Agenda and minutes

To authorise the Chairman to sign the Minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2019 as a correct record of the proceedings.

The Chairman was authorised to sign the minutes of the meeting held on 7 June 2019 as a correct record of the proceedings.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor R. Galley (WDC), Simon Hubbard – Director of Operational Services (HBC), Scott Lavocah – Contracts Manager (RDC), Cameron Morley – Waste and Cleansing Manager (HBC), Karl Taylor – Assistant Director Operations and Contract Management (ESCC), Carl Valentine – Head of Transport and Operational Services (ESCC) and Robin Vennard – Assistant Director Resources (RDC).

To receive any disclosure by Members of personal and disclosable pecuniary interests in matters on the agenda, the nature of any interest and whether the Member regards the personal interest as prejudicial under the terms of the Code of Conduct.  Members are reminded of the need to repeat their declaration immediately prior to the commencement of the item in question.

Declarations of interest were made by Councillors in the Minutes as indicated below:

Dowling           Agenda Item 8 – Personal Interest in so far as she was an elected Member of Wealden District Council.

Field                Agenda Item 8 – Personal Interest in so far as she was an elected Member of East Sussex County Council.

Standley          Agenda Item 8 – Personal Interest in so far as he was an elected Member of East Sussex County Council.

To receive a presentation from the Contractor on the Waste Collection, Recycling, Street and Beach Cleaning and Associated Services Contract.

The Senior Operations Project Manager led Members through Biffa’s presentation which provided an update on the Waste Collection, Recycling, Street and Beach Cleaning and Associated Services Contract.  During the presentation the following points were noted:

·        The following procedures had been successful during mobilisation: regular internal reviews and continuous feedback; engaged support from Biffa functions; positive interface with the Partnership (meetings were being held every two weeks); consistent message portrayed across the Partnership; detailed 7-hour inductions held over three weekends which included health and safety, reversing, manual and truck handling training (excellent feedback had been received); and open door policy for all staff.

·        The following procedures had been successful since the start of the contract: increased the number of staff in Week 1; embedded strong leadership and Biffa culture; usage of Whitespace (in-cab technology) to provide data for crews; improved attendance; provided an enhanced level service.

·        The lessons learnt included pre-ordering IT equipment earlier; to provide professional development training pre-start of the contract; complete structural site surveys sooner; increase internal governance e.g. minute all meetings etc.; and increase staffing during start up and concentrate on day-to-day functions.

·        The key milestones during the Transformation Plan until June 2020 were monitoring of rounds; ongoing reviews with the Partnership; construct data for new routes; implement changes to routes; ongoing reviews to drive efficiency; upgrade depots and workshops (costings had been received for Bulverhythe); reduce costs; complete compliance reviews; and continuous analysis of Key Performance Indicators in-line with the contract.

·        Improvement opportunities included: upskilling staff; creating staff champions; annual recruitment; and completing annual residential surveys.

·        Performance was improving and all staffing issues were being addressed.

Assurance was given that Biffa was committed to providing a successful Contract across the Partnership.   

RESOLVED: That the presentation be noted.

The Waste, Recycling, Street and Beach Cleaning and Associated Services provided by Biffa Municipal Limited commenced on 29 June 2019.  The local authorities were currently working with Biffa to mobilise the new Contract. 

The report provided commentary on the initial eight week period of the Contract and planned transition to the long-term Routine Services Programme (RSP).  The RSP was the scheduled programme of collection and cleansing activities required to deliver the specified services.  The Contract provided for a 12-week grace period during which the Performance Management Framework was suspended.  A further 8-week grace period would apply once round changes were implemented.

Biffa’s Process, Quality and Information Manager collated daily service data, which was analysed and used to inform management decisions.  It was confirmed that all reports were accurate for invoicing and performance management purposes.  Performance would be continually monitored.

The Contract required Biffa to deliver new containers to customers within a two week period.  At the start of the initial period 3,250 extra container jobs were logged.  Complications / backlogs had arisen as a result of the hand-over period with Kier namely high demand for brown bins in Wealden, recovery of brown bins from unsubscribed households in Rother, impact of both management and operational staff leave.  Additional resources would be implemented and officers were working with Biffa to manage the outstanding backlog.

An update position of each individual Partner’s local service preparations was provided as follows:

Hastings Borough Council: Overall a good standard of service had been achieved with low levels of missed collections and complaints reported.  Focus would be placed on establishing the correct collection frequency for on-street waste facilities.

Rother District Council: Minimum disruption and missed collections had been reported and officers were maintaining a good working relationship with local supervisors.  Regular meetings were held to discuss current and historic operational issues.  The new daily (Monday to Friday) waste collection service for four main streets in Bexhill town centre (Devonshire Road, Sackville Road, St Leonards Road and Western Road) introduced by Rother in July was operating successfully with positive feedback received.  A backlog of container deliveries / collections remained a concern, however it was noted that additional resources had been put in place to assist with this issue.  Bring sites required further improvement, of particular concern was overflowing, additional recyclate and fly-tip accumulation.  Monitoring of these areas would be ongoing and Partnership discussions would be held regarding the future of Bring sites.  The routine street cleansing schedule had been received.      

Wealden District Council: Initial collection performance was satisfactory however slippage was experienced in late July and August primarily due to staff issues.  Areas being addressed were assisted collections and bring sites.   Delays had been experienced regarding the delivery of brown bins for customers joining the garden waste collection service; monitoring would be ongoing.  Day-to-day progress had improved regarding street cleansing showing positive signs of sustainability.  Fly-tip clearance response times were consistently good.  Bulky and clinical waste collection issues were being addressed.

Implementation of round changes  ...  view the full minutes text for item JWRC19/11.

The Committee was required to agree its meeting dates for 2020/21 as currently there were no dates in place for future meetings.

Due to the fact that each Partner authority published their timetable of meetings at different times of the year, the approach had been taken to ‘set’ dates in advance of all timetables being available.  In order to avoid any other meetings of the Partner authorities, the Joint Waste and Recycling Committee (JWRC) had previously met on a Friday at 2:00pm or 2:30pm.  As the JWRC meetings were no longer running concurrently with the Joint Waste Committee, and following a number of committee membership changes in recent years, it was recommended that the meetings commence at 10.00am from April 2020.  Members were therefore asked to agree Committee dates for 2020/21 as follows: 3 April; 3 July; 2 October; and 8 January 2021.

The Committee agreed the above dates and 10:00am start time.

RESOLVED: That the following meeting dates and times be agreed for the Joint Waste and Recycling Committee for 2020/21:

·        3 April, to be held at 10:00am, Town Hall, Bexhill;

·        3 July, to be held at 10:00am, Muriel Matters House, Hastings;

·        2 October, to be held at 10:00am, County Hall, Lewes; and

·        8 January 2021, to be held at 10:00am, Town Hall, Bexhill.

Friday 29 November 2019, 2:00pm.  To be held at County Hall, Lewes.

It was confirmed that the next meeting was scheduled to be held on Friday 29 November 2019 at 2:00pm in the Council Chamber, County Hall, Lewes.