The Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee met on Tuesday 24 June 2025 to discuss the development of a Biodiversity Action Plan, improvements to tree management and resident engagement, the outcome of the Women and Girls Sports Task and Finish Group, the draft Library Strategy, and budget monitoring. Key decisions included noting the progress on the Biodiversity Action Plan and agreeing to submit the Committee's lines of enquiry to officers, noting the report on tree management and resident engagement, and noting the report on the outcome of the Women and Girls Sports Task and Finish Group. The Committee also supported the recommendations in the draft Library Strategy and noted the budget monitoring report and the Corporate Plan Actions and KPIs Performance Report.

Biodiversity Action Plan

The Committee discussed the ongoing development of Wandsworth's Biodiversity Action Plan, a document designed to guide concrete actions towards the priorities set out in the 2020 Biodiversity Strategy. Officers presented an overview of the plan's development, highlighting stakeholder engagement, emerging priorities, and examples of successful biodiversity enhancements across the borough. Guest speakers, Valerie Selby from Enable and Petra Sovic-Davis from the Wandle Catchment Partnership, shared insights into habitat creation, species recovery, and river restoration efforts.

Key themes emerging from the discussion included the importance of measuring biodiversity through methods like eDNA surveys, establishing clear targets for habitat management, and enhancing public engagement through improved signage and information. Concerns were raised about the impact of pollution incidents on the River Wandle, and the need for better collaboration with businesses to prevent future incidents. The Committee also emphasised the importance of promoting biodiversity in urban areas and the role of citizen science in data collection.

The Committee agreed to submit a series of key lines of enquiry to officers, including investigating eDNA surveys and partnerships with institutions like the Natural History Museum, considering targets for habitat management, promoting information boards along the River Wandle, learning from recent pollution incidents, facilitating advice on responsible business practices, increasing citizen science engagement, exploring greenway targets, promoting the benefits of nature for children, and mapping green corridors.

Tree Management and Resident Engagement

The Committee reviewed the Council's approach to tree management and resident engagement, with a focus on completed and planned improvements. Officers highlighted the transfer of the arboriculture service in-house and outlined rapid improvements and future plans, including better communication, strengthened collaboration with other council services, key contract procurement, back-office system improvements, young tree health monitoring, and a data-informed planting approach.

Guest speakers, Andy Tipping from the London Tree Officers' Association and Susy Lloyd from the Wandsworth Tree Wardens, shared their perspectives. Mr. Tipping discussed the importance of the London Tree Officers' Association as a support network and highlighted the benefits of a public-facing interactive map displaying the borough's tree stock and their ecological value. Ms. Lloyd emphasised the vital role of the independent Wandsworth Tree Wardens as the eyes and ears of the community, advocating for a clear, measurable, and long-term strategy for tree management. She also stressed the importance of educating young people about trees and their benefits.

The Committee discussed residents' concerns regarding tree felling, the right to light, and the need for better communication about tree maintenance. They also explored ways to empower residents to care for trees, particularly young ones, and the potential for using QR codes on trees for easy access to information.

The Committee agreed on several key lines of enquiry: promoting the benefits of trees on the Council's website, investigating the use of QR codes on trees, strengthening collaboration with tree wardens and community groups, encouraging local residents to water and care for trees, enhancing information on tree disease and felling reasons, exploring community engagement for tree mapping, improving communication about tree felling, and investigating the number of trees lost to development annually.

Outcome of the Women and Girls Sports Task and Finish Group Work

The Committee received a report detailing the outcomes of the Women and Girls in Sport and Physical Activity Working Group, established as part of the Wandsworth Moves Together Leisure Strategy. The group, comprising council services, community organisations, schools, and sports clubs, co-designed an action plan to address barriers and boost participation, volunteering, coaching, and leadership among women and girls.

The report highlighted existing good practices in the borough and identified seven key themes: Affordability, Secondary School Girls, Representation, Settings, Safety, Psychological Barriers, and Information. The action plan includes initiatives such as promoting women's sports viewership, providing affordable leisure access, offering sports wear vouchers, and developing female-only coaching courses.

Presentations from Anna-Marie Ormonde (Sacred Heart Primary School), Josephine Agoe (Empowerment Network), and Fozia Bajwah (Happy Homes Community) underscored the importance of sport for physical and mental well-being, community connection, and empowerment, particularly for women and girls facing cultural, religious, or financial barriers. They emphasised the need for safe, inclusive, and culturally respectful spaces, and the significance of female role models and coaches.

The Committee congratulated the group on their comprehensive work and discussed the importance of measurable targets and pathways for elite athletes. They also explored opportunities to encourage elite sports clubs to engage with girls in Wandsworth and ensure established links for continued participation into adulthood.

Library Strategy

The Committee reviewed the draft Libraries First! Library Strategy, which aims to enhance library services over the next five years. Councillor Judi Gasser, Cabinet Member for Children, highlighted the strategy's focus on inclusivity, community connection, and future readiness, building on Wandsworth's already high-performing library service. Officers presented the strategy's nine themes, including Access for All, Connecting with Communities, Learning, Reading, Wellbeing, Information, Culture, Digital Inclusion, and Sustainability.

Key proposals include extending library opening hours, refurbishing children's libraries at Balham and Battersea Park, introducing a universal library membership for all children, and enhancing digital services. The strategy also aims to increase cultural offerings, support wellbeing initiatives, and promote digital inclusion.

The Committee expressed strong support for the universal library membership for children and discussed the significant use of libraries as study spaces, particularly by young people. They also raised questions about income generation from rented library spaces and the balance between commercial use and public access. Discussions also covered the expansion of mini museums, the integration of social prescribing initiatives, and the alignment with the Wandsworth Arts and Culture Strategy.

The Committee supported the recommendations in paragraph 2 of the report, which recommended Cabinet approve the adoption of the new Libraries First! Strategy.

Quarter 4 Budget Monitoring

The Committee received a report on the 2024/25 revenue budget monitoring outturn for services within its remit. The overall outturn for the Committee's services was a small overspend of £141,000 against a budget of £51.170 million.

The Leisure division reported an overspend of £449,000, primarily due to increased costs associated with the Enable contract and higher utilities expenditure, partially offset by increased income from concessions. The Waste and Recycling division reported an underspend of £418,000, attributed to reduced residual waste tonnages and income from the sale of electricity, which supported additional costs for new recycling and food waste collection rounds. The Highways Operations and Street Scene service reported an overspend of £188,000, partly due to additional staffing costs for anti-fly tipping measures and a reduction in income from licenses. The Chief Executive's Group reported an underspend of £78,000, with a notable underspend in the Climate Change budget due to approved funding not being bid for.

Members raised concerns about missed waste collections, which were significantly above target. Officers explained the impact of major service changes implemented in June 2024, including new routes, vehicles, and technologies, which had taken longer than anticipated to settle. A detailed action plan is in place to address missed collections, and the service provider is facing penalties for not meeting targets. The Committee also discussed the positive impact of increased recycling rates and the successful rollout of food waste collections.

The Committee noted the report, with a request for officers to provide a breakdown of the reasons for missed collections and the actions being taken.

Corporate Plan Actions and KPIs Performance Report

The Committee received an end-year progress update on Wandsworth Corporate Plan actions and Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) related to its functions. The report detailed progress on actions such as developing a Retrofit Strategy, launching a retrofit taskforce, and increasing retrofit skills training. It also highlighted the successful completion of Sustainable September, a month-long awareness programme on climate action, and the achievement of a CDP A rating for the Council.

Updates were provided on the delivery of energy efficiency improvements for private households, the development of a Climate Adaptation and Resilience Strategy, and the expansion of food waste collections. The Committee noted the significant improvements in recycling rates, with the percentage of household waste sent for reuse, recycling, and composting increasing. Concerns were raised about the high number of missed waste collections, with officers explaining the impact of service changes and the ongoing efforts to improve performance.

The Committee noted the report.

Environment OSC Work Programme

The Committee considered a report outlining the proposed approach to developing its Work Programme. Officers explained that the aim was to provide additional support and structure to the development of Work Programmes, ensuring they were comprehensive and effective. The proposed approach involves informal closed work programming sessions for Committee Members and officers to collaboratively define the Work Programmes, with a focus on identifying key areas of concern and potential Task and Finish Group reviews.

The Committee noted the report and the proposed approach to developing its Work Programme.

Attendees:

• Councillor Jamie Colclough (Chair)
• Councillor Rex Osborn (Deputy Chair)
• Councillor Sara Apps
• Councillor Sheila Boswell
• Councillor Ethan Brooks
• Councillor Mrs. Kim Caddy (Deputy Leader of the Opposition)
• Councillor Jonathan Cook
• Councillor Katrina Ffrench
• Councillor James Jeffreys
• Councillor Sean Lawless
• Councillor Paul White (Cabinet Member for Environment)
• Councillor Judy Gasser (Cabinet Member for Children)
• Paul Chadwick (Executive Director of Environment and Community Services)
• Torsten Dreyer (Head of Arts, Parks and Events)
• Sam Morgan (Parks Operations Manager)
• Valerie Selby (Enable)
• Petra Sovic-Davis (Wandle Catchment Partnership)
• Andy Tipping (London Borough of Barnet, Trees and Woodland Service Manager)
• Susie Lloyd (Chair, Wandsworth Tree Wardens)
• Cheney Gardner (Director of Libraries)
• Alex Moylan (Assistant Director of Finance and Performance)
• Clare O'Connor (Director of Climate Change Policy and Communications)
• Callum Wernham (Democratic Services Officer)

Documents:

• Agenda frontsheet 24th-Jun-2025 19.30 Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf
• 25-203 Biodiversity Action Plan.pdf
• 25-204 Tree Care.pdf
• 25-205 Women and Girls Sports TF.pdf
• Appendix 1 Existing WG activities.pdf
• Appendix 2 - WBC Plan to increase participation.pdf
• 25-206 Library Strategy Final.pdf
• Appendix A - Wandsworth Library Strategy Draft.pdf
• Appendix B - Library Action Plan Draft.pdf
• Appendix C - Walk In Library Survey.pdf
• Appendix D - Library Strategy EINA.pdf
• 25-207 Q4 and Outturn.pdf
• 25-208 End-year 24-25 performance report.pdf
• Appendix A - ENVIRONMENT OSC WORK PROGRAMME.pdf
• Printed minutes 24th-Jun-2025 19.30 Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.pdf