Agenda item

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability submitted a report in respect of the outcomes of the Member lead working group between East Herts Council (EHC) and North Herts Council (NHDC) and workshops held for senior managers.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability referred to an undertaking by the Executive in 2022 to outline the governance and corporate support arrangements which would be put in place to support the new waste, recycling and street cleansing contract which would come into force in 2025.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that the proposals supported the Council’s goals around digital transformation and ensured that residents received a consistent service across East and North Hertfordshire.

Members were advised that the report was not seeking to make major changes from the existing arrangements and it was proposed that each council would lead on their own customer service provision with minor changes to governance and financial management arrangements.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that each council would remain responsible for its own income management and this would be facilitated by the shared client team function. He said that processes and policies will be aligned to support the new contract and minor updates have been made to service policies which would come into force in 2025.

Members were referred to a typographical error in paragraph 3.12 of the report, which should have read 2024 not 2025. The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability asked that Members receive the report and provide feedback on the proposals identified in section 1 for consideration by the Executive.

Councillor E Buckmaster asked for some clarity around the customer service functions in terms of the preferred approach that had been considered by the working group. He said that he understood the benefits of the preferred approach in terms of management alignment but that each council would function separately in some areas.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that economy of scales had been identified in pursuing a joint customer service and there were also disadvantages and these had been detailed in the report.

In response to a comment from the Chairman, Councillor Andrews, the Shared Waste Services Manager detailed the role and set up of the client services team. She talked about the existing service differences and the difficulties this posed in terms of procuring bins and catering for residents who had additional needs. Members were advised of the minor differences in respect of how the customer service teams processed assisted collections.

Councillor Watson asked about software integration and the digital service. He asked how efficiencies could be found and asked about the level of separation that would be required for the two services.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability said that it was his understanding that the two councils would be pursuing independent transformation to accommodate the new contract and would be operating separately.

Councillor Holt referred to a reference in the report to a level of communication between both teams to overcome any challenges of developing an online service. He asked for some clarity, at a later date, in terms of what that level of communication might look like going forward.

The Executive Member for Environmental Sustainability explained that he and Officers would undertake to report back to Members in more detail. The Shared Waste Services Manager said that it was vital that the customer services function supported the waste service as one of the highest contact generating services. She said that Officers in the customer services teams were having regular meetings to look at these processes behind the scenes.

The Head of Legal and Democratic Services said that, in terms of the interworking between the two authorities, these details did not need to be reported to Members and these matters were covered by the two legal departments in terms of the understanding in place between North Herts and East Herts.

Councillor Clements asked about what mechanisms were in place to review the updated waste service policy statements once they had come into force. Councillor Andrews said that the overview function of the committee meant that Members would scrutinise this matter going forward due to the ongoing weekly impact on residents and due to the financial implications.

Councillor E Buckmaster asked if the inter authority agreement was flexible enough to handle the policy assumptions and there were also a lot of unknowns around resource and government waste strategy. He commented on both councils entering the procurement phase in this process.

The Shared Waste Services Manager said that the contract included various provisions that had been built into the procurement exercise to manage any potential changes that might develop as a consequence of the resources and waste strategy. She said that any fundamental changes would have to be reported back to the Executive.

The Chairman explained to Members that this report was fundamentally an overview of performance. He said that in 18 months Members might wish to scrutinise whether the policy was being delivered and whether officers had interpreted Members’ wishes.

Councillor Andrews asked about the staffing levels and referred to the shortage of HGV drivers. The Shared Waste Service Manager said that there were ongoing issues in terms of recruitment and retention across the board and there was a continuous recruitment drive. She said that Officers were engaging with bidders to improve recruitment and retention.

Councillor Buckmaster proposed and Councillor Redfern seconded, a motion that the report be received and feedback be provided to the Executive on the proposals detailed in Section 1 of the report.

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

Councillor Buckmaster proposed and Councillor Nicholls seconded, a motion that the following be recommended to the Executive:

·                        That the Executive support the recommendation to approve the updated waste service policy statements from May 2025.

·                        That the Executive support the recommendation that each council lead on their own customer service provision with one set of processes for customer interactions being developed and with a focus on resolution at the first point of contact.

·                        That the Executive support the recommendation to identify resources and costs to integrate the customer relationship management system with the waste management IT system.

·                        That the Executive support the recommendation to approve the proposed updates and changes to financial management and governance arrangements and subsequent necessary changes to the Inter Authority Agreement outlined in Section 3.

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

RESOLVED – that (A) the report be received and feedback be provided to the Executive on the proposals detailed in Section 1 of the report;

(B)   the following be recommended to the Executive:

·               That the Executive support the recommendation that the updated waste service policy statements from May 2025.

·               That the Executive support the recommendation that each council lead on their own customer service provision with one set of processes for customer interactions being developed and with a focus on resolution at the first point of contact.

·               That the Executive support the recommendation to identify resources and costs to integrate the customer relationship management system with the waste management IT system.

·               That the Executive support the recommendation to approve the proposed updates and changes to financial management and governance arrangements and subsequent necessary changes to the Inter Authority Agreement outlined in Section 3.