Visitors and members of the public who are unfamiliar with the building and procedures are advised that:

(a)      The fire alarm is a continuous loud ringing. In the event that a fire drill is planned during the meeting, the Chair will advise of this.

(b)      Exit routes from the chamber are located on each side of the room, one directly to a fire escape, the other to the stairs opposite the lifts.

(c)      In the event of the alarm sounding, leave the building via the nearest safe exit and gather at the assembly point on the far side of the car park. Do not leave the assembly point or re-enter the building until advised to do so. Do not use the lifts.

(d)      Anyone unable to use the stairs should make themselves known during this agenda item.

The Chair outlined the emergency evacuation procedure.

To approve the Minutes of the Meeting held on 3 October 2024 (Minute Nos. 303 – 310) as a correct record.

The Minutes of the Meeting held on 20 November 2024 (Minute Nos. 303 – 310) were taken as read, agreed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

Councillors should not act or take decisions in order to gain financial or other material benefits for themselves, their families or friends.

The Chair will ask Members if they have any disclosable pecuniary interests (DPIs) or disclosable non-pecuniary interests (DNPIs) to declare in respect of items on the agenda. Members with a DPI in an item must leave the room for that item and may not participate in the debate or vote. 

Aside from disclosable interests, where a fair-minded and informed observer would think there was a real possibility that a Member might be biased or predetermined on an item, the Member should declare this and leave the room while that item is considered.

Members who are in any doubt about interests, bias or predetermination should contact the monitoring officer for advice prior to the meeting.

No interests were declared.

The Chair raised a concern that the proposed devolution of local councils would distract from the Climate and Ecological Emergency and would inhibit in allowing local interaction on the subject.

The Climate Change Officer introduced the report which set out progress on the Council’s Climate and Ecological Emergency targets to achieve net zero carbon for the Council by 2025 and net zero carbon across the Borough by 2030.  She referred to the sixth annual progress report set out at Appendix I of the report which would go to Full Council at the end of January 2025.  She highlighted the actions completed and noted that whilst some targets may not be met, the Council had achieved a lot and remained committed to achieving net-zero across the borough.

The Chair invited comments from Members, and points raised included:

·         Welcomed the report;

·         how much weight was given in the document to emerging policy in terms of instructing developers particularly given that there was a real risk the Local Plan would not be adopted due to devolution?;

·         welcomed the use of the Household Support Fund to continue the work of the Fuel and Winter Poverty advisors;

·         when would the Council start engaging with local businesses about reducing their carbon footprint?;

·         excellent to see trees being planted, but were there any after care issues such as vandalism and had that been factored-in?;

·         would this be the council’s last action plan?;

·         referred to the roll-out of training in local secondary schools and asked how this was progressing?;

·         what were officers doing to pull-in internal and external funding?;

·         the labour group met to discuss the priorities and then fed-back their points to officers, hoped the other groups did the same;

·         the communication with local residents was important and it was good to see the progress made as a result of their input;

·         improvements to recycling were about changing behaviours and this needed to be a focus of the new Action Plan; and

·         promoting recycling away from kerbside collections needed to be addressed and communication with residents was key.

In response, the Climate Change Officer said that they would always refer developers to policies included within the emerging Local Plan and details from the emerging Local Plan would be factored into the Action Plan.  The Council’s Economic Development Team signposted businesses to the Climate and Ecological Emergency targets.  With regard to the planting of trees, she reported that the survival rate across the borough had improved over the course of the action plan, and it was now high.  The Climate Change Officer advised that officers were already working on the new Action Plan and the draft would be considered by the Committee at their next meeting on 18 March 2025. 

The Climate & Ecological Emergency Project Officer reported that a trial of Carbon Literature Training was being delivered to Year 9 pupils at the Queen Elizabeth Secondary School, Faversham.  He said that six science teachers had received the training and were now able to deliver the training to the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 546.

The Leisure & Technical Services Manager introduced the report which reminded Members of the Motion proposed and agreed by Full Council to ban the use of disposable barbeques in the Council’s open spaces.  The report provided updates following a further year of monitoring locally by Kent Fire & Rescue Services in 2024 and identified the experience from neighbouring authorities who had enforcement powers to ban the use of barbeques through byelaws and Public Space Protection Orders (PSPO).  The report summarised the information previously provided and made a recommendation not to proceed with a specific ban on the use of disposable barbeques in Council open spaces.

The Chair invited Members to make comments, and points raised included:

·         Supported the officer recommendation, but it was important that the risks of disposable barbeques were highlighted;

·         could the Council provide dedicated areas within Council green spaces, for the public to use disposable barbeques?;

·         thanked officers for looking into the issue and accepted that the evidence was not there to support a ban; and

·         asked that officers keep monitoring the situation, particularly over the summer period.

In response to a question from a Member, the Leisure & Technical Services Manager explained that the existing byelaws covered a wide range of areas, but officers considered the way forward was to raise awareness.  The report detailed the intention to run a social media campaign in the run up to the better weather.  He said that officers could explore providing dedicated areas to use disposable barbeques within Council green spaces, however the management of any such areas would have cost and resource implications for the Council.   The situation would continue to be monitored over the summer with an informal written update to Members afterwards.

Councillor Sarah Stephen proposed the recommendations, which were seconded by Councillor Ashley Wise.

The Chair thanked the Leisure & Technical Services Manager for attending the meeting.

Resolved:

(1)   That the report be noted, and a specific Public Space Protection Orders ban on the use of disposable barbeques in Council open spaces not be progressed.

(2)   That Officers undertake a media and social media campaign at the appropriate time of year to highlight the risks of use of disposable barbeques and fires in public open space, and to clearly state that they are not permitted under our current byelaws.

The Chair referred to the Kent online article about the report and considered it was not as ‘damning’ as it could have been.  He referred to some of the comments on the article which said there had been a ‘cover-up’ and he felt that this may be because the report outlined what had gone wrong rather than who was to blame.  He said it was a good report and thanked Members and officers for their input and gave particular thanks to the Policy & Engagement Officer and said she was a huge asset to the Council.

The Policy & Engagement Officer introduced the report which summarised the scrutiny review of the mobilisation of the new waste and street cleansing service for Swale.  It described the process taken in carrying out the review and set out the conclusions and recommendations proposed by the member panel going forward.  The Policy & Engagement Officer referred to the Appendix conclusions and recommendations set out at Appendix I of the report for Members to consider and agree.

The Chair invited Members to make comments, and points raised included:

·         Welcomed the review and report, and thanked the Waste and Street Cleansing Scrutiny Review Member Panel who had worked really hard to provide the recommendations;

·         given there were 23 recommendations, did not consider there had been a cover-up;

·         important that Members were kept up-to-date with progress of the recommendations and how they would apply to any future contracts;

·         referred to recommendations (12) and (23) and considered that they exposed some real issues during the height of the issues and that there needed to be some flexibility during the 34-hour week;

·         this was a very constructive report;

·         it was important point that the Council learnt from mistakes made;

·         there were still issues with missed collections in some areas of the borough;

·         it was regrettable that only one tender had been received;

·         officers should have spoken to other authorities that had used Suez;

·         data-transfer had been the main issue;

·         the re-routing of areas should be looked at annually;

·         it was clear there had been no oversight by the Environment and Climate Change Committee;

·         the document retention policy needed to allow flexibility so that learning could be carried forward for lengthy contracts;

·         it was important that all Members understood the scrutiny process and asked that member training be provided;

·         the contract should be considered by the committee every six months;

·         the working group should consider the item prior to being considered by the Committee on a bi-annual basis;

·         the recommendations were an example of excellent member and public input;

·         what was being done to ensure the database was being updated?;

·         hoped to see a significant improvement of the service in six months;

·         there had been lots of doubling-up with reporting of missed bins;

·         thanked the Council’s Customer Service Centre (CSC) who had experienced a high volume of calls regarding missed collections;

·         had a lot of sympathy for the binmen who had experienced abuse as well as the Council’s CSC;

·         management at Suez had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 548.

The Chair drew attention to the Forward Decisions Plan and invited Members to make comments, points raised included:

·         It would be useful to have a discussion around priorities post devolution;

·         would like a discussion around whether the solar panels on Swale House would be appropriate in light of the devolution proposals, would it be a waste of tax-payers money?;

·         referred to the Shoreline Management item and asked whether the Environment Agency (EA) could be invited to answer questions?;

The Head of Environment & Leisure said that it was sensible question with regard to the solar panels on Swale House but said that the pay-back period was very short, and the panels would also help SBC to reduce its carbon footprint during any period they were in place. 

The Head of Environment & Leisure explained that the Shoreline Management report was more about SBC’s responsibilities on the subject, rather than the EA, however he agreed to invite them to attend a briefing on their services prior to the next committee meeting if possible.  The Head of Environment & Leisure reported that the Public Convenience Contract extension report was missing and would be considered by the Committee in March 2025.

Resolved:

(1)  That the Forward Decisions Plan be noted.