Agenda item

Recommendations from the Cabinet

To consider the recommendations from the meeting(s) of the Cabinet held on 6^th August 2020 and 9^th September 2020 (to follow)

Minutes:

Cabinet Recommendations – 6th August 2020

Partnership Waste Strategy Officer

Councillor M. Sherrey, Portfolio Holder for Environmental Services presented the report and explained the reasoning behind the need for this post. She provided background information and explained that the Government had published “Resource and Waste Strategy” in December 2018, as the first major policy document for Waste since 2007. This focused on keeping resources in use as long as possible to extract maximum value and was aimed at changing how waste was perceived and managed from production through to final disposal. The main elements affecting Local Authorities (LAs) were proposed changes to services regarding waste collection and disposal/processing:

· Compulsory Weekly Food Waste Collection by 2023

· Removal of discretionary status for garden waste collection, and removal of ability to charge residents for providing the service.

· Increased pressure on LA’s to implement kerbside recycling collections.

These were being enacted in the Environment Bill currently being processed through Parliament, and currently being considered by a Public Bill Committee. The Committee was now scheduled to report by Tuesday 29th September 2020, and further Government consultation regarding elements affecting LA’s were expected in September/October. These would finalise the minimum expectation for a dedicated Food Waste collection and support final decisions on the status of garden waste collections and discretionary fees for the service.

The impact of those elements on Authorities signed up to the Herefordshire and Worcestershire Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy included: up to 80 additional vehicles and associated staff to collect food waste, approximately £8million per annum across the partnership; Approximately £801k yearly cost to this Council (this would have a significant impact on disposal arrangements and logistics for disposal, with a possible commercial opportunity through investment in Anaerobic Digestion facility with Private sector to generate income and potential loss of approx. £900k income on the existing Garden Waste service, with increased annual costs of approximately £580k in vehicles and staff to support larger take-up across the District, plus a potential cost of up to £300k to buy and deliver wheeled bins.)

In addition to these changes, the Government were also looking at Deposit return schemes and Extended Producer Responsibility, to recoup costs of processing packaging from manufacturers. These could all have an impact on the more valuable recycling materials, and potentially remove or reduce those elements that support profitability of private sector recycling facilities, and impact on viability of wider recycling arrangements currently in place.

Councillor Sherrey confirmed that Government had committed to supporting the costs of these changes, with the expectation that much of the additional funding would come from the private sector to support NET costs for LA’s.

The Herefordshire & Worcestershire Waste Partnership Board had been collaborating on joint responses to consultations carried out already, but the proposed Strategy Officer would:

· Actively engage with National Policy Development to understand and influence it to reflect on local needs and concerns – specifically focusing on the approach to food and garden waste, and the funding implications for each member LA.

· Prepare for the implementation of this legislation and support service planning for member authorities to accommodate the new requirements and support consistency and best value for Herefordshire and Worcestershire authorities.

· Support implementing a Food Waste Collection as an entirely new service for Collection Authorities, and support the most cost effective disposal arrangements to suit operations, and potential opportunities to invest in new infrastructure as a commercial venture to generate future income from private sector or other authorities outside of Herefordshire and Worcestershire.

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor Sherrey and seconded by Councillor K. May.

Following presentation of the report, Members discussed a number of areas including:

· The need for such an officer and whether one officer covering all of Worcestershire was actually sufficient for such a role and whether the job grade would attract a suitable person. It was confirmed that whilst this was a fixed term contract, there may be an opportunity to review the position in due course.

· The importance of the role and the need for recycling to be promoted as there had been a significant drop during recent months, so action needed to be taken to move things forward. It was confirmed that there were a number of initiatives which the Council would progress, but there were also serious cost implications from the proposed Resource and Waste Strategy which needed to be considered. It was therefore important that such a role be put in place to ensure all local authorities were prepared.

· The conditions of the vehicles and the need and cost of replacements and what support the Government would provide in reality, as from the information provided it appeared that this would cost the Council in excess of £2m overall. Councillor Sherrey confirmed that it would be the role of the new Officer to put forward this (and the other) Councils’ case in the coming months.

· It was reiterated that the report was, at this stage, only asking for £8k per year for 3 years and any of the costs referred to following the impact of the new Legislation would be addressed separately.

· It was anticipated that by creating the joint role through the Joint Board that this would give more “weight” to the lobbying of Central Government.

· Details of the work that the Partnership undertook were highlighted within the report and how the proposed post would be managed.

· The impact of the new legislation – particularly the financial impact and how it was difficult to see that Central Government would cover much of that cost.

· The amount of uncertainty around the implementation of the legislation and its impact, in light of the reference in the report to the Government’s response to the consultation – particular reference was made by Members to the need to put in place a separate weekly food waste collection. It was further questioned as to why this was only now coming before Council when the consultation response had been published in July 2019.

· The role of the Strategic Waste Management Board and this Council’s representative on it.

· The importance of having a specialist resource, such as this post, to be able to respond to the legislative changes, and the type of applicant it might attract, and whether this would be appropriate for the kind of work the role would involve. It was further questioned as to whether one person for such a wider area was sufficient.

· In respect of food waste, it was confirmed that this was being looked at collectively as part of future joint working. There may be an opportunity for investment, which would create an income in the future through the disposal arrangements.

At this point in the debate Councillor P. McDonald proposed that the item be deferred as he believed that due to the cost implications further work needed to be carried out and clarification sought on a number of areas before Members could make an informed decision, this was seconded by Councillor L. Mallett.

A point of clarification was raised, and the Monitoring Officer confirmed that there should now be the opportunity for the alternative recommendation put forward to be debated. During this debate, the following areas were discussed in some detail:

· Councillor McDonald did not believe that, as the report made reference to the Council needing to spend over £1m to implement the legislation, it was appropriate due to the current uncertainty around this and other Councils’ financial position as a result of Covid-19. He had therefore suggested the deferral to allow Officers time to get clarification on the Government’s proposal of how this would be funded.

· A number of Members were in support of Councillor McDonald’s proposal and supported the reasoning behind it.

· Members questioned what contact Councillor Sherrey had had with central Government and what efforts she had made to lobby them on behalf of the Council.

· The Leader reiterated that the report was in fact merely asking this Council to release £8k per year for three years to cover this Council’s cost of the proposed post and it would then be the role of the post holder to take this matter forward and help secure the best deal possible for the Council and ensure value for money was achieved. The actual areas covered within the changes to legislation did not form part of the recommendations within the report before Members but were there as an indication as to what the post would involve.

· It was important that Members supported the role which would also contribute to the Council’s Climate Change agenda, and again the request was for £8k per year in order to do this.

· Members spoke in support of the need for the role and also understood the “bigger picture” as detailed in the report, which it was felt would be addressed as much as possible through the appointment of this officer.

· It was felt that at least at this early stage, this needed to be a joint venture as this would add strength to the case put forward to Central Government in due course.

On being put to the vote the alternative recommendation was lost.

As there was no further debate the substantive recommendations were voted on and it was

RESOLVED that

(1) the establishment of a Joint Waste Strategy Officer to work on behalf of the partnership of all 8 Local Authorities in Herefordshire and Worcestershire be agreed;

(2) the allocate £8,000 per annum from existing funds for a fixed term of three years be agreed; and

(3) the consideration of requests for additional funding to support further work which has been identified and proposed via the partnership Senior Waste Officer Group be agreed.

Finance Outturn 2019/20 and Reserves

Councillor G. Denaro, the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling presented the report and highlighted that the figures to the end of March only included one week of lockdown figures so that impact would be more evident in the figures due at the end of September for the half year. It was noted that, from the figures on page 65 of the agenda pack, the Council ended the year with an underspend of £231,000 made up of a mix of savings and vacancies with all areas maintaining budgets within the10% guidelines. Councillor Denaro doubted that this would be able to be maintained over the current year. ‘Keep my place safe and looking good’ had an overspend of £136k as a result of additional disposal costs in trade and domestic services.

Considerable savings had been made in Enabling Services, amounting to £314k. With this surplus and the addition of £267k of saving on Capital financing, the refund of Business rates on Burcot of £189k and £267K from the Business Rates Pool, the Council had been able to make a substantial transfer to its economic development reserve of £1m plus. The Financial Services team would be undertaking a full review of the savings and vacancies that had been achieved and the causes of this.

Councillor Denaro commented that It is perhaps fortunate to have achieved these savings at this time as it helped to secure the Council’s overall financial position with Balances at year end of £4.4 million, after demolition costs of £1.0m at the Dolphin site. Detailed analysis of departmental adjustments were shown on pages 65 to 67 in the agenda pack.

The Council’s Capital programme has once again shown a shortfall against projection. Burcot Lane had taken longer than planned but was at last on the move and action on site was expected shortly. A full review would be undertaken to tighten management to avoid slippage in the future. The new finance system would also be a great help.

Whilst the Council recognized the benefit in its surplus, Councillor Denaro advised Members that Council would wish to use its Economic Reserve for the benefit of businesses and residents, as the effect of the Pandemic continued to ravage High Streets and the Government furlough scheme would end soon. With the Investment and acquisition strategy the Council had the financial firepower to make an impact. To date opportunities had not met the finance guidelines, but this had now been amended to allow for a social impact and value to be considered.

Councillor Denaro recognized this was a truncated report but had done so knowing full details were in Members’ agenda packs and had therefore concentrated on pertinent areas.

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor Denaro and seconded by Councillor K. May, and it was noted that Recommendation 2 was as amended in the explanatory note within the agenda pack.

Members were pleased to see that the savings and reserves would be used for the benefit of residents and agreed that the issue around vacancies being carried needed to be addressed, as this was something which had been questioned on a number of previous occasions.

It was further commented that the report had been discussed in detail at the recent Finance and Budget Working Group meeting and whilst it was the right thing to do in increasing balances, concerns had been raised that for a number of years greater savings than anticipated had been made, and there may come a time when the figures went the other way with a hefty overspend being recorded. It was therefore hoped that the new finance system would support managers and Heads of Service in being able to budget much more accurately in the future.

RESOLVED that

2) movement of £758k in existing reserves as included in appendix 1 of the report be approved;

3) the addition of new reserves of £1,411k be approved;

4) the carry forward to the 2020/21 capital programme of £8,600k be approved;

5) an increase in the 2020/21 Capital Programme of £163k for Disabled Facilities Grants be approved. This is due to the budget allocations having now been announced by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG). This will increase the available budget to £913k;

6) an increase in the 2020/21 Capital Programme of £119k for additional funds towards the already approved capital project for Environmental services new IT system, to be funded from borrowing, be approved;

7) the funding from balances of the overspend from the demolition of the Dolphin Centre of £217k be approved;

8) an increase in the 2020/21 Capital programme 2019/20 of £100k due to match funding being received for a ULEV Taxi infrastructure scheme in Bromsgrove be approved;

9) an increase to the revenue budget for 2020/21, due to receiving £40k SEP Grant (Strategic Economic Plan), be approved;

10)an increase to the Capital programme 2020/21 of £13k s106 monies for the Bromsgrove Town Centre be approved;

11)an increase to the Capital programme 2020/21 of £150k ringfenced capital receipts for a grant to be provided to BDHT for the provision on new affordable homes be approved.

Amenity Standards Report

Councillor S. Webb presented the report and in so doing explained that the Council had revised its previous amenity standards in line with the requirements under the Housing Act 2004, together with guidance from the Chartered Institute of Environmental Health. The new amenity standards were in line with those adopted by the majority of other West Midlands Local Authorities.

The recommendation was proposed by Councillor Webb and seconded by Councillor K. May.

RESOLVED that power be delegated to the Head of Community and Housing Services to approve the adoption of the Amenity Standards documents.

(Councillor A. Kriss was removed from the meeting during this item and took no part in the discussions.)

Replacement of the Burcot Hostel

Councillor S. Webb presented the report and in so doing reminded Members that back in February 2016 Cabinet had received a report in respect of the options for replacement of the Burcot Hostel in light of its closing as a consequence of the redevelopment of the wider area. The report set out how the Hostel had now finally been replaced by alternative facilities in the District provided by Bromsgrove District Housing Trust (BDHT).

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor Webb and seconded by Councillor K. May.

RESOLVED that

(1) the creation of a £35k capital budget for the scheme for the 2020/21 capital programme funded from balances be approved;

(2) the creation of a new net revenue budget of £41k, to be funded from balances in 2020/2021, and an ongoing unavoidable revenue pressure for future years to be considered as part of the review of the Medium Term Financial Plan be approved; and

(3) the creation of a bad debt provision of £5k per annum for potential non-payment of Council Tax liabilities, to be funded from balances in 2020/21 and as an unavoidable pressure from 2021/22 onwards be approved.

Cabinet Recommendation – 9th September 2020

Revenue Monitoring Quarter 1

Councillor G. Denaro as the Portfolio Holder for Finance and Enabling presented the report which set out the Revenue Monitoring for the first quarter using the new Strategic Purposes, which had been agreed by Council. Whilst this showed a significant overspend, it was noted that the Covid-19 grant had not been allocated as it was important for Members to see a “clean” view of its current position. This did not include Council Tax or Business Rates, which would not normally be included, but did include the losses from car parking. The position was not in fact as bad as it looked but it was important for Members to see the wider picture in respect of Covid-19.

There were a number of explanations around some of the underspends and projects which had not been undertaken, detailed in the report. The Government grant of £1.2m was much needed, together with the compensation fund. The position would be much clearer when Quarter 2 was produced as this would reflect the whole position. Councillor Denaro advised that Human Resources had requested a shared allocation of the training budget, which would mean a reduction in it for Bromsgrove. This could be allocated back to the Council’s savings target, which was important in the current circumstances. In respect of Capital, a budget of £4.371m and underspend of £200k against Living Independently and this was mainly on Disabled Facilities Grants. This was largely due to being unable to access Occupational Therapists into people’s homes from April through to June 2020. Councillor Denaro had raised the issue of the availability of Occupational Therapists and whether there was anything the Council could do to bypass this by employing them itself, as this had been an ongoing problem prior to Covid-19.

The recommendations were proposed by Councillor Denaro and seconded by Councillor K. May.

Following discussion, Councillor P. McDonald asked that the recommendations be taken with a) and c) together and recommendation b) separately, as his Group could not support a shared budget in respect of training.

On being put to the vote it was

RESOLVED that

a) a change in the 2020/21 Capital Programme of the S106 scheme already approved for Barnt Green Millennium Park – Toilet £62k be reallocated to a new scheme at Bittell Road Recreation Ground in relation to infrastructure/fitness route improvements due the requirements of the original project no longer needed. (See 6.1 of the report) be approved;

b) the training budget held within the Human Resources service, is allocated to a shared service budget meaning that any training provided to our staff is beneficial to both Councils as we upskill our workforce be approved; and

c) the inclusion of the £1.154m of Government Grant in relation to Covid pressures and losses of income into the 2020/21 revenue budgets (see 3.6 of the report) be approved.

Supporting documents: