Agenda and draft minutes

Economy, Residents and Communities Scrutiny Committee - Monday, 9th December, 2024 9.30 am

Venue: By Zoom

Contact: Rachel Pugh

Media

Items

No.

Item

Apologies

To receive apologies for absence.

Minutes:

Apologies received: Cllr K Lewis

Absent R Devlin

Disclosures of Interest

To receive any disclosures of interests by Members relating to items to be considered at the meeting.

Minutes:

There were no disclosures of interest by Members relating to items to be considered at the meeting.

Declaration of Party Whips

To receive disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.

(NB: Members are reminded that under Section 78 Members having been given a prohibited party whip cannot vote on a matter before the Committee.)

Minutes:

The Committee did not receive any disclosures of prohibited party whips which a Member has been given in relation to the meeting in accordance with Section 78(3) of the Local Government Measure 2011.

Minutes PDF 106 KB

To authorise the Chair to sign the minutes of the previous meeting held as follows as a correct record: 28.10.2024

Minutes:

The Chair was authorised to sign the Minutes of the previous meeting on the 28.10.2024 as a correct record.

Sustainable Resource Strategy PDF 67 KB

To consider the report

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Background:

The Council had compiled the strategy after working with a number of different partners, including WRAP who are working on behalf of the Welsh Government. Powys currently follows their blue print to standardise collections across Wales.
It would form the first element towards a business case in order to bid for Welsh Government capital funding for much needed improvement and development within the service.
Significant progress had been made towards targets but stressed that a lot of legislation and regulations had been and were due to be introduced, including the Council net zero targets and alignment with the Councils vision of a Sustainable Powys.
Assurance was given to the Committee all the material collected for recycling is recycled with anything not recyclable being processed for energy from waste.
The Service were seeking approval from Cabinet to proceed with an engagement exercise to move forward with the Powys Sustainable Resources Strategy.

Points raised by the Committee:

Responses received from Officers or Cabinet Members:

Were there any plans for cross border working as residents found the different schemes confusing.

It was explained that the blue print from the Welsh Government would standardise collection methods across Wales and 17 out of the 22 local authorities were already collecting in a similar way.

Discussions were ongoing regarding cross border shared household recycling centres which were heavily dependent on available funding.

Would it be possible to include second hand reusable nappies to the current offer from the Council.

Officers were unaware of a second-hand market for reusable nappies and would conduct further enquires to gain more understanding.

It was felt the Council needed to engage more with smaller companies to ensure collections were possible for those not achieving adequate waste levels.

The workplace recycling regulations meant that every business had to legally separate waste and the Council served every business using various methods.

Concerns were raised that the engagement process had an on-line focus, and a postal offer was suggested.

The Council used leaflet drops to raise awareness and further written communications would take place to notify collection date changes due to the route optimisation exercise.

The importance was emphasised to include offline residents, and each suggestion and opinion was valued.

TikTok videos would also be considered.

A question was raised around polythene and thermal plastics which were being collected by supermarkets and were there any plans for a Council collection.

It was noted that new safer materials for food wrap were being developed which made the recycling process more complex but could be collected due to its size and compact ability .

It was stressed that the Council did not have the infrastructure or capacity to collect these at the kerbside, which may change in the future if funding was made available. There were current options to recycle these at the household recycling centres and

It was hoped that ‘extended producer responsibility’ would reduce materials, as producers would pay for the collection and processing of the materials they put on the market.

Clarification ... view the full minutes text for item 5.

Scrutiny Recommendations PDF 70 KB

To receive the Cabinet's response to Scrutiny Recommendations.

09.08.24 - Car Park Review - Delayed

09.09.24 – ERC - Home to school transport – Approved

26.09.24 – Joint - Home to School transport – Approved

28.10.24 – STAR survey (Housing) – Approved

14.11.24 / 20.11.24 – Leisure Review - Withdrawn

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The responses from Cabinet – for information.

Scrutiny Work Programme

To note future meetings – agenda items subject to change:

Date

Agenda Item

Notes

10.01.25

1. Budget

03.02.25

1.Alternative Budget if requried

2.Customer Serive Experience

3.Housing Strategy

4.Local Housing Market Analysis

Delayed from 2024

For Information

Minutes:

The dates of upcoming meetings – for information.