Agenda item

Report of the Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment

The Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment introduced the report and explained that there were 3 recommendations for Cabinet to consider as follows :

1)    Payment to Gloucestershire Council of £50,000 per annum for an interim period of three years starting upon the opening of the Javelin Park facility

The Cabinet Member explained that the project plan for the Javelin Park waste facility had been worked up over a number of years and CBC had maintained some interest in the project, particularly when it was undertaking its service redesign which launched in 2017. CBC had been given the assurance by the Joint Waste Team and the County Council that there would be no changes to existing arrangements, i.e. that residual waste vehicles would continue to deliver waste to the existing landfill site facility at Stoke Orchard. CBC had therefore purchased vehicles in the knowledge that there would be no direct delivery to Javelin Park.

The Cabinet Member then went on to inform that in April 2018 he was made aware that the county council may change arrangements to direct delivery which came as a surprise given previous information. It appeared that Tewkesbury Borough Council was in a similar situation. He explained that recommendation 1 therefore avoided entirely the prospect of direct delivery of residual waste to Javelin Park for which a payment of £50k per year had been negotiated. This solution had been made for both strategic and common sense reasons, namely :

·         It would be both unfair and unprofessional for CBC to have launched a new service 12 months ago to residents and then change that service again in spring 2019

·         It would be unreasonable and unsustainable to drive vehicles to Junction 12 of the M5 which would affect staff, vehicles and residents

·         It was important to respond to the opening of Javelin Park in spring 2019 in a long term strategic way and therefore a 3 year timeframe to work up a future scheme which would include linking in the depot and potential joint waste transfer with Tewkesbury Borough Council and Gloucester City was proposed.

The Cabinet Member expressed his frustration at the cost to be incurred by CBC but highlighted the greater cost should the County Council force the borough to direct deliver to Javelin Park.

2)    Withdrawal from the Gloucestershire Joint Waste Committee

The Cabinet Member explained that the inception of the Joint Waste Committee in 2014 represented an exciting opportunity for joint working between the 6 districts and the county undertook to produce a sensible strategic plan for a service which would deliver savings county wide. The experience however was far from this and he gave the example of the fact that 3 of the districts had redesigned their services during this time without the knowledge that their neighbouring authorities were doing this too which constituted a missed opportunity. The Joint Waste Team had therefore not made any progress which all authorities could have benefitted from.

The Cabinet Member highlighted that the decision would be subject to the expiry of the call-in period but he would inform the next meeting of the Joint Waste Committee on 4 December. He emphasised that the council remained committed to the idea that the authorities concerned could achieve the best outcome by working together and he would do everything he could to seek observer status in order to share experiences and continue joint working. The practicality was that the council was not getting value for money from the current arrangements.

3)    Funding of an in-house team

Internal changes were necessary to undertake the functions currently delegated to the Joint Waste Committee. The Cabinet Member reported the changing relationship with Ubico and ward councillors has resulted in a significant improvement in service. The relationship would continue to strengthen, improvements would continue to be made in terms of increasing recycling and reducing residual waste and campaigns would be delivered over and above this. This was, in his view, an exciting opportunity.

The Leader believed the payment to the County Council was a sensible solution but he expressed his disappointment that the proposal to direct deliver to Javelin Park came out of the blue, given how long the project had been in operation. He expressed concern that potentially there were other unknown costs associated with the facility. However, in practical terms CBC was keen to make it work and a permanent solution should be determined within 3 years.

The Leader also felt that the Joint Waste committee could have achieved a great deal but this was not the case, despite the best endeavours from this council.

Finally, the Cabinet Member Clean and Green Environment wished to put on record his thanks to all officers who had provided him with advice.. He reiterated that CBC wished to continue the cooperation with the Joint Waste Committee as an observer.

RESOLVED THAT

1.    Payment be approved to Gloucestershire County Council of £50,000 per year for 3 years payable from the date that Cheltenham Borough Council’s residual waste commences transfer to proposed waste transfer facility locally and authority be delegated to the MD – Place and Growth, in consultation with the Cabinet Member - Clean and Green Environment and Borough Solicitor, to finalise the terms of the settlement agreement.

2.    Cheltenham Borough Council’s withdrawal from the Gloucestershire Joint Waste Committee be approved, by serving the requisite notice or by negotiated early termination and delegates authority to the MD – Place and Growth, in consultation with the Cabinet Member - Clean and Green Environment and Borough Solicitor, to take all necessary steps and enter into such agreements as appropriate to effect this withdrawal, including seeking observer status for Cheltenham Borough Council at Joint Waste Committee meetings in the same way as Stroud District Council and Gloucester City Council.

3.    Completing the establishment and funding (as set out in 3.9 and in the financial implications in this report) of an in-house team be approved to undertake the functions currently delegated to the JWC and to deliver:

(a) management of the environmental services contract (waste, recycling, street cleansing and grounds maintenance) currently delivered by UBICO; 

(b) development and delivery of an improvement programme, approved by members, for 12-18 months, that will present business cases for individual work streams which will be reported back to members as appropriate;

(c) transfer of all remaining functions from the Joint Waste Team to CBC by 31 March 2019, subject to early termination negotiations;