Agenda and minutes

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Suite, Castle House, Great North Road, Newark, Notts, NG24 1BY

Contact: Catharine Saxton  Email: catharine.saxton@newark-sherwooddc.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

15.

Declarations of Interest by Members and Officers and as to the Party Whip

Minutes:

Councillor T Wendels declared a personal interest in Agenda Item 6 – Active4Today Performance Report as he is a Southwell Leisure Centre Trustee.

16.

Declaration of any Intentions to Record the Meeting

Minutes:

Other than the Council recording in accordance with usual practice, there were no

declarations of intention to record the meeting.

17.

Minutes of Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 376 KB

Minutes:

Minute No. 5, Active4Today – 2017/2018 Annual Report. The Minute should read:

“A Member commented that the report indicated that there were no equalities and diversity issues and it was asked how that could be when the report indicated that areas of deprivation had declined”.

 

AGREED           that subject to the above amendment the Minutes of the meeting              held on 26 June 2018, be approved as a correct record and                              signed by the Chairman.

18.

Presentation by East Midlands Ambulance Service (EMAS)

Wendy Hazard – Ambulance Operations Manager (Communications and Engagement, Nottinghamshire) and Keith Underwood - Ambulance Operations Manager (Planning and Performance) will provide the presentation on behalf of East Midlands Ambulance Service.

Minutes:

An update presentation was provided by the East Midlands Ambulance Services (EMAS).  Wendy Hazard – Ambulance Operations Manager (Communications and Engagement, Nottinghamshire) and Alastair Smith – Duty Operations Manager attended the meeting.

 

Following the presentation a question and answer session ensued as follows:

 

A Member asked what the cost of an emergency vehicle was.  It was confirmed approx. £125 - £135,000.  Seven new vehicles would be purchased; the emergency vehicle was not as expensive as the A&E vehicles.  The average fleet life span in the past was seven years, which had been reduced to five years as the vehicles clocked high mileage.

 

A Member asked whether the recruitment proposals were realistic and how long it took to train a Paramedic.  It was confirmed that the training programme for a Paramedic was three years; an Ambulance Technician could be trained a lot quicker.  The £19 million funding was against performance standards and would have to be paid back if the performance was not achieved.

 

A Member commented on a past presentation from EMAS to the External Relations and Partnership Committee which had indicated that EMAS was poorly funded in comparison to the rest of the country.  It was confirmed that the West Midlands had received better funding in the past; however the increased funding had bridged that gap.

 

A Member commented that Newark & Sherwood had now received an additional 112 hours per week for their crew and asked what was the base line?  It was confirmed that there had been an additional 25% increase in the Crew.

 

A Member sought clarification regarding hand over times in hospitals.  It was confirmed that Queens Medical Centre was a major trauma centre and was good at hand overs in A&E due to good facilities.  Kings Mill Hospital was a small hospital, if there was a steady flow they could cope; however when there was an influx of ambulances the handover times could be over the 30 minutes threshold.  Lincoln Hospital did cause the Ambulance crew problems due to capacity.  Lincoln had only one hospital and its A&E department had not expanded and was an old facility dealing with new pressures.

 

A Member sought clarification regarding ambulance response times and how did the crew cope when they were stood down from a call.  It was confirmed that a new system was in place when a call was taken which gave 4 minutes for the right job to be allocated to the correct vehicle.  It was confirmed that the crew may still be stood down from a category 3 (CAT3) job to attend a category 1 (CAT1) job if they were the nearest ambulance.  It was confirmed that the 4 minutes had made a difference and the vehicles worked actively on the road.

 

A Member asked what the Leisure and Environment Committee could do to get the message out regarding categorising CAT1 & CAT2 calls.  It was confirmed that the public did not need to worry about what category the call was as the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

19.

Active4Today Performance Report pdf icon PDF 271 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report presented by the Director of Customers and Managing Director – Active4Today, which updated Members regarding the performance of Active4Today during the period between April 1 and July 31, 2018.  The report also set out some key issues arising from the information presented and some proposals in response to the issues.

 

The Director of Customers informed Members of an error in the report at 3.13, the figure for the mechanical and electrical improvements to bring the Dukeries pool up to a usable standard were forecasted at £350,000 and not £450,000 as reported.

 

Members sought clarification regarding what the modular pool would look like.  It was confirmed that it was constructed from heavy duty plastic and was very energy efficient.  Members were informed that the pool wouldn’t win any design awards but was very economical and cost effective.  The pool had been developed for Rebecca Adlington who ran the Swim Start programme.  The life expectancy was approx. 25 years. 

 

A Member sought clarification regarding the free seven day trial leisure centre pass which was undertaken over the summer.  It was confirmed that the scheme was not successful and a full report would be submitted to the November Committee, including the cost of the scheme and the results.  It was confirmed that sixty six people took up the opportunity of the scheme.

 

A Member commented on the Dukeries swimming pool and was disappointed that the Council had not looked more in depth to make the existing pool work.  The cost of the modular pool was considered good and may provide the Council with the answer for Sherwood.  The Wellow swimming provision was considered not an option that made sense when looking at the decline in users. 

 

The Chairman commented that to invest in the Dukeries pool would not be a good investment compared to the proposed modular pool.

 

Members discussed the use of the swimming pool at the Wellow House School and whether the contract would be extended after September.  The Managing Director – Active4Today confirmed that the Wellow swimming pool had been the only option to the Council.  There were approx. four hundred children using the Wellow pool.  The school had worked well with the Council regarding allowing public access to the pool facility.  The Service Level Agreement was until 30 September 2018, a meeting had taken place with the new Headmistress who was happy with the current arrangement and was keen to formalise future arrangements. 

 

The Chairman asked for a report to be submitted to the 13 November 2018 meeting of the Committee finalising all the details regarding the Modular pool and the Wellow House School arrangements.

 

A Member raised concern regarding the modular pool option and was unsure whether that would be a sound investment.  He felt that there may be an alternative way to deliver a permanent swimming pool and asked the Committee to keep all options open.  He commented on the need for equal opportunities for people across the district.

 

AGREED           (unanimously) that:  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.

20.

Update Report - Commercial Project - Garden Waste pdf icon PDF 285 KB

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report presented by the Strategic Development Manager which informed Members on the progress made in transferring the administration for the garden waste service back to an in house provision.

 

Members agreed at the 26 June 2018 Leisure and Environment Committee to transfer the administration for the garden waste scheme from Rushcliffe Borough Council to an in house provision.  Transferring the administration for 6,500 properties (4,500 collected by Newark & Sherwood District Council and 2,000 collected by Rushcliffe Borough Council) to Newark & Sherwood District Council would be absorbed within current resources, with the exception of a one off cost of £14,000, for the expansionof the current customer records management system (CRM) to accommodate the service.  Moving the administration back to an in house provision would result in an additional £30,000 income per annum as well as an improved customer experience.

 

Notice was served to Rushcliffe Borough Council for the administration in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding in July 2018 and the service would operate in house from January 2019.

 

AGREED           (unanimously) that:

 

(a)         the update in respect of transferring the administration back         to an in house provision be noted; and

 

(b)         a report including the business case be submitted to the 13            November 2018 Leisure and Environment Committee.

21.

Mansfield and District Crematorium Joint Committee - Annual Statement Of Accounts pdf icon PDF 224 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee considered the report presented by the Business Manager Financial Services, which presented the Annual Statement of Accounts for the Mansfield and District Crematorium Joint Committee.  The relevant Minute from the 25 May 2018 meeting of the Mansfield and District Crematorium Joint Committee was also appended to the report for information.

 

AGREED           (unanimously) that the Annual Statement of Accounts for the                                  Mansfield and District Crematorium Joint Committee be noted.

 

 

22.

Leisure & Environment Committee Forward Plan pdf icon PDF 263 KB

Minutes:

An amended Forward Plan was tabled at the meeting for information.  Members were encouraged to submit any areas of work they wanted to address for the forthcoming year. 

 

The following work areas were suggested:

 

·         YMCA Sports Village progress report

·         Health Remit – Sherwood Forest Hospital Trust and Clinical Commissioning Group (CCG), progress reports

·         Mental Health – Invite the charity MIND to attend who have had budget cuts.

·         Other Charities and Voluntary Groups

 

NOTED                        the Forward Plan.

23.

Health and Wellbeing

Verbal Update

Minutes:

The Leisure & Environment Committee Vice-Chairman informed the Committee that he had attended the 7 September 2018 Health and Wellbeing Board meeting, the reports on the agenda had been procedural.  Members were also informed regarding the Newark and Sherwood Health and Wellbeing Workshop taking place on the 24 September 2018.  Partners including the CCG, local charities and voluntary groups around the district had been invited.  The Workshops aim was to try and build up a partnership with the Health and Wellbeing Board.  The Health and Wellbeing Chairman would be undertaking some speeches at the event.

 

It was reported that the Patient and Public Engagement Committee was two months into operation. 

 

NOTED                        the verbal update.

24.

Exclusion of the Press and Public

There are none.

Minutes:

There were none.