Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence from committee members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors David Bard and Tony Orgee. It was noted that Councillor Alison Elcox was in attendance as a substitute for Councillor Orgee and Councillor Bunty Waters as a substitute for Councillor Bard.

Councillor James Hockney declared a non-pecuniary interest as a law student and member of the Law Committee at Anglia Ruskin Univesity.

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2014, as a correct record.

The minutes of the meeting held on 9 July 2014, were AGREED as a correct record.

Informal notes of the meeting held on the 18 September 2014, are attached for information.

Informal notes from the discussions which took place on 18 September 2014, with representatives from the East of England Ambulance Trust and East Anglian Air Ambulance, were noted.

No questions from the public had been received.

To provide the committee with an overview of the Connecting Cambridgeshire project.

Steve Rayment, Head of ICT and Facilities Management, presented an overview of the progress of the Connecting Cambridgeshire project. This was a partnership project between Cambridgeshire County Council, BT and South Cambridgeshire District Council.

Discussion and questions ensued:

·         Members were informed that there had been some criticism of BT as the provider, however this was being managed and the project was on track.

·         Infrastructure for the Cambridgeshire Public Services Network (CPSN) was queried. Members were informed that the Virgin Media contract for this stood until 2018, with some circuits extended to 2019. Where Virgin Media cables were not in place, such as in some rural locations, BT infrastructure was used but connectivity remained contracted with CPSN.

·         Councillor Hales raised an issue regarding Melbourn Library who had been advised that it would not be possible to connect the library to the CPSN. The reasons for this were unclear and the Head of ICT and Facilities Management would investigate this.

·         Councillor Waters informed the committee that she had attended the Lolworth Parish meeting, at which disappointment had been expressed that Lolworth had not yet received broadband. The Head of ICT and Facilities Management informed members that the Connecting Cambridgeshire website provided an interactive map detailing where and when broadband services would become available, and advised that Lolworth Parish Council be directed to this website.

·         Councillor Fraser raised the location of BT cabinets as an issue in some villages however members were informed that the Council had little control over this.

·         Members were informed that a full and rigorous tender process had been carried out with BT.

·         Members queried whether there was a role for the Council’s Planning department to ensure new developments would have broadband. The Chief Executive informed members that she had had extensive discussions with developers to ensure the best possible digital infrastructure was invested in new communities, and that the district was doing well with this.

·         Councillor Elcox raised the issue of slow broadband connections in the Bourn ward. Bourn village still did not have superfast broadband and the installation of this was not looking possible for much of Upper Cambourne, despite the ward winning BT’s Race to Infinity for superfast broadband. This was noted by the Head of ICT and Facilities Management who would look into this.

·         Councillor Elcox informed the committee of other experiences in Bourn ward of poor broadband connections being experienced by residents who previously had a good connection. The Head of ICT and Facilities Management explained that circuit contention could be an issue; with increasing numbers of households coming onto high speed broadband, it was possible that existing speeds of existing regular broadband connections were reduced.

·         The committee was informed that a broadband voucher scheme applied to small and medium sized businesses in Cambridge and South Cambridgeshire with up to 249 employees. This included businesses based at home. Up to £3000 was available per voucher, to support businesses to get online. Voucher application could be made via the Connecting Cambridgeshire website, subject to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To provide the committee with an update on Cambridge City and South Cambridgeshire joint waste working.

A written update will follow as a supplement to the agenda.

The Director of Health and Environmental Services introduced Adrian Ash, the Joint Waste Service Programme Manager, and provided an update on the Joint Waste Services project.

Members were informed that both South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council had agreed to progress with this shared service in October 2014. £400,000 of savings were projected to be delivered by South Cambridgeshire’s Waste Service in 2014/15 due to changes in bin collection routes in South Cambridgeshire. A shared waste service would enable both Council’s to reduce costs further whilst protecting frontline services and staff. Any savings would be shared equally between the two councils. The shared service would also include trade waste.

A Governance Board was being set up, members of which would be South the relevant Portfolio Holders from South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Council, as well as the Director of Health and Environmental Services, the Environmental Services Manager and the Joint Waste Programme Manager. South Cambridgeshire was the lead authority to deliver the service.

Members were informed that Cambridge City’s waste fleet, based at Mill Road depot, would relocate to South Cambridgeshire District Council’s Waterbeach depot. The Mill Road depot would be sold with the proceeds going to Cambridge City Council. A garage was also based at Mill Road, servicing all City Council waste vehicles and providing private MOTs. Members were informed that a separate workstream was underway to work out a business case for the garage and determine what was best to do with it, which would be presented to both Councils in March 2015.

The issue of assisted bins being missed since the new South Cambridgeshire bin routes had started, was raised. The Director of Health and Environmental Services assured members that drivers were becoming familiar with their new routes, assisted bins had been reviewed and the assisted bins list had been updated.

The Director of Health and Environmental Services clarified that there was no basis for the assertion that had been put forward at the Council’s Scrutiny and Overview Committee meeting in November 2014, that the County Council would incur costs due to increased landfill with the reduction in green bin collections. The committee was informed that there was no evidence to suggest this would happen and the Council would be monitoring weights of green and black bins from December- February 2015, to establish whether there was an effect on these weights. The data would be shared with the County Council. The Director of Health and Environmental Services agreed to come back to the committee in March or April 2015, once these figures had been monitored.

The Shared Service would supersede any Service Level Agreements (SLAs) for the Southern Fringe and North West Cambridge developments. A shared service agreement had been signed with the City Council for the North West Cambridge underground bin scheme. This would operate from 2016 when the first properties would be occupied.

The Council’s separate collection of paper for recycling was discussed. It was clarified that paper was part of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To consider update reports from Members appointed to represent the Council on outside bodies.

The committee NOTED the update reports that had been received from Members appointed to represent the Council on outside bodies.

Councillor Roger Hall informed the committee that the archives would transfer from Shire Hall to Ely next year. He would look into what damage had occurred at the archives.

To consider the Partnerships Review Committee’s work programme for 2014/15. At its meeting on 10 July 2014, the Executive Management Team proposed a number of potential items for future scrutiny by the Partnerships Review Committee. These are:

·         The Home Improvement Agency/Homelink

·         A review of the South Cambridgeshire/Cambridge City Single Shared Waste Service

·         Review of the joint procurement of a Cambridgeshire Handy Person Scheme

·         Connecting Cambridgeshire

·         Making Assets Count

The Council’s Forward Plan is also attached for the committee to consider the items contained in this, for possible future scrutiny.

The committee AGREED  the January 2015 meeting would look at the following:

·         Homelink

·         The Home Improvement Agency

·         The Mears contract performance review

·         Thursday 22 January 2015, 2pm

·         Thursday 19 March 2015, 2pm

It was noted that all future meetings would be at 2pm. The next meeting would take place on 22 January 2015 at 2pm.