Agenda item

To receive the report of the Chief Officer, Waste Management Services, which provides information to support session 1 of the inquiry in accordance with the draft terms of reference.

The report of the Chief Officer, Waste Management Services, provided information to support session 1 of the inquiry in accordance with the draft terms of reference.

The following were in attendance:

·  James Rogers – Director of Communities and Environment

·  Helen Freeman – Chief Officer, Environmental Action

·  Andrew Lingham – Head of Service, Waste Strategy

·  Matthew Birkett – Service Manager, Communities and Environment

·  Councillor M Rafique, Executive Member for Environment and Active Lifestyles

The Head of Service (Waste Strategy) provided the Board with a summary of the national context; legislation and the statutory duties the Authority is required to undertake which have shaped the development of the waste strategy. It was reported that DEFRA was expected to release new recycling requirements by the end of 2018 and the Board was provided with comparative recycling statistics and collection frequency data from other local authorities.

The Board noted the additional information tabled at the meeting showing waste streams and recorded missed collections; and considered each graph in turn during their deliberations.

Key issues identified in discussions with the Board included:

·  Strategies to achieve recycling targets – Clarity for session 3 was requested regarding the introduction of glass recycling and if this would assist Leeds achieving overall recycling targets, and what constraints would prevent the introduction of additional kerbside collections (i.e service capacity, cost)

·  The development of a cross-party Waste Strategy Working Group

·  Impact of extreme weather on waste collection

·  The technical definition of a “missed bin” which the Board will consider further during this inquiry.

·  The reporting of repeated collection failures. The number of repeat failures from 2015 was requested for presentation at the next inquiry session.

·  Clarity was sought regarding the availability of comparative data from other core cities or statistical neighbours. The Board were advised that there is no longer a Government requirement to publish this information, but this information is collected and can be provided at the next session. 

·  The impact of ward boundary changes on the statistics reported – data collected in 2017 would not be directly comparable after boundary change in April 2018 as some dwellings will have been captured in a different ward

·  The impact of new build homes on existing routes and the inclusion of waste management input in planning considerations.

·  Walking distances for crews based on locations and risk assessments.

·  The roll out of replacement refuse vehicles, which will have a larger capacity, and therefore may face increased access issues.

·  Clarification regarding the Councils side waste policy. The Board were advised that this would be considered as part of the developing Waste Management Strategy.

The Scrutiny Board viewed a short presentation, showing the issues and challenges faced by collection crews on a regular basis, and further discussed the issues which prevented successful collection including access to streets; side waste; distance between bin storage/collection point and crew safety.

Members noted that on average, 56 bin collections were missed daily and set this figure within the context of presented collection data: 76,000 collected daily and 23 million collected annually.

RESOLVED – The Scrutiny Board (Environment, Housing and Communities)

a)  Noted the information contained within the report

b)  Noted the content of the discussions on suggested performance improvement options

c)  Requested information as identified in the minute for presentation at the next inquiry session.

(During consideration of this item Councillor Gabriel withdrew from the meeting at 11:10 for 5 minutes, Councillor P Gruen withdrew from the meeting at 11:30 for 5 minutes)