Agenda and minutes

To receive from Members, declarations of the existence of any disclosable pecuniary, or non-pecuniary, interests and the nature of those interests in relation to any agenda item.

32.1    There were no declarations of interest.

To declare if any issues to be covered in the Agenda are under party whip.

33.1    There were no declarations of party whipping.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the meeting held on Monday 7^th October 2024.

34.1    RESOLVED – That the minutes of the meeting held on 7^th October were approved and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

The opportunity is given to members of the public to put questions the Chair provided that questions do not contravene the provisions set out Council Procedure Rule 10.01.

To ask a question at this meeting, please submit it to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 30^th October or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

Questions and responses will be published at least 24 hours before the meeting. Supplementary questions may be put and answered during the meeting, subject to the relevant time limit.

35.1    There were no public questions.

The opportunity is given to members of the public to present a petition or deputation provided that any such petition or deputation does not contravene the provisions set out Council Procedure Rule 11.01.

To present a petition or deputation at this meeting, please provide the subject matter to democratic.services@gloucester.gov.uk by 12 noon on Wednesday 30^th October or telephone 01452 396203 for support.

36.1    There were no petitions or deputations.

To note the outcomes of action points arising from previous meetings.

37.1    RESOLVED – That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee NOTE the updates.

To receive an update from Ubico on waste and recycling service delivery in Gloucester.

To follow.

38.1    The Managing Director of Ubico introduced the report and explained that Ubico were responsible for delivering waste and recycling, street cleaning and grounds maintenance services on behalf of the council. She reminded Members that this session intended to focus on waste and recycling services, with a further session scheduled to take place in the Spring to cover the grounds maintenance element of the service.

38.2    In providing an overview of the report, the Managing Director of Ubico advised that the current accuracy rate for waste and recycling collection stood at 99.96% which was in line with good industry standards. She noted that there were industry-wide challenges with HGV driver recruitment, however Ubico had undertaken work to ensure that internal staff were aware of the training opportunities available to them to become fleet drivers, and that the organisation was seeing an improvement in the number of HGV drivers following a recruitment campaign.

38.3    In respect of bin deliveries, the Managing Director drew Members’ attention to the fact that 100% of bin deliveries were carried out on time in the first 5 months of the reporting period. This said, she informed Members that absence rates in the frontline crews had meant that other teams had been asked to support frontline service delivery, and this had resulted in a drop in the September figure. Members were advised that one complaint had fallen outside of the response timeframe however this was an exceptional occurrence with all other complaints having been responded to on time.

38.4    Reflecting on the increase in dog ownership in recent years, Councillor Conder queried whether Ubico had been able to increase the number of dog waste bins, and asked for further detail around the frequency of such collections. The Managing Director of Ubico confirmed that Ubico and the council were working on a project to map the location of all of the bins in the city, which would provide data around which bins required more frequent collection.

38.5    Councillor Conder asked whether it was possible to share the updated schedule of litter bin collections with Members on completion of the mapping exercise. The Managing Director of Ubico confirmed that this was one of the aims of the project.

38.6    In response to a query from the Chair regarding the frequency of litter bin collection in Abbeydale and the wider city, the Managing Director of Ubico advised that the organisation worked within the specification set by the council. She explained that one of the objectives of the bin mapping project was to ensure that bins were being emptied efficiently and on time, and confirmed that resources were deployed to empty bins which needed emptying more frequently as quickly as possible.

38.7    The Chair asked whether the locations of all bins in the city were known to Ubico staff. The Managing Director of Ubico confirmed that staff were aware of the location of the bins, however the bin mapping exercise aimed to update the list.

38.8    In response to an additional  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member for Resources seeking to outline the reason for the disposal of two properties purchased as part of the Council’s Temporary Accommodation Acquisition Programme and delegate authority to enable the disposal.

39.1    The Cabinet Member for Resources, Councillor Wilson, introduced the report and provided an overview of the key headlines. He explained that the report concerned the decision to dispose of properties no 2 and no 8, which had been purchased by the council under the previous administration to convert into Houses of Multiple Occupation (HMOs), as part of the council’s Temporary Accommodation Acquisition Programme.

39.2    Councillor Wilson noted that the policy behind the decision was covered in a separate report which was due to be considered by Cabinet in the coming weeks, and was part of the administration’s commitment to control the proliferation of HMOs in areas of the city which already had a high concentration.

39.3    Councillor Wilson stated that at present, there were not enough family homes in Gloucester, and that HMOs had the potential to reduce low-cost opportunities for home ownership, reduce opportunities for affordable rent, and result in a loss to community balance. He confirmed that the report proposed to sell the properties as soon as possible and buy alternative properties which were more suitable.

39.4    Councillor S. Chambers expressed the view that although the report concerned the disposal of assets, the proposed decision would have a critical impact on housing residents in need of temporary accommodation. She asked how many households were currently in temporary accommodation in Gloucester, how many were currently being housed in hotels and how many had spent over 6 weeks in hotel accommodation. Councillor Wilson confirmed that as of the end of September, there were 189 people currently in temporary accommodation, with 80 of those people being single people and 109 being families. He confirmed that 37 of those residents were currently in B and B accommodation,

39.5    Councillor S. Chambers asked what wards the properties purchased under the Temporary Accommodation Acquisition policy were situated in. Councillor Wilson advised that there were 6 such properties in Kingsholm and Wotton, 4 in Podsmead and 3 in Moreland. He further advised that currently in conveyancing, there were a further 2 properties in Barton and Tredworth and 1 Moreland and Grange respectively.

39.6    Councillor S. Chambers asked how many of those properties were HMOs. Councillor Wilson confirmed that there were 4 in total, including the properties referenced in the report. He confirmed that the other properties were situated on Stroud Road and Kingsholm Road and were already HMOs rather than properties which needed to be converted.

39.7    In response to a query from Councillor S. Chambers as to alternative cost-effective solutions to providing temporary accommodation, Councillor Wilson stated that alternatives included flats, apartments and former commercial properties.

39.8    Councillor S. Chambers stated that the report proposed to overturn a joint report of the former Cabinet Member for Performance and Resources and Cabinet Member for Planning and Housing. She raised concerns that the cost implications were not clear in the report and asked for clarification on the impact on services as a result of the proposed decision. Councillor Wilson referred Members to the narrative in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 39.

To receive the latest version of the Committee’s work programme and the Council’s Forward Plan.

40.1    RESOLVED – That the Overview and Scrutiny Committee NOTE the Work Programme.

Monday 2^nd December 2024 at 6.30pm in Civic Suite, North Warehouse.

Monday 2^nd December 2024 at 6.30pm in Civic Suite, North Warehouse.