Looking for information about a council service?
Minutes
Minutes of the Special Meeting of Council
2nd December 2008
Minutes of the Special Meeting of Council held on Tuesday 2 December 2008 at 7.30pm in the Council Chamber, Strabane District Council Offices, 47 Derry Road, Strabane.
Present: In the Chair: -Councillor J McNulty
Other Members: Councillors M Boyle, A Bresland, J Donnell, J Emery, G Foley, D Hussey, T Kerrigan, C McGill, K McGuire, R McHugh, E McMenamin, J O’Kane
Total = 13
In Attendance: -Chief Environmental Health Officer (CEHO), Administrative Assistant, Mr Joe Lusby - Western Health & Social
Care Trust (WHSCT), Mr Alan Corry Finn - Director of Acute Care (WHSCT), Mr John McGarvey - (WHSCT), Mr Kieran Downey (WHSCT), Mr Gary Hyde (WHSCT), Ms Rita McCullagh (WHSCT), Ms Marie White N I Water (NIW), Mr Tony Dickinson (NIW), Mr Jim McElrath (NIW)
Apologies: - Chief Executive (CE), Councillors T McBride & B McMahon
Suspension of Standing Orders
Processing Services at Strabane DHSS Offices
Councillor Boyle advised Members that the Sinn Fein Party Group would like to call on the Council to suspend Standing Orders.
Councillor Boyle stated that the Strabane DHSS Offices, under the proposals of the Social Security Agency Strategic Business Review Project, were to lose all back room processing services. If the proposals were to be implemented, it would mean the loss of up to 60 civil service jobs in the Strabane District Council area, an area that already had the lowest base of public sector jobs in the 6 counties. Councillor Boyle proposed that the Council would submit a detailed rebuke of the proposals to the Public Consultation Office detailing the impact on staff and Social Security agency users/clients in the Strabane District Council area.
AGREED
On the proposal of Councillor Boyle, seconded by Councillor O’Kane, it was agreed that the Council would submit a detailed rebuke of the proposals to the Public Consultation Office before the consultation period ended on 29 January 2009.
Western Health & Social Care Trust
The Chairman welcomed the representatives from the Western Health & Social Care Trust and thanked them for their forthcoming presentation on the Comprehensive Spending Review 2008 – 2011.
Mr Lusby introduced the various representatives and apologised that Ms Elaine Way, Chief Executive, had been unable to attend due to a prior engagement. He stated that they had been given a challenging agenda to save £36m over a 3 year period, which had started on the 1 April 2008 and applied to all Health Service Care Trusts. He further advised that the Trust had identified 48 proposals in total, of which 26 had been screened to date with the remainder to be completed as soon as possible. Screening had started in October 2008 over an 8 week period and formal consultation would take place after 12 December 2008 and run until March 2009. At present 4 proposals required full Equality Impact Assessments and could be subject to change when formal feedback was obtained. In relation to feedback, Mr Lusby stated that the Trust was engaging with a wide range of groups and 475 letters had already been issued to stakeholder groups in order to ascertain their views on the situation.
Councillor Hussey joined the Meeting at 7.40pm
Mr Lusby further advised Members that although the Trust had proposed savings of approximately £36m over the next three years, achievement of the savings would lead to reinvestment of £36.2m in a wide range of services. He then advised Members that his fellow colleagues would provide a more detailed outline of what savings were being introduced in each of their Departments.
Mr Finn, Director of Acute Services advised Members that within his Department savings of £8.7m was required and that they had developed 13 proposals, of which 12 had been screened. He advised that the 13 proposals had been developed under the following Drivers for Change:
• Developing Better Services
• Review of Emergency Care and Medicine
• Department of Health, Social Services and Public Safety (DHSSPS) Priorities for Action
• DHSSPS Pharmaceutical Clinical Effectiveness Programme and
• Pathways from NHS Modernisation and Service Improvements
He outlined in further detail the specific proposals relevant to his Department.
Mr Hyde, Assistant Director of Adult Mental Health & Disability, advised Members that within his Department savings of £3.1m was required and that they had developed 7 proposals, of which 4 had been screened. He advised that the 7 proposals had been developed under the following Drivers for Change:
• Banford* Review
• Moving Forward with Health in Mind
• Resettlement Strategies
• Review of Day Opportunities
• Brain Injury Review
He outlined in further detail the specific proposals relevant to his Department.
Mr McGarvey, Assistant Director Primary Care and Older Peoples Services, advised Members that within his Department savings of £6.9m was required and that they had developed 12 proposals, of which 8 had been screened. He advised that the 12 proposals had been developed under the following Drivers for Change:
• Meeting the needs of Older People locally
• Developing Better Services
• A Healthier Future
• Priorities for Action
• Day Care Standards
• RQIA Standards for day care, residential care and domiciliary car
He outlined in further detail the specific proposals relevant to his Department.
Mr Downey, Assistant Director for Women’s and Children’s Services, advised Members that within his Department savings of £3.1m was required and that they had developed 16 proposals, of which 2 had been screened. He advised that the 16 proposals had been developed under the following Drivers for Change:
• Developing Better Services
• Children Matter
• Family Support Strategy
• Choices in Childbirth: NICE guidelines
• Birth Matters
He outlined in further detail the specific proposals relevant to his Department.
Mr Lusby ended the presentation by advising Members that the next step was now to engage in ongoing communication and to begin formal consultation. He advised Members that challenging times were ahead but that the Trust would continue to focus on high quality, safe accessible services.
The Chairman thanked Mr Lusby and his team for their very informative presentation and invited queries and comments from Members.
Members thanked the representatives for their comprehensive presentation but felt that there was an overload of information, which was hard to comprehend in such a short space of time. Members felt they needed much more time to digest the facts within the presentation but raised the following issues:
• Closure of Greenfield Old Peoples Home – Members advised the Trust that they were adamantly opposed to the closure of the Home which was greatly needed within the District
• List of stakeholders which the Trust advised they had consulted with to be provided to Members
• Massive gap in the provision of services if such a large amount of money was to be saved
• Long waiting time at Accident & Emergency (A&E) Department in Altnagelvin Hospital in order to be treated
• Maternity Services at Altnagelvin
• Repeat prescriptions at Mourneside Medical Centre
Mr McGarvey advised Members that he fully understood Members’ views in relation to the closure of Greenfield Old Peoples Home and that it was a major issue for the district. He stated that different models of care were being looked at in relation to the elderly as a whole and that should Greenfield close, all residents would be repatriated. He further stated that representatives from the Trust had visited Greenfield Home purely to provide a briefing session for residents and their families. The actual consultation in relation to the closure of the home would not begin until after 12 December 2008 and would last for approximately 12 weeks and would be followed by an Equality Impact Assessment (EQIA). Only when the consultation process and the EQIA had been completed, would a decision be taken by the Trust.
Mr McGarvey further advised that the Trust would be willing to provide Council with a list of all the stakeholders they had contacted in relation to consultations being carried out.
Mr Lusby advised Members that he was fully aware that there was a lot of information within the presentation that needed further discussion and that he and his team would be very willing to return to Council at a later date and discuss any item in further depth.
In relation to the massive gap in the provision of services if such a large amount of money was to be saved, Mr Lusby advised that with the forthcoming Review of Public Administration all organisations would be going through major changes in their work force. He advised that the cuts would be made across the board from managerial to clerical so there would not be a particularly large gap in any one department. He further advised that under the new review the response time for any referral would be transformed from approximately 21 weeks at the present time to 13 weeks by the end of March 2009.
In relation to the long waiting time at Altnagelvin’s A&E Department, Mr Finn advised Members that approximately 600 patients were treated there on a weekly basis and approximately 85% were seen within 4 hours of arriving. He further advised that each patient was seen in relation to the severity of their injuries and if a medical emergency came in by ambulance, that patient would be treated first. He stated that unfortunately a high majority of patients turned up at A&E for minor ailments that could be treated by their own doctor and this further delayed the waiting time.
Mr McGarvey advised Members that in relation to Maternity Services at Altnagelvin, the South Wing of the hospital had recently been developed to provide the most up to date maternity facilities possible. He stated that he would be delighted to host a visit from Members at any time in order to show them the new building and its facilities.
In relation to the repeat prescriptions at Mourneside Medical Centre, Mr Lusby advised Members that the Trust was not responsible for the service and enquires should be directed to the Western Health & Social Services Board.
The Chairman thanked the delegation for attending the meeting, making the presentation and for clarifying Members’ queries.
Western Health & Social Care Trust - Return Meeting
AGREED
It was agreed that the Trust, together with its Chief Executive, be invited back to a more informal meeting with Members early in 2009.
Review of Presentations
AGREED
It was agreed that the Business Manager would ensure that very comprehensive presentations would be put as a single item on the Agenda.
Northern Ireland Water Services
The Chairman welcomed the representatives from the Northern Ireland Water Services (NIW) and thanked them for the forthcoming presentation in relation to recent developments within their services. He apologised for delaying their presentation due to the fact that the first presentation was quite lengthy and detailed.
Ms White, Head of Customer Services, advised Members that throughout the year they had risen to the following challenges:-
• Introduced new non-domestic charges as from 1 April 2008
• Implemented new Codes of Practice
• Continued to promote a high level of public interest in Water Reform
• Delivered 614m litres of good quality drinking water to approximately 795,000 households every day through 26,500km of water mains
• Transported 134 cubic metres of wastewater safely through approximately 14,500km of sewers to works where it was treated and disposed.
• Became one of Northern Ireland’s largest employers with approximately 1600 staff throughout Northern Ireland
• Became major investors in the environment and contributed to environmental protection
• Supported commerce, industry and agriculture throughout Northern Ireland as a whole
She further advised that the following improvements and efficiencies would be introduced in 2009/10:-
• £44m target operational expenditure efficiencies
• Over £77m target capital efficiencies
• £4.4m savings per year by 2010 by improving the way goods and services were bought
• 26% workforce reduction – 1900 posts (2007) to be reduced to 1400 by 2010
Ms White then gave a brief overview of the Capital Works Programme, which had previously been circulated for Members attention. She stated that NIW hoped to invest approximately £9.4m in the various schemes outlined within the Programme in the following areas:
• Construction £7.3m
• Maintenance £1.1m
• Substantially Complete Projects £1m
In relation to recent flooding events in August 2008, Ms White advised that following severe weather warnings, they had made contact with other agencies to discuss plans and to initiate Major Incident Procedures. Internal resources had been established and contactors put on notice. She further outlined NIW’s response to the flooding:-
• 3500 customers called answered
• 76 elected representatives calls dealt with
• 1000 jobs completed by 17 August
• 200 staff on ground/10 tankers/30jet vacs in operation
• Majority of 1300 pumping stations operated normally
• Repairs and re-supply of water restored within a short period of time
Ms White ended her presentation by stating that NIW was always looking forward rather than back and was focused on listening and responding to customers and stakeholders. They hoped to obtain further clarification in 2009 on future water charges and would continue to make major investments in the infrastructure backlog. She stated that NIW were on target to deliver further improvements in customer services, environmental protection and financial performance and were building strong foundations for the future.
The Chairman thanked Ms White and her team for their very informative presentation and invited queries and comments from Members.
Councillor Hussey
Councillor Hussey thanked the representatives for their very detailed presentation and stated that the Council had always a good working relationship with NIW and staff responses had been excellent. He raised the following issues:
• HUB in Omagh - big geographical area to cover
• Floodline tremendously improved but needed enhancement
• Starting date for various works identified for the Castlederg area
Mr Dickinson advised Members that NIW had undertaken an efficiency drive and restructuring had included centralising of services in certain areas, one of which was Omagh. He further advised that staff would continue to live and work in their own areas but new technology would enable staff to travel directly from home to the issue requiring attention. As a result, customers would benefit from a quicker response to leakage or network issues.
In relation to the floodline, Mr Dickinson advised that all instances of flooding had been dealt with and any hot spots had been identified. All relevant information in relation to the floodline had been updated and would be shared with other organisations such as Roads Service, the Department for Regional Development, etc. and would prove a useful tool should there by any future flooding.
Mr Dickinson advised that he would attempt to ascertain a start date for the works in Castlederg and advise Councillor Hussey accordingly.
Councillor O’Kane
Councillor O’Kane thanked the representatives for their very detailed presentation and raised the following issues:
• An owner of commercial premises had received a water bill far in excess of what was anticipated. On querying the amount of the bill, he then received an even larger bill.
• Confirmation in relation to the Hotline Number – was it open to elected members as well as MLAs.
Ms White stated that she would be keen to investigate the matter, as the response from NIW was unacceptable. She advised Councillor O’Kane to contact her direct and that she would look into the matter for him.
Ms White confirmed that the Hotline Number was open to elected members as well as MLAs.
Councillor Emery
Councillor Emery thanked the representatives for their very detailed presentation and stated that the he had always received a good service from the local representatives of NIW. He raised the following issue:-
• Possible start date for works to be carried out in Cranagh
Mr Dickinson advised that the tender had been advertised and prices were due back shortly and that he would advise Councillor Emery in due course of a possible start date when the tenders had been reviewed.
Councillor McGill
Councillor McGill thanked the representatives for their very detailed presentation and raised the following issues:
• Details of work being carried out at Cranagh
• Layout of water bill incomprehensible
Mr McElrath advised that NIW was hoping to build a small, but vital, sewerage works in Cranagh but at present was experiencing difficulties in acquiring a site. He stated that he would speak to the engineer dealing with the project to ascertain the most up to date position and relay the information back to her.
Mr McElrath advised Members that the general layout and design of the bill was presently being looked at and that they welcomed any suggestions that would make the presentation clearer. He stressed that bills must be clear and understandable in order for them to be paid.
Councillor Donnell
Councillor Donnell thanked the representatives for their very detailed presentation and stated that he always found the local representatives extremely helpful. He raised the following issues:
• Reduction in number of staff would mean more work for fewer people
• Maintenance of sewerage systems installed by private developers
• Capacity of sewerage systems in the surrounding local villages
Ms White advised that it had been a challenge for NIW not to increase the work burden but with restructuring they now had a mobile work force that could work directly from home, therefore cutting out valuable travelling time. She also advised Members that a reduction in staff was a very hard target for NIW to achieve but the emphasis had been placed on voluntary redundancy and early retirement to ensure that no member of staff suffered unnecessarily.
In relation to maintenance of private sewerage systems, Mr McElrath stated the onus was on the developer to maintain the system until such time that they could tap into a mains sewerage system.
Mr McElrath advised Members that he was unsure of the sewerage capacity in the surrounding local villages but he would investigate the matter and would advise Councillor Donnell in due course of the outcome.
Councillor McNulty
The Chairman thanked the representatives for their very detailed presentation and raised the following issue:
• Maintenance of sewerage system should private developer go out of business
Mr McElrath advised Members that in that instance NIW would work in conjunction with DRD Roads Service in an attempt to maintain the system and would hope to recoup their costs at a later date.
Councillor Bresland
Councillor Bresland thanked the representatives for their very detailed presentation and raised the following issue:
• Low pressure in north Tyrone water mains
Mr Dickinson advised an analysis was regularly carried out which predicted the high and low points in the pipe network and also monitored the pressure in each area. The analysis also showed up any possible leakages in the pipes. Should any areas of low pressure occur they would endeavour to enhance the distribution service in that particular area.
Councillor Kerrigan
Councillor Kerrigan thanked the representatives for their very detailed presentation and raised the following issues:
• Industrial units being billed that have no meters
• Houses of Worship – were they liable for water rates
Councillor McGill left the meeting at 10.30pm
Ms White stated that unfortunately when data was being transferred it could be mismatched on the system that would lead to a bill being issued to the wrong address. She stated that if the details were forwarded to her that she would investigate the matter.
In relation to Houses of Worship being liable for water rates, Ms White confirmed that they would be liable for water charges.
Councillor McGuire
Councillor McGuire thanked the representatives for their very detailed presentation and thanked them for their help in relation to an issue at Lettercarn Road. He stated that he had always found the staff very courteous and helpful.
The Chairman thanked the representatives for their presentation and apologised again for keeping them so late.
The meeting ended at 10.45pm.
DATED this 2nd day of December 2008
SIGNED ___________________________
Chief Environmental Health Officer
DATED this 13th day of January 2009
SIGNED ___________________________
Chairman of the Council
The following does not form part of the Minutes recorded above but is included hereon in the interests of clarity:
At a meeting of Strabane District Council held on the day of 13 January 2009 the Minutes of the above Meeting were adopted as a true record on the proposal of Councillor O’Kane, seconded by Councillor Kerrigan, subject to the following amendment:-
* Delete and insert ‘Bamford’
