Chief Executive to report.
Minutes:
The Chief Executive provided the Committee with an update on the 21:21 project. He advised the Committee:
· The 21:21 project had been based on the Authority’s previous corporate priorities. It had addressed the issues of improving services, customer focus, modernising processes and expanding the online services.
· It had four themes: Leaning and Transformation, One Site, Improvements to Waste and Recycling Services and Income Generation.
· The new priorities were Financial Security, Customer Focus, Environment and North Devon Futures. The new Corporate Plan was more specific around what the Council wanted to do.
· The Civic Centre had now been vacated by the Authority and the majority of staff were now based at Brynsworthy Environment Centre (BEC).
· Security had been improved with the implementation of the ID/entry card system and enhanced CCTV provision.
· The increased availability of online services had not yet resulted in any reduction in the number of phone calls received.
· The advantages of open plan offices and the teams working in closer proximity. Communication had improved and the logistics of working together.
The Committee discussed:
· BEC was now at capacity – with regards to the building/office space and the car parking availability.
· Should any further expansion be required for the BEC site, North Devon Council would be the planning Authority.
· The lack of a green travel scheme could hinder further expansion. There was no public transport route, cycle way, or safe pedestrian route (although walking or cycling to BEC may not be an attractive prospect due to the steep hill).
· Skype for Business would change the way staff worked and in some cases could eliminate the need to travel between work locations and/or enable working from home. This could possibly free-up space at BEC for staff from Lynton House.
· The need to retain a town centre base for the Authority for the public.
The Chief Executive advised that:
· The Income Generation element of the plan had progressed and a number of properties had been purchased which were being used to provide temporary accommodation for the homeless, rather than using Bed and Breakfast placements. This was a good example of how designing service improvements around the needs of the customers could also provide savings. It resulted in families being accommodated in more secure, settled environment and being able to access intervention services if needed. This work had been featured on a recent episode of ‘Inside Out’ and was being treated as an example of good practice for other Local Authorities. The purchase had been made using a mixture of the Council’s budgets and Section 106 allocations. The purchase of our own properties had also provided the Authority with long-term capital assets.
· ‘Recycle More’ had resulted in increased recycling rates, with areas trialling a three week collection of residual waste and weekly, unlimited, recycling collections and food caddy collections. A paid-for green waste service was also introduced across the North Devon Council area. Some issues with the roll-out had been created due to its timing. The heatwave that summer had resulted in complaints where bins were smelling of rotten food where caddy collections were missed and left on the kerbside for a number of weeks. Some missed collections were caused by routes being too large – where vehicles were full early on the routes and had to return to base. Roads were often blocked by vehicles and our trucks struggled to access. The routes had originally been created with the assistance of an external contractor. The routes were unsuccessful and works had been ongoing to re design them using internal staff. Some routes were now better designed but not totally efficient. There was still room for improvement.
· Missed collections were recently at around 500 per 100,000 (0.5%) based on the industry standard. Private contractors were able to attain 20-60 missed collection per 100,000. It was noted that although the Council’s rate was a low percentage it was still a large number missed.
· Going forward the Council’s Waste and Recycle service would need to be robust enough to cope with a roll out of the any services (as per the trial areas) eg suitability of vehicles, number of staff etc.
· The benefits of purchasing vehicles, as opposed to hiring or leasing, would need to be reviewed.
· Further work in relation to training staff and staff instructions was ongoing. There needed to be a consistent approach to collections, as, for example, one team may not collect a bin which was partially on private property, when another team may do so.
· The Plastic Free Consortium had been established by North Devon Council in order to co-ordinate the various organisations in the area.
· A Peer Review had been planned alongside a review on transformation.
The Committee passed on their appreciation of the teams involved with the purchase of the properties for temporary accommodation placements and congratulated them on their work.
RESOLVED that the update be noted.