Local democracy

Agenda, decisions and minutes

Venue: Committee Room 1 - City Hall, Bradford. View directions

Contact: Jane Lythgow 

Items
No. Item

24.

DISCLOSURES OF INTEREST

(Members Code of Conduct - Part 4A of the Constitution)

 

To receive disclosures of interests from members and co-opted members on matters to be considered at the meeting. The disclosure must include the nature of the interest.

 

An interest must also be disclosed in the meeting when it becomes apparent to the member during the meeting.

 

Notes:

 

(1)       Members may remain in the meeting and take part fully in discussion and voting unless the interest is a disclosable pecuniary interest or an interest which the Member feels would call into question their compliance with the wider principles set out in the Code of Conduct.  Disclosable pecuniary interests relate to the Member concerned or their spouse/partner.

 

(2)       Members in arrears of Council Tax by more than two months must not vote in decisions on, or which might affect, budget calculations, and must disclose at the meeting that this restriction applies to them.  A failure to comply with these requirements is a criminal offence under section 106 of the Local Government Finance Act 1992. 

 

(3)       Members are also welcome to disclose interests which are not disclosable pecuniary interests but which they consider should be made in the interest of clarity.

 

(4)       Officers must disclose interests in accordance with Council Standing Order 44.

 

Minutes:

No disclosures of interest in matters under consideration were received.

25.

MINUTES

Recommended –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2016 be signed as a correct record (previously circulated).

 

(Jane Lythgow/Tracey Sugden – 01274 432270/434287)

Minutes:

Resolved –

 

That the minutes of the meeting held on 20 September 2016 be signed as correct record.

 

ACTION:       City Solicitor

 

26.

INSPECTION OF REPORTS AND BACKGROUND PAPERS

(Access to Information Procedure Rules – Part 3B of the Constitution)

 

Reports and background papers for agenda items may be inspected by contacting the person shown after each agenda item.  Certain reports and background papers may be restricted. 

 

Any request to remove the restriction on a report or background paper should be made to the relevant Strategic Director or Assistant Director whose name is shown on the front page of the report. 

 

If that request is refused, there is a right of appeal to this meeting. 

 

Please contact the officer shown below in advance of the meeting if you wish to appeal. 

 

(Jane Lythgow/Tracey Sugden – 01274 432270/434287)

 

Minutes:

There were no appeals submitted by the public to review decisions to restrict documents

27.

THE MANAGEMENT OF WASTE AND RECYCLING ACTIVITIES WITHIN THE BRADFORD DISTRICT pdf icon PDF 140 KB

Previous reference: Minute 11 (2015/16)

 

The report of the Strategic Director, Regeneration, (Document “J”) provides a description of the current management of waste and presents an update on the work programmes established in 2016 and those planned for 2017/2018 to improve the management of waste to more sustainable levels in line with the Municipal Waste Minimisation and Management Strategy 2015 (MWMMS).

 

Members are requested to consider the information presented in Document “J” and request a further progress report in 12 months time.

 

(Richard Longcake – 01274 432855)

Minutes:

The report of the Strategic Director, Environment and Sport, (Document “J”) provided a description of the current management of waste and presented an update on the work programmes established in 2016 and those planned for 2017/2018 to improve the management of waste to more sustainable levels in line with the Municipal Waste Minimisation and Management Strategy 2015 (MWMMS).

 

A detailed presentation on the waste service operations undertaken was provided and included an update on kerbside residual waste collections; kerbside recycling collections; the recent introduction of recycling collection nodes in the city centre for residents living in multi occupancy accommodation and statistics for the total tonnes of Local Authority Collected Waste (LACW) and Household Waste (HW). 

 

It was clarified that LACW, formerly known as Municipal Waste, was the total amount of waste that the service managed and HW only included waste and recycling collected from households at the kerbside, waste and recycling delivered by residents to Household Waste Recycling Centres, recyclables delivered to Bring Sites and street litter collected from around the district.

 

It was noted that during discussions about the trial of alternate weekly collection of residual waste it had been reported that residents could fully co-mingle their dry recyclable waste.  Members queried the changes which had occurred to allow that to happen and it was explained that there had been advances in separation technology and there now was an available market for plastic other than just bottles.

 

It was questioned if items previously composted were now utilised for energy recovery and Members were advised that organic fractions, essentially food waste contained in residual waste, were extracted and sent to anaerobic digestion.

 

Cost comparisons between the recently introduced recycling collection nodes and Household Waste Recycling Centres (HWRCs) and ‘Bring Sites’ were discussed.  It was clarified that the nodes located in the city centre were refurbished and had been purchased at a reduced cost.  There were a limited number of nodes available and due to their locations they needed to be smaller and more aesthetically pleasing than the large receptacles located elsewhere. 

 

Members questioned if reductions in waste, depicted in Performance Indicators for HW , resulted in increases in waste elsewhere.  It was explained that investigations had been made and no subsequent increases in fly tipping had occurred. 

 

The aims of the Municipal Waste Minimisation and Management Strategy (MWMMS) were to get people to think about the waste generated and it was hoped that those reductions were as a result of that policy.

 

The presentation continued with an update on the work programmes established in 2015 and those planned for 2017/18 to manage waste to more sustainable levels, e.g. minimise residual waste and increase recycling, in line with the MWMMS. 

 

It was explained that a key element of the MWMMS was the introduction of the Domestic Waste and Recycling Policy (aka the Bin Policy).  The policy had now been successfully implemented across the whole district

 

Its aim was to divert a greater percentage of recyclable waste from the residual green  ...  view the full minutes text for item 27.

28.

UPDATE ON THE FUEL POVERTY FRAMEWORK FOR ACTION FOR THE BRADFORD DISTRICT AND THE BETTER HOMES YORKSHIRE PROGRAMME pdf icon PDF 104 KB

Previous reference: Minutes 21 and 28 (2015/16)

 

The Strategic Director, Regeneration, will present a report, (Document “K”) which provides an update on the progress of the programme of work for the Fuel Poverty Framework for Action for the Bradford District and an update on the Better Homes Yorkshire Programme.

 

Members are requested to comment on Document “K” and to endorse the programme of work for the new Fuel Poverty Framework for Action.

 

(Pete Betts – 01274 432497)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

The report of the Strategic Director, Regeneration, (Document “K”)  provided an update on the progress on the Fuel Poverty Framework for Action and related Programme of Work since the document was adopted by the Council in September 2015.  It also introduced an updated work programme for the 2016 to 1028 period.

 

The report also provided an update on progress of the regional Better Homes Yorkshire Programme and related issues including the Green Deal Communities schemes, the Central Heading Fund scheme and the project arising from the successful Local Growth Fund Bid.

 

Members were reminded that Fuel Poverty continued to be a significant issue in the Bradford district.  Statistical information was contained in the report and figures from the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) showed that 13.2% of households in the District were considered to be in fuel poverty in 2014.  It was explained that the relatively high level of fuel poverty was due to the high level of deprivation in parts of the District, low household incomes and the poor quality of the housing stock.

 

It was explained that the actions contained in the initial programme of work for the Fuel Poverty Framework for Action had been completed and a progress update for each action was contained at Appendix 1 to the report.

 

The report revealed that Leeds City Council had recently entered into a partnership with Robin Hood Energy, a not for profit licensed energy company, (a subsidiary of Nottingham City Council) to create an Energy Supply Company (ESCo)that would seek to redress balance in the energy supply market by being geared towards providing residents with stable prices at the lower end of the price spectrum. 

 

It was intended that the ESCo would be branded as White Rose Energy and would be launched in autumn 2016, with the potential to expand its scope to cover the entire Leeds City Region (LCR). Officers would bring forward proposals for Bradford’s participation in the partnership to extend its benefits to include the Bradford District. Members questioned if that move to an LCR ESCo would reduce the control which the service had and have an impact on the Civic Quarter Heating scheme.

 

In response it was explained that there were many partners working on similar projects across the LCR.  Nottingham City Council had been the first to set up a retail energy company and had utilised energy from waste points for a long time.  They had secured significant investment; had been subject to a lengthy compliance  process and would now offer their skill and expertise to others.  Leeds City Region would provide  Robin Hood Energy tariffs and no development costs would be incurred. 

 

If a supply of heat through Bradford’s own network was developed it would require significant investment and licensing costs. It was explained that there was no one size fits all approach and there were many models for providing energy companies in the future.  The District Heat Network would consider the best arrangements available at the appropriate  ...  view the full minutes text for item 28.

29.

ENVIRONMENT AND WASTE MANAGEMENT OVERVIEW AND SCRUTINY COMMITTEE - WORK PROGRAMME 2016/17 pdf icon PDF 42 KB

 

 

Previous reference: Minute 16 (2016/17)

 

The Chair of the Committee will present Document “L” which outlines the work programme for 2016/17.

 

Recommended -

 

(1)       That Members consider and comment on the areas of work included in the 2016-17 Work Programme for the committee.

 

(2)       That Members consider any detailed scrutiny reviews that they may wish to conduct.

 

(3)       That the work programme 2016-17 continues to be reviewed regularly during the year.

                                    (Mustansir Butt - 01274 432574)

Additional documents:

Minutes:

Members were advised that an Air Quality report would be provided for discussion at the meeting scheduled for 20 December 2016.  As agreed earlier in the meeting a report on the scope of the Private Rented Housing Sector, including the impact of legislative changes, would be added t the work programme.

 

An amended Work Programme 2016/17 would be circulated and separate email communications sent regarding the water management sessions.

 

No resolution was passed in respect of this item.

 

CHAIR’S NOTE

 

The Chair thanked Councillor Love  for his hard work whilst presiding over the Committee for the previous five years.  His contribution to the Committee was acknowledged and much appreciated by Members.