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Agenda and minutes

Venue: Council Chamber, Town Hall, Katharine Street, Croydon CR0 1NX

Contact: Tom Downs  Email: tom.downs@croydon.gov.uk

Items
No. Item

9/22

Apologies for Absence

Minutes:

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor Mohammed Islam, who sent Councillor Sean Fitzsimons as a substitute.

10/22

Minutes of the Previous Meeting pdf icon PDF 140 KB

To approve the minutes of the meeting held on 4th October 2022 as an accurate record.

 

Minutes:

The minutes of the meeting held on 4th October 2022 were agreed as an accurate record.

 

11/22

Disclosure of Interests

Members and co-opted Members of the Council are reminded that, in accordance with the Council’s Code of Conduct and the statutory provisions of the Localism Act, they are required to consider in advance of each meeting whether they have a disclosable pecuniary interest (DPI), an other registrable interest (ORI) or a non-registrable interest (NRI) in relation to any matter on the agenda.  If advice is needed, Members should contact the Monitoring Officer in good time before the meeting.  

 

If any Member or co-opted Member of the Council identifies a DPI or ORI which they have not already registered on the Council’s register of interests or which requires updating, they should complete the disclosure form which can be obtained from Democratic Services at any time, copies of which will be available at the meeting for return to the Monitoring Officer.

 

Members and co-opted Members are required to disclose any DPIs and ORIs at the meeting: -

 

·     Where the matter relates to a DPI they may not participate in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.  

 

·     Where the matter relates to an ORI they may not vote on the matter unless granted a dispensation.   

 

·     Where a Member or co-opted Member has an NRI which directly relates to their financial interest or wellbeing, or that of a relative or close associate, they must disclose the interest at the meeting, may not take part in any discussion or vote on the matter and must not stay in the meeting unless granted a dispensation.  Where a matter affects the NRI of a Member or co-opted Member, section 9 of Appendix B of the Code of Conduct sets out the test which must be applied by the Member to decide whether disclosure is required.

 

The Chair will invite Members to make their disclosure orally at the commencement of Agenda item 3, to be recorded in the minutes.

 

Minutes:

There were none.

 

12/22

Urgent Business (if any)

To receive notice of any business not on the agenda which in the opinion of the Chair, by reason of special circumstances, be considered as a matter of urgency.

 

Minutes:

There were no items of urgent business.

 

13/22

Waste Contract Performance Paper pdf icon PDF 2 MB

The Sub-Committee has been provided this report to inform and update on the performance of the Council’s waste collection and street cleansing contract and to identify areas of service improvement and management of known and emerging risks to the service. A legislative backdrop is also provided to inform Members of future challenges and opportunities.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered a report set out on pages 19 to 44 of the agenda, which provided an update on the performance of the Council’s waste collection and street cleansing contract and identified areas of service improvement and management of known and emerging risks to the service. The Director of Sustainable Communities introduced the item and Scott Edgell (Veolia General Manager for South London & South) and Andrea Lowe (Veolia Senior Contract Manager) who went through a short presentation (Appendix 1).

 

The Chair requested an update on the recommendations made by the Sub-Committee at their last review of the waste contracts performance; these were:

 

1.     Veolia and the Council to work together on improvement to technology and interface connections.

2.     Veolia to conduct a survey of bin locations in the Borough.

 

The Director of Sustainable Communities informed Members that recommendation 1 had been progressed, and greater integration had been achieved by linking the online reporting process, which fed into the Council’s case management system, to Veolia’s back office systems to provide two-way communication. The ‘Love Clean Streets’ app had also been improved to allow updates to be given through the app to state whether a job had been allocated or completed. As a part of the contract management process, quality assurance checks had been picked up by the monitoring team to ensure tasks were not being marked as completed before being undertaken. On recommendation 2, Members heard that Veolia undertook surveys directly, but that a number were also carried out by the South London Waste Partnership (SLWP); this included the triennial survey that had recently been completed and could be shared with Members once the results had been compiled.

 

Members asked about consistent underperformance from Veolia and what the Council were doing to assist in improving this, and how Veolia had adapted services as a consequence. The Chair noted that the Council had served a Service Improvement Notice to Veolia in February 2022, and that there had been three contract management meetings held since May 2022. The Director of Sustainable Communities explained that the contract contained a number of Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) with a required minimum level; there was a Performance Bond paid to the Council by Veolia, which was paid back when KPIs were achieved to a minimum level. The Council had not been satisfied with Veolia’s performance and had served a Service Improvement Notice due to performance against three main areas; these were missed collections, repeat missed collections and container delivery. Veolia had produced a plan in response to the Service Improvement Notice to rectify missed collections and repeat missed collections; discussions on container delivery were ongoing. Members heard that contract monitoring was multifaceted and that there were daily and weekly operational meetings, as well as structured monthly performance meetings that were fed back to the SLWP.

 

The Sub-Committee asked about missed collections reported via the Council, and asked how long these reports took to reach Veolia. It was explained that, if this was reported by the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 13/22

14/22

Cabinet Report - South London Waste Plan Development Plan Document pdf icon PDF 68 KB

The Sub-Committee is asked to receive the Cabinet report for information, which recommends that the Executive Mayor at Cabinet (16th November 2022) recommends to Council (14th December 2022) to adopt the South London Waste Plan 2022 to 2037 subject to the changes in the Main Modifications in the Inspectors report as a Development Plan Document in accordance with The Town and Country Planning (Local Planning) (England) Regulations 2012.

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee received a report set out on pages 45 to 56 of the agenda that provided the Cabinet Report on adopting the South London Waste Plan Development Plan Document. The Director of Sustainable Communities, Regeneration and Economic Recovery (SCRER) introduced the item to Members.

 

The Vice-Chair asked about consultation on the Plan Document, and heard from the Plan Making Team Leader that responses had generally been from providers due to the technical nature of the document, although the consultation had been widely publicised.

 

The Chair asked about the remaining budget from the development of the Plan Document and the Head of Spatial Planning and Interim Head of Growth Zone and Regeneration explained that the Plan had been funded via a Housing Delivery Grant attained by the Plan Making Team, and that there was no scope to spend the remainder of this on implementation. Members heard that Croydon was on track to adopt the Plan in December 2022 and this was in kilter with the other partner authorities.

15/22

Cabinet Report - Waste Collection and Street Cleansing Contract pdf icon PDF 65 KB

The Sub-Committee is asked to review the Cabinet report and conduct Pre-Decision Scrutiny with a view to considering whether it is reassured about the recommendation to the Executive Mayor not to extend the current waste collection and street cleansing contract with Veolia Environment Services following expiry of the initial term on 31st March 2025.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered a report set out on pages 57 to 108 of the agenda that provided an upcoming Cabinet Report on the Waste Collection and Street Cleansing Contract for Pre-Decision Scrutiny. The Cabinet Member for Streets and Environment introduced the item.

 

The Vice-Chair noted about the Mayoral Pledge to pursue the recommendation in the report and asked for reassurance that the recommendation was driven by evidence and data. The Director of Sustainable Communities explained that the recommendation not to extend the contract had been reached in collaboration with the other Partners in the SLWP and with legal advice taken on Veolia’s proposed contract extension. The provision to extend the contract by mutual agreement is contained within the contract, and the decision not to extend would only take effect in March 2025, which left extensive time to work on a re-procurement process and to conduct consultation with the Greater London Authority (GLA), which was required. Members heard that a large amount of soft market testing had taken place to look at options, and this had been fed into the information contained within the report and Appendix 2.

 

On the development of a future contract, the report contained a commissioning timeline for a process of consultation and engagement on its development before a future report would be submitted to Cabinet in March 2023 with a recommendation on the commissioning model and procurement strategy. The Chair and Vice-Chair emphasised the strong feeling on waste issues from residents in Croydon and asked about the opportunities for Member and resident engagement. The Director of Sustainable Communities explained that the Mayor and Cabinet had already been engaged on the recommendation not to extend the contract, and consultation with Members on any new contract would be a part of its development. Resident feedback from the SLWP triennial survey results had been received and Croydon officers would be briefed on this in November 2022; details of this could be shared once they had been compiled. There would be a dedicated resident engagement piece, which the SLWP would lead on across the partner boroughs, once the Mayor had accepted the recommendation not to extend the contract.

 

The Sub-Committee asked about challenges to the current contract that had led to the recommendation not to extend. The Director of Sustainable Communities explained that Veolia were not happy to extend the contract on the current basis and would like a significant variation to any extension; this variation was significant enough that it could trigger a Regulation 72 that could leave Croydon open to a legal challenge.

 

Members noted that any new contract would be complicated and developed over the four boroughs in the SLWP. The Sub-Committee asked about potential negative impacts to budgets in future years and suggested that there was a lack of enthusiasm for an in-house service. Members asked whether this was due to there not being enough time to develop one, or whether it was a riskier option.The Director of Sustainable Communities explained that the extension of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 15/22

16/22

Period 5 Financial Performance Report pdf icon PDF 64 KB

The Sub-Committee is asked to scrutinise the information provided with a view to considering whether it is reassured about the delivery of the 2022-23 Sustainable Communities, Regeneration & Economic Recovery Budget.

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee considered a report set out on pages 109 to 144 of the agenda that provided an upcoming Cabinet Report on Period 5 Financial Performance for Members to ascertain whether they are reassured about the delivery of the 2022-23 Sustainable Communities, Regeneration & Economic Recovery Budget. The Corporate Director for SCRER introduced the item.

 

The Sub-Committee asked about any updates in Period 6 that were a material change, and whether issues such as inflation over the recent period had affected the current standing of the budget. The Corporate Director of SCRER explained that Period 6 had not yet been presented to Cabinet. Contract inflation had affected some suppliers and conversations with these providers were ongoing as part of an open book process. There had been some use of the contract inflation reserve, which was reflected in the report.

 

The Chair asked what other Councils were doing to adapt to changes in behaviour around parking and enforcement. The Director of SCRER explained that all authorities were experiencing changes in behaviour related to parking which would lead to changes in enforcement. Areas with a visitor/tourist economy had seen some better recovery, but all authorities were experiencing issues in the recruitment of civil enforcement officers. Members heard that there was ongoing work to ensure there were not gaps in civil enforcement to make sure that as little income from this was lost as possible.

 

The Vice-Chair asked about district centres as they related to smaller high streets in the parking policy. The Director of Sustainable Communities explained that work on reviewing the parking policy was taking place but was currently at the data gathering stage. There had been an increase in pay and display, but a reduction of income; this meant that more people were stopping for shorter periods, and insights such as this would be fed into any new strategy.

 

Conclusions

 

The Sub-Committee concluded that the timeline for developing the new Parking Policy be provided to Members and included on the Work Programme for 2022/23.

17/22

Scrutiny Work Programme 2022-23 pdf icon PDF 73 KB

The Sub-Committee is asked to:

 

1.     Note its work programme for the remainder of 2022-23, as set out in Appendix 1 of the report.

 

2.     Consider whether there are any changes to the work programme that need to be reviewed. 

 

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The Sub-Committee reviewed the current Work Programme for 2022/23 and suggested the following items for possible inclusion:

 

-        Net Zero/Carbon Reduction

-        Air Quality in the Borough

-        Protection of green spaces and parks: Support fund, strategy and implementation

-        Purley Pool Options Appraisal

-        Clean Water and Sewage

-        Parking Policy Review

-        Transport and Active Transport – Roads, Fatalities & Speed Limits

-        Biodiversity Strategy

-        School Streets

-        Review of the Local Plan