Agenda and draft minutes

It was proposed by Councillor Nicholls and seconded by Councillor Swainston, that Councillor Horner be appointed Vice-Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2024/25 civic year.

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

RESOLVED – that Councillor Horner be appointed Vice-Chair of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee for the 2024/25 civic year.

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were submitted from Councillors P Boylan and N Cox. It was noted that Councillors S Watson and G Williamson were substituting for Councillors N Cox and P Boylan.

To approve as a correct record the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2024.

Councillor Nicholls proposed and Councillor Swainston seconded, a motion that the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2024 be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following amendment:

Delete in 11^th Paragraph of Minute 366:

‘Councillor Nicholls said that she had raised the subject of UK Shared Prosperity Funding (SPF) at a Buntingford Town Council meeting’.

Replace with: ‘Councillor Nicholls said that she had raised the subject of UK Shared Prosperity Funding (SPF) at an Aspenden Parish Council meeting’.

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

RESOLVED – that the Minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2024, be confirmed as a correct record and signed by the Chairman, subject to the following amendment:

Delete in 11^th Paragraph of Minute 366:

‘Councillor Nicholls said that she had raised the subject of UK Shared Prosperity Funding (SPF) at a Buntingford Town Council meeting’.

Replace with: ‘Councillor Nicholls said that she had raised the subject of UK Shared Prosperity Funding (SPF) at an Aspenden Parish Council meeting.

There were no Chair’s announcements.

To receive any Members’ Declarations of Interest.

Councillor Buckmaster declared an interest in the matter referred to in minute 70, on the grounds that he was chairman of the Hertfordshire Waste Partnership and a cabinet member of Hertfordshire County Council (the waste disposal authority).

Councillor McAndrew declared an interest in the matter referred to in minute 70, on the grounds that he was the deputy Executive Member for Environment at Hertfordshire County Council, the waste disposal authority.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability submitted a report inviting Overview and Scrutiny Committee to consider the awarding of the new Waste, Recycling and Street Cleansing Contract. He said that North Hertfordshire District Council were the lead authority and would be considering a similar report with similar recommendations.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that the waste, recycling and street cleansing service represented the largest spend on services contracts each financial year, and it was a high-profile service that impacted on residents every week. He talked about the impact of the contract on the council’s ability to achieve carbon reduction and sustainability aims for the District.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability summarised the decision-making timeline to date and invited the Overview and Scrutiny Committee comment on and ask questions in respect of the recommendations. He referred to a statutory guidance consultation paper issued in October 2023 to support the simpler recycling proposals that were detailed in the resources and waste strategy 2018. He said that some elements of the draft guidance were not in line with the service changes due to implement by this contract in 2025.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that it would not be prudent to further delay a decision on awarding the contract in the hope that a final clarification was forthcoming in respect of residual waste collections.

Councillor Buckmaster said that he was broadly in agreement with the approach and the design and the proposals. He said that there were variances in respect of recycling across the county and the council needed to move forward.

Councillor Buckmaster referred to the absence of food waste in the East Herts collections, which would be addressed within the next two years. He said that he appreciated the sentiments around three weekly residual waste collections, and he believed that there were good reasons to do that. He said that the change in design would help to increase recycling rates and reduce carbon content.

Councillor Buckmaster said that the additional fibre bin would be a challenge for some people, and he noted that there would be an app available with a push system to remind people what bin to put out on that particular week.

Councillor Nicholls said that local engagement and educating people about the new system was key in the first few weeks and months of the contract rolling out. Councillor Watson talked about the unknowns and potential risks in respect of IT, and asked if these elements had been risk assessed. He referred to the use of different systems at East Herts and North Herts.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that any risks had to be thought through in terms of how they could be mitigated, and this had been incorporated into the recommendations in terms of how risks could be mitigated. He referred to the strengthening of the project board in overseeing the implementation by having the digital transformation executive on that board.

The Shared Service Manager (Waste) said that  ...  view the full minutes text for item 70.

The Committee Support Officer submitted the work programme report and summarised the items on the work programme for future meetings in 2024/25. He drew Members’ attention to the Appendix following the workshop held on 11 June 2024.

The Committee Support Officer reminded Members to complete the scrutiny proposal form circulated by email on 12 June 2024. Councillor Andrews proposed and Councillor Watson seconded a motion that the 2024/25 Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme in Appendix 1, be agreed.

After being put to the meeting and a vote taken, the motion was declared CARRIED. The Head of Legal and Democratic Services reiterated the importance of the completion of the scrutiny proposal forms. Members were advised to submit the forms to Democratic Services as soon as possible.

RESOLVED – that the 2024/25 Overview and Scrutiny Committee work programme in Appendix 1, be agreed.

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.