There were no apologies for absence.

There were no disclosures of interest.

The minutes of the meeting held on 8 November 2016 to be submitted and signed.

Copies of the minutes of this meeting are usually available seven working days following the meeting.

(All minutes are available on the Council’s website.)

The minutes of the meeting held on 08 November 2016 were submitted and signed.

The Panel will receive a presentation of the Environmental Services Client Manager: Waste, Recycling & Streets. The slides are attached to the agenda.

A background paper to the contract is also included.

The Section Head, Waste, Recycling and Streets gave a presentation on the waste and recycling contract with Veolia.

During the presentation he responded to member’s questions as follows:

·        Explained that there had been approximately 150 members of staff when the contract was previously ‘in house’.  He understood that the staff employed on the present contract were paid over the living wage and that none were engaged on zero hours contracts.  He undertook to clarify this and report back to the Panel.

·        Informed the Panel that some residents, who had little space for storing bins on their properties, used the smaller 140 litre commingled bins.  In some instances recycling could be placed in to the old boxes but this was not ideal.

·        Discussed how the council compared to other local authorities in respect of recycling.  Watford had a unique and urban demography - with Stevenage Borough Council being the most similar to Watford.  Councillor Taylor explained that the figures were 2% higher than last year.  However, the large number of flats in the borough caused a challenge with regard to organic waste.  It was difficult to compete with Three Rivers District Council owing to the demographics of Watford.

The Chair discussed issues around the frequency of collections and the emptying of bins when they did not contain much waste.  Members suggested other possible collection methods and the Section Head, Waste, Recycling and Streets explained that he was open to consider other approaches.

In response to further questions from members; the Section Head, Waste, Recycling and Streets:

·        Clarified that when rubbish was transferred to Veolia they took on the risks.  These risks related to such issues as contamination and whether a vehicle was overloaded for example.

·        Explained that the move from West London to the company Envar (in Cambridge) had enabled compostable waste sacks to be accepted.   Incentives were given to residents to encourage them to use these sacks.

·        Informed the Panel that good practice on planning policy (in respect of commercial premises turned in to domestic properties and the waste implications) had been sought from other councils – although there were limitations on what could be done.  The objective was to get owners to sign up to a particular means of collection.  The intention was to seek a robust planning policy; such as in relation to high rise properties.  He advised that a high rise property was defined as having in excess of five floors.  He added that there were many homes in multiple occupation in Watford, and the council was looking to work with other local authorities to identify the best collection methodologies.

·        Advised that residual waste comprised of items that could not be recycled; and went to landfill for example.

·        Explained that the council was supportive of any measures to encourage manufacturers to make all plastic recyclable.  Environmental Services constantly looked at ways of reinforcing messages – such as with supermarkets.

·        Clarified that it was appropriate to put used tea bags in to composted waste.

·        Advised how cardboard waste  ...  view the full minutes text for item 20.

Report of the Partnerships and Performance Section Head

The Panel is asked to note and comment on the performance of the identified outsourced service indicators at the end of quarter 2 (2016/17).