Agenda and draft minutes

It was advised that it was previously agreed that the roles of the Chair person and Vice-Chair person of the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Joint Waste Board would rotate between the three Local Authorities on an annual basis. Therefore the following was agreed:

Resolved:-

1.    That Councillor James Higginbotham of Barnsley MBC be appointed as Chair of the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Joint Waste Board for the 2025/2026 municipal year.

2.    That Councillor Lynda Marshall of Rotherham MBC be appointed as Vice-Chair of the Barnsley, Doncaster and Rotherham Joint Waste Board for the 2025/2026 municipal year.

3.    With the exception of the decisions reserved to the Authorities for a unanimous decision under the IAA3, all other decisions in respect of the Principal Contract are delegated by the JWB to the chair of the BDR Steering Committee (the “Authorised BDR Steering Committee Member”).

4.    The Authorised BDR Steering Committee Member may elect to delegate certain decisions to the BDR Manager.

5.    The BDR Manager may delegate any decisions delegated to them to a member of the Joint Waste Team (if the right to delegate is granted by the Authorised BDR Steering Committee Member).

(Councillor James Higginbottom in the Chair).

Apologies were received from Councillor Glynn Jones, Matt O’Neill and Dan Swaine.

There were no declarations of interests.

An update was provided in relation to page 11 of the minutes, where it stated that “It was reported that earlier in the year, Biffa were, uncharacteristically, failing to meet the annual target for Landfill Diversion of 96.68%. They had been pressed on this issue and had advised that they had ensured mitigation was now in place to ensure they met the target by year-end, 31 March 2025”. The Board was advised that Biffa had met the target at 98% by year-end.

Resolved:- That the minutes of the meeting held on 5 March 2025 be approved as a true and correct record of the proceedings.

-       Update on Contract 24/25

-       Year ahead for 25/26

-       25/26 Budget Requirement

Consideration was given to report included within the agenda pack, which highlighted the following matters relating to the Joint Waste Private Finance Initiative (PFI):

·       Governance

·       Financial

·       Contract Delivery

·       Complaints

·       Environmental Report

·       Other Updates/Issues

·       Ferrybridge

·       Barnsley Transfer Station- Grange Lane

·       Health and Safety

·       Community Education Liaison Officer (CELO)

·       Joint Working and BDR Support 2025-2026.

Paul Hutchinson, BDR Manager introduced the report and provided a high-level overview. He explained that the PFI Waste Treatment Facility at Manvers had been running since 2015, this was a joint facility used by all three local authorities, to deliver residential waste to be processed. The BDR Board had had oversight of the project since the tendering stage, there was fifteen years left on the contract, with a potential extension of five years. To date, the site was successful, unlike the majority of other PFI’s. However, the contract was not profitable, as a result the contract had been sold twice to date.

In relation to the waste treatment performance, there had been very few issues contractually and minimal risks. There had been a request arising from the sale, for the Parent Company Guarantee to be changed from Renewi to Biffa. After seeking advice, the local authority declined the request, this was due to the new proposed guarantor not fulfilling the requirements of a guarantor, as set out in the contract.

Following changes in legislation, the Councils were working with the contractor for changes to the facility to meet contractual requirement and environmental permits. These included work on the ammonia scrubbing system.

A briefing paper was circulated as part of the agenda, which provided an update on the potential impacts from the changes in law in relation to the Potential Emissions Trading Scheme (ETS.) The local authority was watching the situation and had raised it as a risk via the finance department. A future update would be provided to the Board when any further details arose.

In relation to finances, there was two budgets for the PFI. There was a £20,000 underspend in the last financial year, this was mainly due to advice from legal services and technical savings. Members were advised that approval was required for the budget for the 2025/2026 financial year, it was anticipated that the same level of budget agreed in 2024/2025 would suffice for the upcoming year. An increase in budget was not anticipated, although there were projected increases relating to fee’s for legal services, and pay rises for members and administrations, however this was already budgeted. The PFI Unitary charge had an annual indexation mechanism that was set by the January RPIX figure. The January 2025 figure was 3.2%. Waste arisings were anticipated to remain at the same levels as 2024/25, with no unexpected or unanticipated additional costs, expenditure, or income.ind

The PFI Unitary charge had an annual indexation mechanism that was set by the January RPIX figure. The January 2025 figure was 3.2%. Waste arisings were anticipated to remain at the same levels as 2024/25, with no unexpected or unanticipated additional  ...  view the full minutes text for item 23.

-       Update on contractor                                                 

-       Parent Company Guarantee rejection

A verbal update on the Renewi/ Biffa Sale was provided to the Board. The contract had been sold by Renewi to Biffa. Renewi was a European waste company with 6 PFI’s, Renewi wanted to leave the UK market as their contracts were facing losses, as a result Renewi sold to Biffa, a UK waste company.

Since the sale of the contract, Biffa had not made any significant changes and there were no suggested upcoming changes. All employees on site had been retained and Biffa had taken on the Parent Company Guarantee. Biffa had taken over the contract to expand their expertise and knowledge as a company in this specific area.

There had been a request to change the Parent Company Guarantee from Renewi to Biffa, this was rejected by the local authority. Although the risk was minimal to the Authority at this point in the contract, it was being monitored for future implication.

Resolved:- That the verbal update be noted.

Consideration was given to the Risk Register Report and a high-level overview was provided to the Board. The Risk Register was presented to the BDR Steering Committee and followed the relevant RMBC Governance processes.

It was confirmed that no new risks had been added to the Register since the last meeting. There had been seven risks reduced on the register (all were in Green and remain in Green), this was mainly due to continued understanding of correct risk profiling by the BDR PFI Manager after undergoing refresher training supplied by RMBC.

One risk had increased but still remained low and green, this was the insurance cost recharge to the Council, this was mainly due to understanding of the correct risk profile.

Resolved:- That the report be noted.

For information only:

-       Community Liaison Group Meeting Minutes

The Chair placed on record his thanks to the outgoing Chair of the Board, Councillor Mark Houlbrook and requested that the Board write a letter of thanks to the former Chair, for their contributions to the Board.

Members of the Board were advised that the minutes of the Community Liaison Group Meeting were attached for information only. The Meeting was an informal group meeting held on-site for members of the community to attend to encourage public engagement. There were no issues or concerns raised during the meeting.

The Chair extended an invite to new members of the Board, to visit the site in Mavers. The invitation was also extended to all other local authority Councillors who may be interested in learning how the plant operates.

Resolved:-

1)    That a letter of thanks be issued to the out-going Chair of the Board.

2)    That the minutes of the Community Liaison Group meeting held on 3 December 2024, be noted.

3)    That any members wishing to visit the Mavers site contact the BDR Waste Partnership Manager, to arrange a visit.