In the interest of transparency the following disclosures of interest were received at the commencement of the meeting:

Interests disclosed relating to Food Safety in the Bradford District, item 7 (Minute 18), Councillor R Ahmed operated a food business in Bradford. Councillor Herd operated a food business in Keighley. Councillor Kamran Hussain’s brother was an owner of a restaurant in Bradford.

The Chair and Councillors Kamran Hussain and Mohammed disclosed interests in the item relating to Libraries, Museums and Galleries Service, item 8 (Minute 19), as they were members of Unite.

ACTION: City Solicitor

(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)

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

Any referrals that have been made to this Committee up to and including the date of publication of this agenda will be reported at the meeting.

There were no questions submitted by the public.

On 15 January 2019 there was a motion passed by Full Council declaring a climate emergency.  This motion has identified a series of priorities for the Council that will coordinate our efforts with the wider aims of the WYCA energy strategy and delivery plan with the aim of limiting the districts carbon emissions in line with what is needed to achieve Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommendations.

The report of the Strategic Director, Corporate Services (Document “H”) seeks to highlight the current stage of development of each of the priorities and make recommendations about the next steps required.

Recommended –

That the Regeneration and Environment considers the information contained in the report.

(Neil Morrison – 01274 434003)

On 15 January 2019 there was a motion passed by Full Council declaring a climate emergency.  This motion had identified a series of priorities for the Council that would coordinate our efforts with the wider aims of the West Yorkshire Combined Authority energy strategy and delivery plan with the aim of limiting the district’s carbon emissions in line with what is needed to achieve Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change recommendations.

The report of the Strategic Director, Corporate Services (Document “H”) highlighted the current stage of development of each of the priorities and made recommendations about the next steps required.

At the request of the Chair, the Energy and Low Carbon Project Manager with the Strategic Director, Place introduced the report to the Committee.

Following introduction, a question and answer session ensued –

·         How much carbon dioxide could be saved per year in the Bradford District?

o   58,000 tonnes annually;

·         What was the reason behind the lack of information contained in the report for not suggesting climate emergency as a crisis?

o   The importance of climate emergency had previously been acknowledged by Council, as a result, a motion passed to declare an emergency. In order to achieve the significant results that required the Council to fulfil its ambition, it was committed to delivering the priorities identified, as well as tackling climate change to create jobs and to help people reduce their fuel bills. At present, obstacles were in path of the Council to meet all priorities that required funding due to the lack of resources. However there were other ongoing replacement factors to assist in tackling climate change and an update progress could be reported back to this Committee at a later date;

·         In terms of greater ambitions towards climate control, was the Council confident in generating its own heating?

o   Yes due to third parties providing substantial resources;

·         In terms of embracing the opportunities provided by the H21: Hydrogen for the north project, what were the anticipated timescales?

o   Officers were engaging with different groups across the Council and the district to raise awareness of the H21 project and explore potential areas of opportunity. The Department of Corporate Resources and the office of the Chief Executive were leading on this current priority. As the scheme progressed towards delivery, internal preparation would need to be across a number of additional work areas and directorates however this was a long term project which required substantial population investment and the Council could inject up to 20% hydrogen into existing gas works however the scheme would not be delivered until 2028; and,

·         What were wider Council expectations for the future procurement of Council vehicles and for the installation of further electrical vehicle (EV) charging points across the district?

o   The Council was increasing the proportion of electric and hybrid vehicles in use for the Council fleet and supporting the roll out of EV charging points across the district to help promote uptake of EV use.

During the discussion, the Committee and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16.

The Bradford Air Quality Plan (BAQP) is being developed in line with Ministerial Direction with the Outline Business Case (OBC), including the preferred option for achieving compliance with the EU Limit Value for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) in the shortest possible timeframe, required for submission by 31^st October 2019. The timescales for delivery are challenging due mainly to the readiness of the Bradford Transport Model in July which affects the timings of subsequent air quality and economic assessments. Following submission of the OBC to Government, full public / Statutory consultation will be carried out which will inform the preparation of the Final Business Case (FBC), due for submission in early 2020.

Government guidance on the development of the BAQP obliges the Council to assess all options for improving air quality against the effectiveness of a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) Class D, including buses, coaches, taxis, lorries, vans and cars.

Portfolio Holders and Strategic Directors of Health & Wellbeing and Place are delegated authority to submit to the Outline Business Case to Government and carry out consultation with all stakeholders.

The purpose of the report of the Strategic Director, Health & Wellbeing (Document “I”) is to provide an update on the development and potential delivery of the BAQP.

Recommended –

That Members consider the progress to develop the BAQP to date.

Andrew Whittles – 01274 435868

The Bradford Air Quality Plan (BAQP) was being developed in line with Ministerial Direction with the Outline Business Case (OBC), including the preferred option for achieving compliance with the EU Limit Value for nitrogen dioxide (NO₂) in the shortest possible timeframe, required for submission by 31^st October 2019. The timescales for delivery were challenging due mainly to the readiness of the Bradford Transport Model in July 2019 which affected the timings of subsequent air quality and economic assessments. Following submission of the OBC to Government, full public / Statutory consultation would be carried out which informed the preparation of the Final Business Case (FBC), due for submission in early 2020.

Government guidance on the development of the BAQP obliged the Council to assess all options for improving air quality against the effectiveness of a Clean Air Zone (CAZ) Class D, including buses, coaches, taxis, lorries, vans and cars.

Portfolio Holders and Strategic Directors of Health & Wellbeing and Place are delegated authority to submit to the Outline Business Case to Government and carry out consultation with all stakeholders.

The purpose of the report of the Strategic Director, Health & Wellbeing (Document “I”) was to provide an update on the development and potential delivery of the BAQP.

Following introduction of the report, a question and answer session ensued –

·         Was Leeds City Council proposing finance packages for private hire drivers in order to meet the requirements of a cleaner air in the city?

o   In order to support the city’s drivers, the authority had put together a planned package of grants and a loan scheme that it hoped would provide financial aid to drivers wishing to switch to compliant vehicles;

§  In response to answer, the Committee highlighted that maybe Bradford would need to move favourably towards assisting its city’s drivers with finance in transferring from present petrol vehicles to a fully electric model vehicles.

·         The grant, as highlighted in the report, did this also apply to Bradford’s taxi drivers?

o   The Council had secured over £500,000 funding to enable local taxi drivers to convert to electric vehicles and local bus companies had also received over £2m in funding to improve emissions;

·         Further clarity was sought on finance for taxis?

o   There were over 3,500 Private Hire Drivers (PHD) and 220 Hackney Carriage Drivers (HCD) in Bradford. The secured funding would be offered to PHD and HCD. The Council was intending to meet the expectations of national recognised government standards;

·         If the Council was successful in rolling out funding for 3,700+ taxi drivers, then how would it intend in meeting the needs of providing charging points for these new vehicles?

o   The Council was developing a network of EV charging points, to encourage the use of EVs in the Bradford District such as new street lighting being installed which would include charging points. The network would enable all taxi vehicles to recharge;

·         Due to taxis playing a pivotal role in the transport factor within the Bradford District, were  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

The Council is required by the Food Standards Agency to have a documented and approved Food Safety Service Plan in place.

The report of the Strategic Director, Health & Wellbeing (Document “J”) is brought to Members to seek support for that plan.

Recommended –

(1)       The views and comments of members are sought in relation to the       contents of this report.

(2)       The work of the Food Safety Team as documented in the Food Safety Service Plan be supported.

(Angela Brindle – 01274 433985)

The Council is required by the Food Standards Agency to have a documented and approved Food Safety Service Plan in place.

The report of the Strategic Director, Health & Wellbeing (Document “J”) was brought to Members to seek support for that plan.

The Environmental Health Manager was present and at the invitation of the Chair gave a synopsis of the report to the Committee. She explained that the Service Plan set out the measures the Council would implement to safeguard food and drink which was produced, prepared or sold within the district. The plan reflected the work required of food authorities by the Food Standards Agency (FSA) in its national Food Law Code of Practice and guidance documents.

A question and answer session ensued –

·         Succeeding inspection of food, what inspection processes were put in place following packaging for the detection of contamination and cleanliness?

o   This part of the procedure was enforced through legislation by Trading Standards office;

·         Was there any income generation for the Council’s Environmental Health Service?

o   Businesses were reluctant in paying for Council services however there was a fee of £200.00 per request to request a re-visit/re-inspection; and,

·         Appendix 1 (Staff Allocations) sets out information on a lack of skills of officers. Why was a lack of skills of officers thought of following years of experience in this field and would extending the skills of existing officers to overstretch their efforts?

o   This was a national problem as a number of officers who were presently undertaking degrees and until successful completion of their studies were unable to progress into training for specialist areas. However current employees had degrees but still in need of specialist training in specific areas. However the Council was now able to recruit Environmental Health apprentices.

Resolved –

That the work of the Food Safety Team as documented in the Food Safety Service Plan 2019/20 be supported.

LEAD: Strategic Director, Health and Wellbeing

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “K”) provides an update on progress made in the delivery of budget savings for 2019-20 for the libraries services since the last report to Members on 22 January 2019.

It also sets out progress made in developing options for the delivery of savings of £1.05m (Libraries) and £500k (Museums) in 2020-21.

Recommended –

That Regeneration and Environment Committee consider the updates provided and advise Officers on any future reporting requirements.    

(Jacqui Buckley – 01274 437835)

The report of the Strategic Director, Place (Document “K”) provided an update on progress made in the delivery of budget savings for 2019-20 for the libraries services since the last report to Members on 22 January 2019.

It also set out progress made in developing options for the delivery of savings of £1.05m (Libraries) and £500k (Museums) in 2020-21.

The Assistant Director, Sport and Culture (ADSC) and other Council representatives were present and at the invitation of the Chair, gave a synopsis of the report.

Following introductions, the Committee acknowledged the delivery of the community needs assessment however expressed disappointment to the fact that the current process had not met with the resolutions of 22 January 2019. During previous discussion of this item, the Committee stressed the need of extending consultations to include the Manningham and Bingley Wards whilst covering other areas as this would then reflect the diversity of the district and, meet best practice standards of the Council. It was further resolved that all future options for both the libraries and museums service should be presented to this Committee in July 2019. An explanation was sought as to reasons for not meeting the agreed requests of the Committee.

The ADSC responded that, whilst analysing the missing gaps of the process, officers had been unsure of certain aspects such as the methodology of the delivery of consultations due to one area being different to another, hence the delay. However, having not met the previous resolution, the current community needs assessment was now significantly better shaped and officers would be knowledgeable to the extent of delivering all options for the Libraries and Museums Service to the Committee in September 2019.

The Chair then phased the discussion into a further question and answer session–

·         What means had been utilised to undertake the current community needs assessment?

o   A third party had been brought in to undertake the consultations and means such as telephone surveys, focus groups and direct conversations with users would also be used;

·         How can the Committee be assured that the Wards, including select areas within Wards that would be impacted and previously not consulted, would be consulted as opposed to previous consultations carried out?

o   The delivery method on this occasion was a prescribed, more focused, process concentrating on areas that would have a direct impact following a change in services;

·         Was the current consultation process being undertaken having regard to the Equality Rights Act?

o   The process was being delivered according the law;

·         Appreciate that it was not possible to consult every single person but the Committee, on the next occasion had to be satisfied that the consultation was delivered that in reflection of the geographical diversity of the district?

o   Officers will ensure that Ward Members would be kept updated on developments throughout the process in line with legislative requirements;

·         What was the deadline for the final decision of the Libraries and Museums Service?

o   February 2020;

·         Even if young people were not  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

The report of the Chair of the Regeneration and Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Document “L”) presents the Committee’s Work Programme 2019-20.

Recommended –

That the Work programme 2019-20 continues to be regularly reviewed during the year.

(Licia Woodhead – 01274 432119)

(Mustansir Butt – 01274 432574)

No resolution was passed on this item.