Agenda and minutes

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Joint Waste Disposal Board held on 16 October 2015.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board held on 16 October 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Minute 21 – It was agreed that a visit to the Sutton Courtney MRF would be arranged for later in the year.

There were no urgent items of business.

To receive a report providing an update of progress made in relation to the shared re3 PFI Contract since the last meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board on 16 October 2015.

The Board considered a report providing an update on the progress made in relation to the shared re3 PFI Contract since its last meeting on 16 October 2015.  The report covered updates on: street sweepings, correspondence with Government, insurance matters, the re3 Material Reclamation Facility (MRF), business continuity and contingencies and changes to service delivery plans.

It was reported that, following work to ensure the processing of street sweepings met with approval from the Environment Agency, a two month trial during October and November 2015, had collected 718 tonnes of street sweepings.  Of which, 75-80% had been recycled.  It was stressed that the composition of the sweepings would change through the year and the recycling rates would fluctuate as the trial progressed.

To date no response had been received in response to a letter sent to Defra relating to the strategic requirements of local government and the ways that the Government might create the conditions within which councils and the waste industry could thrive.  It was agreed that rather than continuing to correspond with Defra to minimal effect the possibility of arranging a meeting with Defra so that these concerns could be put directly to representatives would be explored.

Further work had taken place to establish more accurate costs for work to improve the existing fire system.  Estimates now placed the cost of the work as being approximately £450,000. It was envisaged that this shortfall could be funded from the Maintenance Reserve Fund however the situation would need to be carefully considered.

A workshop had been held to enable the testing of business continuity plans and emergency plans were now being updated to ensure they continued to be fit for purpose. 

RESOLVED that:

      i.        The progress made over the last quarter in relation to the aspects of contract delivery described in the re3 Strategic Waste Manager’s report be noted

     ii.        The changes described in paragraphs 5.25 to 5.30 of the re3 Strategic Waste Manager’s report be trialled

    iii.        A report reviewing the trial described in paragraphs 5.25 to 5.30 of the re3 Strategic Waste Manager’s report and recommendations relating to changes to the Service Delivery Plan be brought back to the Board in six months time

To consider a report setting out the proposed marketing and communications activity for 2016.

Anna Fowler, re3 Marketing and Communications Officer, attended the meeting to present a report setting out the proposed marketing and communications activity for 2016.

The Board noted that the draft Communications Protocol had now been updated to incorporate comments made at the Board’s previous meeting.  It was agreed that if a lead member was not available to approve a draft responses to a media enquiry then approval would be sought from the second Board member.  If both members from one local authority were not available then approval would be sought from the relevant Council Leader or Deputy Leader.   It was agreed that the flowcharts would be amended to reflect this situation.

The Board was presented with drafts of factsheets focusing on waste management processes which could be used to on a number of platforms to answer some of the questions regularly asked by the public.  The factsheets had been designed using the refreshed house style and it was proposed that these factsheets would be launched by the lead members from each council at an event held at a local primary school. 

RESOLVED that:

      i.        The content of the report be noted

     ii.        The proposed marketing and communications activities planned for 2016 be approved

To consider the following motion:

That pursuant to Regulation 4 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) Regulations 2012 and having regard to the public interest, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of items 8 and 9 which involve the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following category of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972:

(3)        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person.

RESOLVED that pursuant to Regulation 4 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) Regulations 2012 and having regard to the public interest, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of items 8 and 9 which involve the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following category of Schedule 12A of the Local Government Act 1972:

(3)        Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person.

To consider a report summarising the financial position of the joint waste PFI for the 2015/16 year to date, and to present the 2^nd draft of the 2016/17 budget.

The Board received a report summarising the financial position of the joint waste PFI for the 2015/16 financial year to date, a second draft of the 2016/17 budget and the quarterly performance report for the third quarter of 2015/16.

It was noted that the current combined recycling rate for the re3 councils stood at 37.38% which was below the 50% target in the Contractual Requirements.  Government guidelines did not currently permit recycling rate calculations to include figures for the recycling of bottom ash waste from incineration however if these figures were added then the recycling rate would increase by approximately 8%.  This mismatch and how it might be challenged was questioned by the Board.  The Board was informed that previous representations on the matter had met with limited success and it was suggested that a further representation be made to the appropriate Government Minister.   It was suggested that future reports include two columns showing recycling rates with and without the recycling of bottom ash waste. 

It was noted that there had been a 1% reduction in the amount of glass tonnage recycled through bottle banks. The Board was informed that feedback showed that some residents were unsure about which bottle banks some glass should be deposited in and it was suggested that this be added to the relevant marketing fact sheets.   It was suggested that promotion of the bottle banks should be added to the proposed marketing activity for the coming year.

It was noted that approximately 3% of the residual waste being sent to landfill was wet paper and card board which couldn’t currently be recycled.  It was questioned whether drying the paper and card before sending it to be recycled might be a suitable way to increase recycling rates of these materials..

It was agreed that the 2014/15 end of year figures would be added to the Quarter 4 report so that comparisons could be made and trends identified.

The Board commended the revised format of the Performance Management Report and it was agreed that the reports should be used to brief their respective Councils on waste matters.  It was agreed that re3 Officers would be happy to  help present the reports if required.

RESOLVED that the contents of the Financial Report be noted.

To consider a report providing an update on work to develop a Contract Guidance document for the re3 PFI project.

The Board received a report providing a briefing on the re3 Contract.  It was noted that the briefing had been produced to provide Board members and officers with an overview and background understanding of the re3 PFI Contract.

Arising from the Board’s questions and comments the following points were noted:

·         Similar reports would focusing on payment and performance would be brought to future meetings

·         If a procedure change constituted either a budget saving or was cost neutral then authority to approve the decision was delegated to the Project Director.  If a change had the potential to incur capital costs then all three Councils had to agree the decision

·         The new haulage contract had been agreed in December 2015

The Board noted the report.