Agenda item

A verbal update from the chair of the scrutiny task group, Councillor Chris Ryder

Councillor Chris Ryder, chair of the scrutiny task group – Crematorium and Cemetery, provided details of meetings held since the last Overview & Scrutiny Committee meeting in February. On the 15^th January the task group attended a meeting between officers, councillors, the manager of the Crematorium and Cemetery and Funeral Directors to give them an opportunity to air their concerns regarding the cremators and any other issues they wished to raise. There was a technical update on the Cremators and Abatement system. £50,000 had been spent on remedial work.  It was hoped that both cremators would be up and running satisfactory, without the abatement process in place. The meeting was advised us that it was not illegal to operate the cremators without the abatement process, and currently the abatement equipment had been decommissioned as it was interfering with the effective operation of the cremators. It appears that many crematoriums are operating without abatement in place.  The Council is obliged to pay £50.00 per cremation into a fund ‘CAMEO’ burden sharing scheme for each cremation which is unabated.

It was mentioned that other funeral operators across Britain may be interested in seeking to take on the management of Crematoriums.  This may prove a risk to the Council.

A meeting took place on 30^th January   between the task group, Cemetery Manager, Grahame Lewis, Mark Woodward, Tom Mimnagh and Councillor Roger Whyborn where the confidential consultant’s reports were considered. Normal working patterns for staff had resumed and the overtime costs had reduced. Some of the outdoor grounds maintenance team had been trained to work in the Crematorium, partly to cover long-term sickness issues and partly to cover some of the shifts required as a result of the problems that they had been experiencing. Additional agency staff had been employed to ensure that the Cemetery’s appearance did not deteriorate as a result of the redeployment of CBC staff.  Councillor Ryder congratulated  Rob Hainsworth and his team for their efforts in maintaining a good standard at the crematorium with these issues around them.

A further meeting took place on site on the 27^th February which considered future parking for visitors at the Cemetery, especially when attending funeral services.

Councillor Ryder also referred to a progress update she had received from the crematorium manager. He had advised that following the completion of the remedial work, they had now had use of both machines for 3 weeks. There have been some further issues during this period, but this has not resulted in any cremator down-time. She also highlighted that staff at the crematorium were still lacking confidence in the new equipment and it would take a sustained period of trouble free operation before that was restored.

The Task Group will meet again to formulate its recommendations and a report and recommendations will be presented to the Overview & Scrutiny Committee in April.

Councillor Ryder thanked her colleagues on the task group  and the Democratic Services Manager for her support to the group.

A member asked if there was any legal recompense for the faulty equipment. The Head or Legal services confirmed that One Legal had provided legal advice on this issue but this could not be discussed in open session. A confidential advice note on this matter would be available to the scrutiny task group later that week.

A member raised concerns about the vulnerability of the cremators and asked whether there was a case for putting in an additional cremator.

Councillor Whyborn, as the Cabinet Member responsible for the crematorium, was invited to comment. He thanked the chair of the task group for a fair report and he indicated that he had already responded to a number of the points raised in his briefing that had been e-mailed to members.  The council was in contact with other councils who have used Crawfords equipment. The consultant’s initial evaluation was that two cremators offered sufficient capacity even when factoring in planned maintenance. He was confident that they were close to being a position to introduce a planned maintenance programme for the equipment going forward. He too was keen to emphasise the sterling job that had been done by staff at the crematorium.

The chair thanked the task group for their update and looked forward to their full report in April.