Agenda and minutes

Councillor Pascall for Councillor Spooner.

RESOLVED:

That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2024, be approved as a correct record.

·         Disclosable Pecuniary Interests

·         Other Interests

There were none.

(At least two clear days notice required, in writing, to the Proper Officer in accordance with Procedure Rule 15).

There were none.

Members considered a report which provided further information of the work undertaken by the Council’s Environmental Health service in responding to concerns about general conditions, including damp and mould, in properties within the private rented sector.

Members thanked Officers for the report and for the inclusion of comments made at the previous meeting, they welcomed the focus on Class 2 hazards and suggested that the leaflet could be expanded to include more on “rights”.

Members expressed concern over the length of time it took for calls to be answered and suggested KPI’s be introduced to monitor. They also requested the advice to use bleach be verified.

Members discussed sign posting for Your Housing tenants and the number of properties which had damp and mould issues. Members requested data to reflect how many properties had been supported and the comparative to the previous year.

Officers advised that funding had been obtained to purchase specialist products which would be given to properties.

RESOLVED:

·         That the report be noted and considered.

·         That annual data be returned to this committee.

·         That a link to Your Housing be added to the Council website.

Members received a report to update them on the current street cleansing services operation across Staffordshire Moorlands areas delivered through Alliance Environmental Services Ltd (AES).

The Council has a statutory duty to keep highways and adopted Council land clean to particular a standard.  The delivery of street cleansing services was through the Council’s controlled company AES, with Leisure and Environmental Services commissioning officers monitoring outputs against service agreements and performance measures.

Members requested data for bus shelters, street furniture and weed killing schedules for Cheadle. They further requested data for the numbers of bins in the District, the number of scheduled visits to empty each bin and the frequency of road sweeping. Members were concerned by fly tipping and requested data to show if the volume of waste per incident had increased in comparison to historical data.

Members suggested that a review of the locations of bins be carried out to ensure a balance across the District, enforcement for dog fouling be increased and that a proactive approach to maintaining street furniture be adopted by AES. They further suggested that a schedule be adopted to cleanse the alleyways where they were known to be urination hot spots.

RESOLVED:

·         That the report be received.

·         That members raise specific location queries to Officers directly.

·         That a full report be bought to the next meeting.

Members received a report to update them on the progress made since establishing Alliance Leisure Limited to operate the Council’s Leisure Centres and associated services.

Members commented that the Cheadle Leisure Centre transition appeared to go well.

Members suggested the following:

·         Regular reports be presented to this committee

·         That the usage of the centres be monitored

·         That Alliance Leisure produce customer satisfaction surveys

·         That town councils are fully informed of changes to leisure centres

·         Swimming lessons be included in the reporting figures

·         That a detailed set of KPI’s (process and performance indicators) be established to monitor progress

RESOLVED:

·         That the report be received.

·         That the committee receive future reports at regular intervals.

Members expressed disappointment that garden waste had not been discussed at this committee.

RESOLVED:

·         That Garden Waste be bought to the next meeting.

·         That Green Space and Tourism be added to the June meeting.

·         That Alliance Leisure be added to the work programme.

·         That Damp and Mould be added to the work programme on an annual cycle.

·         That the work programme be approved.

The Chair moved:

That pursuant to Section 100A (2) and (4) of the Local Government Act, 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting in view of the nature of the business to be transacted or nature of the proceedings whereby it is likely that exempt information as defined in Section 100A (3) of the Act would be disclosed to the public in breach of the obligation of confidence or exempt information as defined in Section 100I (1) of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the Act would be disclosed to the public by virtue of the paragraphs indicated.

RESOLVED:

That the exempt minutes of the meeting held on 6 November 2024, be approved  as correct record.