Agenda item

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 scrutiny@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 Monday 27^th February.

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 Thursday 2^nd March

Questions

It was noted that 6 questions had been submitted by Cllr Gollop in relation to agenda item 7 - Company Business Plans - Bristol Waste.

The questions and replies are set out below, together with the details of supplementary questions asked by Cllr Eddy on Cllr Gollop’s behalf, and the replies given at the meeting:

Questions from Cllr Gollop:

Preamble: I received notification on Friday 10February from Companies House that the interim Managing Director ceased to be a director of Bristol Waste on 12 January 2023. Given that this departure was in the middle of the business planning process for 23/24 my questions are as follows:

Q1. What date were OSMB members notified of the delay in receiving the Bristol Waste Business plan?

Written response:

The Chair of OSMB and Democratic Services were notified of the expected delay on 26 January, when it was agreed the item would be rescheduled and OSMB members notified.

Q2. Why were we not advised at the time of the departure of the interim Managing Director?

Written response:

OSMB members would not usually be notified at the time of a change in Board membership; however, the Chair of OSMB was advised on 12 January at the joint quarterly briefing with the Chair of Audit. The matter was also reported to the Shareholder group (which the Chair of OSMB attends as observer) on the 16 January.

Supplementary question from Cllr Eddy:

Why was an exempt briefing for key relevant members not arranged about the Managing Director change?

Response from Chair, Board of Directors, Bristol Waste:

The Shareholder was briefed; this was an internal Bristol Waste matter. In these circumstances, OSMB has not usually been briefed; correct governance procedure was followed to brief the Council via the Shareholder route.

Q3. What management arrangements are now in place?

Written response:

The current management arrangements are an Interim MD (an Independent NED has stepped into the role whilst a permanent MD is recruited), and 5 other directors.

Supplementary question from Cllr Eddy:

What is the expected timetable for the permanent appointment of a MD?

Response from Chair, Board of Directors, Bristol Waste:

Recruitment was started in mid-December; the process will be followed through and it is anticipated that an MD will be in place in the summer. Until then, one of the Non- Executive Directors, with extensive waste and facilities management experience, has stepped into the MD role.

Q4. Will the Business Plan be available for scrutiny and for Cabinet approval in line with the revised timetable?

Written response:

The Cabinet approval date remains 7 March. The OSMB date for review has been moved to 3 March to ensure that the public and members have the full amount of time to review the papers.

Q5. Am I right in understanding that Bristol Waste has had three Managing Directors since it was incorporated?

Written response:

There have been four, including the current post-holder.

Supplementary question from Cllr Eddy:

Does the Chair agree that to lose one MD is regrettable but to lose four is more than accident prone?

Response from the Chair:

We are living in very difficult times, particularly for waste collection, and we are living in a very difficult economic time.  All of the reasons as to why the MDs have changed have all been reported, including being reported to the Chair of the Audit Committee and the Chair of OSMB.  It is always unfortunate to lose managing directors but I’m not sure it’s really a joking matter either.

Q6. Should members of Council be concerned that each former MD has left at short notice with no explanation given to members?

Officer response:

No. All usual governance processes were followed, including approval of the reserved matter decision by Bristol City Council as Shareholder, reporting to the Shareholder group, and the quarterly joint briefing with the Chairs of Audit and OSMB. OSMB members receive the final approved set of minutes of quarterly Shareholder group meetings and have the opportunity to be updated on such matters at scheduled OSMB meetings.

Supplementary question from Cllr Eddy:

Does this rate of MD attrition confirm that the management regime at Bristol Waste is not what it should be?

Response from Chair, Board of Directors, Bristol Waste:

I don’t believe it shows that at all.  There have actually been two permanent MDs at Bristol Waste over 5 years; we have had a couple of interim MDs and Jason Eldridge who was an interim MD resigned on health grounds.  That was very unfortunate and a loss to the business.  What I do think it demonstrates is that we have a strong and new executive team who are stepping up; we’ve had an excellent year - despite a number of senior management changes, we have delivered improvements in street cleansing, Quality of Life survey scores have gone up, new facilities have been delivered such as the HRRC – if anything, in the last year, Bristol Waste has demonstrated being a resilient and strong business that delivers for the citizens of Bristol.

Statements

It was noted that the following statements had been submitted:

1. David Redgewell - Bus services

2. Cllr Geoff Gollop - Agenda item 7 – Company Business Plans – Bristol Waste

OSMB noted these statements.