Agenda and minutes

The Fire Evacuation procedure was noted.

Apologies were received from Councillor Martin Fodor.

Members are requested to elect a Vice-Chair for the 2016/17 Municipal Year.

Resolved: that Councillor Carole Johnson be elected Vice-Chair for the 2016/17 municipal  year.

To note any declarations of interest from councillors.  They are asked to indicate the relevant agenda item, the nature of the interest and in particular whether it is a disclosable pecuniary interest.

Any declaration of interest made at the meeting which is not on the register of interests should be notified to the Monitoring Officer for inclusion.

None.

To confirm the Minutes of the meeting held on 11 April 2016 as a correct record.

The Minutes were approved as a correct record subject to paragraph 131 being amended to read ‘Bristol City Council had recently received a sustainable food city silver level award’

Matters Arising:
Minute 133 – Neighbourhood Partnership funding issues to be added to the Action Tracker

It was noted that the report on By laws would not now be going to the July Full Council meeting.

The issue of plastic use by supermarkets, and in particular black plastic which is not recyclable, would be raised at the Core Cities Waste Group and the Commission would ensure that actions arising from the Supermarket Evidence Session were pursued.

Up to 30 minutes is allowed for this item.

Any member of the public or Councillor may participate in Public Forum.  The detailed arrangements for so doing are set out in the Public Information Sheet at the back of this agenda.  Public Forum items should be emailed to democratic.services@bristol.gov.uk and please note that the following deadlines will apply in relation to this meeting:-

Questions - Written questions must be received 3 clear working days prior to the meeting.  For this meeting, this means that your question(s) must be received in this office at the latest by 5 pm on 1 July 2016.

Petitions and statements - Petitions and statements must be received on the working day prior to the meeting.  For this meeting this means that your submission must be received in this office at the latest by 12.00 noon on 6 July 2016.

The Commission noted the following public forum statements:

Rob Umphray – subject: Bristol Waste Company / waste issues

Councillor Clive Stevens – subject: Bristol Waste Company / waste issues

To consider the annual business report.

The Commission noted the Annual Business Report including the schedule of future meetings.

The Commission were introduced to Neighbourhoods Service Directors who gave a brief overview of their service.

            To consider the latest performance update.

The Commission considered the 2015/16 outturn report.

During discussion the following issues were noted/raised:

·         The current indicators were based on the Corporate Plan which was written 4 years ago and they are predominantly outcome indicators to measure public delivery of services.

·         These were the key indicators which the management team look at but are not all the indicators.

·         Although waste indicators were still red the direction of travel was positive.

·         The figures around waste collection were out of date as they were based on an under-costed contract which was not deliverable within the budget envelope.

·         Concerns were expressed about hate crimes and it was agreed to provide further information to Cllr Denyer on actions being taken to address any increases in such crime.

·         The Commission would like going forward to be involved in reviewing performance targets and their fitness for purpose.

To consider and comment on this draft Cabinet report.

The Commission received a presentation from Alison Comley – Strategic Director Neighbourhoods and Gillian Douglas – Interim Service Director Clean and Green, relating to the report.

Key points highlighted:

a.       The report would be considered by Cabinet on the 11^th August when a decision would be made on whether the Council should award the integrated waste services contract to Bristol Waste Company

b.      The presentation covered the following issues:
- the background to the setting up of a wholly owned ‘Teckal’   Company, Bristol Waste
- the scope of the service in respect of statutory responsibilities regarding Waste Collection, Disposal and Litter
- the targets in the new waste and resources strategy
- the outcome of the market review of the current service including evaluation of the service cost in relation to market estimates
- feedback from the Independent Review on the Integrated Waste Service as proposed by  Bristol Waste Company, including the financial and other benefits of the proposal

The Commission considered this report alongside item 11 Draft Cabinet report - Adoption of Bristol Waste Company Business Plan and the Commission’s comments are recorded under item 11.

To consider and comment on this draft Cabinet report.

The Commission received a presentation from Tracey Morgan – Managing Director, Bristol Waste and Steve Ostler – Finance Director Bristol Waste

Key points highlighted:

a.       The Mayor in Cabinet on the 11^th August would be making a decision as Shareholder, advised by the Shareholder Group on the adoption of the Bristol Waste Company Business Plan.

b.      The decision would be dependent on the award of the contract.

c.       The presentation covered the following issues:
- The current range of operational activities included in the Waste Services
- Key achievements to date and  the Vision for the future service founded on the principal of waste as a shared responsibility
- the key aspects of the business plan and what the offer would  be going forward, including the timelines, desired outcomes
- the financial plan, key assumptions and  dependencies

Following the presentations the Commission agreed the following resolution in respect of the Exclusion of Press and Public:

“That under s.100A(4) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the discussion on the above items of business on the grounds that they involve  the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 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).

Main points raised/noted in discussion on both draft reports included:

Financial Issues

-          The recycling and commercial income would be used to offset the cost of the core service to the council The Commission sought clarifications on the impact to the Council of not achieving income targets.

-          If the Waste Company did not achieve the income targets this would not fall as a cost to the Council, similarly if there was a greater surplus that would be a ‘shareholder’ surplus.  It was also noted that the commercial income projections were not near the 20% limit. 

-          In addition should income targets not be met the fact that the company was cash positive provides financial resilience.  The Company would also look at business efficiencies or changing the way it did things without affecting the service to the public.

-          Whilst it was noted that the Company would need  equipment for the commercial waste  business a lot of that equipment would be is very similar to what is used on the domestic contract  and would not require a large investment

-          It was confirmed that there was resilience in the budget/financial assumptions and the baseline but that the figures also challenged the company to do things differently and there were areas where the company was confident it would out-perform targets.  An inflation assumption had been built into the figures and the two main  cost areas were labour and the disposal contract, which would have to be negotiated

-          It was prudent to have some surplus to allow for  fluctuations in revenue streams and to provide financial resilience

-          The first year of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11.