Agenda and minutes

An apology for absence was received from Councillor D. Jones

Members and Officers are requested to give notice of any personal or prejudicial interest and the nature of that interest, relating to any item on the agenda in accordance with the relevant Code of Conduct.

No declarations of interest were received.

Minutes of the Meeting held on 10 February 2010

RESOLVED:  

That the Minutes of the meeting of the Cabinet Member held on 10 February 2010 be confirmed as a correct record.

Report of the Head of Regeneration and Technical Services

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Head of Regeneration and Technical Services seeking approval to procure bathymetric survey services in relation to the Regional Coastal Monitoring Programme using the Buying Solutions Framework; and requesting that the Capital Programme be increased to reflect the revised cost of the project subject to Environment Agency approval.

RESOLVED:  

That, subject to receiving 100% grant approval from the Environment Agency:

(1)            Halcrow Group Ltd. be commissioned to undertake Bathymetric surveys via the Buying Solutions Framework at a cost of £295.00; and

(2)       the Cabinet be requested to increase the Capital Programme to reflect the revised cost of the project.

Report of the Environmental Protection Director

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Environmental Protection Director seeking formal approval to commence the necessary processes to ensure that suitable arrangements were in place to continue to provide a recycling collection service when the current contractual arrangement expired, and indicating that a decision on this matter was required as the current Dry Recycling Collection contract was due to end on 31 March 2011 and a recycling collection service must continue to be provided.

The report indicated that the Council had a statutory duty to collect at least four materials for recycling from households, as well as still having tonnage related recycling/composting targets to achieve; that the current contract with Abitibi Bowater Recycling Europe (subcontracted to P.D. Logistics) would come to an end on 31 March 2011 and could not be extended; that a household recycling collection service must continue to be provided form 1 April 2011 onwards to comply with statutory obligations; and that the current contract included the servicing and cleaning of bring banks.

The report also detailed the pressures for change and indicated that, although Sefton was closely approaching its current long-term recycling/composing target of 40%, it was envisaged that a higher target of 50% would be imposed as the EU Waste Directive was transposed into national legislation later this year and regional and sub-regional strategies aligned; that there was also a significant desire from the Council and Sefton residents to recycle an increased range of materials from their homes, particularly the recycling of plastic bottles and cardboard; that these materials could be accepted at the Merseyside Waste Disposal Authority's (MWDA) new Materials Recovery Facility (MRF) which was under construction at Gillmoss and should be operational by the first quarter of 2011; and that the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (Regeneration and Environmental Services) Working Group had concluded that delivering recyclable materials to this facility would be the most practical option when considering how to incorporate both of these materials into a new recycling service.

The Overview and Scrutiny Committee Working Group, at its meeting held on 16 December 2009, had recommended that a 'co-mingled' collection be introduced, subject to an acceptable/beneficial arrangement being agreed by all MWDA member authorities; that under a co-mingled collection system recyclable materials were stored, collected and transported mixed together; that the mixed recyclables were then partly mechanically and partly hand sorted into different materials at the MRF; and that under the  new recycling service, food waste would be continued to be collected on a weekly basis on the same day as other containers were collected/emptied.

Paragraphs 23-37 of the report detailed the complex financial implications of the scheme, but that whichever service was ultimately established, it would have a significant financial impact and therefore the anticipated cost would need to be included in the Medium Term Financial Plan for 2011/12 onwards.

The report concluded that the co-mingled service did provide an opportunity for residents to recycle both plastic bottles and cardboard and that the Council was often criticised for being  ...  view the full minutes text for item 106.

Report of the Environmental Protection Director

The Cabinet Member considered the report of the Environmental Protection Director  proposing an increase in fees and charges in 2010/11 for the range of services delivered by his Department; and indicating that a decision on this matter was required in order to achieve the income requirement of the department for 2010/11.

The report indicated that other than any areas specifically identified in the Council's budget proposals, the setting of fees and charges fell outside the budget setting framework and it was left to individual departments to determine any need for increases; that fees and charges were reviewed and adjusted to reflect current service delivery costs (including material costs such as pesticides, cleaning chemicals etc.), national guidelines and/or inflation; and that none of the fees and charges included within the report for services delivered by the department had been specifically identified in the Council's budget proposals for 2010/11.

DEFRA had not yet published LAPPC fees and charges and Sefton had no discretion in relation to such matters; and approval was sought to adopt such fees and charges once published by DEFRA.

Annex A to the report provided details of the proposed increase in fees and charges.

RESOLVED:  

That the Cabinet be recommended to approve the proposed fees and charges for 2010/11 as detailed in annex A of the report, together with the LAPPC fees and charges for 2010/11 once announced by DEFRA.