Agenda item

JOINT REPORT OF THE HEAD OF LEISURE & ENVIRONMENTAL SERVICES AND HEAD OF FINANCE, PERFORMANCE & ASSET MANAGEMENT

To consider the selection of options in respect of the Shared Service Waste and Street Cleansing Contract.

RESOLVED:

(1) That a change in the way materials are collected, from separated paper to separated glass, be agreed in principle, on condition that this provides material financial savings;

(2) That, once the financial impact of (1) above is known, and following consultation with East Hertfordshire District Council, determination of the collection option be delegated to the Chief Executive, in consultation with the Executive Member for Waste Management, Recycling and Environment;

(3) That the introduction of weekly food waste collections and a chargeable garden waste collection service for the new contract, commencing on 9 May 2018 be agreed and that the charge for garden waste collection be £40 per annum;

(4) That the provision of kerbside textile collections be continued;

(5) That the separate collection of batteries from the kerbside be agreed for the new contract commencing on 9 May 2018;

(6) That, following further liaison with the preferred bidder, determination of the viability of the kerbside collection of WEEE be delegated to the Head of Leisure and Environmental Services;

(7) That, in respect the recommendation from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Cabinet considered the views expressed in the feedback from the consultation and to the financial pressures that NHDC, along with all other Councils, are facing and the need to provide an affordable service and gave them due weight;

(8) That, the Communications Manager be requested to ensure that a comprehensive communication plan is drawn up regarding implementation of the planned chargeable garden waste collection.

RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL: That, unless alternative sources of funding for this purpose can be identified, £126,000 be added to the capital programme for the purchase of food waste caddies that will allow the weekly collection of food waste.

REASON FOR DECISION: To provide significant efficiency savings, additional services to residents and to promote recycling therefore supporting the Council’s KPI to achieve 60 percent recycling.

Simultaneous Meeting

Members received a comprehensive PowerPoint presentation from officers regarding the report of the Head of Leisure and Environmental Services and the Head of Finance, Performance and Asset Management entitled Shared Service Waste and Street Cleansing – Selection of Options, the associated Appendix A – Equalities Impact Assessment and the addendum.

Officers outlined the main issues contained in the report as follows:

· There were options that were dependent on both authorities agreeing as well as independent options;

· Of the options that were dependent on agreement, three options had been considered being separated paper, separated glass and fully comingled;

· The evaluation process of the optons undertook to achieve financial benefits and therefore a fully comingled service was not recommended;

· Consultants suggested that, whilst there would continue to be fluctuation in prices, the relative differences in price would be likely to continue;

· In respect of the consultation undertaken, the vast majority of those who responded stated that they were willing to separate materials;

· In respect of the independent options, NHDC had considered kerbside collection of small WEEE and batteries;

· Feedback from the consultation indicated that 85 percent of respondents disagreed with charging for green waste, although 26 percent had stated that they would likely pay;

· Similar feedback had been received by a ‘Nearest Neighbour; authority, although take up of the service has subsequently reached 74 percent;

· From a survey of charging local authorities the average of the charge made for the collection of green waste was £46 per annum, it was considered that NHDC make a charge of £40 per annum;

· Discussions had been held with partners and neighbouring authorities regarding the effect of charging for the collection of green waste on recycling rates and fly-tipping and there was no evidence of any major problems in the area;

The Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee presented a referral from that Committee, made at its meeting held on 9 October 2017, in respect of Shared Service for Waste and Street Cleansing – Selection of Options (Minute 43 refers).

RECOMMENDED TO CABNET:

(1) That Cabinet be requested to give due weight to the feedback from the public consultation that 85 percent of residents disagreed or strongly disagreed with introducing a changeable garden waste service alongside weekly food waste collections;

(2) That, if minded to charge for the collection of garden waste, every effort be made to communicate to the public the reasons for doing so.

The Executive Member for Waste, Recycling and the Environment introduced the report of the Head of Leisure and Environmental Services and the Head of Finance, Performance and Asset Management entitled Shared Service Waste and Street Cleansing – Selection of Options and the associated Appendix A – Equality Impact Assessment.

The Head of Leisure and Environmental Services drew attention to the following:

Paragraph 2.2

This related to the decision as to whether to separate glass or paper and any delays in making that decision could have significant impacts on the contract.

Section 5

There had been 5,000 responses to the consultation looking at both the dependant and independent options.

Paragraph 8.5

This table demonstrated that there had been a reduction in the amount of paper recycling over the last 4 years.

Paragraph 8.8

Cabinet was asked to agree, in principle, whether to separate glass or paper, once the financial impact was known.

Paragraphs 8.9 – 8.12

Cabinet was asked to:

· continue with kerbside textile collection;

· agree to the kerbside collection of batteries;

· note the option for the kerbside collection of WEEE and that this should be kept under review for possible introduction at a later date.

Paragraphs 8.21 – 8.29

There was an independent option to implement charging for garden waste, which would be accompanied by a change to separate weekly food collection.

Any income would be collected by the contractor on behalf of the Council and reconciled on a monthly basis.

There would be an up front cost of purchasing caddies associated with the weekly collection of food, estimated to be £2.50 per unit.

The feedback from the public consultation was that 85 percent of residents who responded disagreed or strongly disagreed with introducing a chargeable garden waste service, however 32 percent of those who disagreed and 19 percent of those who strongly disagreed said they would likely use the service.

A ‘Nearest Neighbour’ who had implemented the service had received similar responses, however the actual proportion of residents using the service was 74 percent of eligible properties.

Although there was a risk of increased fly-tipping, data from the same authority showed there had been no noticeable increase.

Paragraph 8.32

Showed how many councils were now charging for green waste.

Paragraph 8.35

Cabinet was asked to agree the introduction of garden waste charging and consider the level of that charge in the first year.

In response to questions from Members, the Contracts Lawyer confirmed that everyone who had expressed an interest had been given the opportunity to tender.

The Head of Finance, Performance and Asset Manager advised that the contracts for Lot 1 and Lot 2 were tendered separately and it would have been a high risk strategy for any bidder to offer a low bid for Lot 1 with a view to increasing profits on the Lot 2 bid and that there had been a full tender exercise that had been open to the whole market.

The Service Manager – Waste and Recycling informed Members that Hertfordshire County Council had provided officers with information relating to other Hertfordshire authorities that had introduced charging that showed there would be an increase in the use of household waste recycling centres.

NHDC Only Cabinet Meeting

Members considered the recommendations from the Overview and Scrutiny Committee and agreed that the Council should make every effort to explain the service and the reasons for implementation. To this end a communication plan should be drawn up regarding the implementation of the planned chargeable garden waste collection.

In respect of the recommendation that Cabinet give due weight to the feedback Members commented that they had certainly done so, whilst also giving due weight to the financial pressures that NHDC, along with all other Councils, were facing and the need to provide an affordable service