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Councillors and committees

Agenda and minutes

Venue: Civic Centre

Contact: Sonia Stewart 

Items
No. Item

TW1

Appointment of the Chair

Minutes:

RESOLVED - That Councillor Kevin Dodds be appointed Chair of the Joint Committee for the 2017/18 municipal year.

TW2

Appointment of Vice-Chair

The Committee is requested to appoint a Vice-Chair for the 23017/18 Municipal Year

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That Councillor Jill Fletcher be appointed Vice Chair of the Joint Committee for the 2017/18 municipal year.

TW3

Constitution of the Committee

The Committee is asked to note the following members and substitutes have been appointed by the constituent authorities.

 

Authority

Members

Substitutes

 

 

 

Gateshead

Councillor K Dodds

Councillor M Brain

 

Councillor M Foy

Councillor S Hawkins

 

Councillor T Graham

 

 

Councillor D Duggan

 

 

 

 

Newcastle

Councillor N Kemp

Councillor G Kane

 

Councillor S Lambert

 

 

Councillor M Lowson

 

 

Councillor D Huddart

 

 

 

 

Sunderland

Councillor M Mordey

Councillor M Beck

 

Councillor J Blackburn

Councillor L Scanlon

 

Councillor J Fletcher

Councillor D Snowdon

 

Councillor A Wilson

Councillor K Water

 

 

 

South Tyneside

Councillor A West

Councillor A Kerr

 

Councillor T Dixon

Councillor A Donaldson

 

Councillor A Ellison

 

 

Councillor J Perry

 

 

 

 

North Tyneside

Councillor P Earley

Councillor S Graham

 

Councillor J Hunter

Councillor J O’Shea

 

Councillor J Harison

Councillor P Oliver

 

Councillor J Stirling

Councillor C Johnson

 

 

 

 

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the constitution of the Joint Committee for the 2017/18 municipal year be noted.

TW4

Minutes pdf icon PDF 221 KB

The Joint Committee is asked to approve as a correct record the minutes of the previous meeting.

Minutes:

RESOLVED – That the minutes of the last meeting of the Joint Committee held on 16 February 2017 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

TW5

Consolidated Revenue Outturn for Year Ended 31 March 2017 pdf icon PDF 123 KB

Report of the Strategic Director, Corporate Resources.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Joint Committee has received details of the provisional outturn for 2015/16, subject to the audit of Gateshead Council’s accounts.

 

Members asked for the format of the outturn statement to be altered in future so it was easier to read. They also requested more detailed explanatory notes to assist their understanding of the income and expenditure.

 

RESOLVED – That the information be noted.

TW6

Pension Scams

Video Presentation to the Committee

Minutes:

The Joint Committee viewed a video which was available on Gateshead’s Facebook page on pension scams.

 

The Joint Committee commented upon the effectiveness of the video and felt that it should be shared with interested groups. The Chair also stated that he would ask officers to email the link to the video to all members of the Joint Committee.

 

RESOLVED – That the information be noted.

TW7

Report and Statistical Return for the Quarter Ending March 2017 pdf icon PDF 342 KB

Report of the Strategic Director, Communities and Environment, Gateshead Council

Minutes:

The Joint Committee has received an update on the work of the Metrology Laboratory and the statistical return for the final quarter of 2016/17.

 

RESOLVED – That the information be noted.

 

 

TW8

Citizens Advice Consumer Service Update pdf icon PDF 33 KB

Report of the Strategic Director, Communities and Environment

Minutes:

The Joint Committee has been advised of progress with regard to the national Citizens Advice Contract and the work of the Relationship Manager.

 

The transition is close to being completed and all centres are now live on handling calls. The management teams in all centres continue to work with advisers, offering side by side sessions, coaching and training, where appropriate. They are also continuing to refine the output of their advisers with support from central operations.

The centres are concentrating on performance measures as well as quality processes, to ensure all aspects of the service are being delivered well.

 

The role of the Relationship Manager has already shown some benefit to both the Citizens Advice Service and Trading Standards, ensuring protocols are up to date and contain sufficient information for advisers to be able to signpost or direct a call has been one of the areas looked at first.

 

Aide memoirs have also been produced for the advisers containing relevant information that would give trading standards an early indication as to whether there was a relevant complaint to be investigated.

 

Future work involves identifying best practice and sharing this with all of the centres, ensuring all case notes up to a high standard, identifying trends in complaints and action feedback sent from local trading standards services.

 

RESOLVED – That the information be noted.

 

TW9

Video from CTSI on its work and Priority Areas

Video Presentation to the Committee

Minutes:

The Joint Committee viewed two videos from the Chartered Trading Standards Institute on the impact of trading standards and businesses selling on-line. Members were advised that there were a number of other useful videos on their website.

 

RESOLVED – That the information be noted.

TW10

Response from Letters sent on behalf of the Committee pdf icon PDF 32 KB

Report of the Strategic Director, Communities and Environment

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Joint Committee has received responses in relation to two letters sent by the Chair on members’ behalf as follows:

 

·         A letter from the Local Government Association on the welfare of domestic animals.

 

·         A letter was from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy in relation to the irresponsible use of fireworks by the general public and the potential ban on fireworks to anything other than organised displays.

 

RESOLVED – That the responses be noted.

 

TW11

Update on the Safety of Fidget Spinners pdf icon PDF 119 KB

Report of the Strategic Director, Communities and Environment

Minutes:

The Joint Committee has been advised of safety issues associated with the Fidget Spinner toy.

 

The Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) are examining a range of fidget spinners to evaluate the concerns raised, with particular emphasis on those products that contain LEDs or other electronic components. BEIS are also considering the potential for hazardous substances, robustness of the product and marketing approach.

 

BEIS have requested that local authority trading standards services continue to engage with manufacturers, importers and distributors providing advice and support to enable them to have confidence that products are safe and comply with legal requirements. Priority should be given to any fidget spinner products which are marketed or which might foreseeably be used by children under 36 months and the possibility of small parts which may become choking hazards.

 

RESOLVED – That the information be noted.

 

 

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