Agenda and minutes

The Chairman drew attention to the list of notices published on the back of the agenda.

An apology for absence was received from Councillor P G L Elliott.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee held on 29 August 2018 (copy enclosed).

RESOLVED that the Minutes of the meeting of the Committee held on 29 August 2018 be approved and confirmed.

To receive the views of members of the public on items of business to be considered by the Committee (please see below):

1.               A period of ten minutes will be set aside.

2.               An individual may speak for no more than two minutes on a specific agenda item, the time slots to be allocated on a “first come first served” basis.

3.               Participation may take the form of a statement, or alternatively a question to be addressed to the Chairman.  There will be no discussion on questions put unless it is formally moved.  In line with the current scheme applied to other Committees, the questions must:

·                 not be defamatory, frivolous, vexatious or offensive;

·                 not be the same or substantially the same as another question to the same meeting or anything so put in the last six months;

·                 not involve the disclosure of confidential or exempt information.

4.               Anyone wishing to speak must notify the Committee Clerk between 7.00pm and 7.20pm prior to the start of the meeting.

There was none.

To disclose the existence and nature of any Disclosable Pecuniary Interests, other Pecuniary Interests or Non-Pecuniary Interests relating to items of business on the agenda having regard to paragraphs 6-8 inclusive of the Code of Conduct for Members.

(Members are reminded that they are also required to disclose any such interests as soon as they become aware should the need arise throughout the meeting).

There was none.

To consider the report of the Director of Service Delivery (copy enclosed).

The Committee received the report from the Director of Service Delivery which provided an update on the collection of waste within the district, and addressed Members previous concerns surrounding contractor vehicles and the end destination of recycling from the district.  The Director of Service Delivery introduced Mr Matthew Canning, the Recycling and Recovery UK Regional Manager from Suez, and Maldon District Council’s Waste and Street Scene Manager, Ms Carol Love, who had been invited to attend the Committee and respond to questions raised by Members at the previous meeting.

·                Waste Collection – Contractor Vehicles 

Mr Canning was invited to address Members’ concerns on the breakdown of vehicles on routes within the district.

In response to Members questions Mr Canning provided the following information:

·                Meetings were taking place with the manufactures (chassis, body and bin lift) to find any trends on the breakdowns as problems had been experienced in all these areas.

·                There was no obvious trend in the problems experienced with vehicles.

·                Since May 2018 the number of breakdowns had reduced.

·                A performance review of the fleet would take place with the manufacture on 24th October 2018.

·                Breakdowns were not isolated to a specific problem/area.

·                Since the start of the contract the number of spare vehicles had increased from one to three to maintain the service within the Maldon District.

·                Vehicles are inspected prior to use on a daily basis, maintained in accordance with the Operator’s Licence every six weeks, and have an MOT annually.

Mr Canning invited Members to the yard to view the facilities.  He advised that Suez had honourable intentions and apologised for any issues caused.

·                Recycling

The Waste and Street Scene Manager advised the Committee that the districts pink recycling bags go to Essex Reclamation in Witham for sorting.  The Committee was informed that following the Officers visit to the facility, an invite to Members was extended on behalf of Mr John Bassett, the New Business Development Manager at Essex Reclamation.

In response to Members questions the following information was provided by Mr Canning, the Recycling and Recovery UK Regional Manager from Suez, and Ms Love, The Waste and Street Scene Manager:

·                Officers were satisfied that waste is being sorted and disposed of properly.

·                A monthly return is provided to the Environment Agency on the end destination for all materials from the site and checked against Essex Reclamations permit.

·                The majority of waste sent abroad comes from paper, whilst plastics remain within the UK:

o   Paperlink exports the majority of paper waste.

o   Monoworld – sorts the plastic waste.

·                Recycled material is sent abroad in sealed containers which are photographed prior to departure and on arrival to confirm no tampering has occurred.
 

          Members complemented the Council on the success of its waste campaign and informed the Council that there was a decrease in the number of complaints they had received concerning collection.  The Committee suggested that the Council publicise the end destination of waste.   The Waste and Street Scene Manager confirmed that the Council was working  ...  view the full minutes text for item 491.

To consider the report of the Director of Resources (copy enclosed).

The Director of Strategy, Performance and Governance presented the Committee with the report on the Programme of Work 2018/19, and drew Members attention to the Appendices.

In response to questions from Members regarding Appendix 2, Maldon District Council’s Future Model, the Director of Strategy, Performance and Governance confirmed the following information:

·         All staff have been consulted on the overall operating model.

·         The restructure has two phases:

·         Phase one:

§  Strategy, Performance, and Governance Directorate.

§  Resources Directorate.

§  Seven Tier Two Managers

§  Two lead specialists within the Service Delivery Directorate.

§  Occurred simultaneous with the consultation. 

§  Applications were being welcomed.

§  Interviews held in October 2019.

·         Phase two:

§  Service Delivery Directorate. 

§  Detailed consultation to occur in February 2019.

§  Interviews held in March 2019.

·         Everything would be delivered (including transformation of IT) by October 2019.

·         Corporate Leadership Team (CLT) acknowledged that this was an unsettling time for staff.

·         The timeframe was considered much tighter when compared to restructures in other public authorities.

·         Tough decisions and redundancies would take place.

·         Everyone would know their individual outcome by the end of April 2019.

RESOLVED

(i)                 That the content of this report and actions as outlined above be noted.

(ii)               That Members would receive regular updates on the progress of the Council Transformation.

(iii)             That updates arising from the Transformation Board will be shared at future meetings of the Committee.

There was none.

To resolve that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act, and that this satisfies the public interest test.

RESOLVED that under Section 100A (4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12A to the Act, and that this satisfies the public interest test.

To consider the report of the Director of Strategy, Performance and Governance (copy enclosed).

The Committee considered the report of the Director of Strategy, Performance and Governance, the purpose of which was to provide Members with a summary of work undertaken to date on the monitoring of Section 106 Agreements.

In response to questions raised, the Director of Strategy, Performance and Governance drew the Committee’s attention to the significant progress that had been made on the monitoring of timeframes in the Section 106 Agreements ensuring a more effective process was in place. 

Members complimented the Director of Strategy, Performance and Governance on his report and suggested that were the report to be presented at full Council it would open a constructive debate.  It was agreed that an update be presented at a future meeting.

RESOLVED

(i)                 That the content of this report be noted.

(ii)               That an update of this report be provided to the Committee in six months.