1.       CROSS-CUTTING ISSUES AND IMPLICATIONS

2.      INTRODUCTION AND BACKGROUND

2.      

2.1     At its meeting on the 6 October 2022 the Committee agreed to conduct a review into the Council’s Performance against the Waste Strategy, ahead of its refresh in 2023. The minutes and agenda for that meeting can be accessed using the link in Section 9 of this report.

2.2     The lines of enquiry for the report were amended at that meeting, and have been outlined below (there is no order of importance associated):

a)   Assess customer satisfaction with the service, including interaction with customer services and educational communications, to identify improvements;

b)   To identify which actions within the Waste Strategy correspond with actions within the Biodiversity and Climate Change strategy, and make recommendations to improve their shared achievement;

c)    Explore options for increasing recycling rates through assessing the best practice of other Local Authorities with similar waste collection services. This will also include reducing overall waste; and

d)   To review the impact of shared waste collection facilities within/from new Housing Developments on the achievement of Waste Strategy targets.

2.3     The lines of enquiry can be split into two aspects, internal and external. The first two are internal as these are within the Council’s control. The third and fourth lines of enquiry depend, in part, on the actions of external organisations.

2.4     Therefore, it is proposed that the first two lines of enquiry be examined at the meeting held on 2 November 2022, with the latter two examined at the meeting held on 3 November 2022. This will allow for sufficient time for the review to take place, whilst preventing the review from impacting the achievement of the other items shown within the Committee’s work programme. The invitations to Council Officers and External Attendees have been sent out with this approach in mind.

2.5     A timetable of the review has been included below:

2.6     This report and associated appendices will be used to conduct the review over both the 2 and 3 November 2022 meetings. No further information will be provided, however both meetings have been displayed on the Council’s website to meet access to information requirements.

2.7     To assist the Committee in collecting evidence, example questions have been included below based on the lines of enquiry.

·         What is the process that residents follow to contact the Council in relation to Waste Services?

·         How could this process be improved?

·         What educational communications have been published relating to Waste collection services?

·         Are there any particular communications that went well, and how could this be repeated in future?

·         Which actions within the waste strategy correspond to those within the Biodiversity and Climate Change Strategy?

·         Are there any actions that should be prioritised?

·         What do you think would improve the achievement of the corresponding actions within both strategies?

·         Whilst other Local Authorities have similar waste collection services, are there any notable differences that you would like to highlight for the Committee to consider?

·         What is the process behind diverting the Council’s waste once collected?

·         What waste reduction methods are used by the Council?

·         Are there any methods that haven’t been, but could be tried?

·         Have there been any issues relating to the use of Shared Waste Collection facilities?

·         How have these been communicated?

·         Is there anything that this Committee should consider taking forward to improve shared waste collection facilities? 

3.   AVAILABLE OPTIONS

3.1     The Committee will be conducting the review and will formulate any recommendations that it feels are required.

4.        PREFERRED OPTION AND REASONS FOR RECOMMENDATIONS

4.1    There is no preferred option from an Officer perspective, as this report aims to support the Committee in conducting its review.

5.       RISK

5.1    The risks associated with this proposal, including the risks if the Council does not act as recommended, have been considered in line with the Council’s Risk Management Framework. We are satisfied that the risks associated are within the Council’s risk appetite and will be managed as per the Policy.

6.       CONSULTATION RESULTS AND PREVIOUS COMMITTEE FEEDBACK

6.1     The Committee agreed to undertake this review at its meeting held on 6 October 2022, and this report supports the reviews commencement.

7.       NEXT STEPS: COMMUNICATION AND IMPLEMENTATION OF THE DECISION

7.1    Following the review, a formal report will be produced on behalf of the Committee which will include information on the approach taken, officers and stakeholders consulted, any recommendations made by the Committee and the reasonings given. This will be presented to the Committee at its meeting in December for agreement and/or approval.

7.2     Once approved, the report will then be sent formally to the relevant decision-maker/s (depending on the recommendations produced) for their consideration, with the Committee informed of when this consideration will take place. The decision-maker is then required to issue the Committee with a formal response following its considerations.

8.        REPORT APPENDICES

The following documents are to be published with this report and form part of the report:

·         Appendix 1: The Waste Strategy 2018-2023

·         Appendix 2: Recycling Data 2018-2022

·         Appendix 3: Excerpt from the Biodiversity and Climate Change Action Plan

·         Appendix 4: Summary of Waste Services related Communications from January 2021-October

·         Appendix 5: Data on Stage 1 and 2 complaints relating to Waste Services

·         Appendix 6: Excerpt from the Residents Survey Results 2022 – Waste & Recycling Summary

·         Appendix 7: Top Performing Local Authorities 2020/21

·         Appendix 8: Information relating to developments with shared waste collection facilities – To Follow

·         Appendix 9: Review Scope

9.        BACKGROUND PAPERS

Overview and Scrutiny Committee Meeting held on 6 October 2022, Agenda & (draft) Minutes:

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