Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber - 4th Floor - Civic Centre. View directions

Contact: Martin Stevens  Email: martin.stevens@wolverhampton.gov.uk

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no apologies for absence.

 

Cllr Greg Brackenridge indicated that he had a Mayoral appointment and would therefore have to leave the meeting early. 

2.

Declarations of interest

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest. 

3.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 472 KB

[To approve the minutes of the previous meeting as a correct record]

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 22 July 2021 were confirmed as a correct record. 

4.

Climate Change Action Plan Review pdf icon PDF 4 MB

[This report will be sent to follow]

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Project Manager presented a report on the Climate Change Action Plan review, a copy of which is attached to the signed minutes.  The Council had procured a renewable energy provider which had significantly reduced the Council’s carbon footprint.  The LED street light programme was 50% complete.  The Staff Climate Tool Kit had recently been completed, this helped employees reduce their own carbon footprint.  The Council 2020 action plan had been approved which had about 80-90 actions, 20 of which were currently ongoing. 

 

The Project Manager remarked that there were 30,000 street lights across the City, which contributed to about 50% of the Council’s electricity consumption.  The LED street light programme reduced carbon emissions and energy expended.  It was hoped that the remaining 50% of street lights would be fitted with LEDs by September 2022.  To the present date there had been 12,500 installations, approximately 20% reduction in energy consumption and 350,000 of savings. 

 

The Project Manager presented a slide on Buildings and Energy.  There were 84 Corporate buildings to decarbonise.  A fabric first approach was required, which meant making buildings as energy efficient as possible before replacing heating systems and introducing solar panels.  The Council already had half a mega watt installed across the Council buildings, there was however a lot more which could be done.  Officers were working on a fully costed programme lasting until 2028 to decarbonising and improving energy efficiency in the Council’s buildings. 

 

The Project Manager spoke on the matter of the Council’s fleet.  There was about 500-600 vehicles in the Council’s fleet, most of which were quite old.  An all electric fleet would lead to an 87-100% reduction in Co2 emissions, depending on how the vehicles were charged.  There would be approximately £817K of fuel cost savings each year and a significant reduction in maintenance costs.  The first step was to update the fleet management system and install telematics on all the Council’s vehicles.  This process would provide useful data on the Council’s approach to converting the fleet to electric and help to improve the efficiency of the vehicles as they were being driven.  It was hoped that the Council would have a fully electric fleet by 2028. 

 

The Project Manager presented a slide on consumption, waste and plastics.  Plastics had been removed from Committee rooms in 2019 but more work needed to be done to remove them from other areas.  Plastic use at the Council had decreased significantly since Covid with people being at home. Steps were being taken to ensure that future contracts included recyclable packaging.  The Procurement team was identifying ways in which waste and climate change could be incorporated into future tenders following government advice.

 

The Project Manager spoke on the City 2041 Action Plan and the work the Council was completing with the West Midlands Combined Authority.  He then presented a slide on communications and the Citizen Assembly.  Following the recent Citizen Assembly on climate change the participants couldn’t be contacted as none had selected follow-up engagement on the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Abandoned Vehicles Process pdf icon PDF 946 KB

[To receive a presentation from Shaun Walker, Service Lead and Ian Crutchley, Compliance Officer, Environmental Protection]

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Chair reported that the item on abandoned vehicles had been requested by the Vice-Chair.  The Service Lead, and Compliance Officer for Environmental Protection gave a presentation, a copy of which is attached to the signed minutes. 

 

The Service Lead for Environmental Crime covered a number of areas in the presentation, including the definition of an abandoned vehicle, the huge resources dedicated to dealing with over 1000 vehicle investigations annually, the service challenges, the process and legislation.  They were looking to refresh their agreement with Wolverhampton Homes to ensure they were working collaboratively to assess abandoned vehicles and take the appropriate action on land Wolverhampton Homes were responsible for.  It was acknowledged that this was an area which needed to be strengthened.  They were also looking to make improvements on the mapping system Geowulf as some asset layers were not accurate.  They needed to be mindful of a potential increase in abandoned petrol and deiseal cars as the country moved to electric vehicles.

 

The Chair asked about timescales from the moment the Council Officer had placed a notice on a vehicle.  The Compliance Officer for Environmental Protection responded that the notice asked for the Council to be contacted with seven days.  The legislation made it clear that the Council needed to do everything they could to identify the owners of the vehicle.  If they were not contacted within the seven days, they would gather evidence and put the case forward to the DVLA for a registered keepers check.  If there was a registered keeper listed, the Council would write to them giving them a further notice of seven days for them to contact the Council in relation to the vehicle.  A decision would be reached by Officers within 21 days to four weeks on whether the vehicle should be removed.  If a person claimed the vehicle, under the current legislation the Council could no longer consider the vehicle as abandoned.  If the vehicle was on Council land, they could encourage them to move the vehicle, failing that they would have to take other Civil steps dependent on who was responsible for the land.

 

A Panel Member asked how the process could be improved with Tenant Management Organisations (TMOs).  Some of the hot spot areas were in areas managed by TMOs.  He believed there was some miscommunication with the TMOs and Wolverhampton Homes. The TMOs believed they needed to go to Wolverhampton Hones first before going to the Council.  His second question related to how long it took Officers to conduct a site visit from the point a vehicle had been reported as abandoned.  His final question concerned if an abandoned vehicle was dealt with by the Police or the Council, in cases where it was clear it was not a legally parked vehicle.

 

The Compliance Officer for Environmental Protection remarked that they could offer the TMOs the same guidance and training as they offered to Wolverhampton Homes.  The Police did have devolved powers from the DVLA to deal with vehicles  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

Draft Work Programme pdf icon PDF 571 KB

[To consider the draft work programme]

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The draft work programme of the Vibrant and Sustainable City Scrutiny Panel was agreed. 

 

The Chair thanked Members and Officers for their contributions to the meeting. 

 

 

The meeting ended at 7:17pm.