Councillor Henig provided the
Council with an update report which included the
following:
- The ‘join
in’ programme had been launched, which was a London 2012
programme of activities and events for the 20 weeks leading up to
Durham hosting the Olympic Torch Relay and for 12 weeks beyond this
to the closing ceremony of the London 2012 Paralympic Games.
- New recycling bins
had been delivered to households in the Chester le Street area and
the new system of household waste collection had
commenced. It was anticipated that the
new household waste collection service would realise savings in
excess of £9m over the next 5 years. Positive feedback on the new bins had been
received from residents in the Chester le Street area, as well as
those in the Derwentside area where the system of household waste
collection was already taking place.
- The first round of
consultation on the Community Governance Review in Crook and Durham
City had taken place and had been considered by the Constitution
Working Group. The majority of
respondents in the Durham City area had favoured a Town or Parish
Council, although those from the Newton Hall area expressed a
preference for their own Parish Council. Respondents from Crook had preferred that current
arrangements remain. It was important
that any final decision on the Community Governance Review
reflected the views of the public.
- Last year, the County
Council committed to make savings from the management/back office
function in addition to the £3.65m savings in management
costs achieved through LGR. Management
savings set out in the MTFP were already being
achieved, with twice as many management posts being removed than
frontline posts. In line with the
commitment to reduce management costs at all levels of the
organisation the Chief Executive would be presenting a report
recommending a revision of the current Corporate Management Team
structure to the March Cabinet meeting.
Councillor Hopgood referred to the
recent grading of outstanding for the County Council’s
safeguarding and looked after children’s services and
congratulated those involved in the services.
Councillor
Henig replied that he too was delighted
at the grading of outstanding for safeguarding and looked after
children’s services and welcomed the comments made by
Councillor Hopgood. He congratulated the portfolio holder, Councillor
Vasey and all staff involved in these
services.