Agenda item - Environmental Services - Three Business Cases

Agenda item

Environmental Services - Three Business Cases

To be pre-scrutinised by the Board prior to consideration by Cabinet at its meeting on 13th February 2019.

 

Minutes:

The Environmental Services Manager and Head of Environmental Services presented a report in respect of the Environmental Business Cases in relation to the Domestic Waste Collection, Commercial Services and Place Team Resources.

 

The proposed Business Cases had been produced to show the current pressures on Environmental Services across Bromsgrove District, and to consider a number of options to secure the service areas for the future. The Board was reminded that the report had been prepared followingsignificant disruption to waste collection services in September, 2018. 

 

It was reported that the Domestic Waste Collection Service and Place Team had seen an increase in demand on their services generated by increased housing growth and limited capacity to provide the service in full and to cover sickness and annual leave.

 

The summary of the proposals and recommendations were detailed in the report:

 

·         The Domestic Waste Collection Business Case and the allocation of £156,646 revenue funding to Environmental Services to fund three members of staff, vehicle maintenance costs, and running costs to support the service.

 

·         The additional revenue funding for the Domestic Waste Service and the approval of Capital Investment of £137,000 for one new Collection Vehicle, which would also incur annual borrowing costs of £21,823 from 2020/21 on the corporate financing revenue account.

 

·         The Commercial Waste Business Case and the allocation of £184,558 additional revenue funding to Environmental Services to fund six additional members of staff, vehicle maintenance and running costs to support the service and the generation of additional income for the Council.

 

·         The additional revenue funding for the Commercial Waste Service and the Capital Investment of £340,000 for 2 new Collection Vehicles, which would also incur annual borrowing costs of £54,162 from 2020/21 on the corporate financing revenue account.

 

·         The Future Delivery of Place Team Working Business Case and £166,697 additional revenue funding to Environmental Services to fund six additional members of staff to support the service on a phased implementation over the next three years.

 

Each Business Case required additional vehicles to achieve the benefits of the extra staffing and to ensure the services were fit for purpose.

 

In response to Members questions, the following points were highlighted:

 

·         Members noted the expenses and forecast income associated
with the three Business Cases, which showed the Net Revenue impact on the Council. The combined revenue impact was £30,923 for 2019/20, £81,480 for 2020/21 and £57,371 for 2021/22.

·         The investment in recruiting additional permanent staff would reduce the risk of ongoing overspend on agency and temporary staff. Although this was not identified as a saving it would prevent an overspend on the Environmental Services budget in respect of agency staff going forward.

·         Whether Council Tax Income covered the cost of the service provided.  It was confirmed that it was not considered in the proposed business cases, which were based on the forecast of the number of new houses expected to be built in the district, as detailed in the Local Plan.

·         The Council did not have the responsibility to collect plastic from farms.  It was explained that this was a specialist area and could potentially increase the operational costs as some of these types of plastic may contain chemicals and therefore be more costly to dispose of.

·         Members alluded to the disruption of the waste collection as being a one off occasion with no previous issues and therefore questioned why it was felt there was a need for a proposed business case for the Waste Collection Services.

·         Members noted the agency staffing cost to cover annual leave and sick leave and the impact on the budget position.

·         Approximately 20,000 households were affected by the disruption. Theproblems had occurred due to staff leave and exceptionally high sickness absence.  It was noted that this was on top of an already overstretched work force.

·         The recommended option would provide the resources required to reflect requirements of the service over the next two years.

·         The proposed plan was prepared for short/medium term with the option to consider a model that would be best for services in the long term. A model to look at what was suitable for the long term would be dependent on the outcome of the proposed National Waste Strategy that the Government was introducing.  This included the introduction of food waste collection and that the garden waste collection service should be free. This would have an impact on the Council’s financial position as it received a significant income currently from this service.

 

RESOLVED that the Environmental Business Cases in relation to the Domestic Waste Collection, Commercial Services and Place Team Resources be noted.

 

Supporting documents: