Issue - meetings

1.         That the Surrey Waste Partnership’s Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy Revision 2 (2015) be endorsed and recommended to County Council for adoption.

2.         That a further report on the Eco Park be brought back to the Cabinet in April 2015 with an updated value for money and affordability assessment.

3.         That the consultation process for potential changes at Community Recycling Centresbe approved and that the proposals for consultation be finalised and agreed by the Strategic Director Environment and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning.

4.         That a report outlining the results of the consultation and recommendations for implementation of cost saving measures at Community Recycling Centres be brought back to Cabinet by July 2015.

Reasons for Decisions:

Adopting the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy will enable Surrey County Council (SCC) to work closely with Surrey districts and boroughs to improve performance and manage waste in a way that offers best value to the Surrey taxpayer.

Revisions to pricing for the Eco Park have arisen due to delays, associated with planning beyond the control of the Council. This has led to further time being required to complete the assessment process. To allow this to happen it is proposed that a further report including an updated value for money analysis should be brought to the Cabinet in April 2015.

Given the current financial climate, it has been necessary to investigate opportunities for making savings through optimising and rationalising the way in which Community Recycling Centres are managed. This will help address a funding gap that arises from increasing costs and reducing funding, in addition to contributing to other savings that will be required across SCC in the coming years.

In the absence of the Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning, the Cabinet Member for Highways, Transport and Flooding explained the background to the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy Revision 2(2015) and said that authorities in two-tier counties such as Surrey worked together to manage their waste in a coherent way and the law required these authorities to produce a joint strategy for the management of municipal waste, and also to keep it under review. The Surrey Waste Partnership prepared the revised strategy which is now recommended for adoption by partner authorities, including Surrey County Council and the Cabinet would be recommending its adoption at the next County Council meeting on 17 March 2015.

He was also pleased to report that Surrey’s recycling rate had increased from 31% to 52% in 2013/14 and waste to landfill had decreased from 67% to 11 % during the same period. He highlighted the aims and targets of the waste management strategy, as set out in paragraph 13 and in Annex 1 to the submitted report.

Referring to the Eco Park, he explained that, due to delays associated with planning beyond the control of the County Council and other issues, a further report including an updated value for money analysis would be brought back to Cabinet in April 2015.

He also updated Cabinet on the progress of the initiatives for cost savings at the Community Recycling Centres.

Finally, he referred to the Equalities Impact Assessment (EIA), of which a summary of the key impacts and actions were set out within the main report, with the full EIA attached as Annex 2 to the submitted report.

RESOLVED:

1.         That the Surrey Waste Partnership’s Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy Revision 2 (2015) be endorsed and recommended to County Council for adoption.

2.         That a further report on the Eco Park be brought back to the Cabinet in April 2015 with an updated value for money and affordability assessment.

3.         That the consultation process for potential changes at Community Recycling Centresbe approved and that the proposals for consultation be finalised and agreed by the Strategic Director Environment and Infrastructure, in consultation with the Cabinet Member for Environment and Planning.

4.         That a report outlining the results of the consultation and recommendations for implementation of cost saving measures at Community Recycling Centres be brought back to Cabinet by July 2015.

Reasons for Decisions:

Adopting the Joint Municipal Waste Management Strategy will enable Surrey County Council (SCC) to work closely with Surrey districts and boroughs to improve performance and manage waste in a way that offers best value to the Surrey taxpayer.

Revisions to pricing for the Eco Park have arisen due to delays, associated with planning beyond the control of the Council. This has led to further time being required to complete the assessment process. To allow this to happen it is proposed that a further report including an updated value for money analysis should be brought to the Cabinet in April 2015.

Given the current financial  ...  view the full minutes text for item 33