Agenda item

The Overview and Scrutiny panel (Performance & Growth) is invited to consider and comment on progress and performance during Quarter 4

Executive Councillor: S Ferguson

By means of a report by the Business Intelligence and Performance Manager (a copy of which was appended in the Minute Book), the Corporate Performance 2024/25 Quarter 4 Report was presented to the Panel.

Councillor Jennings expressed frustrations regarding P121, particularly the red items which were explained to be an anomaly and that they would be coming back up whereas with each quarterly report, they appear to be getting further away. The Panel heard that this view was respected, and this was a rare off year for the service and may be contributed to the Green Waste subscription as well as other factors. They are looking to fix this next year and that the service’s ambitious targets are something that they are striving to achieve. Councillor Jennings went on to confirm the report advised the Green Waste subscription did not impact this and that missed bins is a big concern for residents. The Panel were advised there was nothing further to be said regarding this issue. The panel were made aware that the target for missed bins was an ambitious stretch target which the service would rather retain to strive for improvement, that performance remains ahead of the APSE comparator Councils.

Councillor Taylor requested clarification in relation to action 34 within the Corporate Plan specifically for more detail regarding the expressions of interest to develop the Local Skills Implementation plan. St Neots was presented as an example of having received 10 under the CPCA skills capital grant funding. Councillor Taylor wanted to understand what this looked like and how much involvement the local community had with this. The Panel heard this would be taken away and responded to by the Officers. Councillor Taylor wanted to see a performance relating to the new funding that will be received to assist in completing projects. The Panel were advised the Officers would not report on funding for projects that had not begun yet as this could prove to be a never-ending task. The Panel also heard that the project for Quarter 4 is now completed, and anything further would need to be discussed with the Portfolio holder and the coming year’s budget setting process would be the time to explore future funding further.

Councillor Gardener conveyed disappointment over the PI18, 9% reduction in household waste recycled and reused since the implementation of the Green Wastes subscription service. PI20 confirms household residual waste has increased and believes this is a bad look for the Council as this is not very ‘green’ since this has resulted in 247,000 tonnes of additional waste to go to landfill. The Panel heard that being unable to collect food waste had been an issue, but this would be resolved next year by introducing the new food waste service from April 2026. They also heard that waste is measured by weight resulting in a disproportion shift in the percentage recycled when considering changes in green waste as food waste is heavier than for example recycled plastic. Huntingdonshire is working at the forefront of the implementation of Household food waste collections as part of the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Waste Partnership and has received transition funding from the government to support the establishment of separate household food waste collection.  This service will go live in April 2026.

Councillor Corney expressed his thanks to the Community Action Team service and commended them on the job they do. He requested clarification on what occurred in October/November of 2024 to push the fly tipping numbers into red and asked if any events at the recycling centres had an impact on this. The Panel heard that the hours of operation for the recycling centre had changed and were operating reduced seasonal hours. The Panel heard further explanation could be discussed with the Community Action Team as the Officers investigate fly tipping thoroughly and would have a greater understanding of this matter.

Following the discussion, it was

RESOLVED

that the comments of the Overview and Scrutiny Panel be passed to Cabinet for their consideration when making a decision upon the recommendations within the report.