RESOLVED:             That Councillor CL Jones be elected Chairperson for the meeting.  

To receive apologies for absence from Members.

Apologies for absence were received from Councillor JC Spanswick.  

To receive declarations of personal and prejudicial interest (if any) from Members/Officers in accordance with the provisions of the Members Code of Conduct adopted by Council from 1 September 2008 (including Whipping declarations)

None. 

To receive for approval the minutes of a meeting of the Community Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee of 23 March 2016. 

RESOLVED:             That the minutes of the meeting of theCommunity, Environment and Leisure Overview and Scrutiny Committee of 23 March 2016 be approved as a true and accurate record.  

Invitees:

Cllr C Reeves - Cabinet Member, Communities

Cllr HM Williams – Cabinet Member Resources

Mark Shepherd, Corporate Director Communities

Andrew Hobbs, Group Manager Street Works

The Corporate Director Communities introduced a report on the progress made on the procurement for the provision of residual waste and recycling collection services and the provision of services as the Council’s Community Recycling Centres.  He stated that changes were being made to waste management arrangements in order to meet the performance targets for recycling set by the Welsh Government, due to there being significant penalties imposed on local authorities where targets were not met.  This was set against the context of the contract with the current contractor, Kier   ending on 31 March 2017.  He informed the Committee that the Council has one of the most cost effective waste collection contracts in Wales, but one of the most costly waste disposal contracts in Wales. 

The Corporate Director Communities informed the Committee of the timescale for the procurement process in that tenders for the provision of waste services are due to be returned in mid-August 2016, a contractor would be appointed in the Autumn followed by a period of mobilisation in order to allow the contract to start in April 2017.  He stated that Cabinet at its meeting on 26 July 2016 had agreed a period of consultation on whether to allow dispensations for households with a high number of occupants and households disposing of ash from coal fires.  He stated that a dispensation for the disposal of pet waste had been ruled out.  He also informed Cabinet it was proposed under the new contract, that all requests for service and complaints are referred directly to the contractor in the first instance.        

The Committee discussed what implications the recent vote for the UK to leave the EU would have on the pressure to meet recycling targets and asked officers if this would have an impact on the targets set as they were primarily driven by EU legislation.  Officers responded that the Welsh Government has tried to push Wales ahead of the rest of the UK in that it had set a target of zero waste by 2050, officers did not envisage the referendum result affecting the targets.  The Cabinet Member Resources informed the Committee that Wales wanted to lead in Europe in how it dealt with waste and that up to a 1/3 of materials currently sent to landfill could be composted or recycled.      

Members questioned how the parameters for the tenders for the new waste provision could be set when there was a consultation still ongoing.  Officers responded that the two bag limits had been set and would not change, with tenderers bidding on that basis.  The 8 week public consultation that would be launched on the 2 August would be a consultation on a dispensation policy for larger families with occupants over 6 people.  Members were concerned about the fairness of the process and felt there was a risk the Authority would be open to challenge.  Officers responded that what was being proposed was consistent with other Local Authorities where there are restrictions on residual waste.   

Members questioned how  ...  view the full minutes text for item 55.

Invitees:

Cllr C Reeves, Cabinet Member – Communities

Mark Shephard, Corporate Director – Communities

Andrew Hobbs, Group Manager Street Works

Carly McCreesh, Community Asset Transfer Officer

The Corporate Director Communities reported on the progress made on the Community Asset Transfer (CAT) programme since its acceleration in November 2015.  As a result of significant budgetary constraints there was a need to explore alternative models of service delivery.  He stated that a Community Asset Transfer Officer came into post in November 2015 and to date; the majority of queries and interest had been received from sports clubs and associations in relation to the self-management of pavilions and playing fields.  He stated there is a robust process in place to test an organisation’s capacity to self-manage facilities. 

The Corporate Director Communities informed the Committee that the Rural Development Programme had commissioned a report from the Wales Cooperative Centre on the Community Asset Transfer Programme which identified 10 recommendations for the Council to consider.  He highlighted the key barriers identified which hindered the progress of the CAT process.  He also highlighted the alternative options to CAT. 

The Committee referred to the recent success of the Wales national football team at the recent Euros tournament and asked whether there would be the potential of extra funding and sponsorship for football due to the likely increase in youngsters playing football.  The Committee also questioned what steps the Council proposed to take to protect pavilions and playing fields from falling out of use.  The Corporate Director Communities informed the Committee that officers are acutely aware of the potential that the transfer of ownership of facilities could preclude some facilities from being used by the public.  He stated that this would be mitigated by the placing of restrictive covenants and clauses into agreements so that the facilities the subject of a CAT remains in the public domain.  He stated there was a balance which needed to be struck with clubs which allowed the general public to join clubs and participate and to remain to have access to facilities.  The CAT Officer informed the Committee that the report commissioned by the RDP had identified the need for clubs who take on the management of facilities to diversify.  She stated that appropriate covenants will be inserted in to the documentation to transfer facilities which protect existing users but at the same time allowing clubs to develop facilities enabling them to grow both on and off the field. 

The Committee referred to the recommendations made in the report commissioned by the RDP and given that no assets had yet been transferred to clubs in Bridgend and that only 4 CATs had successfully taken place in Blaenau Gwent Council questioned whether there is an appetite for CAT amongst clubs.  The Committee also questioned how the CAT process fitted in with the Medium Term Financial Strategy and are alternative options to CAT being looked at.  The Committee also questioned the reasoning behind CAT being pursued when the outcome of the Parks Strategic Review was not known and requested that the CAT process be halted.  The CAT Officer informed the Committee that officers had visited Blaenau Gwent Council who had  ...  view the full minutes text for item 56.

The Scrutiny Officer presented a report outlining the suggested topics for consideration in the development of the Committee’s Forward Work Programme for 2016-17.  A draft list of items for possible inclusion on the Forward Work Programme had been developed arising from the workshop held in April 2016.  There was also the potential for Collaborative Committees to deal with cross-cutting issues.  

Conclusions

The Committee considered the suggested topics for inclusion in the Forward Work Programme for 2016-17 and identified 12 primary topics for inclusion in the programme The Committee asked for an update on the Waste Services Provision before March 2017. 

The Scrutiny Officer presented a report which detailed the items to be considered at the next meeting of the Committee and sought confirmation of the information and invitees required.   

Conclusions

The Committee agreed to reschedule the 8 September 2016 meeting due to annual leave of the Corporate Directors

RESOLVED:            That Councillor HE Morgan be nominated as its Corporate Parenting Champion to represent the Committee at meetings of the Cabinet Committee Corporate Parenting.

To consider any item(s) of business in respect of which notice has been given in

accordance with Part 4 (paragraph 4) of the Council Procedure Rules and which the person presiding at the meeting is of the opinion should by reason of special circumstances be transacted at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

There were no urgent items.