Environmental Scrutiny Committee

ENVIRONMENTAL SCRUTINY COMMITTEE

9 MARCH, 2010

Present: County Councillor Wakefield (Chairperson); County Councillors Clark, McKerlich, J Parry, K Parry, Pickard and Walsh

Also: County Councillor Delme Bowen, Executive Member, Traffic & Transportation; and County Councillor Margaret Jones, Executive Member, Environment

Apology: County Councillor Aubrey

46 : MINUTES

The minutes of the meeting held on 12 February, 2010 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairperson.

47 : DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

The Chairperson reminded Members of their responsibilities under the Members’ Code of Conduct to declare any interests in general terms and complete “personal interest” forms at the start of the meeting and then, prior to the commencement of the discussion of the item in question, specify whether it is a personal or prejudicial interest. If the interest is prejudicial, Members would be asked to leave the meeting, and if the interest is personal, Members would be invited to stay, speak and vote.

48 : FLOODING: MEMBERS’ GUIDANCE

On 9 June 2009 (Minute No. 12), this Committee had scrutinised a topic entitled “Flooding Update”, which had considered progress made since the topic “Flooding and Emergency Planning” had been scrutinised by this Committee on 28 November, 2007 (Minute No. 26), and the changes that had been implemented following the recommendations of an Independent Review headed by Sir Michael Pitt into the UK Government’s response to the floods in the UK in the summer of 2007. At the meeting, Members had also scrutinised the local flooding events, which had occurred a few days prior to the meeting. Subsequent to that meeting, the County Council’s Emergency Planning Team had drafted a document entitled “Flooding: Members’ Guidance”, in order to inform all

1 Members of what was expected of them before, during and after a flooding event.

This meeting was now being given an opportunity to scrutinise and make comments on the draft document, copies of which had been provided in advance of this meeting, in order to assist this scrutiny. The Chairperson welcomed Gavin Macho, Principal Emergency Manager, who then gave a short presentation on the types of flooding applicable to Cardiff, and what local Members can do to assist their constituents prior to, during and after a flooding event. He also emphasised that the role of the County Council, in this respect, is to enable households and businesses to help themselves, and not to be “relied upon” to help. At this juncture, the Chairperson invited questions, during which the following points were made:

• that a successful flood “fair” had recently been held in the Penylan and Roath area, and that it was anticipated that similar events will be taken around the City, with the next one aimed at Ely and Canton;

• that there are issues around the sea wall in east Cardiff that needed to be addressed, because of the risk of flooding along the Wentloog sea wall;

• emphasis that there would be a greater role for C2C in the period during when a flood is occurring, in view of the need for a ‘24/7’ approach to the problem;

• that the Welsh Assembly Government had recognised weaknesses in multi-agency control and co-ordination systems, Wales-wide, and had made grant assistance of £11 million available for four dedicated ‘control centres’, one of which would be located at 101 House in Cardiff;

• clarification that residents living on or adjacent to the Wentloog levels having the capacity to receive an early flood warning from the Environment Agency understand what these warnings mean;

• that the County Council has a page on the Emergency Management section of its website under a link entitled “Coping With”, which provides information and advice on how to deal with a flooding event, and that the Environment Agency also produces literature and information, though the latter is not locally specific; and

2 • that the Emergency Management Unit was happy to produce leaflets for all Members, or produce copy for inclusion in a future edition of the Capital Times, subject to resource provision.

The Chairperson thanked Mr Macho, after which the Committee considered the way forward for the future scrutiny of this topic and

AGREED – That the Chairperson of this Committee write to the Executive Member, Traffic & Transportation

(a) providing this Committee’s thanks for the draft guidance document, but asking if consideration could be given to providing more specific guidance on action to be taken by Members during the period of the flooding itself;

(b) requesting that all Members of the County Council be provided with a list of the ‘hotspot’ areas of greatest risk of flooding during heavy rain, so that they are better informed of the potential flood risks within their Wards;

(c) asking the Emergency Planning Team to explore and develop new methods to inform the public of the County Council’s role, and the public’s own role, in planning and preparing for flooding events, including the use of the Capital Times, flood fairs and road shows, school initiatives, TV and radio, and leaflets for all Members, and taking regard of ‘before’ and ‘after’, but with particular emphasis on ‘during’; and

(d) seeking clarification on the matter of responsibility of ownership and for maintenance of the Wentloog sea wall.

49 : PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT INFORMATION: QUARTER 3, 2009/10: STRATEGIC PLANNING & ENVIRONMENT, HIGHWAYS & WASTE MANAGEMENT, AND ECONOMY, ENTERPRISE & INFRASTRUCTURE (Transportation element)

The Committee was advised that the ongoing development of the Cardiff Performance Management Framework had resulted in performance indicators being assigned to the key objectives in the County Council’s Corporate Plan, and that their monitoring and evaluation can assist in the understanding of the overall performance position of the County Council.

3 This meeting was being given the opportunity to conduct its latest scrutiny of performance against the objectives under the Environmental theme in the Corporate Plan for 2009/12, for Quarter 3 in 2009/10, where Strategic Planning & Environment, Highways & Waste Management, and Economy, Enterprise & Infrastructure, were the ‘lead’ Service Areas. A summary of the position, and details of the relevant performance data, were provided, in order to assist the scrutiny.

Economy, Enterprise and Infrastructure (Transportation Element)

The Chairperson welcomed County Councillor Delme Bowen, Executive Member, Traffic & Transportation; and Paul Carter, Operational Manager, Transport Policy & Development. County Councillor Bowen indicated that he was not proposing to make a statement on this occasion. The Chairperson then invited questions, during which the following points were made:

• that the Service Area was currently liaising with the Welsh Assembly Government to establish appropriate transport-related performance indicators in order to benchmark this area of work;

• that likewise, the Service Area was discussing, with the Welsh Assembly Government and the Sustainable Travel initiative, ways to measure cycling trends and uses, over a period of time;

• that although there was a currently an absence of transport-related performance indicators, there was a wealth of information in the Annual Progress Report for Transport for 2009, an electronic version of which is available on the County Council’s website;

• emphasis that the uptake of space at Cardiff East “Park & Ride” was very encouraging and that there were plans to increase the number of spaces to 720, subject to Welsh Assembly Government grant funding;

• acknowledgement that there was still some confusion on how the ‘Bus Box’ works, but that there was now an increased level of public information available, and that a recent survey had shown that up to 80% of users are now satisfied with the arrangements;

4 • acknowledgement that it would be necessary to use the “Free B” service to get from one ‘extremity’ of the City Centre to the other, but that the Welsh Assembly Government was happy to support and help explore the possibility of re-routing or ‘tweaking’ any of the ‘bus box’ route, following a period of operational experience;

• that it would help provide a better service if the operators were able to use a smaller bus which would provide more opportunities to permeate the ‘harder to reach’ parts of the City Centre, but that this was not likely to happen, because the project, being only for two years, would find it difficult to persuade transport operators, such as Cardiff Bus, to purchase new and smaller vehicles in the absence of any long-term future certainty;

• emphasis that the ‘Free B’ service is free of charge and is scheduled to provide a bus every 10 minutes;

• emphasis that the current bus network is by no means ‘finite’, and acknowledgement that there was a need to explore the likelihood of smaller buses penetrating other parts of the City Centre, in order to make it easier for people who are elderly, or who have a lot of shopping, or who have children, to minimise their walking distances either from the stop at which they left the bus coming into the City Centre, or from the stop at which they alight their bus for home, or both;

• that it was entirely possible to accommodate as many as 1,000 spaces in the east Cardiff park and ride, and, subject to Welsh Assembly Government funding in 2010/11, this extra space would be delivered early in the financial year;

• acknowledgement that it is not always possible to get off one bus coming into the City Centre and to get on to another bus going away from the City Centre on the same route in the opposite direction, because some bus stops were ‘set down’ only, and others were ‘pick up’ only;

• that the matter of providing bus services departing from the City Centre later than the current latest time of 11.20pm is a commercial decision for the operators, but that, at the moment, the operators were of the view that it was not commercially viable to operate any

5 such services later than 11.20pm, but that later services remain as a future aspiration;

• emphasis that the future of Cardiff Central Bus Station was high on the County Council’s priority list and that plans will be brought to the Executive for consideration in 2010/11, but that the implementation of such proposals would be subject to Welsh Assembly Government funding to supplement the County Council’s capital funds;

• that there were ongoing issues which were the subject of discussion between the County Council, National Rail, and Arriva, in relation to taxi ‘drop off’ and ‘pick up’ arrangements, and their integration with bus drop off and pick up arrangements; and

• confirmation that the Welsh Assembly Government had provided an assurance to the County Council that it was actively pursuing an alternative park and ride site near to the previously identified Nantgarw Park site in close dialogue with Rhondda Cynon Taff and Caerphilly Councils.

Highways and Waste Management

The Chairperson welcomed County Councillor Delme Bowen, Executive Member, Traffic & Transportation; County Councillor Margaret Jones, Executive Member, Environment; and Ruth Chapman, Chief Highways & Waste Management Officer. County Councillor Jones then a short statement drawing attention to a number of recent initiatives in waste management and street cleansing, the work of the Enforcement Officers, appointed last year to address accumulated refuse in house frontages, and the fall in the amount of material recycled, which had resulted from the recent inclement weather. Ms Chapman then gave a short presentation on the performance data relating to her Service Area, and summarised the actions taken and issues to be addressed. The Chairperson then invited questions, during which the following points were made:

• that there is, traditionally, a fall in the amount of recyclable waste that is collected in Quarter 3, but in 2009/10 the fall was steeper and more prolonged because of the prolonged period of bad weather, and other local Authorities were likely to have seen the same decline;

6 • acknowledgement that the performance indicator relating to food waste should have represented an improvement on the equivalent figure for 2008/9, which was about the time when the initiative had first been established, and that the Service Area will investigate and respond with a fuller response, although initial indications had suggested that the inclement weather would at least part-explain the fall;

• that additional ‘meet and greet’ staff had been recruited to provide help at Lamby Way, as a result of some Welsh Assembly Government grant assistance;

• that the Service Area was making use of a “BIFFA” contract, where the contractor will provide a landfill disposal or treatment service;

• that the Service Area will research and provide more information on the amount of collected waste from domestic premises;

• confirmation that a decision on the proposed In Vessel Composting facility will be considered at the April, 2010 meeting of the Executive;

• that current estimates had indicated that Lamby Way would need to close at some point during 2011, but that measures to extend its life to 2015 were currently being considered, although it was expected that, after 2011, the site would only be able to provide a service to domestic customers under such measures;

• that there was no plan to look at alternative landfill sites, but that the search for a solution will be a matter for Prosiect Gwyrdd;

• confirmation that the Enforcement Officers, appointed last year, have a role to address and take action against bulky waste which is left on domestic frontages, and that the Service Area will investigate an alleged such incident in the Newport Road area;

• likewise, the Service Area will report back to this Committee on any incidences with bulky refuse on areas of public open space; and

• that the Service Area will report back to this Committee on the benchmark figures for green bag collection, established by ‘WRAP’.

7 Strategic Planning and Environment

The Chairperson welcomed County Councillor Margaret Jones, Executive Member, Environment; Dave Holland, Operational Manager, Consumer Protection; and Phil Williams, Operational Manager, Development & Building Control. County Councillor Jones then gave a short statement drawing attention to progress achieved in relation to the majority of performance indicators and to the successful completion of Conservation Area Appraisals.

(At this juncture, Councillor Jones left the meeting).

Mr Holland and Mr Williams then briefly outlined the performance data relating to their specific areas of responsibility, drawing particular attention to the work of the Illegal Money Lending Unit, the implementation of the Neighbourhood Improvement Programme and the process to adopt the Cardiff Local Development Plan 2006/2021. The Chairperson then invited questions, during which the following points were made:

• that in relation to the ‘Carbon Lite’ initiative, and climate change issues, it would be helpful to present how they “dovetail” with other related initiatives; and

• that in relation to the HMO Mandatory Licensing Scheme, the Service Area wished to place emphasis on educating and encouraging landlords to comply, particularly now that the penalties for non-compliance were much stricter, and that the Service Area will bring information to this Committee on prosecutions.

The Chairperson thanked all the witnesses for their presence, after which the Committee considered the way forward for the future scrutiny of this topic and

AGREED – That

1) the Chairperson of this Committee write to the Executive Member, Traffic & Transportation requesting further information on the development of performance indicators for the Economy, Enterprise & Infrastructure Service Area, and their degree of alignment with the related indicators in the Corporate Plan;

8 2) the Chairperson of this Committee write to the Executive Member, Environment

(a) in relation to the Highways & Waste Management Service Area

(i) informing her that this Committee wishes to scrutinise the proposals for the In Vessel Composting facility, following consideration of that topic by the Executive at its meeting in April, 2010; and

(ii) requesting the information promised by the Service Area on ‘green bag’ waste; and

(b) in relation to the Strategic Planning & Environment Service Area

(i) informing her that this Committee wishes to scrutinise the work of the Money Lending Unit as part of its 2010/11 Work Programme;

(ii) requesting the information promised by the Service Area on prosecutions it has generated for items such as illegal money lending and under HMO licensing legislation; and

(iii) requesting information, in the form of a ‘flow chart’, of how the various initiatives under the Carbon Lite, Environmental, global warming, and climate change agendas relate to each other.

50 : PROSIECT GWYRDD JOINT SCRUTINY: UPDATE

Members were reminded that the meeting of this Committee on 12 January, 2010 (Minute No. 40) had approved the proposals to establish a Joint Scrutiny Panel for Prosiect Gwyrdd, and then noted the minutes of the Panel’s inaugural meeting, which had been held on 29 January, 2010.

51 : WORK PROGRAMME

Members discussed the Work Programme for this Committee for the remainder of the 2009/10 Municipal Year and the start of the 2010/11 Municipal Year. During the discussions, a Member requested an update on the ‘Citizen Centred’ scrutiny review, which was currently being

9 undertaken, and information on the usefulness of performance indicators and on any alternative methods to measure performance.

AGREED – That the following topics be scrutinised at the next three scheduled meetings of this Committee on the dates indicated below:

(a) 13 April, 2010

(i) Public Conveniences: Executive Response; (ii) Prosiect Gwyrdd Joint Scrutiny: Update; (iii) Draft Annual Report 2009/10; (iv) Correspondence; (v) Work Programme for 2010/11; and (vi) Task & Finish Group Report on ‘A Growing City: Resource Implications’;

(b) 11 May, 2010

(i) Service Area Business Plans; (ii) Waste Management Strategy; (iii) Local Environmental Quality Strategy; (iv) Strategic Planning Guidance: Waste Collection; and (v) Correspondence;

(i) Service Area Business Plans; (ii) Cleaner Cardiff, and Waste Management: Merger; (iii) Civil Parking Enforcement: Update; and (iv) Correspondence.

52 : CORRESPONDENCE UPDATE

Members were reminded that on 7 July, 2009, the Scrutiny Chairs Liaison Forum had requested the inclusion of a “Correspondence Update” item on the agendas of future Scrutiny Committee meetings, as and when necessary, in order to inform Scrutiny Committee Members about responses to Chairpersons’ letters from the Executive Members.

In relation to the topics “Environmental Health Noise Team”; “Waste Management Report & Cardiff’s Waste Management Strategy”; and “Prosiect Gwyrdd: Update”, this meeting noted the contents of the Chairperson’s letters arising from Minute nos. 38, 39 and 40 of the

10 meeting of this Committee on 12 January, 2010 and the response of the Executive Member, in her letter dated 15 February, 2010, relating to the topic in Minute No. 38 (as the topics in Minute Nos 39 and 40 did not require written responses).

In addition, in relation to the 2010/11 Budget proposals, this meeting noted the contents of the Chairperson’s letter arising from Minute No. 45 of the meeting of this Committee on 12 February, 2010. Furthermore, this meeting noted the response of the Executive Member, in her letter dated 5 January, 2010, to the Chairperson’s letter which had arisen from Minute Nos. 32 (Graffiti Policy) and 33 (Evaluation of Planning for Student Accommodation) of the meeting of this Committee on 10 November, 2009.