Agenda, decisions and minutes

1.1  Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Brett, Ozsen, Coban, Buitekant, Mulready, Sharer and Levy.

2.1  There were no declarations of interest.

3.1  The minutes of the previous meeting held on 14 July 2016 were approved as a correct record of the meeting.

Matters arising

  Annual report of the Community Safety Team and Noise Nuisance-

Cllr Hanson indicated that she would like to be able to view a record or list of construction waivers issued by the Council and the process of obtaining a construction wavier and its enforcement.

Corporate Committee Report Template

  Cllr Sharman reiterated that the Corporate Committee report template needed to be updated so that the relevant information required by the Committee was contained within the report. 

RESOLVED to note the annual performance report for the service and the annual assessment of the Local Environmental Quality Enforcement Strategy aligned to the Cross cutting Enforcement review.

4.1  Mark Griffin introduced the report setting out the annual performance report across the environmental enforcement remit for the 2015/16 financial year and an annual strategic assessment of the Local Environmental Quality Enforcement Strategy.

4.2  Cllr Hanson referred to the overview of legal proceedings for environmental enforcement and asked if any individuals had been prosecuted.  Mr Griffin clarified that prosecutions were taken against businesses only.

4.3  Cllr Sharman reiterated that for Members to assess a service’s successes and identify areas for improvements the service reports should include clear objectives, targets, performance against these targets and future targets. Mr Griffin stated that the service’s targets and performance including a breakdown of the prosecutions were contained in appendices 1 and 2 of the submitted report.  The team had also undertaken work with businesses to enforce the new time bands for waste collections and if appropriate cases were prosecuted for non-compliance.

4.4  Cllr Sharman sought clarification regarding the prosecution oftwelve fly-tipping cases.  Mr Griffins confirmed that the prosecutions related to residential and commercial fly-tipping but the team primarily focused its prosecutions on commercial fly-tipping cases.  The Integrated Cleansing Service had also been working on housing estates to educate and reduce residential fly-tipping.

4.5  Cllr Hanson enquired about the issue of waste at Peabody Estate.  Mr Griffin indicated that the Council could liaise with the relevant Housing Association for the land to be cleared and if this action was unsuccessful the Council could issue a Community Protection Notice under the Anti-social Behaviour, Crime and Policing Act 2014.

(Cllr Fajana- Thomas arrived at the meeting at 19.00 hours.) 

RESOLVED to note the annual performance report for the service and the annual assessment of the Local Environmental Quality Enforcement Strategy aligned to the Cross cutting Enforcement review.

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RESOLVED to note the verbal update.

5.1  Mark Griffin provided a verbal update on Highways Obstruction and Enforcement

5.2  Cllr Stops commented that although the Council had addressed the issue of A-Boards on public highways within the borough, slow progress had been made by TfL on removing A- Boards from TfL owned land. Cllr Stops indicated that there were over a hundred A-Boards on public highways in Kingsland Road south of Dalston Junction, Lower Clapton Road and City Road.  He stated that once TfL achieved 80% compliance with A-Boards restrictions then the management of the road was referred to an officer and no further enforcement action was taken unless non–compliance reports increased.  Cllr Stops asked if the Council had any powers to remove the A-Boards on TfL land within the borough. 

5.3  Mr Griffin stated that TfL had a duty under the Highways Act 1980 to remove obstructions from the public highway and that TfL prioritised the roads it deemed a highway obstruction. Mr Griffin indicated that the Council’s Enforcement Team would undertake an investigation in relation to the issue of A-Boards and non-compliance on these roads. A new service would be in place from April 2017 and it would have to consider whether any formal action was necessary to address this issue.

5.4  It was agreed that the Chair would liaise with the relevant London Deputy Mayor requesting that Kingsland Road south of Dalston Junction, Lower Clapton Road and City Road be deemed priority roads for highway obstruction.

5.5  Cllr Stops highlighted the issue of the shop front trading tables and chairs licence, in particular the failure of traders to clearly display the licence at the front of the premises and the lack of enforcement action regarding any breaches.

5.6  Mr Griffin stated that it was a condition of the tables and chairs licence for the licence holder to display their licence at the front of the premises.  However, some businesses were displaying the licence inside the premises due to the trader’s personal information being on the licence.  Mr Griffin advised that discussions were underway on the possibility of having two licenses including one licence suitable for display at the front of the premises.

5.7  Members also expressed concern at the lack of enforcement action and asked officers to explore having a tables and chairs licence that did not contain any personal information and could be clearly displayed in the premises window.

5.8  Cllr Fajana –Thomas expressed concern that some pavements were not wide enough for tables and chairs making access difficult for pedestrians and buggies. Members added that some narrow footpaths were granted a licence but were unsuitable due to the lack of space for pedestrians. Cllr Fajana- Thomas enquired about the process of obtaining a shop front trading tables and chairs licence and Mr Griffin advised that the Markets Service Team carried out an assessment of the footpath to determine whether it was suitable before granting a licence. 

5.9  Members requested that the Head of Parking and Markets liaise with Markets Services  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6  WORK PROGRAMME 2016/17

6.1  Cllr Sharman stated that it was important for Committee Members’ skills, knowledge and expertise to be utilised effectively including being able to scrutinise the targets and performance of Council services.  The Committee’s report template needed to be updated to reflect the Committee requirements and Director level representation was necessary for service reports presented at meetings. 

6.2  Members expressed concern with regard to the role and current business of the Committee and requested a review of the Terms of Reference to enable the Committee to be more effective in its role.

ACTION: Stephen Rix to review the Terms of Reference in conjunction with the Director of Legal and to liaise with the Head of Governance & Business Intelligence with regard to reviewing the Corporate Committee report template to reflect the requirements of the Committee. 

RESOLVED that the Work Programme 2016/17 be noted.

7.1  There was no other urgent business.