Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Redfern, Swainston, Thomas and Woollcombe. It was noted that Councillor Jacobs was substituting for Councillor Redfern and Councillor Watson was substituting for Councillor Woollcombe.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2023.

The Minutes of the meeting were submitted. Councillor Andrews said that the following should be deleted from the 3^rd paragraph of minute 207:

‘The Chairman assured Members that he was in discussion with the Leader regularly in terms of the Forward Plan and its impact on the Work Programme of Overview and Scrutiny Committee’

Councillor Andrews suggested that there should be an amendment to delete paragraph 8 of Minute 209 (Overview and Scrutiny Committee – Draft Work Programme). He suggested that the paragraph should be replaced as follows:

Delete “The Chairman assured Members that he met regularly with the Leader to ensure the co-ordination of the Council’s Forward Plan and the Work Programme of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee”.

Replace with “The Chairman said that he was looking forward to meeting with the Leader and the Deputy Leader and the Vice-Chairman of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee”. This amendment was supported.

Councillor Nicholls proposed and Councillor Carter seconded, a motion that the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2023, as amended, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED.

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 November 2023, as amended, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

There were no Chairman’s announcements.

To receive any Members’ Declarations of Interest.

Councillor Buckmaster declared an interest in the matter referred to in minute 240 – Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract Service Design, on the grounds that he was the Chairman of the Hertfordshire County Council Hertfordshire Waste Partnership. He was also the Executive Member for Environment at Hertfordshire County Council and this portfolio included waste disposal.

Councillor McAndrew declared an interest in the matter referred to in minute 240 – Waste Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract Service Design, on the grounds that he was the deputy HCC Executive Member to Councillor Buckmaster and he was the regional flood climate change representative as well.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability submitted a report reminding Members that the Executive had agreed the service design for the new waste, recycling and street cleansing contract on 25 October 2022, along with new aims and principles of the Shared Service which were based around delivering services which were both financially and environmentally sustainable.

The Executive Member talked about the high profile of the Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Service which impacted on residents every week. He said that the service contract represented the largest single spend of the council. He also said that the contract impacted on the council’s ability to achieve carbon reduction and sustainability aims for the district.

The Executive Member touched on the critical elements of the contract and said that Officers had worked with Members at East Herts and North Herts during the summer of 2022 to design services which would meet financial and environmental sustainability objectives.

The Executive Member talked about the affordability issues that had been identified during the initial tenders that had been received. He said that a competitive dialogue procurement process was currently ongoing, and this had allowed Officers to explore service design options which may present benefits to the council.

The Executive Member said that Officers were seeking a decision from discussions this evening in respect of service design options that would be taken forward with the intention of supporting the long-term financial sustainability of the service and the council.

The Executive Member set out the context in which this process was taking place. He referred in particular to the publication on 21 October 2023 of the government’s response to its consultation on the resources and waste strategy. He said that this had resulted in proposed legislative and statutory guidance changes and Officers were in the process of reviewing the information and had already and would continue to respond to further consultation and statutory guidance.

The Executive Member said that further clarity and detail would be known in mid-2024 and further decisions would be required once this detail was known. He said that this report contained a wealth of detail for Members to consider. He concluded that the proposals resulted from a competitive dialogue between officers and various bidders and represented an opportunity to support the long-term financial sustainability of the new contact.

The Chairman asked about the mobilisation date for the new contract. The Shared Waste Services Manager said that this was May 2025. She confirmed that the life of the vehicles varied, and it was becoming apparent that electric vehicles had a somewhat longer life of 10 years. Members were advised that depreciation of vehicles was being planned on the basis of 8 years and small sweepers had a 4-year life.

Councillor McAndrew asked if the Executive Member or the Shared Waste Services Manager could give Members an understanding of when the contract went out to soft tender in the public domain. He asked about the independent workshops that had been held with a small group  ...  view the full minutes text for item 240.

To consider such other business as, in the opinion of the Chairman of the meeting, is of sufficient urgency to warrant consideration and is not likely to involve the disclosure of exempt information.

There was no urgent business.