Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Katharine Simpson  01276 707157

Items
No. Item

10/JW

Appointment of Vice-Chairman

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for the Joint Waste Collection Services Committee for the 2021/22 municipal year.

Minutes:

RESOLVED that Councillor Kevin Davis be elected Vice-Chairman of the Joint Waste Collection Services Committee.

11/JW

Minutes of Last Meeting pdf icon PDF 234 KB

To confirm as a correct record the minutes of the meeting of the Joint Waste Collection Services Committee held on 4th March 2021 and the notes of the inquorate meeting of the Committee held on 1st July 2021.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

RESOLVED that the minutes of the meetings of the Joint Waste Collection Services Committee held on 4th March 2021 and 1st July 2021 be approved as being a correct record and signed by the Chairman.

12/JW

Declaration of Interests

To receive any declarations of interest in relation to any items on the agenda.

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest.

13/JW

Budget Monitoring Quarter 1 (April to June 2021) pdf icon PDF 229 KB

To receive a report setting out the financial position of the Joint Waste contract at the end of the first quarter of the 2021/22 financial year.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report summarising the financial position of Joint Waste Solutions (JWS) at the end of the first quarter of the 2021/22 financial year.

 

It was reported that the Contract Management Office was showing a projected overspend for the year of £6,361 against its agreed budget of £2,488,501.  The Core Contract budget was projecting an overspend of £193,253 predominantly due to the original calculations assuming a 1% inflationary uplift when this was in reality 2.64%.    The Variable Contract budget was, at this stage of the financial year, projecting an overspend of £112,977, with £81,698 of this attributed to agency staff costs incurred due to the Covid-19 pandemic for which no budget had been set and £31,279 being attributed to the increased inflationary uplift.

 

It was noted that the suspension of the garden waste collections would impact on the variable budget; more data on the impacts of the suspension on budgets would be available in the financial report for quarter 2.

 

The Committee noted the update.

 

 

 

 

 

 

14/JW

Joint Waste Services Programme Update pdf icon PDF 397 KB

To receive a report setting out an update on work to progress the Joint Waste Services programme of work for 2021/22.

Minutes:

The Committee received a report summarising the progress made towards delivering the aims and objectives set out in the JWS Work Programme for 2021/22. 

 

Key areas of work for JWS between April and July 2021 had included work to reduce contamination of dry mixed recycling (including a waste composition analysis across the whole County), the procurement of a new long term contracts for the collection and recycling of textiles and WEEE, reviewing planning applications and liaising with developers to ensure that the waste collection requirements and their associated implications of developments were fully considered and work to extend WEEE and textile collections to flats.

 

It was expected that the Government’s Waste and Resources Strategy would have significant implications for all local authorities when the Environment Act passed into legislation later this year.  To ensure councillors were fully appraised of the potential challenges, impacts and opportunities that the legislation would bring about, the Surrey Environment Partnership would be hosting a series of webinars on the Strategy for all councillors.  JWS would also be hosting a separate webinar for the Joint Contract Authorities which would focus on the specific impacts for the joint contract area.

 

It was clarified that the number of complaints reported were those that were reported through the contact centre and online forms.  Complaints were broken down by theme and details would be circulated.

 

Any aggression towards crews was reported in the first instance to site managers and recorded through Amey’s Health and Safety protocols.  The Account Manager then liaised with JWS to ensure that any specific complaints about the service were then followed up with residents. 

 

It was noted that whilst analysis of close calls recorded did not show a noticeable increase in physical abuse and aggression directed towards collection crews since the suspension of the garden waste service.  However there had been a significant increase in the volume of abuse directed towards collection crews, Amey and the councils online in the period since the garden waste service was disrupted.

 

The Committee commended the format of the report and noted the update.

 

 

 

15/JW

Performance Report Quarter 1 (April to June 2021) pdf icon PDF 250 KB

To receive a report summarising the performance of the Joint Waste Contract at the end of the first quarter (April to June 2021) of the 2021/22 financial year.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Committee received a report summarising the position on recycling performance for the joint contract authorities at the end of the first quarter of the 2021/22 financial year.

 

It was reported that recycling performance in the partner authorities reflected the trends being seen across Surrey with decreased tonnages of Dry Mixed Recycling (DMR), residual waste and food waste being collected when compared against the previous quarter.  However the tonnages collected continued to be higher than they were before the pandemic.  

 

In the year to June 2021, a 39% year on year reduction in fly tipping tonnages had been recorded in Elmbridge when compared to the same period the previous year.  Work was underway to establish the exact reasons for this reduction although the most probably explanation was thought to be a change in how fly tipping was being recorded at the weighbridges.

 

Surrey Heath’s recycling rate had fallen when compared to the same period the previous year and the residual waste tonnages had increased by 9%.  A change that was attributed to an increase in the number of loads being rejected due to contamination.

 

The Committee noted the report.

 

 

 

 

 

16/JW

Amey Improvement Plan and Service Update

To receive a presentation providing an update on the progress made towards achieving the aims, priorities and objectives set out in Amey’s contract Improvement Plan for the 2021/22 financial year.

Minutes:

The Committee received a presentation in respect of the work taking place to achieve the targets and objectives set out in the Contract improvement Plan for 2021/22.

 

The shortage of HGV drivers continued to be the main area of concern for Amey and whilst agency drivers had been secured there were currently 11 vacancies across the joint contract area and sites were loaning drivers between areas to ensure that core collections could be maintained.  It was reported that since June 2021, 22 drivers had left Amey’s employment, 15 of these had been full time employees and 7 had been employed through agencies.  The majority of drivers (21) leaving had indicated that they were moving to higher paid roles with one driver leaving as their family had relocated out of the area.  

 

In September, Amey had introduced an enhanced recruitment and retention scheme for drivers with the introduction of driver retention payments of £2,000, £1,500 bonuses for new drivers, an increase in the refer a friend payments from £360 to £700 and the introduction of £2,000 retention payments to recognise the work of existing employees.


Securing the services of two additional drivers had enabled Amey to implement one-off garden waste collections across the joint contract area, with subscribers to the Garden Waste Service receiving one collection over a two week period.  Collections had started in Woking the week commencing 27th September 2021 and these would be followed by collections in Surrey Heath and Mole Valley during the weeks commencing 11th and 18th October 2021.  Following a break over the half term period, garden waste collections would take place in Elmbridge for a two week period commencing 1st November 2021.  Bulky waste collections had been reinstated, initially on a 50% capacity basis, in all areas.

 

In the longer term, a range of initiatives had been developed to help address the driver shortage including intensive HGV training, a leave buy back scheme, attendance bonuses, targeted recruitment and an expansion of the HGV Driver Apprenticeship offer with eight employees working towards the qualification.

 

It was noted that two employees had initially signed up to the apprenticeship scheme but had withdrawn because they felt that they would struggle with the English and maths elements of the course.  It was hoped that, with its reduced emphasis on academic elements, the introduction of the Intensive HGV driver course would encourage those members of staff who were not confident about their English and maths skills to pursue the training opportunity.  Where additional support was required to support staff complete these training schemes then this would be provided.

 

It was noted that the average age of drivers across the contract had been in the early fifties for some time now. A factor that was attributed to more experienced HGV drivers moving across to the service in search of regular hours and a more settled work location.

 

It was clarified that implementing the leave buy back scheme would constitute a change in workers’ contractual terms and  ...  view the full minutes text for item 16/JW

17/JW

Date of Next Meeting

The next scheduled meeting of the Joint Waste Collection Services Committee will take place on Thursday 2nd December 2021 at 11.30am.

Minutes:

The next scheduled meeting of the Joint Waste Collection Services Committee would take place on Thursday 2nd December 2021 at 11.30am.