Agenda, decisions and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ruth Brown, Amy Allen and Keith Hoskins.

Councillor Tom Plater sent his apologies as Deputy Executive Member.

Audio recording – 1:40

Apologies for absence were received by Councillors Ruth Brown, Keith Hoskins, Tom Plater and Amy Allen

Climate Emergency

The Council has declared a climate emergency and is committed to achieving a target of zero carbon emissions by 2030 and helping local people and businesses to reduce their own carbon emissions.

A Cabinet Panel on the Environment has been established to engage with local people on matters relating to the climate emergency and advise the council on how to achieve these climate change objectives. A Climate Change Implementation group of councillors and council officers meets regularly to produce plans and monitor progress. Actions taken or currently underway include switching to green energy, incentives for low emission taxis, expanding tree planting and working to cut food waste.

In addition the council is a member of the Hertfordshire Climate Change and Sustainability Partnership, working with other councils across Hertfordshire to reduce the county’s carbon emissions and climate impact.

The Council’s dedicated webpage on Climate Change includes details of the council’s climate change strategy, the work of the Cabinet Panel on the Environment and a monthly briefing on progress.

Declarations of Interest

Members are reminded that any declarations of interest in respect of any business set out in the agenda, should be declared as either a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest or Declarable Interest and are required to notify the Chair of the nature of any interest declared at the commencement of the relevant item on the agenda. Members declaring a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest must withdraw from the meeting for the duration of the item. Members declaring a Declarable Interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillor Speaking Right’, must declare this at the same time as the interest, move to the public area before speaking to the item and then must leave the room before the debate and vote.

(1)  The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(2)  Members were reminded that this Council had declared a Climate Emergency. This was a serious decision and meant that, as this was an emergency, all of us, officers and Members had that in mind as we carried out our various roles and tasks for the benefit of our District.

(3)  The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

Audio recording – 2:08

(1)         The Chair welcomed those present at the meeting, especially those who had attended to give a presentation;

(2)         The Chair advised that, in accordance with Council Policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(3)         Members were reminded that this Council had declared a Climate Emergency. This was a serious decision and meant that, as this was an emergency, all of us, officers and Members had that in mind as we carried out our various roles and tasks for the benefit of our District.

(4)         The Chair drew attention to the item on the agenda front pages regarding Declarations of Interest and reminded Members that, in line with the Code of Conduct, any Declarations of Interest needed to be declared immediately prior to the item in question.

To receive petitions, comments and questions from the public.

There was no public participation.

Audio recording – 2:50

There was none

RESOLVED:

(1)  That the recommendations from the Joint Cross-Party working group attached in Appendix 1 were noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision.

(2)  That the comments from Overview and Scrutiny Committee attached in Appendix 12 were noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision. 

(3)  That the responses from the public consultation as summarised in Appendix 2 were noted and considered prior to making a new substantive decision

(4)  That Cabiniet approved a Competitive Dialogue procedure for the procurement of the Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing contract.

(5)  That Cabiniet approved a joint project board to include the Executive Members for Finance as well as the Executive Member for waste, recycling and street cleansing services for both EHC and NHC to monitor the progress of the procurement project and for the delegation of powers to the Head of Operations (EHC) and Director of Place (NHDC) in consultation with project board in relation to amendments to the specification or service design.

(6)  That Cabiniet approved to a Contract length of 8 years with the possibility of up to an 8 year extension.

(7)  That Cabiniet approved the provision of customer services and contact handling being delivered in-house and a future report detailing how this will be delivered be provided in 2023.

(8)  That Cabinet noted the introduction of a new weekly separate food waste collection service in 23L caddies for houses and in wheeled bins for flats in East Hertfordshire from 2025. 

(9)  That Cabiniet approved residual waste collections occurring on a three weekly collection cycle from 2025. The implementation date confirmation to be delegated to the Director of Place/Head of Operations in consultation Project Board. As referenced in 8.11 to 8.46.

(10)        That Cabinet noted the standard receptacle for residual waste being 180L in size and that all new and replacement residual waste containers for houses will be 180l as soon as is reasonably practicable and phased in commencing no later than from 1st April 2023 in East Hertfordshire.

(11)        That Cabiniet approved the transition to a standard bin colour across East and North Hertfordshire as outlined in 8.47 to 8.56 as soon as is practicable and no later than 1st April 2023.

(12)        That Cabiniet approved the inclusion of plastic film in the mixed dry recycling collections from 2025, the implementation date confirmation to be delegated to the Project Board and subject to the outcomes of Resources & Waste Strategy consultation on consistency.

(13)        That Cabinet noted the cessation of bring bank services for paper and textiles in East Hertfordshire no later than the end of 2023

(14)        That Cabiniet approved the cessation of kerbside textiles collections in North Hertfordshire with the shared waste service proactively engaging with the charity-sector to promote alternative outlets for expired textiles by the end of 2023. 

(15)        That Cabiniet approved the cessation of kerbside battery collections in North Hertfordshire from May 2025 with the shared waste service proactively promoting alternative recycling outlets.

(16)        That Cabiniet approved the service  ...  view the full decision text for item 129.

Audio recording – 3:00

Tom Tyson to presented the report and highlighted points including:

·        This report seeks the authority to proceed with a competitive dialogue procurement for the waste and recycling collection and street cleansing contract due to expire in May 2025

·        The report is based on outcomes from the Member-led joint working group between East Herts Council and North Herts Council and identifies key service changes affecting the contract specification drafting

·        The report covers details of both East Herts and North Herts changes to fully identify impacts across the shared service

·        The key drivers of the service changes are set in the pending national resources and waste strategy consultation outcomes and the financial challenges authorities are facing

·        It is anticipated that the proposed changes ill secure more financially and environmentally sustainable service as well as making joint contract attractive to the market

·        Our pre engagement work having identified aligned services is a key consideration for bidders

·        Members are asked to consider extended frequency residual waste collections for the majority of households, supported by a continuation  of weekly food and fortnightly dry recycling collections and an end to textiles and batter curb side collection services

·        Proposals will be supported with a major communications plan and additional staff resource to ensure a smooth transition to the new services

Councillor Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg reminded Members that they also had the notes referred by Overview and Scrutiny under agenda item 4. There were four concerns that came out of the meeting including:

·        Concerns over the capacity of the 180L residual waste bins

·        There is a move to three weekly collections

·        Concerns regarding those with a large amount of waste, for example families with nappies

·        A query over whether enough public consultation took place and the need to ensure that residents are aware of any changes through ongoing communication

The following Members participated in the debate:

·        Steve Jarvis

·        Judi Billing

·        Ian Albert

·        Sean Prendergast

·        Elizabeth Dennis-Harburg

The points raised in the debate included:

·        7.19 in the report doesn’t include North Herts climate emergency declaration.

·        In 7.23 of the report we need to be clear that reducing the Councils carbon footprint has to be done. This can be read as optional, and it shouldn’t be.

·        Many people don’t know what bins go out on what day. There is definitely space within purple bins due to things that could be recycled instead.

·        The comments from the consultation are more positive than those in 2017/18.

·        2.17 makes sense and that North Herts is making things simpler in terms of the garden waste collection charge but this should be looked at carefully between now and 2025 and come back with some additional proposals. We recognise there are steps needed to get us to that point

·        In terms of the climate emergency moving to three weekly collections is good. This report strikes a good balance between protecting the environment but also helping those who do need it, such as bigger families.

·        If we are pushing people to use the right  ...  view the full minutes text for item 129.