Agenda and minutes

To receive any apologies for absence and notices of appointment of substitute Members (if any).

No apologies were received

Councillors are reminded of the requirement to declare any interest, including the type of interest, and reason for that interest, either at this stage of the meeting or as soon as they become aware of that interest.

No declarations were made

To receive any questions relating to items on the Agenda from members of the public and replies thereto.

Note:   A maximum of 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

There were no members of the public present

Members to consider whether to approve the minutes of the meeting held on 4^th September 2018

The minutes of the meeting held on 4^th September were agreed as a true record and signed by the Chairman.

To receive any announcements that the Chairman may wish to make.

The Chairman had no announcements to make

To receive a verbal update from the Waste and Recycling Manager regarding Waste and Recycling Services including the outcome of the MDDC request for DASWC to consider a discussion on plastics at their September meeting

The Group Manager for Street Scene and Open Spaces provided the following service update by way of presentation. He provided the Committee with further information on:

·         The amount of waste collected

·         Dry recycling rates

·         Waste growth numbers

·         Service updates

·         Garden waste customer numbers

·         The relocation of the Grounds Maintenance Team to Carlu Depot

He explained the potential changes in legislation that were in the pipeline including:

·         Deposit return scheme

·         Extended producer responsibility

·         Plastic packaging tax

·         Resource and waste strategy

·         Recycling targets

·         Landfill maximums for municipal waste

In response to questions asked he explained that brink banks were a very economical way of collection and that the Council would need to look at all the options for refuse services moving forward but this would need to be modelled and costed before a decision could be made.

The Leader stated that although the EDDC model looked impressive in terms of recycling rates it would need to be looked at including the cost of running such a scheme.

The Deputy Chief Executive (S151) said that the headline figures from MDDC were good and should be shared with the public in the form of a press release.

To receive a report from the Deputy Chief Executive (S151) considering the draft budget for 2019-2020

The Group had before it and NOTED a report *from the Deputy Chief Executive (S151) asking it to consider the initial draft 2019/20 Budget and options available in order for the Council to set a balanced budget and agree a future strategy for further budget reductions for 2020/21 onwards.

Discussion took place regarding the recent Government budget and funding pressures for district authorities and that the draft budget was the best that could be estimated until figures were released from Government on the 5^th December.

He explained the overall budget deficit and how this had been calculated.

The Chairman advised that the PDG would look again at the Budget in January when the funding from Government was known and he reminded the Group of the Deputy Chief Executive’s (S151) budget briefing on 13^th December.

There was a general discussion about the recruitment of a weed spraying team and an Operations Manager.

The Group then discussed the proposed increase in the Bulky Waste charges and the Garden Waste 140 litre bin charges. The Group decided that they would support the proposed increase but requested that a report be brought back to the January meeting which provided information on whether the market could bear further increases above the recommendations made to Cabinet and that the report included options for a change to charges for Bulky Waste.

It wastherefore RECOMMENDED that Cabinet consider as part of the budget, increases to the following fees in 2019/20: Bulky Waste by £1.00 and Garden Waste 140 litre bins by £1.00.

(Proposed by Cllr R M Deed and seconded by Cllr R Evans)

Note: - * Report previously circulated and attached to minutes

To provide Members with an update on performance against the corporate plan and local service targets for 2018-2019 as well as providing an update on the key business risks.

The Group had before it and NOTED a report * from the Group Manager for Performance, Governance and Data Security providing Members with an update on performance against the Corporate Plan and local service targets as well as providing an update on the key business risks.

Note: * Report previously circulated; copy attached to the minutes

The Committee are asked to note the following items identified for the next meeting as identified on the work plan:

Draft Budget

Note: This item is limited to 10 minutes.  There should be no discussion on the items raised.

The Committee identified the following items for future meetings:

·         Bulky Waste charges

·         Performance and Risk

·         District Officer Discretionary Time update

·         Single use plastic update