Agenda item

This report sets out progress made within the areas covered by the Portfolio Holder for Business Management which fall within the remit of this Committee.

Discussion:

Members received an overview of progress on the areas within the terms of

reference of this Committee covered by Councillor Turpin, Portfolio Holder for Business Management as set out below:

·    Bereavement

·    Community Wardens

·    Emergency Planning

·    Registration

Councillor Turpin responded to Members’ questions as follows:

Bereavement - In response to a question as to whether those members of staff who had been redeployed at the crematorium were still fulfilling their redeployed roles, the Portfolio Holder expressed his appreciation to those staff who had retrained to help out at the crematorium and confirmed that they had now returned to their former roles.

The Portfolio Holder confirmed that whilst there had been an increase in the number of cremations at the Crematorium in recent months, this was not solely down to deaths in Medway as the Crematorium had provided cremation services to support other areas that were under pressure. He confirmed that the number of cremations had now returned to normal levels.

Community Wardens - The Committee discussed the Community Warden Service and in particular, the Frontline Services Structure Review which had resulted in a change in the way that services would be delivered to reflect the changing needs of the local community and the modern local government agenda.

The Portfolio Holder explained that within the new structure, the Community Warden Service (12 posts) would be split into specialist functions comprising Waste and Contract Monitoring, Engagement, Enforcement (merging with the existing Street Scene Enforcement Team) and Animal Wardens.

In response to concerns that Members had yet to be supplied with a new structure chart detailing information as to the names and contact numbers for officers appointed to the various warden posts, the Portfolio Holder informed the Committee that he had requested that this be communicated to Members as a priority and he apologised that this had not yet been done. The Director of Place and Deputy Chief Executive gave an assurance that this would be circulated to Members by close of play on Monday 17 August 2020.

The Portfolio Holder also commented that following the restructure, it was important for the routes of communication for the public to be actively advertised and he encouraged Members to direct the public to reporting incidents online wherever possible.

In response to a concern that Members were unaware of the name and contact details of the Community Wardens working in individual Wards, the Portfolio Holder explained that the allocation of Community Wardens across Wards had ceased some time ago. Community Wardens were no longer allocated on a Ward by Ward basis but in specialist teams, and Members were therefore encouraged to contact the relevant team dependent upon the issue.

The Committee requested that their congratulations be extended to the Community Warden Team for receiving the Gold Footprint Award by the RSPCA for the sixth consecutive year in recognition of their excellent stray dog policies and procedures. The Portfolio Holder agreed to pass on the Committee’s congratulations.

Emergency Planning:

·         Exercise Combine – Referring to Exercise Combine in 2019 at which the External Emergency Plans for Grain’s Upper Tier Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH) sites had been tested, concern was expressed that following a debrief in August 2019, the rewrite of the Plan was still taking place. In response, the Portfolio Holder advised that staff within the Emergency Planning Team had been actively engaged on the coronavirus pandemic for several months and it was possible that this may have led to a delay in completing this work. He agreed to follow this up with the Emergency Planning Manager.

The Portfolio Holder informed the Committee that he was very proud of the Council’s Emergency Planning Team and the way in which they had responded to the coronavirus pandemic working alongside Public Health England. He advised that the Team were continuing this work as the country moved forward into the new recovery phase.

·         SS Richard Montgomery - The Committee discussed the existence of SS Richard Montgomery in the Thames Estuary. In response, the Director of Place and Deputy Chief Executive advised that the SS Richard Montgomery, a US Liberty Ship went aground in the Thames Estuary in August 1944 whilst carrying a cargo of munitions. This was a long standing issue involving a number of agencies and regular surveys of the wreck were undertaken by the Ministry of Defence in order to provide information on its condition, to identify any changes or deterioration and to inform future management strategy. The wreck was currently considered to be stable if left undisturbed.

·         Heatwave Emergency Plan – The Committee noted that a Heatwave Emergency Plan had been written to cover the period 1 June – 15 September 2019, and referring to the recent heatwave requested that a briefing note be produced in October/November on the implementation of the Plan in 2020.

Registration:

·         “Tell Us Once” – In response to a question, the Portfolio Holder informed the Committee that since its adoption in 2019, the “Tell Us Once” service was working well. This service allowed an individual to inform central and local government services of the death of an individual at one time rather than having to write, telephone or attend each service individually. He requested that officers provide a briefing note on the use of the “Tell Us Once” since its introduction.

·         Registration of Births – The Committee noted that due to the coronavirus pandemic, the registration of births had ceased on 27 March 2020. This service had re-commenced on 1 June 2020 once the government had relaxed restrictions on services provided by Registrar Generals. However, by this time there were 1200 babies to be registered in Medway. It was explained that by law a birth could only be registered via a face to face interview and therefore an online booking system had been introduced to book appointments to register a birth. It was anticipated that the outstanding backlog of registered births would be cleared by November 2020.

Decision:

The Committee thanked the Portfolio Holder for Business Management for attending the meeting and:

a)    noted that information on the new Community Warden Structure will be circulated to all Members by close of play on Monday 17 August 2020 along with contact information for the public.

b)    noted that the Portfolio Holder will follow up with the Emergency Planning Manager the completion of the re-write of the External Emergency Plans for Grain’s Upper Tier Control of Major Accident Hazards (COMAH).

c)    noted the current position with regard to the SS Richard Montgomery and that discussions are ongoing with Emergency Planning, MPs and the Ministry of Defence.

d)    agreed that a briefing note will be circulated in October/November of the implementation of the Heatwave and Emergency Plan covering June – September 2020.

e)    agreed that a briefing note will be circulated on the take up of the “Tell Us Once” service.