Agenda and minutes

To note the attendance at this meeting of any duly appointed Reserve Members.

Reserve Members may attend meetings:-

(i)                 to take the place of an ordinary Member for whom they are a reserve;

(ii)               where the ordinary Member will be absent for the whole of the meeting; and

(iii)             the meeting notes at the start of the meeting at the item ‘Reserves’ that the Reserve Member is or will be attending as a reserve;

(iv)              if a Reserve Member whose intention to attend has been noted arrives after the commencement of the meeting, then that Reserve Member can only act as a Member from the start of the next item of business on the agenda after his/her arrival.

RESOLVED:  To note the attendance of the following duly constituted Reserve Members:

To receive declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non pecuniary interests, arising from business to be transacted at this meeting, from:

(a)               all Members of the Committee;

(b)               all other Members present.

RESOLVED:  To note that there were no declarations of interests made by Members.

That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2014 be taken as read and signed as a correct record.

RESOLVED:  That the minutes of the meeting held on 25 February 2014, be taken as read and signed as a correct record subject to noting that Mrs Rammelt had submitted her apologies.

To receive any public questions received in accordance with Committee Procedure Rule 17 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

Questions will be asked in the order notice of them was received and there be a time limit of 15 minutes.

[The deadline for receipt of public questions is 3.00 pm, <DATE>.  Questions should be sent to publicquestions@harrow.gov.uk  

No person may submit more than one question].

RESOLVED:  To note that no public questions were received.

To receive petitions (if any) submitted by members of the public/Councillors under the provisions of Committee Procedure Rule 15 (Part 4B of the Constitution).

RESOLVED:  To note that no petitions had been received.

Reference from the Cabinet meeting held on 13 February 2014

RESOLVED:  That the reference be noted.

Reference from Council on 27 February 2014

Members agreed to consider a reference from Council, as a matter of urgency, for the reasons set out on the supplemental agenda.

RESOLVED: That the reference be noted.

Report of the Corporate Director of Environment and Enterprise

Members received a report of the Corporate Director of Environment and Enterprise which reviewed the progress of the existing climate change strategy and set out proposals to improve delivery.  The officer outlined the content of the report and then responded to a series of questions and comments as follows:-

·                    It appeared that there had been a reduction in the Affordable Homes Programme.  The officer confirmed that whilst the programme had overrun he expected it to be completed by the end of April.

·                    A Member questioned how many properties would be affected by the changes in the ECO (Energy Company Obligation) scheme.  The officer advised that under the previous ECO arrangements, the support of the energy companies was £120 per tonne and this had now reduced to £40 per tonne which meant that support to residents would be substantially less.  In addition, the officer advised that the Council had submitted a bid to Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) under Green Deal Communities Fund which (if granted) would mean that the subsidy previously supplied by the energy companies would be provided directly by the government.  The Council was awaiting a decision.

·                    Clarification was sought on the number of houses in Harrow that had solid walls, when the last survey had been done and how the Council could tackle this issue.  The officer advised that a survey had not been carried out recently and the data had been taken from the Energy Saving Trust.  They estimated that 58% of homes in the borough (approximately 49,000 properties) had solid walls.  The vast majority of these had not been insulated.  If the bid for funding to the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) was successful he estimated  that approximately 300 homes would be completed by April 2015 on a street by street basis

·                    In response to a question about the amount of energy used by academies, the officer advised that the figure was distorted because of the ongoing transfer of schools to academy status.  However, it was clear that the combined increase of emissions from schools and academies was significant.  One of the reasons for this may be due to the increase in the number of pupils.

·                    The officer confirmed that the use of LEDs for street-lighting would reduce the carbon footprint as well as energy bills, as long as the unit price of energy did not increase.

·                    A Member questioned whether residents were required to ensure that any replacement driveway that was installed was third water porous in order to aid the prevention of flooding.  The officer undertook to look into this.

·                    In terms of the capital programme, a Member questioned the extent to which the effects of carbon emissions had been embedded and was advised that there was still work to be done.  The officer cited the example of the school expansion and carbon reduction programmes working together.  A suggestion was that Cabinet/ Committee reports should state what the carbon impact of proposals were.

·                    The officer confirmed that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 493.

Which the Chairman has decided is urgent and cannot otherwise be dealt with.

A Member sought the support of the Committee, as a matter of urgency due to deadlines, to the submission of the Accessible Transport Review to the Centre of Public Scrutiny for a forthcoming award process.  The Committee endorsed this proposal.