Resolved:  That all items on the agenda be web-cast.

Apologies were received from Councillor J E Wilson.

It was noted that Councillor Chittenden was substituting for Councillor J E Wilson.

It was noted that Councillor Mrs Smith was a visiting Member with an interest in all items on the agenda.

a)  Disclosures of interest.

b)  Disclosures of lobbying.

c)  Disclosures of whipping.

There were no disclosures.

Resolved:  That all items be taken in public as proposed.

Resolved:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 17 November 2009 be agreed as a correct record and duly signed by the Chairman.

Interview with:

·  The Assistant Director of Environmental Services, Steve Goulette; and

·  The Street Scene Manager, Jonathan Scott.

The Chairman welcomed Steve Goulette, Assistant Director of Environmental Services, Roger Adley, Head of Communications and Jonathan Scott, Environment Manager to the meeting.  The Committee received a presentation, attached at Appendix A, on the street cleansing service review, and discussed the following:

·  The Council’s performance with regard to street cleansing was good, however benchmarking had revealed higher costs, the use of more staff and higher reliance on machinery compared to other authorities; Maidstone’s service cost £11.28 per resident in comparison to between £5.47 and £9.10 at neighbouring local authorities (as defined by the Audit Commission); and Maidstone employed 36.5 members of staff to carry out street cleaning, compared to between 17 and 35 at other local authorities;

·  Benchmarking had revealed that other local authorities had more flexible cleansing rotas, monitoring roads and cleansing them according to need. The preliminary actions agreed in the review had therefore included Maidstone moving towards flexible area based cleansing teams.  Team Leaders would monitor and respond to the needs of areas as they arose.  Monitoring would take place in person as well as by using digital photography.  A balance of mechanical and manual street cleansing was also agreed as part of the review;

·  Place survey results had revealed 59.6% of residents were very or fairly satisfied with how well the public land was kept clear of litter and refuse. Members felt that residents’ perceptions may have been adversely affected by litter on privately owned land, such as road side ditches, and felt that it was important that land owners and litter picking volunteers were supported in tidying the land;

·  Also in the Place Survey, 21% of residents were unsatisfied and 19% had no view with regard to how well the public land was kept clear of litter and refuse.  Officers agreed that it was the residents with no view that they were seeking to influence in the recommended actions of the review;

·  Public satisfaction survey cards showed that residents on the same roads had often had extremely differing perceptions regarding the cleanliness of their street.  A number of Members were concerned that residents were only contacted shortly after their road had been cleansed.  Members agreed that the survey cards should go out at intervals when residents’ roads had not been cleaned to prevent skewed results and help inform the area based teams’ monitoring.  Mr Goulette advised Members that this was being considered as part of the on-going review;

·  Residents that had rated the cleanliness of a street poorly on satisfaction survey cards had been asked to attend a focus group as part of the review.  However, only two of the 220 residents invited had agreed to attend;

·  Two focus groups with Ward and Parish Councillors and with partners had been used to establish resident perceptions, along with internet based surveys. This work had revealed that residents considered there were cleansing issues in rural areas, on grass verges and near secondary schools and that perceptions were also affected by the state of the street furniture.  Responses  ...  view the full minutes text for item 68.

Interview with:

·  The Assistant Director of Environmental Services, Steve Goulette; and

·  The Parks and Open Spaces Officer, Jason Taylor

The Chairman welcomed Steve Goulette, Assistant Director of Environmental Services, Jason Taylor, the Parks and Open Spaces Officer and Paul Caulfield, the Leisure Monitoring Officer to the meeting.  The Committee received a presentation on the refurbishment and improvements to the Leisure Centre, attached at Appendix A, and watched a short video showing an artistic 3-D impression of the new gymnasium facilities. The Committee then discussed the following:

·  In January 2009 the Maidstone Leisure Centre Contract was awarded to the Maidstone Leisure Trust (MLT) in partnership with Serco on a full repair and maintenance lease;

·  The Council and MLT contributed £430,000 and £200,000 per annum respectively towards the Leisure Centre’s maintenance and refurbishment programme.  This money had enabled the £4.5 million investment required to reinvigorate the Centre.  Serco was able to borrow the required money for the refurbishment due to the Council’s guaranteed annual investment;

·  The Council maintained surety of this budget, yielding power of veto on monies spent;

·  The contract stipulated that any Leisure Centre profits would be reinvested back in to the leisure centre, and that excessive profits would be equally divided between the Council and MLT;

·  Investment into children’s activities included: refurbishment and replacement of the polar adventure area equipment; and gym equipment aimed specifically at children.  In addition to this, children were allowed to use much of the adult gym equipment and a number of classes and lessons were targeted at children.  Members were pleased with the progress that had been made with regard to children’s activities but requested that further opportunities be explored;

·  The Leisure Centre would be closed for one week in January 2010 for refurbishment works;

·  Members were concerned about the implications to families of the closure of crèche facilities at the Leisure Centre and were advised that this would be reviewed once the Leisure Centre was re-opened.  The Committee agreed that it was particularly important to ensure that it was reinstated;

·  The Leisure Centre pricing structure was set by MLT with the Council maintaining power of veto.  Mr Goulette advised Members that MLT would continue to ensure competitive prices against other leisure centres; and

·  Budget restraints had not enabled the air conditioning system in the Leisure Centre Hall to be updated; this would have cost in excess of £1 million.

The Committee thanked the witnesses for an informative presentation and agreed to arrange a tour of the facilities once they were refurbished.

The web cast from this session is available at

http://clients.westminsterdigital.co.uk/maidstone/archive.aspx.

Resolved:  That

a)  Further children’s activities be explored at the Leisure Centre;

b)  The Leisure Centre’s crèche facilities be reinstated; and

c)  The Committee tour the Leisure Centre facilities once they were refurbished.

The Committee noted the Sections of the Forward Plan of Key Decisions that were relevant to its remit and requested that clarification be sought from the Parks and Open Spaces Officer with regard to the scope of the Review of Fees and Charges decision on leisure activities and recreation facility use, given that Maidstone Leisure Trust determined the Leisure Centre’s prices.  Furthermore Members agreed to receive the draft report by email for comment.

The Committee considered the possibility of rescheduling its meeting on 19 January to commence at 6 p.m. due to another event being held later on in the evening; however Members agreed to maintain the start time of 6.30 p.m. 

The Overview and Scrutiny Officer advised Members that the tour of the Allington Incinerator Facilities had been arranged for the morning of Tuesday 19 January 2010.

Resolved:  That

a)  The Parks and Open Spaces Officer provide clarification with regard to the scope of the Review of Fees and Charges decision; and

b)  A copy of the draft Review of Fees and Charges 2010-11 Report be circulated to the Committee by email.

6.30 p.m. to 8.40 p.m.