Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Surrey Heath House, Knoll Road, Camberley, GU15 3HD. View directions

Contact: Democratic Services 

Items
No. Item

6/JW

Live Demonstration of Incab devices

Minutes:

The Committee viewed a live demonstration of the Incab technology installed in a recycling vehicle parked outside the Council premises.

 

The process of the new technology and the web system was discussed and clarification was given with regard to logging and follow up on missed bins.

 

The Chairman commented that the crew were enthusiastic about the new equipment and there was a sense of ownership.

 

 

7/JW

Minutes of Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 69 KB

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 15 June 2017 were confirmed and signed by the Chairman.

 

 

8/JW

Performance Report (updated) pdf icon PDF 581 KB

Minutes:

The Committee was presented with a Quarterly Contract Service Report and discussed the lessons learnt.  Members were asked to comment on the formatting and content of the report.

 

Some KPIs had not had satisfactory outcomes in Elmbridge for a number of reasons, including the number of staff who did not transfer across from the previous contractor and the difficulties in finding new drivers, the lower than predicted productivity of the crews and issues with the round data. Whilst performance had improved each month and the operation was now performing at a similar level to before Amey took over, this level was below contract requirements and an improvement plan was being implemented.  .  It was advised that Amey believed the next step in performance improvement would come as a result of the introduction of incab technology over the next few weeks.

 

It was mentioned that the level of detritus on the streets in Elmbridge (KPI 15b) was higher than the contract requirement when Amey took over in June and a 6 week remedial action plan had been implemented to address this.

 

It was also noted that the most recent litter and detritus survey (LADs) in Elmbridge indicated that litter had increased. This was being looked into.

 

It was noted that the Woking mobilisation started well, with all staff transferring across to Amey and performance against all KPIs meeting contractual requirements.

 

Members discussed the KPIs and sought clarification on KPI3, ‘missed collection not rectified’.  Officers advised that the KPI standard was to collect misses reported in the morning in the afternoon and misses reported in the afternoon the next day once the in-cab technology had been installed. In advance of that, a 24 hour return is required.

 

 

Some Members sought clarification regarding some KPIs and the targets and performance figures as some KPIs refer to absolute figures and some are expressed per 100,000 collections..  Officers advised that the KPIs were agreed during the procurement process, however The data could be expressed differently in the quarterly report if this would be clearer.

 

The Chairman suggested, with regard to tonnage of garden waste, that data be collected on the tonnages for last year for comparison. Officers advised that tonnagge performance data would be become an increasing focus as the mobilisations bed in.

 

Resolved that the report be noted.

 

 

9/JW

Lessons Learnt pdf icon PDF 264 KB

Minutes:

The Members discussed the lessons learnt with regard to the Elmbridge mobilisation.  Issues were experienced due to:

 

·        Loss of local knowledge – 18 staff did not transfer

·        Initial productivity levels were lower than anticipated

·        Data on Amey’s ICT system had become corrupted – there had been three ICT systems for the data to move through which resulted in corrupt data.  Checks had been built into the next mobilisations at every stage of the process.

·        Managing expectations – with hindsight, a two phase mobilisation would have been beneficial for Elmbridge.  In addition it was recognised that any new system would experience initial disruption.

 

The Chairman provided some observations from Woking in relation to the mobilisation there:

 

·        Residents’ expectations were heightened during a change

·        Any issues had been quickly picked up by Joint Waste Solutions (JWS).

·        Crews were positive about the new Incab technology

·        Awareness of misleading press reports – the issues experienced at Elmbridge could be referred to when reporting on the Woking mobilisation.  It was difficult to control the reporting by the press but there had been a meeting with the journalist to discuss the challenges of running a waste service and to offer time with the crews to see first hand how the operation is being run.

·        Amey and JWS were working hard to get the mobilisation running smoothly

 

The Chairman commended the work carried out by the JWS team.

 

Resolved that the report be noted.

 

 

10/JW

Mobilisation Update pdf icon PDF 276 KB

Minutes:

The Committee received an update report on the mobilisation process. Members were advised that mobilisation for Woking would be in two phases and all data was being scrutinised for accuracy and quality.

 

The JWS website was up and running and resolutions had been carried out quickly partly due to the new Incab technology.  The garden waste system was also set up on line and customers could renew subscriptions as well as new customers being able to sign up to the scheme on line.

 

From 11 September, Amey commenced receiving calls from Woking residents at their contact centre.  There was a dedicated Amey Surrey telephone number.  Hours of operation however, were not in line with the method statement and discussions were still taking place to agree a resolution.

 

Vehicles had been ordered for Surrey Heath and they would be delivered during the summer. Hire vehicles would be used in the interim.

 

Members agreed the priorities for the next two months:

 

·        Introduction of Amey webforms in Elmbridge

·        Resolve contact centre opening hours

·        Workshop to programme how Surrey Heath garden waste customers can be transitioned onto the Amey garden waste service.

·        Further development of JWS and contact centre processes

 

It was brought to the attention of the Committee that the online form for the garden waste scheme for Woking was lengthy. It was felt that this needed to be streamlined. This would be reviewed.

 

Resolved that the report be noted.

 

 

11/JW

Communications pdf icon PDF 148 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members received a report and a presentation on the Communications Strategy, which included a communications plan for the next financial year.

 

It was noted that service guides and calendars had been issued to residents at Elmbridge and Woking.  In addition, a postcard mailshot had also been sent to residents which highlighted changes to the service. A WEE and textiles service had been introduced at Elmbridge and this had already been communicated to residents. Pat Hindley and her team were currently working on the communications programme for Surrey Heath.

 

Once all partners had mobilised individually, Amey will be looking at the most efficient way of delivering the service across the whole area. Whilst the timing and scale of this hasn’t yet been agreed, budget has been allocated to communicate with all households prior to any changes.

 

The Committee discussed the following:

 

·        Surrey Waste Partnership (SWP) and JWS alignment

·        Recycling improvement

·        Christmas recycling campaign

·        Workshops with JWS staff to assess how they would prefer to be communicated with – ‘one team’

·        updates for stakeholders:

o   Quarterly meetings of the Committee

o   Updates to Committee between meetings – recycling improvements and current activities

o   Newsletter to all Members in the partner authorities from the Committee – either by email or newsletter (using specialist software to include images). 

o   Repeat the message regarding the £3 million savings

o   Short catchy campaigns, alternating the messages

 

·        Wrapping of the vehicles – confident that a solution would be found with regard to the wrapping of the vehicles, at present Elmbridge and Woking vehicles were carrying out the rounds with no livery. There was an issue with finding a space large and warm enough to affix the new wraps to these vehicles.  However, the food waste vehicles when delivered would already carry the livery. The Committee noted that it was important to have the livery on the vehicles as soon as possible. It was suggested, that in the spirit of partnership, that Surrey Heath could check with the army to see if they have a suitable space that could be used for attaching the livery.

 

Resolved that:

 

i)             the communications strategy be agreed;

 

ii)           updates be received by the Committee between the quarterly committee meetings and disseminated to Members at each Authority; and

 

iii)         the format of the newsletter be agreed.

 

 

12/JW

Budget Monitoring pdf icon PDF 264 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee was advised that the CMO budget had been revised in line with expectations resulting in a proposal of £638,712 for the 2017/18 budget.

 

There had been issues related to VAT with regard to Surrey Heath invoicing the partner authorities for their share totalling £159,678. The Committee was informed that the VAT issues had been resolved and therefore Amey could invoice Surrey Heath on one bill and then Surrey Heath would invoice each partner authority separately.

 

More work was being carried out on the phased guarantee over the10 years of the contract.

 

Resolved that the report be noted.

 

 

13/JW

New Joiners - verbal update

Minutes:

The Committee was updated on the process for new joiners.

 

·        Stage 1 – write with expression of interest to the Partnership Director.

·        Stage 2 – the prospective new joiner would provide data to Amey and would then receive an outline price

·        Stage 3 – the price would become legally binding and JWS would see the impact on the unit cost for existing partners

·        Tier 1- the decision to admit additional partners would then be a Tier 1 decision.

 

Tandridge

 

Tandridge had received a stage 2 price. Members at Tandridge would make a decision next week whether to proceed to stage 3.  Amey were working on the pricing.  Tandridge’s response had been positive. Their current contract would end 2018.

 

Waverley

 

Waverley had tasked a Member reference group and a consultant to investigate joining JWS. Data was being collected.  Waverley had been asked formally by JWS whether they would like to proceed to Stage 2 of the process.  It was explained that although Waverley had not been interested in joining the partnership initially, they were now exploring the venture. Members were advised that Surrey Heath Chief Executive would be meeting with the Chief Executive at Waverley to discuss the future with JWS.

 

Resolved that the report be noted.