Agenda and minutes

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

Media

Items
No. Item

1.

Apologies and Notification of Substitutions

[To receive any apologies for absence and notification of substitutions]. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

An apology for absence was from Cllr Paul Appleby. Cllr Ellis Turrell was substituting for Cllr Paul Appleby. 

 

The Chief Operating Officer sent his apologies. 

 

Cllr Greg Brackenridge stated that he needed to leave early due to a Mayoral engagement. 

 

The Chair advised that Cllr Alan Butt would be a little late for the meeting. 

 

 

 

 

 

2.

Declarations of interest

[To receive any declarations of interest from Members or Officers present]. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest. 

3.

Minutes of the previous meeting pdf icon PDF 459 KB

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

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 21 October 2021 were approved as a correct record. 

 

The Chair asked for the form used for Citizens Assemblies to be clearer on whether the Council can contact the individual again for future correspondence.  She also asked if there was a further update on the quarterly newsletter referred to in the minutes.  The Senior Governance Manager promised to look into the matter and inform the Panel accordingly. 

 

The Chair suggested an apprentice could be appointed to assist the Council with their ongoing work on climate change.  The Senior Governance Manager promised to pass on the suggestion to the relevant Officer.

 

The Chair asked if there was any further news on funding from the WMCA for climate change work.  The Senior Governance Manager responded he had contacted the Project Officer recently who informed him they were still awaiting news.  The Senior Governance Manager had requested that he contact him when news was received so he could inform the Panel. 

4.

West Midlands Local Transport Plan Core Strategy Engagement pdf icon PDF 282 KB

[To receive information on the West Midlands Local Transport Plan Core Strategy]. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

From Transport for the West Midlands, part of the West Midlands Combined Authority, Alex Greatholder, Principal Policy and Strategy Officer and Jake Thrush, Associate Policy Advisor gave a presentation on West Midlands Transport Plan Core Strategy Engagement. 

 

The Principal Policy and Strategy Officer stated that the Local Transport Plan (LTP) was the responsibility of the West Midlands Combined Authority.  It covered the seven constituent authorities.  The Combined Authority and the 7 Constituent Authorities had duties to implement the plan.  The LTP was required by law and carried statutory weight in public policy decision making including local planning functions.  It was a key document for making the case for funding.  

 

The Principal Policy and Strategy Officer spoke about the new policy agendas, which included recharging the West Midlands after the pandemic, the WM2041 climate emergency, the Inclusive Growth Framework and the Local Industrial Strategy.  They were also mindful of new areas such as the post pandemic transport market and the cost-of-living crisis.  In July of last year, they had published a Green Paper, this set out some of the key issues that they wanted to resolve.  They had engaged with the public on the Green Paper to obtain their views.  Over 600 individual citizens had responded.  92% of respondents were concerned by climate change and 83% agreed that a key policy aim should be to tackle inequalities in transport access.  Two thirds of people felt that levels of traffic on local roads were a problem.  The majority thought increasing active travel was important, but that dangerous and busy roads were holding people back.

 

The Principal Policy and Strategy Officer stated that people felt that we couldn’t build our way out of all the problems and there was a need to focus on using existing infrastructure better.  The shift to electric vehicles was supported but there was a concern that electric vehicles wouldn’t solve the wider transport issues.  There was a clear message that whilst the car was going to be important in the future, the majority of people agreed that car use needed to reduce.  This was clearly a challenge as so much of society had been built around car use.  68% of polled respondents to the green paper consultation said “sticks” were needed to achieve significant change in travel behaviour.  How you went about discouraging certain travel behaviours was where there was disagreement on. 

 

The Principal Policy and Strategy Officer remarked that at the Leaders Summit, one of the key points to come out of the summit was that being risk averse would be an inherently risky strategy.  They also raised the case for demand management, acknowledging that it was essential for behavioural change and it was essential to ensure the viability of public transport. 

 

The Principal Policy and Strategy Officer stated that the Core Strategy had a vision called “Well connected 45-minute region” or “15-minute neighbourhoods,” based on walk and wheel modes.  The vision was set on the premise of people being able to thrive without having to own  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

5.

Arbor Services Future Plans Update pdf icon PDF 466 KB

[To receive information on the Arbor Services Future Plans Update, briefing note attached]. 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Head of Environmental Services introduced the report on Arbor Services Future Plans Update.  He gave a presentation which covered the main points in the report, which had been circulated with the agenda.  This covered the expanded programme, the CEU (Councillor Enquiry Unit) development, tree planting co-ordination and a summary of the key work in the City.

 

The Head of Environmental Services stated that the number of existing highways tree inspections had doubled and a new two-yearly Condition Survey would be introduced to routinely inspect trees in the Council owned parks, green open spaces, cemeteries and land under the responsibility of the Corporate Landlord.  Additional resources had been identified and a review of work schedules and efficiencies were being delivered through the IT Solution ‘CONFIRM’ software.  The highway tree maintenance programme had been updated.  The Customer Services tree maintenance business rule had been revised to reflect the new inspections.  Emergency jobs went straight to the field to ensure a quick response.  CONFIRM had been configured for the Arboriculture operation and was also being used to schedule inspections and maintenance.

 

The Head of Environmental Services remarked that the service was also coordinating with Wolverhampton Homes and the Schools partners to ensure they were working to a two-year inspection programme.  There had been a significant investment in the Arbor Service to increase the inspection regime and to better use technology to support the maintenance programme. This would improve the information available to residents about trees and how and when they were maintained.  The service would experience an underspend this year, as there had been a delay in the recruitment to the Project Manager post and bringing in the agency tree inspectors, whilst the CONFRIM software had been developed.  The Project Manager he was pleased to say was now in post. 

 

The Head of Environmental Services stated that the team had experienced an unprecedented number of enquiries since it had gone live.  Prior to the CEU the Service would have on average 20 Councillor enquiries a year.  In the first 7 months of the CEU, 176 tree maintenance enquiries had been received.  It was 203 at the date of the meeting. They had been working with the CEU to address the challenges posed. 

 

The Head of Environmental Services commented that it was unfortunate that there had been an increase in verbal abuse and threats to the Council’s Arbor Service Officers due to unrealistic expectations of what tree maintenance can do for the issues that some residents faced.  They had improved the FAQ’s section on the CEU so Councillors could pass on this detailed information to residents when they approached them about tree enquiries. 

 

The Strategic Health Lead – Planning spoke on the matter of tree planting Co-ordination.   In 2021/22, 29,000 plus trees would have been planted by the City of Wolverhampton.  All of this planting had been carefully discussed and planned through the Tree Planting Co-ordination Group.  The Group was aware of the issue of maintenance.  This was taken into account when  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

6.

WV Living Governance

[To receive a presentation from the Council’s Chief Operating Officer on the Governance arrangements of WV Living]. 

 

[Presentation is marked: To Follow].

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The item was deferred to the next meeting of the Panel. 

 

The meeting closed at 8:17pm.