Minutes:
Councillor R C Carter, Executive Councillor for Operations and Environment addressed the Council on the Operations Review. A copy of Councillor Carter’s PowerPoint presentation is appended in the Minute Book.
Members were acquainted with the background to the review of the Operations Division and advised that details had been previously presented to a Special Meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Environmental Well-Being) on 16th June 2015. The Council were informed of the concerns that had been expressed from the Corporate Management Team and Members regarding the pace of change and delivery in the Division and the lack performance monitoring data available. In noting the important role of Overview and Scrutiny in the monitoring of performance, Members were advised that a programme of reports had been scheduled for future meetings of the Panel and a further update on the restructuring would be presented to their meeting in September 2015.
The focus of future developments had been highlighted to the Council with an emphasis on customer service and delivering value for money. Councillor Carter explained that although there was a strong core of committed staff, the Division lacked leadership and vision. He proceeded to explain that the staffing structure in the Division was outdated and the service had been reactive rather than proactive, with no service improvement plans to take the Division forward. Members also noted further findings from the Review, which included a desire to address lack of political awareness amongst key managers and tackling the unacceptable levels of sickness absence, resulting in improved productivity and a decreasing reliance on agency workers.
The proposed new operating model was presented to the Council by Mr A Merrick, Interim Head of Operations. The principles of the new operating model were highlighted to Members, which included the integration of the grounds maintenance and street cleansing teams, the identification of clearer team leader roles to monitor productivity and work schedules and creation of a new team to tackle non-routine works such as fly tipping and graffiti removal.
In response to a question from Councillor B S Chapman on problems he had been experiencing with the maintenance of verges in Loves Farm, St Neots following the transfer of responsibility to Cambridgeshire County Council (CCC), Councillor Carter requested that he be provided with further detail in order that specific areas can be added to the weed spraying programme.
Councillor P Kadewere highlighted problems he had been experiencing with the lack of maintenance of the bridges over Coneygear Road, Huntingdon, whereby Councillor Carter undertook to arrange a visit with Councillor Kadewere to investigate this issue further.
Councillor P D Reeve raised a question on the feasibility of working with other authorities to share the costs and queried the working arrangement with CCC in the maintenance arrangements. In response Councillor Carter explained that work was being undertaken with Town and Parish Councils to identify responsibility for grounds maintenance.
The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel (Environmental Well-Being), Councillor T D Sanderson, reported on the presentation at their Panel in June 2015 indicated his support for the proposals. In response to his comment on the ability to feedback to residents’ progress on a complaint or service request, Councillor Carter explained that all Members issues were now being logged to ensure progress can be fed back to the originator.