Agenda item

The Cabinet considered recommendations made by the Scrutiny Steering Board based on the report of the Task Group set up to scrutinise issues relating to Refuse and Recycling. The Leader welcomed the Chairman of the Task Group, Councillor C. R. Scurrell to the meeting. Councillor Scurrell briefly introduced the report and highlighted some key points. He also thanked all officers and members who had contributed to the scrutiny process. 

There was detailed discussion on the recommendations contained within the report and on some general principles in relation to the production of Task Group reports. There was also discussion on some additional work which it was hoped that the Task Group would be willing to undertake. The report was welcomed as a very good report and the Leader thanked Councillor Scurrell and the Task Group members together with the officers for their hard work.

RESOLVED:

(a)       that in relation to Recommendation 1 (NVQ Training for the Existing Workforce), NVQ Training in Waste Management from the Waste Management Industry Training Advisory Board via NEW College be given to all refuse and recycling staff over a two year period commencing in September 2008 with the following conditions:

• Standards for “performance criteria” and “knowledge requirements” specific to this Council be built into the awards;
• The preferred primary assessment method being observation (rather than witness testimonies or personal statements);and
• Performance criteria being observed consistently over a certain time period rather than as a one-off;

(b)       that in relation to Recommendation 2 (NVQ Training for New Employees), it be made a requirement for all new employees to either hold the NVQ in Waste Management or to achieve it within an agreed timeframe;

(c)        that in relation to Recommendation 3 (NVQ Training for Team Leaders), the following NVQ training be given to the three Refuse and Recycling Team Leaders

• Team Leading in Refuse and Recycling via NEW College
• Business Improvement Techniques via Resource Development International               

(It was understood that items (a), (b) and (c) above would be referred to the Head of Human Resources and the Portfolio Holder for Street Scene and Waste Management for discussions on how the training could be best included in the Training Plan)

(d)       that in relation to Recommendation 4 (Commingled Recycling Service), the Street Scene and Waste Management officers be requested to monitor the progress which Worcestershire County Council is making in relation to building their own sorting plant by 2009, as this will enable a commingled recycling service to be launched (making it easier to recycle and likely to encourage more recycling) and therefore significantly improve this Council’s recycling rates;  

(e)       that in relation to Recommendation 5 (Recycling Additional Materials), Street Scene and Waste Management officers be requested to continue to encourage Worcestershire County Council Officers to investigate recycling more materials through the Waste Management Forum);

(f)         that in relation to Recommendation 6 (Benchmarking), Street Scene and Waste Management officers be requested to continue to regularly and systematically benchmark against the top 10-15 local authorities in the recycling league table which are achieving higher recycling rates, with a view to adapting any parts of their services to Bromsgrove which may prove successful in helping to increase recycling rates;

(g)       that in relation to Recommendation 7 (Expanding the Recycling Service), Street Scene and Waste Management officers be requested to continually investigate ways in which the Council can expand the recycling service to reach the remaining 6% of the District;

(h)        that in relation to Recommendation 8 (Eco-School Programme), in order to educate as many children as possible to take responsibility for the future of their own environment and encourage more recycling throughout the District, Street Scene and Waste Management officers be requested to continue to encourage all schools to join the Eco-School programme, particularly primary schools;

(i)         that in relation to Recommendation 9 (Incentive Schemes), Street Scene and Waste Management officers be requested to keep up to date with developments of the Defra pilot incentive scheme and when the results are known, the option of introducing such a scheme be investigated further;

(j)         that in relation to Recommendation 10 (Consultation), the Head of Street Scene and Waste Management be requested to make certain there is through consultation with local residents with regard to the green bin charging arrangements due to be put in place. Effective communication will help ensure smooth implementation of the charging system which should avoid a reduction in customer service standards;

(k)        that in relation to Recommendation 11 (Communication with Local Residents), communication with local residents should be increased wherever possible to encourage reducing, reusing and recycling. For example, ensuring local residents are aware they can request more recycling boxes free of charge;

(l)         that in relation to Recommendation 12 (Collection Arrangements) the Task Group be requested to reconsider the proposal to request officers to consider trialling wheelie bin stickers instead of calendars as it was felt that the calendars were very popular with residents as an easily accessible source of information on dates of collections and there appeared to be little evidence that a change to wheelie bin stickers would be welcomed;

(m)      that in relation to Recommendation 13 (Member and Parish Council Training), training/information sessions be arranged to inform Members of the history of the service, where the Council is at present and plans to progress the service in future, to ensure members have a sound knowledge of Street Scene and Waste Management Services to pass on to local residents and that Members of Parish Councils also be invited to attend these sessions;

(n)        that in relation to Recommendation 14 (Member Updates), updates relating to the refuse and recycling service be included in Members’ Bulletins;

(o)       that in relation to Recommendation 15 (Vehicle Tracking and Communication System), the Head of Street Scene and Waste Management be requested to further investigate the effectiveness of various vehicle tracking and communications systems with a view to trialling a model in the future;

(p)       that the Scrutiny Steering Board be requested to ask the Task Group to undertake further work in more depth on a value for money analysis of the whole service. This work should also include the current situation of the service in relation to where it was intended to be at this stage and how any gaps identified in the service can be met;  

(q)       that the Scrutiny Steering Board be requested to ensure that in future, Scrutiny recommendations are prioritised as being of low, medium or high priority as it will often be impossible for officers to implement all recommendations at the same time;

(r)        that the Scrutiny Steering Board be requested to ensure that sections are included in Scrutiny reports setting out (i) recommendations involving officer actions which are already being undertaken but which the Task Group wishes to see continued and (ii) issues which were considered by the Task Group but which did not form part of the final recommendations;

(s)        that the Scrutiny Steering Board be requested to ensure that account is taken of the opportunity costs of certain recommendations which may not appear to have a direct cost but may have a significant cost in terms of officer time and may therefore result in work on other issues being delayed particularly when a large number of recommendations are involved;

(t)         that officers be requested to consider further how “key” scrutiny recommendations can be defined and then possibly included within the Improvement Planning process so that progress can be monitored in line with Council priorities.