Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence had been received from Paul Castle and Nigel Naisbitt.

There were no declarations of interest.

To approve the minutes of the previous meeting and to discuss matters arising from the previous minutes, which are not included elsewhere on the agenda.

An amendment to the Minute 132 was requested to that it would read:

The Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council Steering Committee Representative, Kellie Hopkins, becomes Chair of the Steering Committee for the 2022/23 Municipal Year and the Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council Steering Committee Representative, Sam Barstow, becomes Vice-Chair of the Steering Committee for the 2022/23 Municipal Year.

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

·         Governance

·         Contract Delivery

·         Legal

·         Financial

·         Communications

·         Resources

Lisbeth Baxter introduced the update report which had been circulated prior to the meeting and highlighted the following matters relating to the Joint Waste Private Finance Initiative:

·        Governance

·        Contract Delivery

·        Legal

·        Finance

·        Communications

·        Resources

It was reported that there were no Governance issues and confirmation of the BDR Team was provided. Two additional posts had been agreed however these would not commence until the new workloads and service change requirements from the new Resources and Waste Strategy and corresponding legislation were fully understood and timetabled.

In terms of contract delivery, it was confirmed that tonnage was down which was to be expected in the current financial climate. However, this meant the contractors were able to bring in third party waste and as a result, the contract was performing well. There had been an increase in moisture loss due to the extremely hot summer.

Fly numbers had also increased due to the hot weather, but the EA was unable to investigate as the complaints had been received over just a 24 hour period. Internal fly counts remained considerably lower than previous years. There had been a Facebook campaign originating out of Wath however there had not been a great deal of complaints generated from this. Many of the complaints received had not been substantiated.

In response to a question from Councillor Higginbottom, it was confirmed that the Environment Agency conduct unannounced visits as well as responding to the complaints. Following a question from Councillor Houlbrook on the drop in plastic outputs, the BDR manager agreed that she would look into it and report back outside of the meeting. 

The Acid Scrubber, Damaged Stack and Damaged Pasteurisation Tunnel Walls were highlighted in section 2.3 of the report. It was confirmed that the costs related to the Tunnel Walls was the responsibility of the contractor, not the partnership and it would be their choice as to whether they released any financial details.

There had been a drop in Health and Safety Close Calls but there were no issues to be raised. Section 3.1.2 highlighted matters related to insurance. The BDR Manager did not think securing insurance would be an issue, but it needed to be in place for 23 December 2022.

An underspend of £65,623 was currently forecast however, the BDR Manager confirmed that difficulties were expected financially going forward.

Resolved:

1)             That the report be noted.

Beth Baxter confirmed that the main issue at present was the delay on the national Waste and Resources Strategy. It was agreed that if any further information on the Strategy was released in-between BDR meetings, it would be provided to Members of the Board immediately.

Beth Baxter confirmed that there had been no changes to the Risk Register since the last meeting. Future changes could look at BAT’s (Best Available Technology) but most would probably relate to the Waste and Resources Strategy.  It was agreed that the BDR Manager would look at adding the cost of living/utilities crisis to the Risk Register. However, it was confirmed that responsibility for utility costs relating to the contract remained with the contractor.

Resolved:

That the risk register be noted.

·       HWRC Procurement

·       Community Liaison Group Meeting Minutes (for information only)

Household Waste Recycling Centre Procurement

It was noted that work was currently underway on the options in relation to the new Household Waste Recycling Centre Procurement. Discussions were on-going.

Community Liaison Group Meeting Minutes

The Minutes from the meeting of the group held on Tuesday 10 May 2022 were provided for information and no issues were reported. At a subsequent meeting, some members of the public raised concerns over what was perceived to be a lack of community funds from the Waste Treatment Facilities. Although this matter was discussed, it was left unresolved.

Monday 5 December, 2022 at 9.30am in Rotherham Town Hall.

The next meeting will take place on 5 December 2022 at Rotherham Town Hall subject to confirmation of attendance by representatives of all member Councils.