Agenda and minutes

Venue: Reception Room

Contact: Helen Lee  Elections and Members' Services Officer

Items
No. Item

135.

Apologies for Absence and Substitutions.

Minutes:

Councillors Andrews, Greensmith and Truscott.  Councillor Bailey attended as substitute.

136.

To approve, as a correct record, the minutes of the meeting held on 19 September 2016 pdf icon PDF 110 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED:

 

That the minutes of the above meeting, having been circulated, be approved as a correct record.

 

137.

Declaration of Interests.

Minutes:

None.

138.

East Midlands Ambulance Service pdf icon PDF 80 KB

Report of the Elections and Members’ Services Officer.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Ian Cross, Locality Manager, Greg Cox, General Manager and Annie Palmer, External Relations and Engagement Manager, East Midlands Ambulance Service attended the meeting to discuss service priorities and listen to Members comments and suggestions regarding the ambulance service.   Annie delivered a presentation which informed Members about:

 

·         Staffing issues

·         Delivering national performance standards for response times, this included how priorities for ambulances were categorised and how telephone assessment can assist with this.

·         Delivering national performance standards (number of responses)

·         Improvements to patients services

·         The 2016/17 contract settlement and future improvements.

 

Following questions and comments from Members the following issues were addressed:

 

·         The 11% turnover of frontline staff was in-line with national trends.  Paramedics are now degree level entrants and there is competition between ambulance trusts for newly qualified staff.  Some trusts offer incentives to new recruits, EMAS does not do this.

·         When people request an ambulance they regard their problem as an emergency, this is not always the case.  The telephone assessment service helps to categorise and prioritise those that are

·         The introduction of the Frail Elderly Liaison Officer in Northamptonshire has led to a reduction in hospital admissions and, resources permitting, this will be moved into other areas. Staff undertaking this role sometimes have to be recalled to help maintain ambulance cover; this can present issues around maintaining the service. 

·         Ambulance cases are not prioritised when they attend the Accident and Emergency Department.  Some people sometimes call ambulances when they could get there themselves.

·         Handover times at hospitals are a national problem, there are identified staff available to assist ambulance staff.  The system whereby by one clinician, the paramedic, delivers patients to another clinician is preferred.   The paramedics will have been with the patient from the initial diagnosis and have an understanding of the circumstances surrounding the case.

·         There are currently 10 ambulances and 7 cars available to the ambulance service in Nottingham.  Demand for ambulances is such that they are on the road all the time.  There is a car based at Jubilee House on standby.

·         The Community First Responder scheme is a really useful.  The Trent scheme covers West Bridgford, Gedling, Arnold and Woodborough.    EMAS is always looking to develop this scheme and recruit additional volunteers. It was suggested that an article in the contacts magazine could be useful in recruiting more volunteers.

 

RESOLVED to:

 

1)    Thank the representatives from EMAS for a very interesting discussion; and

2)    Invite EMAS to a future meeting to receive an update.

 

Additional document: EMAS presentation.

 

139.

Council Plan 2016/19: Overview of Quarter 2 pdf icon PDF 179 KB

Report of the Director of Organisational Development and Democratic Services.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Director of Organisational Development and Democratic Services, Helen Barrington, informed the committee about the position against improvement for action and performance indicators in the 2016/17 Gedling Plan.

 

Of the 9 indicators shown red at the end of quarter 2, 4 were expected to improve and be on target at year end.  However 5 indicators are expected to be behind target at year end, despite management action.

 

These included:

 

      I.        Number of Fly Tipping incidents reported to Gedling Borough. The Council continues to move an increasing number of fly tips, which reflect the national trend.  Officers are focusing on how best to prevent them.

    II.        Average time to process homeless applications (number of working days).  This issue was discussed by the Portfolio Holder later in the meeting.

   III.        Working Days lost to Sickness Absence (rolling 12 month total). Sickness absence is increasing both as an annual average and “month on month”. This is mainly due to high levels of long term sickness and the way the sickness figures are calculated on a rolling 12 month cycle.  Officers are working proactively to manage levels of sickness absence.  Members’ considered that the provision of physiotherapy services to staff with muscular skeletal issues could enable people to return to work quicker.  They were informed that although this was currently not available there was an employee assistance programme which looked at ways of helping people to return to work.

  IV.        Net additional homes provided.  This issue was discussed by the Portfolio Holder later in the meeting.

   V.        Residual household waste per household in KG. The first 2 quarters of the year are generally higher due to garden waste being put in the black bin.  The garden waste collection scheme will be actively promoted to coincide with the next growing season and in the meantime officers look at ways to reduce residual waste.

 

Improvements to performance since quarter 1 include:

 

      I.        The percentage of Minor and Other planning applications processed in 8 weeks has improved and in both cases is exceeding the target.  This is mainly due to the positive work by the newly recruited Planning Delivery Manager.  Both performance indicators are now expected to be on target at year end.

    II.        The average time spent in temporary accommodation has reduced.

   III.        The percentage of young people claiming Job Seeker Allowance has reduced.

  IV.        The number of apprentices hosted by the authority has increased.

   V.        The number of affordable homes delivered has met its quarterly target.

 

Areas highlighted as key achievements in Quarter 2 included the Council’s Accredited Training Centre which provides training courses facilitated by the in house training team, the Gedling Menu Employability Programme and the Jobs Fair. 

Members’ agreed they would like additional information about the Accredited Training Centre’s activities.

 

RESOLVED to:

 

1)    Note the report; and

 

2)    Request additional information relating to the work of the Accredited Training Centre.

140.

Programme of Portfolio Holder Attendance pdf icon PDF 105 KB

Report of the Elections and Members’ Services Officer.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Councillor Henry Wheeler, Portfolio Holder for Housing, Health and Wellbeing attended the meeting to answer questions submitted in advance of the meeting.  David Wakelin, Director Health and Community Wellbeing and Alison Bennett, Service Manager Housing also attended the meeting.

 

Programme of Portfolio Holder Attendance

 

Councillor Wheeler delivered a comprehensive presentation covering all the questions received in advance.

 

Following questions from Members the following information was clarified:

 

·           The Homeless Reduction Bill will increase the number of people who the Council has a duty to assist.  The Bill proposes that the authority should provide temporary accommodation for 56 days an increase from the current 28 days.  The Government is allocating a national budget for the implementation of this. The Bill is currently at the Committee stage in the House of Commons.

·           The Housing Needs Team has seen an increase both in the number and complexity of cases, to support this increase approval has been given for the appointment of a full time Housing Needs Officer for one year.

·         With reference to accommodation for under people under 25 years old.  There is a supported lodgings scheme, were people, who have been checked, provide a room and some hospitality in their own homes, but these tend not to be too popular.

·         Issues around accessibility are considered when temporary accommodation is offered.

·           This week there is no one in bed and breakfast accommodation, typically there are between 1 and 4 most weeks.

·           When using bed and breakfast accommodation to house families we do have access to both family and adjoining rooms, and the most suitable B&B placement will be secured depending on availability.  However the priority is always to move them on as soon as possible into suitable accommodation.  The average time for a family or an individual is ten weeks. Members requested information on how much could be saved if bed and breakfast accommodation was not used.

·           There is a severe weather protocol which is used during the winter to house rough sleepers and those with no fixed address in bed and breakfast accommodation; this additional sever weather emergency protocol can lead to an increase in the usage of B&B during the time it runs from 01.12. until 31.03, however there is also provision to extend the service outside this dates dependent on the weather.

·           Moves to lease properties from private landlords have met with little success as landlords prefer to rent to private tenants and charge higher rents.

·           Work with the Fire Service, the CCG and Environmental Health helps maintain the condition of properties.

·           Work is undertaken to support families who have been affected by the bedroom tax and may be affected by the benefits cap, referrals are made to debt advice services to alleviate issues around poverty and debt.  Moves to more affordable housing are considered and the use of discretionary housing benefit for short term assistance.  Members requested additional information regarding cases.

 

Future Portfolio Holder Attendance

 

Members were informed that Councillor David Ellis, Portfolio Holder for Public Protection  ...  view the full minutes text for item 140.

141.

Scrutiny Work Programme pdf icon PDF 103 KB

Report of the Elections and Members’ Services Officer.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

FEEDBACK FROM SCRUTINY DEVELOPMENT EVENTS.

Councillor Lawrence informed Members about the scrutiny development events, and the Scrutiny Network, that he had recently attended. The self-evaluation of skills that was used at one of the events will be circulated to all members.  Councillor Doyle and Councillor Paling also attended one or more of the events.

 

COMPLETED SCRUTINY REVIEWS

Councillor Wheeler provided additional comments and updates to the responses received to this review.

 

Recommendation 5

At the Gedling Health and Wellbeing Delivery Group meeting on the 10th November, the Changepoint Service gave the following update:

 

·         Increasing levels of delivery regarding workplace health – including staff training.  GBC to request training programme and assess suitability for staff.

·         Due to high levels of referrals and challenges over processing time, Welcome Groups have been organised as a first port of call into the service.

·         Staff have been trained as walk leaders and walking groups established – one in Gedling.  GBC and Changepoint to work together to ensure links are made with the Get Going in Gedling volunteer walking scheme to enable sustainability.

·         An open evening for the Jump Avenue sessions at Arnold Hill Community is being held on 5th December at 5pm.

·         Health and wellbeing sessions are being delivered in schools.

·         Diabetes Awareness Event has been held.

·         A 10 week Psychotherapy course is being offered to those referred into Tier 3 of the service.

·         Community sessions are being delivered at Arnold Hill Community Centre, Westdale Community Centre, Killisick Community Centre and St George’s Centre in Netherfield.

 

Recommendation 6

The Changepoint service has agreed to meet directly with Cllr Wheeler to discuss the performance monitoring information relating to the service delivered in Gedling.

 

Recommendation 10

Following feedback from Nottingham North and East CCG about the scope of their review, the GP Patients Participation Group’s will be unaffected.  Cllr. Wheeler will therefore write to all Members encouraging them to join their Local Patient Participation Group.

 

SCRUTINY IN WORKING GROUPS

Members considered a range of topics that had been suggested for review.  After discussion it was decided that a working group would be established to consider income generation and this could possibly include examination of the fees and charging structures within the authority.  The precise focus of the group would be decided at the initial scoping meeting. 

 

Councillor Lawrence would chair the review, Councillors Paling and Scoggie asked to be included in the working group.  Additional members would be invited from the wider Council membership.

 

SCRUTINY IN COMMITTEE

Information regarding the scrutiny work programme was discussed.

 

INFORMATION UPDATES FROM PREVIOUS ITEMS AT COMMITTEE

Members were updated on information regarding:

 

·         Recording of meetings

Members requested information regarding how many people had listened to the recording

·         Arnold Market

·         Councillor Call for Action.

 

SCRUTINY ANNUAL REPORT

Members were informed about the requirement for an annual report to be submitted to Council.

 

RESOLVED to:

 

1)    Note the information relating to Scrutiny Development Events.

 

2)    Note the responses to the Obesity Scrutiny Review and request a six month progress report on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 141.

142.

Any other item which the Chair considers urgent.

Minutes:

None.