Agenda item

To accept and note the information in the report.

The item was submitted by Cllr. Dafydd Meurig

RESOLVED

To accept and note the information in the report.

DISCUSSION

The report was submitted as the Cabinet Member was happy with the performance of the Environment department on the whole. He added that the time it took to decide on planning applications had been unstable at the beginning of this year, and he added that this was due to the impact of the new Delegation Scheme beginning to appear, and it would stabilise as it was monitored through separate recording as the number of applications that would need to be submitted to the committee would reduce.

Attention was drawn to the Public Protection Service, noting that the service was still behind with the Food Hygiene and Food Standards inspections. It was added that additional officers had now been appointed, and the service had adopted more efficient arrangements by holding food hygiene and food standards inspections during the same visit, where possible. 

It was expressed that the performance of the average number of days taken to determine a taxi licence application had improved compared to the previous report. It was noted that the average time it took to process driver's licences had also dropped. It was added that when challenging the performance of the service, it was noted that licences for taxi companies and vehicles were processed very quickly, within two days on average, but that there was an increasing number of driver's licences. It was noted that the procedure for carrying out a DBS check could be slow, and that the procedure for arranging hearings before the Licensing Sub-committee could add a delay to the process.

It was noted that the percentage of buildings with a complete security system had substantially decreased from 91% to 73%. It was explained that a member of staff had been on sickness absence, and that no other member of staff had the expertise to carry out the work. It was expressed that steps were now in place to ensure that the Service could continue to do the work in the absence of a staff member. It was noted that savings schemes had been realised and the Council Plan priorities had been outlined, noting that these had been developed following discussions with Councillors about their wards. It was expressed that steps were being taken to complete the priorities. 

Observations arising from the discussion

-        It was noted that a concern about a lack of parking in the Bala area, which was one of the Council Plan priorities, had now been resolved.

-        The Council Plan priority for safety outside schools in Caernarfon was discussed, noting that the whole site needed to be looked at as the Leisure Centre and the Tennis Centre were on the same site.

-        The department's performance measure for transport complaints was discussed, noting that many had praised the buses following a change in the company. It was noted that this measure looked at complaints, noting how the departments had responded to the complaints