Meeting documents

To agree the Minutes of the meeting held on 31 January 2013.

The minutes of the Chiltern and Wycombe Joint Waste Collection Committee held on 31 January 2013 were agreed as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

To resolve that under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act 1972 the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item(s) of business on the grounds that they involve the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Part I of Schedule 12A of the Act.

Paragraph 3 - Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Paragraph 3 - Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Officers advised the Committee that it had been hoped that it would be possible to bring the Service Level Agreement regarding customer services functions to the meeting. The Service Level Agreement had progressed, and it was noted that the Legal Service Manager was focussing on the legal aspects of the agreement.

It would be important to finalise the agreement as soon as possible to ensure the performance standards expected by both Councils were formally recorded.

Paragraph 3 - Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Paragraph 3 - Information relating to the financial or business affairs of any particular person (including the authority holding that information)

Members considered a report providing an update on the joint waste collection programme and during which the following key points were made:

Contract

It was reported that the documents were in the final stage and were with Serco for signing off. 

Bio Waste Infrastructure

A full update from Buckinghamshire County Council had not been received.    The work was being progressed, but the updates were not being received. Buckinghamshire County Council had joined mobilisation meetings with Serco.

IAA

The Inter Authority Agreement (IAA) remained a red risk. Buckinghamshire County Council was unwilling to sign the IAA. It was stated that issues that had caused the County Council to take that position were being addressed.   Work had been progressed by the Councils' external legal advisors.

It was noted that Councillor Rose would be writing and speaking to Councillor Tett regarding this matter.

Mobilisation

Mobilisation was reported to be well underway, and the contract start date was six working days from the date of the meeting. The old contractors would be moving out of the depot the weekend before the new contract started. It was stated that there should not be a problem with waste collections. The configuration meant that the time of the collection may change.  It was noted that Serco had contacted the areas neighbouring the depot to inform them that they were the new contractors. It was suggested that local Members should receive this too. The Senior Waste Officer stated that she would circulate a PDF version of this letter to local Members. Information would also be disseminated to the public in the local press.

The Customer Services and Waste teams had undergone training on procedures. This had taken place before the Council Tax changes had been communicated to the residents, and therefore had taken place during a quieter time for the Customer Services team.

Regarding chargeable green waste, it was being stressed with the contractor that if a resident had not paid the fees, the bins would not be collected.

IT / Contender

The Contender software had been built and it was reported that testing was underway.  This included street cleansing. It was anticipated that this would be available from the start of the contract.

Customer Services

The Committee heard that training had been undertaken, and customer services were almost ready. The potential TUPE transfer of staff from Northgate was being clarified.

Financial

It was stated that there were a few outstanding issues regarding the cost partition on client side. The recharging between the two Councils should be in place by the end of the financial year. Councillors questioned whether this would lead to a large bill appearing for either Council that had not been budgeted for, and were advised that the TUPE, indexation and client side costs budgeted for were the worst case scenario.

Human Resources

The Committee heard that the client side restructure was nearly completed.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 19.