Agenda and draft minutes

Agreed.

There were no urgent items to consider.

Apologies for absence had been received from Councillor Beck, Councillor Lamb, Matthew Gladstone, Paul Woodcock, Dan Swaine and Paul Hutchinson.

Following the apologies for absence, it was agreed reasons for apologies would be recorded in the minutes starting with the next meeting.

There were no declarations of interest.

The Minutes were approved as a correct record of the meeting. There were no matters arising.

·        Governance

·        Contract Delivery

·        Legal

·        Financial

·        Communications

·        Resources

·        Environmental

·        Site Visits Cllr / New AD’s

The Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Joint Waste Manager submitted a report which highlighted and updated the following issues relating to the Joint Waste Private Finance Initiative (PFI) for the period up to 31 January 2022:

·         Governance

·         Contract Delivery

·         Legal

·         Financial

·         Communications

·         Resources

·         Site Visits for Cllr’s/ New AD’s

Beth Baxter confirmed that there had been no impact on service provision following high winds which had caused the refinement deducing stack to tilt towards the building. Work was underway to repair/replace the affected sections. It was also confirmed that there were budgetary savings due to the Senior Contract Officers roles being vacant. These budgetary savings could offset the need for the additional £38k that was approved at the last JWB meeting for the HWRC options appraisal project.

The use of social media was praised by the Board. Of particular note was the #FoodWasteFriday initiative that focused on reducing food waste and had received 214,851 impressions in the year.

In response to questions it was confirmed that, whilst waste levels had increased in June and July and decreased in August, this was not always the case. Increases and decreases tended to change with the seasons. It was anticipated that their would be increases following events such at the Jubilee Weekend in June.

It was noted that:

-          collection of 3^rd party waste had been limited during the pandemic in order to prioritise waste from Barnsley, Rotherham and Doncaster.

-          The number of complaints were down which was praised by the Board.

-          Work was ongoing to keep the number of complaints low, especially in relation to flies.

-          The number of close calls/near misses had increased which was good health and safety practice.

-          The Renewi Corporate Social Responsibility Fund had been allocated.

It was agreed that Beth Baxter would provide further details of the successful bids for the Corporate Social Responsibility Fund and links to the social media campaigns.

The Board wished to place on record their thanks to the BDR team and all officers involved for exceptional performance.

Resolved: That the information provided be noted.

Officers provided a verbal update on the contract for the HWRC which was due to end in October 2023. Work had started on the specification and timetable for the new contract. It was agreed that further updates on the HWRC contract would be provided at future meetings.

Discussions were held in relation to the benefits/draw backs of partnership working. Discussions were also held in relation to ANPR cameras at HWRC. It was confirmed that a clear policy was required to effectively use ANPR cameras as there were many complications related to their use.

It was expected that a report would be taken to the Rotherham Cabinet in Summer 2022 setting out the next steps for Rotherham and also discussing the options of outsourcing and insourcing. Rotherham MBC would keep Barnsley MBC and Doncaster MBC up to date on the progress.

It was agreed that the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority would be informed of the matter.

There had been a delay in Government issuing their response from the consultations on the  Resource and Waste Strategy and a subsequent delay in producing secondary legislation from the R&WS and Environment Act. It was anticipated that there would be a lot of work going forward in relation to the Strategy and Act.

Beth Baxter introduced the Risk Register and highlighted the following key change:

-          New risks – Changes in Technology due to innovation or Government Law/Regulations (Carbon Capture) at Energy from Waste Plant.  This has been added as there could be potential financial implications should the EfW end destination be forced to alter their technology to capture Carbon. Cardon reduction was a major priority both nationally and internationally.

The Board discussed the potential risks associated with the increasing cost of energy/fuel. It was confirmed that this risk was not the responsibility of BDR but of the contract holders.

Resolved: That the risk register be noted.

It was also agreed that the formatting of the risk register be reviewed for the next meeting, specifically focussing on the size of text used.

For information:

-       Community Liaison Group Meeting Minutes

Community Liaison Group

The minutes of the previous two Community Liaison Group meetings were attached to the agenda for information.

It was agreed that a list of expected attendees would be distributed to all relevant Members in order to improve attendance.

Resolved: That the report be noted.

Monday 6 June 2022 at 9.30am in Rotherham Town Hall.

The next meeting will take place on 6 June 2022 at Rotherham Town Hall subject to confirmation of attendance by representatives of all member Councils.