Agenda item

Report of the Leader of the Council detailing the business undertaken across the Council since 16th November 2016.

The report of the Leader of the Council was submitted setting out the details of the business undertaken by the Executive.

 

The Leader and the Cabinet made statements and responded to questions.

 

The following questions were submitted in accordance with Council Procedure Rule 11.1. 

 

1.  “To Let” Boards

Question from Councillor Claisse to Councillor Shields

 

The Cabinet Member recently introduced a number of measures to reduce the number of ‘To Let’ boards used by landlords to advertise their properties.  These have been proved to be ineffective.  What further action will the Cabinet member take to resolve this problem?

 

Answer

 

The law allows Letting Boards to be used legitimately. However there are occasions when they remain after the time when they should be removed. In such cases the enforcement of Letting Boards is undertaken using planning legislation. The HMO Licensing team are assisting with the enforcement of the planning law around letting boards with some success.

To check the status of each letting board requires the Council to contact the letting agency and confirm whether the property is being marketed, and the date that it has been let. Only then can formal action be taken against unauthorised boards. The Council is at liberty to write to all letting agents within the city to remind them of the regulations and that there may be spot checks done on properties that we have reason to believe may have unauthorised letting boards. The Planning Enforcement team does not currently have the resources to undertake a targeted campaign against letting boards. With current resources in the Licensing and Planning teams it is not possible to undertake high-profile, proactive campaigns to address the issue of Letting Boards in particular areas. However, if members are aware of specific properties where residents are aware that Letting Boards are breaching planning legislation then we can investigate these.

Furthermore the Licensing and Planning teams have looked at whether an article 7 direction could be pursued to enable further control over Letting Boards, as has been done by some other councils such as in Newcastle-upon-Tyne and Brighton & Hove. Again, to introduce this would require significant resources in place to scope, implement and enforce the direction 

 

2.  Disabled Adaptations Budget

Question from Councillor Laurentto Councillor Payne

 

I note that the Disabled Adaptations Budget is to be increased to meet the needs of ageing residents.  Will it now be Council Policy to update and install disabled exit and access to the older blocks of flats and can a rolling programme be put in place?

 

 

Answer

 

The disabled adaptations budget is designed to enable adaptations to individual properties to meet the needs of the resident.

 

The council owns and manages a large number of low rise ‘walk up’ blocks which were not originally constructed with lifts. In order to provide full disabled access to these blocks, lifts would be required. Budget constraints mean that a rolling programme cannot currently be implemented but we are looking in detail at ways that we might be able to install lifts to some blocks as part of our ongoing improvement programme.

 

3.  Bitterne Precinct Public Toilets

Question from Councillor Laurent to Councillor Hammond

 

There have been a number of complaints about the Bitterne Precinct toilet facilities. In view of the refurbishment of the Precinct will it be Council Policy to upgrade the toilets?

 

Answer

 

There are no plans to refurbish the toilets as part of the current public realm works being carried out at Bitterne Precinct.

 

As colleagues will be aware the Executive is committed to delivering a new public services hub in Bitterne. Funding has been secured from the One Public Estate programme supported by an allocation in the general fund capital programme approved in February to carry out a detailed business plan and options appraisal for the hub. As part of this options appraisal we will consider options for the future provision of toilet facilities in Bitterne.

 

In the meantime I have asked officers to look into bringing forward some repairs to improve the customer experience.

 

4.  Car Parking

Question from Councillor Houghton to Councillor Rayment

 

 

On the basis of the decision to reduce the maximum free parking in a number of council district car parks to two hours parking, have you considered what impact this might have on nearby residential roads? In particular, workers who may have previously made use of the five hour free car parks, may now avoid paying to park by using on street parking on residential roads.

 

Answer

 

Customers including workers who previously took advantage of the 5 hours free parking will have the option to park for 2 hours free or pay a fee for a longer stay. The purpose of the District Centre car parks is principally to provide parking for visitors to shops and other businesses in support of the local economy.

 

Employees who may opt to park in residential streets as a result of the reduction of the free parking period from 5 to 2 hours has not been specifically evaluated, but it is not anticipated that there will be a significant overspill onto nearby residential roads.

 

5.  Springhill Catholic Primary School

Question from Councillor Moulton to Councillor Paffey

 

Can the Cabinet Member provide an update on what additional capital support will be provided to Springhill Catholic Primary following the Deputation to full council in February and the subsequent meeting between the council and the school that followed?

 

Answer

 

A meeting has been arranged between the school and Council Leader, Councillor Chaloner and Councillor Paffey to discuss a way forward as agreed at the last full council. This meeting is scheduled for Monday 13th March.  A verbal update will be provided at Full Council.

 

Cllr Paffey provided a verbal update at Full Council and advised that the City Council would be providing a space audit to ensure better use of existing areas, a modular build for the period that the school has an extra class and legal advice in relation to the legal covenant on the land which provided a practical solution within reasonable resources all of which the school were happy to accept.

 

6.  Former Civil Service Ground

Question from Councillor Moulton to Councillor Letts

 

Is it still the ambition of the Council to allow some public access to the former Civil Service Ground in Freemantle and when will this happen?

 

Answer

 

As Members will recall this land was originally acquired under a Compulsory Purchase Order for educational use.

 

A pilot project is currently underway with Testlands to work with schools to encourage greater use of the land.

 

I have, however, agreed with officers that we will work with the community to support them in establishing a community trust to manage the land in a way that will allow appropriate access by schools, community and sports groups and the general public in the event that the Testlands pilot does not deliver a robust model for the ongoing management.

 

Officers will be meeting with representatives of the community and further details and timescales will be provided after that.

 

In addition Cllr Letts provided a verbal update to Full Council following a request for a deputation that had been received and refused as the request was out of time however the Leader had met with the deputee prior to the Council meeting and reported that discussion had taken place and the deputee informed that a one year trial with the charitable sector for school sports had been agreed but should that not be successful then there would be a community asset transfer put in place in order for the site to be run as a community trust.

 

7.  Head Start Lottery Funding

Question from Councillor Moulton to Councillor Paffey

 

What lessons have been learnt from the failure of the administration to secure £10m of lottery money for the Head Start scheme?

 

Answer

 

The successful Headstart Stage 2 programme from 2014-16 focused on support for children and young people at risk of developing mental health problems.  2,399 children were involved from four participating schools, with 700 children benefiting from activities and 100 adults receiving emotional first-aid training.

6 of the 12 pilot areas, including Southampton, did not receive Stage 3 funding. Whilst the Big Lottery highlighted positives such as our robust needs assessment, good alignment with our integration agenda, locality-based approach, and peer mentor scheme, there are also lessons to be learnt which we are acting upon.

We have:

·  established a clear strategy in our Children and Young People’s Participation and Engagement Strategy (2016-2020), one of the core aims of which is to enhance co-production and strengthen our evidence-based approaches so they are strongly led and shaped by young people

·  appointed a new project manager and strategic lead

·  received funding from the Big Lottery for 12 days’ expert consultancy to support the implementation of the Strategy

·  continued to develop workforce ?training and group work for family and CYP interventions such as Emotional First Aid, the core framework of HeadStart Southampton.

·  developed a CAMHS (Children & Adolescent Mental Health Service) transformation plan

·  improved our school offer, to include a Healthy Schools Coordinator who will build on the Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing audit

·  accepted (subject to a BLF support grant) to participate in the national HeadStart Common Measurement Framework which would provide a qualitative comparator data set for our schools and commissioners.

 

8.  Government Grant to support Homeless People in the City

Question from Councillor Moulton to Councillor Payne

 

Can the Cabinet Member detail how £400k government grant to help homeless people in Southampton will be spent?

 

Answer

 

The project will tackle the complex, multiple factors that can drive drinkers and/or illicit drug users towards a life of entrenched rough sleeping. People who only intermittently engage with existing services or frequently fail to progress in their supported pathway, and whose behaviours result in on-going costs.  The project will complement current provision and deliver over 24 months:

·  Intensive therapeutic intervention to support 40 adults new to rough sleeping or at risk of becoming homeless due to continuing addiction issues;

·  Dedicated assessment accommodation and access to private sector housing options;

·  A new 24-hour on-call crisis response service;

·  Personalised support plans and flexible personalisation budgets;

·  Improved risk assessment tools and discharge protocols;

·  Training for staff working with rough sleepers on new psychological approaches to tackling substance misuse.

The project will provide accommodation support, prevention, early intervention and resettlement.  A team of 5 specialist support workers, seconded from homeless related services to Two Saints Day Centre, will scope all adults at risk of rough sleeping in the city and provide person-centred support within dedicated assessment accommodation provided by Two Saints.  A personalised support plan with flexible personalisation budget will enable tailored solutions, including substance misuse treatment, mental health support, tenancy sustainment, budgeting, skills, and employment.  The project will work with housing, hospital discharge and prison release to improve discharge protocols and manage transition to accommodation with treatment. It will put in place a single system to capture data required to measure target outcomes across agencies.

 

9.  Mayflower Park

Question from Councillor Moulton to Councillor Letts

 

Is it the Administration's ?policy ambition to still see a mixed use development on Mayflower Park?

 

Answer

 

It remains the administration’s policy and a priority to see a mixed use development at Royal Pier Waterfront including improvements to Mayflower Park.

 

The council is working closely with fellow landowners, ABP and The Crown Estate and development partners RPW Limited to bring forward a viable scheme to achieve planning scheme. This is however a complex development and an important site on which we will not compromise on quality.

 

10. AWC

Question from Councillor Fitzhenry to Councillor Rayment

 

When will AWC start?

 

Answer

 

From 5 June 2017.

 

11. Recycling Rates

Question from Councillor Fitzhenry to Councillor Rayment

 

Can the Cabinet Member advise what is being done to increase our recycling rates as a City?

 

Answer

 

Changing general waste collections from weekly to every other week (AWC), will increase the city’s recycling rate as it encourages residents to think a bit more about what to put in their bins on any given week.  AWC will be implemented from June 2017 and will be supported by a comprehensive communications plan, information direct to resident’s homes and a programme of roadshows across the city.

Recycling officers undertake a programme of work in schools to encourage recycling through pester power, with a popular recycling competition recently having been held.  This also includes work with resident and community groups. 

A programme of targeted work through door knocking is undertaken each week, along with following up ‘red events’ (wrong items in the recycling bin) reported by crews. 

The website includes comprehensive information and regular stay connected bulletins are produced for residents and schools.  A campaign is being undertaken using small JC Decaux sites in the city centre to highlight what goes in the recycling bin. 

Meridian TV are currently filming with the cooperation of the Council to promote how the City could recycle better.

 

12.Access to services via the phone system

Question from Councillor Fitzhenry to Councillor Hammond

 

Residents and councillors are continuing to complain about access to services via the phone system. What is being done to resolve this/these issue (s)?

 

Answer

 

We appreciate that some of the changes to the existing telephone system has caused concern amongst some residents and councillors, resulting in 37 known complaints out of 650,000 calls.

Since the full council motion, I’ve met with Customer Services weekly to discuss feedback and some of the changes include:

We’ve received feedback that the ability to speak to an advisor appears hidden. To ensure accessible services for the digitally vulnerable, we’re launching a pilot to the new agreed approach to telephony. This will be live by the 17th March.

Those that are digitally included are always encouraged to self-serve online, as it is the most convenient and quickest interaction with the Council for our residents.

 

13.Progress 8 Score

Question from Councillor J Baillie to Councillor Paffey

 

Southampton's Progress 8 score was below the national average last year and whilst there were some excellent results for a few schools such as St George's, several were below the floor standard. Is anything being done to support these schools?

 

Answer

 

There is a significant programme of monitoring, challenge, support and intervention reflecting our priority to raise standards at Key Stage 4. The overall city Progress 8 score masks the fact that, for many of our secondary schools, the results picture was in fact an improving one.

For those maintained schools where results were notably below average, including for Progress 8, there has been a concerted programme of regular monitoring visits by a phase expert, who as a former HMI, has rigorously assessed the schools’ current performance and capacity. Three of these schools have been found to be making strong progress, with foundations firmly in place to see improvements in the coming years. Where one school has not been improving fast enough, the local authority is taking decisive and marked intervention action.

Through the Secondary Education Forum (SEF), secondary headteachers are coming together to pool expertise in terms of monitoring outcomes at city and school level, in taking action at senior and middle leadership levels, including with respect of results for the most vulnerable groups: disadvantaged pupils, pupils with special educational needs and looked after children.

The Council’s school improvement team has also been involved in joining reviews of academy schools, so we are fully in touch with - and continue to monitor - which academies are performing strongly and where any further improvement is required.

SEF activity this year will include increased sharing of data across all our city schools so as to set and check predictions, (although this is notoriously difficult this year with the changes to national accountability systems).

 

14.Road and Cycleways

Question from Councillor J Baillie to Councillor Rayment

 

The Council's new cycle plans for the next few years made little mention of funding for maintenance and improvements to existing roads and cycleways. There are now several areas where the surface on shared pathways has worn away so has become unclear for all road users. As a majority of cycling will be done on existing roads and cycleways, will the Council commit to improving the existing roads to the standard our cyclists deserve?

 

Answer

 

The draft Cycling Plan, which will be adopted as the Council’s Cycle Strategy in the Spring 2017, identifies a well maintained cycle network as being essential to the overall vision for Southampton to become a true cycling city.

All aspects of the cycle network need to be well maintained aspiring to a high level of service ensuring the network is safe clean and easy to use with good high quality surfacing, lighting, road markings, traffic signals and parking. The draft Cycling Plan acknowledges there are maintenance challenges that need to be addressed and aims to work collaboratively with local cycling community groups so we can be made aware of defects and issues and work to remedy them.

The draft Cycling Plan outlines the proposed commitment to allocating 10% of the highways maintenance block funding towards cycle infrastructure maintenance to deliver the high level of service expected. The draft Plan proposes an indicative budget of £1.5m to be spent on maintenance of the cycle network over the next three years, which includes in 2017/18 a committed budget of £750,000.  In previous years there was only minimal (£10k or less) of maintenance investment into the network by BBLP to keep the routes operating safely, as opposed to the recognised wider scale improvements now being planned for.

 

15.Public Health Services

Question from Councillor P Baillie to Councillor Shields

 

Would you explain what financial or other criteria you used in deciding which of your cuts to some services in Public Health appearing in January were reversed by February?

 

Answer

 

The proposed changes to the services were subject to a consultation exercise which had input from members of the public as well as from partner agencies, such as the CCG and other community organisations and stakeholders. It also considered the views expressed in the Health Overview and Scrutiny Panels. These were used to come to a balanced judgement. The feedback from the consultation exercise and other sources was used, together with consideration of potential implications of the savings proposed to other areas of the system, to revise the programme to deliver the required reductions in public health spending.

 

16.Cycling of Pavements

Question from Councillor O’Neill to Councillor Rayment

 

What action is the Council taking against cycling on pavements?

 

Answer

 

Cycling on pavements comes under the jurisdiction of the Police, who have the powers to enforce. We are continuing investment in the city’s cycle network to ensure that these are safe alternatives to cycling on pavements. Some pavements are shared use, where there is sufficient width for both cyclists and pedestrians.

We have also recently published our draft Cycle Plan, which will be adopted as the Council’s Cycle Strategy in the spring. This highlights the need to work collaboratively with other agencies such as the Police, to reduce conflict involving cyclists.

 

17.Southampton’s Maritime Industry

Question from Councillor O’Neill to Councillor Letts

 

As the Echo put it, the decision of sailing’s global governing body to move its headquarters from Southampton to London is yet another blow to the city’s maritime heritage and it is an indictment of the council’s lack of vision.  In light of recent failures, what is being done to promote Southampton’s maritime industry?

 

Answer

 

World Sailing had about 40 employees here.  We offered them an opportunity and support to remain in Southampton which they chose to decline, which is disappointing.

Southampton remains at the centre of the UK’s largest marine and maritime cluster and is acknowledged as such by central government, which commissioned a review of the sector. It is a key asset in our promotional work.  The Council is undertaking significant work to support the marine and maritime opportunities in the City, including:

 

18.Noise and Disruption by Students

Question from Councillor O’Neill to Councillor Letts

 

As the University of Southampton is unable or unwilling to take action, will the Council intervene to support Portswood residents whose lives are being blighted on a nightly basis by noise and disruption caused by students?

 

Answer

 

In partnership with the Police the council already supports residents in the city, including those in Portswood who are disturbed by noise caused by students, particularly at night.

The Environmental Health Service (which includes an out of hours service) responds to residents who are encouraged to report noise complaints online. These complaints are routed direct to officers in the field (within operational hours) who aim to visit all active complaints within 2 hours and take appropriate enforcement action.

Additionally, the Community Safety Team work closely with the Neighbourhood Policing team to deal with noise from students in the streets. This includes signage placed in hotspots reminding people to keep the noise down and engaging with the universities to raise awareness of the impact of noise on neighbouring residents. The Police have a single point of contact (SPOC) for the University.

The Council’s Community Safety team also hold a “Safer Students Forum” three times a year where noise features on the agenda.

This is attended by the universities, student unions, Police, Community Safety and Environmental Health.

 

19.Funding from Central Grants

Question from Councillor Fuller to Councillor Letts

 

Can the Leader of the Council update the council as to how much funding the council has received from Central Government in grants (additional to the Revenue Support Grant) in the last 12 months, and how much the Council is in line to receive in the next 12 months?

 

Answer

 

	2016/17 £M	2017/18 £M
General Fund Revenue Grants	44.39	48.18
Schools Related Grants (DSG)	137.27	135.45
Capital Grants	14.00	9.43

 

The General Fund Revenue Grants line excludes RSG but does include the recently announced improved Better Care Funding for Adult Social Care of £4.98M, without which the revenue grants would have totalled £43.2M.

The main grants included in the £48.18M are:

·  Public Health Grant of £17.4M;

·  New Homes Bonus £5.78M;

·  Business Rates Top Up £3.74M;

·  PFI grants £5.86M; and

·  Adult Social Care Grants £4.98M & £1.10M both of these are non-recurrent funding.