Agenda and minutes

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Contact: Rachel Wilson  Democratic Services Officer

Items
No. Item

1.

Election of Chairman

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

            That Councillor E J Poll be elected as Chairman of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership for 2017/18.

 

COUNCILLOR E J POLL IN THE CHAIR

 

Councillor Poll introduced himself to the Partnership and set out his intention for how the Partnership would move forward.  He commented that it was important to mend the relationship between the county and districts as all were equal partners.  The Chairman announced that he proposed to introduce a number of informal sessions for elected members in addition to the 3 formal meetings which would be held in the public domain.  The Lincolnshire Waste Partnership would formally adopt the processes and ways of working which would be discussed in the informal sessions.  It would be important for continuity that the same officers/members attended regular meetings.

2.

Election of Vice-Chairman

Minutes:

It was proposed and seconded that Councillor R Gambba-Jones (South Holland District Council) be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership for 2016/17

 

RESOLVED

 

            That Councillor R Gambba-Jones be elected as Vice-Chairman of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership for 2017/18.

 

The Chairman advised that it was important that those members who attended the meetings of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership had executive authority, and it was hoped that decisions would be supported by all members, and would be in line with the ways that authorities wanted to go forward.

3.

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor M Brookes (Boston Borough Council), Councillor R Wright (North Kesteven District Council) and Councillor D Cotton (West Lindsey District Council).

 

Apologies for absence were also received from Steve Willis (LCC), Sean Kent (LCC) and Simon Mitchell (Environment Agency).

4.

Declaration of Interests

Minutes:

There were no declarations of interest at this point in the meeting.

5.

Minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2017 pdf icon PDF 149 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

            That the minutes of the meeting held on 2 March 2017 be signed by the Chairman as a correct record.

6.

Action notes from the meeting held on 2 March 2017 pdf icon PDF 42 KB

Minutes:

RESOLVED

 

            That the action notes in relation to the meeting held on 2 March 2017 be noted.

7.

Partner Updates

Minutes:

Members of the Partnership were provided with the opportunity to update the rest of the Partners on any developments within their individual districts which may be of interest, and the following was reported;

 

Lincolnshire County Council – it was reported that the Household Waste Recycling Centre contracts had now been let, and the County Council now managed 9 of the HWRC's, this had resulted in a change of operator at 8 of these sites.  Work was now underway on the haulage contracts for bringing material into the Energy from Waste facility.

 

North Kesteven District Council – the recruitment process for Mark Taylor's replacement had been completed and David Steels had been appointed.  The transition arrangements were still being worked on.

Work had started on the new depot at Metheringham and it was hoped it would be up and running soon.

 

City of Lincoln Council – the revised waste enforcement policy would be going to the Executive in August for approval, and would have relevance to this Partnership in relation to contamination enforcement.

 

Boston Borough Council – training had been carried out by a barrister in relation to enforcement.  In Boston there were many properties which were rented out where the landlords were not managing the waste presented by tenants.

 

West Lindsey District Council – it was reported that the Chief Executive had recently taken early retirement and the three assistant directors were currently taking on this role between them. 

It was also reported that a policies document review was underway, and relevant policies would be brought to this Partnership in due course.

 

East Lindsey District Council – work had just commenced on a piece of work in relation to commercial waste collection in the district.  The potential of using the cleansing teams for the collection of commercial waste was being looked at.

 

South Kesteven District Council – a big member led initiative – The Big Clean, would be commencing in August and would run for 3 months.

Partnership working with West Lindsey on One Public Estate was also taking place, which was a project looking at depots with Highways England, and feasibility work would be carried out with the district councils and county council.

 

South Holland District Council – a big service review was underway with 120 staff involved, and around 60 at risk.  It was reported that there were a significant number of people looking to leave the authority and so the district would be going through an interview process as well as looking to recruit.  Environmental services were included within this service review.

It was reported that there were three fly tipping cases going through the courts and so far one had had a positive outcome, as the defendant pleaded guilty and was fined £800.

It was also noted that there had been an increase in people advertising on Facebook offering to take away all waste for a fee, which would then be fly-tipped.  It was suggested whether the Partnership could run its own Facebook campaign to warn  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

8.

Road Traffic Incidents

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Partnership received a report in relation to the cleaning of the highway after a road traffic accident.  There had been extensive legal advice between the County Council and the District Councils concerning this responsibility for a number of years.

 

The report advised that so far it had not been possible to reach agreement between legal advisors and continued legal debate was not considered constructive.  The Officer Working Group had sought to develop a pragmatic working arrangements based on the development of a simple Memorandum of Understanding, which would be reported to a future meeting of the Partnership once finalised.

 

The Partnership was provided with the opportunity to discuss this issue and some of the points raised included the following:

·         It was commented that this issue had been ongoing for around 18 months, and that there were options which had not been fully explored.

·         It was suggested that the issue be given back to the Officer Working Group to progress.

·         When there were bigger incidents, districts were not able to deal with the aftermath.

·         It was noted that districts did have a certain level of resource available instantly for clearing the road, but districts did not have the power to close the road to clean up after more serious incidents.  It was queried who did have the powers and equipment to do this.

·         There was a need for this to be moved to the right level so highways officers could speak to waste officers and agree a set of guidelines.

·         There was a need to reach a countywide position so that some resources could be put into this.

·         It was queried whether the issue needed to be escalated to the Executive Director for Environment and Economy.

·         Districts were happy to collect and clear litter but it was when accidents involved bodily fluids that there was an issue as the district councils were not geared up to clear that kind of material as they did not have the power to close the road.

·         Highways used to have as part of a contract a response team, with staff who would work with the police and fire and rescue together at the scene of an accident.  It was understood that this had been taken out of the contract due to cost pressures.  It was suggested that there was a need for this to be reintroduced, as accidents could happen at any point, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week at any point in the county.

 

RESOLVED

 

            That this issue be escalated to the County Council's Executive Director for Environment and Economy.

 

9.

WRAP Update

Minutes:

The Lincolnshire Waste Partnership received an update in relation to the funding which had been awarded by WRAP to look at collection methodologies.  The bid had been put forward by West Lindsey District Council with the support of the Partnership and had gone through a procurement process and had no appointed a company to carry out this work.  A project inception meeting had recently taken place.  A report would be drafted for consideration by the Partnership in December.  It was worth noting how timely this work was with work commencing on the Strategy.

 

It was commented that it was not thought that one size would fit all, and it was important for districts to maintain the systems that worked best for them, but there was a need to look for opportunities for joint working, such as the acquisition of fleet vehicles.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the update be noted.

2.    That a further report on progress be brought back to the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership before the end of 2017.

10.

Charging for Waste Collections pdf icon PDF 133 KB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report from North Kesteven District Council which sought to seek the view of the Lincolnshire waste Partnership on proposals to align policies for charging for the collection of various categories of household waste.  It was reported that this report was the culmination of some very good work which had been done, as it was something which had not been looked at for several years, and there was a consensus around the table of the types of waste which should be charged for.

 

It was reported that this would be going to NKDC's Executive for a final decision following consultation.  It was noted that this was a good example of joint working.  It was highlighted that this was not about how much should be charged but agreeing an approach on what types of waste should be charged for.

 

It was commented that the County Council would not be putting out any press releases about waste unless all districts were in agreement, and it was hoped that districts would take the same approach to help get a consistent message out.

 

RESOLVED

 

            That the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership endorse the proposal to move towards closer alignment of policies for charging for collection of various categories of household waste.

11.

Health and Safety pdf icon PDF 131 KB

Minutes:

Consideration was given to a report which highlighted the work of the Lincolnshire Waste Health and Safety Group and examined where it fitted with the national picture and provided an example of the work of the group in supported the waste operations in Lincolnshire.

 

Members were advised that the group was made up of waste operation officers and health and safety officers from each district and it aimed to draw together best practice.  The Partnership was advised that it was considered important to bring a report on the work of the Group to the LWP on an annual basis to make members aware of the work which was being done.

 

The Partnership was provided with the opportunity to discuss the information contained within the report, and some of the points noted during discussion included the following:

·         It was commented that a similar piece of work had recently been carried out by South Holland District Council and it was queried why this work had not been fed into the Health and Safety group.

·         It was noted that the Waste Health and Safety Group had been in operation since 2011 and had now set up a working group on how districts worked on the highways.  It was noted that all districts were each doing something differently based upon best practice around risk assessments but the aim was to set a consistent approach for all districts to work to.  The example of working practices being used in South Holland was very positive.

·         Partners were advised that the Waste 24 document was a national document, which was very complex, and the Group was looking at how best to implement it.

·         It was noted that a trial of working practices on a high speed road in South Holland had taken place, and officers would now be looking to work with local authority partners on how this could be rolled out.

·         It was suggested that there was a need for an interlinking between waste operations and highways when designing roads.

·         It was suggested that a report be brought to a future meeting on the Waste 24 report.

·         It was commented that the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership was operating at a strategic level and it had not had any reports about health and safety at an operational level for some time.  It was considered important that the Partnership had visibility of the excellent work that was taking place by colleagues.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the work of the Lincolnshire (Health and Safety) Waste and Refuse Forum be noted and endorsed by the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership.

2.    That a report on the work of the Lincolnshire (Health and Safety) Waste and Refuse Forum be presented to the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership annually.

12.

Packaging pdf icon PDF 127 KB

Minutes:

The Lincolnshire Waste Partnership received a report which provided information on work which was carried out by Trading Standards between 2008 and 2011 to tackle the issue of excessive packaging.  It was reported that was an educational campaign which ran alongside the enforcement.  However, the legislation had not been enforced since 2011 and the focus of Trading Standards was now more around tackling rogue traders, but officers would look into the issue of excessive packaging again if more funding was made available.

 

Partners were provided with the opportunity to ask questions to the officers present in relation to the information contained within the report and some of the points raised during discussion included the following:

·         At the last meeting there had been some discussion around the amount of waste packaging which was appearing in the waste stream.

·         Work was being carried out with local businesses and part of that work did involve discussions around packaging of their products.

·         It was queried whether the amount of packaging being seen had increased since the project finished in 2011. 

·         Partners were advised that there was always conflict around reducing packaging and recycling targets, but there were still some really bad examples of too much packaging being used.  However, maybe now most could be recycled.  It was commented that things had changed a lot in this area over the last 10 years.

·         At this time there were more pressing issues to consider.  In relation to packaging in the waste stream, a lot of it was recyclable, but there was a need to ensure that households were putting the materials in the right bin.  It may become an issue in the future as the EfW reached capacity if there was too much packaging material in the waste stream going to the EfW.

·         It was suggested that the Partnership waited to see what the Waste Strategy would deliver, and maybe look at the issue again in the future if necessary.

·         It was stated in the Terms of Reference that one of the roles of the Partnership was to lobby government, and the use of excess packaging could be one of those issues.

 

RESOLVED

 

            That the past progress made be noted, and that the Lincolnshire Waste     Partnership acknowledge that without continuing resources, there were higher service priorities for Trading Standards to manage.

13.

Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy pdf icon PDF 94 KB

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Lincolnshire Waste Partnership received a report which provided Partners with an update on the work which had taken place to date on the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JMWMS).

 

It was reported that since March 2017, detailed work had taken place in preparation for 2 workshops, the first of which was scheduled to take place after the close of this Lincolnshire Waste Partnership meeting and would focus on "What do we want to achieve?" and would aim to agree the broad brush objectives for the JMWMS.  The second workshop was scheduled to take place on 20 July and would focus on "How do we achieve it?" which would involve developing a framework for an action plan.

 

Partners were also informed that work had so far been undertaken on the following tasks:

·         Introductory chapters – several non-contentious sections had been drafted

·         Review of the current situation – information received from each WCA had been combined with tonnage data into a summary chapter

·         Analysis of residual waste composition – A procurement exercise was underway for a sampling exercise and it was hoped that a contractor would be appointed soon.

·         Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) – initial discussions were underway with Mouchel to revive the work that they undertook on this which was shared with the LWP in 2013.

 

It was confirmed that the WRAP work being undertaken on collection methodologies would be included within the Strategy.

 

RESOLVED

 

1.    That the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership note the proposed process, seen by each Chief Executive, for developing a Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy for Lincolnshire

2.    That the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership and its Officer Working Group be the main channels for Waste Collection Authorities input into the development of the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy and its accompanying Action Plan.

3.    That the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership note the progress which had been made with the preparation of the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy against the project plan.

 

 
 
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