Issue - meetings

The Democratic Services Officer introduced the report. Since its publication feedback had been received to include Southern Water as a consultee within the scope attached at Appendix 1A to the report. Additionally, drought management could be a further line of enquiry to those contained within Appendix 1B to the report.

The contents of the scopes attached within Appendices 1A-1D of the report were briefly outlined. The Committee were requested to select which topics to include within its work programme and either amend and/or agree the scopes as drafted.

The recommended option was to select two large topics for review, to maintain the flexibility required for the Committee to conduct small reviews and respond to unexpected issues. If a higher number was chosen, then the reviews should be prioritised with an understanding that it may not be possible to conduct all of the reviews across the next year.

Provisional dates for extra meetings had been explored should they be required.

In evaluating each scoping proposal, the Committee discussed each appendix separately.

The Council’s Performance in relation to its Waste Strategy

In response to questions, the Democratic Services Officer stated that the Director of Regeneration and Place had advised for the review to take place in quarter four as further information would be collated on, and decisions made relating to, the service across the third quarter.

The Leader of the Council was invited to address the Committee and answer questions on the Waste Services contract procurement, tender process and timeline for the decision.

The Committee felt that it would be beneficial to conduct a review into the topic due to the importance of the service to local residents. The decision relating to the contract would be taken within approximately 18 months and the procurement exercise had commenced. Therefore, a spotlight review was preferred as this would enable an in-depth review to take place in the near future over a short timescale. The review would ideally occur in September 2022.

The Water Management Cycle

The topic was felt to be of significant importance to the borough, however there were concerns expressed on the effectiveness of conducting the review as the Council was not the leading authority on the matter. Further concerns were expressed on the likely attendance of external bodies, such as Southern water, as part of the review. The potential to positively impact the Council’s future Design and Sustainability Development Plan Document from reviewing the topic was highlighted.

In response to questions, the Head of Policy, Communications and Governance stated that for the topic to be reviewed via a Councillor ‘Call for Action’ all other possible options would have to have been exhausted, with the topic to be narrower in scope.

Several Members of the Committee and Visiting Members highlighted the need for a narrower scope to effectively review the topic.

In response to some of the comments made during the debate, the Committee felt that the review should focus on the supply and disposal of water and the disposal of sewage  ...  view the full minutes text for item 31