Agenda, decisions and minutes

The Acting Committee and Member Services Officer made an announcement regarding fire safety and instructed Members on how to use the new audio visual equipment, including the voting system.

Audio recording – Session 1 - 12 seconds

The Acting Committee and Member Services Officer made an announcement regarding fire safety and instructed Members on how to use the new audio visual equipment, including the voting system.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ben Lewis, Jean Green and Gerald Morris.

Having giving due notice Councillor Bill Davidson advised that he would be substituting for Councillor Ben Lewis.

Having giving due notice Councillor Mike Rice advised that he would be substituting for Councillor Jean Green.

Audio recording – Session1 - 1 minutes 44 seconds

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Ben Lewis, Jean Green and Gerald Morris.

Having giving due notice Councillor Bill Davidson advised that he would be substituting for Councillor Ben Lewis.

Having giving due notice Councillor Mike Rice advised that he would be substituting for Councillor Jean Green.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on the 12 June 2018.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 12 June 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Audio recording – Session 1 - 2 minutes 4 seconds

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 12 June 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

To take as read and approve as a true record the minutes of the meeting of this Committee held on the 24 July 2018.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 24 July 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Audio recording – Session 1 - 2 minutes 12 seconds

The Deputy Chief executive advised that, in relation to Minute 24, the subject was discussed at Senior Management Team and confirmed that existing technology did allow for comments and complaints to be analysed, progressed and recorded. Therefore rather than obtaining new technology, the capabilities of the existing system were being explored.

RESOLVED: That the Minutes of the Meeting of the Committee held on 24 July 2018 be approved as a true record of the proceedings and be signed by the Chairman.

Members should notify the Chairman of other business which they wish to be discussed by the Committee at the end of the business set out in the agenda. They must state the circumstances which they consider justify the business being considered as a matter of urgency.

The Chairman will decide whether any item(s) raised will be considered.

No other business was submitted for consideration by the Committee.

Audio recording – Session 1 - 2 minutes 58 seconds

No other business was submitted for consideration by the Committee.

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 Chairman 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, wished 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 Chairman thanked all who had attended the meeting;

(2)       The Chairman advised that she would be altering the order of the agenda and would take Item 6 - Public Participation immediately prior to Item 9 - Information Note: Mobilisation of Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract.

(3)       The Chairman asked Members to speak into the microphones;

(4)       The Chairman reminded those present that, in line with Council policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(5)       The Chairman 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. Members declaring a declarable interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillors speaking right’ must declare this at the same time as the interest;

(6)       The Chairman reminded all present that this was not a single item meeting, there was other business on the agenda.

Audio recording – Session 1 - 3 minutes 2 seconds

(1)       The Chairman thanked all who had attended the meeting;

(2)       The Chairman advised that she would be altering the order of the agenda and would take Item 6 - Public Participation immediately prior to Item 9 - Information Note: Mobilisation of Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract.

(3)       The Chairman asked Members to speak into the microphones;

(4)       The Chairman reminded those present that, in line with Council policy, the meeting would be audio recorded;

(5)       The Chairman 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. Members declaring a declarable interest, wishing to exercise a ‘Councillors speaking right’ must declare this at the same time as the interest;

(6)       The Chairman reminded all present that this was not a single item meeting, there was other business on the agenda.

To receive petitions and presentations from members of the public.

Mr David Leal-Bennett thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation regarding the new waste contract.

Audio recording – Session 1 - 4 minutes 35 seconds

Mr David Leal-Bennett thanked the Chairman for the opportunity to address the Committee and gave a verbal presentation regarding the new waste contract.

He expressed many concerns including:

Treatment of staff.

Whether, in some cases, employment law was being broken.

The Contract.

NHDC appeared to have entered into a large contract, without clearly identifying the risks and with damming results.

Legal advice alone did not provide for a robust contract.

The Contract was not yet complete.

Complaint Handling

Telephone response times were lamentable.

Statistics were unprofessional.

Urbaser should not be handling complaints about their own service

Crisis Management Strategy

Why, after 4 months, did Urbaser still appear to be in crisis management

Finances.

He had reviewed the accounts of Urbaser and found them troubling

Had the accounts of Urbaser been looked at during the bidding process?

Were the financial risks on the Risk Register?

Did the contract have a cast iron guarantee from the parent company?

Mr Leal Bennett advised that his main concern was that without a meaningful contract and without any real penalties an insolvent company would be able to walk away.

He acknowledged that, in spite of the problems people were working hard to resolve the issues.

Mr Leal-Bennett concluded by stating that he hoped that the Committee would be able to get to the bottom of the failure, however he felt there was a culture of withholding information by NHDC.

The Chairman to report on any urgent or general exception items which required his/her agreement.  At the time of printing the agenda, the Chairman had not agreed any urgent or general exception items.

The Chairman advised that since the last meeting she had agreed, as Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the following urgent/general exception items:

·                Cabinet - 31 July 2018 – St Ippolyts Neighbourhood Planning Area;

·                Delegated Decision - 17 September 2018 – Business Rates Pilot and Pooling.

Audio recording – Session 1 - 4 minutes 6 seconds

The Chairman advised that since the last meeting she had agreed, as Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, the following urgent/general exception items:

·                Cabinet - 31 July 2018 – St Ippolyts Neighbourhood Planning Area;

·                Delegated Decision - 17 September 2018 – Business Rates Pilot and Pooling.

To consider any matters referred to the Committee for a decision in relation to a call-in of decision. At the time of printing the agenda, no items of business had been called-in.

No items had been called-in since the last meeting of the Committee.

Audio recording – Session 1 -  4 minutes 26 seconds

No items had been called-in since the last meeting of the Committee.

To receive an Information Note entitled Mobilisation of Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract.

Some information will be clarified at the meeting.

RESOLVED:

(1)       That a Task and Finish type review of the waste contract be undertaken shortly following the publication of the SIAS review of the service;

(2)       That the following issues be referred to the Task and Finish review mentioned in (1) above:

(i)         Why a decision was made to mobilise the contract in an unrealistic timescale;

(ii)        Why, when there was such a short mobilisation period, was a decision made to make major changes to the service in what were already challenging circumstances, rather than delay the implementation of changes to the service for one year;

(iii)       Why sufficient staff resources were not made available prior to implementation of the contract;

(iv)      What happened when high volumes of calls were received in terms of systems and staff;

(v)       Consider the differences between area where the service worked well and those where the service was poor.

(3)       That the Service Manager- Waste be requested to publish details of the statistics regarding reports of missed bins and calls made regarding this and communicate the details publicly;

(4)       That the Service Manager Waste be requested to develop a communication strategy that includes Members that ensures they are kept updated on a regular basis and enables them to bring issues to the attention of Urbaser and/or the waste team;

(5)       That, subject to investigations into GDPR requirements, a list of the “hotspots” of missed bin collections be circulated to Ward Councillors.

RECOMMENDED TO CABINET:

(1)       That all efforts are made to ensure that staff resources within NHDC are sufficient to meet the needs of the service;

(2)       That a plan demonstrating the actions to be taken in order to bring the Waste and Recycling Service to a “business as usual” status be published and communicated publicly;

(3)       That Cabinet confirm that a contingency plan detailing what will happen should the current contract continue to underperform is in place;

(4)       That the short term issues of staffing and systems to address the current high levels of calls to report missed bins be considered;

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider the information note entitled Mobilisation of Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract and make relevant resolutions and recommendations to Cabinet.

Audio recording – Session 1 - 12 minutes 52 seconds

The Chairman advised that the item would be considered in the following order:

1.         Referral from Hitchin Committee;

2.         Referral from Southern Rural Committee;

3.         Presentation of the Information Note;

4.         Debate and Questions.

1.         Referral from Hitchin Committee

The Chairman of Hitchin Committee presented the following referral from that Committee, made at its meeting held on 11 September 2018, in respect of The New Waste Contract.

 “Members discussed the recent experiences of Hitchin residents regarding the operation of the Waste Contract and made the following observations:

·                There were some responsibilities for emptying litter bins that seemed to sit with John O’Connor, whilst some responsibilities wee with Urbaser these should be co-ordinated;

·                Monitoring of waste bins should happen at least every 28 days, what monitoring was actually taking place?

·                Public waste bins in well used places such as King George V playing fields were often overflowing. It was important to ensure sufficient provision of waste bins in these areas;

·                Why was the provision of large bins to the Town Centre events not included in the contract;

·                There are no signs of improvement in the residential waste collection;

·                There are a number of specific issues as well as general issues such as which roads should have their bins collected, that seem to have fallen though the cracks between the outgoing contract and the new contract;

·                Trust in the waste system is at an all time low;

·                There were hotspots that continually experience problems;

·                Residents still raised issues about the length time it was taking to get though on the phones in order to repot problems such as missed bins;

·                One Member sought assurance that the data regarding those who had paid for the garden waste collection met all of the requirements of GDPR.

RECOMMENDED TO THE OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE: That the comments made by the Hitchin Committee, as noted above, be considered when discussing the new waste contract at the meeting due to be held on 18 September 2018.”

1.         Referral from Southern Rural Committee

The Chairman of the Southern Rural Committee presented the following referral from that Committee, made at its meeting held on 13 September 2018, in respect of Experiences Regarding the New Waste Contract.

“Members discussed the recent experiences of Southern Rural residents regarding the operation of the Waste Contract and made the following observations:

·                The “Collect and return service”, for those vulnerable people unable to place their bins out for collection, which had worked under the previous contract, was not now happening. This meant that vulnerable people were having difficulty getting their bins collected.

·                The same properties are experiencing problems week on week with the garden waste and food caddy services.

·                The contractors are not collecting bins from properties in small closes, even when the residents leave the bins at the previously agreed collection point. The residents in these areas only get the bins collected if they walk them to the main road.

·                Outlying  ...  view the full minutes text for item 38.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

To consider the 2018-19 Quarter 1 Performance Indicator exception report  showing the red and amber performance indicators, along with homelessness and garden waste information.

RESOLVED;That the report entitled 2018-19 Quarter 1 Performance Indicators be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the 2018-19 Quarter 1 Performance Indictors.

Audio recording - Session 3 -.1 second

RESOLVED;That the report entitled 2018-19 Quarter 1 Performance Indicators be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the 2018-19 Quarter 1 Performance Indictors.

REPORT OF THE SERVICE DIRECTOR – RESOURCES

To provide an update on the status of projects for the 1^st Quarter fo 2018-19.

RESOLVED; That the report entitled 1st Quarter Monitoring Report on Key Projects For 2018-19 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the 1st Quarter Monitoring Report on Key Projects for 2018-19.

Audio recording – Session 3 – 6 seconds

RESOLVED; That the report entitled 1st Quarter Monitoring Report on Key Projects For 2018-19 be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider and comment on the 1st Quarter Monitoring Report on Key Projects for 2018-19.

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act - Quarterly Update be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To comply with best practice guidance and the Committee’s terms of reference.

Audio recording – Session 3 – 14 seconds

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act - Quarterly Update be noted.

REASON FOR DECISION: To comply with best practice guidance and the Committee’s terms of reference.

To receive and respond to any questions from Members either set out in the agenda or tabled at the meeting.

No questions had been submitted.

Audio recording – Session 3 – 20 seconds

No questions had been submitted.

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be deferred to the next meeting of this Committee.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review and monitor the progress of resolutions made.

Audio recording - Session 3 -.25 seconds

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Resolutions of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee be deferred to the next meeting of this Committee.

REASON FOR DECISION: To enable the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to review and monitor the progress of resolutions made.

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2018-19 be noted.

Audio recording – Session 3 – 34 seconds

RESOLVED: That the report entitled Overview and Scrutiny Committee Work Programme for 2018-19 be noted.

Audio recording - Session 1 - 1 hours 19 minutes 36 seconds

RESOLVED: That under Section 100A of the Local Government Act 1972, the Press and Public be excluded from the meeting on the grounds that the following reports would involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in the relevant Paragraph of Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the said Act. The relevant Paragraph is set out in the first page of each report.

The Part 2 item was considered following the presentation of, but prior to the debate and vote regarding, the Part 1 item (Minute 38 refers).

There was a lengthy session of questions and a thorough debate

The Chairman announced that the meeting would move back into Part 1 and that the press and public could be re-admitted.

The Part 2 item was considered following the presentation of, but prior to the debate and vote regarding, the Part 1 item (Minute 38 refers).

There was a lengthy session of questions and a thorough debate in which the following Members took part:

·                Councillor Ian Albert:

·                Councillor Steve Deakin – Davies;

·                Councillor Steve Jarvis;

·                Councillor Kate Aspinwall;

·                Councillor Cathryn Henry;

·                Councillor Sam Collins;

·                Councillor Helen Oliver;

·                Councillor Elizabeth Dennis – Harburg.

The following people responded to comments and questions:

·                Deputy Chief Executive;

·                Service Manager – Waste and Recycling;

·                Contracts Lawyer;

·                Service Director - Resources

·                Mr Mark Piggott, Ubaser.

The Chairman announced that the meeting would move back into Part 1 and that the press and public could be re-admitted.