72.1           The evacuation procedure, as noted on the Agenda, was advised to those present.

72.2           The Chairman welcomed Mr Bruce Carpenter, Gloucestershire Joint Waste Committee, to the meeting and advised that he was in attendance for Item 7, Waste Service Review and Vehicle Procurement.

73.1           The Committee’s attention was drawn to the Tewkesbury Borough Council Code of Conduct which was adopted by the Council on 26 June 2012 and took effect from 1 July 2012.

73.2           There were no declarations of interest made on this occasion.

To approve the Minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2016.

74.1           The Minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2016, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.  

To receive any questions, deputations or petitions submitted under Rule of Procedure 12.

(The deadline for public participation submissions for this meeting is 28 January 2016)

75.1           There were no items from members of the public on this occasion.  

To consider the Committee’s Forward Plan.  

That the Committee’s Forward Plan be NOTED. 

76.1           Attention was drawn to the Committee’s Forward Plan, circulated at Pages No. 11-13. Members were asked to consider the Plan.

76.2           Referring to Page No. 12, Cemetery Provision in Tewkesbury, a Member questioned whether this referred to Tewkesbury Town or Tewkesbury Borough. In response, the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager indicated that this referred to the cemetery in Tewkesbury Town which was an asset owned by the Borough Council. The cemetery was almost at capacity so there was a need for the Council to explore the options available to it for the future.

76.3           Accordingly, it was

To adopt a revised model for the waste and recycling service and to make a recommendation to Council on the approval of capital resources to fund the vehicle replacement programme.  

a)         That the findings of the Waste Service Review be ENDORSED.

b)         That the comingled recycling service, with separate food waste collections (Option 2), be adopted as the preferred option for implementation in 2017.

c)         That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL that £3.25million be allocated from capital resources to fund the vehicle replacement programme.

d)      That authority be delegated to the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Lead Members for Clean and Green Environment and Finance and Asset Management, to procure the new and replacement vehicles. 

77.1           The report of the Environmental and Housing Services Group Manager, circulated at Pages No. 14-28, informed Members of the outcome of the review and recommended a revised model for the waste and recycling service as well as a procurement process to provide the vehicles to deliver the service. Members were asked to endorse the findings of the waste service review; adopt the comingled recycling service with separate food waste collections (option two) as the preferred option for implementation in 2017; to recommend to Council that the allocation of £3.25 million from capital resources to fund the vehicle replacement programme be approved; and to delegate authority to the Deputy Chief Executive, in consultation with the Lead Members for Clean and Green Environment and Finance and Asset Management, to procure the new and replacement vehicles.

77.2           The Deputy Chief Executive advised Members that the current waste and comingled recycling collection service had been in place since 2010. The service had been introduced with the aim of achieving 50% recycling and composting by 2014/15 and reaching an annual landfill rate of 273kg per capita. Since 2014, the waste and recycling collection service had been provided for Tewkesbury by the local authority company Ubico which also provided street cleansing and ground maintenance services in the Borough. The vehicles currently used by Ubico for delivery of the service were contract hired and that agreement was due to expire at the end of March 2017 so this also needed to be given consideration. The review of the waste service had been commissioned in September 2015 to consider whether the current service configuration was still fit for purpose and to compare it against other service models in terms of cost, performance and compliance. Bruce Carpenter, working through the Joint Waste Team, had undertaken the review on behalf of the Council and the report before Members drew together the conclusions of that review.

77.3           In introducing himself Bruce Carpenter explained that he was the Head of Operations for the Somerset Waste Partnership and through that was linked to the Joint Waste Team. He explained that the report before the Committee described the review and made recommendations on service provision and the replacement vehicles that might deliver the new service. As identified by the Deputy Chief Executive, the current service had been introduced in 2010 and had proven to be successful in reducing residual waste and improving recycling so it was likely that, if reversed, recycling would reduce and this would be contrary to the Council’s objectives. This had to be taken into account as did the fact that, by 2019, the energy from the waste facility at Javelin Park should come on-stream. Members were also advised that new legislation had been introduced by the Waste Regulations England and Wales 2011 (as amended) which had underpinned the review. Those Regulations required the collection of materials separately but there were expectations within them that allowed comingling of materials if it was not technically, environmentally and economically practicable (TEEP  ...  view the full minutes text for item 77.

To approve the use of £135,000 of reserves within 2016/17 to further support the Joint Core Strategy.

That the use of £135,000 of reserves within 2016/17 be APPROVED to further support the Joint Core Strategy. 

78.1           The report of the Development Services Group Manager, circulated at Pages No. 29-31, asked Members to approve the use of £135,000 of reserves within 2016/17 to further support the Joint Core Strategy.

78.2           Members were advised that the Council was well aware of the protracted length of time that the examination of the Joint Core Strategy was taking and the fact that the Council had been supporting the whole process with finance and staff resources since 2008. Each of the three Joint Core Strategy authorities (Cheltenham, Gloucester and Tewkesbury) had been putting £60,000 into a budget on an annual basis since that time. However, since the examination was taking significantly longer than had initially been anticipated and was requiring more and more work, that funding was no longer adequate. The examination was now reaching stage three which covered major issues such as flooding, transport modelling etc. and following that would move into the main modifications phase, further consultation and examination of those modifications; along with this there would also be costs associated with the Community Infrastructure Levy work which ran alongside the Joint Core Strategy. The known/anticipated costs were £435,000 but it was felt prudent to add another £50,000 per authority to cover the length of the examination and the additional costs which were likely to be incurred.

78.3           In addition to the costs outlined above, the Inspector had also now released a preliminary findings report which was resulting in additional work but it was anticipated that the additional funding would also cover the costs of that work. The Joint Core Strategy was legally inescapable and Officers had to do the work required by the Inspector so it was hoped that Members would support the additional funding. Members were concerned at the length of time that the examination was taking and expressed their frustration at the costs that had to be borne by the Council even though it was not the Council’s fault that the process was so lengthy and costly. One Member questioned why New Homes Bonus funding could not be used rather than uncommitted reserves. In response, the Deputy Chief Executive indicated that she understood the frustrations and Officers had had conversations with the Secretary of State and the Planning Inspectorate which had resulted in a noticeable change in the speed of the Inspector. In terms of where the additional funding would come from, the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager indicated that the primary reason for using uncommitted reserves was that Officers did not have the figure for New Homes Bonus at the time of writing the report; largely it did not really make a difference which of the two routes the funding came from and he hoped the surplus at year end would top back up the reserves for further support for the Joint Core Strategy and other services.

78.4           Members agreed that the whole situation with the Joint Core Strategy was frustrating, particularly as the Council appeared to have no choice but to continue  ...  view the full minutes text for item 78.

To recommend a budget to Council for 2016/17. 

That it be RECOMMENDED TO COUNCIL:

i.       That a net budget of £9,663,342 be APPROVED.

ii.      That a Band D Council Tax of £104.36, an increase of £5.00 per annum, be APPROVED.

iii.     That the use of New Homes Bonus, as proposed in Paragraph 3.5 of the report, be APPROVED.

iv.     That the capital programme, as proposed in Appendix A to the report, be APPROVED.

v.      That the capital prudential indicators, as proposed in Appendix B to the report, be APPROVED.

vi.     That the annual Minimum Revenue Provision (MRP) statement, as contained in Appendix B to the report, be APPROVED.

vii.    That the mid-year 2015/16 Treasury Management update, as contained in Appendix C to the report, be APPROVED.

viii.   That the 2016/17 Treasury Management Strategy, as proposed in Appendix D to the report, be APPROVED.

ix.     That authority be delegated to the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to apply to the Government for a four year Settlement if he believes it to be in the best interests of the Council. 

79.1           The report of the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, circulated at Pages No. 32-75, set out the proposed budget for 2016/17. Members were asked to consider and make a recommendation to Council thereon. The recommendations included a delegated authority for the Finance and Asset Management Group Manager, in consultation with the Lead Member for Finance and Asset Management, to apply to the Government for a four year settlement if he believed it to be in the best interest of the Council.

79.2           Members were advised that the Council had considered the Medium Term Financial Strategy at its meeting on 8 December 2015. That document outlined the current budget pressures facing the Council, as well as those in future years, and depicted the gap between the estimated net budget of the Council and the estimated funding available to finance that net expenditure. The deficit over the five years of the Strategy was estimated to be approximately £2.9 million with a gap in 2016/17 of approximately £1,090,000. Since the production of the Medium Term Financial Strategy, the conclusions of the Government’s Comprehensive Spending Review had been announced with the headlines being a 46% reduction in core government grant support over the next four years (56% in real terms); greater support to upper tier authorities for the provision of social care, partly funded from an extra 2% levy on Council Tax and partly funded from redistribution of existing funding; and a consultation on the future of the New Homes bonus scheme with the intention of reducing the financial envelope by at least £800 million equating to 2/3 of the current spend. The Council had also received the provisional Local Government settlement for 2016/17 together with the promised New Homes Bonus consultation. All of that information, along with general information on the financial climate, had been brought together to make a proposal for the budget for 2016/17 and the resultant Council Tax.

79.3           The Finance and Asset Management Group Manager explained that details of the local government settlement for 2016/17 were contained at Paragraph 2.0 of the report. It should be noted that this was a provisional settlement at this stage and, although it did not usually change, the final settlement would not be received until the following week. Assuming the provisional figure remained the final one, table one at Page No. 35 of the report showed the significant reductions to core government support that were expected over the next four years. This was in line with the projections in the Medium Term Financial Strategy but the profile of the reductions was more gradual meaning that the Council was losing less support in the next couple of years compared with estimates. For 2016/17, the reduction was £451,000 which was approximately £110,000 better than anticipated. The government had made an offer to local authorities to apply for a four year fixed settlement which, in theory, would give the Council certainty as it prepared its Medium Term Financial Strategy; however, there was a lack  ...  view the full minutes text for item 79.

80.1           The Chairman proposed, and it was  

                  RESOLVED          That, under Section 100(A)(4) of the Local Government Act                               1972, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following                              items on the grounds that they involve the likely discussion of                                     exempt information as defined in Part 1 of Schedule 12A of the                               Act.

To approve the separate Minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2016.  

81.1           The separate Minutes of the meeting held on 13 January 2016, copies of which had been circulated, were approved as a correct record and signed by the Chairman.