Agenda and minutes

Members are asked to declare any personal or disclosable pecuniary interest in respect of any matter to be considered at this meeting.

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest in a matter should withdraw from the meeting when the matter is under consideration and should notify the Democratic Services Officer in attendance that they are withdrawing as they have such an interest. If the Disclosable Pecuniary Interest is not entered on the register of Members interests the Monitoring Officer must be notified of the interest within 28 days.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Joint Waste Disposal Board held on 6 December 2012.

Minute 19: Mediation of Recyclate Income

It was reported that following the Management Board meeting on 13 December 2012 additional information pertaining to the sharing of income arising from the sale of recyclable materials had been brought to the Board’s attention.  Information that negated Recommendation 1 agreed at the meeting held on 13 December 2012.  It was therefore agreed that Minute 19, Recommendation 1 would not be actioned.

RESOLVED  that, apart from Minute 19, Recommendation 1, the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board held on 13 December 2012 be approved and signed as a correct record.

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

There were no urgent items of business.

To receive a presentation from the Green Machine Enterprise.

The Green Machine’s Mark Sanders and Dawn Cannon gave the Board an update on the performance of Green Machine, the Community Repaint Scheme, and the work that was taking place to boost the scheme’s sales.

The number of collections had been increased at both Longshot Lane and Smallmead and the percentage of collections had now exceeded the target set for Longshot Lane.  Paint sales were increasing month on month with a significant number of customers learning about the scheme through Bracknell Forest Homes.  Links had been developed with Reading Voluntary Action and Bracknell Forest Voluntary Action.  Leaflets had also been distributed to schools in the RE3 area.  Work to identify a full time manager was underway.

The Board felt that the Scheme suffered from a perception problem amongst the public with many people assuming that the paint was only available to voluntary and community groups and that the paint that was available was partially used and only available in a limited range of colours.

It was acknowledged that whilst it was hoped that community and voluntary groups would make the majority of purchases from the scheme, individuals wishing to buy paint for home decorating projects would be welcomed.  In addition the paint available was unused and a wide range of colours were available to purchase.  It was agreed that refocusing the marketing information so that greater emphasis was placed on the ethical buying side of the Scheme.

It was agreed that Board members would pass any appropriate contact details through to Dawn Cannon to enable new marketing avenues to be explored.

The Board was informed that the Green Machine were currently in the first quarter of year two of a two year contract and it was agreed that a report focusing on the financial aspects of the contract would be brought to the Board’s next meeting.

To receive a report providing an update on the progress made by the RE3 public finance initiative since the last meeting of the Joint waste Disposal Board on 13 December 2012.

The Board received a report providing an update on progress made since its last meeting on 13 December 2012.  The report included updates on financial matters, an outline of proposals for the future of the retail outlet, the possible development of a bike recycling scheme and performance monitoring information.

It was reported that the agreement with Sue Ryder which enabled unwanted items to be retrieved from the re3 recycling centres and resold via Sue Ryder’s charity shops had now reached the end of the agreed two year term of the contract.  It was noted that over the length of the agreement the arrangement had worked well and approximately £50,000 had been generated for the charity.  The following three potential options for the future direction of the service were discussed by the Board:

• Continue the contract with Sue Ryder on the same terms
• Continue the contract with Sue Ryder but renegotiate the terms so that the re3 authorities enjoy a share of any profits
• Allow the contractor to sell goods through retail outlets in Buckinghamshire with the re3 authorities enjoying a share of any profits

The Board felt that whilst £50,000 appeared to be a significant amount of money the return relative to the benefits far outweighed the cash value once split between the re3 authorities and the amount each authority received would be minimal.  It was agreed that Sue Ryder would be approached to continue with the contract.  It was requested that Sue Ryder be asked to provide an update on the project at the Board’s next meeting.

The Board discussed the national Sustrans and ‘Bike-it’ projects to promote cycling and a proposal to extend and develop the scheme into the re3 authority areas.  It was proposed that unwanted bikes would be retrieved from the household waste recycling centres, repaired and made roadworthy by local bike shops and then sold to residents at a significantly reduced price.  The Board acknowledged the potential benefits of the scheme and agreed that the project should be progressed asked officers to prepare a report on the practicalities for the Board’s next meeting. 

It was felt that work needed to be done to make people aware of how goods were recycled through the Sue Ryder Charity Scheme.  It was agreed that a suggestion to have a specific well signed area set aside for people to leave bikes and other unwanted good for these recycling initiatives at the Household Waste Recycling Centres would be followed up by officers and fed back as part of the report to the next meeting.

RESOLVED that:

i                       The contract to retrieve and sell on unwanted goods with Sue Ryder be renewed for another two years under the same terms and conditions

ii                     Officers to discuss with WRG how best to advertise/promote the Sue Ryder recycling initiative at both the Longshot Lane and Smallmead Household Waste Recycling Centres

iii                    Officers to talk with WRG and Sue Ryder to ascertain how collections might be made more overt

iv                   Progress reports on how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 24.

To consider the following motion:

That pursuant to Regulation 21 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) Regulations 2000 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.

That pursuant to Regulation 21 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) Regulations 2000 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 provide the Management Board with an update on the sharing of revenue from the sale of recyclable materials.

The Board considered a report providing an update on the latest position with regard to the ongoing dispute between the re3 Councils and WRG over the distribution of income from the sale of recyclable materials and how his related to the excess profit clause.

The report included an update on progress made since the Management Board meeting on 13 December 2012, an update on the current position, a summary of outcomes arising from modelling exercises conducted by Ernst and Young and a summary of legal advice pertaining to the matter.

The Board expressed dissatisfaction with the current position.

RESOLVED that:

i                       The Management Board note the progress made since their last meeting on 13 December 2012

ii                     Officers formalise the dispute with the Contractor on the issue of Excess Profit as described in paragraph 3.40 of the Project Director’s report

iii                    Of the two options (A and B), set out in paragraph 3.39 of the Project Director’s report, proposed by Eversheds as representing possible ways forward Option A be endorsed as the Board’s preferred choice

iv                   Members endorse an approach by officers to the PFI Project Sponsors at DEFRA, as described in paragraph 3.30 of the Project Director’s report, with a view to seeking appropriate assistance in concluding the disagreement

To receive a report providing an update on elements of the re3 Waste Public Finance Initiative Contract. 

It was agreed that due to time constraints this item would be deferred until the Board’s next meeting.