Agenda and minutes

To elect a Chair of the Panel for the meeting.

RESOLVED

  that Councillor C Gleadow be elected Chair for the duration of the meeting.

Councillor C Gleadow in the Chair.

To receive from Members declarations as to disclosable pecuniary and other interests in relation to any Agenda Item.

Councillor D Shaw declared an Other Registrable Interest in Minute No 9 by virtue of the fact that he had recently taken up employment as an Environment Officer with the Environment Agency’s Waste Team.

To appoint a Vice-Chair of the Panel for the meeting.

RESOLVED

  that Councillor J Kerr be appointed Vice-Chair for the duration of the meeting.

The Panel is to discuss the call-in of the Household Garden Waste Subscription Service.

Executive Councillor: M A Hassall

Pursuant to Minute No 05/23 of the meeting of the Joint Panel held on 6th July 2023, Members gave further consideration to the proposed Garden Waste Subscription Scheme, the introduction of which had been approved by the Cabinet on 18th July 2023, but which had been called-in by Councillors Alban, Bywater, Cawley, Corney, Criswell, Gardener, Jennings, Lowe, Martin and Welton. The Joint Panel’s deliberations were assisted by an updated report by the General Manager for Operations (a copy of which is appended in the Minute Book).

In response to a question by Councillor Alban, the Interim Managing Director confirmed that legal advice had been obtained on the options available to the Joint Panel, which were to refer the matter back to the Cabinet for further consideration or to allow the Cabinet’s decision to be implemented immediately. The Constitution did not allow reference to the Council as the decision was in accordance with the Council’s policy and budget framework. The Director of Finance and Corporate Services confirmed this opinion in her capacity as S151 Officer.

The main reasons given for the call-in coalesced around finance and consultation. Following a question by Councillor Jennings the Joint Panel discussed changes that had been made to Appendix 5 since the original report was published. It was established that the MTFS contained assumptions, but information had been received from the County Council that meant the figures should be revised. It was suggested that the changes that have been made, the reasons for them and the implications for the Council should be reported to the Cabinet when it considered the outcome of the call-in.

Councillor Jennings asked a further question about the evidence obtained from other local authorities on uptake of their garden waste schemes. The General Manager for Operations referred to the Charity WRAP, which contained information on 60 local authorities.

Councillor Alban asked a question about how the proposal had emerged. A process had been established involving Joint Administration political groups to identify and examine options to improve the Council’s financial position. The proposal to introduce a subscription service emerged from that process. The process did not identify any other options, so without the subscription service it would be likely the Council would have to make service reductions and Executive Members preferred not to do this. Councillor Alban pointed out that it had been identified by officers as a potential option a number of years previously.

Councillor Corney expressed the view that the proposal was of such significance that it should be subject to public consultation. It was suggested that the consultation should seek views on alternative configurations of the service such as putting longer periods between collections. It was further argued that given the absence within the Council of ideas for other ways to improve the Council’s financial position suggestions also should be requested in this respect.

Councillor Cawley drew attention to the environmental impact of the proposal. Members were informed that it was foremostly being put forward for financial reasons. Information on  ...  view the full minutes text for item 9.