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Agenda and draft minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Penrith

Items
No. Item

EEc/1/10/19

Appointment of Vice-Chairman

To appoint a Vice-Chairman for the 2019-2020 municipal year.

Minutes:

Proposed by Councillor Hanley

Seconded by Councillor Clark

 

that Councillor Holden be appointed Vice-Chairman for the 2019/20 municipal year.

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Holden be appointed as Vice-Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee for the 2019/20 municipal year.

 

Proposed by Councillor Hanley

Seconded by Councillor Harker

 

that Councillor Ross be appointed as Chairman for this meeting in the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

 

RESOLVED that Councillor Ross be appointed as Chairman for this meeting in the absence of the Chairman and Vice-Chairman.

 

 

EEc/2/10/19

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Chambers, Councillor Holden, Councillor Harker attended as substitute, Councillor Lancaster, Councillor Clark attended as substitute, Councillor Lawson, Councillor Ross attended as substitute and from Councillor Tonkin, the portfolio holder who had been invited to this meeting.

 

EEc/3/10/19

Declarations of Interest

To receive declarations of the existence and nature of any private interests, both disclosable pecuniary and any other registrable interests, in any matter to be considered or being considered.

 

Minutes:

No declarations of interest were made at this meeting.

EEc/4/10/19

Review of Waste, Recycling and Street Cleaning Delivery Options

To receive a verbal update from the Environment and Economy Portfolio Holder and the Assistant Director Commissioning and Technical Services.

Minutes:

The Assistant Director Commissioning and Technical Services gave a presentation on the current situation regarding the review of waste, recycling and street cleaning delivery options.

 

After the presentation a number of questions were asked by the members.

 

·         Members queried why we had used consultants as part of the review following a statement that had been released in respect of a Cumbria combined authority and asked if collaborative decisions will be made in the future with neighbouring authorities.

 

·         Members were concerned that 8,000 households did not receive garden waste collection and wanted to know if there were plans for these households to be included in the future. If legislation was changed Eden District Council would have to provide garden waste collection to all households which would result in an increase in costs. The Government has stated that these costs may be covered in the form of a burdens payment.

 

·         The members asked if we could look at recycling and how best Eden District Council can increase the current recycling rate of 42.4%.

 

·         The Chairman asked the Assistant Director Commissioning and Technical Services to look at the amount of plastic bottles that were thrown into public waste bins and asked if recycling bins could be located alongside public waste bins. The Contracts Manager advised that Eden District Council had considered this but there was a risk of contamination.

 

 

 

EEc/5/10/19

Questions from the Public

Minutes:

The following questions were received Under Rule 10 of the Constitution:

 

1.    Mr  G Rockcliffe-King asked the following question of the Chairman:

 

“The UK Committee on Climate Changes says that recycling rates need to be 70% by 2020, Eden District Council’s is currently 43%. The best Welsh local authorities, including those in rural areas, currently have recycling rates above 60% through food waste collections and reduced residual waste collections. Will you look at the Welsh examples so as to achieve a step change in our recycling rate and consider increasing the range of items collected for recycling to include, for examples cartons and small electricals?

 

The Chairman responded as follows:

 

Although this is not strictly a question for the Scrutiny Committee, it has been accepted as it relates to a Council function, and as the Portfolio Holder is in attendance, we are able to answer this question.

 

Eden along with many local authorities have hit a plateau in terms of their recycling rate.

 

Recycling rates can be improved by having food waste collections and in the Governments ‘Our waste, Our Resources: A Strategy for England’, legislation for mandatory food collection is targeted for 2023.

 

The Strategy also notes consistency and a list of the materials that need to be collected have been provided for consultation. As this list evolves or it is considered viable to make changes, the Council would consider the collection of additional materials.

 

No supplementary question was put to the Chairman.

 

2.    Ms J Bell asked the following question of the Chairman:

 

According to the Resource magazine #95(Spring 2019) Eden District total household waste is 410kg per person per year, which was 184th worst out of 222 waste collection authorities in England. The lowest total amount in an authority is 250kg. Reducing the overall amount collected will save the planet and should reduce council costs. Will the council consider measures to ask households and businesses to buy longer-lasting items, repair and hand on these items for reuse?

 

The Chairman responded as follows:

 

Although this is not strictly a question for the Scrutiny Committee, it has been accepted as it relates to a Council function, and as the Portfolio Holder is in attendance, we are able to answer this question.

 

 

The Council has recently been undertaking a benchmarking of the service and when compared to similar local authorities it is clear that Eden actually collects one of the lower amounts of waste (the figure quoted is for 2017/18). That said, there is room for improvement.

 

As part of the review undertaken for service delivery, the consultant has been asked to look at measures to reduce the council’s carbon footprint and in terms of the council’s wider zero carbon agenda, we will be looking to see how we can influence behaviour going forward.

 

Ms J Bell then asked a supplementary question to the Chairman:

 

In light of the large amount of plastic bottles being used, would Eden District Council consider installing water fountains?

 

The Assistant Director Commissioning  ...  view the full minutes text for item EEc/5/10/19

EEc/6/10/19

Scrutiny Co-ordinating Board Update

To receive an update from the Chairman of the Environment and Economy Committee.

Minutes:

The Committee received a verbal update which has been produced by the Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee.

 

RESOLVED that the update be noted.

EEc/7/10/19

Environment & Economy Committee Work Plan

To receive an update from the Chairman and consider future work plan items.

Minutes:

The Committee received a verbal update which has been produced by the Chairman of the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee.

 

The Chairman asked members for any future agenda items for the Environment and Economy Scrutiny Committee.

 

No future agenda items were suggested at this time.

 

RESOLVED that the update be noted.

EEc/8/10/19

Any Other Items which the Chairman decides are urgent

Minutes:

No items of urgent business were raised at this meeting.

EEc/9/10/19

Date of the Next Scheduled Meeting

The date of the next scheduled meeting be confirmed as 5 December 2019.

Minutes:

The date of the next meeting was confirmed as 5 December 2019.