To receive a presentation from Amey on their performance for the past six months.
Minutes:
The Chair welcomed Mr Steve Wightman, Account Director of Amey, to the meeting.
Mr Wightman gave Members a brief presentation outlining Amey’s achievements in Gloucester relating to its contract with Gloucester City Council and which set out the challenges faced by the organisation in the future, particularly in having to achieve an extra £0.5M worth of savings in addition to the ongoing savings required in the Council’s budget.
The Committee discussed the following matters:-
1. Members expressed disappointment that they had not received a formal report with ‘RAG’ ratings on Amey’s performance. The Head of Neighbourhood Services explained that this information was provided to the Strategic Streetcare Forum and that it was his understanding that the Forum Members had shared the data with their group lead Overview and Scrutiny Members. He added that whilst there was no reason why the Committee could not have the papers, that there could be duplication if Members examined papers which had already been scrutinised by the Strategic Streetcare Forum. Members responded that they understood the value of the Strategic Streetcare Forum in monitoring the contract and ensuring that savings were on track, but that Overview and Scrutiny Committee’s role was to scrutinise the service as a whole. The Chair commented that there appeared to be a breakdown in communication as the perceived sharing of papers between the Forum and the Committee had not taken place and suggested that the papers be placed on the agenda for the next Overview and Scrutiny Committee in January.
2. A Member queried which areas of the contract would be affected in order to meet the extra £0.5M savings required. The Head of Neighbourhood Services responded waste and recycling would be the main area and referred to the Committee’s agreement to reinstate its Task and Finish Group on recycling to assist in this regard. There would be savings from the collection of additional recyclates and the opportunity would be taken to remodel rounds.
3. The Committee noted there would be no further changes to street cleansing and grass cutting regimes, but that these would continue to be monitored closely by the Strategic Streetcare Forum.
4. A Member asked whether the bagged garden waste service could be made available to a smaller group as the service was only available where 80 residents signed up to it. The Head of Neighbourhood Services said that the service needed to be self-financing but that it would be reviewed as part of the larger review of the recycling service.
5. A Member commented that the grip cleaning schedule should be carried out before heavy rain to avoid flooding. The Head of Neighbourhood Services replied that this was part of the annual winter maintenance programme which was reviewed by the Environmental Health Officer, Flood Resilience and Land Drainage.
6. Clarification was sought on the Abbey Ward World War I Memorial which Members of the Committee who represented the Abbey Ward were unaware of. Members were advised that this related to the planting of wild poppies in the Hawthorne Avenue area of the City which was part of a wider 4 year programme of commemorative planting.
9. The Committee confirmed that they wished to monitor Amey’s performance on a 6 monthly basis.
The Committee placed on record its disappointment with the performance of the representative of Amey and also wished to have it minuted that the monitoring information which had been requested on two occasions had not been presented to the Committee.
RESOLVED – That the Strategic Streetcare Forum papers be considered at the next meeting on 26 January 2015 and that the Cabinet Member for Environment be asked to attend this meeting.