Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors T Clements, L Bates, B Beale, D Foster, K Gant, M Gant and M Thurgood

The minutes of the meeting held on 25 January 2012 were approved and signed as a correct record.

(Moved by Councillor R Cook and Councillor D Cook)

To receive any declarations of Members’ interests (personal and/or personal and   prejudicial) in any matters which are to be considered at this meeting.

When Members are declaring a personal interest or personal and prejudicial interest in respect of which they have dispensation, they should specify the nature of such interest.  Members should leave the room if they have a personal and prejudicial interest in respect of which they do not have a dispensation.

There were no Declarations of Interest.

None

(i)                 To answer questions from members of the public pursuant to Procedure Rule No. 10.

(ii)               To answer questions from members of the Council pursuant to Procedure Rule No. 11

QUESTIONS FROM MEMBERS OF THE COUNCIL                NO.1

Under Procedure Rule No 11, Councillor C Cooke asked the Portfolio Holder for Environment & Waste Management, the following question:-

"It has been reported that Communities Secretary Eric Pickles has introduced a £250 million grant scheme for the return of weekly black bin collections.  Will the partfolio holder assure me that this scheme will be considered as soon as possible for Tamworth's needs and a report giving comparitive facts, costs and details be produced and made available for all councillors to comment on before any final decision is taken by the executive"

The Portfolio Holder for Environment & Waste Management gave the following reply:-

1. This grant scheme is a competitive process that any authority has to bid for, and, as such a successful bid is not guaranteed. Each bid will be scored by the task group set up for this grant, and a successful bid will reflect environmental benefits (improved recycling rates, reduced waste to landfill, CO2 emissions), innovation (being customer focussed, less bins for the customer, more effective or joined up procurement), cost effectiveness, and feasibility of delivery.
2. As you may be aware to implement any changes to our collection methodology we would need to do so in agreement with our joint administrative arrangement partner (Lichfield District Council), and the changes would have to be in the best interest of the joint service overall.

3. Since its commencement in July 2010 both authorities have benefited from an good increase in recycling rate (over 4% for Tamworth), and a large reduction in the weight of residual waste taken to landfill (in Tamworth’s case a reduction of nearly 50kg’s per household). Carbon emissions have also reduced as a result of route optimisation.

4. An initial overview of a revised weekly residual service has indicated (approximately) an additional £1.2 million pounds would be added to the waste collection budget per annum, which, if a bid were to be successful, could be funded over a 3 year period, this would directly impact upon the councils medium term financial forecast in year 4 onwards. Given the overall current budget for the shared service is approximately £3.4 million it does not demonstrate value for money by adding considerably to collection costs for no realistic benefits. A key requirement of the bid would be to demonstrate the service enhancements are sustainable after the grant ceases (for a total of 5 years), and given the recent austerity measures suffered by both authorities it is unlikely any service alteration that introduces additional cost would be sustainable.

5. There are also environmental impact on any service changes which need to be considered, 

1. The carbon footprint of the collection service would increase due to twice as many residual waste miles being completed (more collection activity will produce more emissions.)
2. The efficiency of collections would reduce as it is probable vehicles would not be used to their maximum potential.
3. It is likely the weight of residual waste would increase by approximately 6000 tonnes, and the weight of recycling  ...  view the full minutes text for item 60.

(The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Enterprise)

The Report of the Portfolio Holder for Economic Development and Enterprise seeking approval to publish the Pre-submission Publication Draft Core Strategy; incorporating amendments agreed by Cabinet, in accordance with Regulations 27 & 28 of the Town and Country Planning (Local Development)(Amendment) Regulations 2008, and seeking authorisation for officers to make minor changes to the Publication Draft Core Strategy and carry out any necessary further consultations with key stakeholders, prior to submitting it to the Government for Public Examination, in order to ensure a sound Core Strategy was considered.

Cllr C Cooke abstained