Maidstone Borough Council

Environment and Transportation Overview and Scrutiny Committee

Tuesday 15 March 2011

Progress Update on Best Value Review of Waste & Recycling

Report of: Overview and Scrutiny Officer

1.        Introduction

1.1        The Head of Business Improvement has made a report to the Cabinet Member which is a progress update on the Best Value Review of the Waste and Recycling Implementation Plan. The Committee are advised to consider the progress that has been made and to consider the revised completion dates and the changes and additions to the implementation plan made since the plan was agreed in February 2010.

2.      Recommendation

2.1     That the Committee interviews Georgia Hawkes, Head of Business     Improvement, Jennifer Gosling, Waste Collection Manager and        David Edwards, Director of Change, Planning and the Environment         with regard to the Progress Update on the Best Value Review of         Waste and Recycling.

2.1        Areas of questioning could include but are not limited to:

·         What other factors have contributed to the revised completion dates  in the implementation plan aside from the extra work required to implement the new food waste scheme;

·         How do changes in initiatives and government funding affect the plan and actions set;

·         How do the attitudes of the local community and residents impact on the plan;

·         Will the Waste and Recycling Strategy influence the implementation plan further;

·         How successful has Covelent been in managing the actions of a ‘live’ document;

·         Is Covalent the only tool used for managing the progress and completion dates set with relevant officers; and

·         How often is a progress report made to the Cabinet Member for Environment on the plan.

3.      Background information    

3.1     A Best Value review of the Council’s waste and recycling service        was carried out in 2009.  The review was managed by Policy and      Performance and the Environment and Leisure Overview and        Scrutiny Committee. All aspects of Waste and Recycling were   considered including those that could be offered were not at that     time which included:

·         Collection Arrangements – weekly, alternate weekly, monthly or possible separate urban/rural arrangements;

·         Bulky rubbish Collection & Weekend Freighter Service;

·         Trade waste;

·         Clinical waste;

·         Recycling;

·       Food waste; and 

·       Green waste. 

3.2   The implementation plan was agreed in February 2010 and was                            described as a ‘live document’ to allow for changes and new actions       to be added.  The Waste and Recycling Strategy, for example, led           to a number of changes in the implementation plan because of the     following:

·       The borough-wide roll out of weekly food waste collection scheme rather than trialling the scheme with 7,000 - 10,000 households first; and

·       No introduction of a separate paper collection – a paper collection had originally been planned following the Best Value Review. 

3.3     With regard to completion dates, the progress update report     (Appendix A) made to the Cabinet Member states that the original       completion dates were agreed with relevant officers and added   after the Cabinet had agreed the Plan.  Covalent was used for easy progress monitoring for Officers to update their actions       when completed.

3.4     Four overdue actions are mentioned in the report:

·         BVR 004.04 – Work with the Planning department and interested groups to develop a proforma to identify land appropriate for bring sites;

·         BVR 005.07 – Introduce a method for improved recording of bulky items;

·         BVR 007.07 – Increase the number of web-based transactions that can be completed on-line e.g. paying for garden waste bins, reporting missed bins, ordering and paying for bulky collections, ordering garden sacks etc; and

·         BVR 012.06 – Hold a focus group meeting at the end of the first complete year of the dry recyclable scheme.

4.      Impact on Corporate Objectives

4.1    Considering the Progress Update on the Best Value Review of  Waste and Recycling and making recommendations should help to deliver the Council’s objectives for the Borough to be a place that is clean and green and a place with efficient and effective public services.

4.2    There are no risks involved in considering the progress update on the Best Value Review of Waste and Recycling and making recommendations.