Agenda item

To consider a report of the Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods on an update on progress towards the establishment of a new locality based Environmental Service and its delegation to Area Committees, including relevant information relevant information relating to the current review of street cleansing services.

RESOLVED-

a) That the contents of the report and appendices be noted.

b) That this Committee notes the progress towards the establishment of a new locality based Environmental Service and the structure for the WNW Locality Team.

c) That the progress towards the delegation to Area Committees including initial resource, budget and performance information to support the development of the first Service Level Agreement (SLA) be noted.

d) That approval be given to the principles (as set out in section 36) on which to base the operational and service delivery proposals to be included in the Service Level Agreement (SLA) and to agree that this will form the basis for the July workshops with the final SLA to be presented at the September meeting for approval.

e) That approval be given to the revised role and membership of the Member Environment Sub-group for Inner NW Area Committee to manage the detailed oversight of the delegated services with officer support.

The Director of Environment and Neighbourhoods submitted a report on an update on progress towards the establishment of a new locality based Environmental Service and its delegation to Area Committees, including relevant information relating to the current review of street cleansing services.

Appended to the report were copies of the following documents for the information/comment of the meeting:-

Area Committee Function Schedules Extract (Appendix A refers)
Environmental Services – West North West Locality Team Structure (Appendix B refers)

Jason Singh, Environmental Locality Manager for West North West presented the report and responded to Members’ queries and comments.

Detailed discussion ensued on the contents of the report and appendices.

In summary, specific reference was made to the following issues:-

Clarification of the West North West Locality Team Structure with concerns expressed that staffing described as the Headingley Team provided support to the entire student area or Area of Housing Mix, which included parts of all four wards in the Inner North West

(The Environmental Locality Manager responded and outlined details for the deployment of resources. It was noted that the structure as presented included staffing for all of the West North West of Leeds)

The need for the structure to address the balance of need and to adhere to strict rules of governance with fairness and transparency
The need for the Area Committee to be supplied with a map of ‘hotspots’ and to be proactive in defending the proposals and resources relevant to their areas

(The Environmental Locality Manager responded and informed the meeting that such detail would be available for discussion at the July workshop)

Clarification of how this structure would be monitored and the need to work more closely with Housing/ALMOs

(The Environmental Locality Manager responded and outlined the proposed reporting structure arrangements. It was further noted that discussions were ongoing with the Chief Executive of West North West homes Leeds with a view to working more closely with Parks and Countryside and the ALMO)

The need to be clear on areas of responsibility to ensure that services were achieved effectively