Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chairman of the Board for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2005/2006.

RESOLVED that Councillor R Stanton be elected Chairman of the Board for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2005/06.

To nominate a Vice-Chairman of the Board, if necessary, for the Municipal Year 2005/2006.

RESOLVED that Councillor Mrs Ballin be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Board for the remainder of the Municipal Year 2005/06.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor S Waite.

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 20 October 2005.

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meeting of the Board held on 20 October 2005 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 of items of business received.

TO CONSIDER THE FOLLOWING MOTION: That pursuant to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, members of the public and press will be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of Items 8 and 9, which involve the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following categories of Schedule 12A of that Act.

(7)              Financial affairs of a Company

(9)            Terms proposed, or to be proposed, for a contract for the supply of goods or services.

RESOLVED that, pursuant to Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, members of the public and press be excluded from the meeting for the consideration of items 9 and 10, which involved the likely disclosure of exempt information under the following paragraphs of Schedule 12A to the Act:

                      (Paragraph 7)    Financial affairs of a Company

                      (Paragraph 9)   terms proposed, or to be proposed, for a contract for                      the supply of services.

To consider the report of the Project Director.

There was submitted a report by the Project Director, updating the Board as to the approach being taken by the Joint Project Team (JPT) of Council Officers and Advisors, to negotiate with the Council’s preferred bidder, Waste Recycling Group (WRG), and highlighting the current status of the main strands of negotiations.

The report went on to give the background on the negotiation approach, the status of negotiations, the technical, financial and legal strands surrounding the negotiations and the standardisation of Private Finance Initiative (PFI) contracts.

The Board considered the report and was particularly concerned with the proposed increase in costs proposed by WRG. The Board was assured that this could be contributed to the slippage of the Project, the fixing of the landfill price and the increase in cost of the Energy From Waste subcontract, however, officers would look at the costs in depth to ensure that it was reasonable. Mindful of the amount of work that was still required to complete the Contract, the Board asked officers to try and avoid any further slippages in order to prevent any further increases in penalty costs. Officers agreed to write a brief summary of the main financial issues for Members to refer to when questioned by their Councils.

The Board was advised of a number of issues from the legal strand of negotiations that had been raised after the agenda report had been printed. There were a number of complex issues still to be considered and the Legal Team agreed to make a note of these and circulate to the Board following the meeting.  

The Board was assured that the Contract was still deliverable and would provide value for money.

RESOLVED that the approach to the preferred bidder negotiations and the progress of the negotiations to date be noted.

To receive a presentation by Jon Freer (Lead Executive).

Jon Freer, the Borough Council’s Assistant Director of Sustainability (Streetcare), delivered a presentation and advised the Board about the revised management structures that would take place once the Contract was in place. A copy of the slides would be circulated following the meeting.

The Board noted the work to be moved forward over the next few months, in particular, the reconstitution of the Joint Waste Disposal Board. A number of issues were raised in relation to the reconstitution which the Chairman agreed to discuss with the legal team.

MEMBERS ARE ASKED TO BRING THEIR DIARIES WITH THEM IN ORDER THAT A SUITABLE DATE(S) ON WHICH TO THE NEXT MEETING(S) CAN BE AGREED.

It was agreed that the date of the next meeting would be either 22^nd or 29^th March at Reading Borough Council and 1 June 2006 (venue to be confirmed).  Councillor McKenzie agreed to confirm the March date with Ema Dearsley as soon as possible.