Agenda and minutes

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting of the Sub-Committee held on 17 July 2018 and authorise the Chairman to sign them.

The minutes of the meeting held on 17 July 2018 were agreed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

The Sub-Committee considered the Corporate Performance Report for Quarter 1.

The report and attached presentation provided an overview of the Council’s performance against the performance indicators selected for monitoring by the Sub-Committee. The presentation highlighted areas of strong performance and potential areas for improvement.

Two Performance Indicators had been included in the Quarter 1 2018/19 report and presentation.  The Waste tonnages indicator had been assigned a ‘red’ status, whilst the fly-tipping indicator had been assigned a ‘green’ status.  This was a fall in performance on the position reported at the end of Quarter 4, when both indicators were rated ‘green’.

Members were advised that the waste tonnage performance indicator had potential future financial implications in that, as costs continued to rise year on year, without controls to restrict waste volumes, campaigning on its own will not be enough to mitigate the potential £10m rise in costs by 2027.  The plans to address this would be raised through the appropriate channels as necessary.

The Sub-Committee noted the contents of the report and presentation.

The Sub-Committee considered a briefing paper on the subject of the Community Toilet scheme.

The objectives of community toilets were to introduce a new way of providing public toilet facilities across the borough; this was done by funding local businesses to offer free access to their toilet facilities to members of the public. The facilities were checked to ensure they met a suitable level of access, cleanliness and safety. It was a positive step towards addressing the issue of a lack of public toilets, and a step toward improving local collaboration and partnership.

Members noted that the Council currently had nine automated public conveniences (APC’s) which were run by an external contractor JC Decaux as part of a wider contract encompassing street furniture and advertising boards. Some of the APC’s had been subject to vandalism and anti-social behaviour particularly the unit in Hilldene Avenue. The APC’s were not particularly pleasant to use and certain groups, particularly women and children, were reluctant to use them. The contract with JC Decaux was due to expire in August 2019.

Members noted the contents of the briefing paper.

Members received a presentation relating to the Council’s Highway Investment Programme.

The presentation highlighted that Havering had 740km of carriageway (460 miles) and 1,070km of footway (665 miles).

Members noted that there was a jointly procured, with the London Borough of Barking & Dagenham, highways contract with Marlborough Surfacing ltd which had commenced in April 2017.

2018/19 would see a planned maintenance budget of £2m and a reactive maintenance budget of £1.7m.

The planned maintenance used capital money and was usually a 50/50 split between footways and roads.

Reactive maintenance involved officers inspecting every road and footway across the borough at least once a year with key areas such as outside shopping areas inspected as frequently as monthly. Safety defects were repaired and Havering had a good record when it came to insurance and liability claims.

There had previously been a need for a more overtly objective approach to prioritising spend.

Horizons was a software mapping tool that helped identify where best to spend available money with prescribed treatment types. Geographical information could be inputted and weighting of inputs amended.

Horizons outputted sections of roads and footways with suggested treatment types based on available funding. Onsite validation and verification was then carried out by engineers.

The programme of footways and carriageways for 2018/19 had been compiled and was targeting the “worst-first”.

A condition survey of the entire borough would be carried to inform next year’s programme.

Members noted the presentation.