None were received.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2015 to be submitted and signed.

Copies of the minutes of this meeting are usually available seven working days following the meeting.

(All minutes are available on the Council’s website.)

The minutes of the meeting held on 19 October 2015 were submitted and signed.

Report of the Partnerships and Performance Section Head.

The Partnerships and Performance Section Head introduced the report explaining that Quarter Two was a good comparative period to check on performance.  She invited questions whilst going through the various sections.

In response to a question from Councillor Joynes regarding item ES1 in the report and the change in definition; the Partnerships and Performance Section Head explained that the change was a national requirement which resulted in waste such as street sweeping being excluded.  Consequently, comparisons with previous years would not be meaningful until a full year’s data on the new definition was available. Quarterly comparisons for 2015/16 were, however, meaningful as the definition was now consistent.  Councillor Dhindsa commented that this seemed to make sense.

With reference to item ES5 in the report, Councillor Dhindsa asked whether the Council had control over business recycling.  The Partnerships and Performance Section Head explained that the Council did not and that businesses sourced their own recycling solutions (this would be a cost to them). There were a number of companies in the market offering this service.  Councillor Dhindsa discussed issues around waste collection and recycling in relation to the prison service.  As there were a number of Member questions about the waste and recycling service, the Chair asked when Veolia were next coming to a Panel meeting.  The Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer explained that they were not due to attend this municipal year.  The Chair asked that they be invited as soon as possible in the next municipal year.

ACTION – Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer.

In response to a question from Councillor Joynes with reference to waste and recycling for houses under multiple occupation; the Partnerships and Performance Section Head explained that a range of solutions were looked at and gave an example of a recent initiative  in Gladstone Road.  She said that houses under multiple occupation could be a problem due to the throughput of people who lived there, which meant that education on waste and recycling was an ongoing activity in certain areas.  Councillor Joynes asked a further question in relation to the number of bins that could be used; the Partnerships and Performance Section Head outlined the current process as she understood it and undertook to check on the issue and report back to the Panel. 

ACTION – Partnerships and Performance Section Head.

Councillor Williams asked whether recommendations could be made to Veolia about collections in the morning that were causing ongoing traffic problems.  The Partnerships and Performance Section Head explained that to some degree this was a difficult issue for Watford given the nature of the town; many roads were busy during the rush hour periods.  But she was aware of problems in Whippendell Road on a Monday morning between 08.30 and 09.30.  Members discussed a number of other perceived problem locations that were busy with traffic.  The Partnerships and Performance Section Head undertook to investigate whether collections could be undertaken in quieter areas during the problem times or whether they could take place earlier in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 25.

The Panel are asked to consider what themes they may wish to discuss with SLM during the visit to the Woodside Leisure Centre at the next meeting of the OSSP on 19 January 2016.

The Panel then considered the themes to be discussed with SLM during the visit to the Woodside leisure Centre at the next meeting on 19^th January 2016. It was agreed the following would be raised:

• The proactive maintenance of the leisure centres.
• Black and Minority Ethnic membership.
• Female membership.
• The potential for female only gymnasiums.
• Staffing levels and the implications for safety.
• Use made of the climbing wall.
• Standard of food in the cafeterias.

ACTION – Committee and Scrutiny Support Officer

The Scrutiny Panel is asked to review the updated actions from previous meetings.

The Chair drew the Panel’s attention to the two actions from previous meetings which were contained in the agenda.  It was noted that responses from SLM in relation to these actions would be provided at the meeting of the Outsourced Services Scrutiny Panel on 19^th January 2016.

RESOLVED:

that the update on actions be noted.