Meeting documents
Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee.
Wednesday, 5th September 2007
Present
Chair
DE Roberts
Councillors
A Bridson, DT Knowles, GD Mitchell, SD Moseley
Deputy
GJ Ellis (for Cllr PSC Johnson)
H Smith (for Cllr JR Cocker)
Cabinet member
G Gardiner
Index to Minutes
- Minute 9 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST / PARTY WHIP
- Minute 10 - MINUTES
- Minute 11 - ORDER OF BUSINESS
- Minute 12 - PRESENTATION - WASTE STRATEGY
- Minute 13 - PLANNING A GREENER PENINSULA
- Minute 14 - SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME 2007/2008
- Minute 15 - RESPONSE TO PETITION TO RETURN TO WEEKLY RESIDUAL WASTE COLLECTIONS
- Minute 16 - CLINICAL WASTE COLLECTIONS ON WIRRAL
- Minute 17 - TRADING STANDARDS SERVICE DELIVERY PLAN (NATIONAL PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK)
- Minute 18 - SMOKE FREE IMPLEMENTATION
- Minute 19 - PERFORMANCE MONITORING FIRST QUARTER, APRIL, MAY AND JUNE 2007
- Minute 20 - REGENERATION DEPARTMENT - CAPITAL PROGRAMME MONITORING
- Minute 21 - REGENERATION DEPARTMENT - FINANCIAL MONITORING REPORT
- Minute 22 - INFORMATION: ENVIRONMENT AGENCY WORKSHOP
Minute 9 - DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST / PARTY WHIP
Minute Text :
Members were asked:
(a) to consider whether they had a personal or prejudicial interest in any matters to be considered at the meeting and, if so, to declare them and state what they were;
(b) to declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any matter to be considered and, if so, to disclose the nature of the whipping arrangement.
No declarations were made.
Minute 10 - MINUTES
Minute Text :
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the minutes of the meeting held on 6 June, 2007, having been received or approved by the Council, be received.
Minute 11 - ORDER OF BUSINESS
Minute Text :
The Chair suggested, and it was agreed, that the order of business be varied and item 4 on the agenda be considered next.
Minute 12 - PRESENTATION - WASTE STRATEGY
Minute Text :
Carl Beer, MWDA Director of Waste Disposal, gave a comprehensive presentation on the waste strategy. The presentation included the 2006/07 latest figures which showed:
- 22.5% Recycling rate across Merseyside
- 174,000 tonnes recycled or composted
- Lower waste growth
- Over 40% recycling across all Household Waste Recycling Centres
- Over 4000 tonnes recycled or diverted through community recycling
- Total recycling had more than doubled on the 2003/04 performance
- Managed to comply with Landfill Allowance Trading Scheme (LATS) allowance so far.
Key targets of the Joint Municipal Waste Strategy for Merseyside were to:
- Reduce growth to 2%/yr by 2010
- Reduce growth to 0%/yr by 2020
- Recycle or compost 33% by 2010 (New National target 40%)
- Recycle or compost 44% by 2020 (New National target 50%)
- Landfill only 52% by 2010
- Landfill only 13% by 2020
He went on to outline the implications of the new national waste strategy and the mechanisms which the MWDA were using to get there including a PFI for a resource and recovery contract due to start in Spring 2009. The MRF Bidston was currently operating at 60,000 tonnes per annum but had the capacity to operate at 80,000tpa.
In response to questions from Members, Carl Beer made the following comments:
- There were national initiatives on packaging but locally it could be worthwhile to get across the message to encourage people to buy goods with less packaging.
- If capacity was reached at the Bidston MRF, currently taking waste from Wirral and Liverpool, then it had always been made clear that Wirral's waste would come first and there were contingency arrangements for Liverpool's waste.
- A tonnage based levy had now been operated for the last 2/3 years and Wirral's last increase had been lower than other Merseyside authorities because Wirral was delivering less waste. Any LATS fines would, however be spread over all 5 Authorities.
- There was a need for recycling to be on the national curriculum. There were currently 2 visitor centres with a further three planned which would assist in educational initiatives.
- Market rates for plastics were currently low.
- Future procurement exercises would all be delivered by the private sector including the energy recovery facility.
- Initiatives were being developed to encourage new business start ups on Merseyside to develop recycled products.
- Although the IVC could deal with both kitchen and green waste it was more economical to send green waste through to Hapsford in Cheshire, thus reserving the IVC for kitchen waste.
Councillor Smith expressed concern at the suggestion of a separate weekly collection of kitchen waste by 2010 and how this would fare with the public. Also in response to his question on 'trimmings' which had appeared in a recycling leaflet, Mark Smith, Head of Streetscene and Waste Services, informed him that he would find out the meaning of this in relation to recyclable waste.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That this Committee thanks Carl Beer for his presentation.
Minute 13 - PLANNING A GREENER PENINSULA
Minute Text :
Brian Anderson, Head of Design and Development Control, Technical Services Department gave a presentation on Wirral's Climate Change Strategy and progress to date on Climate Change issues. He outlined the environmental impact of Wirral as a whole in its emissions and also council emissions and energy consumption. The draft Climate Change Strategy was endorsed by the Environment O&S Committee on 6 June (minute 4 refers) and approved by Cabinet on 20 June 2007. The strategy was based around 4 climate change themes which linked to other Council initiatives where they intersected with Climate Change: awareness, energy, adaptation and transport.
The purpose of the strategy was to achieve a 20% reduction in Wirral’s carbon emissions by 2010, starting with year on year reductions in emissions from council activities, and working with residents, communities and local businesses to achieve their own reductions. He highlighted some of the successes to date in relation to the 4 themes and also some future things to achieve.
In response to comments from members, Brian Anderson, informed the Committee that in respect of microgeneration for domestic households the Government had plans to relax some planning laws to enable householders to install solar panels and small wind turbines as permitted developments. A guide would be published giving a list of firms and guidance for householders. He would also take on board the suggestion that advice on green issues could be issued with the Council Tax demands, sent out at the start of each financial year.
Minute Decision :
That this Committee thanks Brian Anderson for his presentation.
Minute 14 - SCRUTINY WORK PROGRAMME 2007/2008
Minute Text :
Further to minute 8 (6/6/07) the Committee,
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
That the Committee work programme for 2007/08 focus on the issues of:
(i) Changes to animal welfare legislation;
(ii) Cockling in the Dee Estuary;
(iii) Underage sales of tobacco and alcohol;
(iv) Healthy eating campaign and takeaways.
Minute 15 - RESPONSE TO PETITION TO RETURN TO WEEKLY RESIDUAL WASTE COLLECTIONS
Minute Text :
The Director of Technical Services reported upon the latest position of Wirral’s new waste collection service. The report was submitted in response to a petition and campaign by the Wirral Globe urging the Council to return to a weekly residual waste collection service. Lead petitioner, Councillor Gerry Ellis, presented the petition to the Council in June 2007.
The wording of the petition stated that Wirral Council collected rubbish only once per fortnight, the Director pointed out that all residents still received a weekly collection of rubbish. The new alternate weekly collection service required residents to sort their rubbish into recyclable and non-recyclable waste streams. The vast majority of households with gardens (103,000) also received a collection of garden waste, meaning these households received three collections of household rubbish every two weeks for most of the year.
The report gave details of the health impacts of alternate weekly collections, the environmental and financial benefits and the improvements in recycling performance. The first quarter 2007/8 recycling performance had almost doubled (27%) from the 2006/7 out turn of 14%.
The Director also gave details of proposed actions in response to the petition, including consultation with signatories and the General Public. It was suggested that an amendment be made to the existing bin-allocation policy, to allow all households with six or more residents an additional bin. If every household with six occupants requested a second bin the maximum cost to the Council would be £34380, assuming the 2001 census data of 1719 households with six occupants being accurate. A full bin allocation policy review would be submitted to the next Environment Overview and Scrutiny Committee for consideration.
Early indications that the scheme had been well received by the vast majority of residents was demonstrated by the significant improvements Wirral had made to its households waste recycling performance. It was accepted that the changes were significant, and some residents would require extensive and sustained support through awareness and education initiatives, in order to reduce the impact of the scheme on Wirral’s environmental quality. Government findings stated that alternate weekly collections of biodegradable waste posed no risk to health. Technical Services had implemented a number of procedures and allocated additional resources in order to advise and support residents reporting problems with their new waste collection service. As a result, any problems reported were resolved to residents’ satisfaction in almost all cases.
Councillor Ellis although accepting that there were some good ideas in the report also expressed disappointment with some aspects of it in that he suggested there were some unnecessary criticisms of those who had brought the matter to the Council's attention. He praised the Wirral Globe for its campaigning role on the issue.
Councillor Smith suggested that no credence could be given to the Wirral Globe and the fact that no reporter was present only emphasised that.
Councillor Moseley commented that the Wirral Globe had highlighted something which was a real issue and this report was now addressing these issues. She stated that information on what could and could not be recycled in the grey bins needed to be better publicised, maybe with some fresh stickers on each bin or a new leaflet drop.
Councillor Bridson commented that indeed the media, locally and nationally had had a field day with the changeover in bin collections and there had unfortunately been a chaotic few weeks, but these issues had been brought to the Council's attention before any petition was organised by the Wirral Globe. Many of the issues had now been addressed but there was a need for officers to visit in person those residents who had expressed dissatisfaction with the new service and resolve issues with them. She also suggested some amendments to the wording in the questionnaire to be sent to all the petition signatories.
In response to comments by Members, Mark Smith, Head of Streetscene and Waste Services, stated that the petition had clearly identified a target group who the Department was now engaging with. He would endeavour to make some enquiries as to the matter of disposable nappies and would provide information on the siting of Tetra Pak recycling sites. There had not been an increase in fly tipping since the changes and there would be a 'wrap around' publicity sheet with the Wirral Globe later this month on recyclables. The report to the next Committee on the results of the consultation would give a very clear indication of the situation.
Minute Decision :
Resolved -
That this Committee:
(i) Reconfirms its support for Wirral’s Alternate Weekly Collection scheme;
(ii) Notes the improvements to Wirral’s recycling performance since the introduction of Alternate Weekly Collections;
(iii) Endorses officers’ intention to review the current bin allocation policy as suggested in section 4.1 of the report;
(iv) Endorses officers’ intention to carry out consultation with the signatories proposed in section 4.2 of this report and report back to the November Committee with their findings.
Minute 16 - CLINICAL WASTE COLLECTIONS ON WIRRAL
Minute Text :
The Director of Technical Services reported upon the current provision for Household Clinical Waste Collections on Wirral provided temporarily by Wirral Primary Care Trust (PCT) and highlighted the statutory obligations of Wirral Council to provide a clinical waste service to its residents. The Council was committed to provide a clinical waste service at as little cost to residents as possible. The Committee were asked to consider the Clinical Waste Collection policy within the report and the benefits of expanding the Sharps Drop-off scheme currently operated by the PCT at no cost to the public.
The Council had an obligation to collect clinical waste from households, but might charge the resident for any additional service it supplied. Due to the high number of self-medicating patients living in Wirral, the costs to operating a free home collection service would exceed £65,000 per annum. Offering free sharps drop-off points at pharmacies for those patients who are able to access the service is a cheaper and more sustainable method of dealing with the majority of self-administered clinical waste that can be hazardous to human health. Increasing the number of available drop-off points would reduce the inconvenience to residents who need to use the service. Therefore consideration should be given to identifying additional financial resources to maximise the use of pharmacies as drop-off points.
The Director gave details of the proposed policy for the clinical waste collection policy and the current financial arrangements for the pharmacy collection service. The views of the Committee were sought at this time as to whether the Council should consider offering more financial support to the drop-off service so that more pharmacies could take part in the scheme and he outlined three options. The first of these was to expand the service to 3 more locations from the current 9 in order to gain a better geographical spread across the district. This would bring the annual cost of the drop off service to approximately £3600 plus £900 for the fees charged by the pharmacies for acting as a drop-off point. This amount could be contained within existing budget provision held with Technical Services. There was adequate 2007/8 budget provision to fund the expansion to 12 pharmacies this financial year.
The current contract between the PCT and Whiterose expired in April 2008. Technical Services would ask Biffa to provide a new pricing schedule for pharmacy collections. If Biffa’s costs were lower than other tenders for the new contract, then consideration should be given to the PCT transferring appropriate responsibility to Technical Services on an annual basis for us to manage the pharmacy drop off scheme. It must be noted, however, that the PCT had expressed a preference to managing the scheme.
Councillor Moseley expressed concern that introducing any charges in the service could lead to the introduction of clinical waste into the household waste stream. Mark Smith, Head of Streetscene and Waste Services, said that to date this hadn't been a problem and of course it would be a health and safety issue.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That this Committee:
(i) Endorses the Clinical Waste Collection policy described in section 3.1 of this report and recommends it to Cabinet for approval;
(ii) Endorses the implementation of Option 1 in section 4 of this report for this financial year; and
(iii) Requests officers to report back to Committee after Biffa Clinical Waste Collection costs to collect from pharmacies have been reviewed and PCT tenders have been received for the renewal of the clinical waste contract to enable further consideration of Options 2 and 3 detailed in section 4 of this report.
Minute 17 - TRADING STANDARDS SERVICE DELIVERY PLAN (NATIONAL PERFORMANCE FRAMEWORK)
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration submitted a report which sought the Committee's endorsement of the Trading Standard Service Delivery Plan, a statutory plan required by the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform (formerly the Department of Trade and Industry - DTI).
The Chair suggested that the Consumer Education Resource and Information Centre (CEDRIC) website could have a link through the Trading Standards page of the Council website.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the Trading Standards Service Delivery Plan 2007/08 be endorsed.
Minute 18 - SMOKE FREE IMPLEMENTATION
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported upon the continuing progress on Smokefree Wirral implementation and how the allocation of additional funds provided by the Government and approved by Cabinet was being used in securing compliance with the smoke-free provisions of the Health Act 2006 and the Smoke-free regulations which were introduced in England in July 2007.
The report gave details of the work that had been undertaken since 1 July, 2007, including visits to 680 premises by smokefree enforcement officers. In a wider context the officers would work in partnership with Wirral PCT and would assist the Environmental Health Division on wider health promotion initiatives particularly relating to food safety, healthy eating, and health at work.
The Director also referred to the change in the age of sale of tobacco from 16 to 18. This would come into effect from Monday, 1 October, 2007, when it would be illegal to sell tobacco products, cigarettes, cigars, loose tobacco and rolling papers to anyone under the age of 18. The change in the age of sale for tobacco products was an important step in trying to reduce the number of people exposed to smoking related diseases.
In response to comments from Members the Director stated that a possible alcohol ban to prevent drinking on pavements across the whole borough was currently being looked at. Awareness needed to be raised with the public about the discarding of cigarette stubs on the pavements and there was a need for some sort of licence condition. The issue could be reviewed in a few months time as there could be a critical change in behaviour when the clocks went back and the weather was less conducive to standing outside. Smoking shelters which had been erected could only have a roof and one side and he agreed that he would look into any possible breaches of this rule at establishments brought to his attention.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That this Committee notes the continuing progress on Smokefree Wirral implementation and how the identified resources are being utilised to achieve the aims and requirements of the Health Act 2006 for ensuring compliance with the ‘Smoke free’ provisions of the Health Act 2006.
Minute 19 - PERFORMANCE MONITORING FIRST QUARTER, APRIL, MAY AND JUNE 2007
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported upon the performance of the Regeneration Department during the period April 2007 to June 2007. The report highlighted those areas of the Departmental Plan of principal interest to Members of this Committee, namely the work undertaken by Environmental Health and Trading Standards Divisions.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That this Committee notes the performance of the Department between April and June 2007 and endorses the priorities for service delivery for the second quarter of the current financial year.
Minute 20 - REGENERATION DEPARTMENT - CAPITAL PROGRAMME MONITORING
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration provided an update on the Regeneration Department's Capital Programme, which was formulated and planned on a three year basis within the Council's Capital Strategy. The Capital Programme was based upon resources expected from Central Government, use of reserves, and assumed the use of capital receipts generated from the sale of assets. The report set out a summary of the progress and reasons for any significant variances. The increase from current approved expenditure to latest forecast expenditure of £30,985,000 was mainly due to slippage from 2006/07 and new schemes as detailed in the report.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 21 - REGENERATION DEPARTMENT - FINANCIAL MONITORING REPORT
Minute Text :
The Director of Regeneration reported on the financial position of the Regeneration Departmental budgets. The accounts for the 2006/07 financial year had been completed and the outturn position for the department showed an underspend in the year of £236,000; this represented a 0.7% saving on the Current Estimate 2006/07 of £33,602,800.
Since Committee had approved the budget in January 2007 it had been revised to reflect the agreed savings, policy options and the re-allocation of internal recharges. Following the approval by Council on 1 March 2007, the Executive Board, on 26 April 2007, had approved additional revenue support for the new Floral Pavilion to the value of £1,251,300 for the six year development. For 2007/08 this support was set at £236,000 and the revised budget was now £33,013,900.
The Director also highlighted progress on implementing policy options, delivering savings, re-engineering savings and likely variations.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the report be noted.
Minute 22 - INFORMATION: ENVIRONMENT AGENCY WORKSHOP
Minute Text :
The Committee were informed that the Environment Agency were organising a workshop on managing flood risk for the Chairs and Spokespersons of the Environment and Regeneration and Planning Strategy Overview and Scrutiny Committees, along with the respective Cabinet members.
Minute Decision :
Resolved - That the date of the workshop, Monday 10 September at 2.00pm, be noted.
(Minutes Published: 13 September 2007)