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Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Meeting Room G.01, Ground Floor, City Hall, 115 Charles Street, Leicester, LE1 1FZ

Contact: Anita Patel, Scrutiny Policy Officer, tel: 0116 454 6342  Aqil Sarang, Democratic Support Officer, tel: 0116 454 5591

Items
No. Item

43.

APOLOGIES FOR ABSENCE

Minutes:

A minute silence was observed for the recent passing of the Chair of the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Commission Councillor Jean Khote.

 

The Monitoring Officer reported that apologies for absence had been received for Councillor Solanki and Assistant City Mayor Councillor Master.

44.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST

Members are asked to declare any interests they may have in the business to be discussed.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

45.

MINUTES OF THE PREVIOUS MEETING pdf icon PDF 95 KB

The minutes of the meeting of the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Commission held on 15 January 2020 are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

 

Minutes:

AGREED:

That the minutes from the meeting held on 15 January 2020 were agreed as a correct record.

46.

PETITIONS

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any petitions submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer reported that no petitions had been received.

47.

QUESTIONS, REPRESENTATIONS AND STATEMENTS OF CASE

The Monitoring Officer to report on the receipt of any questions, representations and statements of case submitted in accordance with the Council’s procedures.

Minutes:

The Monitoring Officer reported that there were no questions, representations or statements of case received.

48.

NEIGHBOURHOOD SERVICES DIGITAL OFFER HIGHLIGHTING PUBLIC ACCESS COMPUTERS AND THE REPLACEMENT PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 2 MB

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a presentation highlighting Neighbourhood Services digital offer at neighbourhood buildings.

 

Members of the Commission are recommended to receive the presentation and pass any comments to the Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services for consideration.

Minutes:

The Director of Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services delivered a presentation updating the Commission on the Service’s digital offer at Neighbourhood Services buildings.

 

The presentation outlined the Council’s Neighbourhood Service’s community and library services to people that lived and worked in Leicester.

 

It was noted that different venues had different uses depending on the facilities available. Customer surveys carried out had helped build a rich database on the range of demographics that use the facilities.

 

During the discussions Members of the Commission raised their concerns with the reduction of opening hours at the newly refurbished Highfields Library. It was noted that there were no actual reduction in hours, rather the library opened an hour earlier as requested and closed an hour earlier at the end of the day. This was something that was being trialled and could be reversed. It was also noted that particular facilities around the city had remote access where ward councillors could benefit when a premises officer was not on duty.

 

Members of the Commission asked whether there were still printing cost to service users across the city’s libraries. It was noted that the 20 pence printing cost was to recover the cost of print cartridges.

 

Members were concerned with the safety of the users at the libraries on computers, it was suggested that it would be useful if a pop-up message appeared when logging into the system to inform vulnerable users and to provide parents with information booklets, who have children that use the facilities. Officers noted that in terms of security, it was something that could be looked into to support campaigns. Although the service were unable to deliver a warning message it was something that could be developed. Filters were in place so that not all sites could be accessed, and parents had a level of responsibility as they were given a letter once a child had registered.

 

Members of the Commission were pleased with and congratulated the team for the range of facilities provided at St Barnabas Library in North Evington. Members requested that a poster or signage be used to keep people informed on what services are on offer at the library.

 

Following the recent passing of Councillor Jean Khote who was the Chair of the Commission and the local Ward Councillor for the North Evington area, Members of the Commission suggested that the carpets at the St Barnabas Library were in need of refurbishment. It was something that the former Councillor had been campaigning for and would be a tribute to her efforts in the community that she will be missed in.

 

It was noted that the Digital Skills Enrolment was only available at locations where there was a demand for it and that courses did rotate from one location to another. The Life in Britain course was still available at Libraries for free and had been supported for over 10 years.

 

AGREED:

1)    That the Commission supports and praises the investment into new computers and upgrading of digital services in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 48.

49.

NOISE CONTROL - THE WORK OF THE COUNCIL'S NOISE CONTROL TEAM pdf icon PDF 252 KB

The Director of Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services will submit a presentation on the work of the Council’s Noise Control Team.

 

Members of the Commission are recommended to receive the presentation and pass any comments to the Director of Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services for consideration.

Minutes:

The Director of Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services delivered a presentation on the City Councils Noise Control Team which provided an overview of the noise and Pollution Control monitoring Service, Enforcement Policies and statistics.

 

During the discussions Members of the Commission thanked the Noise Control Team for the presentation as it helped Members get a better understanding of the team’s role.

 

Members were concerned whether the Noise Control Team came across issues with both mental and physical health, it was noted that the team were aware that residents may have underlaying health issues that impact on behaviour and worked alongside Housing Officers and STAR workers also supported their work. Figures indicated that the number of reports differed to the different seasons with the reported figures peaking in the summer with outdoor parties/events and that the student numbers also effected the data.

 

Members raised their concerns with particular hotspots around the city in parks, car parks and residential areas where residents had raised complaints of groups of people congregating in cars causing a nuisance to locals. Officers noted that parks around the city had Park Wardens to monitor these concerns, it was difficult for the Noise Control Team to witness these but would pass these concerns onto other agencies such as CrASBU who deal with anti-social behaviour and the police were also a point of contact to resolve matters.

 

Members were concerned that the waiting time for the noise recording monitors were prolonged and this was letting residents down. It was noted that although here was a waiting time for the noise recording monitors, once a report had been made Officers were out and the service were still in a useful position to deliver swift service.

 

It was noted that after a spending review in 2016 the service lost £1 million but had still retained the service. Neighbouring cities didn’t have the service available and Leicester City Council were in a unique position where all reports of nuisance were responded to accordingly.

 

AGREED:

1)    That the Director of Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services be commended for the excellent work delivered by the Noise Control Team;

2)    That the Noise Control Team be encouraged to raise awareness of their work through youth groups and schools;

3)    And that the presentation be noted.

 

50.

WORK PROGRAMME AND TASK GROUP UPDATE pdf icon PDF 154 KB

The current work programme for the Commission is attached.  The Commission is asked to consider this and make comments and/or amendments as it considers necessary.

 

The Scrutiny Policy Officer will provide an update on work on the task group.  

Minutes:

The Scrutiny Policy Officer updated Members of the Commission on the continuing work on the task group. Members were informed that the Scrutiny Policy Officer would be sending out a progress on updates to Members of the Commission in the near future.

51.

ANY OTHER URGENT BUSINESS

Minutes:

There being no items of urgent business, the meeting closed at 7:13pm.