Agenda item

Rob Bell, Managing Director, UBICO, will be in attendance.

The Chair welcomed Rob Bell, Managing Director of UBICO, to the meeting to give an update on the company’s annual performance. Rob Bell reminded the meeting that UBICO was set up as an arms-length company by Cheltenham Borough Council in partnership with Cotswold District Council following consultations to determine the most efficient and cost effective way to deliver environmental services. An Annual Report was available to members detailing the company’s performance but, in summary, its performance had exceeded its financial targets. The business case set a target of £503,000 savings for its first year whereas the actual savings were £1.29 million over both authorities. Cheltenham Borough Council had made savings of £700,000, some of which is being held in reserve for future development.

The company is still awaiting its final figures for the financial year which has just ended but it would appear that Cheltenham Borough Council has made an additional £92,000 saving with £200,000 efficiency savings; the cumulative savings of the two year period to Cheltenham Borough Council is over £1 million and the company is on target to deliver £5 million savings across the partnership within 5 years.

UBICO’s general performance is closely monitored and no major issues have been identified over the last year. There are inevitably some problems that arise but these are relatively few and the company works quickly to remedy them.

In response to questions from members, Rob Bell informed the meeting that UBICO is constantly planning how best to use its resources to meet local needs. He undertook to discuss any particular issues raised by members with his Operations Manager.

A member suggested that UBICO should consider the use of smaller vehicles for ease of access to some areas,

The council operates a kerbside sorting scheme. Although this is a slower process and has higher collection costs, the council is able to sell the waste at a higher price than unsorted material; the Joint Waste Team is reviewing this practice. The recycled material is currently sold within a fixed contract and the Joint Waste Team will consider the viability of selling it on the open market to maximise revenue. It is a strategic objective to pool material from a number of authorities to increase the volume of material to sell.

Unlike Tewkesbury Borough Council, Cheltenham does not accept tetrapaks in its kerbside collections but they are accepted at bring sites. The council, Joint Waste Team and Ubico are considering expanding the number of items that will be collected. The bring sites, especially that at Bath Road, are closely monitored and UBICO works closely with the Public Protection Team to enforce any unauthorised deposits.

UBICO receives any complaints or comments from the public via the Municipal Offices. At present 99.8% of all collections are made on time. Rob Bell informed the meeting that although the weather has not been severe this winter, UBICO has reviewed it practices following the extreme weather in 2013 and has held exercises to test its contingency plans. The service ran smoothly during the very wet period earlier this year.

Several members expressed concern over the efficacy of UBICO’s street cleaning operations. Rob Bell explained that UBICO worked closely with individual communities, was flexible in what days it undertook its cleaning operations and, since street clearances to facilitate thorough cleaning is not part of its routine service, it deals with requests to deep clean areas on a priority basis.

The chair thanked Rob Bell and it was agreed that he would be invited to attend the Committee in Autumn to provide a further update.