Agenda and minutes

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 3 July 2006.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 3 July 2006 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Members are invited to declare any personal or prejudicial interests, and to state the nature of any such interest, on any items on the agenda.

There were no declarations of interest received in relation to any items on the agenda.

To notify the Board of any items of business authorised by the Chairman on the grounds of urgency.

There were no urgent items of business received.

To consider the following motion:

“That  pursuant  to  Regulation  21  of  the  Local  Authorities  (Executive Arrangements)  (Access to  Information) Regulations 2000, members of the  public  and  press  be  excluded  from  the  meeting  for  the consideration of  item 6 which  involves  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  21  of  the  Local  Authorities (Executive Arrangements)  (Access to  Information) Regulations 2000, members of the  public and  press  be  excluded  from  the  meeting for  the consideration of  item 6 which involves  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 the report of the Project Director (To follow).

The Board considered a report detailing the progress since its last meeting on 3 July of the negotiations with the preferred bidder Waste Recycling Group (WRG) in response to the councils’ invitation to initially submit a best and final offer and a subsequent appointment to that company to preferred bidder status as a consequence of the meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board on 20 April 2005. 

The Chairman indicated that, whilst the report detailed the position at the time of publication, events had moved on since then and invited the Project Director to outline the current position.  The latter stressed that the priority for all three councils was now to conclude the negotiations and sign the contract.  There was, however, increasing frustration at the number of new issues being raised on behalf of WRG which were necessitating further discussion, changes to documentation and review of the implications changing one document would have for the terms of the other twenty three.  The Project Director added that he believed that WRG too was frustrated by some of the issues which had been raised by the councils as a result of their need to manage areas of potential risk.  Given this scenario, he stressed that it was now imperative to remind the contractor that the deadline for signing of the contract was 31 October 2006 and that this would not be extended.  Moreover, as the “Alcatel” notice had to be issued no later than 17 October to achieve a signing date of 31 October, all negotiations needed to be concluded within the next two weeks to enable the legal advisers to finalise the documentation.  This meant that, for the outstanding issues, there was a need to take a view and move on.  The Board confirmed the basis of the flexibility which it had given officers at the previous meeting to reach a final agreement with WRG.

The Board supported the Project Director’s concerns and agreed that there was a need to convey to WRG’s Chief Executive that there was no scope to extend the deadline for signing the contract beyond 31 October 2006.  The Chairman indicated that he would write on behalf of the Board and read out a draft of a letter which he had prepared and was intending to finalise in consultation with the Councils’ legal advisers, Eversheds.  Other members were invited to let the Chairman have any comments on the letter.

The Board also discussed a proposal to submit a bid for pooling arrangements relating to statutory performance standards for recycling and composting of household waste for 2007/08.  The officers indicated that they were satisfied that there were efficiencies to be gained from such an approach and accordingly the Board endorsed the submission of a bid.

RESOLVED

1          That progress made since the last meeting on the 3 July and the actions to be taken over the coming weeks be noted.

2          That a letter be sent to the Waste Recycling Group’s Chief Executive expressing the Board’s deep  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

In view of the fluid situation and the direction already provided to officers seeking to conclude the negotiations, it was agreed that no date would be set for a further meeting.  The Board was advised that, in the event of a need for a meeting to be convened, it was likely to be at very short notice.

In addition, the Board was advised that, if the negotiations were concluded successfully and the contract signed, there would be a need to establish a new Board.