Agenda and draft minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Joanne Shaw and Cait Taylor.  Councillor Dominique Williams was present as a substitute for Councillor Joanne Shaw and Councillor Jane Tyson was present as a substitute for Councillor Cait Taylor.

No nominations for the position of Vice-Chairperson of the Executive Advisory Board were received.

In accordance with the local Code of Conduct, a councillor is required to disclose at the meeting any Disclosable Pecuniary Interest (DPI) that they may have in respect of any matter for consideration on this agenda.  Any councillor with a DPI must not participate in any discussion or vote regarding that matter and they must withdraw from the meeting immediately before consideration of the matter.

If that DPI has not been registered, the councillor must notify the Monitoring Officer of the details of the DPI within 28 days of the date of the meeting.

Councillors are further invited to disclose any non-pecuniary interest which may be relevant to any matter on this agenda, in the interests of transparency, and to confirm that it will not affect their objectivity in relation to that matter.

There were no declarations of disclosable pecuniary or non-pecuniary interests.

To confirm the minutes of the Executive Advisory Board meeting held on 9 March 2023.

The minutes of the meeting of the Service Delivery Executive Advisory Board held on 9 March 2023 were confirmed as a correct record, and would be signed by the Chairman at the earliest opportunity.

To receive a presentation with discussion options relating to Recycling Policy Changes.

The Executive Advisory Board (EAB) received a presentation regarding the Recycling and Waste Policy Review which included discussion options.

The Lead Councillor for Planning, Environment and Climate Change introduced the presentation and highlighted the financial challenges currently being faced by the Council.  In response to these, the Environmental Services Team had been seeking to identify operational changes through a service challenge process which would realise cost savings.  The majority of potential changes identified were minor and it was likely that the related decisions could be delegated to the Lead Councillor in conjunction with the Joint Executive Head of Environmental Services without the need for the formal decision-making process via the Executive or full Council.  However, the Lead Councillor wished to share the possible options and intended future direction of travel for the Recycling and Waste service with the EAB and invite its views and advice thereon prior to reaching any decisions in respect of operational changes.

The Waste Strategy and Technical Support Lead gave the presentation which sought feedback in respect of the following opportunities to reduce costs and generate income:

·            Removing bring bank sites across the Borough.

·            Refuse and recycling sack provision.

·            Kitchen caddy provision.

·            Charging for kerbside food waste caddies.

·            Charging for recycling bin replacement and additional containers.

The Council currently had 22 bring sites which were last refurbished / reviewed in 2013.  All recyclables catered for at bring sites could now be presented for kerbside collections.  The challenges associated with bring sites were increased anti-social behaviour such as fly tipping and graffiti, commercial abuse, servicing costs, maintenance costs and rogue banks.  The options, which considered the related costs and impact, were to (1) do nothing, (2) reduce the number of bring sites or (3) close the sites and convert Station Parade (East Horsley) and Portsmouth Road (Guildford) sites to recycling points for nearby flats.  The officers recommended option 3 which would generate an ongoing £26,202 annual operational saving, avoid a one off £3,778 maintenance cost plus unquantifiable support costs together with averting the need to replace a caged vehicle.  The impact of this would be the higher use of kerbside services, reduced opportunity for abuse by commercial premises resulting in potential uplift in Business Waste customers whilst providing additional capacity on flats and commercial rounds to accommodate new demand.

With regard to sack provision, the Borough currently supplied sacks twice a year to properties that did not have space for bins totalling provision of free refuse sacks to 1,917 properties and recycling sacks to 2,053 properties.  The Council supplied sacks in fairness as it had supplied the initial bins to other properties free of charge, although bin costs were now charged.  Although residents were able to purchase their own sacks, they were provided to limit the amount of waste produced, to ensure sacks were sufficiently thick to safely lift glass in the recycling, and to ensure sacks were clear enough for waste crews to check their contents.  The options were to (1) do nothing, (2) supply recycling  ...  view the full minutes text for item C5

The Executive Forward Plan was noted without comment.

To consider and approve the EAB’s draft work programme with reference to the Executive Forward Plan. 

There were no comments regarding the Executive Advisory Board Work Programme nor suggestions in respect of future possible Work Programme items.