Agenda and minutes

Councillor A R Woolf was elected Chairman for the duration of the meeting.

Where a Councillor has a Disclosable Pecuniary Interest the Councillor must declare the interest to the meeting and leave the room without participating in any discussion or making a statement on the item, except where a councillor is permitted to remain as a result of a grant of dispensation.

There were no declarations of interest.

To provide the Performance Monitoring Panel and Policy Development Panel with the opportunity to review, ask further questions and submit feedback on the draft Lincolnshire Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy (JWMMS) (report of the Portfolio Holder for Place enclosed).

The Senior Commissioning Officer (Waste) at Lincolnshire County Council provided the Joint Panel with a presentation.  It provided information on the following:

·         Who formed the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership (LWP);

·         Which waste functions were undertaken by which partner of the LWP;

·         Strategic Drivers to the proposed Strategy;

·         Vision for the Strategy;

·         Process for consultation on the Strategy, how the Strategy would be finalised and actioned; and

·         Members roles in the process

Members of the Joint Panel had also received a report, appended to which were the Strategy consultation draft, the Strategy consultation draft (summary), and the Waste Strategy Public Consultation Survey.

Members considered the information from the report and the presentation, and the following issues were raised.  Responses were provided by a panel of officers and members consisting of the Executive Councillor, Commercial and Environmental Management at Lincolnshire County Council (who was in attendance in his capacity as the Chairman of the Lincolnshire Waste Partnership); the Portfolio Holder for Place (SHDC); the Senior Commissioning Officer (Waste) at Lincolnshire County Council; and the Environmental Services Manager (SHDC).

·         The Portfolio Holder Place stated that the proposed Strategy would lay out high level ambitions and goals.  SHDC was out of step with neighbouring local authorities with regard to waste collection, but the Authority would hold with the principle of responding to what local residents said as part of the consultation.  If change was proposed, a significant body of evidence would be required to illustrate why changes were being made. The Lincolnshire Waste Partnership was currently in the early stages of considering processes for waste collection and recycling.  The main priority was to get best value for Council Tax payers, and trying to keep costs down while being tuned in to residents wishes.

·         SHDC was unique in the area in undertaking weekly waste and recycling collections in sacks.  Would this continue?

o   Weekly collections could continue if this was the preferred option. Once all issues had been considered, and where there was sufficient evidence to be presented to elected members, current collection methods could continue, despite cost, if members were happy to continue as currently.  The purpose of the partnership was to make most effective use of resources however, waste collection was still a local choice.

o   Officers also clarified that legislation meant that the waste collection authority decided how waste would be collected.  The disposal authority stipulated where it was dropped off.

·         Incorrect items being placed in waste and recycling bags continued to be a problem.  This problem had to be overcome for the Strategy to work well.  What could be done to help educate the public?

o   Contamination in recycling was a problem and going forward, consideration needed to be given to ensuring that only products that did not cross-contaminate were put together.  Instructions for the public needed to be kept simple – this was not necessarily the case presently.  Clear instructions of what could go in each bag was required. 

·         An action plan was not included as part of the consultation –  ...  view the full minutes text for item 32.

There were no urgent items.