Communities Scrutiny Committee - Thursday 12 September 2024 6.00 pm

September 12, 2024 View on council website
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Summary

The Communities Scrutiny Committee met on 12 September 2024 and approved the Committee's work programme for the 2024/25 municipal year, as well as agreeing its Terms of Reference. The Committee received an update from officers on the work being undertaken to tackle fly-tipping in the Borough, noting the increase in reports following the COVID-19 pandemic, and endorsed the content of the report and the initiatives proposed in it.

Building Safer & Stronger Communities through tackling fly tipping

The Committee discussed a report on fly-tipping in the Borough, and heard that there had been over 4,300 individual reports of fly-tipping in Telford and Wrekin between 2021 and 2023. The meeting received an update on the work the Council was doing to tackle this, following on from previous discussions in June 2023.

The Committee were told that officers used live data through the Power Bi system to identify 'hot-spots' for fly-tipping. Councillors were also reminded of the intelligence based approaches being used to tackle fly-tipping, including social media campaigns to request information from CCTV footage, which had been used by the Council's Enforcement Team.

Councillors discussed the problem of fly-tipping on private land, and were told:

There were many actions that were used when there were instances of fly tipping on private land. The first was working with the land owner to dispose of the waste. If the landowner was not being co-operative, the Council would issue a fixed penalty notice and the planning enforcement team would investigate the matter further.

The meeting also discussed the design of a leaflet the Council had produced to inform the public about fly-tipping. It was agreed that the leaflet should:

  • Illustrate the penalties for fly-tipping
  • Provide information about bulk waste collection
  • Provide information about local refuse centres

Councillors suggested that the leaflet be distributed through schools and community groups, and it was agreed that the leaflet could be incorporated into the Crucial Crew scheme.

Communities Scrutiny Committee Work Programme 2024/25

The Committee reviewed its draft work programme for the 2024/25 municipal year, which had been circulated prior to the meeting. The work programme had been developed following a period of consultation with the public, key stakeholders, and council officers, and had been delegated to the Committee by the Council's Scrutiny Management Board. The Committee noted that this was the second year of a two-year programme of work, which had been implemented to allow for more in-depth work to be undertaken.

The Committee discussed whether the items listed in the work programme were fixed, and if they could be brought forward, in particular an item on affordable warmth.

The meeting resolved to approve the work programme.

Terms of Reference 2024/25

The Committee reviewed its Terms of Reference, which had been presented in a report. The Committee heard that there was a requirement in the Council's constitution for the Terms of Reference to be reviewed annually. The Committee were told that there were no proposed changes to the Terms of Reference from previous years.

The meeting resolved to approve the Terms of Reference.