Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Cllr Tom James and Cllr Stephen Oldrieve.  Cllr George Jeans and Cllr Howard Marshall substituted respectively.

To confirm and sign the minutes of the Environment Select Committee meeting held on 11 January 2011.

The minutes of the previous meeting were approved and signed as a correct record.

There were no declarations of interest.

A report on scrutiny of the Business Plan adopted at Full Council would be presented at the next Committee meeting in May.  This document would be key to assist the Committee in the shaping of its future work programme.

Members would note that the two key items on the agenda included reference to their position within the Business Plan.

The Council welcomes contributions from members of the public.

Statements

If you would like to make a statement at this meeting on any item on this agenda, please register to do so at least 10 minutes prior to the meeting. Up to 3 speakers are permitted to speak for up to 3 minutes each on any agenda item.  Please contact the officer named above for any further clarification.

Questions

To receive any questions from members of the public or members of the Council received in accordance with the constitution. Those wishing to ask questions are required to give notice of any such questions in writing to the officer named above (acting on behalf of the Director of Resources) no later than 5pm on Wednesday 23 February 2011.  Please contact the officer named on the first page of this agenda for further advice.  Questions may be asked without notice if the Chairman decides that the matter is urgent.

Details of any questions received will be circulated to Committee members prior to the meeting and made available at the meeting and on the Council’s website.

There was no public participation.

The Select Committee has been fully involved in reviewing the transformation of the Waste Service. The Chairman recognising this has requested an overview of the implementation plan to deliver the new service model, as agreed by Cabinet on 19 October 2010.

Attached is a report from the Director of Neighbourhood and Planning, which provides details of the timetable in place to implement the harmonisation of the waste collection and recycling service to Wiltshire households and the associated risks and challenges of delivering this project.  The new service will replace the different patterns of service provision across the Council inherited from the former District Councils.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and determine whether that based on the evidence provided and responses to questions whether they wish to make any representation to the Cabinet member.

·                    Relationship to Business Plan

Page 57 Invest in the future: waste management

“One of our key priorities is to divert waste from landfill to reduce the local and global environmental impact and, in the medium to long term, secure significant cost savings for residents through the reduction in payment of Landfill Tax.”

The Environment Select Committee at its meeting held on 11 January 2011 considered a report on the initial and general analysis of the consultation process undertaken on the Wiltshire Local Transport Plan for 2011-2016 ahead of the draft Plan’s submission to Cabinet.

To allow scrutiny of the Plan ahead of Cabinet approval, the Committee resolved to establish a Rapid Scrutiny Exercise the findings of which would be submitted to Cabinet at its next meeting to be held on 15 February for potential inclusion within the final Plan.

A copy of the report submitted to Cabinet is attached, together with details of the recommendations to be included.

The Committee is asked to note the report and response from Cabinet provided.

The Select Committee considered a report on 6 July, 2010 which included an overview of the progress made against the council’s Carbon Reduction Commitment (CRC). In January 2011 a number of stories were published in the media about the Council being liable for a £600k ‘tax’ or ‘fine’. These related to the Council’s liability under the CRC. In response the Chairman has requested more information and clarification about this issue.

Attached is a report from the Corporate Director of Neighbourhood and Planning which provides an outline of the CRC Energy Efficiency Scheme and what it means for Wiltshire Council.

The Committee is asked to consider the report and determine whether that based on the evidence provided and responses to questions whether they wish to make any representation to the Cabinet member.

·                    Relationship to Business Plan

Page 65 Invest in: energy efficiency

“What we are trying to achieve – To reduce our liabilities under the Carbon Reduction Commitment by reducing our carbon emissions.”

The Committee had a longstanding interest in the work undertaken by the authority to improve energy efficiency around Wiltshire with the Committee receiving an update on the Council’s Carbon Reduction Commitment in July 2010.

Following stories arising from the media in January 2011 relating to the council now expected to pay a £600k levy, a report providing an outline of the carbon reduction commitment energy efficiency scheme and what this would mean for Wiltshire Council was requested.

The Head of Climate Change was welcomed to the meeting to present the report where clarification was provided that, since consideration of the Council’s carbon reduction commitment (CRC) in July, the proposed carbon trading scheme had since been removed following central governments Comprehensive Spending Review and replaced with a levy based tax on carbon emissions per tonne.   This equated to a £600k levy which would now be paid retrospectively.

Central government was also expected to replace the national indicator set with a single data set and the Council was currently consulting in relation to the form this would take.  Further details were expected to be available from July 2011.

Although the work being undertaken to reduce carbon emissions in relation to assets was noted, the Committee felt that further work could be undertaken to ensure that employees were also fully briefed and on board with the need to reduce carbon emissions across the authority.

The Head of Climate Chance confirmed that much work had been undertaken on behaviour change which had not been included within the report and that a lot of work had been undertaken on the Carbon Management Plan which could be presented to the Committee at a future meeting.

At present the Council had agreed to take responsibility for the cost of school carbon emissions for the first year, noting that school buildings in Wiltshire currently equated to approx 40% of the annual CRC carbon emissions.  This would include responsibility for those schools opting out of authority control (i.e. academies) although the issue of emissions from academies was to be addressed.

Further comments included that a breakdown of the annual spend and how it was distributed would have been useful information to allow the Committee to better scrutinise the scheme.  The Committee also requested that details of the potential savings, in terms of electricity and carbon emissions, turning off street lights had and, accordingly, asked that Mouchel be requested to clarity the cost per light.

The first league table, which would show how well organisations were cutting their carbon emissions, was to be published in October 2011 and would include data for the last 3 years.  As the Council did not hold some historic energy data (due to Unitary status) and had been hindered by the roll out of smart metres, its position in the first year’s league table was likely to be low.

Resolved:

1)            To thank the Head of Climate Change for the report.

2)            To receive an update on the Carbon Management Plan at the Committee’s next  ...  view the full minutes text for item 139.

The latest monitoring report was considered by Cabinet on 15 February 2011 and can be found following the below link:

http://cms.wiltshire.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=141&MId=512&Ver=4

The Chairman and Vice Chairman will consider the reports as available, highlight any areas of concern with the relevant officers and provide feedback to the Committee accordingly by exception.

The Scrutiny Representative, Cllr Ian McLennan, has provided key points arising from the recent Housing Commission Board meeting as follows:

·         Many of the council houses were currently under occupied due to tenants remaining in properties where capacity exceeded family need.  In order to address this, government was expected to bring forward a scheme to incentivise tenants to relocate to smaller properties.

·         The many reasons that tenants were reluctant to move included:

o   a reluctance to change

o   loss of contact

o   a need to accommodate guests

o   the ‘hassle’ involved

o   not wanting something ‘new’

·         Under occupation was being researched and an action plan considered. 

Improvement Plan Update

·         Initial improvement actions had been successful.  The ‘Lean Review’ was focussing on the Repairs Service and was aided by specialist support.

·         The new focus plan included rent arrears, income management and anti social behaviour.  A focus on rent arrears was required owing to the current economic downturn and a central contact point would be designated for anti social behaviour.

·         The task of cleaning community areas would be agreed with the Tenants Panel, who were supportive of discussions.

·         The Housing Asset Management Plan included an emphasis on debt servicing, maximisation of income and stock to determine outcomes against available resources.

·         The staff and management structure would be reviewed in order to better meet demand.

·         IT Improvements would require a new tender.  The project costs were circa £300k-£400k.

·         A quality audit was being considered where Cabinet would have an input.

·         Plumber, John Godwin, became employee of the month for December after working extensively over Christmas which included working until 2am.

The Committee is asked to note the update provided.

The key points arising from the recent Housing Commission Board meeting and as included with the agenda were presented by the Scrutiny representative.

Clarification was provided that, since the inclusion of the update, a further meeting had taken place which had been attended by both the Chief Executive and Deputy Leader where grants to encourage the provision of insulation was discussed.

At the Board meeting the Chairman of the Housing Commission Board indicated that the government had now set the agreement buy out rate at £119m.  In order to make the 30 year business plan sound they were expected to offer favourable rates to take them on.  Central government were also expected to announce details of loans for photovoltaic sales.

A quality audit on where the Council currently stood and what needed to be done in the future would be undertaken in the Spring.

Resolved:

To thank the Scrutiny Representative for the update provided.

10 May 2011.