To consider any questions which may have been received from Elected Members and which are asked pursuant to Standing Order No. 11.
1 Councillor Lodge
‘What is being done to tackle fuel poverty across the Borough?’
2 Councillor Barnard
‘In view of the flooding recently experienced will the Cabinet Spokesperson ask the Environment Agency to return to the old practice of dredging rivers and water courses?’
3 Councillor David Griffin
‘Could the Cabinet Spokesperson please explain what measures are being taken to ensure that roads keep moving and residents are safe on the roads during the forthcoming winter period?
4 Councillor Makinson
‘What dedicated support exists in Barnsley to help victims of domestic abuse?’
5 Councillor T Cave
‘Will there be any electric car charging points outside the town centre?’
Minutes:
The Chief Executive reported that she had received a number of questions from Elected in accordance with Standing Order No. 11.
Note: A maximum or 30 minutes was allocated for this item in accordance with Standing Order No 11(2)(d).
(a) Councillor Lodge
‘What is being done to tackle fuel poverty across the Borough?’
Councillor Cheetham, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Regeneration and Culture) thanked Councillor Lodge for his most timely question in view of the fact that tomorrow was the Barnsley Fuel Poverty Awareness Day and which gave him the opportunity to remind Members of all the different ways the Authority could assist residents who were having difficulty meeting their fuel bills.
There were a number of causes for fuel poverty as it was not simply a case of having a low income and high fuel costs. Fuel poverty was caused by a combination of factors:
· Energy inefficient housing due to the housing construction type and location; poor insulation and energy inefficient heating in which the Council aimed to intervene via improvements in insulation or heating
· Low household income - the Council aimed to maximise the income of residents; and
· Costs of energy which were influenced by the availability of different fuels, tariffs and payment options. The Council also provided support in that area too
He then referred to some of the major schemes in which the Council was involved:
· Affordable warmth and Energy Efficiency Schemes – the Council currently had a number of schemes which aimed to support fuel poor households in the private housing sector by improving the energy efficiency of the home and increasing the household’s income and reduce the costs of paying for heating
o Barnsley was a member of the Better Homes Yorkshire Programme established in partnership with ten other local authorities in the Leeds City Region in 2015. This scheme was available for owners of homes and private sector tenants; through this, almost 400 private sector properties had received measures including gas central heating, boiler replacements or insulation upgrades in the last couple of years
o The Council had secured funding for 123 first time gas central heating systems over two years of around £250,000 to run an affordable warmth programme which targeted support at lo income households with heath conditions living in the least energy efficient homes
o The Council had also secured funding from other sources including Npower, ECO and other grants on a case by case basis and judged on different criteria
· Support was available to all residents to reduce the cost of their energy
o The Council also tried to intervene by offering an energy tariff for domestic properties to reduce the costs of energy in the home. The Barnsley Energy Tariff had been launched in 2018-19 in partnership with Great North Energy. As well as offering 100% renewable electricity, the tariff aimed to tackle fuel poverty by fairer, competitive and more transparent energy deals and proactively encouraging customers to switch away from more expensive prepayment meters. So far 917 residents had switched
o The Council had commissioned a specialist Warm Homes and Hospital Discharge service with trained advice workers who provided short term support to residents in their own homes with the aim of addressing fuel poverty and cold homes. The Team helped residents with energy price comparison, explained energy bills and demonstrated how to adjust heating controls, provided advice around energy discounts and debts, income maximisation, checked energy efficiency of homes and the eligibility for funding towards energy efficiency measures. The service had extensive referral pathways to ensure that residents could access a range of other services which may benefit them
o There were, of course, other works being undertake and an example of this was the North Area Council which had commissioned the disability charity DIAL to run a warm homes and social isolation service to residents in its area
· The Council did not work in isolation of course and one of its chief partners Berneslai Homes had Domestic Energy Efficiency as one of its objectives. Their aim was to improve the energy efficiency of the Council’s Housing Stock making them cheaper to heat and to reduce carbon emissions. As a result, the Berneslai Homes Board had introduced their ‘Low Carbon Strategy’.
Almost all of the Berneslai Homes housing stock fell into the Energy Performance Certificate (EPC0 band ratings C and D, with a very small percentage of the stock above and below this level. The national average in England and Wales was band D. All stock had double glazing, cavity wall insulation (where possible) and a good level of loft insulation.
Projects that could be implemented to raise the EPC rating of properties included:
o Cavity wall and loft insulation upgrades to 30mm, as well as installing double glazing to windows and doors. Each year Berneslai Homes invested in the ‘maintaining the home standard’ and around 1,000 to 2,000 dwellings had these measures applied each year
o Using high efficiency condensing boilers and heating systems by replacing existing systems with high efficiency condensing gas boilers, easy to use controls and thermostatic radiator valves would save tenants residing in a semi-detached property of £105 per annum. This would help reduce fuel poverty in the borough and in addition, more efficient boilers would also emit less CO2 because they burned less gas
o Reducing the reliance on Fossil Fuels for Domestic Heating was also a key priority. Air Source Heat Pumps had been rolled out across larger properties in the housing stock. These were renewable sources of heat and could be used to replace gas powered heating. This was supported by government strategies which envisaged an end to gas central heating by 2025 in new properties; although no date had yet been announced for the replacement systems in existing dwellings. Bernesali Homes was also currently working jointly with the Council on the feasibility of heat pump technology using mine water and was trailing the use of batteries within domestic properties. The Council also currently had 700 domestic properties fitted with solar PV rooftop solar panels.
Councillor Lodge then asked as a supplementary question if the Cabinet Spokesperson would commit to supporting National Energy Acton’s recommendations to reduce energy supplier threshold obligations for the Winter Home Discount which currently included Robin Hood Energy who excluded the Broader Group’
Councillor Cheetham in response stated that he would certainly ask officers to consider this request.
(b) Councillor Barnard
‘In view of the flooding recently experienced will the Cabinet Spokesperson ask the Environment Agency to return to the old practice of dredging rivers and water courses?’
Councillor Lamb, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Environment and Transportation) thanked Councillor Barnard for his timely question and responded by stating that given the immediacy of the flooding it wouldn’t be prudent to comment on whether the dredging of rivers and water courses would or wouldn’t have had a beneficial effect in Barnsley. The question may well be part of a more formal review of the recent flooding across South Yorkshire and particularly here in Barnsley and was subject to legislation including the Floods and Water Management Act 2010 and the Land Drainage Act 1991.
Following the flooding events in 2007, the Council had invested more than £1m in improvement and maintenance works and successfully secured an additional £1.2m of external funding to further enhance the Annual Drainage Maintenance Budget.
Improvement and maintenance works that had been undertaken included:
· Rebuilding of flood defence walls and river channel clearance on the River Dearne at Darton. As could be seen, this had had a very beneficial effect and had prevented the dreadful situation that had occurred in 2007
· Dredging and silt removal in the river Dove and Worsbrough, Wombell and Darfield – again to good effect
· Property Level Flood Protection schemes at Lundwood, Darfield Bridge and Bolton on Dearne
· Watercourse (streams etc.) clearance works at Carlton, Wombwell, Hoyland, Royston, Worsbrough and Darfield; and
· Various small flood prevention and improvement schemes across the borough
Members should note that the responsibility for carrying out improvement and maintenance activities across the waterway network was the responsibility of various bodies and not just the Council. Watercourses designated as ‘Main River’ (River Dearne, Don and part of the River Dove) wee administered by the Environment Agency. Other watercourses in the borough were classified as ‘ordinary watercourses’ and were the responsibility of the relevant land owner (the Riparian Owner) and were administered by the Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority. The borough also had an area that fell under the responsibility of the Danvum Drainage Commissioners Internal Drainage Board and this included particular areas of Cudworth, Darfield, Wombwell and Broomhill. Danvum were also responsible for Water Level management within their area and took on certain responsibilities of the lead Local Flood Authority.
It was interesting to note that river levels experience within the borough approximately three weeks ago were some of the highest seen since 2007 with the river Dearne at Goldthorpe reaching 2.23m and the River Dearne at Grange Lane reaching 3.83m which was higher than 2007 and the highest ever recorded at this location.
With regard to the specific practice of dredging, the Environment Agency had said ‘as part of our maintenance schedule, we consider each location carefully and do it where we know it will make a difference. Understanding where dredging will and won’t reduce flood risk is key and taken on a case by case basis. It must show clear benefits within the watercourse and overall catchment’.
It was worthy on noting that over the coming months the Authority had set aside £500,000 of additional funding in order that that could be spent on the clearing and repairing of gulleys which would also have a beneficial effect in terms of preventing flooding.
Members should also note that senior officers of the authority were in regular communication with the Environment Agency, Yorkshire Water, the Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government, the Internal Drainage Board, the South Yorkshire Resilience Forum, DEFRA and Sheffield City Region with regard to better understanding the local context of why the recent flooding events occurred and what additional mitigations were necessary to better protect the borough in the future.
From a political perspective he now regularly attended the Yorkshire Regional Flood and Coastal Committee and the South Yorkshire Flood Risk Partnership accompanied by one of the Authority’s professional Officers. He was quite certain, however, that behind Councillor Barnard’s question was a real concern for those residents and businesses that had suffered as a result of the flooding a month or so ago.
He then went on to outline the mitigations that had been put in place for those residents of the borough:
· An emergency payout of up to £250 was available for essential items such as clothes, food and heating and once processed payments were available within 24 hours
· Council Tax Relief was provided for up to three months where homes had been damaged and if businesses that couldn’t trade could also claim business rate relief for up to three months
· Additional flood relieve grants were available for £100 from the South Yorkshire Disaster Relief Fund
· The Community Recovery Grant was payable of up to £500 from the Government for each household affected by flooding
Officers made all residents and businesses affected by the flooding aware of the availability of such assistance and he understood that many of those payments had already been made.
Finally he would like to conclude, following on from the Leader’s comments at the start of the meeting, by extending a massive vote of thanks to all staff who worked tirelessly day and night to ensure that the effects of flooding were minimised and that those affected were properly cared for in a way that the Council would expect.
In thanking the Cabinet Spokesperson for his response, Councillor Barnard also echoed the comments made by thanking all the staff and emergency services for the work they had undertaken in assisting residents and businesses. He commented that as the Cabinet Spokesperson had not ruled out dredging (and indeed some had already been done in the borough) if he would remind the Environment Agency that dredging had been a very successful means of countering flooding for hundreds if not thousands of years.
Councillor Lamb responded by stating that he sat on a number of regional and sub regional bodies at which the Environment Agency attended and he would make it a personal task of his to ask those questions and to then the appropriate answers from the professionals and provide a response for Councillor Barnard.
(c) Councillor David Griffin
‘Could the Cabinet Spokesperson please explain what measures are being taken to ensure that roads keep moving and residents are safe on the roads during the forthcoming winter period?’
Councillor Lamb, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Environment and Transportation) thanked Councillor Griffin for his question and responded by stating that all Members of the Council would appreciate that winter was one of the most challenging times of the year for the Highways Service. Notwithstanding the potential for severe weather events to disrupt the local road network, there was the general increase in commuter numbers due to the festive period and the continued pressure for the Teams to deliver the core maintenance and repair programmes across the borough.
However, as was the norm for the Highways department, preparations had taken place for this year’s winter period and he could confirm the following key measures were in place to try to ensure that the road network was safe and free flowing this winter:
· The 3 Winter Service Co-ordinators were active and would be monitoring road temperature data 24/7 for the duration of the 24 week Winter Service Period
· The Winter Service Standby Team, consisting of 54 operatives had been mobilised and was available to be deployed 24/7 for the duration of the Winter Service Period
· The Neighbourhood Service Teams had also been mobilises to assist in snow clearance should the Snow Plan be activated
· The fleet of 12 demountable ‘gritters’ and 2 permanent bodied ‘gritters’ had been serviced, prepped and calibrated
· The two main salt domes at Smithies Depot and Penistone Depot had been filled to capacity, 12,000t in total. To date the Authority had used 225t of grit salt leaving 98% of the reserves. Members may be interested to know that in a mild winter, akin to last year, the Authority had used around 3,400t of grit salt so the current stock levels were more than adequate for the anticipated needs
· The approach, when poor weather arrived, was to focus resources on the Primary Routes – these were the main roads which linked the key community and public assets including primary schools, secondary schools, special schools, key bus routes, the transport interchange, the hospital, South Yorkshire Fire assets, South Yorkshire Police assets and the Yorkshire Ambulance assets
· The network of 540 local grit bins had been filled and were ready to be used by residents
· In order to keep local residents and businesses informed there was a pro-active Communications Plan utilising the Council’s Facebook page, the @BarnsleyHighway Twitter account, including the #SYGrit tag which was used by all South Yorkshire Authorities for key winter messages
· 127 of the busiest roads would be embargoed from road works from the 27th November, 2019 to 1st January 2020 which meant that no disruptive utility maintenance work would take place during this period.
A full list of the measures taken could be made available to any member who required it.
It had also been decided to extend the winter service period this year by and additional 2 weeks following the long range predictions coming from the Met Office.
Members should be re-assured that the pre-winter preparations were in place and that the teams were mow ready to be deployed at any time from now until the 4th April, 2020.
Councillor David Griffin thanked the Cabinet Spokesperson for his comprehensive response and as a supplementary question asked if the Cabinet Spokesperson could confirm that all the estate grit bins in his Ward had been topped up ready for the winter season and secondly, given that there were a number of newer estates in Penistone since the introduction of the Local Plan (with more planned) if he could confirm how grit bins were placed on completed developments or whether this just happened as a matter of course once it was handed over.
Councillor Lamb responded by stating that all of the existing grit bins had been topped up. One thing he would say to all residents and to Members for them to remind residents to use the grit from those bins in the correct manner for roads in the immediate vicinity of those bins. In relation to the second part of the question he noted that Councillor Griffin had been a great supporter of the Local Plan particularly as it related to the development of new houses for people who didn’t want to move out of the area they were from. The location of new grit bins in these areas was dependent upon the gradient of the road and also based on the number of elderly people living in the locality, the presence of homes for the elderly or sheltered accommodation. These principles were applied for all new developments and in the event of them meeting the stipulated criteria, bins would automatically be provided.
(d) Councillor Makinson
‘What dedicated support exists in Barnsley to help victims of domestic abuse?’
Councillor Platts, Cabinet Spokesperson for Adults and Communities thanked Councillor Makinson for her question and stated that the Communities Directorate commissioned a service through an organisation called Independent Domestic Abuse Services (IDAS) to support victims of domestic abuse. The Service included refuge accommodation, independent advocacy and outreach support as well as a Respect Young Person’s Programme. More information on Barnsley Services was available through the IDAS website.
Communities also commissioned a domestic violence perpetrator service in partnership with the other three authorities in South Yorkshire. The ‘Inspire to Change’ programme had been designed to help participants learn new skills and find ways to manage and control their abusive behaviour.
In addition, from April next year the borough would have a new women’s centre which would be located somewhere within the Dearne Valley area and run by IDAS. The centre would be a dedicated space where victims of domestic violence could go to receive support and advice. There would also be four new two bedroomed properties that would be used for women leaving prison who were victims of domestic abuse. These were to help prevent women having to return to abusive situations. Women referred to these proprieties would receive support to help them live independently and help break the cycle of abuse.
Councillor Makinson asked, as a supplementary question whether the Women’s Refuge Centre would be residential centre.
Councillor Platts responded by stating that this would not be a residential centre. The four properties referred to above would be used for people leaving prison, however, the refuge centre would act as a drop in centre where people could go as often as required for appropriate support.
(e) Councillor T Cave
‘Will there be any electric car charging points outside the town centre?’
Councillor Lamb, Cabinet Spokesperson for Place (Environment and Transportation) thanked Councillor Cave for his question.
As Members would be aware, the Authority, as part of its ambitions to be carbon neutral had set aside an initial £100,000 for an EV charging project which aimed to install 45 dual charge points (capable of charging up to 90 vehicles) at public car-park locations throughout the Borough including the Town Centre, Barnsley Premier Leisure sites and in each of the Principal Towns.
A total of 27 dual charge points (around 60% of the total) were expected to be installed outside the Town Centre.
The Authority was currently procuring a service provider and would be looking to appoint in December for an initial contract period of 5 years.
This was the first phase of the public EV charge point provision and additional chargers could be installed to meet additional demand as part of the contract. The Authority was also currently in the process of agreeing a lease to install a rapid charge point in Shrewsbury Road public car-park in Penistone whicyh would be the first rapid charge point provided in a Council car-park.. This charge point was being provided by Highways England.
Councillor Cave thanked Councillor Lamb for his comprehensive introductory report about the really practical developments to help in tackling climate change and he then asked as a supplementary question if there had been any specific challenges to further development of the scheme.
Councillor Lamb stated that one issue immediately sprung to mind in relation to many of the streets with the borough particularly within the town centre where there were streets of terraced houses where residents didn’t have off street parking and, therefore, no means of running a charge cable from their home to their vehicle. The Authority was aware of these types of challenges and he, together with his professional officers, were looking at such matters. These types of issues would be factored into all of the considerations as the project was taken forward. This was, of course, an issue not just for Barnsley but also for every town and city across the country.