Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies for absence were tabled by Councillor Alison Austin with Councillor Richard Austin substituting. 

Apologies for absence were tabled by Councillor Mike Gilbert with Councillor Paul Gleeson substituting.

Further apologies were tables by Councillors Anton Dani and Patsie Marson.

To sign and confirm the  minutes of the previous meeting.

The Chairman signed the minutes of the previous meeting as agreed by the committee.

To receive declarations of interests in respect of any item on the agenda.

No declarations of interest were tabled.

To answer any written questions received from members of the public no later than 5 p.m. two clear working days prior to the meeting – for this meeting the deadline is Friday 24^th November 2023.

No public questions.

A report by the Assistant Director Neighbourhood Services

The Portfolio Holder presented the report supported by the Assistant Director for Neighbourhood Services and the Council’s Operations Manager. Committee were advised that the operating costs for waste services had increased significantly and were no longer being met due to increases in fuel, employee costs and the cost of vehicle maintenance/replacement. The charges for the kerbside garden waste collection service had not increased for 3 years.

The report proposed to increase the 2024/25 charges for garden waste collection to £50 for the first bin and £30 for subsequent bins, to meet increases in costs and in doing so, support the cost of service provision and to ensure that non-users were not subsidising the service.  The increase would further meet the full cost recovery in the service delivery and ensure that the service was not subsidised.  The proposed raise would support the Council’s medium term financial plan by identifying service efficiencies, provide additional revenue and strengthen the Council’s financial position to help maintain a balanced budget.  The review of garden waste collection fees in particular needed to be undertaken at the current time, to enable a sufficient lead in time to allow the charges to be implemented for collections in 2024/25.  The charges had not been reviewed for some time and no longer reflected the cost of providing the service due to extensive inflationary pressures which were well documented.

Committee deliberation followed which is collated and included:

Responding to a question seeking confirmation of the cost of the service over the previous 12 month period, the Assistant Director for Neighbourhood Services confirmed that the service currently cost the Council an additional £3k per annum, but looking at subsequent years it was estimated the shortfall would be £100k due to increasing costs in vehicles, running costs and staffing. 

Referencing the report tabled, a member requested that the final Cabinet report include a detailed breakdown of all the costs and projected costs of for the service, to ensure Cabinet would be able to make a fully informed decision.  

A request was made for a greater encouragement by the Council to its residents to compost their waste, with a request for some promotional material to go out in hard copy with the Council Tax.  Reference was made to a previous scheme which provided residents with a composter, and whilst it was recognised that the scheme was no longer in existence, the Assistant Director for Neighbourhood Services advised that consideration would be given to any other potential schemes.

On questioning the take up of the service by the foreign nationals within the town and the information that was provided to them, a member was advised that whilst the routing of the service was identifiable, identification of the occupants on the route using the service, could not be identified. Confirmation was provided that all advertising issued to all nationalities was produced in pictorial format for ease of understanding.

In response to a query which sought the uptake percentage of the service against the other waste service  ...  view the full minutes text for item 30.

(For Members to note/discuss the Committee’s current work programme)

Noted by the committee.