Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - City Hall, Bradford. View directions

Contact: Asad Shah, 01274 432280, Committee Secretariat, City Hall, Bradford BD1 1HY 

Items
No. Item

28.

DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

(Members Code of Conduct - Part 4A of the Constitution)

 

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

 

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

 

Notes:

 

(1)       Members may remain in the meeting and take part fully in discussion and voting unless the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an interest which the Member feels would call into question their compliance with the wider principles set out in the Code of Conduct.  Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

 

(2)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

 

(3)       Members are also welcome to disclose interests which are not disclosable pecuniary interests but which they consider should be made in the interest of clarity.

 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

 

Minutes:

No disclosures of interest in matters under consideration were received.

 

 

29.

MINUTES

Recommended –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 19 June, 17 July and 23 October 2019 be signed as correct records (previously circulated).

 

(Asad Shah – 01274 432280)

 

 

Minutes:

Resolved –

 

That the minutes of the meetings held on 19 June, 17 July and 23 October 2019 be signed as correct records.

 

Action: City Solicitor

 

 

30.

INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

 

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

 

(Asad Shah - 01274 432280)

 

Minutes:

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents.

 

 

31.

PUBLIC QUESTION TIME

Minutes:

There were no questions submitted by the public.

 

 

32.

JESMOND AVENUE, BRADFORD - OBJECTION TO A PROPOSED DISABLED PERSONS PARKING PLACE pdf icon PDF 678 KB

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “O”) considers an application for a Disabled Persons Parking Place where the application has received an objection.

 

Recommended –

 

(1)       That the Bradford West Area Committee determines whether or             not to allow the installation of a Disabled Persons Parking Place     at 66 Jesmond Avenue.

 

(2)       That the applicant and objector be informed accordingly.

 

Andrew Smith – 01274 434674

 

 

Minutes:

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “O”) considered an application for a Disabled Persons Parking Place where the application had received an objection.

 

Resolved –

 

(1)       That the application for the installation of a Disabled Persons     Parking Place at 66 Jesmond Avenue be approved.

 

(2)       That officers undertake a review of the existing Disabled Parking          Places on Jesmond Avenue (subject to the timing of the last         review).

 

ACTION: Strategic Director, Place

 

 

33.

PETITIONS RELATING TO TRAFFIC MATTERS pdf icon PDF 3 MB

The report of the Strategic Director (Document “P”) considers the following traffic matters:

1)    Bonn Road, Bradford – Requesting permit parking

2)    Vine Terrace East, Bradford – Request for bollards and street works

 

Recommended –

 

(1)       That no further action be taken on the request for permit parking          on Bonn Road, Bradford.

 

(2)       That an item for Traffic Management Measures on Vine Terrace             East be added to the list of schemes awaiting funding from the      Bradford West Safer Roads budget.

 

(3)       That as and when Vine Terrace East has been prioritised for      funding as part of the Bradford West Safer Roads programme, a     consultation exercise with local residents, ward members and          other key partners be carried out to determine a preferred            scheme.

 

(4)       That no further action be taken on the requests to undertake                  highway improvement works or street cleansing operations on         Vine Terrace East.

 

(5)       That the petitioners be informed accordingly.

 

Andrew Smith – 01274 434674

 

 

Minutes:

The report of the Strategic Director (Document “P”) considered the following traffic matters:

·         Bonn Road, Bradford – Requesting permit parking

·         Vine Terrace East, Bradford – Request for bollards and street works

 

Resolved –

 

(1)       That no further action be taken on the request for permit parking         on Bonn Road, Bradford.

 

(2)       That officers undertake enforcement action on Bonn Road and             other local streets to tackle on-street vehicle trading.

 

(3)       That officers arrange a meeting with residents from Vine Terrace         and local ward members to discuss options for highways    improvements

 

(4)       That an item for Traffic Management Measures on Vine Terrace            East be added to the list of schemes awaiting funding from the          Bradford West Safer Roads budget.

 

(5)       That as and when Vine Terrace East has been prioritised for      funding for traffic measures as part of the Bradford West Safer           Roads programme, a formal consultation exercise with local             residents, ward members and other key partners be carried out to             determine a preferred scheme.

 

(6)       That no further action be taken on the requests for the Council to        fund highway improvement works or street cleansing operations            on Vine Terrace East.

 

(7)       That the petitioners be informed accordingly.

 

ACTION: Strategic Director, Place

 

 

34.

STRONGER COMMUNITIES STRATEGY AND DELIVERY PLAN pdf icon PDF 135 KB

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “Q”) gives a progress update of the integrated Communities Programme which is a part of the Stronger Communities Strategy and Delivery Plan, produced by the Bradford Stronger Communities Partnership. 

 

Recommended –

 

Bradford West Area Committee is asked to note the progress the Integrated Communities Programme, Bradford For Everyone has made in the last 9 months against the Stronger Communities Together Strategy developed by the Stronger Communities Partnership.

 

Zahra Niazi – 01274 436082

 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “Q”) gave progress update of the integrated Communities Programme which was a part of the Stronger Communities Strategy and Delivery Plan, produced by the Bradford Stronger Communities Partnership.

 

The Project Lead was in attendance and with the invitation of the Chair, provided the committee a glossary of the contents outlined in the report:

·         The work undertaken by the Stronger Communities Delivery Team was overseen by the Stronger Communities Partnership Board and independently chaired by the Bishop of Bradford.  The Deputy Chair was Deputy CEO of Incommunities.  The Portfolio Holder for Neighbourhoods & Community Safety and Councillor Sinead Engel were represented on both the Partnership Board and Steering Group that formulated the Delivery Plan and the five years Strategy.  The Board formally adopted its responsibilities and duties from June 2019.  Please see Appendix A for Staffing and Governance Structure.  This Board was one of five strategic partnerships that contribute to the Bradford District Plan 2020 and is involved in the development of the 2040 Plan;

·         The Strategy comprised of four key priority areas; Employment, Education, Social Mixing and Perceptions of the Other which built on existing strategic priorities across the District, incorporating good practice as well as innovative ideas to test and learn from what works and what does not in improving and removing barriers to integration;

·         The Stronger Communities Partnership’s strategy and delivery plan incorporated delivery of local interventions following Bradford’s designation as one of five ‘Integrated Communities Pilot Areas’. Funding had been provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) as part of a ‘test and learn’ programme to deliver some of the interventions in the Stronger Communities Together Strategy and delivery plan;

·         The Strategy was supported by a range of projects, supported by the Council’s existing areas of work such as People Can, Remembrance Days and Great get Togethers.  It was also supported by the Integrated Communities Programme, known as Bradford for Everyone which was funded by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government and would run from April 2019 to March 2021 as well as the Controlling Migration Fund which would end in March 2020. The Strategy also included wider work taking place in the District that contributed to the impact such as Believing in Bradford and local initiatives by VCS groups; and,

·         The definition articulated in the Strategy of what makes stronger, happier and well integrated communities “was of a place where everyone felt that they belong, were understood, felt safe and were able to fully participate in the opportunities the District offered.”  The report outlined the priorities of the Strategy.

 

Following the aforementioned, a question and answer session ensued:

·         Would resident in communities that would be directly impacted, be involved in the delivery of the strategy?

o   To ensure that activities involved local residents, a recruitment process had been undertaken to appoint people across the Bradford District who would make up sub-groups, Bradford West residents were. A retired professional and lived in Manningham.  He  ...  view the full minutes text for item 34.

35.

STREET CLEANSING - PERFORMANCE AND CHANGES TO SERVICE DELIVERY pdf icon PDF 1 MB

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “R”) updates Members on the Street Cleansing service including detailed information on complaints and performance in relation to litter and flytipping. The report also provides information on recent major changes including the merger with Parks and Green spaces, service redesign and the recent recruitment of new staff.

 

Recommended –

 

(1)       Bradford West Area Committee notes the information in this report, particularly the major changes to the service, the information on complaints, the monitoring of cleanliness standards and the various litter campaigns.

 

(2)                    That a further report is presented in 2020 outlining the full-year impact of operational changes made since April 2019.

 

(Damian Fisher – 01274 437146)

 

 

Minutes:

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “R”) updated Members on the Street Cleansing service including detailed information on complaints and performance in relation to litter and flytipping. The report also provided information on recent major changes including the merger with Parks and Green spaces, service redesign and the recent recruitment of new staff.

 

The Shipley Area Coordinator was in attendance and accompanied by the Performance Officer, Neighbourhoods and Customer Service. At the direction of the Chair, a report glossary was provided, as follows:

·         Since April 2019 there had been two major changes to the Street Cleansing service. Firstly, the merger of the management structure of Parks & Green Spaces and secondly the redesign of how the service would be operated.

·         On 6 March 2019 this Committee resolved to redesign the Bradford West Cleansing operation including the cleaning of gateways and strategic roads on a daily basis and development of a prescriptive working pattern in estates following completion of the gateway work.  Since June the clean teams had started earlier to clean the essential strategic networks in the constituency and from mid-August the prescriptive work patterns for estates were introduced. The new working patterns had been a major change for all staff and were still bedding in.

·         To coincide with these changes, the Parks operation merged with Street Cleansing. It had been a smooth transition but had been a steep learning curve for the five managers and all had adapted to the changes very successfully.  Area Coordinators and managers were currently looking at how both operations could link together in the future including assessments of all roles and responsibilities, joint depot locations and maximising any joined up working including: -

o   Litter bin emptying, grass cutting, strimming, clearing snickets

o   Winter maintenance

o   Weed control

o   Leaf clearance 

o   Ability to work together with Britain in Bloom and Green Flag awards

o   Economies of scale re purchasing

o   Ward Officer Contacts / WOT Partnerships

 

A further focal feature of the report was on street cleansing complaints logged with Council Contact. Complaints included litter, leaves, dog fouling and overflowing litter bins amongst other things. In hindsight, it was paramount that totals be looked at in perspective of the time period across an entire ward e.g. how many cases per day across an entire ward. Also to note that since 2012 a growing amount of contact for the cleansing service as made through online contact rather than the traditional telephony channel, in some wards more than 50% of contact came via online reporting and it had meant that many cases were created outside of normal working hours.

 

The level of complaints reported for Street Cleansing in Bradford West had been relatively stable prior to 2018/19, however there was an increase in 2018/19. The first half of 2019/20 showed there were fewer complaints being reported than in the same period in the previous year.

 

Following verbal presentation, a question and answer session ensued:

·         What course of action was being addressed to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 35.

36.

PARKS AND GREEN SPACES ANNUAL REPORT pdf icon PDF 111 KB

The operational management and maintenance of Bradford District’s Parks and Green Spaces is a service devolved to Area Committees.  The service merged with the Street Cleansing Service in April 2019.

 

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “S”) seeks to review the activity during the past year and the trends and direction options where available for future service delivery.

 

Recommended –

 

That the Bradford West Area Committee welcomes the content of this report and the smooth merger of the operational management and maintenance of Parks and Green Spaces with the Street Cleansing Service, whilst maintaining levels of service.

 

(David Cansfield - 01274 437026)

 

 

Minutes:

The operational management and maintenance of Bradford District’s Parks and Green Spaces was a service devolved to Area Committees. The service merged with the Street Cleansing Service in April 2019.

 

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “S”) sought to review the activity during the past year and the trends and direction options where available for future service delivery.

 

The Area Parks and Landscapes Manager was in attendance and with the invitation of the Chair, he proceeded with introducing the report to the committee with an 

extensive and comprehensive detailed glossary of the report, as follows:

·         In April 2019 the management structure of Parks and Green Spaces merged with the Street Cleansing Service. This followed the ‘lift and shift’ of the Parks and Green Spaces operation from Sport and Culture to Neighbourhood and Customer Services in September 2018. There were five Parks and Street Cleansing Managers who reported an Area Coordinator and oversaw the operation of both Parks and Street Cleansing services. The individual staff teams had not yet amalgamated to the same operating locations. However, the intention was to do so and work is currently ongoing with Estates.

·         There were over 188 named parks, playing fields, recreation grounds and pleasure gardens throughout the district. Operation and maintenance of these sites fell to the devolved service via the Area Coordinators and the Parks and Street Cleansing Managers. These sites ranged from district wide destination parks with a wide range of facilities and large sporting hubs, to parks and open spaces provided for local communities.

·         Facilities within these sites included a wide range of buildings and structures, many of which had ‘listed’ status. These included operational depots, lodges, changing rooms, pavilions, cafes, statues, bridges, memorials, walls, gates and fences in addition to lakes, paths, signage and seating.

·         Operation of these sites including the coordination of their use and the direction of development was in collaboration with the ‘Friends Of’ groups. Other user groups include bowling, football, rugby and cricket teams, and regular users such as Park Run, fitness classes, cycle training, and model engineering clubs.

·         The Service booked and facilitated an annual cycle of fun fairs, circuses and band concerts across the district. Also provide venues within the parks and green spaces for over 200 events each year. The events ranged from Friends Of events, and events provided by, or aimed at the local communities, to large events with a district wide appeal.

·         In addition to the operation and maintenance of the Park’s sites the service also oversaw the highway weed spraying contract and provided a grounds maintenance service to the council’s varied estate. This included the civic spaces in town and city centres, roundabouts and urban highway verges, cemeteries, social residential care facilities, libraries, sports centres, museums, public open space and other grassed open spaces. The combined total area of the grass maintained by the service was in excess of 7.5 million square metres; the equivalent of 1043 Wembley Stadium pitches. The service also played a pivotal  ...  view the full minutes text for item 36.