Agenda item

RESOLVED:

Cabinet recommended to Council that:

i)         Officers proceed to take the necessary decisions to implement the service changes for refuse collection, recycling and food waste collections as set out in Section 5 of the Cabinet report, in readiness for commencement of the new service in Spring 2025;

ii)       The budget requirements as set out in section 7 of the Cabinet report are approved, noting that these are included in the Council’s Medium Term Financial Plan.  Council notes in particular the anticipated service roll out costs for 2025/26 at £1.4 million, with a likely offset of £0.8 - £1.2 million through the receipt of EPR funding, and the additional budget requirement for transitional costs, increasing from £1.224 million to £1.825 million;

iii)      Officers continue procurement processes to secure the necessary vehicles, wheeled bins, food caddies and other containers, including ancillary services in order to deliver the new service; and

iv)      Officers continue to work with Hampshire County Council and other Hampshire partners to identify the best long-term solution to recycling collections and processing to meet the Government requirements and return to Cabinet for a final decision. 

KEY DECISION:

Report to Cabinet and Council

PORTFOLIO:

Environment and Sustainability

ALTERNATIVE OPTIONS CONSIDERED/REJECTED:

As set out in report.

DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST:

None

DISCUSSION:

The Portfolio Holder for Environment and Sustainability introduced the report.  He was pleased that financial information had been received from Government in October 2023 and January 2024 which enabled the Council to further develop plans for transforming the waste service.  The Council had secured Capital funding from Government and refined the roll out plan for the new waste service.  Further information was awaited information from Government in relation to funding.

The Council could now proceed with the changes to the waste service, which would increase recycling and reduce waste.  It was recognised that the service changes were a key Council priority and would manage waste in a more sustainable way.

The Assistant Director – Place Operations outlined the report and highlighted that an update had been provided to Cabinet in December 2023 detailing the position at county and national level in relation to future funding and the legislation regarding the arrangements for the management of waste.

Since December last year, DEFRA had announced the capital funding arrangements in relation to the food waste collection service.  The Council had written to DEFRA responding to this, expressing concern about the funding and timing of the roll out arrangements.  Modelling work was underway with partners across Hampshire to determine the final position for the recycling services for all authorities across Hampshire.

It was confirmed that the proposed waste service would deliver most of what had been proposed in the agreed Waste Strategy, approved in July 2022. This included the introduction of wheeled bins with a 180 litre bin for residual waste and a 240 litre bin for recycling and these were to be collected on alternate weeks.  There was also to be a weekly food waste collection service as required by Government.  Glass collections, however would remain a separate collection service which would be collected every 4 weeks in a 55 litre box.  There was still some uncertainly about glass collections in the longer term.

The District Council had appealed to DEFRA regarding some of the NFDC requirements for funding which were felt to have been missed.  The Government had also provided more information on the intention to provide transition costs for 2024/25 and ongoing revenue costs for 2026 onwards. 

It was expected that the Council would receive funding to support the waste service through the Extended Producer Responsibility scheme and it was noted that more information would be available later in the year.

It was highlighted that within the financial implications of the report, glass collection costs were shown separately as this element might be included within the collection of other recycling materials at a later date. If this was introduced, there would be a financial saving.

Finally, the Assistant Director Place Operations recognised this was a major service change and resources had been put in place to ensure it would be successful and to achieve performance improvements.

A non-executive member questioned how the proposed changes would be communicated to all residents and the timeline for the Communication Strategy.  The Assistant Director Place Operations reported that a draft Communication Strategy was being developed and that elements of it would be communicated to local residents in the near future.  It was confirmed that a range of communication methods would be used for this fundamental service change, including physical information being sent to householders.  There would be a phased approach ahead of the service change.  It was confirmed that the funding had been allocated to deliver this.

Other non-executive members welcomed the report and recognised the importance of good communication in relation to the service changes, in particular for those residents who would not receive the core service.  The issue of glass collections in the open forest was highlighted to be a problem whereby live stock had access to the glass containers within the recycling boxes.  It was suggested that consideration could be given to how this could be resolved, possibly with the provision of a lid for the boxes in the open forest.  Another member also highlighted the issues of boxes breaking and being heavy to carry to the kerbside.

The Leader acknowledged the positive work involved in the report presented to Cabinet and welcomed the clarity received from Government to date.  She spoke about the Waste Strategy group and expressed her thanks to the Place Operations Strategy and Performance Manager and the members who had been involved in the Task and Finish Group which had considered the waste proposals.