needed.

·       It was considered important not to change the licensing policy and extend the timescale for green vehicles.

·       Could the council help with the cost of licensing fees? This was something that could be considered.

·       Air Pollution Monitors – could there be a collaboration with town and parish councils about the loan of equipment to monitor air pollution in the future. Officers confirmed this could be considered.

·       Clean Travel – could there be an active push towards clean travel and an education programme introduced. 

·       LCWiPs -  ...  view the full minutes text for item 52.

Resolved that Place and Scrutiny Committee:

(i)             note the content and the proposals contained within the report;

(ii)      recommend that the comments, corrections and suggestions made by the committee, as detailed within the minutes above, be incorporated during the formulation of the final Bus Service Improvement Plan:

(ii)            that the final Bus Service Improvement Plan be recommended to

the Executive.

The committee reviewed the Bus Service Improvement Plan, as detailed in the report of the Assistant Director – Highways & Waste, Graeme Kane. The plan, attached as an appendix was presented by Mr Wragg, Head of Strategic Transport.

The report detailed the grant funding received by the Council of £569,412 for Bus Service Improvement Plan Plus for the financial years 2023/24 and 2024/25.  

In October 2023 an indicative allocation of £2.045m revenue funding for 2024/25 had been received, with the Department for Transport subsequently agreeing that £128,000 of the funding could be spent as capital in 2024/25 and £872,197 as revenue in 2025/26.

Officers had reviewed the adopted BSIP and following engagement with the community had updated the BSIP which now encompasses the programme and funding allocations agreed, along with proposals for spending in 2025/26 and beyond.

The updated Bus Service Improvement Plan for 2024/25 provided a detailed plan with an indicative programme to 2028/29 with proposals and a longer-term vision.

Also circulated to the committee was a set of presentation slides previously presented to the North Place Community Transport Forum for information purposes by Ali Gilbert, ICS Director of Place.

The chair thanked officers for the report and opened the report for debate. Mr Wragg and Mrs Gilbert jointly answered any questions.

The committee raised the following points:

·        Operating hours - often buses do not operate when they were most needed at either end of the day.  Rural communities particularly suffered with the availability of transport. Could the size of vehicles be considered, often a double-decker would be used with few passengers on board? Could a smaller vehicle not be used based on need?  The officer clarified that at some point during the journey a double decker bus would be required for the number of passengers using the service. The largest cost for the operator would be the wages of the driver. The operating times were based on need with challenges for residents being different in varying areas.

·        Loss of services – it was noted that some bus services had been lost prior to the Covid pandemic and had not been reinstated. Reference was made to  the W3 service which members thought was being reinstated. The officer clarified that the appended list was incorrect, and the service referenced would be reinstated in the draft to be presented to Executive.

·       The committee noted that the Zero Emission Bus Regional Areas funding bid (ZEBRA) had failed and members asked for feedback on why. A request was made for a copy of the bid to be circulated. The officer confirmed that the bid had been unsuccessful and little feedback had been received, he would circulate the funding bid for information.  

·       Timetables – The updating of timetables at bus stops, details of onward journeys and updated travel information needed to be improved. It was also noted that a bus shelter for the X4 route located at Redhill Grange, Wellingborough had been removed overnight and nobody knew why or who had done this. Could this  ...  view the full minutes text for item 53.

Resolved that Place and Environment Scrutiny Committee:

(i)          notes the determination of the Ombudsman;

(ii)         notes the council’s progress on implementing the recommendations of the Ombudsman to ensure that this issue does not happen again;

(iii)       recommend that the Planning Improvement Board review the Tree Strategy.

The circulated report of the Interim Head of Development Management and Enforcement Lead, Jasbir Sandhu was received and presented to Place and Environment Scrutiny Committee by Assistant Director, Graeme Kane.

He explained that the report detailed the outcome of an investigation undertaken by the Ombudsman for Local Government and Social Care in relation to an assessment of a planning application regarding the protection of a tree which was the subject of a Tree Preservation Order (TPO) following a complaint by a resident of North Northamptonshire.  The complaint related to a decision relating to two applications, one relating to work proposed on two trees, subject to TPOs, and the other to an application by the complainant’s neighbour to build an extension.

The Ombudsman found no fault in the way the council had determined the TPO application but did find fault in the way the council had considered the application for an extension and determined that there had not been full consideration of the potential impact of the development on a nearby tree, which was the subject of a TPO.  If the application had been properly considered, it was likely the application would have been refused because of the likely damage to a protected tree.  A series of recommendations to remedy the injustice caused by the fault, will help to avoid this happening again in the future.

Mr Kane clarified that there had been some delay in bringing the report to committee due to staffing resources and confirmed that a revised timescale had been requested from the Ombudsman and been granted. He confirmed that the following action had been taken:

·       A letter of apology had been sent to the complainant.

·       The developer had been contacted and negotiations would begin immediately with a view to reaching a conclusion as soon as possible.

·       A review and changes to current practise was underway and changes would be reported to the Ombudsman.

·       The report had now been presented to the Place and Environment Scrutiny Committee and the Ombudsman had been informed of this. 

The chair thanked Mr Kane for the information and opened the report for debate.

Councillors expressed their concern that this situation had happened and that there had been an exceptionally long delay in the requested action of the Ombudsman being implemented. They were keen for the new process to avoid this happening again being put in place without delay.

Comments were also made about the need for the Tree Officer(s) to be more involved. There was also concern expressed that TPOs did not seem to prevent the removal of trees, like the public expected, and that this needed to be strengthened.

The committee welcomed the Planning Improvement Board to oversee the Planning Improvement Plan and considered this was urgently required.

Members asked how many Tree Officers were employed by North Northamptonshire; it was clarified that there were two across the authority.

It was suggested that the Tree Strategy needed to be reviewed and brought to the attention of the Planning Improvement Board as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 54.

There being no further business the chair closed the meeting at 9.40pm.

                                                            Chair…………………………………

                                                            Date…………………………………..