Agenda and minutes

There were no apologies for absence.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve as a correct record the minutes of the Joint Waste Disposal Board held on 15 January 2016.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board held on the 15 January 2015 be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

Arising on the minutes, it was noted:

Minute 21 – It was agreed that a date would be set for members to meet at the Sutton Courtney MRF.

Minute 29 – It was agreed to progress a date to meet with DEFRA.

Minute 29 – It was confirmed that the Fire System works were ongoing.

Minute 29 – It was confirmed that 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, would be brought back to the Board at the next meeting.

Minute 32 - It was confirmed that future reports would be amended to include two columns showing recycling rates with and without the recycling of bottom ash waste.

There were no urgent items of business.

To receive a report providing contract guidance on the Payment Mechanism.

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

The Board was informed about new developments that would affect the Payment Mechanism as a result of trials that had been undertaken.

A successful trial had been undertaken in autumn 2015 to send street sweepings for processing, which had resulted in a significant proportion being diverted from landfill, and at a lower cost to the councils. A Change Notice had been agreed and a new section would be introduced to the Payment Mechanism to capture sweeping tonnage and processing costs. The savings figures that were projected from this trial would be presented to the Board at a later date.

Another trial was being undertaken to send residual material from the Recycling Centres to FCC’s MRF in Sutton Courtenay. A small amount of the material was being separated for recycling and the remainder was to be used for RDF (Refuse Derived Fuel), thereby diverting this tonnage from landfill at a lower cost. If this arrangement were to be made permanent then a new section for RDF would be added to the Payment Mechanism.

Further work was also underway to agree a new haulage contract, this aimed to be more prescriptive about the times in which the haulage companies could use the sites.

It was suggested that the Board should arrange a date to visit the Colnbrook Site in Slough.

RESOLVED that the content of this report be noted.

RESOLVED that pursuant to Regulation 4 of the Local Authorities (Executive Arrangements) (Access to Information) Regulations 2012, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of item 7, 8 and 9 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 a report setting out proposals for the Household Waste Recycling Centres.

Sarah Innes, re3 Monitoring & Performance Officer, attended the meeting to present a report setting out the proposals for the Household Waste Recycling Centres.

In response to the decision by West Berkshire to cease financial contributions. The Board considered a report which proposed five potential changes to the policies employed at the re3 facilities with the intention of generating savings and improving recycling rates.

The report presented a summary of the five proposals in relation to savings and performance.

It was proposed that the proposals would be phased in over summer 2016.

The Board stressed the need for a comprehensive approach to identifying site users, and would like to see the communications plan for this and the other proposals. The Board also emphasised that it was critical that the system for any payments relating to use of the site be efficient. 

It was agreed that as a priority the officers would investigate costings and suitability for a Smartcard option which Bracknell Forest currently utilises for other functions.

The Board wished to take the proposals to their respective Leaders and Executive to inform them of the significant changes that had been presented. The Board requested an urgent, supplementary Joint Waste Disposal Board take place (22 April 2016) in order to review the possibility of the Smartcard, as well as to have sight of the Project Implementation Plan and Communications Plan for the proposals. 

RESOLVED that:

i.           The content of the report be noted.

ii.       The Board agree in principle the proposals described at 6.3, 6.9, 6.12, 6.18, 6.27 and 6.32 but request that further detail regarding the Implementation and Communications Plan for the Residency Check proposal be brought to a special meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board on the 22 April 2016.

To consider a report setting out the draft re3 Strategy.

The Board received a report seeking introduction and endorsement of the draft re3 Strategy.

The re3 Strategy was intended to articulate the aspirations of the re3 partnership, in consideration of the strategic challenges facing the waste services and the councils, and to provide a basis for those aspirations to be delivered.

The Board was presented with a draft of the Strategy which included the breakdown of data by four themes and sub categorised into 23 individual objectives.

The Board noted that the purpose of the re3 Strategy was to provide a focus for efforts within the combined re3 waste service as well as reducing the net cost of waste and improving performance to reach 50% recycling and re-use by 2020.

The Board agreed to take the draft strategy to their respective councils to endorse, comment and approve and bring back to the next Board meeting for further discussion, if needed, and formal approval.

RESOLVED

i.           The process undertaken to develop the draft re3 Strategy be noted

ii.          The strategy objectives as described at 5.8 and the annual cycle for monitoring and renewal as described at 5.11 and 5.12 be endorsed.

iii.         That the Strategy be presented to the councils’ individual Executives for endorsement prior to being brought back to the board for approval and adoption.

To consider a report summarising the financial position of the joint waste PFI.

The Board received a report inviting it to consider proposals to identify savings in the cost of waste management for the re3 partnership over the remaining term of the PFI Contract and a summary of the financial position of the joint waste PFI for the financial year to date. The Board was also provided with reports on the operational performance in key areas of the re3 partnership and the Risk Register for the re3 Contract.

The Board was given three proposals to consider. A detailed business case was to be produced for each option and presented to the board in due course.

The Board noted that the projected outturn reflected the contract amendment at the end of December 2015. It was currently estimated that Bracknell would report a £166k underspend, Reading would report a £110k underspend and Wokingham would report a £229k underspend.

The Board noted that the Qtr 4 performance figures were only for January and February 2016, this was due to the reporting mechanism and the timing of the Board meeting.

RESOLVED that:

i.           The proposal described at 5.17 to identify savings in the remaining term of the re3 PFI Contract be endorsed.

ii.          The contents of the financial, performance and risk related information provided within the report be noted.

Anna Fowler, re3 Marketing & Communications Officer, attended the meeting to present a verbal overview of the activity since the last meeting.

The Board noted that the “Can you still use it?” campaign was well underway, with posters now being displayed in schools and libraries.

It was also reported to the Board that social media activity was increasing with a Facebook reach rate of approximately 5600 Facebook followers that week.

The Board noted that the factsheets had been successfully launched and that they were available on the re3 website.

The Board confirmed that they would like to be involved in the “Behind the Scenes” feature that the Trinity Mirror Group wished to do.

The Board noted the report.