Agenda and minutes

Apologies were received from Councillor Solanki.

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

Members were asked to disclose any pecuniary or other interest they may have in the business on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Chair announced that he would take the agenda items out of order, starting with the Textiles Presentation.

The minutes of the meeting of the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Commission held on 4 October 2022 are attached and Members are asked to confirm them as a correct record.

AGREED:

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Neighbourhood Services Scrutiny Commission held 4 October 2022 be confirmed as a correct record.

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

The Monitoring Officer reported that none had been received.

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

The following questions have been received:

From Robert Ball

Q1.

“Have Colour Dyers UK to submitted an odour management plan (OMP) to the EA?”

Q2.

“Will the OMP require any plant changes, and when will the EA audit Colour Dyers' to make sure they are applying all appropriate measures to control the odour?”

Q3.

“How further forward are N&PCT with the suggestion on monitoring of the Stena Stack with Colour Dyer? It's 15 years since monitoring of Stena Stack for benzene in 2006.”

Q4.

“What regulatory options are available to get the monitoring of the Stena Stack carried out by Colour Dyers?”

Questions 5 and 6 are based on discussions at the Webcast 22/3/2022 HWSC Meeting.

Q5.

“Has the chair of the scrutiny commission or anyone else on the City Council written to Environment Agency to ask them to monitor and analysis discharge

from the stack at Colour Dyers”?

Q6.

“Has the chair of the health scrutiny commission (1) or anyone else on the council made a request to the cabinet officer responsible seeking funding for some independent monitoring of Colour Dyers?”

Q7.

“Are you aware if the council is considering or has plans to encourage engagement between Colour Dyers and local people who are affected by their activities?”

The Chair announced that a number of questions had been received as set out in the agenda and these would be taken during the Textiles Factories – Pollution report item.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report on Noise and Pollution Services – Dashboard Performance.

 The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a presentation on the Noise and Pollution Teams Overview and Performance Dashboard.

The Deputy City Mayor for Culture, Leisure, Sport and Regulatory Servicesintroduced the report informing how noise pollution was being monitored and investigated and  noting that noise pollution could be detrimental to people’s health.

The Head of Neighbourhoods and Environmental Services presented the item, it was noted that:

·       The Noise and Pollution Control (NPC) Team investigate complaints of statutory nuisance.

·       Statutory nuisance can be caused by noise, odour, smoke, dust arising from one property that materially interferes with the enjoyment of others. This could be for residential or commercial premises.

·       The monitoring service runs Monday to Friday during office hours and Wednesday to Saturday nights until 02.00 hours.

·       Almost 4000 noise complaints were received between 2021-22. This figure included complaints with multiple calls about ongoing issues.

·       Residents could submit a complaint online at https://my.leicester.gov.uk/

·       .

·       The largest number of complaints related to  loud music, which equated to over 1000 complaints in 2021-22.

·       The noise team worked alongside the licensing team to tackle  loud music complaints relating to bars and pubs.

·       160 complaints were received regarding bonfires in 2021-22.

·       The target response time to complaint calls was  1 hour. 77% of call outs were cancelled before the team arrived on site.

·       Of all the calls received in 2021-22, 91% were actioned within the hour.

·       A case study completed on a venue in September 2022 resulted in 12 pieces of sound equipment being seized, a review of the premises licence and charges of £800 to get the equipment back.

In response to Members’ questions, it was noted that:

·       The increase in domestic violence was being dealt with in partnership between the noise and pollution team and CrASBU. If the circumstances showed sufficient evidence of a noise complaint in its own right it would be actioned for prosecution. If safety was involved then CrASBU would take their own action separately and use evidence provided from the noise and pollution team.

·       Leicester City Council was one of the few Councils that still operated a telephone system for noise complaints and offered a one hour response. If the noise had stopped before an officer were to be present, it would be advised to notify the noise team as the officer could be diverted to the next complaint.

AGREED:

That the Commission receive a  report over view of the Noise and Pollution teams work in six months’ time. 

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submits a report on Street Cleansing.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services submitted a presentation on the Neighbourhood Services Litter and Street Cleansing Strategy for Leicester.

The Deputy City Mayor for Environment and Transportation introduced the item.

The Head of Parks and Open Spaces presented the report, it was noted that:

·       Leicester City Council (LCC) have a statutory duty to maintain DEFRA statutory requirements for Litter, detritus, Cleansing Services also undertake graffiti, fly posting removal, abandoned vehicles, public toilet maintenance, needle collection, out of hours cover, gum and stain removal.

·       DEFRA statutory requirements were bound under section 89(7) of the Environmental Protection ACT 1990, “To ensure that their land (or land for which they are responsible) is, so far as is practicable, kept clear of litter and refuse.”

·       The reports for 2021-22 citywide performance showed that Leicester was operating above the national standard in all areas.

·       Leicester’s 21 wards are inspected on a quarterly basis, 16 random locations are inspected for Litter, Detritus, Graffiti and flyposting.

·       Standards were achieved with support from the Street Cleaning teams, made up of 58 staff across 8 teams who clean 3000 streets per week.

·       For the last 3 years, LCC had been in operation with BID Leicester on City Centre Gum Buster, with an average of 500 gum stains removed daily.

·       Leicester has 1752 multi-purpose litter and dog waste bins, which are installed, repaired and maintained by the Cleansing Services Team.

·       In 2021, 138k of capital funding was used to refurbish the public toilets at Welford Road, Humberstone Park, Western Park, Knighton Lane East, East Park Road, Abbey Park and Knighton Park.

·       In 2020 self-contained graffiti removal vehicles were introduced. The data for 2021 shows that 6457 tags were removed from 1528 locations.

In response to Members’ questions, it was noted that:

·       All needle data is collected,  LCC work closely with the police and all data was recorded on a database.

·       The public toilets on Infirmary Square and Belgrave Road were closed down due to misuse and a hotspot for needles and drug paraphernalia. 

·       Ongoing monitoring in key areas within the city centre. Chewing gum was a nationwide issue, LCC were currently working on ideas such as messages being displayed on electronic billboards and the campaign was also sponsored by chewing gum manufacturers.

Members expressed thanks to the Cleansing Team for keeping Leicester clean.

AGREED:

That the Commission receive a copy of the report on Street Cleansing for 2022.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental Services to give a brief verbal update on the position.

The Director of Neighbourhood and Environmental services gave a verbal update on the recent events occurring in Leicester East

It was noted that:

·       The Diwali period was successful and over 40,000 people gathered on Belgrave Road peacefully to take part in organised events.

·       Belgrave Neighbourhood Centre and Library had also resumed to usual capacity and this was taken as public confidence with residents returning to those facilities.

·       Leicester City Council (LCC) continued to work with Public Sector Partners, Neighbouring Authorities and Blue Light Services.

·       Work was continuing to promote young people coming forward as community volunteers and leaders.

·       Leicestershire Police had made 73 arrests in relation to the May and September incidents.

·       Intelligence was key to supporting Leicestershire Police ongoing work, and they had requested the public to provide information directly to them.

·       LCC were continuing to work with the Central Government and the Home Office to support future work and learning from what had happened in Leicester and how that would reflect on the national picture.

Councillor Clair, Deputy City Mayor, Culture Leisure and Tourism thanked the Director for the update and noted that the Abbey Park bonfire event had a record turnout of 26000 people.

In response to Members questions, it was noted that:

·       LCC was continuing to work closely with schools and colleges to review the Prevent agenda.

·       Police liaison officers were visiting schools and colleges daily, to try and identify any early signs of extremism.

·       The co-ordinating group had been meeting every 14 days, rather than every 7 as they felt the risk was declining.

·       The situation had shown signs of stabilization, although there was still some tensions in the city.

·       At this stage there were no proposed timelines for the review.

AGREED:

1.     That all Commission Members receive an update by email on the development of the situation.

2.     That inquiries into the causes of the situation are re-established on a cross community basis, at the earliest possible opportunity.

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 Chair noted that any suggestions for future items should be emailed to himself or the Scrutiny Policy Officer.

Members requested an update on the re-tendering of the Biffa Contract be added to the work programme.

AGREED:

That an update on Aylestone Dyeworks and the re-tendering of the Biffa Contract be added to the work programme for scheduling to a future Commission meeting.

With there being no further business, the meeting closed at 7.30pm.