Agenda item

(Mr. Orson CC and Mr. Blunt CC, having each declared a personal interest which might lead to bias, left the meeting during consideration of this item).

 

The Cabinet considered a report of the Director of Environment and Transport which detailed the outcome of consultation on the options appraisal to achieve the required savings on dry recycling credits as identified in the 2016 Medium Term Financial Strategy and sought approval for a preferred option.

 

Comments of the Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee and the Liberal Democrat Group are filed with these minutes.

 

The Director explained that the County Council’s Medium Term Financial Strategy which was approved by the County Council in February 2016, identified a required saving of £1,030,000 from recycling credits in 2018/19. He said that following formal consultation with all of the Waste Collection Authorities (WCA) and an independent financial analysis and deliverability review, Option 4, which proposed that the County Council should procure capacity for all the WCAs dry recycling and direct them to use it, offered the greatest potential savings levels over the period to 2030. 

 

The Director of Law and Governance said that in proposing the changes the Council was acting reasonably and it had engaged with the WCAs, including via a formal consultation process pursuant to the implied duty to consult, and had had regard to their existing contractual  arrangements. 

 

Mr Pain CC said that the County Council had arrived at the recommended approach following a lengthy consultation process and detailed review. He said it was important to remember that recycling credit payments were initially provided to WCAs to manage waste on behalf of the County Council and the Authority had now come to the conclusion that a different approach was necessary in order to help manage the financial demands placed upon the Council.

 

Mr Rhodes CC acknowledged that this was a difficult decision and recognised the good work WCAs had done in recent years to increase recycling rates. Whilst he understood that the County Council’s recycling credits had helped the authorities achieve the positive results, the Council had savings targets to reach and following extensive work by officers and discussions with the WCAs it had identified that considerable savings could be made by centralising the disposal of recycling waste and option 4 would maximise those possible savings.

 

RESOLVED:

 

a)    That the comments of the Environment and Transport Overview and Scrutiny Committee be noted;

 

b)    That the outcome of the options appraisal for achieving the necessary savings and the views of the Waste Collection Authorities (WCAs) be noted;

 

c)    That Option 4 as set out in paragraph 32 of the report be agreed;

 

d)    That the Director of Environment and Transport be authorised –

 

                          I.    to commence a procurement exercise to secure processing capacity for dry recycling by 1st April 2018;

 

                         II.    following consultation with the Director of Law and Governance, to serve reasonable notice objecting to WCAs retaining dry materials for recycling with effect from 1st April 2018 or such other date as the Director of Environment and Transport shall determine for each WCA,

 

                       III.    to issue directions to WCAs to deliver dry materials for recycling to the most appropriate facility made available under a new contract following the completion of a procurement exercise,

 

                      IV.    following consultation with the Cabinet Lead Member and the Director of Law and Governance, to enter into new local arrangements for incentive payments to financially compensate the WCAs for reductions in residual household waste with such of the seven WCAs as he considers appropriate.

 

(KEY DECISION)

 

REASON FOR DECISION:

 

The preferred way forward, Option 4, offers the greatest potential savings for the County Council within a feasible timescale and authorising the Director to take the necessary actions to give effect to the decision will facilitate the implementation of Option 4 within the planned timescales.

 

OTHER OPTIONS CONSIDERED:

 

The following 8 options were considered:

 

1)    Baseline – i.e. to continue with current arrangements.

 

2)    Reach local agreements (individually with each WCA) to reduce the value of the recycling credit.

 

3)    Develop and agree a new payment model to incentivise a reduction in residual waste / increase in recycling.

 

4)    The County Council to procure capacity for all WCA dry recycling and direct the WCAs to use it.

 

5)    The County Council to procure capacity for all WCA dry recycling and agree a mechanism for cost / income sharing.

 

6)    The County Council to build a materials recovery facility (MRF), individually or with another authority, and direct the WCAs to use it.

 

7)    The County Council to develop a MRF with the WCAs and agree a mechanism for cost / income sharing.

 

8)      The County Council and the WCAs to develop a long term strategic private / public partnership with a private sector company for MRF provision.

 

(Mr. Orson and Mr. Blunt then returned to the meeting).