Members are asked to consider whether they have personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they are.

Members are reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they are subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.

Members were asked to consider whether they had personal or prejudicial interests in connection with any item(s) on this agenda and, if so, to declare them and state what they were.

Members were reminded that they should also declare, pursuant to paragraph 18 of the Overview and Scrutiny Procedure Rules, whether they were subject to a party whip in connection with any item(s) to be considered and, if so, to declare it and state the nature of the whipping arrangement.

No such declarations were made.

At the meeting of the Cabinet on 16 October 2008 (minute 217 refers) a number of budget savings were proposed and the following resolution was agreed:

“(1) Cabinet recognises that these are difficult times financially for everyone and that it must do all it can to ensure that Wirral’s Council Tax Payers are not faced with the additional burden of high Council Tax increases. Cabinet understands the need to make urgent savings in order to close Wirral’s budget gap and therefore recommends the following….”

Cabinet asked that these items be referred to the relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committee for urgent consideration. There are two proposals which fall within the remit of this Overview and Scrutiny Committee. These are:

·  Introduce £20.00 charge per visit (up to five items) for Eric Service – £515,000

·  Delete publicity budget for Waste Control designed to cover introduction of new bin system which is now bedded in – £45,000

The Director of Technical Services reported that at the meeting of the Cabinet held on 16 October 2008 (minute 217 refers) a number of budget savings were proposed in order to close the budget gap and were referred to relevant Overview and Scrutiny Committees for urgent consideration. He reported that the budget savings for the Technical Services Department consisted of six items totalling £1,966,000. However, the proposed budget savings within the remit of this Committee were as follows: -

With regard to the ERIC Service, the Director reported that Local Authorities had a duty to collect bulky household items and he commented that the majority of Councils now charged residents for the service. He indicated that once charges were introduced, the number of requests for the service would drop substantially and evidence from other local authorities showed that the life of many bulky household items was extended once charges were introduced as residents found alternative ways of getting rid of unwanted items. Items of quality would be directed to a number of social enterprises or charities operating doorstep collections within the borough and Technical Services would need time to consult with those organisations prior to charges being introduced. However, to mitigate the risk of any potential fly tipping, he proposed that a provisional sum of £90,000 be set aside from the budget saving option to facilitate a rapid response to fly tipping should it be required.

He commented that although the emphasis would be on the promotion of reuse and recycling of bulky goods rather than disposal, the new bulky waste service would need to be promoted, in advance of the proposed commencement of charging in April 2009, to encourage the use of the service. This would include marketing and signposting via the website and Streetscene Call Centre of other free means of collection by charities, social enterprises and initiatives such as “Freecycle”, where unwanted items were offered for free. Technical Services would also continue to encourage and facilitate local community groups to organise “Community Giveaway Days” or similar initiatives.

He reported also that the cost of the service reflected the charges made by the current service provider and was therefore cost neutral.

Councillor Rennie indicated that the Conservative Group were opposed to the proposed introduction of the charge for the ERIC service and referred to petitions from local residents that had been presented to the Council in 2005 by the Cabinet member for Environment, opposed to the introduction of charges for the ERIC service. She commented upon year on year increases in Council Tax, which some residents could ill afford, and expressed the view that the proposed charge would lead to an increase in fly tipping. In response, the Director indicated that although there had been a small increase in reported calls, the amount of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 14.