Agenda and minutes

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

Any Member with a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or an affected 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 18 September 2015.

RESOLVED that the minute of the Joint Waste Disposal Board Management Committee be approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

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 report providing an update in relation to the shared re3 PFI Contract since the Management Committee’s last meeting on 18 September 2014 and to receive a presentation from representatives of Sue Ryder.

The Board received a report providing an update on the progress made in terms of the management of the joint waste PFI contract since its last meeting.  The report included an update on the results of the most recent user satisfaction survey, visitor numbers, supplier audits and the Materials Reclamation Facility (MRF) at Smallmead.  A presentation was also given on the work of Sue Ryder and the contribution that the donations collected from the Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRC) made to Sue Ryder’s work.

It was reported that recent User Satisfaction Survey results showed that residents continued to be satisfied with the facilities at Longshot Lane and Smallmead HWRCs with 95% of Longshot Lane users rating the facility as good or very good and 94% of Smallmead users rating the site as good or very good.  Although cleanliness at both sites was considered to be good or very good the ratings had fallen slightly when compared to the previous year’s results (Longshot Lane results fell from 97% in 2013 to 95% in 2014 and Smallmead results fell from 95% in 2013 to 92% in 2014).  It was thought that the increased use that both sites were experiencing was a significant contributory factor to these reductions. It was however disappointing to note that the percentage of users who felt that staff were helpful had fallen at both sites.  It was explained that the specific question on cleanliness had been revised in the latest survey and this made it difficult to draw a direct comparison with previous survey results.  However, the matter had been raised with the contractors by the Councils’ Client Team and the situation would be monitored over time.

Traffic counters had now been installed at both Smallmead and Longshot Lane and these were showing that both sites were experiencing up to 11,000 visitors a week.   

It was reported that Wokingham Borough Council would cease to provide its Amenity Waste Collection Service from 1 February 2015.  It was hoped that this would help reduce the volume of waste being disposed of through land fill and increase the levels of waste being recycled.  It was questioned what impact the removal of the service might have on fly tipping.  It was agreed that the impacts would be looked at in more detail at the Board’s next meeting.

Sue Ryder Presentation

Sandy Lunn and Gemma Wise gave a presentation in respect of the work that the charity Sue Ryder did across the region and how the reclamation of furniture and other goods from the HWRCs was contributing to this work.

Sue Ryder, a national healthcare provider providing palliative end of life care and neurological care across the country, required annual funding of £49million to meet all the demands placed on it across Berkshire alone, in 2014 services were provided to 2,600 patients in Berkshire.  The majority of funding was provided by the NHS however funding levels were falling and there was currently a funding gap of approximately £800,000 in the Berkshire  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15.

The next scheduled meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board will take place on Thursday 26 March 2016 at 10am at Smallmead Household Waste Recycling Centre, Island Road, Reading, RG2 0RP.

It was noted that the next meeting of the Joint Waste Disposal Board management Committee would be held on Thursday 26 March 2015 at 10am at Smallmead Household Waste Recycling Centre.

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, 9 and 10 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 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, 9 and 10 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 receive a report providing an update in terms of the financial management of the Joint Waste PFI contract since the Management Committee’s last meeting on 18 September 2014.

The Board received a report providing an update on the financial management of the Joint Waste PFI contract since its last meeting on 18 September 2015.  The report included the projected financial outturns for 2014/15, an overview of expenditure and an update on the budget setting process for the 2015/16 financial year.

The Board received a presentation on the strategy being delivered to address increasing costs.  The presentation included an overview of the impact that the reduced waste volumes had resulted in savings against the modelled costs since 2007/08 and described how the strategic approach to costs had been developed.  An overview of the initiatives that were either in the process of being delivered or were being explored as a future action was also provided.

It was noted that Reading Borough Council was consulting on its Waste Minimisation Strategy and that consideration would need to be given to what it means for both the Council and the re3 project.

RESOLVED that:

1. the contents of the report be noted
2. that the steps being taken to manage cost as referred to in the report be noted

To receive an update in relation to the financial disagreement between the re3 councils and their PFI Contractor, FCC Environment, since the Management Committee’s last meeting on 18September 2014.

The Board received and noted a report providing an update on the progress in terms of the Excess Waste Profit Adjudication since its last meeting.

It was stressed that day to day working relationships between the re3 Council officers and the contractors were good despite the dispute.

It was agreed that regular updates would be sent to all Board members on a weekly basis.

To consider a report setting out a review of the governance arrangements for the Joint Waste Management Board.

The Board considered a report setting out proposals for a new management structure for the re3 project that would ensure the project’s structure remained fit for purpose for the remaining lifetime of the contract.

It was noted that the proposals had been developed with the intention of bringing about stronger collaboration between the re3 councils, develop the collection and disposal interface and bring about greater strategic presence and impact for the re3 contract across the three councils as well as improving capacity and strategic guidance.

RESOLVED that:

1. A full time re3 Strategic Waste Manager position that includes the role of ‘Project Director’ and also has roles and responsibilities that reflect the contractual, operational and strategic waste disposal needs across the partnership be created and that as part of this change the roles and responsibilities of the other re3 operational posts be reviewed to take account of this change.
2. The Partnership’s three senior manager representatives undertake the necessary reviews and commence the recruitment process as soon as possible
3. Reading Borough Council, as the administrative authority for the Partnership, effects any necessary staff changes in accordance with their staffing protocols.  The cost of any changes is to be found within the existing budget provision and will be funded through savings in disposal costs.