Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors T Lacey, J Lilley and M Potts.

Members are requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interests and/or other interests, not already on their register of interests, in any item on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time.

Members were requested to declare the existence and nature of any disclosable pecuniary interest and/or other interest, not already on their register of interests, in any item on the agenda and withdraw from the meeting at the appropriate time.

There were no interests declared at this meeting.

To approve as a correct record and the Chair to sign the Minutes of the Communities Scrutiny Committee held on 11 November 2022.

RESOLVED – That the Minutes of the Communities Scrutiny Committee meeting held on 11 November 2022 were approved and signed as a correct record by the Chair.

NEDDC: leisure membership statistics

Members considered a document which set out statistics requested by the Committee on 11 November 2022. This included:

·         Leisure memberships for the over 55s at each NEDDC owned sports centre (55-64, 65-74 and 75+)

·         Total number of memberships at Dronfield SC and the amount over 55

·         Total number of memberships at Eckington Pool & Fitness Centre and the amount over 55

·         Total number of memberships at Sharley Park and the amount over 55

·         Total memberships at Killamarsh Active and the amount over 55

·         Total memberships across the four NEDDC owned leisure centres and the amount over 55

·         Membership types and discount schemes

Members were concerned about the much smaller number of older people using the Killamarsh facility compared to the other centres. TheHealthy Lifestyles Manager explained that the user numbers for Killamarsh were generally lower because of its close proximity to facilities in Sheffield and Rotherham. Members were also informed that leisure facilities in general were taking a financial hit because of the Cost of Living crisis and high energy costs.

Members enquired what the pool services offered in all four facilities were. They were informed that Killamarsh Active was the only facility without a swimming pool.

Members considered some of the schemes the facilities held to help and attract older people, such as ‘Dicky Tickers’ and ‘Gym & Swim’. They were notified that there were discussions underway with doctor surgeries to form links with the four centres.

The Chair felt the membership types described on the Council website were difficult to understand, particularly with ‘Corporate’ membership not being explained and the membership type for older people not being clear. The Healthy Lifestyles Manager explained that the ‘Corporate’ membership was for people from a company who wanted to apply for a membership, and the ‘Concessionary Pass Scheme’ was the membership specifically for older people. Three years ago the membership types changed to condense them and offer people more flexibility, and the age limit for the Concessionary Pass Scheme was removed from 65+ to meeting a list of criteria instead.

The Chair suggested that to make the memberships simpler, the Concessionary Pass Scheme and the Leisure Pass scheme could be offered at the same price. The Healthy Lifestyles Manager explained that both schemes were slightly different in price because the Leisure Pass scheme had to bear in mind the amounts of Housing Benefit people were receiving, since this was one of the qualifications.

The Chair stated that the membership types would be considered by the Committee again as part of the review.

RESOLVED – That Committee noted the document.

Interviews -   • Stephen Birds, Swimming Development Officer

• Michael Price, Healthy Lifestyles Manager

The Chair welcomed the Swimming Development Officer and Healthy Lifestyles Manager to the review interviews, and thanked them both for participating in the earlier discussion about the statistics.

The Chair explained that the following interview questions had been circulated to the two officers prior to the meeting:

1.  Within your area, what activities does the Council provide for older residents (over 55s)?

2. What is the demand from our older residents for those activities?

3. How is the Council promoting the leisure provisions which it provides to older residents?

4. Are there any barriers to older residents participating?

5. Are there any barriers that the Council faces in delivering activities for older residents?

6. Do you have any suggestions for improvement?

The Swimming Development Officer gave the Committee a presentation in response to the interview questions. 

Members referred to the ‘Wellbeing Accreditation’ in the presentation and asked specifically what this involved. Members were informed that it was an opportunity to receive funding from Swim England by demonstrating high standards and quality of support both to health partners and members of the public. Work on being accredited had begun with a review of the accessibility at each facility.

Members referred to the slide in the presentation about promoting services offered to older people, and were concerned that Social Media was listed when it was not a platform older people tended to use. They were informed that when services are being promoted to older people, leisure officers identify them and reach out using other methods.

The Healthy Lifestyles Manager also gave the Committee a presentation in response to the interview questions. 

In addition to the magazines listed in the presentation to notify older people of the services, Members suggested that ‘Country Images Magazine’ should also be utilised.

Members discussed the slide about the ‘Exercise by Referral Scheme’. The Healthy Lifestyles Manager explained that as part of the programme, anyone referred would undergo an assessment, and everyone referred enters a database of people. The Chair suggested that this database could be used to track the types of people who were bring referred.

Members considered the funding for the referral scheme and asked where it was received from. The Healthy Lifestyles Manager explained that it used to be Derbyshire NHS but was now Derbyshire County Council.

Members enquired what the service would do if it received additional funding. The Healthy Lifestyles Manager explained that the service would expand what it was already offering to residents.

The Chair thanked both officers for their answers.

To receive a progress report on the implementation of the CCTV in Taxis Policy – Ken Eastwood, Assistant Director Environmental Health and Lisa Ingram, Legal Team Manager.

The Assistant Director - Environmental Health Service gave Members a progress update on the implementation of the CCTV in Taxis Policy.

Members were informed that the scheme was rolled out on 28 November 2022 and the chosen supplier had been carrying out CCTV installations since then, with approximately 25% of the installs being completed. Officers were going to go through another procurement process to find other suppliers in an effort to offer taxi drivers more choice.

Members enquired if the suppliers could be asked to check what had been fitted. They we informed that the supplier would keep a record of taxis booked in for an install.

Members referred to a mention at the previous Committee meeting of telling drivers they had to install the cameras by 28 November 2022, and were concerned that this had not been realised. The Assistant Director - Environmental Health Service explained that an issue with the supplier had slowed down installation times.

The Chair requested that a figure be found for the exact number of taxis that had not been installed with CCTV yet. The Assistant Director - Environmental Health Service agreed to investigate the figure and circulate it to Members.

Members enquired if the Council had a contract with the supplier yet. The Assistant Director - Environmental Health Service informed them that the contract had not yet been completed for the reasons mentioned at the previous Committee meeting, and it was currently with the supplier’s solicitors with Agreed Terms being completed. Members felt they had not been kept aware of the contract not being signed since the last Committee meeting.

RESOLVED – That Committee noted the update.

To consider progress against the Action Plan – previous Scrutiny Review into Residential Parking – Damien Johnson, Assistant Director Property, Estates and Assets.

The Assistant Director - Property, Estates and Assets and the Senior Engineer provided an update on the items in the action plan from the Committee’s 2019/20 Residential Parking Review, as requested by the Committee at the previous meeting. They presented an action plan with updated progress reports on each item.

The Assistant Director - Property, Estates and Assets explained that Item 1 (“the Council consider the introduction of a facility on its own website for residents to report bad parking within the Council’s area”) had been considered unfeasible by officers because it would conflict with another form for bad parking utilised by Environmental Health.

The Chair referred to the page on the Council website about reporting potholes (which redirected to the Derbyshire County Council website) and asked if the website could include something similar for reporting poor parking. The Assistant Director - Property, Estates and Assets agreed to investigate if this was possible.

The Assistant Director - Property, Estates and Assets explained that for Item 3 (“the effectiveness of using Grass Crete at suitable locations within the District to offer further parking opportunities for residents be investigated”) ongoing monitoring would be carried out on the trial at Adlington Avenue in January and July 2023. A Member had reported the land at the site was wet, so officers would visit it in the next few days.

The Assistant Director - Property, Estates and Assets explained that for Item 5 (“consideration be given as to whether they can provide additional resident parking”), the residential garages were mostly controlled by Rykneld Homes. Members felt that sometimes the responsibilities of both Rykneld and the Council were not clear enough. The Assistant Director - Property, Estates and Assets explained that the SLA between the two organisations was going to be investigated.

RESOLVED – That Committee noted the update. 

To consider the attached Forward Plan of Executive Decisions dated 15 December 2022 to 15 January 2023.  

Please note, the most up-to- date Forward Plan of Executive Decisions can be accessed via the following link:-

https://democracy.ne-derbyshire.gov.uk/mgListPlans.aspx?RPId=1137&RD=0&bcr=1

RESOLVED – That the Forward Plan of Executive Decisions be noted.

To consider the Committee’s Work Programme.

RESOLVED – That the work programme be noted.   

To consider any other matter which the Chair of the meeting is of the opinion should be considered as a matter of urgency.

There were no additional urgent items. 

The next meeting of the Communities Scrutiny Committee is scheduled to take place on Thursday 9 February 2023 at 1.30 pm.

The next meeting of the Communities Scrutiny Committee would be held on Thursday 23 February 2023 at 1:30pm.