Agenda and draft minutes

Resolved:- that

(1)  Councillor Houlbrook of Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council be appointed Chair and Councillor Beck of Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council be appointed Vice-Chair of the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Joint Waste Board for the 2021/22 Municipal Year; and

(2)  The Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council Steering Committee Representative be appointed Chair and the Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Steering Committee Representative becomes Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee.

(Councillor Houlbrook in the Chair)

There were no urgent items to consider.

Agreed.

Apologies for absence had been received from Rhonda Fleetwood.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Minutes were approved as a correct record of the meeting.

There were no matters arising.

-          Authorised Representatives

-          Terms of Reference

-          IAA Delegations Report

The Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Joint Waste Manager submitted a report stating that one of the contractual documents entered into between the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Local Authorities at financial close of the BDR Waste PFI project was an Inter-Authority Agreement (IAA). This IAA creates the Joint Waste Board (“JWB”) as a joint committee pursuant to Section 101(5) of the Local Government Act 1972, which is established as part of the joint working arrangements between the Local Authorities for the management and administration of what are termed Relevant Contracts under the IAA. At the date of today’s meeting, the BDR Waste PFI Contract is the only Relevant Contract to which the IAA applies and is referred to as the “Principal Contract”.

The submitted report detailed how the functions of this Joint Waste Board will be delegated down to the BDR Steering Committee and the BDR Manager in order to deal more efficiently with the day-to-day decisions that will be required under the Principal Contract. All decisions of the JWB, BDR Steering Committee and the BDR Manager will be made in accordance with the provisions of the prevailing Inter-Authority Agreement.

The recommendations in the report in relation to authorised representatives had already been resolved under agenda item 1.

Resolved: That the IAA Delegations report the Terms of Reference be noted.

Beth Baxter explained that the recent hot weather had lead to an increase in flies on site but that there had been no complaints from the Environment Agency. In response to questions on the measures taken to deal with flies, it was explained that the fly’s and fly larvae were coming in with the waste. Following a consultation with the Environment Agency, a number of recommendations had been acted on to improve matters. This included a campaign to improve the cleanliness of household waste bins and to reduce the levels of cross-contamination within waste. It was however also confirmed that no measures can be taken to completely stop fly’s.

Resolved: That the information provided be noted.

The BDR Senior Contract Officer introduced the Risk Register and highlighted the key changes:

-          Brexit – this risk had been de-coupled from the Legislative Changes risk and the level of risk had been reduced due to the fact the Council and Renewi were only seeing minimal effects due to pre-Brexit planning and supply chain management.

-          The risk relating to Changes in Government Law/Regulation including Waste and Resource Strategy had increased. The risk relating to Changes to Collection services and the impact on the PFI Contract – waste volumes changes had also increased. These increases have occurred to focus on the likely and imminent changes to legislation proposed by the Government in their Resources and Waste Strategies and the new Environment Bill.

In response to questions regarding insurance, Nigel Naisbitt and Beth Baxter confirmed that the insurance market for waste management facilities was hard and involved high costs. It was confirmed that if insurance could not be procured, local authorities can self-insure.

Resolved: That the risk register be noted.

Resolved:-  That under Section 100(A) 4 of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of such Act indicated, as now amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006 (information relates to finance and business affairs).

Resolved: That under Section 100(A) of the Local Government Act 1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the Minute 103 on the grounds that the report involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in Paragraph 3 of Part 1 of Schedule 12(A) of such Act indicated, as now amended by the Local Government (Access to Information) (Variation) Order 2006.

Beth Baxter introduced the Annual Report which had been circulated prior to the meeting and highlighted the following issues relating to the Joint Waste Private Finance Initiative for the period April 2020 to March 2021:-

-        Resources

-        BDR Liaison Committee Meeting

-        Steering Committee

-        South Yorkshire Leaders’ Meeting

-        Operating Contractor

-        Bolton Road

-        Complaints (including fly management and odour)

-        Environmental reports

-        Fire Protection Improvements

-        Acid Scrubber

-        Ferrybridge

-        Grange lane – Barnsley Transfer Station (upgrade works and fire   update)

-        Health and Safety

-        Legal and Insurance

-        Financial

-        Communications

-        Community Liaison Group

-        Joint Working and BDR Support

In response to questions it was confirmed that complaints were down on last year which was very positive due to the number of people remaining at home for the past year. The cooler spring could also have had an impact on fly levels and odour. It was also confirmed that the budget for the refurbishment of the damaged Barnsley transfer station came from insurance through Barnsley Council as this is not a shared facility.

The Chair explained that he wanted the reduction of carbon emissions to be the focus during his year as Chair. It was explained that waste minimisation was part of the PFI contract and that the contractor reported their emissions to the team. However, due to the complex calculations required on this data, it would not be possible to include it in every update. It was agreed that it would be included in the annual report going forward. Officers confirmed that the reduction of carbon emissions continued to be taken into account when reviewing strategies and projects.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

Monday, 27^th September, 2021, commencing at 9.30 a.m. venue to be confirmed      

The next meeting will take place on 27 September 2021 at 9.30am at Rotherham Town Hall.