Agenda and minutes

To receive details of any Members appointed to attend the meeting instead of a Member of the Committee.

None.

To receive any declarations of interest.

None.

Up to a total of fifteen minutes can be allowed, each speaker being allocated a maximum of five minutes, for members of the public to present a petition, ask a question or comment on any matter on the Agenda or within the remit of the Committee.

None.

Of the meeting held on 30^th January 2024 to be approved and signed.

RESOLVED: That the minutes of the meeting held on 30^th January 2024 were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chair.

That the Committee:

1.       consider the proposed revised approach to corporate performance reporting; and

2        consider the proposed content of the Environment Committee Scorecard for 2024/25.

The Committee considered a report on the proposed revised approach to corporate performance reporting and the proposed content of the Committee Scorecard for 2024/25.

The Corporate Director – Finance and Resources presented the report and informed Committee Members that the new Office for Local Government (Oflog), which sits within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC), is developing a new approach to measuring council ‘performance’.  Oflog activities were outlined in paragraph 2.4 of the report, and they have developed an online tool, The Local Authority Data Explorer, to support these activities, which brings together a selection of metrics across a subset of service areas.

The Committee’s attention was drawn to section 3 of the report where it was proposed to adopt Oflog metrics which are relevant to services provided by the Council for corporate performance reporting to committee.  Metrics currently available on the Data Explorer were provided in Appendix 1.  However, much of the data published on Oflog are annual figures with a time lag.  It was therefore proposed to produce quarterly data for these metrics where possible and reported to Policy and Resources Committee as a Corporate Scorecard.  This will replace the current KPIs reported to each individual policy committee with the exception of the Income Management Sub-Committee which receives only PIs relating to the Council’s income streams.

Many of the PIs currently reported to Policy and Resources Committee will continue to be reported.  If significant issues are identified which cannot be resolved, these will be escalated as standalone items to the relevant policy committee.  It is proposed that the other policy committees, with the exception of Policy and Resources and Income Management, will continue to receive quarterly reports of progress against priority projects and activities relevant to their functions.

The proposed Environment Committee scorecard content for 2024/25 was attached as Appendix 2 to the report.  The Corporate Director – Finance and Resources stated that the proposal was for consideration and welcomed Committee Members views.

During the debate the majority of Committee Members expressed strong views that they did not support the preferred option as set out in the report, in the form of a Corporate Scorecard to the Policy and Resources Committee with no specific indicators being provided to the Committee.  It was commented that the relevant committee needs to retain all aspects of their policy area and need to understand not just the projects but the core services. It was felt that Members on this committee had built up a knowledge base of these core services, which were very much public focused, the data provided currently was found to be useful when dealing with resident’s queries/complaints.  It was felt that the Policy and Resources Committee would not have that level of knowledge.

There was a suggestion to formally vote on the proposal if it was the collective view of the committee that the approach, as identified in the report, was not supported. 

The Corporate Director – Finance and Resources explained that committees would continue to  ...  view the full minutes text for item 45.

That the Committee:

1.       note the Government has legislated for major reforms to domestic and commercial waste collection and packaging, requiring councils to align their waste and recycling services with new ‘Simpler Recycling’ requirements;

2.       note the recent allocation of £728,160 capital funding to support the introduction of weekly domestic food waste collections by March 2026;

3.       note the intention to develop a Costed Action & Delivery Plan (CADP) for the introduction of a weekly domestic food waste collection service by March 2026;

4.       note that the CADP will be presented to this Committee in October 2024 for consideration; and

5.       note that a separate report will be presented to this Committee setting out a business case for the introduction of a commercial food waste collection service by March 2025.

The Committee received an update report on ‘Simpler Recycling’ Food Waste Collections.

At its November 2023 meeting the Committee received a report on the ‘Implications of the Environment Act 2021.  Part 3 of the Act focused on ‘Waste and Resource Efficiency’.  The Government has legislated for Councils to align their domestic waste and recycling services with new nationwide Simpler Requirements by 31^st March 2026.

The report set out the key challenges associated with the legislative timelines the council is faced with, and which officers are currently working through to present Members with further reports between now and the committee cycle in Autumn 2024 for decisions.

The Corporate Director – Operations, Homes and Communities presented the report and highlighted the key information relating to weekly domestic food waste recycling, domestic dry recycling and commercial trade waste recycling.  He responded to questions and comments from Committee Members.

Committee Members welcomed the report and the level of content it provided.

RESOLVED:  That the Committee:

1.       note the Government has legislated for major reforms to domestic and commercial waste collection and packaging, requiring councils to align their waste and recycling services with new ‘Simpler Recycling’ requirements;

2.       note the recent allocation of £728,160 capital funding to support the introduction of weekly domestic food waste collections by March 2026;

3.       note the intention to develop a Costed Action & Delivery Plan (CADP) for the introduction of a weekly domestic food waste collection service by March 2026;

4.       note that the CADP will be presented to this Committee in October 2024 for consideration; and

5.       notes that a separate report will be presented to this Committee setting out a business case for the introduction of a commercial food waste collection service by March 2025.

Which in the opinion of the Chair is of sufficient urgency as to warrant consideration.

None.