Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Hope. Councillor Bosworth attended as substitute.

RESOLVED:

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

None.

Report of the Democratic Services Manager

The chair provided an update on dog fouling stats in the borough as requested at a previous meeting when scrutinising Councillor David Ellis’ Public Protection portfolio. It was confirmed that:

·       Last year was the best year for catching dog fouling and issuing fixed penalty notices (FPN)

·       There were ten FPN in total between April 2021 and March 2022

·       The fines were all £100 and all of them have been paid

·       There were three FPN issued in the previous year, April 2020 to March 2021

·       The increased number of fines was due to a higher number of CCTV reports

·       DNA was not taken from any case

Members welcomed Councillor Henry Wheeler to the meeting to examine the Housing, Health & Wellbeing portfolio. Councillor Wheeler gave a presentation to members about his portfolio, giving them the opportunity to ask any questions.

Members asked whether Councillor Wheeler could use his position as a member of the Nottinghamshire Health and Wellbeing Board to find out details of the present state of GP surgeries in Gedling. He explained that:

·        The Nottinghamshire Health and Wellbeing Board is a statutory public health function that aims to find out what Nottinghamshire needs to improve in health and wellbeing and to develop a strategy and delivery plan to achieve this

·        The board is currently reviewing its strategy for 2022 onwards. GPs fall under primary care provision, which is not a public health function

·        The governance for GP provision falls under the umbrella of the emerging Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Integrated Care System (ICS). GP surgeries are part of the local Primary Care Network structure of the ICS.

·        There are four Primary care Networks (PCNs) that cut across the boundaries of Gedling Borough, which are

-        Byron PCN serves: Bestwood Village, Papplewick, Linby;

-        Arnold and Calverton PCN serves: Arnold and Calverton and surrounding villages;

-        Arrow Health PCN serves: Carlton, Daybrook, Mapperley, Burton Joyce; and

-        Synergy Health PCN serves: Carlton, Mapperley, Netherfield, Burton Joyce.

·        The latest figures provided by Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG) show there are 107 GPs working locally within the structure.

The committee discussed how developer contributions from new housing developments would feed through into investment in GP provision. Councillor Wheeler confirmed that Gedling Borough Council consulted the Clinical Commissioning Group Integrated Care Partnership on all planning applications received, which applied to any major residential development of ten or more new dwellings and any new residential institution (such as a care home). 

When consulted, the CCG assess the likely impact of the new resident population created by development in terms of number of additional GP consultations. The calculation is based on a methodology provided by the Department of Health and takes into account the infrastructure (accommodation) requirement for consulting and treatment rooms. It was also noted that consultations with the CCG provide details of emerging plans to address capacity issues and seek to justify that contributions sought are fairly and reasonably related in scale and kind to the development.

A  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33.

Report of the Head of Environment

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Environment, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, updating Members of the progress of the Carbon Management Strategy and Action Plan.

The Head of Environment began a presentation on the progress of the Carbon Management Strategy and Action Plan.

He noted that all councils across the country have been graded on their climate action plans and activities to date, with the organisation Climate Emergency UK assessing authorities across nine key sectors. Councils were given a percentage on how well they are meeting their targets and addressing each area. Gedling Borough Council has been recognised for its actions and ambitions to tackle the climate emergency, along with Rushcliffe who both were graded the highest of the seven Nottinghamshire councils with a score of 46 per cent each.

APSE Carbon Benchmarking & Key Actions:

In order to see how much work is required to reach the council’s target by 2030 the Council’s carbon footprint baseline has been established and an additional piece of work on our grey fleet has been undertaken through a GBC staff travel survey. This will enable the council to monitor and cut emissions moving into the future.

Internal Influence

·       In the public estate, buildings, fleet, housing, parks and woodlands

·       Align procurement & commissioning with Net Zero

·       Embed climate action in decision making and business cases

·       Provision of training and building skills for climate change and energy system

External Influence

·       Leading partnerships and supporting/co-designing initiatives

·       Growing supply chains and low carbon skills and economic growth

·       Local Area Energy planning for EVs and Heat Pumps, flex and storage

·       Planning policies for net zero

·       Transport and active travel

·       Consistent recycling & waste collections

·       Public engagement

·       Project readiness

It was noted that the following projects had been implemented so far:

Buildings

·       Installation of solar panels – Civic Centre, Richard Herrod Leisure Centre, Jubilee Depot

·       Installation of energy efficient LED lighting – Civic Centre

·       Installation of pool covers and new energy efficient pumps at our leisure centres.

·       An energy efficient window replacement programme is included in the Council’s approved budget.

Car Parks

·       Installed new LED street lights.

·       EV charging points installed at High Street

·       Arnold (2 units)

·       Fredericks Avenue, Carlton (6 units)

·       Haywood Road South, Mapperley (1 unit)

·       Morrison Street, Netherfield (6 Units)

Waste and Recycling:

·       The Council is working with countywide partners to reduce contamination levels for recycling whilst increasing recycling rates.

Fleet

·       The Council is currently trialling a number of electric vehicles which aims to reduce pollution in Gedling.

Parks and Open Spaces

·       The Council has created a solar panel farm at Gedling Country Park, has a large programme of planting new trees, and is developing new wildflower pollination areas.

Planning:

·       The Council is pushing developers to install electric vehicle charging points as standard on new homes, and the Council’s Local Plan has a number of policies on climate change, energy efficient designs and renewable energy generation.

The Climate Change Officer, Sim Duhra, introduced herself and detailed the community engagement activities she  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

Report of the Head of Environment

Consideration was given to a report of the Head of Environment, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting. The report advised Members of the different agency’s responsibilities with regards to waterways and suggested the Committee form a working group to consider the issue of sewage discharge and how this could be mitigated, cross agency.

RESOLVED to:

1)    Note the responsibilities that different agencies hold regarding sewage discharging into watercourses; and

2)    Form a working group to complete a more thorough review of waterways and sewage discharge within the borough.

Report of the Democratic Services Manager

The Democratic Services Manager introduced a report, which had been circulated in advance of the meeting, providing an update on the scrutiny work programme.

RESOLVED to:

1)    Form a working group to review the health provision in the borough; and

2)    Liaise with the Council’s partners and invite them to a future meetings for an update on health and housing provisions.

None.